T HERE WAS NEITHER fanfare nor press given to the
eleven homeless people who died in the warehouse
district fire. Violet stepped through the charred
remains of their home that morning and felt things no
teenager should ever have to feel. She cried for John,
her small friend, and secretly hoped he had escaped
the blaze. “He was pretty crafty,” she told herself, while
her eyes searched for the purple wristband.
And she’d need him again whenever her stomach
would begin to ache and throw her to the ground
without mercy. Who else was going to rub her back
and tell her everything was going to be okay?
Yet the sinking sense of loss still loomed heavily.
Even if by some miracle John had made it out, clearly
others had not. She had seen the white sheets and
knew what that meant.
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Violet made a wreath of wild grass and flowers that
grew along the highway and carried it back to the site.
There she laid it in front of her former home and said a
prayer. She prayed for her friends who had died and
hoped against all odds that some of them made it out
alive, even if she suspected otherwise. She also prayed
that whoever had done this would not kill again. Violet
sensed strongly that this was not random, that
someone was on a mission to do lots of damage. Her
eyes burned from wiping away so many tears as she
looked over what could only be described as a war
zone.
• • •
Levi tried his best to look inconspicuous as he
shuffled through the Main Street Comic Emporium. A
man of literary taste, he peered smugly at the
teenagers flipping through their superhero mythology.
After walking the aisles long enough to draw a few
stares, Levi approached the front-desk clerk.
“So I’m looking for this comic,” Levi said. “It’s called
Shadow Lurkers.”
“Never heard of it.”
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Levi nodded in disappointment before the twenty-
something hipster behind the counter began to
snicker.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said. “That was a huge
comic back in the day but not so much anymore. You a
collector?”
“Kind of,” Levi said. “I’m looking for as many issues
as I can get since it’s out of print.”
“I hear you, bro. That series is worth some serious
coin.”
“Do you have it?”
“Do I have it? Dude, I have everything. Keep it in the
back with the other rare collections. But it’s not
cheap.”
“How much?” Levi asked.
“Fifteen hundred for the lot.”
Levi paused, wondering if that was another bad joke.
“I don’t have fifteen hundred. How much for one
issue?”
The clerk made a game show buzzer sound with his
mouth. “No can do, hombre. I can’t break up the series
to sell one issue. It devalues the collection. So it’s going
to be all or nothing.”
Not that Levi had the money to begin with, but now
he questioned his own motives. Was there anything to
be gained from having the comic? Would it give him
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some kind of insight? He doubted it would, but he
wanted to be certain. Maybe K.S. was leading him
down a road the comic could help him navigate. Then
again, why all the fuss and misdirection? Couldn’t K.S.
just speak to him plainly? Why have him jump through
all these hoops?
“I’m sorry,” Levi said. “I don’t have that kind of
money. Could I pay you in installments?”
The clerk laughed in his face.
“Sure, pal… you and everyone else. It’s going to be all
or nothing.”
Levi wanted badly to punch the kid but, intelligently,
decided against it.
“How about this,” Levi countered, trying another
strategy. “If I give you twenty dollars, will you let me
read it here in the store?”
“No way, man. I can’t do that.”
“Just twenty minutes. That’s a dollar a minute.
Surely a savvy businessman like yourself can see the
value in such an exchange.”
The clerk mulled it over for a brief moment, tapping
his foot and swiping a hand across his jawline. He then
expelled a dramatic sigh and opened up the wooden
partition lever, allowing Levi to step behind the
counter.
86
The clerk called on his partner to watch the register
and then led Levi into a back room with glass cases
and stacks of boxes everywhere. The clerk grabbed a
box marked “S.L.” and set it on one of the long cases.
Levi handed him twenty dollars and the clerk set his
watch, and then plopped into a chair in the corner. He
watched Levi carefully, making sure he didn’t try to
stick anything inside his coat.
Levi excitedly removed a few issues from the stack of
thirty and pulled one of them out of its plastic sleeve.
On the cover he saw Shadow Lurker in red letters
above the image of a crouching assassin in black ninja
garb. The killer looked rather cartoonish and
nonthreatening, bearing little resemblance to the figure
who was stalking him in reality. Levi leafed through a
few pages to get the gist of the story. “Seems John was
right,” he thought. “A bunch of a ninjas trying to take
over this city called Salem.”
Levi’s eyes were drawn to one cell on the page where
a Shadow Lurker levitated briefly in order to distract
his foe, then promptly sliced his throat open before
collecting his soul.
“Pretty graphic stuff,” Levi said.
“Yeah, that one was never meant for kids,” the clerk
said. “It’s very much an adult comic. Brutal as all hell.”
87
Levi flipped through a couple more issues, taking
mental notes. He was a bit surprised to find that there
was no hero in the story. K.S. is mentioned but never
shown, and the entire comic seems to be a violent
tirade against authority. It’s one killing or
assassination after another as the Shadow Lurkers
close in on their goal of taking over the palace and
ruling Salem. The Lurkers seem to derive power from
special garments or amulets, each member owning a
favorite. To one it’s a cloth bracelet; to another, it’s a
headband. For the leader… it’s a head covering. Levi
thought it resembled a hood.
