Witch Hunt

by Marie Batiste

  “Elf and fairy gangs? That doesn’t even sound right, and I’ve lived on the island for almost ten years. I mean I know they’re not all whimsical and dainty but…gangs?”

  “There are gangs for everything. There’s an elemental gang uptown, and witches have covens.” Lola wiggled her eyebrows at the word coven.

  Outside the sky was clear and the street was busy. A large teddy bear in a three-piece dark gray suit and a crimson tie held a little girl’s hand as they crossed the street. A woman followed them I assumed was the girl’s mother. Lola and I turned the corner.

  “Aren’t we taking the bus?” I asked.

  “My bike is faster,” she said as she straddled it. It was an old motorcycle that looked like it was pieced together with old and new parts and probably some borrowed magic.

  “Seriously?”

  “It’ll be fine. Get on already.” She handed me a helmet.

  I slipped it on over my hair, whispered a spell of protection, and hopped on. When she turned it on, the engine sputtered a few times before turning into a loud growl. With a complete disregard for oncoming traffic and our lives, she darted out in front of a bus. I wrapped my arms around her waist and squeezed. Her body shook as she laughed at my nervousness.

  “We’ll be fine,” she yelled over the roar of the engine.

  I tried to tell myself that. We were going so fast everything was a blur. Cars honked, people shouted, and engines blared as we passed by. I longed for the bus. Not only because I felt it was safer than Lola’s driving, but I loved to people watch. Riding the bus was the best way to do that. I got to meet people and watch them in their natural habitat usually without them noticing.

  Before I knew it, we pulled up to Rose’s apartment building.

  “That was too fast.” I eased off the bike and took the helmet. I sat on the ground. My stomach was in an uproar while the world spun around me.

  “You need to get out more,” Lola said with a laugh.

  I pulled myself off the ground once my stomach settled. “Okay. Let’s go.”

  I led her inside the building to the apartment. The heaviness was still there but it didn’t bother me as much as it had the day before. Maybe it was the necklace. I closed the door behind us. Lola headed straight for the bedrooms while I stayed in the living room. If I was a better witch, I could use magic to replay the events of the room from the past month, maybe two.

  Instead, I looked through her mail that was on the kitchen table. Bills mostly and a letter from the school confirming her classes for next semester. If she was planning on leaving, why would she have paid for next semester? I left the papers on the table and went into the hallway off the living room. There were three doors. Her place was neat for a college student or maybe her mother came by and cleaned up. There was nothing out of place. Not even dust, and she hadn’t been there for a few months. There was dust in my apartment, and I was just there this morning.

  I opened the first door and found her office. While sitting at her desk I examined the room. Aside from her desk, there was a bookcase on the far side of the room with a cream-colored chair next to it. There were a floor lamp and a fake plant in the corner. The desk was also clean and dustless. On her desk, there were three books and three notebooks. I turned on her computer. The screen turned blue and a gray box popped up.

  Not Rose Stone. Can’t Enter.

  It was a magic ban. Her computer would only work if it was powered on by her magic or by someone in her bloodline. That would keep people out. I would have to ask her mother about it later.

  “Find anything?” Lola stood in the doorway.

  “No, not really. You?”

  “Come look at something.” She stepped back into the hallway.

  I followed her through the living room to the other side of the apartment. There were three doors on that side as well. A spare bedroom, a bathroom, and the master bedroom. The master bedroom had white walls and gray furniture. The bed was under a window across from the closet. Lola went to the closet and opened both doors. Then she pointed towards the dresser. The drawers were opened.

  “Her clothes are still here,” I said as I inched closer to her closet. The closet was still full. The drawers were neat, and it seemed like nothing was missing. Black and brown suitcases rested on the top shelf of her closet. Her pink school bag was at the foot of her bed.

  “I searched her bathroom too. It’s right through this door.” She pointed to a door next to the closet.

  I stepped inside the bathroom. It was clean except for makeup brushes on the counter along with some eyeshadow and a tube of lipstick.

  “Wherever she went she either didn’t go willingly and was taken from somewhere else or it wasn’t planned so she didn't have time to pack,” I posited leaving the bathroom.

  “You mean like she left spur of the moment?”

  “Maybe.” I picked up her school bag and dumped it on her bed.

  “I don’t think so. I have watched people for a long time, and I’ve been on the run. Even if you must leave unexpectedly, you still find time to pack a few things. Even if it’s just the basics,” said Lola.

  “She was taken then. I just need to know if this was how they found her apartment or if it was cleaned after.” I put her books back into her bag.

  “If nothing was disturbed that means she wasn’t taken from here,” said Lola.

  “Yeah. She had two classes the day she went missing. She wasn’t seen after her second class.” I opened her nightstand. Nothing out of the ordinary.

  “You think that— whatever dark magic thing— you felt was here when she was or did it come after to keep tabs on who came in or out?” asked Lola.

  We walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. “I think it came after. She was a witch; she would have sensed it and she would have done something about it. I think. Whatever took her must have cast a spell on this place to see who came by and to watch the police.”

