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  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.

  Incubus Among Us #2

  Chapter 1

  Sunday morning. A day of worship and rest, but in my case it was a day of tension and unease. I awoke in my bedroom without having experienced a dream of that myth of a man, but I still felt troubled. On the nightstand sat the locket. My link to this strange nightmare my life had become. I sat up and clasped it in my hands. The gold glistened brightly in the early morning sun that cascaded through the windows. I had to admit the trinket was beautiful, just like the man who gave it to me.

  I frowned. "He's not a man, he's a monster. . ." I muttered. He was the one who flustered me to distraction and who made me hide things from my best friends.

  I clasped the locket in one hand and chucked it across the room. It should have collided with the wall, but about two yards from me it stopped and hovered three feet off the ground. My eyes widened and I ducked when the locket spun around and flew back to me. It landed with a soft plop on the folds of the covers between my legs. I cracked open an eye and peeked at the object. It lay harmless on the bed and its front face stared at me as innocent as any other inanimate object.

  I slid off the bed, careful not to disturb the possessed thing, and crept backward toward the door. The locket trembled and slowly slid across the covers toward me. I gasped, spun around and flung myself through the entrance, slamming the door shut behind me. There was a soft clank as the locket knocked against the wood door. I stepped back and wiped my brow. I was safe from the devil trinket.

  That is, until the locket went through the door like a ghost and landed in my hand that I held across my brow. I yelped and dropped the cursed item onto the floor. My feet beat a hasty retreat to the other side of the couch, but the locket slid along the floor behind me. It was a frantic game of tag as the locket chased me first around the couch, then the coffee table, the chair, and finally into the kitchen where the demonic thing cornered me against the cupboards. I glared at it, and its decorative face stared back at me with metallic indifference.

  "What the hell do you want from me?" I growled. Still the locket remained quiet, but I jumped a foot in the air when there came a knock on the door.

  I slid out of the corner and around the locket to the door. The locket slid after me, always keeping a short distance of two yards behind me. I peeked through the peep hole and saw Tiffany on the other side. She had a puzzled and concerned expression on her face.

  I opened the door and gave her a shaky smile. "Um, you're up early," I commented. Sunday was when my friend rested for most of the morning before she dragged herself out of bed in the afternoon.

  There were black pouches under her eyes that she tried to wipe away. "I couldn't sleep through your running and yelling. What the hell's going on in here?" She tried to look around me, but I leaned left and right to block her vision. The locket still lay on the ground.

  "Um, nothing. Just-um, just getting some exercise," I told her.

  Her eyes squinted at something behind me and she pointed at the floor. "What's that?"

  I cringed and slowly looked over my shoulder. Yep, she pointed at the locket. "That? Um, that's just a-um, a family heirloom. You know, just a piece of junk." I snatched it off the floor and stuffed it into my pocket. That is, until I remembered I was still in my pajama shirt and had no pockets, so I hid it behind my back.

  Tiffany folded her arms across her chest and glared at me. "Uh-huh, it looked like a locket, and I'm pretty sure it was heart-shaped."

  I sheepishly chuckled. "Um, maybe?"

  She held out her hand palm-upward. "Let me see it."

  "Um, maybe that isn't such a good idea," I argued. I didn't know what would happen if somebody else touched the object of heart-shaped evil. They could be sucked into a portal that led to an alternate dimension where up was down and down was somewhere in Kansas.

  "Liz, hand it over," she ordered me.

  I sighed. "Your funeral. . ." I muttered as I held the locket out by the chain.

  Tiffany snatched it from me and I was relieved not to have to panic about an inter-dimensional portal. She studied the face and back, and her fingers slid over the priceless jewels. Her voice was low and held an air of awe in the tone. "Where'd you get it?" she asked me.

  "Um, pawn shop?" I squeaked.

  Her disbelieving eyes flickered up to me. "You said it was an heirloom," she reminded me.

  I slumped my shoulders and sighed. "Fine, it was that weirdo."

  Her fingers clasped the edges of the two parts and she tugged. It stuck. "How do you get it open?" she asked me.

  "Um, it's easy. Here, let me show you." I eagerly snatched the locket from her before she sucked herself into a portal of hell and tried to pry the locket open with one weak, pathetic tug. As I expected, it didn't budge but I wasn't disappointed. "Well, it looks like it's stuck. I'll have to get back to you on getting it open." I hid the locket behind my back and grasped the edge of the door in my other hand. "Now shouldn't you be getting some sleep? You look like you stayed up all night."

