Darkens the Stars of Providence Read online

  She crawled out of the sleeping-bag with a deep sigh and rolled it up. The moisture made it feel like a sponge. She opened the trunk of her car and tossed it inside.

  Lance and Slava were still deep asleep inside the house.

  "Wake up you two, it's time to leave this shit hole."

  Slava cursed in Russian and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his own eyes. Lance rolled over to go back to sleep.

  "Oh, no you don't," she said as she pounced on his side, to tickle him through the sleeping-bag.

  The poking forced him to give in and open his eyes.

  "I'm up," he said. "Fuck you, I'm up!"

  She walked back outside to smoke a cigarette as the two of them got ready.

  When everyone was ready to head out, she said, "First order of business is coffee."

  "Agreed," said Lance. "We'll stop at the first gas station."

  "Where are we headed now?" Kandice asked.

  "North," Slava said. "Same as yesterday. North."

  The vague response struck a nerve stronger with each day, but Lance insisted he was also in the dark on the game plan.

  They each got in a Mustang and drove down the long gravel road. Perfect timing too as there was a truck out in the field heading towards the house. A few minutes slower and the truck would have been at the door.

  * * *

  It was a little after 8:00 AM when the Welcome to Wichita sign appeared on the shoulder. They stopped at a gas station not too far from the farm to fill up the cars and get coffee. Kandice's back was still tight from sleeping on the porch, but the coffee helped with the tension.

  Lance turned on his blinker, and Kandice followed with Slava behind to exit the highway. The city was like many others Kandice had seen on the trip, with buildings sprawling out in every direction—none taller than two stories.

  An independent run motel near the exit, offered rooms for $59 a night and a parking lot not suitable for a Mustang. The property appeared to be a ghost town with only three cars parked in front of rooms. The dilapidated exterior of the front office made it clear it would not be a great place to take up residence.

  Kandice rolled down her car window as Lance walked over.

  "I need you to book two rooms," he said. "Slava and I don't want to leave a record."

  This had been a major point of discussion since leaving Austin. Slava and Lance used fake identification everywhere, provided by the Council. With the Council cutting them off, they were down to the identities from the Austin job, and couldn't afford to use them except in a pinch. This left Kandice responsible for using her ID any time they needed to show identification.

  Stepping out of the car she asked, "When are you going to get new IDs?"

  "We're not sure. Our friends in New York might help, but Slava thinks it's too risky to contact them right now."

  Kandice walked straight towards the front office, with Lance behind her.

  I never should have left Austin.

  The loud chime of the lobby door startled her.

  A young woman emerged from a back office. "Hello. How many rooms?"

  "Two please."

  "Do you want a King or double queen?"

  "One of each."

  "Yes ma'am," the woman said, and clicked away at the computer for a couple minutes. "That'll be, $126.85."

  Kandice pulled out her wallet and handed the lady cash. The problems with the Council needed to find a resolution, before the reserve of cash from the gold Slava created in Austin ran out. Only another annoyance to add to the list of reasons she should have stayed there.

  The woman handed back four cards in two paper sleeves, and the change, "That's room 9 and 11," and pointed to Kandice's left.

  "Thank you."

  Outside, Kandice handed Lance a set of cards, "That was lucky. I figured she would ask for everyone's IDs."

  "Not at a place like this," he said. "They expect illegal activity and know people don't want their IDs on file. I wanted you to book the rooms just in case."

  The pot holes in the parking lot required tedious driving to get the Mustangs in front of the correct rooms. After getting settled in, Kandice stood in front of her room smoking even though the rooms allowed it.

  Lance came out of the room next door, "Slava's going to take a nap. He's not feeling well."

  "Is he okay?" she asked, flicking the butt to the ground and stomping it out.

  A nap sounded wonderful, but it was a pipe dream.

  "He'll be fine. Want to check out this town?"

  "Sure," she said. "I doubt there's much to see though."

  A quick phone search showed a Walmart was a little further down highway 400.

  * * *

  Despite being early on a tuesday morning, the Walmart parking lot was full of cars.

  "What the fuck are all these people doing here?" Kandice asked.

  Lance pulled down a lane of parking spots looking for an open one.

  "I guess they ran out of food," he said with a half-laugh.

  "Oh!" she pointed across the parking lot. "There's an IHOP. Let's go eat."

  "I could go for more coffee," he said.

  That made two of them.

  An older woman whose eyes screamed that she hated her life, sat them at a table. The IHOP was busy, but not packed. Just the right amount of people to create a light murmur in the air. A woman too pretty to be waiting tables approached them. With bright green eyes and dark hair, she had to be about the same age as Kandice.

  "Good morning. My name's Christy and I'll be your waitress. What can I get you two started with?"

  "I'll have coffee," Lance said.

  "Same here and a glass of orange juice."

  "I'll be right back with it," Christy scribbled down notes on her pad.

  "What are you going to eat?" Lance asked, looking over the menu.

  "Breakfast sampler. It's what I always get."

  He turned the menu over, "That looks good."

