II

The Kansas City Shuffle

Anna sat in Cass’s green Plymouth sputtering down the highway. Smoke Diffused around her in the late evening sun, the rays forming a dancing light show in the backseat of the car. Wind rushed by her head as the thin smoke of whatever Cassidy was puffing on ran out the window. It was a sweet smell, he’d claimed it to be a mixture of sage, mint, and something called mugwort, but she had declined his offer for one at the mention of that last ingredient.

The Plymouth might be the oldest car she’d been in since she was a kid. It was strange though, most of the time you saw a car like this it was on its last legs. But Cass’s car seemed meticulously up-kept for how much garbage seemed to line the floorboards. A strange contrast she thought to herself as she looked at the farmland speeding by beside her.

She looked up into the front seat at first spotting Viktor, still motionless, head resting on the passenger window. She turned to see Cassidy eyes steadily on the road puffing away. He hadn’t said much after they’d left. It looked like he took some blood from Viktor before loading him into the car. But at this point, Anna was too tired to really question his methods. Magic, demons, the paranormal, she’d already sped past the exit to crazy town and there was no turning back now.

“Where are we going again?” Anna asked mostly to break the silence.

“Crossroads, hopefully the one old Viktor here went to all those years ago.” Cass said flatly.

They continued to drive on, soon turning off the highway, and driving down an old country road. The gas station right by the highway was the last commercial building for miles, the kind of place you stop only if you have to. 

They drove by old decrepit houses which grew menacing and featureless as the evening turned into night. Anna couldn’t tell how long they’d been driving when they finally slowed and carefully turned onto an old dirt road. The car bumped and bounced down the road, obviously never meant for this kind of driving no matter what kind of upkeep had been done to it.

They bounced down the road the motion giving her a slight twinge in her stomach. After a while they stopped at a four-way dirt intersection that Anna almost missed at first. Two old dirt road crossing over each other, no signs, no civilization. It almost made her feel like she was sent back in time.

Cass flipped the cars high beams on and exited the vehicle. It shook as he stepped out onto the dirt and gravel. She could hear his feet crunching as he closed the door and slowly made his way to the trunk. With a jingle of keys, the car shook again as she could only imagine what he was getting at. She glanced over at Viktor, still hunched against the car's window, and gathered her courage. She opened the back door to step out into the crisp night air. 

She had felt almost entranced by the drive down, maybe her mind had finally been given the time to rest as it had needed to do for so long. With a strange newfound presence of mind she reached for her purse to grab at her phone. She rummaged for a second and pulled out the little flat rectangle. The night burst into blue light around her and she read the time Eleven Fifty. Had it really been that long?

“Where are we?” Anna asked walking around to the back of the car.

“Home, Evans county, you two are from around this area right?” Cass looked up from rummaging through his trunk.

He returned back to his business and she looked at the disarray that was the back of his car. Much like everything she’d seen about Thomas Cassidy so far, his trunk was piled with amulets, charms, books, and a variety of other strange and exotic objects that all gave her the willies.

“You should get back in the car. I’ll handle it from here.” Cass said pulling out a bundle of items wrapped in a canvas sheet and closing the trunk. 

Anna did as she was told, in truth she didn’t want to be a part of whatever he planned on doing tonight, even though she knew she was undoubtedly entwined in it even now.

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