Page 9 of Crossing Between
The soul was terrified, its life force having been drained so violently it was reliving its death in its mind on a constant loop. Unlike some necromancers of old, I did not relish the pain of those who had passed away. My magic reached out to soothe the kid, helping to bring back his mind from the void that it was trapped in. Something was off about him, but I couldn't pin down what. I'd have to try to see if I could figure it out later. When I was sure that he wouldn't have a panic attack in the middle of questioning, only then did I pull him forward to take over my body. My eyes went white, indicating that I was successful to the others.
"Where am I?" It was my voice that came out of my mouth, but it was the soul of the dead. That was the detective's cue.
"Hello. I am Detective Yamashita and my partner is Detective Erikkson. The scary skinny guy is our boss, Captain Varon. We're with the police. Do you know your name?" Kenji stepped closer to my body, pulling out a notebook and pen.
"My name? It..." The soul paused and screwed up my face as it thought for a few moments in silence. "I'm Lincoln. My name is Lincoln."
"Good, that's good, Lincoln. Can you tell me your last name and age?" Kenji's voice was kind but firm as he prompted for more information.
"Lincoln Costa. I'm twenty almost twenty-one. Or I was?" The soul felt some relief that it hadn't needed to think too much about that question. "What happened to me?"
"You were murdered, kid," Elias spoke this time. His deep voice had softened. He had a voice recorder in his hand and pointed at my body. "We're looking into solving your murder to get justice for you. Can you tell us the last thing you remember?"
Lincoln's feelings were a mess of rage, disbelief, dread, and sorrow. My magic reached out again to offer some comfort. I couldn't talk to him without revealing what I was to the others as Medium's powers took a backseat to a soul, they were not in control until the soul was done talking, so I just tried to convey my empathy to him with my magic.
"I had been out with a new friend from work. She'd just started a few weeks ago. I thought she might have a crush on me. No one had ever liked me before. I was excited." Lincoln's thoughts twisted within my own, another thing that made Necromancers different from Medium's. "She mentioned wanting to go toDesire. She'd never been. I hadn't either. I usually stayed in and played video games on my computer."
"Poor kid," Kenji grunted softly as he wrote something down. "Alright. You went to the nightclub. What happened while you were there?"
Lincoln's soul wanted to leave. It was getting more agitated as it began to remember but I kept a tight rein on it. My magic, even though it held him tightly, was not hurting him.
"We danced. It was so LOUD. I wasn't used to that kind of noise." Lincoln had been more of an introvert, like me, but had tried to get out of his shell. The one time he did, he'd been killed. "I couldn't find Sierra. I'm not sure when we got separated. It's so...jumbled inside my head. I went looking for her."
"Did you find your friend?" Varon asked the question this time. He didn't bother with a notebook. I assumed it was because the other detectives had it handled.
"No. A bartender suggested checking in the back. He said that's where a lot of the people went for smoke breaks. I told him she didn't smoke but he just left to make a drink." Lincoln's soul was starting to struggle with me which made my magic loosen its hold since I didn't want to hurt him.
We didn't have long before I would either have to let him go or put him back into his body. Since the second option wasn't happening, I'd have to let him go to where ever souls went in the afterlife. I just had no way to let the others know they didn't have long.
"She wasn't back there. No one was. It was dark." Lincoln stopped fighting my hold suddenly. His feelings had all morphed into stark fear as he started to recall his death.
Kenji seemed to realize and he prompted Lincoln to go on. "It's okay. Nothing can hurt you now."
"There was no light. I thought it was weird since there were so many lights above the door but they weren't on. When I called out for Sierra, no one answered, but I could hear scratching on the pavement, like someone was walking with claws. I turned to go back in but I...." Lincoln balked. "Something grabbed me. It felt like I was engulfed in fire. I remember screaming but no one heard me."
"Did you see anyone?" Kenji prompted. "Any kind of markings that you can remember?"
"Eyes of bright orange, almost like fire. I couldn't breathe. Something was over my mouth. Pain happened so quickly in my lower stomach but it faded just as quickly. There was a nauseating sound of someone eating something. The gnawing. I can't stop hearing that sound!" Lincoln's soul screamed and I couldn't hold him any longer.
I let him go, gasping out a breath at the feeling as if someone punched me in the gut for several seconds. My feet stumbled backward and I felt hands grab my waist to pull me back to standing, preventing me from falling on my ass. I felt my magic preen, happy to have been used while I took in a few deep breaths. Most Mediums are wiped out after a summoning for several hours to days. I wasn't sure which one I would need to act as, but for now, I reminded myself to act at least a little tired so as not to arouse more suspicions.
"Thank you." My eyes went back to normal as I blinked up at Kenji who was the one to grab me. His hands were warm, not to mention huge and they held me at the waist. His sky-blue eyes made me lose my breath for a moment as we stared at each other for a few seconds. "Did you get anything that will help?"
Kenji squeezed my waist before he released me. The warmth of his hands disappeared and it was a little disappointing that he wasn't still touching me. Geez. I was lusting after my boss and now one of the detectives I would be working with. Was I just a horny hussy? Maybe I needed to get new batteries for Olga, my trusty vibrator at home. I needed more powerful orgasms it seemed.
"That was impressive, Ms. Medium Ma'am." Quilith leaned over my shoulder from behind me, their hair falling forward. "I think you and I should have tea sometime."
"That will have to wait, Quilith." Varon clapped his hands together once. "Now, Zoey, that was impressive how long you were able to hold on to the soul. Our last Medium could only hold onto a soul for half that. What is your normal recovery rate?"
This was where it was going to get tricky. Varon would be able to tell I was fibbing. I needed to try to stay as close to the truth as possible.
"To be honest, I'm not sure what my recovery rate is." I decided to be truthful, even if it wasn't exactly about my job. "My magic is usually pretty hardy."
Varon just nodded as his eyes focused entirely on me, which made me want to squirm under his gaze. I hoped my semi-truth was enough for him. Here's to fingers being crossed.
"Well, we have enough to get back at it. We'd hit a dead end but now we have his name. That's fantastic. You did wonderful, Zoey, I can't wait to work more with you." Elias' hand came down on my shoulder as he came to stand next to Kenji.
I had to hold in a shocked gasp as a shock of electricity ran through my body at his touch. It felt like my insides were on fire for several seconds before a pleasurable warmth spread. Elias' eyes widened as we looked at each other before both of us stepped away from each other, looking for space.
