Even though he didn’t make eye contact with me, he smiled. He didn’t bother me, because, unlike anyone else, I understood what he was going through. When he finally did speak to me, he said one word. “Liar.”
“What?’
He nodded his head down the hallway as a man walked toward us. As he moved, every other step revealed a badge on his belt. Shit, I was busted. I shook my head. Shit, I broke my resolution.
“This is different. I usually have to track you guys down. I assume you are James Maynard?” the officer said as soon as he reached us both. The way he fit James in a criminal box got under my skin. I don’t think he understood exactly how important James was.
Bored with the officer, I looked over to James. His green eyes were duller than they were a few minutes ago. I felt my heart began to race. He had to be in a trance. Hoping I could see some of the action, I placed my hand in his.
Nothing.
I never see nothing.
I touched someone, and I saw their thoughts. Shocked, I dropped his hand. James was looking at me, green eyes bright again. Unlike a few minutes ago, he was looking at me. His pushed his eyebrows in the middle and looked back at the parole officer. “This my first check-in?”
The officer reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a card. James’ eyes were dull again. I really wanted to see what he was seeing, so I tried one more time. I grabbed James’ hand and nothing. Just my luck.
James clutched my hand hard enough, I couldn’t let get away from him without causing a scene in front of the officer. With his other hand, he took the business card from the officer’s hand.
“Next time, we will meet in my office.” The officer flicked a roach off his shoulders as he walked away.
Once the officer was no longer in sight, I looked back over to James. If he were a drill, he would have drilled a hole all the way through my head by how intense his stare was. He didn’t drop his stare, but he did finally let go of my hand.
“How?”
“How, what?” I replied to his vague question.
He used his height against me. He walked towards me, crowding my space. He backed me into the opposite hallway wall. Maybe Ethel was right. This was not my best idea. I was doing this for Ethel, I thought over and over as I waited for James to put who I was together.
“Why can’t I see your death?”
I smiled. He had no clue. How has he remained this innocent in our world? The elders were going to kill me if they knew I was talking to him. Forget the elders, my family was going to kill me. This was for Ethel.
“I can answer all your questions, but you have to come with me.” I hoped I wasn’t pushing him too soon.
He smiled as he leaned in closer to me. I could smell his soap and minty-toothpaste he was so close to me.
He leaned in a little more. He whispered so only I could hear. “Give me one good reason I should believe you have answers. You have already proven yourself to be a liar.”
I leaned toward him and closed my eyes tight as I let Ethel’s secret spill past my lips. She was going to kill me. “I need to know who is going to kill my friend. I need you see my friend’s death and I.D. her killer. I need to make sure she doesn’t die. Do that for me, and I will answer all your questions. Hell, I will show you how to turn off your visions.” I cringed when the word Hell popped out of my mouth. I was really bad at resolutions.
“Okay.”
I opened my eyes. “Okay?” I held my hand out to him to shake. “Let’s go.” He didn’t shake my hand. Instead, he turned around and walked the opposite. He was about to bail on me.
Hell no.
“Death Flames locking you to me.” I saw the fire chain wrap around my wrist, stretch out, and wrap around James’ wrist. He couldn’t see the fiery chains. But they were there. Until I released him, he had to go wherever I went. He could only stretch as far as the chains allowed him to go. He didn’t understand his predicament until I walked the other way, forcing him to follow behind me. He yelled for someone named Ray, but even that fight was short-lived. He was smart, this Death Seer. The moment he felt the pain from disobeying the Death Flames, he didn’t fight the chains. He kept his distance from me, but he followed.
I walked outside without looking behind me again. Even though I knew he had no choice but to follow me, I felt his stare on the back of my head. If he had it in him to kill me, I would be dead. Didn’t matter anymore. Death Flames wouldn’t allow him to harm me, even if he tried.
Chapter Three
James
Pain shot through my wrist as I stopped dead in the middle of the shabby apartment building hallway. There was no way I was following a babbling idiot who was too dumb to play by the city rules. I’d been down this road before. Hell, it was what had last gotten me locked up for the third time. Had I not listened to the old lady with the boil on her nose, I’d never have known anything about the kid. Of course, like I said, I didn’t regret it. But I sure as hell wasn’t signing myself up for the slammer again if I could help it.
“Ray!” I shouted his name loud enough to piss off the neighbors, who barked at me to “put a lid on it” through a beat-up door. “Can you come out here?”
Pain. A tug.
A jerk.
More resistance.
And finally, no other choice but to follow her. “Ouch! What the hell is that?” I squawked at my captor, fully aware that a tone like this would have made me someone’s bitch in prison. Still, the bursts of agony that somehow seemed to be attached to one Ms. Violet Lies-Like-Shit’s purse strings were enough to make a baby out of me.
She didn’t answer. Instead, she tugged again, pulling on me like some kind of fucked-up dominatrix. Through the halls we went, me stumbling behind. Down the stairs I followed. Then more. Then more again. Until finally we were outside in the crisp New York air. That’s when she finally spoke.
“How do ya’ll live like this? Colder than a witche’s—” She covered her mouth as if to yawn or something.
“It’s like fifty. That’s nothing. Besides, at least you have a coat on. Some of us didn’t get the chance.”
“Brrrr.”
“Did you come here to talk about the weather or just bitch?”
“Do you always use words like that? My Momma would have taken a switch to me if I said that to someone for everyone to hear. Heck, she may have made me go out back and pick out my own switch. Word of advice, never-ever pick the smallest switch. They hurt more.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. My mother had never had any problem with corporal punishment. Hell, I’d wished for a sibling half my life just to share the ‘attention’ when Mom got in one of her moods. But Violet Pain hadn’t come here to talk about mothers either. I rubbed my wrist and stayed close enough to her for the invisible thing between us not to shock me again.
“Well, little lady, I reckon’ she would,” I said, mocking her and her freakish ‘death flames.’ Was that what she called them? It had to have been. It sounded right, I told myself – as if it mattered.
“Very funny.”
I wanted to bow but figured Mistress Zap would toss a magical noose around my neck or something. I could picture myself returning the favor. Years in the joint had hardened me, and I can’t say that being pulled out of Ray’s shitty apartment for something to do with the curse had me very pleased. Not to mention I already had parole officers sniffing around. This was just a situation I didn’t need.