VenkmanThe arm from the mobile phone bred out, filling the room with a piercing, electronic scream that wrestled her from the edge of sleep. Underneath messy covers was a woman with tan skin and some freckles. She had a head of short yet messy dark brown hair and light brown eyes. Sighing heavily, she climbed out of bed with great effort.

  Her room was pstered in movie and band posters, all of which from the same era. The 80s. Some posters were from the early 90s and te 70s, but they were rare. She started her daily routine by selecting a pylist from her Spotify titled ‘Morning’ and began with push-ups, sit-ups and crunches on the soft bedroom floor while cssical music filled the dark room. A notification was on her phone’s screen, reading that she had received a new voicemail.

  After thirty minutes, she hit pause on her phone and hopped in the shower. Although she had no tattoos to speak of, her body had it’s fair share of scars. Some had greatly faded over time, appearing as nothing more but minor bumps on her skin but the most notable was a branding across her back.

  An eye with a lightning bolt emerging from it’s bottom and four lines jolting out of the sides next to it. The rest of her routine was in silence until, when dressed in a bck button up shirt with a tie and a denim jacket, she pyed the voicemail.

  “I know it’s te, but we should talk. I have a case I might need your help with.”

  She scrolled through her phone, checking her emails. A few scam emails, masquerading as lucrative job offers and some meaningless promotions for products she’d maybe used once or twice in the past.

  Only one stood out.

  From: [email protected]Subject: Referral Hi, hope all is well with you. You were recommended by somebody at Uni, said you were really good.

  Please get back to me as soon as you can.Kind regards,Freyja.

  As she was typing up a reply, her phone rang. The caller ID read ‘The Only Good one’

  “Ken?”“How much do you know about the Fey?” Dougs asked matter of factly

  She sat back on her bed, her expression turning cold.“It’s not my area, but…Whatever you’re involved in, put a pin in it. We never had this conversation.”“I think someone’s escaped from them. She’s out in Belfast of all pces and she might be hurt.”

  She lowered the phone and cursed under her breath. Lifting it back to her ear she cleared her throat.“Okay. I’ll help. But don’t ask me to pick a fight with the Fey. Whenever you find this person, call me straight away and I’ll be there, but only to support them. Nothing more. Do you understand?”“Yeah.” “One more thing, Ken. Do not bring up the Fey on the phone to me again. If you wanna talk more about them, we do this in person. Understood?” She squeezed the ridge of her nose.“Do you really think they could be listening in?”“We can’t take that chance.”

  She heard a grunt of agreement on the other side of the line. “Are you free today, then?”“I have clients till six pm. After that, I’m all yours so long as you buy me coffee.” Her expression rexed, a small smile forming in the corner of her face. “Okay. I’ll keep you in the loop. Cheers, Venkman.”“Be careful, Dougs.”

  She opened the email again and started to type.

  Hello Freyja Thank you so much for reaching out. This must have been difficult but you have taken the first step. My office hours are between 9.00am and 18.00pm but if things are particurly tough I can be contacted beyond my usual hours. If you are able to give me an idea of your avaibility I can potentially fit you in for an initial assessment this week or next if that suits you? The initial assessment is always free of charge.

  You’re doing so wellKind regards,Dana.

  After hitting send she made her way out the front door.

  ****

  The office was small and compact but she had taken many steps to make it seem warm and welcoming to anyone who walked in through the front door. Everything from the peach paint on the walls to second hand cosy furniture. Even a small wooden round table of soft toys, stress balls and a box of tissues.

  Sitting across from Venkman was a young man dressed in jeans and a hoodie covering his face, he had his arms folded sternly and was facing away from her, his right leg twitching.“Ah…Shit.” He groaned “I…” He looked to the floor, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips “Sorry. “Aiden.” She leaned forward in her chair, her hands still “You don’t have anything to apologise for.”“Sure I do.” He scoffed “That’s not true and I think deep down you know that too.”

