Dark Silence

28 days (2)

“Listen, Cole,” Darnell interrupted him, “why did the demon enter the room? How did you let him in?”

“That is what I wanted to tell you about yesterday! But you left so quickly that I didn’t have a chance,” Cole sounded very disappointed.

“And what did you want to tell?” the man frowned.

“That girl of yours is weird,” Cole jerked into the direction of the sofa.

Darnell looked behind. There was Madeleine sitting, he completely forgot about her. She was listening attentively to their conversation.

“Go to the kitchen,” Darnell told her.

Madeleine opened the mouth indignantly and waved her head in denial. Her golden ponytails raised up like small wings, wrapping her face.

“I said - get out,” Darnell repeated in an even voice.

The girl got sulky, but stood up and went to the kitchen. Darnell waited for the door to close behind her, and then addressed Cole again.

“So what’s so weird about her, you say?”

“Well, when you brought her here and left to your bedroom,” the spirit jabbered, “she wandered, looking around, just like any other kid at the first glance. Then went to sleep. But at night three signs from your chain burned away.”

“How could they burn away?” said Darnell in surprise. “Where exactly?”

“Over there, look above the entrance door,” Cole moved to the door, “the second - above the balcony, and the third - above the kitchen.”

The man nodded and went to his table. He took his chair and moved it to the door leading to the balcony, stepping on it. Darnell found the destroyed symbol instantly. In its place, there was a big black spot. The man touched it, but it didn’t leave a trace.

“It’s so weird,” he said thoughtfully. “As if it got burnt from inside.”

“That’s what I was talking about,” Cole agreed and started to lash in his dome. “That’s why the demon barged into the flat! And what can I do under the dome? I can do nothing! Only to get a bolt of lightning into the face!”

“You think she brought something in?” asked Darnell, getting down from the chair and coming back to the table. He took out a bottle of liquid paper and a black marker.

 “I don’t know,” confessed Cole. “I didn’t feel anything. An impudent, but an average girl, I guess. As far as I understand anything about human children.”

“Mhmm,” uttered Darnell starting to restore the inscriptions.

He covered all three black places with white liquid and wrote the destroyed symbols back. When he completed the chain, going round the room, it flashed dimly with red, showing him that the protection was restored.

“Is it felt fine?” he pointed out, asking Cole and bringing the chair back to its place.

“Yep, a common chain, the same as it was.”

“I don’t like that,” said Darnell thoughtfully. “If this repeats, let me know immediately, OK?”

“Sure thing, I just didn’t have a chance, as you left so quickly!”

“Good,” Darnell nodded to him.

The man was standing in the middle of the room, lost in his thoughts. He tried to wipe fingers from the white liquid. If the symbols above the entrance door could have been affected from the outside, how someone could have done that with the one above the kitchen? If there were no outside entities in the flat, the problem might really be in Madeleine. She could be used as a translator.

“I can’t paint the symbols all over her, head to toe…” mumbled Darnell looking at dirty fingers. The white drop got even on his ring.

“You can hang some amulet on her, or whatever you, people, invented against us,” answered Cole from his shelf.

“Yeah, that might be a good idea,” Darnell nodded, bringing his thought back to the room. He shot a look at the kitchen door. It was quiet from another side.

“Are you willing so much to mess about with this case?” the spirit made a comment. “Shake her off to somebody else.”

Darnell slowly shook his head. He made this decision for himself. Something was wrong with Madeleine, and someone tried really hard to harm her. Darnell will do everything possible to help her. This will be his last case, and he will complete it successfully.

The man entered the kitchen. Madeleine was standing near the open fridge, grabbing her face with palms and the mouth opened in horror.

“Are you imitating Munch’s Scream?” inquired Darnell, slamming the door. “There is nothing edible in there, trust my word. We’re quite late and need to be on the way to the office, go get ready to leave.”

The girl finally recovered her thoughts and looked at Darnell.

“What? Go gather your stuff, I say,” grumbled the man. “It’s time for us to go to work.”

Madeleine sighed, somehow making it sound quite loud. The man left the kitchen and slowly walked around the apartment checking that everything was really fine and nothing else changed in his shelter. Madeleine followed him and grabbed her tablet.

“You know what,” said Darnell referring to her, “I need to ask you something. Don’t let anyone into my lair. I know you can but just don’t. Your presence here is an exception, I don’t allow anyone else to be in here.”

Madeleine frowned at him and stared in return.