  Tiffany ran a hand through her hair and winced when her fingers caught on tangles. "Yeah. I tried going partying without you and kind of got carried away. Next time I'll just drag your butt with me, boyfriend or no boyfriend."

  No boyfriend, but she wasn't going to believe me. "Sounds great, we should do that soon. Bye." I closed the door nearly on her nose and leaned my back against the entrance. The locket in my hand shifted, and I held it out and glared at the possessed thing. "You're really trying to get me in trouble," I hissed.

  It stared at me with that innocent act, and I tightly cl
asped it in my hand and marched into the bedroom. I tossed on my clothes, grudgingly stuffed the evil thing into my pocket, and snatched a slip of paper from beside my computer. It held the address for the tarot card woman. I would see what she could tell me about this evil locket and my unnatural, wanna-be boyfriend.

  I took the directions from Google and it led me to the older part of the business district where the buildings were one story tall and made of brick. They were lined up wall-to-supporting-wall with a few buildings separated by small alleys and parking lots large enough to hold one Hummer and a Volkswagen Beetle. The business signs were faded and the clientele glanced at my car as though they were assessing the value of the wheels. The neighborhood gave me second thoughts about parking, but the locket chain that stabbed me in my thigh pushed me onward to answers.

  I found the building that the tarot business occupied, and naturally, the address was assigned to the basement. On the side of the building were narrow, concrete stairs that led down to the basement door. I reluctantly left my vehicle and walked down to the entrance, a metal door with a few words of advertisement.

  "Madam Curie's Curiosities and Catering," I whispered. I snorted. Yeah, that sounded legit.

  A doorbell sat in the wall, and I pressed it. The sound of chimes wafted through the door, and in a moment the entrance swung open to reveal a small, strange woman. She was a half-foot shorter than my short height and her silver-brown hair was bundled up in a knot atop her head in a perfect mimic of a turban. Her age was around sixty, and her hands were wizened by cooking and her face wrinkled by time. A brightly-colored shawl sat on her wide shoulders, and she wore a black dress that reached to the floor. A dollop of flour covered the front of her dress.

  Her beady eyes looked at me over spectacles. "Yes?" she snapped.

  "I was looking for Madam Curie. Is this the place?"

  The woman scrutinized me with a more careful eye. "Maybe. What's wanted?"

  "I was wanting to know what she could tell me about this." I pulled out the locket and held it out to her.

  The woman's eyes widened and she started back. "Where did you find such a thing?"

  "It was-um, it was a gift, sort of, but I think there's something-well, spiritually wrong with the locket. And maybe the guy," I added.

  The woman stepped aside and gestured to a darkened room behind her. "Come in quickly!" she hissed.

  Chapter 2

  I scooted inside and she slammed the door behind me. The room was small and square with a few waiting chairs to the right. The only natural light came from the long, narrow windows high up the walls opposite the door, but the light was muted by black lace curtains. A single lamp hung over us and cast a weak, sickly glow over the room. I couldn't imagine a better-suited funeral parlor.

  I turned to my hostess who shuffled over to a curtained doorway to our left. "Are you worried that this thing is dangerous?" I asked her.

  She snorted. "No, it's because that thing's worth a fortune and if anybody around here saw you with it you wouldn't be with it for long," she quipped. She gestured for me to follow, and I let her lead me deeper into the bowels of the-kitchen.

  The adjoining room was a small, modern kitchen filled with stainless-steel appliances and shiny sinks. Bright lights above us shone like the noonday sun, and everything sparkled with county and state-mandated cleanliness. The island counter in front of us was covered with baking ingredients such as flour and sugar, all ready to mix into some tasty concoction.

  "Don't mind the mess, I was just making a wedding cake," the woman explained.

  "So you're really Madam Curie?" I guessed.

  "I'm not Signor Zorro," she cackled.

  Madam Curie guided me past the island and around the perimeter of the kitchen to a rear of the basement. Here was another small room and the decor was like the waiting room, complete with black-cloth covered round table and a deck of cards. Two chairs sat opposite one another. Curie took the far one and gestured to the other.

  "Please take a seat and tell me exactly how you came to have that very special locket," she requested.

  "Well, there was this guy in an alley who was hurt, so my friend and I helped him-" She raised a hand to stop me.

  "What sort of man was he?"

  "Um, incredibly handsome and had a strange allure to him," I admitted.

  "I see. Continue."

  "Well, we took him back to our apartment building-"

  "That was your second mistake," she quipped.

  I blinked at her. "And what was the first?"

  "Helping the gentleman. Supernatural fiends will bite the hand that helps them," she told me.