  ****

  Sitting across from her was a young couple. One woman wore a hijab while the other wore a suit and tie. The woman in the hijab squeezed the ridge of her nose in silence while the other ranted at Venkman.“But you see where I’m coming from, right?” She spat “I just feel so unsupported here!”“Mersana, do you have anything to add?” Venkman’s gaze moved towards the other woman, who could only sigh heavily“I think…”“She just doesn’t listen to me!” The woman in the suit snapped“I’d like to hear from both of you. You can’t have open communication if you’re just gonna shut her down every time she opens her mouth.”“Oh, so you’re taking her side!”“I’m not taking sides. But any retionship can’t be about sides either. You’re a team.”“I…” Mersana sighed once more “I don’t know if I want to be a team anymore.” “Then why the hell am I even paying you!?” The woman in the suit snapped at Venkman

  ****A middle-aged woman sat across from Venkman. She had dark shades over her eyes, a head of neat hair and a yellow brador y next to the armchair. She was rather well-dressed and the dog was well-groomed.

  “Last week’s date was going okay until he admitted he hates dogs.” She ughed“Well, I usually don’t judge. Goes against the job title, but yeah, who hates dogs?” Venkman shook her head “Being afraid of them, sure. But hate? Nah.”

  She lightly chuckled at that.“I do have another date next week. But…”“Hey, what did we agree on?”“If the person can’t get past my disability, they’re not for me.” “It’ll happen, Mavis. You’re putting yourself out there. So long as you keep setting those healthy boundaries and just being true to yourself, it’ll happen. You’re doing the right thing.”

  ****

  She held the door open for Mavis while she and the Labrador departed.“I wanna hear all about this date at our next session. Safe home.” She smiled as the door gently swung closed.

  Venkman checked her phone, scrolling through her emails. A slight smile grew on her face as one had been sent to her half an hour ago.

  From: [email protected]Subject: Referral Hey, really appreciate you getting back so fast. My csses are in the afternoon so would the morning work better? Can’t do weekends. Thanks, Freyja.

  -Hello Freyja. Someone just cancelled on me for tomorrow morning. I know this might be st minute, but I could fit you in for 9.30 if that suits?Looking forward to hearing from you. Kind regards,Dana.

  She pocketed her phone as the door to the office opened.

  JolieThe bedroom was pitch bck, bckout curtains and a set of heavy blinds shielding the sanctuary from any rays of sunlight. The covers on the double bed were unkempt as was Jolie’s hair as her eyes shot open. Chloe remained asleep, her makeup a mess and an arm lying across Jolie’s chest.

  She gnced over at her and gently tried to move in the bed, but this caused Chloe to stir in her sleep. Grabbing a pillow, she started to shift again and pced Chloe’s arm under it to not wake her while she slipped out of the bed.

  The time on the wall clock read 11am and Jolie made her way into the kitchen. The entire apartment was barren in terms of decorations and personal effects, every room left in darkness due to the heavy curtains and blinds. The kitchen had more life to it with spice racks and cookbooks adding some life to the room.

  By the time Chloe had stirred awake, Jolie stood in the bedroom doorway carrying a tray. Fried eggs, bacon, a gss of orange juice, coffee and a gss she dropped a pill into that started to dissolve.

  “Aww, you made me breakfast in bed?” Chloe smiled sheepishly“You drank a lot. You need iron or you’re going to feel like merde (shit) the rest of the day.” “Yeah…” She groaned“Other drink’s an iron supplement, by the way.” She feigned a smile “You’re gonna need it.”

  Chloe sat up in the bed as Jolie set the tray down and dug in. “You’re not having anything?”“Not hungry in the mornings. I’ve been that way for a while.”

  She reached over towards Jolie, wrapping her arms around her and letting out a blissful sigh.“Can we do this again? Sorry…I know that’s a bit…”“I don’t see why not.” Jolie gave a light shrug “And, open schedule today.”“As much as I’d like to lie here all day, I do need to be back by the afternoon. Gotta feed my cat.”“Happy, right?”

  Chloe nodded with a smile. “Gets cranky otherwise.”“Just the two of you?”“Yup.” She sighed blissfully “He’s the only family I’ve got, but I don’t mind.”“Famille (family).” Jolie muttered under her breath“What about you?” “It’s…Only me.”“Family back in France, then?”“No. They’re gone.” She stated matter of factly “Oh, I’m sorry.”“No need for that.” Jolie forced a small smile “It was a long time ago.”

