A/N: I'm baa~aack! And just in time for a spooky update for October! Wish I could have written more for this one but in the next few weeks I've been asked to help out w/a good friend's wedding so no such luck my free time is moot :C What I have should suffice though ;) There will be some very… interesting bits at the end ;p

Thanks Sam-Shakespeare for giving this the ol once over before I book it to the wedding! Hopefully later on I can mega edit this sucker :)


The Covenant

Chapter III

"It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit."

~Antoine Rivarol


When Darcy awoke, she awoke to the loud ring of her phone alerting her to a new text. That, and the loud crack of her skull banging against something solid.

"Ouch!"

Holding back all of her swears, Darcy opened her eyes to find herself no longer in her chair, but instead lying directly underneath the desk she had only been working off of a few minutes ago. Or was it an hour ago?

Shit.

How had she managed to lose track of time again?

Scrambling to find her glasses Darcy noticed a thin piece of her desk lying on the ground. Annoyed that she had not only dozed off but had managed to break something that didn't belong to her, Darcy tried shoving it back in. It wasn't until she had put her glasses on and flipped the thin board over that she realized what it was.

A ouija board? What kind of a child keeps a ouija board attached under their desk? Scratch that, what type of child is interested in-, of all things,- the occult?

Darcy sighed. A- "strange" -child obviously.

The closest thing to an occult item she had ever owned as a child had been a defunct magic eight ball.

Without giving it any further thought Darcy got up from under her cramped quarters and kicked the ouija board away, choosing instead to check her messages, and rolled her eyes at what she saw next.

Surprise, surprise. It was Jane texting her to see how her work revisions were coming along.

Leave it to the boss lady not to understand the meaning of the phrase 'taking a break,' she thought.

But Darcy knew Jane's worry wasn't completely unfounded. Her academic theories had been riddled with disregard. The Einstein-Rosen Bridge theory she worked from was not exactly known for being seen as a stable model. And that's why Darcy always hated doing this type of work for the scientist. The type of work they had both signed up for when they had signed contracts with S.H.I.E.L.D; re-writing the official versions of Jane's notes and records, and; altering photographs just so that the data presented to the public wouldn't reveal too much information. It undermined the work, and worst of all it discredited the author. Jane.

As soon as Darcy had finished texting back a response she returned to her laptop all business as usual, trying to make up for lost time.

And that's when she heard it.

Darcy…

It was as if someone was right behind her, like the sultry voice of a man was whispering her name directly into her ear. Turning her head around to glare at the imagined slight Darcy's back stiffened, her fingers hitting the wrong letters on her keyboard, her face now flushed like someone had meddled with her inner most thermostat.

Focus on the article, not the creepy creaky house, She sternly reminded herself, you need this finished before the boss lady gets back or else you'll bring about the wrath of Jane.

And that's when the light bulbs began to flicker.

Again.

Darcy's mouth flew open like a fresh water fish because the lights were, of their own accord, beginning to dim. It wasn't until they had faded out completely that Darcy snapped out of her daze, realizing she'd been holding her breath in the entire time.

"You have got to be kidding me." The intern sighed ignoring just how much the sudden lack of light now affected her.

How was she supposed to read Jane's chicken scratch now that she had to contend with this?

"Stupid ghost…"Darcy nervously laughed as if to ease her nerves knowing full well she wasn't about to stick around for a reply. And as Darcy Lewis quickly left the room with her work in tow she told herself she did so because she needed a better lit work space and definitely not because she thought something supernatural was calling out her name.

At least that's what she kept telling herself.


It wasn't supposed to work out this way, he –the Mad Titan wasn't supposed to be inside of her head. Those were his memories she'd been absorbing. They had no place inside a mortal.

With Darcy's dream now at an end Loki had been kicked out and left to flounder on the floor. And as the bespectacled wearing assistant beside him struggled to get up, the God made no move to follow. What he had seen still left him shaken, left him with more questions than answers.

What was causing him to meld to her in such a…a symbiotic nature? Why had the spell he had cast in order to fog her memory gone so awry? Was it because it had been cast whilst within a dream? Loki hadn't a clue. The only thing he was certain of was that if he stayed here in this place any longer he would lose his mind.

