Raving Moon, Lords of the Night Book One

Chapter 1: The Wild

"That'll be fifteen dollars, brotha."

The driver eyed me through the rearview mirror for the tenth time. I nodded and smirked. Lost in my thoughts, I sat motionless in the back of the cab. The driver repeatedly glanced back as if he feared I might have vanished. His senses knew something was off even if he couldn't consciously put his finger on it.

He unlocked the doors, and I stepped out into the unseasonably humid night air. Pulling a twenty dollar bill from my wallet, I passed it through the window. He took the money tentatively, his hand shaking with nervous energy.  I held eye contact, willing him to relax.

"Keep the change, bro." I smiled, and tapped the top of the car. "You have a good night."

He took the livery out of neutral and drove to the stoplight with a smile on his face, discomfort forgotten. Shrugging out of my jacket, I slung it over my shoulder. Tie loose, I Undid my top button allowing some air to reach my neck. It didn't do much. The weather woman with the large brown eyes said we'd be in for a week of weather in the high eighties. It being October, most of us weren't ready for the heat. She'd tried to reassure her viewers by telling us New York was getting hit worse. I wiped my brow and tried to imagine people in NYC pulling their air conditioners out of storage. She was right, it did make me feel a little better.

I passed a pair of vacant lots, the remnants of demolished buildings still jutting out of the earth like the forgotten bones of giants long dead. Taking my time, I let the neighborhood show me its personality. Stygia was a collection of small communities divided by invisible borders and money. It was my beat, but there were some areas I steered clear of. Gorgon City was like that. There were places you visited, and those you avoided like the plague.

The air smelled of overturned soil, trash, and the threat of rain. In the distance a man shouted. If I tried hard enough, I could feel his fear. He was being chased and losing ground. The moon was half-full, wispy clouds hanging in the sky. With no breeze it looked like they'd come to stay.

I froze in my tracks as unease slithered around and over me. Despite the muggy weather, I shivered. Squeezing my hands into fists to stop them from shaking, I looked around, sure of approaching danger.

"Michèle." My name wafted through the air like smoke on the wind.

"Begone, Darkness! Your price will be paid by the full moon," I promised the spirit.

"What's owed is owed."

I spotted it, skulking through the tall unkempt grass of the lot. An inky black house cat with eyes of sparkling violet. It stopped in its tracks. Motionless, unbreathing, as if the spirit wasn't truly there. Yet I knew not to turn my back. One swipe of its umbra claws, and my soul would be ripped from my body. As long as I gave it my full attention the cat would stay its wrath.

"Give me what is mine, son of Ifa."

"In due time, Darkness. Begone from me, our contract is not yet up." I suppressed the urge to reach for the knife sheathed in my boot. Violence wouldn't save me.

The shadows roiled around the spirit, swelling until the air between us was a dancing black miasma. Through the dark haze I caught a glimpse of its true form, an obsidian lion with a mane of swaying serpents. It raised a paw, tipped with rows of three-inch talons. Holding back the encroaching fear, I stood my ground. To move was to court destruction.

"I understand. The price will be paid, the pact will not be broken." I said it ritualistic, kneeling and using the language of our deal as a lodestone.

The nightmare cat yawned, and evaporated, taking the living darkness with it. With the spirit's departure, a weight lifted off my shoulders. The cold feeling of unease gone, I could breathe again.