  “I think she was taken but not from here. Did she have a car?” Lola asked.

  “No. She took the bus like the rest of us,” I answered.

  “So, what now?”

  A dark figure moved behind her slowly. From the head to the mid-torso, it looked like a person. I would say a man because of the broad shoulders. Further down it turned into a wispy blob.

  “Now we leave.” I opened the door and locked it behind us. I waited until we were out of the building and on the street before I said anything else. I looked around to make sure nothing followed us. “I have to get her mother to open up her computer. There’s a magic ban on it. Some witches do it so people outside of their bloodline can’t access certain things. Like books or computers. I’ll call her when I get home.”

  “Okay. Is that where you want to go now?” asked Lola as we walked back to her bike.

  “No. Can you take me to the police station? Slowly.”

  Detective Warren seemed happier to see Lola than he did me. While I got a strong handshake, Lola got a lingering hug.

  “What brings you in?” he asked as we all sat down.

  “We went to Rose’s place today,” answered Lola.

  “Did you find anything?” he asked staring at Lola.

  “Dark magic,” I said. “I think.” His head cut towards me as if he had forgotten I was there. He smiled.

  “Dark magic?” he asked.

  “There was a shadow. Something dark was in her apartment. It had to be put there after because as a witch she would have sensed it. But I came here because I wanted to know if her apartment had been cleaned in any way?”

  “Cleaned? No. As far as I know, no one touched it. Unless her mother cleaned up. Hold on.” Detective Warren got up and disappeared down a hallway. Five minutes later he emerged carrying a folder that he handed to Lola. “That’s a copy of the file. Don’t tell anyone you got it from me.”

  “I won’t.” Lola stood up.

  “Are we leaving?” I asked. I looked up at her. “Sure, you don’t have any more questions
that would help the investigation?”

  Lola sat back down and handed me the folder.

  “Did you talk to any of her neighbors?” I asked.

  “One,” he said as he leaned back in his chair. “The apartment next door but they didn’t know anything. There’s an old woman across the hall who lives alone and rarely leaves the house. It’s difficult for her to move around so we figured she didn’t see anything. Her name should be in there.”

  “Okay.” I stood up. “Thank you for your time.”

  Lola followed behind me as we left.

  “Where now?” She mounted her bike.

  I read through the list of people they talked to and their addresses before putting the helmet back on. “Back to the apartment.”

  “Why?” asked Lola.

  “Because the old lady across the hall is a shadow person.”

  Chapter 4

  Young Love aka Stupidity

  Lola stood behind me as I knocked on the door.

  “How do you know she’s a shadow person?”

  “I knew her son,” I answered.

  I knocked again but no one answered.

  Lola moved from behind me and leaned against the wall next to the door. “Maybe she’s not home.”

  “She is.” I stuck my finger into the keyhole. The door creaked open.

  “How did you—”

  “Magic.” I stepped inside. “Mrs. Annan?”

  “Yes?” said a low voice.

  Lola followed me down towards the voice. The hall opened to the kitchen. At the table sat an old woman. Her white hair pulled into a tight bun. She wore a fluffy pink and white robe.

  “Hazel?” she asked squinting.

  “Yes.” I grabbed a pair of glasses from the kitchen counter and handed them to her. “I didn’t know you moved.”

  “A few years ago.” She slipped on the glasses. “That is you. Who’s your friend?”

  “That’s Lola, my neighbor.” I stood by the table.

  “You live here now? He’ll be happy to hear that.” Mrs. Annan smiled

  I looked back at Lola who was staring at me, eyebrow raised.

  “No, I don’t, and please don’t tell him you saw me,” I said. I pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. “I’m here about your neighbor across the hall. Rose.”

  “Sad to hear about her. She was a nice girl,” Mrs. Annan said solemnly.

  “You knew her well?” I asked.

  “Not really. She would say hello in the hall and helped me with my groceries. At least she did, now I get them delivered.”

  “Have you seen anything strange around here lately. Heard anything?” I asked.

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “You never cast your shadow into the hall to see what your neighbors are doing?” I asked even though I already knew the answer.

  Mrs. Annan grew quiet.

  “I thought so.” I leaned back in the chair.

  “Only when I need to be entertained.”

  “Did the police talk to you about the day she disappeared?” asked Lola.

  “They told me the date but when I told them I don’t get out much they assumed I didn’t see anything. I hate it when people just assume cause you’re old you can’t do anything.”

  “What did you see?” I asked.

  “I was walking the hallway when she came home. It was earlier than her usual time. Before noon, I think. She went into her apartment stayed for thirty minutes and came back out after she had changed her clothes and then she left. I didn’t see or hear her again after that.”

  “How was she dressed?” I asked.

  “Short flower dress, strappy heels, she had a purse and makeup on,” she explained pointing to her face. “Her hair was down and curly. She usually didn’t wear it like that.”

  “Okay. Thank you for your help,” I said.

  “You come visit me again and soon.”

  “I will,” I said trailing behind Lola.

  Once we were on the other side of the door Lola gave me a questionable look. I ignored it.