  ****

  The afternoon approached a lot quicker than Chloe would’ve preferred, but she was fully refreshed by the time she stood at Jolie’s apartment door.“So, I mean…You have my number.” She giggled lightly “So, just…Call me, okay?”Jolie kept the same small smile on her face “Of course. It was fun. You were fun.”

  She gently closed the door as Cholie made her way back to her cat and back into her human life. Jolie remained, pacing around her ft when her phone, a battered flip-up buzzed with a notification.

  We have a problem.

  The text was followed by an address and an image. Belfast postcode. Cregagh estate. The image was bck and white, that of a middle-aged man with curly, hair and wearing dark shades. The image only showed his head but he had a distinct set of fangs protruding from his mouth.

  He broke the code. Eliminate.-R

  Pocketing the phone, Jolie headed back into the bedroom and opened a rge wardrobe that, due to the darkness of the room, one would almost miss on a first gnce. Pushing past a line of clothes, there was a door behind them. Opening it dispyed weapons upon weapons. Amongst them a hand crossbow, two swords, that being a longsword and a shortsword and a revolver, a French Model 1892. Although from a different era, it had been restored and even enhanced ten times over.

  She examined the revolver first, her gre cold yet animalistic. Like a lioness eyeing a gazelle that had been separated from it’s herd.

  She opened the bottom drawer of the wardrobe and removed the bottom of it, revealing a rifle alongside another crossbow, rger than the others and two sets of knives. One set was iron, the other silver.

  She picked up the phone, the same cold look in her eyes and started to type.

  Will let you know when it’s done.-R

  AbigailThe apartment the two shared was small and compact but they had made it their home. Artwork covered the living room to the point that seeing the dull beige wallpaper was borderline impossible. Rough sketches of people, watercolour paintings of animals and everything in between. There were few ndscapes to speak of, with them being only from fictional worlds. The Shire, massive desote deserts that seemed to stretch on forever and the night sky.

  Abigail sat on the second hand battered sofa, a cup of herbal tea in hand that she kept close to her chest. Freyja stood on the other side of the charity shop coffee table, pacing back and forth in her underwear while Abigail wore longer pyjamas. Neither had taken their makeup off from the night before.

  “I swear she’s good.” Freyja pleaded“You know how I feel about therapy.”“I know, Abi. I know. But…”

  Abigail avoided her gaze outright. “Last night kinda freaked the fuck outta me.” Freyja sighed heavily “The hallucinations are getting worse.”“No.”“They are, Abi. You can’t lie to me.”“Did I sleepwalk st night too?” She muttered

  Freyja nodded slowly, tiredness in her eyes.“Look. She’s Queer at least.”“I just don’t…”

  Freyja knelt by her side, taking Abigail’s hands in her own.“I get that you don’t trust therapists. Abi. I really do. My family tried to put me through conversion therapy, too.”“What if there’s something really wrong with my brain?” Her voice trembled“Then we’ll deal with it together.” She gave her a warm smile, clutching her hands tighter “Would it help if I talked to her first?” “You’re better at reading people.” Abigail chuckled dryly “Yeah, and if I get so much as a whiff of her being a bitch, we’ll find someone else. But, she’s highly recommended.”

  Abigail slowly nodded and finally met Freyja’s gaze. The bags under her eyes, barely covered by the light foundation she wore were heavy. Her body trembled ever so slightly. Anyone passing her on the street would barely notice it, but not Freyja.

  She leaned in, wrapping her in a tight hug.“I promise, we’ll get through this.”

  ****

  While Freyja typed up emails, Abigail y back down in a double bed that took up most of the bedroom. Her pupils darted in every direction behind her eyelids and her body trembled as she y in the fetal position.

  In sleep, she walked through darkness, her hand reaching out towards a gargantuan maple door, stretching forever into the darkness with no end to it that Abigail could perceive. The handle, finely-carved and bronze remained at her height and Abigail pushed it open.

  Beyond the door was an art gallery. White walls, empty paintings. In pce of sculptures there was untouched marble, bronze and wood that had never seen the hands or tools of an artist. The gallery had no end, simply more corners and halls of bnk canvases. Faceless mannequins covered in fake skin utilised by tattoo artists were also left untouched and stood with their arms close by their sides, expressionless.

  Within the gallery there were no tools for an artist to equip themselves with, no means of expression. Just neverending halls that would never be touched.

