I was really unsure about this, but I'd known Donna a long time and she was a very competent witch, so against my better judgement I sat and held her hands.
"Goddess of darkness, Goddess of Light.
Trust in me with your blessed sight.
Protect both of us here tonight; have our back.
But let me be a conduit for Dan and Jack."
She let go of my hand and we waited. And then we waited some more. Five minutes passed and Donna began to look glum. "Huh, no one wants to talk to me."
"Erm, don't you like have to ask them or call to them?" I offered.
She slapped a hand across her mouth. "Of course, silly me. I forgot!"
Sitting cross-legged she closed her eyes and said. "Dan Trent from the television show Britain's Best New Band. Are you there?"
There was no reply, so she tried Jack.
"Jack Brooks, who slept with my friend, Stacey Williams. Are you there?"
Again, nothing happened, and I was truly tired and fed up now. I wanted my bath and I wanted my friend to leave.
"Let's leave this, shall we?" I suggested.
Then Donna's eyes went jet black and her head cocked towards mine.
"You like leaving don't you, Stacey?" A weird croaked voice came out of Donna's mouth and a small trail of blood slipped from her left nostril.
I scrabbled back a foot in shock.
"You left me last time and I came looking for you. It's your fault I'm dead, bitch." Newly possessed Donna looked around the apartment slowly, her skin a pale grey that showed veins underneath. "I thought you'd do better for yourself than this, Stace, but it's better than where I'm stuck. Where I'm stuck is complete garbage."
He leaped forward.
"You need to help me, Stacey." Donna pitched forward but then jerked and her colour came back to normal. Gasping for breath, she retched and threw up all over my prized rug. There was no way I was keeping it any longer anyway. It had that weird blood shit on it.
"I f- felt him, Stacey. He's passed. Jack was murdered." She shook. "He's gone now. He tried to touch you and it's not allowed, so he was cast out. Can I have a glass of water and then I'm going to go home. I need to go think about the picture I saw in my head. Where his body might be."
My voice rose in pitch. "I don't like any of this, Donna. I mean, what happened was shitting scary. You went a weird as fuck colour, your nose bled, and you talked strangely. Please don't do it again, will you?"
"I do feel a bit woozy. Maybe I'd be better off practicing piano. I was between the two."
Heading to the kitchen on now shaky legs, I returned with a glass of water for my friend. Her colour was fully returned and she actually looked better than I reckoned I did. "Look. It's not going to hold up in court, is it? That you saw a vision. Why not just forget about it all?"
Donna's mouth twisted. "I will try to find the place Jack showed me he was dumped. I didn't get a clear picture, but it smelled vile. But if I can't bring the images forward then I'll just have to let it go. Hey, at least it looks like Dan Trent is still alive, because he didn't answer." She smiled.
"Great. Jack dead, Dan alive. All's sorted and now you can go home, because after all this I need a bath and a stiff—"
"Cock?" Donna asked.
"Drink." I corrected her.
"I don't understand you. Drayton would be round in a flash if you called him, but you'd rather have a brandy. Who ditches randy for brandy? You're not normal."
She eventually packed everything into her backpack and finally left.
Once she'd gone, I picked up my once beautiful rug and threw it down the rubbish chute, and then I went and got in the bath.
Had she really contacted Jack Brooks?
I mean, I suspected he was dead because I'd never seen him again.
Even though I'd seen spells performed and I knew of the paranormal, I was finding it hard to accept that Jack from school had spoken through Donna, but why not? And if so, then I'd actually missed the main question I wanted to ask him.
But if I got the chance again, would I really want to know whether Noah had been the one to end his existence?
Dan
Stupid dozy bitch. He'd not been dead long. In fact, he was only just getting used to the idea that he'd been bled dry by more than just his agent; but he'd always been savvy. It was how he'd kept ahead of his rivals in the entertainment industry. Until that bitch. Harley fucking Davies, with her sweet smile and no doubt even sweeter pussy. He'd put money on the fact that she was getting her top position from getting in an on-top position. While his unsettled spirit wandered around the auditorium where he'd once ruled, his body rotted somewhere that smelled indescribably bad. No one had heard his cries for help. Even if he was audible there were twenty bands practising for a start.
Then he'd heard his name be called and he was there in that small woman's body. He'd recognized the woman sat opposite him from the audition interviews because she had great breasts. He'd had a hard time not reaching forward to feel one. You were a long time dead after all. But no, he knew that the woman who'd called him could just as easily cast him away, so he lingered to see what would happen. And what did happen? She called on someone else. There wasn't room for the two of them, I mean threes a crowd, right? So as soon as the other guy entered her, he got ejected. It was the first threesome where he was glad another guy got the girl. So now there he was, back where he'd been hanging around, at the auditorium, but now it seemed he could pop where he liked. And of course, he knew that his rightful place was presenting a top television series.
Dan Trent's spirit went looking for Harley.
He was going to take over the show in more ways than one.
Noah
"Well, mate. I think it's good we're going to the club tonight, so you can talk to me about what the heck is going on with you and your ex, and why you just almost banged her in the corridor." Rex fixed me with a look that said, 'you will tell me all'.
"We're men. We don't talk feelings and shit. She kneed me in the balls and made it clear we're most definitely done. That and her being with Drayton. I had a lapse of sense because my blood had diverted south. There's nothing else to say." I stalked off ahead of him and left the building.
"I'll see you at the club at ten." Rex said. "You'd better be there."
"I'll be there. If for no other reason than to make sure Zak behaves himself. The last thing we need right now is our lead going off the rails."
With that I drove to my flat where I downed two bottles of O-neg to quench the thirst Stacey had set off inside me, and then I went in the shower and jerked off thinking of how she'd felt held tight against my body.
When I got to Sheol that night, my other bandmates were already there. Zak seemed antsy, hopping from foot to foot.
"He's waiting for a meeting with Abaddon." Rex explained. "And he wants someone to go with him. I've told him he's twenty-four and last time he showed us, had a fully working set of balls."
"I'll go with you." I told Zak.