Nicodemus lurked around the house. It had a large, shattered window in the front. His hand instinctively went down to his bandaged leg.
'Bitch' he thought. She had killed his sister, and she would pay. In his hand, he clutched a one way plane ticket.
Agatha awoke with a start. She had that nightmare, again. The one where Nicodemus stabbed her dog... no. Lucy had run away. She was a smart girl, and surely could make her way to the beach. Agatha took a shuddering breath to steady herself and stood. It was still dark, so she grabbed her phone and used its light to find her way to Penny's bathroom. She looked in the mirror and almost shrieked. She had bags under her bloodshot eyes. Her face was splotchy and her hair was matted with sweat. Her black eye was still there, vibrant as ever.
She carefully washed her face before going back to Penny's couch. As she sat down, her phone chimed. She slid it open and read the text. What she saw chilled her to the bone.
'I see you' and attached was a picture of herself, washing her face. It had been taken through the tiny window in Penny's bathroom. Agatha's hair stood on end and she walked to Penny's bedroom, taking care to avoid the bathroom. Every creak in the building made her jump. Every time the wind blew a stick on the window, she was sure that it was someone tapping the glass.
She looked up only to see that she was only about half way down the hallway. She swallowed, only now noticing how scratchy and dry her throat was. Since when was the hallway that long? She tucked her head and walked, not looking up. That was, until she ran face first into the door. Or, she thought it was the door. But it was soft. And breathing. Two firm hands grasped her shoulders.
Agatha looked up into two blood red eyes. She dropped her phone and screamed. She screamed as loud as she could. She screamed until Penny came running to the door. She screamed until Penny hit her attacker over the head with a lamp and he disappeared into shadow. Until Penny was holding her, and dialing Simons mobile. She screamed.
*ring ring*
Simon rolled in his sleep.
*ring ring*
He grumbled and sat up, feeling for his phone.
*ring ring*
Baz smacked his shoulder.
*ring ring*
He flipped open his phone, holding it to his ear.
*Simon!?*
"Penny?"
*Oh god Simon, someone was here, in my apartment! He tried to attack Agatha!*
"What!? Okay, just, are you guy's safe?"
*I don't know! -Sob- He's gone, but I don't think any of us are safe*
"Okay, get into your bedroom and lock all of the doors. Close the blinds and turn off the lights. We'll be there in a minute"
*Okay, -sob- just please hurry*
*click*
"Baz"
"Whaaaaaat"
"Get up, Penny and Agatha need help"
"Why do I need to go? Sounds like a you problem"
"You're the only one who can drive"
"Baz"
"BAZ"
"Baz *poke* Baz *poke* Ba-"
"Fine!"
Baz skidded into a parallel park. Simon caught him up as he drove, and he slowly started to accelerate the more he heard. He was eventually going at least 20 miles over, but thanks to luck, (and probably magic) he didn't get pulled over. The two ran to Penny's door. Baz unlocked it with an "open up!" and the two ran in. Simon ran down the hall to Penny's bedroom and knocked frantically while Baz searched the entire apartment. After a few well-chosen words, the door unlocked.
Penny was holding a large piece of glass, Agatha behind her with an iron. Penny dropped the glass when she saw Simon, opening the door and hugging him. Agatha breathed a sigh of relief, setting the iron back in Penny's closet. Simon walked in, looking cautiously at the broken pieces of lamp scattered about the floor. Baz joined them and they sat in a circle on the floor.
"So, what exactly happened?" Asked Simon after a minute. Penny looked at Agatha, who sighed tiredly. She rubbed her eye and started to recount the tale. Simon kept gnawing on his lower lip, a habit he did when he was worried that he'd never bothered to break. Baz stared at the floor in silence.
"Penny was amazing. She hit him with a lamp, and he just... disappeared" finished Agatha. At this Baz snapped his head up.
"Disappeared?" He asked, raising a dramatic eyebrow.
"Yeah, he just turned into shadows or something and was gone" explained Penny. The two held eye contact for a few moments, as if speaking without words. Finally Baz shook his head.
"Shadows? How is that even possible? He could've used you can't see me, but he would've just turned invisible, no shadows. And into thin air would've killed him, splitting his cells. And there still wouldn't have been shadows" he growled, getting frustrated. Simon laid a hand on his back, and he smiled tightly. Penny looked at the floor, thinking hard.
"Or..." she said quietly. "Or it could've been... dark magic"
If the room was quiet before, it was deadly now. It seemed like none of them were breathing. Simon shook his head.
"N-no. Dark magic is dangerous. Especially to the caster" he stuttered out, pupils dilated.
"And to infuse yourself with that much magic, to blacken your very atoms, it would be suicide" said Baz, staring at the ceiling with eyes full of curiosity and... Was that desire? (A/N: gulp) He closed them and shook his head.
"Well, whoever attacked you wasn't Nicodemus. He smells like booze and sweat. Whoever it was smelt like pine and dirt. I would bet it was one of his goons. Probably didn't want to dirty himself" he said, lifting his lip in a half-snarl.
"Well, at least we have a starting point" said Penny, clapping her hands together. Simon and Agatha looked at her, surprised.
"We do?" They said in unison. They laughed quietly looking at each other. Baz looked at Agatha and saw in her eyes freight and... was that desire? (A/N: double gulp)
Baz shook his head, frowning to himself.
"Of course! Just before the guy disappeared, I saw a tiny tattoo on the inside of his arm. It was, like, a pentagram with four wings, two on each sides and two points coming off of the bottom" she explained, shaping her hands into a circle.
"And you didn't think that was important to share earlier?" Hissed Baz.
"Sorry! I just remembered!" Defended Penny, holding up both hands. "Anyways, that was an obvious cult symbol. So, we need to find cults that use dark magic"
"How do you suggest we do that?" Asked Baz, his hands folded. "We can't exactly google 'dark magic cults'"
"Well, there's my family library, your family library, and my mum is headmistress at Watford. Though, they probably wouldn't have much on dark magic..." she said thoughtfully. Simon rubbed his eyes.
"Okay. It's getting late. We should regroup tomorrow. Are you two okay here?" He asked, gesturing to Penny and Agatha.
"I'm fine, Agatha?" Said Penny, looking at her. Agatha squirmed slightly.
"I-If it's okay, if I could go with you guys for just a few days..." she said quietly. Simon looked at Baz. Baz turned away and looked at the opposite wall.
"Sure, let's go" said Simon, standing. Baz stood also, not looking back as he walked to the door. Baz drove home a bit faster and more violently than necessary, clutching the wheel hard. Though, he was glad when Simon suggested that Agatha take the couch.
A/N: Another short-ish chapter. Woohoo guys, finally getting into the plot! I hope you guys are enjoying. Review or PM me to let me know how I'm doing please! It's nice to get feedback. Special thanks to knippe-jeakins548 for my first, and very kind, review and Kaiaslights for my first follow! I tried a new style of writing with the parts that are all dialogue, so I hope that didn't come out so bad. Thanks for reading!