Chapter 10
I'd beaten him. I was the victor in a match of courage and wits against the mythical creature known as an incubus. The only trouble was I suspected this wasn't a total victory, and the burn marks on my fingers was more proof of something awry than any of the words the incubus spoke to me.
On one hand was the burn marks, and in the other lay the golden trinket he'd given me before vanishing. I should have chucked it over the tallest hedge and left it for the priests to exorcise, but there was something enticing about its beauty, and it wasn't just the priceless jewels that encrusted the cover. A mysterious allure surrounded the object, made no less by the fact that it was a locket, and inside every locket was something valuable.
I turned it over and saw the thin gap between the two halves of the locket. My fingers barely squeezed into the gap, but no amount of yanking and scratching would open the locket. After a few minutes I gave up. I had other problems to deal with, not least of which was my still being in enemy territory.
I tucked the strange locket into my pocket in my pants and slunk to the front of the short hedges. The priest and his apprentice were nowhere to be seen, so I tiptoed around the front of the hedges and retraced my steps to the driveway. If I'd gone through the graveyard I probably would've gotten lost, or worse, found them. I kept my shoulder against the tall hedge along the driveway and crept down the hill to where the gravel met the street. There sat my car, and down the street stood the pair of preachers. They swept the area with their eyes, but their movements were more frantic than organized.
I waited for both of them to turn away. There was my chance! I stooped and hurried across the sidewalk to the road. I was halfway to my car when there came a shout from down the street.
"Stop! You there!" cried the old priest. I slid behind the wheel, started the engine, and pulled out of there just as the pair reached me. The younger one hesitated on the sidewalk, but the older one flung himself onto the passenger side door of my car and pried at the glass and handle. "I must speak with you!" he shouted at me.
"Sorry, sir, I'm not ready to confess my sins," I replied as I stepped on the gas. I sped down the road and the priest jumped back to avoid his feet being flattened.
I glanced in my mirror and saw him whip something out of his robes, but that was all I noticed before I turned a corner and drove away from that loony bin. Traffic was heavy and at one point I was stuck at a light for half an eternity. I shifted in my seat and felt something hard jab into my hip. It was the locket, and I removed it for another look. There was the gold, the jewels, and the strange raised symbol, but no words or nothing. It glittered in the sunlight, but I would have traded its beauty for an explanation for what I was supposed to do with it.
Traffic marched onward, and in a few minutes I arrived at my apartment building. The place was devoid of residents as they went about their holiday shopping and early-evening partying. I scurried to my apartment, but was caught by the ever-watchful eye and alert ear of Tiffany.
Her apartment door swung open and she jumped into the hall in front of me. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. "Where have you been?"
I sheepishly smiled at her. "Um, out shopping?"
"You don't like shopping," she reminded me.
"Um, food shopping," I corrected myself.
Her eyes flickered between my two empty hands. "Then where is the food?"
"Um, I already packed it inside," I lied. Her frown deepened and she tapped her foot on the floor. I sighed and my shoulders slumped. "All right, I was at the local church trying to get some holy water."
"For that incubus?" she guessed.
"Yes, for the incubus."
Tiffany sighed and stepped up to me. She put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. "Liz, this whole thing is probably the most elaborate lie I've ever heard somebody say just to avoid saying you broke a promise."
I blinked at her. "Come again?"
She rolled her eyes. "If you've been seeing that guy then you may as well just 'fess up and stop with all this crazy talk."
I shook my head. "But that's not how it is. I've seen him, but-"
"And you're making up all this stuff because you didn't want to hurt my feelings. I get it, and after thinking it over I guess I can see why you did it," she replied.
"But-"
"No buts. I accept your weird lie-apology because I know you really like the weirdo, and-well, you should be able to see who you like," she insisted.
"But-"
"No buts."
"But-"
"Eh."
My shoulders slumped so low they almost hit the floor and I hung my head. "Fine, you win. I've been seeing him and I made the whole thing up."
She smiled and patted me on the shoulder. "See? Doesn't that feel better?"
"Yeah, much. Can I go to my apartment now?" I pleaded.
"Oh, right." She dropped her hand and stepped aside. "But I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yeah, later." I rushed past her to the sanctuary of my apartment.
Once inside I collapsed against the door and ran my hand through my hair. My last, best hope for a friend in my time of need and she decides to believe a fantasy rather than the fantastic truth. There was no one I could turn to who could tell me about these strange happenings, or was there? I reached into my pocket and scrutinized the strange locket. The engravings and jewels had no meaning to me, but perhaps they meant something to a gypsy woman who catered on the side.
It was my only hope if I wanted to wake myself from this strange nightmare.
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