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𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 : 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈 𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑

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I woke from my small nap to the doorbell ringing. I had a few texts from both Pandora and Ace so I knew that they were the ones knocking and ringing instead of anyone dangerous, like my suspicious unknown caller and all of Crow's men.

When I opened the door, Pandora and Ace were smiling with two paper bags in their hands. Before I could ask, Pandora walked in and said happily, "Picked up dinner from that old Italian place in town!"

And just on cue, my stomach growled. I followed them into the kitchen and we divided the assortment of spaghetti, salads, and garlic bread before we sat down at the island to talk and eat.

"Okay, so was the psychic today really all that? Be honest, did she seem real or was she just a fake?" Ace asked, twirling noodles against his fork.

"Seemed real, acted real at least," I told them. "She knew who I was before I even walked in and she seemed to know a lot about my dad, the Morticianers, and Archer Crow." I decided to leave out the part where I found a bloodied image of Cage to myself, since the little note on the back had not so discreetly told me to trust no one. Although, I was pretty sure I could trust these two but it was better safe than sorry.

"What'd she have to say that we don't know already?"

I gave them the rundown of all that happened, mostly just about the information on Cage and Crow. How we identified the man in the first photo I had found, and how badly it scared her. I mean, it even scared me, but I tried to not let it show. I even told them about the conversation with Cage I had earlier this afternoon when I got home, the deadly revelations about how truly dangerous the Morticianers were. How they hadn't aged a day and how their connection to the devil may run deeper than we all thought. I left out the small details about the tarot cards, I'd explain them later after we go through the most important parts of my meeting.

When I was finished, Pandora was the first to speak, sounding unsure of herself, "So, this Crow guy killed your dad because he was a snitch basically?"

I nodded. "Seems like it."

"And he's a demon? Running a secret ring of demon killers that have secret demon workers in the police department?"

I nodded again.

"And your ghost dad told you to kill them?"

I sighed, forcing myself to nod at how ridiculous it was all starting to sound.

"Well shit," she groaned, dropping her fork. "Where do we even start?"

"I'm guessing the church, right?" Ace mumbled with a shrug. "Just like Wrath said and what we've been going on about. The church is the center of it all."

"But it's not like we're going to just sneak in and catch the Morticianers in the act–" She held up a hand to stop him from talking as Ace opened his mouth to counter as she snapped out, "Don't you even say it, Ace! We are not going to go sneaking around that place!"

My phone was buzzing in my pocket and I pulled it out, smiling at the text notification I had received. "We might not have to worry about that just yet." I showed them my phone with a grin, "Looks like Macabre wants to talk."

His message was direct and short, a simple hello Ms. Lake. This is Victor Macabre, we met at the hospital, and I was wondering if I could give you a call? I quickly typed back yes as Pandora murmured, "I don't trust that guy, Red. He's bad news, I can feel it."

"It's not like I can avoid him," I sighed. "He's in charge of my, well, he's in charge of my everything."

"And it's not like we can avoid the church forever," Ace murmured, reaching for a piece of garlic bread. "If we want to get even anything done, we have to go there."

I nodded, eating what I had left in my salad bowl before grabbing a helping of spaghetti. "With Macabre in charge of the funeral, we'll get easy access to the church. We can maybe snoop around during the visitation, see if we notice anything weird."

"It's the safest plan, Panda," Ace added, giving the other girl a hopeful look when my phone began to ring.

I picked it up and hit the speaker button before answering with a gentle, "Hello?"

"Ah, Ms. Lake!" Macabre boomed and Pandora made a sour face. "I'm so glad we're able to speak tonight. There are just a few things we need to cover for your mother's funeral."

"Alright," I said back because I wasn't exactly sure how to respond.

"Standard casket work for you? That's made of pine boards and steel."

"Good with me."

"And how does a visitation service beginning around four tomorrow afternoon sound?"

Ace and Pandora both gave me two pairs of thumbs ups.

I nodded, although the older man couldn't see. "Perfect. What about a funeral service afterwards at five?"

I heard him writing it down on the other end. "Just delightful, I'll have it scheduled and put on our facebook, so friends and coworkers can hear about it as well. Any specific type of flower arrangement you'd like us to put out?"

I smiled. "Roses." My mother was always partial to roses, especially the deep red and pink ones. "Red and pink, if that's possible."

I heard him write this down as well before he added, rather cheerfully, "Now all that's left is the obituary."

