by J. E. Cluney
I smiled as I took in his stoic features, his perfect nose and strong jawline, the way his mouth was slightly curved upwards as he felt me watching him. And that side-swept style that he’d made sure to do each day.
And he smelled heavenly, having chosen a modest cologne today from his small collection. His diamond earring glinted as we passed under the streetlights, and I found myself leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.
“What’s that for?” he chuckled.
“For helping me learn. For helping teach me my sonic scream and to accept this side of myself,” I murmured.
“You did all that yourself,” he stated, giving me a crooked smile while keeping his eyes on the road.
“No, you played a part. You all did,” I said, my eyes falling to the brush in my hand.
“A banshee, I still can’t believe it,” Lucas murmured.
“Neither can I,” I admitted, and he chuckled lightly.
“I hope I can figure this out tonight. I won’t be able to sleep until I do. I feel too invested in it now. Like it’s my duty,” I said, pursing my lips as I held the brush up.
What hairstyle had Samantha liked to have the most? She’d had pigtails when I’d seen her, and in her photo in the file. Maybe that was what she loved.
“You have an ability and you want to use it. It’s not your duty, but the fact that you want to do it is commendable,” Lucas said. “Reminds me of superman. He chose to use the powers he had for good rather than hide amongst people.”
“You’re comparing me to superman?” I smirked.
“Take the compliment,” he grinned.
“If you can do good, then why not? Everyone wants to make a difference, and I actually might be able to,” I murmured. “With being a vet, and maybe this.”
“And you’ll do great at whatever you put your mind to,” Lucas said as he took a right turn.
“We’re here,” I stated, knowing before we’d even pulled up outside the park.
A lone streetlight lit the edge of the small park, and I eyed the eerie scene.
Some swings, a slide, and a flying fox.
It was the bushes and trees surrounding it that made my skin crawl. Anything could be lurking in the shadows.
“I’m right here with you,” Lucas reminded me, squeezing my leg before switching the engine off and climbing out.
I could feel my banshee side moving, responding to something here.
We’d found the right swings.
I climbed out of the car, the hair standing up on the back of my neck as I looked around cautiously.
I could tell Lucas was feeling my unease as he frowned and murmured a few words, his hand glowing faintly.
“We’re alone,” he stated after a moment.
That didn’t make the feeling go away though.
I sucked in a deep breath, forcing myself to walk over to the swings with Lucas in step with me. As I got closer, I could feel the pull, the need to find out the underlying truth.
My palms were sweaty, and I gripped the brush in one hand, squeezing it against my thigh as I stopped before the swing-set.
I didn’t hesitate this time as I reached out and curled my fingers around the chain of the swing.
I got sucked into the void, and this time, I found myself standing hand in hand with little Samantha.
“He was watching me that day,” she murmured.
I frowned, following her gaze to the flickering scene before us.
Samantha was laughing and crying out with glee as her mother pushed her on the swing.
“This way,” the Samantha by my side said as she tugged at my arm.
I hesitated before allowing her to walk me towards the scene playing out before us.
I gasped as we passed through a strange layer, and it rippled around me, making me shudder involuntarily.
The scene we stood in now was dull, as if the colors had been sucked a little from everything.
“Momma was pushing me on the swing when I saw him,” Samantha murmured as we stepped up beside the swing-set, facing the way that her counterpart on the swing was.
It was only then that I realized both versions of her were wearing the exact same clothes.
She died that day.
I knew it instantly, and my chest tightened.
“It’s okay,” Samantha murmured, and I realized she was talking directly to me, looking up at me with those bright blue eyes.
I didn’t have the guts to tell her that it wasn’t.
“I know I won’t see my parents again. But it’s okay. I’m happy where I am. I’m with grandma now,” she said, seeming unfazed by her death.
I just stared at her, disbelieving her words. How was she okay with it?
I guess it had been years, but still, she was just a child.
“There he is,” Samantha said as her eyes drew away from me and she pointed.
I followed her finger to the man sitting in his car, parked on the street by the park.
He was watching Samantha carefully, and the hungry look in his eyes made my stomach twist. I wanted to grab both versions of her and drag her to safety, to protect her from him.
“Find him, he took me,” Samantha said firmly as she turned to me.
“Did he hurt you?” I asked carefully.
She nodded sadly. “He sent me to the next place.”
I stared at her, at the pain and despair that flashed through her eyes. This man had killed her, and it broke my heart. She was so innocent, so sweet as she stared up at me, forcing a soft smile to reassure me.
She was just a child.
I cried out as I was torn from the void, gasping for air as I found myself on my knees.
“Allison!” Lucas was in front of me, gripping my shoulders as he looked around wildly.
Tears were streaking down my cheeks, and I sobbed as I dragged myself to my feet, clutching his chest as he held me close.
“I screamed, didn’t I?” I murmured, already knowing he’d been watching me as I conversed with Samantha in my void. On the outside, my eyes had gone black, a glimpse into the void I was in, and then I’d screamed. Only seconds had passed out here, whereas it had been longer in there.
