Whoa.What was once a crappy apartment with dated counters and ratty carpet was now a completely renovated office building kitchen. The back wall that used to lead outside to the hallway was all glass, and I saw rows and rows of cubicles. I opened the portal larger to peer around and noticed no one seemed to be there. The kitchen layout was oddly the same, but now had white marble counters and sleek gray floors.
Opening the portal fully, I slipped through and closed it behind me. If anyone walked in, I would say that I was lost and here for a meeting.
Yes. Brilliant.
Letting out a shaky breath, I turned in a circle to get my bearings. It seemed like I was in an advertising firm. There were posters of ads for all different types of products and services tacked up on the walls: a dating app, a lawyer’s office, Gillette razors, Tropicana orange juice, and other various grocery store products. Off the kitchen was a lounge with seating where Sam’s living room used to be.
“Sam,” I whispered, feeling stupid all of a sudden for thinking a ghost would linger for eighteen years at the place of their death. I knew it was unlikely, but I was desperate.
“Sam, you can trust me,” I said, hearing voices approach. I crouched and hid behind the kitchen island just as two businesswomen passed the wall of glass chatting animatedly.
After they were out of sight, I looked around, staring at what was once the door to Sam’s bedroom.
A little sign that readStorage Closetmarked the door and I frowned.
She died in there and the people here probably had no idea. This entire building had been gutted but I wondered… did her soul cling to this place like some people in the movies did when they haunted something?
Standing, I crossed the space and put my hand on the knob.
Here goes nothing.
I reached inside and flicked on the light, which illuminated floor-to-ceiling shelves. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. Disposable coffee cups, lids, plastic forks, copy paper, Bic pens. This place was full of everything an office would need and nothing I needed.
“Sam, where are you?” I snarled to the empty room in frustration. “I need to know where Harley is!”
“I left her at the Shade Compound doorstep with a note,” a familiar female voice said behind me and I nearly jumped three feet into the air. When I spun and my gaze landed on the ghostly form of Sam, I nearly melted with relief.
“Uh, hey?” I said.
Sam was wearing clean clothes and her hair was pinned into a neat bun. She wore a sad smile but looked surprisingly healthy and oddly content. Her eyes were unfocused though, staring at a spot over my shoulder rather than looking at me. I checked behind me, but there was nothing there.
“She was so… clean and fresh. I didn’t want to mess her up, and I didn’t want that monster to have her either.” Sam sniffled and wiped her nose. “So, I left her on the doorstep of the Shade Compound with a note that said she was a Watcher named Harley.”
My stomach dropped. She left her at a Shade Compound where? Would it have killed her to have left Harley on the doorstep of the Lumen Compound?
“In Los Angeles?” I asked, and Sam nodded, her gaze finally drifting to me.
“On Baxter Street.” She played with the hem of her sweater, seemingly oblivious to the fact that we were chatting away like normal.
I filed that information away. A Shade Compound in LA on Baxter Street. Good. She might not still be there, but it was a place to start. With any luck, Harley was still living in Los Angeles.
I scanned Sam from head to toe. Her soul looked like it was in pretty good shape, not full of holes or anything.
“Are you safe here? Do you need my help?” I asked her.
I wasn’t sure what I could do to help, but I couldn’t have Apollyon find Sam’s soul and question her. After trying to kill me two weeks ago and realizing he needed Harley, he had to be searching for Harley as well, and he already had a head start. I doubted he would think to look for Sam here though, so that gave me a little hope.
Sam looked confused. “No, I’m fine. Lots to keep me busy here at work. Jenny from accounting is having a little girl, did you hear?”
Oh. She thought she worked here? She must have watched these people day in and day out and overheard their stories, using them for entertainment. It was clear she wasn’t all there in the head, but she seemed safe and relatively happy. Maybe I could help her later, get her to Tartarus or something once I found it? I didn’t know or understand the rules about Watcher souls other than there were only Lumens in Avalon. But Shades’ souls had to go somewhere, right? I assumed Tartarus was neutral ground.
“I’ll try to help you later, okay, but now I gotta go,” I told her.
She nodded but didn’t really seem to care. “Yeah, just be back for lunch. It’s Janet’s birthday and we got cake.”
I thought of her crowding around the staff here at work and watching them sing “Happy Birthday” to Janet while she clapped and smiled, and it broke my heart. As if I needed another thing on my to do list, I’d have to help Sam.
One day.
