Uttuku

The Books of Darkness

by Robert N. Stephenson

Chapter 8

The Ta’ibah

Diana Arlyn is an author of gothic fiction best-sellers. A hard drinker with bipolar disorder, she falls in love with a mysterious woman, and the turbulent relationship draws Diana unwillingly into a legend.

Diana is haunted by questions: why did the woman pick her, of all people, and how can the Ta’ibah, the hunter of darkness, know so much about her? She is also haunted by the ghost of a dead author. She must find out what he wants, recover a lost book that belongs to someone who wants to kill her, and ultimately survive the darkness.

Someone recognized me. I fed from her and the recognition vanished along with reason and the will to live. I left the woman in the laneway beside the shopping centre, and slipped back into the colourless world of night. I left no marks, no indication of what I had done.

The woman would be found unconscious. In time she would die, never waking, never again having contact outside of the darkness I had left in her mind. Later, within the realm, The Dark One would bring her true death, deliver her into the abad.

The woman’s life energy strengthened me, deepened me, allowed me to walk in the lights of the streets for a time. It created a presence beneath the sun. By the rising of the moon I would again need to feed, to take the life light, the energy from a living being.

A dog or cat could suffice if all I needed to do was wait out the light, but I had more to do. I had to watch and I had to be seen watching. To know I watched would keep her vigilant, she would always be aware. I had other reasons, their full meaning dissolved through time. I also needed to know what the other woman meant to her. I felt something, a link between her and what I had to find. A link I hoped wasn’t true.

I’d found out where the Sarina’s human lived. I didn’t tell him I knew. Not yet. I stepped through darkness to her house in the hills. Easy when your vehicle is the night. Lights glowed through curtains, small portals in the light storm that had settled over the hills.

The rain fell hard. I watched the woman’s house from across the street, the single street light creating deeper shadows for me to hide in. The front light was on. Would she leave, come out in the bad weather?

The front light flickered before extinguishing. The ghost stepped through the front door and into the garden. He watched the door for a moment before fading, like colour washed away by the falling water. The woman opened the door, she held something. The front light blinked on. She looked frightened. She didn’t venture out. She went back inside.

The connection between this woman and the ghost was weak. I doubted she would know where the book was, maybe if I took her, devoured her light this would lead me to it? I decided to wait, play the human game of patience. She was important for other reasons. I needed to know why before acting.

I reached into the realm, touched the skeins of fabric, felt the slight vibrations of the night. This woman wasn’t the only connection The Dark One had made himself, there was another, a stronger one. Why hadn’t he told me? There were questions within the fabric, trickling down the threads like black blood through dead veins. The link between Sarina and this woman I had made years ago, and not for the reason they are joined now. The book was close, the feelings strong within this woman. Had she read it?

It took a simple step to stand in front of the house where I knew the book was. Life glowed within. I didn’t like waiting. I walked across the street, more street lights than the other location. A wall stopped me at the footpath. His wall.

“My way.” I heard his whisper through the trees that lined the street.

Proceed to Chapter 9...

This link goes to the book website.