“We should get you home,” Lucas murmured as dogs began barking and howling in the properties around us. It added a haunting feeling to the already eerie moment.
“The car,” I sputtered, closing my eyes as the image came back to me. “I got the license plate. He took her. We find him, we find her,” I managed to say. I drew in a shaky breath as I read out the license plate burned into my mind, even giving him the details of the white sedan as best I could.
“I’ll call my dad once we’re on the road,” he murmured as he pulled away, wrapping an arm around my waist and helping me back towards the car.
I looked down at the brush in my hand, still feeling her small hand in mine as she showed me her attacker.
We’d catch him. And we’d find her.
That was my silent promise.
I sat quietly in the passenger seat, listening as Lucas relayed my vision to his father. From what I could make out, he was going to get a warrant through the Council. Apparently certain supernatural things, like visions, was considered substantial grounds for a warrant in the supernatural community.
The catch was, I’d be going too. My link to Samantha would benefit them.
Mr Brady informed him he’d call back once they’d found the owner of the vehicle and gotten a warrant sorted. He was hoping we could get to the bottom of this mystery tomorrow.
Friday. My work day.
I groaned as I closed my eyes. Tonight’s expedition after dinner out had left me tired, my banshee side having drained me.
I was tired, but my mind was still swirling about Samantha and that man.
I focused on him, drawing the vision forth.
What was he? He was a supe, that much I’d felt. He was balding, which ruled out any kind of fae, considering hair was something they never lost.
Wh
ich left a long list of other creatures.
“What supes would be interested in children?” I asked, my eyes half closed. God, I wanted sleep. My eyes were sore, probably from crying too.
“Samantha’s family were fae, but she disappeared during the day, so I doubt a vampire took her,” Lucas murmured as he took us home.
He had the heat on for me, sensing my sudden coldness. It felt like it had seeped into my bones, this icy feeling.
Death. That was what it was. Samantha’s death. I’d felt it, I knew that that man had killed her. But how or why were still a mystery to me.
“What else likes fae children?” I asked, yawning as I frowned.
“It doesn’t have to have anything to do with being a supe. Just like there are murders and serial killers, supes can be those too,” Lucas sighed.
He was right, and it annoyed me. Maybe it meant nothing, whatever supe they were.
Maybe they were just bad.
But what did he do to Samantha? Why hurt her?
He was definitely her killer, I was certain of that. But I wanted to know more.
“Patience. That’s what you need. My father will call, but I doubt he’ll have a warrant until the morning. And after tonight, maybe you should just have a nice hot bath and head to bed,” Lucas suggested.
The thought of soaking in warm water was welcome, but so was just changing and crawling into bed.
I looked down at the brush in my hand, chewing my lip as I reached into the box on the floor and slid it back into the evidence bag. I couldn’t do anything else right now. It was out of my hands.
“We’ll figure this all out,” Lucas murmured.
I nodded, closing my eyes as I rested my head against the window.
The soft hum of the heater was strangely comforting, and before I realized it, I was drifting off into a deep sleep.
15
Lucas.
I carried Allison upstairs, using a small dusting of magic to keep her from waking. She didn’t know it, but all this banshee work had really drained her.
I was impressed to say the least. She’d made more progress in the case in a matter of hours than anyone else had in years. And from what she felt and said, finding the owner of the vehicle and searching his place would solve this case.
I just worried what it meant for her. Could she handle actually discovering Samantha’s small body? She’d been missing for years. And supposedly dead too, considering Allison had seen her wearing the same clothes in her void.
I hated not knowing what was going on in there until afterwards, when she emerged from it. I get a few glimpses of what had happened, but only after.
I was completely out of the loop, we all were, our connection blocked while she transcended into her darkness for answers.
At least her mind had not drifted to the wendigo until I’d been thinking about it.
I couldn’t help it. My father had had no luck with it, he was at a loss in finding it.
No new bodies had surfaced though, which was a good thing. I hoped.
But I’d been wondering what the wendigo had been before it became the monster it was now.
There were few things that were impervious to a warlock’s magic spells and tracking by shifters. I know my father had used every resource he had, but hadn’t even gotten a single lead on the wendigo. Even with the body we had of Derek. Having a body always helped, it opened up extra spells and clues. But in this case, it had been a dead end.
Vampires were difficult to track, as they were the walking dead. Some shifters joked that they smelled of death, but in truth, they had no scent. Although Marcus smelled like vanilla, that was not a vampire scent.
I smiled as I stood in Allison’s room, loving how she’d taken in the small details about us. Like my tattoo, she loved that it matched her pendant I’d given her, which she still wore around her neck.
I held up a glowing hand, and Allison floated into the air, her dress slipping off her as her pajamas drifted off her bed.
I looked away as I dressed her with my magic before tucking her into bed. She needed her sleep.