“Five more minutes,” the clerk reminded Levi.
“What’s the point of this comic?” Levi asked. “There
doesn’t seem to be much of a storyline here. And it
seems like the bad guys win.”
“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve read that series but
from what I remember, it was never finished. Although
it was a popular independent comic, they just stopped
coming out with new issues. Underground books are
strange like that.”
With precious time ticking away, Levi decided to just
grab the last issue and flip through it. More killings,
more talk about the oppressive K.S. and how he must
be overthrown. The Lurkers were given orders by a
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general or something named Tenebris. And then Levi
stopped.
“Wow,” he said.
“What? What is it?” the clerk asked.
“The second-to-last page…”
“Oh yeah,” the clerk said. “I forgot all about that. The
most jacked-up twist ever; nobody saw that one
coming! The fans were pissed.”
Levi’s eyes scanned the page. He saw the head
assassin and leader of the Shadow Lurkers, the most
ruthless of them all, preparing to kill a small child after
breaching the royal palace in Salem. The Shadow
Lurker suddenly removes his cloak and lays it over the
child, then turns and falls on his own sword. Blood
and guts splatter the cell.
On the last page, the other assassins rush into the
palace, where they are unable to attack the
inhabitants. They thrust their swords and daggers but
to no effect. They seem to have been rendered
powerless at the leader’s death. The last cell on the
page is that of a wide city drawing, showing Salem in
all its sparkling beauty.
“I don’t get it,” Levi said.
“Time’s up, bro.”
89
“Why did the guy fall on his own sword once he made
it all the way to the palace? Was that his child that he
covered?”
“Nobody knows, dude. Like I said, it’s one jacked-up
ending to an awesome comic. Everybody was hoping
they’d put out another issue to explain it but that
never happened. You get your money’s worth?”
“Do you remember a lamp?” Levi asked.
“In Shadow Lurker?”
“Yeah, like an old medieval lamp or something?”
The clerk shook his head and responded, “No, I don’t
remember any lamps.” He then noticed Levi’s utility
bag and the top of a lamp sticking out. He mentally
rolled his eyes, wondering what kind of crazy person
he’d let into his back room, and was careful to lock it
up after escorting Levi out.
• • •
The building was in good shape after receiving so
much diligent attention, so Levi decided to rearrange
the utility closet until his shift was over. Heading down
the hallway toward the closet he passed Russell, who
stood in the elevator with a screwdriver in one hand.
“What can I do?” Levi immediately offered.
90
“Oh, nothing. Just rewiring the call box. I’d let you
have at it but without a license, I might catch a serious
fine.”
“You sure?” Levi insisted.
“Yeah, you can head out if you’re finished. I don’t
mind.”
“Thanks, Russell.”
Levi went to the front entrance and saw the overhead
lights flicker, heard a deep electrical hiss. He wondered
if Russell had remembered to kill the elevator’s power
before opening the call box.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a loud
pop. Levi turned and saw thin smoke wafting into the
lobby from the elevator. He raced down the hall and
found Russell face-down between the elevator doors.
“Russell!” Levi shouted.
Levi leaped toward the circuit breaker and flipped
the main power switch to the OFF position. He knelt
down and found that Russell wasn’t breathing. Levi
called his name and slapped his cheeks, trying to wake
him up. No response. Russell’s face was ghastly pale
and a white fluid streamed from his mouth, foam on
his chin.
Levi turned him over onto his back, knowing that
he’d seen referees do that to knockout victims in the
ring; it was his only reference point. Levi elevated his
91
head but Russell was still unresponsive. He panicked
as his boss lay helpless on his lap. Thinking fast, he
snatched the utility bag from around his neck and
pulled out the lamp.
Instantaneously, the elevator and hallway were
soaked by an explosion of light. Levi turned away to
shield his eyes, but he could still feel the intense heat
against his face. It felt like the pressure of gravity was
sucking him against the wall and he feared being
crushed to death.
Grasping without sight, he tried to move his arm
toward the lamp in order to extinguish it but the force
against his body wouldn’t allow him to move. After a
few tense seconds, the light fell away in an instant and
Levi’s eyes began to re-focus. The lamp lay lifeless on
its side. He glanced up and saw air leap into Russell’s
lungs. They were both startled. Levi felt a bit woozy,
nearly losing his balance while helping Russell get
back to his feet. Russell looked around quizzically,
wondering what had happened.
Levi snatched the lamp off the ground and advised,
“Be careful there, buddy,” before walking out. Russell
scratched his head, bewildered and without a clue as
to what had just happened to him.
• • •
92Levi kept an eye on the front-side street after
nightfall. He ate his bowl of noodles while standing up
and occasionally peeking out the window. He didn’t
know if Dev would show up tonight but he was
comforted in knowing he had a secret weapon. Dev
might have the creepy factor, Levi figured, and may or
may not be human, but he had the power of the lamp.
Luckily, K.S. had left him another note, which he’d
read with excitement upon returning home earlier that
evening.
Do not buckle to fear. They are close, but I am closer.
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