  “So, Rose had a date the day she went missing,” I said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” said Lola. “You dated her son?” Lola wiggled her thick pink eyebrows.

  “Yeah.”

  “What happened?” Lola asked.

  “He did and said some things that reminded me of my father so I—”

  “Moved,” she finished.

  “Yeah, I moved.”

  “How did you know about her casting her shadow?” asked Lola when we reached the street her bike was on.

  “Because her son would do the same thing to me when he wanted to know what I was doing when he wasn’t around.”

  “Oh. You think that thing in Rose’s apartment is a shadow person?” asked Lola as she straddled her bike.

  “No. It’s different. I think someone put it there to guard her apartment and to follow anyone that went in.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” asked Lola.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think all dark magic is done for dark reasons. I won’t know until I figure out who cast the spell,” I said before she turned on her bike.

  A growl erupted from the bike as we took off. We were back to our building in no time.

  “You dated a shadow person? I’m surprised,” said Lola as she took off her helmet and shook her head.

  “Why?”

  “Didn’t think you’d date outside of your species.” We entered the building.

  As we went up to our floor, I rolled her comment around in my head.

  “Really?” I opened my front door, and she followed me in.

  “I know some witches don’t like to mix,” she said. Lola sat on the sofa and propped her feet on the coffee table.

  “My parents were never like that. My mother was a witch and my father a fire elemental. Some approved. Some stopped talking to them. That’s just the way it is.”

  “Is that why you guys moved here? Neutral territory?”

  “No. We lived on Haven. It’s supposed to be a haven for all. Witches, vampires, dragons, Firebirds, shadow people, and everyone else. Everyone was welcome. After a while, it stopped being that. By that time, I was old enough to leave home, so I did. My mother lived there until she died.”

  “I’ve been to Haven but only for a night. It seemed nice. So, what made you break up with the shadow guy?”

  “He was possessive and didn’t like me having friends. Back when I had some. I went out with them one night and when I came home, he had cast his shadow into my apartment and unlocked the door to let himself in. He waited for me and proceeded to berate me for going out. He hit me, and I cast a fire protection spell and that was it,” I explained.

  “Fire protection spell?”

  “If he comes near me, he will burst into flames,” I said. I set Rose’s file on the kitchen table before grabbing two drinks out of the fridge. I handed one to Lola.

  There wasn’t much to go on in Rose’s file. When the police searched her apartment, there was no sign of a struggle. Makeup was on the counter in the bathroom.

  “Wait a minute,” I said.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Lola. She came over and sat at the table.

  “Look at this picture,” I said. I handed it to her.

  The police had taken pictures of every inch of her apartment.

  “What happened to the bag?” asked Lola.

  I tapped the picture of Rose’s bedroom twice. There was no pink bag. “It was put there after the police had already been through her apartment.”

  “Why would someone put the bag with her school stuff on the floor by her bed after she had gone missing?” asked Lola.

  “I don’t know,” I said as I looked through the pictures. “Why wouldn’t it have been there in the first place?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Lola.

  “If she came home from school to change, why would she take her school bag with her? It should have been ther
e after she left. So why wasn’t it there when the police came?”

  We looked through every picture in the file. The police took a picture of everything. Even the food in her cabinets. There was no pink bag.

  “I wonder who put it there,” I said half to myself. “And why?”

  I made a note of the bag in my notebook before taking out the sticky note Warren had given me. I called the numbers of her friends. Rose’s friend Syn didn’t answer, but I left a message. Paige said we could come to see her anytime and she gave me the address to the bookstore she worked at. Wolf gave me his address and said I could come by anytime during the day.

  “Do you want to go with me to talk to one of her friends?” I asked Lola.

  “Right now? Can’t. I have to meet someone in an hour,” she said inching towards the door.

  “Someone?” I asked.

  “Yeah, someone. I’ll check in when I get back.” She closed the door behind her.

  Someone.

  Mm-hmm. Lola was still a bounty hunter. Perhaps it was a client or a date. I stuffed my notebook back into my purse and left my apartment.

  The street was quiet as I walked to the bus. Nothing out of the ordinary. Another teddy bear led a child down the street with the father close behind. The bear had shiny black fur and wore a red and black fedora. The child was maybe six years old. They walked hand in hand down the street and went into a candy store.

  I went to the bus stop and sat on the bench. A group of teens in baggy clothes rode by on motorbikes. Their pointy ears told me they were elves while their tangerine shirts with the matching shoes and helmets told me they were in a gang. Glass shattered, and people poured onto the street. One of the elf gang members kicked in a car window before he sped away.

  The owner of the car, a big, burly man with light pink hair, screamed and threatened the bikers. After they sped away, he assessed the damage, said some words and the glass came together like a puzzle. He took the window with the help of a friend and placed it in his backseat. They then went back into the café.

  As I waited for the bus, I watched as people shuffled up and down the street. A woman with long, straight black hair walked by. She wore the most beautiful kimono I had ever seen. It was blue with different colored flowers and fish on it. It looked hand-painted. From her style of dress, I assumed she was from Tarau. Kimonos were usually worn on the water island.