I smiled as the glow on her blanket died down after it covered her, and she made a soft sound of comfort as she snuggled into her pillow.
She looked so peaceful and beautiful, fast asleep, away from the horrors that had found her recently.
Being a banshee was not going to be easy, it would be a rough road, a life that she could struggle with at times, and I truly felt sorry for her. No one wanted death to be a part of their lives, but for her, it would be everything now.
I sat on the edge of her bed, watching her as she slept while my mind continued to grind. What else was difficult to track when it came to magic? Some shifter species. The predators were easy at times, depending on how well they’d learned to hide their tracks. Magic traces, not tracks, an actual trail of magic that most shifters left unless they could mask it. Then there were the fae. True fae were like vampires, difficult to track and find unless a vampire was hunting them. Only their noses could pick up fae who were in hiding. Old vampires. But even if it had been a fae before, it wasn’t one now.
There was no point trying to figure out what it had been beforehand. Hell, maybe it was just wendigos. They were notoriously difficult to find, and the Council had hunted them to near extinction. It had been incredibly difficult to do so, but they had done it.
How though?
‘Time to ask your father,’ Marcus murmured mentally.
I drew my eyes away from Allison, finding the vampire leaning against the doorframe, cast in shadows. Only the soft glow from the moon filtering through the window gave me some light. I was using a little bit of night vision too though.
‘I don’t think even he knows. Wendigos are not really a problem here in Australia, they originated in the States. And he may be the Area Enforcer, but getting information out of the Council isn’t easy. He just reports to them,’ I explained as I stood up, casting Allison one last glance.
I headed into the hall with Marcus, closing her door behind me softly, and finding Ollie standing in his doorway too.
“I’m glad she’s got this case to keep her occupied and all, but the wendigo should be our main focus,” Marcus said softly as he crossed his arms.
“It’s not just occupying her. It’s giving her another focus and drive, helping her use her banshee powers,” I sighed.
“Still doesn’t help with the wendigo though,” Ollie added.
“I know. I’ll call my dad, see what he knows. She really wants to help this little girl though, she’s driven,” I said, unable to keep the small smile from my face. Seeing her passion tonight, how well she’d worked with her banshee side, it was hard to believe she’d only just discovered that side of herself.
“I know, we all know. We can feel it, her need to help,” Marcus reminded me, almost defensively.
I ignored it as I checked the time on my phone. It was going to be a late call, but he was used to these things, you know, being the Area Enforcer and all.
“Where’s Skip?” I asked as I scrolled through my contacts.
“Sleeping. He’s the only one that doesn’t have people’s voices in his head,” Marcus muttered.
“Sounding a little crazy there,” I smirked, which earned me a dark look.
I just rolled my eyes as I headed downstairs and held the phone to my ear.
My father picked up on the second ring.
“Something up?” he asked instantly, on high alert at the late call.
“No. I know the warrant can take a while. I was actually wondering if you asked the Council how they hunted the wendigos. I know they had a warlock helping them, but exactly how did they track them down if we’re struggling?” I asked.
The frustrated sigh made me scowl, and I readied myself for his harsh tone.
“You really think I didn’t try that? I’ve contacted the Council, but you know how they can be, even with my contacts on the inside, the only ones who know anything are
tight-lipped, refusing to share with me. They’re saying, if it gets bad enough or out of hand, then they’ll lend their assistance,” he growled at me.
“What’s their version of bad mean? We’ve already got a body, and it wants to consume Allison to be able to control vampires,” I spat back.
“More bodies racking up I’d assume. You know how they are,” my father muttered.
I did. The Council had Area Enforcers and people below them to handle issues. They never meddled personally until it got bad enough.
“Arseholes,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration.
“We have a name for the owner of the vehicle too, if you were wondering. We’re working on the warrant now. Considering he’s unknown to the force, it could take almost twenty-four hours to get the warrant,” my father said, his tone having changed to one of slight defeat.
“Can’t you speed it along? You have a pretty high position in the community,” I asked, shocked that it would take so long. He was the Area Enforcer, he should be able to have it instantly.
“Banshee visions are rare, so it’s not as quick as we’d like. They need to verify her heritage as a banshee and whatnot, and since the girl has obviously died, since Allison is getting clues, then there’s no great rush on it in their eyes,” he said.
“Unless he’s still killing young girls,” I snapped.
“Did Allison see anything else that could lead us to believe that?” he asked skeptically.
No. She hadn’t. But that didn’t change the fact.
“It’s going as fast it can go,” he said when he took my silence as an answer.
“Fine.”
“Call me if anything changes. I’ll let you know as soon as we have the warrant.” And with that, he hung up without a goodbye.
Typical.
I sighed as I stared at my screen in my hand. There was nothing more I could do tonight. All we could do was wait.
As for the wendigo, I was getting sick and tired of being on guard and just waiting for something to happen.
“It’s all we can do,” Marcus said as he joined me in the living room.
