The Prison of Shadows by Joseph Lallo

Author:Joseph Lallo [Lallo, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

“Hello, Alan,” Angel said, delicately slicing off a piece of the fish cake on their plate.

“What are you doing here?” Alan said, accusation in his tone.

“Alan. That’s no way to talk to an old friend from… I’m sorry, where did you say you knew Alan from?” his mother said, sliding a still-sizzling fish cake onto a fresh plate.

“I am a professional friend. You remember me,” Angel reminded, or rather, instructed them.

“Right, right,” Alan’s father said with a wooden nod. “From work.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Fontaine, go inside and enjoy some television while I have a word with your son, please.”

His father turned and paced away. His mother, even through the supernatural influence, managed to linger long enough to scoop a double helping of coleslaw onto the plate and push it in front of Alan.

“There’s iced tea in the fridge,” she said on the way out the door.

“Ask for coffee,” Blot said.

It was too late for that, though. Both parents had wandered off as directed. Alan reached over and shut off the light, giving Blot a bit more freedom.

“Oh! They have one of those weird pod machines,” Blot said. “That’s fine, I’ll make my own then.”

As his shadow popped open cabinets in search of mugs, Alan took a seat across from Angel.

They had seemingly taken special care to more closely match the dress code of the other members of the bizarre white-suited faction they belonged to. Rather than the white jumpsuit, Angel wore a white polo shirt and white slacks. A long white coat hung on a hook by the door. It wasn’t the kind of white-on-white suit that Gabriel and Dina wore. It was more of a business-casual version of the attire.

“I believe you requested that I apply the wards you’d earned from us to your parents’ house. I did so.”

“… This house is warded now?”

“Yes! Both doors. I took special care in preparing the wards, so all the windows, first and second floor, should be covered as well.” They finally ate the bite of food on the fork. “This is very good, you know! A name like ‘fish cake’ conjures some sort of seafood pastry. This is much more appetizing than that.”

“There we are,” Blot said. A handful of little plastic pods drifted out of a cabinet. “What’s Kona blend?” she asked. “Is that like Jamaican?”

“It’s Hawaiian,” Alan said irritably.

“What does that mean?”

“It’s an island. It’s good coffee. Do you mind? I’ve got a situation here,” he said.

“Fine, then you’re not getting any,” Blot said.

“Your friend certainly makes herself at home, doesn’t she?” Angel said.

“She makes herself at home. I come here to find you in my parents' house! Eating their food!”

They scooped up some macaroni salad. “It was offered.”

“That much I can believe. The grim reaper wouldn’t be able to take Mom without getting a pile of potato salad out of the deal.” He took a breath. “But okay, fine. Tell me about this ward you used.”

Blot drifted over while the coffee was prepared. “I want to hear this too.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.