Speaking of losing my mind… Getting up from off the ground Loki glared at the annoying way Darcy Lewis constantly tapped her fingertips against her mortal contraptions. She was becoming more and more of a nuisance to him. One that he wished would be a little more predictable. Even after becoming like a shadow to her he still could only ever guess what was coming next, especially when it came to whether or not she was conscious of him.

And he hated it.

Loki moved closer to Darcy, his gaze unwavering as he scrutinized his little opponent, dissecting every one of her nervous little ticks: the way her body couldn't keep still in that chair: the way she would hum some catchy mortal tune: the way her pink little tongue would pop out every so often to tease her upper lip…

Shifting his gaze from the girl's mouth, Loki shook his head in frustration.

It's preposterous, He thought, to feel threatened by such an unintimidating creature when the advantage is already mine.

"Soon it won't matter whether or not you know I'm here because I'll find a way to make it so that you'll never be believed." He imparted to the girl.

Now standing behind Darcy, Loki leaned his body in close to hers, his hands gripping her desk, his lips hovering just below her ear. "Are you prepared to play the part of liar and scapegoat, little one?" He asked while watching her face for a response, but the busy assistant made no reply, giving no indication that she had inadvertently become the star in his new game. A game he knew all too well, one that would always end in blame and the black mark of a liar.

"Will you still be able put on your brave front when they-, your so-called "allies"-, throw their cold-hearted accusations at you?" Loki's nose curled as he recalled a much younger Darcy's oath of friendship, "Will you still promise to call me your friend then, Darcy?"

In that moment the woman had stopped what she was doing to turn around and greet Loki with an unsettling glare. Her flustered blue eyes cold sheets of ice, her cheeks tinted a rosy red. The silent response caught the God off guard-, so much that when he tensed, it caused the lights around them to flicker until the room was left in darkness.

He had-done it again. She had alarmed him... and he had done it again.

With a silly taunt thrown in his direction the girl was out the door leaving the Trickster God alone to debate whether or not he should even go after her. Especially after just reassuring himself that it was he who held all the cards for this game.


As Darcy made her way down the stairs and into the corridor she couldn't help but spot Matthews with Agents Dugan and Black. All three were bent over a small door and laughing like a couple of fourth graders.

Agents, Darcy sighed, Go figure.

While hanging around this particular group of clowns, Darcy had learned they were really stationed here because they didn't have a high enough clearance to join the others at the Olympics. In other words, in the world of Agent Hierarchy they still had their "field agent training wheels" on, and often times it would show. As of right now they all seemed to be staring quite intently into the abysmal dark of wherever that door led to.

With their backs facing her Darcy snuck up behind them and, in her best impression of a supervising officer, she spoke. "Horsing around again on S.H.I.E.L.D. time I take it." Darcy couldn't help but laugh as the three of them jumped.

"For your information missy we're on break." Said the agent she knew only as Dugan.

"I can tell," was her sarcastic response. And then she caught a good whiff of what was down there. "Ughh, smells like something died twice down there," She muttered as she put her hand over her mouth.

Now that she thought about it Dr. Strange had mentioned a small pocket of escape routes called priest holes scattered around the Manor. They'd been built when the monks of the Sanctum Sanctorum Monastery had been persecuted by the Crown. And considering this place was built on top of said Monastery's rubble that meant there was no telling what could lie down there…

Darcy shivered.

"How long do you think he'll last?" Matthews suddenly asked Black, "Cause I'd give Clay another two minutes. Tops."

"Someone's down there?" Darcy spat out incredulously, "And you're timing him?"

"We also placed bets-," Matthews said with a smirk, "care to place a wager?"

So they had suckered one of their own into venturing into the unknown? That's what they chose to do in their spare time? Darcy couldn't help but give Agent Jacob Matthews one of her famous eye rolls.

"I'll pass," She dryly spat out.

She was going to say more, but Agent Clay came storming up the stairs eyes glazed and fixated at his feet, his hands swatting away at something.

But there was nothing there.

Everyone was silent as they watched him scream bloody murder. None of them able to understand what it was exactly he was doing or why he was so terrified. It was when the young agent made his way towards Darcy that the intern stood glued to the spot, her arms tightly wrapped around her laptop as Clay now took a hold of her and looked her dead in the eyes.

"Get. Them. Off. Me," He hissed.

"Get what?" Darcy whispered.

"Spider, spiders, spiders-" Clay babbled as his breathing slowly began to even out.