  I frowned at her. "Do you really even believe this locket here is supernatural or possessed or whatever? I mean, you're not just listening to me to get my money?" I questioned her.

  She glared at me. "Of course I believe you, but as for money this isn't going to be a cheap reading."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

  Curie tapped the face of the locket. "This locket and the man you met, like all supernatural creatures, have thrown off your life balance. I can see it as clearly as you can see these tarot cards."

  I pointed at the dark cards. "I can't really see those that well in all this darkness."

  She snatched the cards from the table top and slid them into her lap. "That was a figure of speech."

  "You mean a comparison?" I corrected her.

  "Whatever. Be that as it may, there's no telling what card will come up and how it should be interpreted, and I'll have to call on the spirits with all my energy. That could wear me out, and I might not manage to make that cake today. If that costs me, then it costs you," she informed me.

  "How much?" I asked her.

  A grin slid onto her lips and she leaned toward me. Even in the dim light I could see her teeth were stained yellow and her breath was horrible. "How much are you willing to pay to be released from this bad aura I see around you?"

  "I see your point. When can you start reading my fortune?" I asked her.

  "We shall perform it now. I have heard and seen enough to know it is a handsome incubus who stalks your dreams and waking hours." She placed the cards back on the table and shuffled them. "We shall see what the cards tell us about your dilemma, and what can be done."

  Madam Curie drew three cards and placed them face-up on the table in a single row. I didn't recognize any of them, but there were names at the top: Empress, Lovers, and Emperor. Madam Curie pursed her lips together and touched each of the cards.

  "The Empress is yourself, and the Lovers shows you have met a man of strong will, the Emperor," she explained.

  "Great, but how do I divorce myself from the Emperor?" I questioned her.

  "Patience. There's no patience in these younger generations," she mumbled. She drew three more cards and placed them beneath the first group. They were the Wheel of Fortune, the Hermit, and the Star cards. Curie shook her head. "This is not good, not good at all."

  My heart rate jumped from the level of couch potato to Olympic sprinter. "What is it? What's wrong?"

  She tapped each of the cards as she explained their meaning. "The Wheel of Fortune shows a change in your fate, and the Hermit represents you fighting the change as you seek seclusion from the Emperor. The Star card demands that you accept your fate and show trust in the Emperor."

  I leaned back and my face twisted into disbelief. "That doesn't look like a way to get out of this mess," I pointed out.

  Her eyes flickered up to mine and her lips pursed tightly together. "The next few cards shall tell us if there is a way to escape your fate." She pulled out three more cards from the deck. My eyes widened when I beheld the black Death card.

  I pointed at the mark of death. "What the hell is that doing there? Put that one back!" I demanded.

  She shook her head. "What is done cannot be undone. The cards have spoken and given you these two paths." She touched the card that sat one one end of the three. Its name was Judgment. "This is y
our fate if you choose to accept whatever life the incubus has offered you, and this-" she tapped the Death card that lay at the opposite end of the row, "-is your other path."

  I threw up my arms. "Come on! There's got to be more choices than that!" I nodded at the third card, one with the name of Hierophant. It sat to between the two other cards, and showed a dark-cloaked man with the hat of the pope. "What about that one? Maybe that one can get me out."

  Curie touched the card and sighed. "I am afraid not. This is the instrument of your death. It signifies a tradition that incubus be dealt with like any other demon."

  My mind hearkened back to the church and the men in dark cloaks. "I'm screwed," I whispered.

  "That depends on which path you choose," Curie argued.

  I tilted my head and glared at her. "You just told me I'm fighting against an unstoppable fate where the only two options are damnation and death. I don't really consider either of those options to be the best."

  "We all die sometime," she philosophically replied.

  "Yeah, but not because some crazed priests are going to kill you!" I argued.

  Curie raised an eyebrow and tapped the Hierophant. "Then you know what this danger is, and can avert death, at least for a while, but he cannot be cheated forever."

  "I'm not trying to do this forever, just for another sixty to eighty years," I told her.

  She picked up the cards and placed them back in the deck. "That will not be easy when the Emperor pursues you with all the powers of a persistent dream," she pointed out.

  I stood and Curie followed suit. "Well, I'm going to try to keep both Emperor and Hierophant off my back until Death comes knocking for me," I insisted.

  She looked at me with all the pity of one who believes the person they're looking at is a complete idiot. "Then all I can do is wish you luck, and give you this." She pulled the Wheel of Fortune card from the deck and held it out to me. "Perhaps it will lead you to a better fate the cards did not deign to reveal."

  I took the card and clutched it against my chest. "So you think it's possible I can get out of this mess?"