I hadn't thought that far, hadn't even realized I needed to have something written for this. I didn't think to plan ahead. "Um, well it should say something along the lines of this..." I thought for a moment before speaking slowly so the older man could write it down, "Marie Louise Lake was born to George and Angela Aine in 1978. She was preceded in death by husband, Cage Lake, and family. She is survived by her only daughter, Blaire. She will be honored and remembered this Friday at the Clandestine Church from four to six pm." I didn't have a single clue if that was correct or even the way people did these typical things, but it sounded good enough to me.

He was still writing as he said, "Perfect. That will be all now, since the church will be covering all the expenses and the burial, which will be at the cemetery in Bellenau. Anything specific you'd like engraved on the tombstone besides the basics?"

"Uh, no," I said, unsure of myself. I wanted the call to be over, I wanted to keep eating and forget that I had to do this tomorrow. I didn't want to think about how I needed to find a black dress to wear somewhere in my closet, that I potentially needed to do a eulogy and how tomorrow was the big football game that I'd be missing. At least I had a party to go to after I'll be crying all day. "Thank you again, for doing all of this."

"Anything for the Lake family, my dear," he told me before he said, "I'll see you tomorrow, hope things get easier."

"Thank you," I nodded. "Bye."

When he hung up, for a strange reason, I was completely drained. I slumped forward against the counter, both my friends giving me pitying looks. I rolled my shoulders, feeling a small ache forming in my back as I sat up.

"At least it's almost over with," I said stiffly. "After tomorrow, it'll finally be done."

"Blaire..." Pandora started, looking between me and Ace before continuing softly, "...you don't mean that, you just lost your mom. That's not something someone can get over as quickly as you might think-"

"I've done it before," I said quickly, hoping she forgave me for my harsh tone. "Give me a week and I'll be okay again."

Ace shook his head, suddenly uninterested in the rest of his food. "Take it from me, it doesn't necessarily get easier as it does to just push it all down." I had almost forgotten the toll the church had weighed upon him, how it took the lives of not just one parent but both. He understood me better than I had ever thought.

Except, for right now, I wanted them to leave. I wanted them to go home so I could lay in bed for some silent hours. Instead, I found myself picking at my food again and saying, "I forgot to mention, Wrath did a tarot reading on me."

This sparked the interest of Pandora instantly and she perked up with a grin, "Well, what'd you get?"

"I got seven cards," I said, trying to match her enthusiasm with a smile. of my own. "The lovers, the hermit, the hanged man, death, the devil, the tower, and the moon."

"What do they mean? Anything spooky or related to you and what's been going on?"

I shook my head. "She gave me kind of vague descriptions of them all, actually." I shrugged, spinning my fork slowly in my pasta before eating. "The lovers; temptation of the heart, choices. The hermit; going at something alone, soul searching, self reflection. The hanged man; sacrifice and surrendering."

"These are already making me sorta nervous," Pandora let out a small laugh to hide the worry creasing her brows and eyes.

"Just you wait until you hear about the rest," I mumbled before continuing down the list in my head, "Death; endings, change, being unable to move on. The devil; living in fear, discretion, experiencing greed, lust, and anger. The tower; danger, destruction, a catastrophic change. And finally, the moon; deception, a truth you might not want to admit, confusion, loss of control."

"Oh wow," Ace rubbed his forehead. "Not horrible, but also not that fun to hear either."

"Yeah, not to mention Cage and others have been telling me to not let the cards 'control me' and that they're basically going to start happening to me."

"At least the lovers card is kind of fun?" Pandora offered with a grim smile.

Ace and I couldn't give her the same look because, like him, I was worried about the implications of the cards. Worried about their outcomes and possible involvements with our lives. I just knew it wouldn't end well, not for any of us.

I realized I should tell them about my unknown caller but I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to keep him a secret, keep him separate from them, to keep him all to myself. At least for a little while longer.

I let them linger around until it was dark before I sent them home with a smile. I was surprised I even let them stay for as long as they did when all I wanted was to pull on my pajamas and go to bed.

And that was exactly what I did. I changed into an oversized shirt and some soft shorts and crawled under my mountain of blankets. I had lowered the temperature in my bedroom so I could get cozy. Of course, that didn't mean I was going to sleep because I was still on edge. I was in the house alone, being alone was terrifying.

Although, I wanted to be alone. I wanted peace and quiet and moments to myself but I found myself picking up the phone and dialing the caller at the top of the list. It rang just for a few moments before he answered with a sleepy, "Hello?"

"What?" I cooed. "You didn't miss me?"

