Black Panther Shorts

The Bookstore Pt. 6

Erik felt uneasy on the way to your apartment. His chest became tight when he put his key into your door. And his heart shattered when he saw that you weren't there and the mess that had been left in your absence.

"Cousin. Where is she, she must've gone to work?" Shuri inquired quietly.

"And left her phone? Probably not, sister." T'Challa picked up your phone and looked at it skeptically before handing it to Erik who was stuck by the door of your apartment. He knew you didn't have work today, and that you planned to spend the night at home with your friend.

Erik sniffed into the air and a certain scent lead him down the hallway where he stomped into your bedroom to find Tammi searching your desk frantically. He pounced on her wrapping his hand around her throat tightly.

"Where is she." His eyes completely black and his veins more prominent than ever. His fangs slid into place as he lifted her up by her throat. Tammi's eyes widened in fear she slapped his wrist begging him to let go.

"Pu-please." She gasped out. Erik's hand tightened, why should he let her have air if he can't find you?

"Cousin she can't give us any answers if you kill her. She may actually know where she is." T'Challa calmly placed his hand on Erik's tense shoulder. Erik growled and contemplated what his cousin said, then he became angry again at the fact that he had to do this in the first place because he didn't know where you were.

"Erik." A voice came from the girl, but it wasn't struggling for air. And he wasn't sure it was her voice.

"Erik, put me down." The voice stated again. The girl was calm in Erik's hold and was not making any movements that signaled that she was being strangled. Soon the voice sounded familiar to the cousins.

"Moira?" Shuri asked.

The girl smiled brightly at Shuri. Her eyes turned a bright green.

"Shuri, my favorite Udaku." The girl gave Erik a pointed look. Erik sheepishly put the girl down and backed away. The girl went to hug Shuri, then T'Challa, finally coming back around for Erik. She stood in front of him quietly, then raised her hand to gently caress the side his face. He flinched at the contact.

"You don't seem happy to see me." She stated softly. He stared at her with hard eyes then nodded. "Why not?"

"Well first of all my girl is missing and I find her 'friend' in her bedroom, rifling through her shit. Next you do whatever little witch thing you do and take over her body. And the last time I saw you, you told me the next time I see you would be the last. So no. I'm not happy to see you right now." He shrugged her hand off of him.

"Tammi is a cousin of mine, that is how I am able to talk to you through her. And I'm sorry, but my time her has come to an end. I am moving on to the ancestral plane, which is why you see Tammi and not me. But I needed to come back so I could tell you where Vee is. I will leave any knowledge I have about everything with Tammi, she is already a practicing witch, but she is new so bare with her." Moira said quietly.

Erik scoffed.

"Look right now I'm not too concerned with Vee unless he has her." Moira looked away from him when he said that. Erik paused and watched her movements.

"Nah, nah. He doesn't have her cause that would have been the first thing out ya mouth." Erik stared at Moira angrily.

"Listen Tammi will help you find her. I gave her everything. The coordinates that she found are the ones that YN took." Moira held out her hand, Shuri took the papers from her and walked away analyzing the information. "They will lead you what you need to kill him. But be careful, because what could be the undoing of him, could kill you too." She warned the cousins looking at T'Challa specifically.

"T'Challa, you must be the one to end this. Don't let Erik's rage, take your opportunity to finish this. It's not his place." Moira gently held T'Challa's hand and he bowed his head against hers nodding quietly.

"Thank you for everything Moira, we are forever grateful." T'Challa stated he squeezed her hand again.

Moira moved onto Shuri, and they exchanged a few words in their goodbye. Moira placed a soft kiss on Shuri's forehead and then wiped her tears.

Moira stepped up to Erik last, and he immediately backed away. When she came close again, Erik moved away again.

"You are just wasting time my friend." Moira stated quietly, Erik sighed and wrapped her in a hug. She pulled away slightly and place her hand back on his cheek.

"You'll need to save her before T'Challa can kill Vee. The ring that is around her neck is essential to the weapon that needs to be formed." Moira's voice quieted down a bit. "Remember, I'll always be there for you. And one day we will meet again. I promise." Erik's heart broke when he saw her eyes shift back to dark brown. Tammi stared at the three cousins in sadness.

"I'm sorry for your loss. Moira wanted me to help you however I can." Tammi stated softly.

"It's okay, right now we need to find YN. I'm not sure how much longer Erik will stay this calm." Shuri stated sadly, her voice hoarse as she tried to stop crying.

Tammi glanced at Erik and took a step back, her hand softly touching the forming bruise from where Erik had choked her. Erik rolled his eyes and walked out of your bedroom. Leaving the rest of them behind.

"We need to split up." He called over his shoulder. "Two of us go for YN and the other two go for the weapon." He reached the living room and waited for everyone to show up. He looked at Tammi. "So where is Vee." She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a knock at your front door. Erik spun around to glare at it. No one spoke, so the voice on the other side rang out.

"YN come on, you've been avoiding me for weeks. If you wanted to break it off the least you could have done was do it in person. Instead avoiding me like a little bitch." Jason spat angrily, your avoidance was keeping him from his money.

Erik swung the door open, his smile was frightening, the veins around his eyes began to tighten signaling that he was looking very inhuman.

"You got left behind boy. Tell us where you are supposed to meet them and I won't kill you." Erik hissed.

Jason looked frightened, he was only supposed to be a distraction. He met a man with eyes similar to Erik's in an alley a few months ago. The man paid him a generous amount of money to continue dating you and give him updates about what you were doing. Jason had no problems with that because he was seriously interested in you, until about a month ago, you stopped calling. The man made it very clear that Jason should be the only person you should be dating, so when you stopped calling he became more proactive in the relationship. Two days ago he received a text that told him to take you on a date to Almonds a new restaurant out in the suburbs. When $500 hit his account he asked no questions just set a reminder to pick you up.

"I-I don't know what you are talking about. I just got a text to take her out to Almonds. Please don't hurt me." Erik smiled in response.

"Thank you for your help, it means-" T'Challa stopped talking as soon as Erik snapped Jason's neck.

"Was that necessary?" Shuri spoke up.

"Well he did call her a bitch so I'm surprised he didn't do it sooner." T'Challa responded and calmly stepped over Jason's lifeless body.