  Christy came back with the drinks and asked if they needed a moment to look the menu over. But they didn't, and both ordered the breakfast sampler. Christy wrote the orders down and told them it would be a few minutes because the kitchen was busy.

  "So, what's the plan?" Kandice asked.

  "We'll get food, walk around Walmart, and then go back to the motel. We could catch a movie later-"

  "-No, I mean what's the plan with us. Where are we headed?"

  "I know what you meant," he said. "Slava's not sure right now."

  "Fucking tell me about it." She leaned forward and whispered, "I thought we would hunt down Aether Walkers. Not sleeping in abandoned houses and shitty motels. I think I need to go back to Austin."

  Lance took a long drink from his coffee, "I know this isn't what I promised, but with the Council being pissed..."

  He paused as a waitress served the next table, "The Council is how we've always been able to stay on the move and not get caught. With them cutting us off, we're trying to get our friends to help. They have a long reach, and no one wants to go against the Council right now."

  "So, what do we do then?"

  "For now, we keep our heads down. Once we get to New York, we'll be able to get new IDs and head over to Ireland."

  "Then why aren't we driving to New York?"

  "It's complicated," he said and took another drink.

  The moment of silence stretched on. Kandice poured cream and sugar into her coffee, "Well?"

  "Our New York friends operate independently," he said. "They know nothing about Aether Walkers, only that the Council pays well and requires lots of new IDs."

  "So why not buy straight from them?"

  "They've made our IDs for years, so they know us, but we've never met face to face. It's difficult to get a hold of them. We're trying to get one of our Irish friends to reach out on our behalf and set a meeting, but it's not going well. The Council has black listed us, and everyone is afraid to get involved, even to set a meeting with third parties."

  "Well fu
ck!"

  The people at the next table looked over, and Kandice returned a glare that made them look back at their food.

  "Exactly," he said. "Don't worry though. Slava will work it out. This isn't the first time he's been black listed."

  "That's a relief," she said, even though there was little confidence in Slava's abilities.

  Christy brought a tray of food to the table and placed it on a kickstand.

  "Thank you," they both said.

  "You're welcome," she said. "I'll come back with more coffee. Do you want more orange juice?"

  "No thank you," Kandice said.

  They ate in silence and when the check came, Kandice left thirty dollars and told Lance she didn't care about the change.

  * * *

  The Walmart parking lot was still full of cars, but they found a parking spot close to the entrance. Anything less than halfway down a row Kandice considered a good spot.

  "I'm so full," she said as the sliding front doors opened.

  "I don't know how you managed to eat all your pancakes," he said.

  "They were so good, but it might have been a mistake."

  To save time, they parted ways to find personal items. After twenty minutes of aimless wandering Kandice could think clearly again, and no longer had a stomach full enough to pop. Food had become the only pleasure left in life, and even that was bittersweet.

  Kandice turned out of the toy aisle, and before her was the smallest Aether Walker she'd ever seen, topping out at about four feet tall. Its scales were a technicolor blue the size of pebbles, with a long skinny tail and tiny claws it was amusing to watch it shop the center bins. The radiant purple eyes stood out the most. The Aether Walker mimicked a modern-day velociraptor aside from the flashy colors. At first glance it wasn't possible to identify the sex.

  The Aether Walker made its way into the home and kitchen section, and Kandice followed far enough back so as to not tip it off. Watching it shop as normal people do was bizarre. It side-eyed her while shopping in the pan selection. Kandice kept walking to slip down the next row, that way it would be less obvious but still in ear shot.

  Kandice pulled out her phone and sent Lance a text,

  Kandice: I found an Aether Walker.

  Lance: Where?

  Kandice: Over here in the Home and kitchen section.

  Lance: On my way.

  Old habits kicked in, and she switched the phone into camera mode, since the Aether Walker would show up as the human body it inhabited on film. With the phone kept close to her face—old fake reading ploy—she walked back down the aisle towards the Aether Walker, in hopes it would turn around. From behind it was a woman. As she turned around Kandice realized the young girl had to be only seventeen and snapped a photo to show Lance.

  Kandice continued down the aisle studying the phone screen to prevent any eye contact as her mind raced. This was the first time one so young had crossed her path. So many questions came to her, Lance or Slava had to know about this, with as long as they had hunted.

  Does this mean Aether Walkers are born instead of taking over human bodies?

  Lance walked towards her several aisles down, and she sped up to meet him halfway.

  "Did you know some are children?" Her eyebrows raised in surprise.

  "Slava mentioned it," he put his arm around her. "But I haven't seen one before. Where is it?"

  Kandice pointed behind her to where she had come from and unlocked her phone. Lance's expression remained neutral as she showed him the photo of the young girl.

  She lowered her voice and said, "We can't do anything. She's only 16 or 17."

  "The age doesn't matter, they're all dangerous."

  "How can you be sure?"

  Lance pulled her out of the main walkway and into an aisle of towels. He looked around to see if they were being watched.

  "We've seen them kill. That's all we need to know."

