Streetlights Shattering on Essex Street

Part 1: The Trapper's Trap

The streetlights flickered out one by one, starting with the one furthest from Jade. She stopped dead in her tracks as the one directly above her shattered, immersing the whole street in darkness. An eerie, cold chill descended onto Essex Street, making it much colder than it had any right to be, even for late autumn. A pile of leaves, collected at the foot of a tree, rustled and began to whirl around like a tornado. Jade's head began to spin; she clung on to the nearest streetlight pole to steady herself. She didn't want to fall to the ground. She knew what was coming, she had experienced it before. She couldn't let herself be found slumped on the ground in front of him.

Suddenly, the leaves picked up speed and all turned crimson. Dust joined in in the swirl and a draft began to blow. The elements bundled into an eddy of blood red and orange, then exploded, the leaves and dirt flying around in all directions. A man now stood next to the tree. He wore a well-ironed matt red tuxedo and a black shirt underneath. A white tie added an extra splash of colour to his attire. In his right hand he carried a cane that bore a skull for a handle. It was sleek black, save for one scarlet line running down its length that matched the colour of his tux. He rapped it on the ground as he proceeded towards Jade, but didn't seem to be using it for support.

'Hello, Jade,' he said heartily, raising a gloved hand. Jade, however, didn't shake it. She kept to herself, not wanting anything to do with this fiend.

'Whatever it is, I don't want any of it.'

'Ever so cold, Jade. A little niceness won't kill you, you know.'

'No, but you might.' Then, shaking her head, 'What do you want, Samael?'

'A favour.'

'Nope. No more deals with the devil. No more bullshit that I'll surely lose out on.'

'That's why I'm giving you your soul back – so you won't lose.' Jade had sold her soul to Samael years ago in exchange for his help in fighting tuberculosis of her lymph nodes. She learnt that she should have just taken her chances on her own the hard way.

'Why, so you can just take it again? I'll pass, thanks. Besides, I'm doing just fine without it.'

'Are you, Jade? Are you really?' Samael waved his hand through the air, causing yet another cold draft. Jade's body shivered and doubled over itself, but somehow, she avoided falling to the ground. Slowly, her skin peeled back to reveal a fleshless skeleton, with mere sockets for eyes and no nose.

'I wouldn't really call this doing just fine,' he mocked. 'You're scheduled to die, you know. Reaper's been notified and everything.' Samael feigned pity and worry. 'I could delay that though. Give you a few more years.'

'Again, pass.' Samael clenched his fist in fury. Jade began to choke, even though he hadn't made any physical contact. 'Go ahead, kill me,' she managed through forced breaths.

'You never were too bright, Jade,' he sneered. 'You've been dead for a long while. Your sister, Catherine, though. Well she's quite the other, isn't she? I could visit her with the snap of my fingers.' Samael raised his hand and pushed his middle finger and thumb together.

'What do I need to do?' She'd fallen for the devil's snare once more.

Suddenly, Jade could breathe freely again.

'Knew you'd come around!' With that happy remark, Samael set the street right, and gave Jade her human appearance back too. 'But telling you is much too hard. Let me show you instead.' Samael conjured a ball of red smoke and sent it hurtling towards Jade's chest. When it reached her, no physical damage took place, but her mind had become permanently unhinged.

A powerful lust for a strange woman flowed through her, making her feel a passion like no other. She had thick locks and mesmerising green eyes. Her body swayed perfectly in time with the wind, as her chocolate brown hair swept across her face, the sunlight creating a glistening interplay of glowing wisps. Around her neck, she wore a tiny, rusted key that had some words engraved on them. Jade couldn't quite make out what exactly they were. Her whole world was centred around this person she couldn't even remember seeing, let alone actually meeting. But then it all came crashing down. Love turned to angst. Passion, to hatred. Jade screamed in pain, but her body stayed still. There was no relief after the pain. Torture, worse than before came bearing down on her. When it was done, all it left was a gaping hole, leaving her with nothing but a feeling of hopelessness and despair. Just before it ended though, the key appeared again – this time, ablaze.

At that moment, Samael called the smoke ball back to him, and touched it to his head, the ball disappearing once again. Jade gasped for fresh air, bending over and grasping the pole for support. It felt as if her guts had been ripped out, poked holes in, then stuffed back in – all within a second.

'What the fuck was that?'

'My memories. A few of them. Just the ones I needed you to see for you to understand.'

'That woman, she meant something to you, didn't she?'

'Yes. I suppose you could say that.'

'But then she left you?'

'She left me, yes. She left me and took everything from me. Even my ability to grieve for my losses.' Silence ensued, both unsure of what to say next. But then Jade remembered,

'And the key? I saw it repeatedly. What does that mean?'

'Good job, Jade! Good job! You cracked the case.' Suddenly, Samael was all jumpy. 'The key is what you have to get. Go to Sammirah and get back my key.' Jade assumed Sammirah was the woman she had seen.

'Why can't you get it yourself?'

'Let's just say it's a little bit out of my reach.'

'That's not enough. If you want my help, you're going to have to tell me everything.'

Evidently aware that he had no other option, Samael began with a grudging, fine.

'After our dispute, Sammirah took a few of my magical artefacts, the key included, and ran away. When I found out, I went to confront her about it and to take back my things. However, she used their power against me, and came very close to killing me. I barely managed to get out of there alive, but still demanded my property back. Her response was to set up powerful magical barriers all around herself that prevent me from coming within fifty meters of her.'

Jade laughed, 'So you got your ass handed to you and then got a restraining order. Real smooth.'

'Shut it.'

'What's so special about this key, anyway?'

'I need it to keep up my end of a deal. If I don't deliver it, I could be in a lot of trouble.'

'I'll never understand how your world works. All this fuss over a small, rusted key?'

'Not your world, our world. We inhabit two sides of the same world, Jade. Whatever happens in one heavily influences the other.'

'Yeah, yeah whatever. How do I get to this Sammirah?'

'Finding her is the easy part. Getting the key from her is the hard bit. You'll have to be sharp, cunning, agile, and smart to get past that girl.'

'You're still in love with her, aren't you?'

'No, Jade. I am not. Now, if memory serves, which it does, you obtained certain magic powers when you traded your soul, did you not?'

'One or two, yeah.'

'Good. You haven't neglected them entirely, have you?'

'No. They've helped from time to time. But mostly I've kept them suppressed.'

'Well, it's time for you to show them the light of day once more. You can't face Sammirah without magic – that would be suicide.'

Samael began to walk in the opposite direction to which Jade was going, leaving her no choice but to follow. All this trouble over little Katie. That girl had always been a pain in the ass.

'Now, unlike a lot of us inherently magical beings, Sammirah likes to dwell in this side of the realm, posing as a normal human. She owns a liquor store down the street – '

'The Whisky Garden?'

'You know it?'

Jade nodded. 'I've been there once or twice. But that was a long time ago. A bottle hasn't touched these lips in years.'