"Oh, give it up rookie," Agent Dugan said with a heavy sigh, shoving the trembling man off her. "Quit giving our sassy little intern a hard time just because you lost the bet."

Darcy immediately bristled at being described as "sassy" her anger rising as she began to gather herself.

Of course, she thought, it was all an act. Clay couldn't win so he had opted for the next best thing…

"I take it your ghost stories weren't all that scary last night if you have to pull this kinda crap off for a few good thrills." Darcy snapped.

"S, s-sorry. I don't kn-know what came over me!" Clay stuttered.

But for Darcy it was a poor excuse for an apology.

"Oh, no. it's cool," She sneered, clearly affected by his little skit. "Let's all just get a rise out of the gullible "little" intern; the one who gets startled by a broken mirror and a couple of dead crows!"

"Darcers, look, he didn't mean anything by it. It was just a -" But Darcy never let Matthews finish because she had already begun the long march up the stairs, deciding it was best to find a place to work in a place far away from them, starting with the Strange family library.


Like a man possessed Loki had ignored his better interests and followed Darcy Lewis out her room. And he was glad he had because now he had come to a valuable conclusion. If mortals could enter the door leading to this hell house's source of power then...

I'll have access to the door as well when I possess the girl. Loki smirked.

It was only a matter of time now before he had her and he was already in luck. It looked as though those idiotic miscreants were doing his job for him by turning her against them and vice versa. Their ridiculous antics an obvious indicator that they were just too ignorant to fear the supernatural, much less suspect a ghoul like him.

All the more reason to blame her in my stead.

As the agents continued to bicker over their comrade's strange behavior Loki made his way back up to Darcy's room. With her absence he could now practice the first process of his plan. Making things move...starting with those dolls that had made his mortal so ill at ease.


What a dump.

Strange really wasn't kidding about his eccentric uncle not being much of a caretaker. Darcy mused, her eyes wandering, for perhaps the seventh time, away from her work to her new surroundings.

The library, if you could call it that anymore, was in shambles. Row upon row of bookcases left emptied out, medieval literature scattered everywhere. It was like the place had been ransacked. The only attempt at cleanliness was the wall's new paint job and a vacuum cleaner a worker must have left behind.

Darcy had been diligent in her work up to this point, but now that she only had a few more corrections left to make on Jane's article, her inner curiosity was really starting to get the better of her. You need a break! It reasoned, and when are you ever going to get another chance to explore a place like this again?

It was true. Soon her contract with S.H.I.E.L.D. would be coming to an end with no chance for a renewal. Soon she'd be heading back to a world of normality filled with spitting out term papers at the drop of a hat. Right back to where she started in life...

Darcy felt an unexpected shiver rise up her spine, her wrists tingling, and her nerves on end. It was like some outside force had taken sides with her inner curiosity, egging her on to get up and just go.

And so she did.

Now wandering the library's aisles Darcy could feel her inner librarian shudder with the need to shelve and alphabetize every book pile she came across. But there was one pile in particular that caught her eye: unlike the other books this pile hardly had any dust on it. Which meant these books must have been read recently… by Strange's dead uncle.

Picking one up Darcy scolded herself for her sudden morbid interest in the reading habits of the now deceased. But she just couldn't help herself. Her fingers already scrolling through pages filled with beautifully hand-written Latin, Old English, and…and diagrams of Norse runes?

Wait what kind of book was this?

Rummaging for an answer Darcy found pages underlined in pen, some filled to the brim with translations, while others had been ripped out. For whatever reason Strange's screw loose for an uncle had been so desperate to investigate his family's history he had resorted to vandalism. And, as much as Darcy wished to know why, the uncle's translations sounded a lot like the ramblings of a mad man. One who spoke of using "magical incantations" to aid "them," whoever "they" were, in operating between light and darkness. There was one rune in particular that he had circled obsessively. It was in the shape of an upside down u. The uncle had even gone so far as to translate it from the Latin and write it down phonetically.

"Oorooze-" Darcy said testing the strange word out on her tongue, "what's an oorooze?"


"It's magic," Loki told her. "A mystical letter bastardized by your mortal alphabet. It's used to pierce the veil between realms." But then Darcy gave no indication she had heard him. And if she had sensed him hovering over her shoulder, she was doing an excellent job of hiding it.