“I said no!” Darnell decided to insist and try to show that his word had the weight in this room. But the girl only frowned even more aggressively at him, denying his influence and power. The man gave up. He stepped aside and thudded on the couch, rubbing his aching forehead.

“OK, let’s include some exceptions. Like what happened yesterday.” He looked at the girl from under his palm, but she was still frowning at him with her hands crossed on her chest. “Fine, yeah, I’m sorry, okay?!” Darnell burst out. “I wouldn't have been if I lived alone, because I don’t give a damn about such situations, but I didn’t think that this might involve a child somehow! If something exceptional happens, you may let someone in, but only as an emergency.” Darnell noted that the girl was still giving him a wry face and added: “Please?”

Madeleine suddenly eased off noticeably and nodded to Darnell. She went to the front door and showed at it, meaning that it was time to leave.

“Yeah, you are right,” pronounced Darnell and stood up from the couch. He let her out and locked the door from the outside thinking that he felt kind of weird. The excuse he made in front of the girl made him feel ashamed but at the same moment relieved to some degree. He thought that it was probably the first time when he really decided that someone deserved his apologies. It seemed that he regained a level of humanity inside himself after everything that happened between him and Cyril.

Darnell walked Madeleine to his car and started away from the parking lot driving down the road to the office of the Agency. He was thinking through the morning and intruding of Cyril and Agnes to his territory. Agnes was surely so excited to get inside. He had to invent an excuse not to let her in again. Her admiration for him was troubling and so uncomfortable. He ended up remembering that Madeleine was rummaging in his absolutely empty fridge. There were even no beverages, as Darnell preferred to kill the bottle instantly and not to leave it for the later. But he also never depended on food, and probably that was the main reason for his skinny constitution.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, looking in the mirror at the girl. She shook up and looked at him in return with hope in her eyes. Darnell sighed. “Are you too shy to let me know that you want to eat? I’ve never spent time with children, I have no idea what I should do with you or how to take care of you! Try to be at least a little more self-sufficient!” He exhaled feeling angry at the girl. Madeleine turned away from him and stared at the window looking so gloomy that the man felt regret for bursting at her. “OK, we’ll go to the cafe near the office and have breakfast. Or brunch, or lunch. Whatever time it is now. Just remember to let me know that you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll keep on living in my own pace, and it doesn’t always include such trivial things like sleeping or eating or whatever people are doing. Deal?” Darnell turned to the parking lot and stopped the car. He turned to the back seat, but the girl pursed her lips and looked at the other side. “Madeleine. Look at me,” said Darnell insistently. The girl did this unwillingly, making the grimace of nearly disgust. “Everything is fine,” said the man calmly. “You can rely on me. I mean it,” he added seeing distrust on the girl’s face. “Let’s pretend that nothing happened yesterday. I apologized for that! Besides, I warned you that I’m not used to the company by my side, especially when this company is a child. So for now, until you are my responsibility, I promise you that you can fully rely on me. I’ll do my best not to let you down if you have some patience towards me. Do you understand me?” Madeleine slowly nodded, but the man saw that she did it only to finish this conversation not having much trust in his words. “I take your point,” sighed Darnell helplessly. “Let’s get you some food finally before you collapse from hunger.” The man forced out a smile to calm the girl down and left the car. He waited till she joined him on the street and walked her to the cafe. The girl rushed in and immediately chose the place near the window and started to look around with curiosity. Darnell came up to her and sat heavily opposite to her. A waiter immediately came up with a menu in his hands and a small notebook.

“Greetings!” he said, giving out the menu to Darnell. “What will you order?”

“Bring me some soda, please,” said Darnell.

“And what will your daughter choose?”

“Sister,” Darnell snapped out in panic to close this topic and not to evoke unnecessary questions. He tried to take the menu, but Madeleine snatched it from the waiter’s hands. “She’ll show you what she wants,” sighed Darnell. 

The waiter wrote down the order the girl was showing him in the small book. Madeleine lifted her eyes at Darnell and bent her eyebrow. The man became puzzled and shrugged his shoulders, not understanding what was wrong.

“Won’t you order anything else?” guessed the waiter and the girl started to nod.

“No, thanks,” refused Darnell, letting the waiter leave. The bottle of water immediately appeared in front of him, and he drank it with much pleasure. “We are lucky to fit between the morning rush-hour and the lunchtime. You’ll get your order quickly.”