  Kandice shook her head, "Not all of them. Most that hunted in Austin left their prey alive. I don't think some of them even singled out prey."

  She realized, the last time an Aether Walker acted out of character she'd kept it to herself. "One night I followed an Aether Walker to an apartment complex because he had taken a drunk woman into his car. But, when they arrived, he was a complete gentleman. From helping her to the door to kissing her on the forehead good night. He left with no incident after the women went inside."

  It confused Kandice at the time, but it was nothing compared to seeing such a young Aether Walker.

  "Are you sure that's how it happened?"

  "Yes, I'm sure."

  Why is he questioning what happened?

  "Well, that changes things. Slava and I have always hunted the worst of the worst. So that might be why we've never seen an Aether Walker act with compassion."

  "So, we're agreed? We won't hurt this one."

  "I'm not promising," he looked away. "How about we follow her and see where she leads us?"

  "Deal!"

  Kandice grabbed his hand and led the way back towards the Aether Walker, but the aisle was empty.

  "Well, shit!" She walked to the end of the aisle and looked for any sign of it. "Let's split up and head towards the front."

  Lance nodded in agreement and headed away from her towards the left. She went the other direction, pulling out her phone again.

  Kandice: Text me when you find her.

  Lance: Ok. You too.

  She kept her eyes peeled as she made her way through the home section, searching for any sign of the Aether Walker. In the clothing section, Kandice thought she saw her slide behind a clothes rack. But at four-foot-tall all the racks were taller than her so it was hard to tell.

  Kandice tried to mosey through the clothing section without looking like she was searching for something. Every couple of racks she would stop, grab a garment, and pretend to examine it. When she made it to the underwear section, she saw her again.

  Kandice: Female underwear section.

  Lance: On my way.

  She wasn't taking any chances and kept about ten feet between them as she shadowed the Aether Walker, who made her way through the underwear section and headed towards the groceries.

  Kandice: Where are you?

  Kandice: We're almost to the canned food section.

  The Aether Walker pushed her cart into the canned food section, oblivious to the fact she was being followed.

  Kandice held back, at the end of the clothing section. Following the Aether Walker further would be too obvious. She noted to herself that it might just be her own paranoia of being hunted.

  Lance's training had heightened her awareness to her surroundings, and she kept an eye out for people following her. Even more so than when she had been hunting in Austin.

  Kandice: Where are you? I'm about to lose her.

  The Aether Walker was at the end of the canned food aisle. Kandice had no choice but to follow, or risk losing her again.

  She walked into the food aisle and looked behind her. Lance came jogging up the main walkway.

  As the Aether Walker turned out of the aisle, headed towards the meat section, they both slowed their pace. The girl strolled through the meat section picking up packages of steak and pork.

  Kandice found it surreal to watch an Aether Walker shop the way a normal human would.

  She leaned closer to Lance with her arm wrapped around his, "What do you think she needs the food for? I always thought they lived off human energy."

  "We've seen them eat people before. But they might be able to survive on animal meat."

  The Aether Walker was making her way out of the meat section and into groceries as they walked arm in arm towards the front of the store.

  Kandice slipped her arm free from Lance and took a half-step away, "If they can survive on normal food, why would they choose to eat humans?"

  "I have no idea, but that's why we have to kill them, even the young ones."

  "You promised."

  He looked
her straight in the eyes, "I told you we'd follow and see, and that's what we'll do."

  The Aether Walkers cart was close to full, more than enough to feed one person. She stopped at the first section of self-checkout registers.

  Lance and Kandice had nothing to buy. To avoid being obvious or give the Aether Walker a chance to spot them they went outside to wait.

  The parking lot bustled with people. Kandice moved to the far side of the building, into the smoking section. She lit a cigarette and puffed on it.

  The cigarette wasn't even half gone when the Aether Walker came out. Lance left to get the car, and she agreed to follow the Aether Walker. The plan was to get a photo of the Aether Walker's car and license plate. That way they could hunt her down at a later date if need be.

  The Aether Walker went straight out of the front doors, and down the first parking row. Lance's Mustang was in the row over, and he got into it as the Aether Walker stopped at the back of her SUV and popped open the back hatch.

  She loaded in bags of groceries. Kandice had her phone out waiting for an opening. She took the photo of the license in an instant and cut through the parking lot by squeezing through two parked trucks.

  Lance pulled up in the Mustang. Kandice climbed into the passenger seat and showed Lance the photo of the license plate.

  "Where's her car parked?"

  "Right on the row over," she pointed out of her window towards the SUV.

  Lance tried to push the car faster than 5 miles an hour, but pedestrians kept getting in the way. He had to maneuver around them as he turned right onto the Aether Walkers parking row. She had already pulled out of her parking spot, and Kandice pointed to her SUV leaving at the far end of the row. Lance launched the Mustang forward, swerving around a car as it tried to pull out, to catch up.

  The exit for the parking lot had a light, which gave them time to catch up. The light turned green, and they followed behind the SUV as it turned left onto the highway.