I recited his line back to him and I heard him chuckle. "No, just surprised."

"Are you at work or something?" I asked, curious. To be fair, I still didn't know a damn thing about him. I strained my ears to listen for any indication at who he was, what life he was living.

"Something like that," I heard papers and a drawer being open. "Why are you calling?"

He didn't sound annoyed but I had that sense that he might've been, or I was just overthinking it. "My mother's funeral is tomorrow."

"And you're calling me?" he seemed genuinely shocked. "Why not call one of your little friends? Bet they'd be better company than me."

"Yeah, but if I called one of them...then, well, they'd come rushing over," I murmured back, rolling onto my back. My room was dark and a part of me wished the world would go gray and someone, anyone, would give me advice. Give me a hint at what was yet to come. "And I want to be alone."

"Alone with me?"

"Alone with you...on the phone. Completely different."

He laughed again and I hated that a smile came to my face. "Seems to me that you enjoy my company."

"Strangely, I do," I confessed honestly. I don't know what about him that made me so interested, but I wanted to know about him. I wanted to hear his voice, be as near to him as I could.

"It just so happens that I'm beginning to enjoy our little chats as well," he said in a low voice as if someone had entered the room with him. I was startled when he asked me, rather calmly, "Where are you?"

"In bed."

He made a pleased sound before whispering, "What are you wearing?"

I choked on air, heat rushing to my face as I snapped out, "Yeah, no thanks, you creep-"

"Joking! Joking!" he was laughing now, harder than before. "Just making sure you're not going to fall asleep on me anytime soon."

"I'm wide awake, asshole," I said back, rolling my eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, chuckling before clearing his throat and asking more seriously, "I'm assuming the funeral tomorrow is at Clandestine, correct?"

I nodded and breathed, "Yeah, visitation at four and funeral at five."

"I was thinking of dropping by."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry, darling, I won't be planning anything," he reassured me in an even tone. It wasn't like I was worried about that, I was more worried about coming face to face with him. Would I know it was him? Would he have introduced himself to me? "Just coming to say goodbye to an old friend." There was a pause before he continued with another question, "Has she appeared to you yet?"

"No," I sighed, shifting so I could lay on my side. "I'm not ready, I don't think. I've wished that she would just show up and tell me what happened, tell me the truth about everything, but I can't see her. I can't see her knowing that she's gone, that she might want me to..."

"To what?"

It was funny, getting so emotional all of a sudden. There were tears threatening to fall and my face was hot, sweaty almost. "To send her away," I finally sniffled out, wiping my face with the back of my hand. I laughed, embarrassed to have this man be hearing my whimpers.

"If I could come over, I would," he told me, all humor and fun he might've had towards me was gone. He was as serious as a heart attack. "I would comfort you."

And I wanted him too. But, god, why did I want him to do that? "As if I'd let someone as dangerous as you into my home."

"I don't want to hurt you, but there will come a time when I just might have too. It seems that our lines of work and play intersect rather...unfortunately."

"What type of work do you even do?" I asked, drawing lazy circles against my comforter. "Because if I was right earlier, I guessed that you were a Morticianer."

He was silent for a moment and I was worried I pinched a nerve. He hadn't necessarily been happy when I brought it up earlier, but I knew more now. Maybe I could narrow down who he really was with whatever information he could give me. When he did finally speak, he was calm, "And you guessed correctly."

It wouldn't be long until I could connect his voice to a face. I could in point exactly who he was, if only he would just give me a little more.

"How much do you know?"

"Like I'd tell you," I scoffed with a smile. "I like keeping you in the dark, keeping you on your toes."

If I could see him, I would've bet he rolled his eyes. "I do a lot for my job."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"I kill people."

"Alright, you got straight to it," I said back without missing a beat. Was I expecting his answer? Yes. Did hearing it out loud make me feel any better about him? No. There was a pit forming in my gut and I worried about how much he knew, how much he knew about me and my friends. He knew that I lived alone, he could break in and easily take my life. He probably did the same with my mom.

"Any other questions?"

I couldn't stop it from rolling off my tongue as I asked hastily, "Did you kill her?"

"Who?"

"My mom?"

He was silent. The absence of his voice left my heart racing, so loudly and so fast that I could hear it in ear drums and feel it in my throat. I wanted him to admit it, to tell me it wasn't what I feared most. But it was never that easy, was it? It never went the way I hoped because when he said that little string of words, I had the urge to throw my blanket off and scream and thrash about like a witch.

"It wasn't me, or any of my people. She did this herself, all on her own."