  “I’m getting really tired of this bullshit now.” Her voice echoed across the empty room “What do you want from me?” She snapped, outstretching her arms with her tired eyes filled with a resigned anger.

  She paced around the halls, her footsteps echoing in the emptiness while she hummed to herself, Dolly Parton’s Nine to Five while she bobbed her head from side to side. She let out an exasperated sigh and stopped in her tracks, only for another set of footsteps to break up the monotony of the gallery.

  Abigail started to walk faster, her humming growing slightly louder but the second set persisted, matching her speed. She didn’t turn around but out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bnk canvas briefly shift.

  A chalk drawing moved across it’s surface, that of the ever-shifting silhouette. Her breathing and her humming became more rapid as Abigail walked even faster, but took care not to break into a run.

  The silhouette had leap onto another canvas, this time one of the mannequins covered in fake skin. The expressionless face was now twisted and ever-shifting, it’s multiple mouths appearing and disappearing. The forehead, over the nose, over the cheeks and neck. Some were without teeth, others had teeth closer to that of a shark or a wolf. They all moved as if they were trying to speak, but no sound left the mannequin’s mouth.

  Tattoos across the fake skin also appeared and disappeared at the same rate. Some more typical such as butterfly tattoos and Chinese symbols, even pinup tattoos but Abigail noted several creatures such as a Phoenix and a Chimera. The tattoos became animated, some dancing while others started to fight with each other. The Chimera leapt towards one of the pin-up girls, tearing out her throat with it’s teeth and spewing fresh ink over the fake skin.

  She couldn’t help but gasp in horror, ceasing her humming and that was when the mannequin started to move. It’s head tilted to one side, the limbs moved as if puppeted as it got down on all fours and sprinted towards Abigail, who broke into a sprint.

  But the mannequin was faster, it’s arms almost grabbing her as Abigail was shaken awake, Freyja by her bedside.“Abi!”

  She shot up in bed, breathing heavily and wrapped her arms tightly around her. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

  DougsWearing the same suit from the previous night, he leaned on his cane and held a coffee cup in his other hand. The halls of the hospital had dozens of people pass by in scrubs. Some fought off sleep as they approached the end of their shift, others running as arms would fill the hall. Dougs paid none of them any mind, his gaze fixed upon a door across the hall from him.

  A uniformed officer walked around the corner and stood at the door with his arms folded and a stern expression on his face, watching as staff and patients passed by the door. An elderly man wearing his pyjamas and walking with a limp approached the officer.“Excuse me, son…”“I’m busy.”

  Shaking his head, the man moved away. “Get a chance to talk to those two hallions yet? They’re sayin’ that scrawny wee shite in there did that to them.”“Uh-hmm.”“Well, do ya believe them?”

  Ken met the officer’s eyes and shrugged lightly, taking a swig of his coffee. “With adrenaline or if she was on something, I’d not rule it out. But it’s not a guessing game, Armstrong.”“But what does your gut say?”“My gut says that she didn’t start it. Anything other than that…”

  He motorboated his lips. “Feck knows.”He finished his coffee, gently pushed past Armstrong and walked into the room. The young woman was as still as a corpse, her mouth agape as she y in the hospital bed. A bandage was over her right shoulder with an IV drip in her right arm.

  Her left wrist was handcuffed. As Dougs sat down across from the bed there was a gentle knock on the door. “Come in.” He sighedAnother uniformed officer shut the door behind her. She had a head of short, combed ginger hair, blonde eyes and she was taller than Dougs. Her uniform was well-kept together, shirt tucked in, stab-vest clean. “Sir.”“Just Dougs, please. You’re the one who found her?”She nodded “Please don’t thank me. Homeless guy ran up to me and practically dragged me there. Could’ve missed her otherwise.” She sternly shook her head.“I’m gd it was you, Nora.”

  “How’s she holding up?” Her eyes moved towards the bed “Still out.” He sighed“Homeless guy said she grabbed him and wanted to know what year it was. Then he heard her crying about it being four years. By the time I got there…”“And no ID, she’s not even in the system. Got no way of telling who this woman is till she wakes up.”“Well, someone could be looking for her.” Nora tried to offer a smile“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Dougs muttered under his breath