Having finished with his more… mischievous endeavors Loki had felt a sense of pride in setting up the unsuspecting Darcy Lewis. Although his handy work was juvenile in comparison to if he'd been alive, the reaction from the agent he had targeted had been…amusing to say the least. Not since his youth had he felt such exhilaration over playing such minor tricks like this. He would even search the woman out to boast of his actions. The conversation would be one-sided, of course, but at least he'd have someone to talk to. Sensing her presence in the sorcerer's personal study Loki had found the scientist's assistant fidgeting in her chair distracted and just itching to explore.

"Thaw-gauze?" Darcy whispered with a shiver bringing Loki back from his thoughts.

"A rune used at dawn, one of illumination, it reveals the veil between realms," He said his tone almost bored. "If you don't understand it, you really shouldn't be reading it aloud, else you might summon something you'll soon regret."

It was then that Loki realized he had seen runes spelt out in a similar fashion on the summoning portals alongside the house's barrier. Which meant whoever had defaced this grimoire had been in contact with the Otherside-

But why?

As the God mused over the possible reasons Darcy went to open another book but instead of reading it she quickly closed it. Her eyes now wide from whatever the book's content had been, her strange exclamation of surprise capturing Loki's interest. Her breathing had become short and coarse, her cheeks tinted red. Flustered she tried opening up the book once again.

With his curiosity peeked Loki loomed over Darcy's shoulder to get a better look. His face breaking into a wicked grin at what he saw. The scientist's assistant had found a sexually explicit book of crude mortal drawings. An ancient treatise of pleasure with some very… thought-provoking embraces meant to arouse the mind. And it certainly seemed to be working its intended magic on the girl. Darcy was flipping through its pages with an almost endearing fascination. Her noisy overreactions of modesty were becoming a great source of amusement for the God… if not arousing in itself.

"Phew! Is that even humanly possible?" Darcy nervously laughed fanning her flushed face, a flush that now reached the expanse of her chest, one that still shook from sporadic laughter. It was a low and breathy kind of noise, a sound he had heard her make once before…just for him. And though she may or may not have remembered him being held a prisoner of her mind he knew he certainly did. It was frustrating enough only existing as a phantom but to have to constantly be reminded of that fantasy of hers…

Now skimming to the end Darcy had stopped at a page that even he found provocative. They were drawings of a most delicious torture, pictures of a woman tying up her lover to a bedstead and teasing him relentlessly. Using the most… interesting of methods the sly creature would pretend to give her lover what his body craved only to coyly slip away and repeat the process. Finally the man was left a pining mess for the woman's cruel affections.

Loki turned his head away from the passage, his lip twisting in bitter annoyance.

The book on mortal love making had dredged up too many images for him. All of which involved the woman next to him. Thoughts on where he'd like the prim and proper assistant's ruby lips and pink little tongue to g-

"Wouldn't want to look too long, girl-," Loki said his voice unusually low and his eyelids drooping, "it might end up fodder for that colorful imagination of yours."

With her nose no longer in a book Darcy's gaze had gravitated towards a staircase at the end of the room, one that most likely led to more of the sorcerer's belongings. And as she cautiously made her way towards it somewhere in the house a clock chimed and Darcy froze.

Comically glancing from the stairs to her watch the assistant's face looked crest fallen, her dramatic over reactions once again raising a chuckle from the God. The stairs had quickly become the proverbial carrot dangling over his mortal's head…something most assuredly forbidden to her.

"Come now, Miss Lewis. Don't you want to see where they'll lead us to?" He asked already up to playing her devil's advocate. "Don't you yearn for adventure?" He cooed, taking delight at how she shivered. "Dare you risk turning back now when we're so close to finding our answers?" It was almost as if she had heard him, because the girl had turned right around to make her way up the stairs, already seduced by the allure of unknown.

It appears as though my "little friend" is a slave to her curious nature after all, Loki thought with a triumphant grin as he followed close behind her.


A/N: Magical runes and dead uncles and unresolved sexual tension Oh my!

Well hope you all liked it! Wish I could write more but this month was too hectic with work and my friend's wedding coming up. Let's just say the next few chapters will have dancing, a very interesting dream, *wink wink* and that seduction I kept hinting at.

*there are some small references I've been making to a certain fav book series of mine -I think the runes discussion might be a dead give away-kudos to the person who catches it b/c it is rather subtle ;p

Feel free to feed my insanity and tell me what you thought!