by M. J. Caan
“Maybe it’s just more rotting food. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised.”
This time, as they approached the door, Jasmin reached for the handle while Torie summoned her magic and held it at the ready for whatever may be inside.
Pulling the door open, Jasmin jumped back to stand next to Torie as they both peered anxiously inside. This time, the smell of something rotten hit them in their physical senses as well as their mystical ones. It took quite a bit of willpower and magic to push it away from their minds as the two witches stumbled back.
After the initial shock of the exposure, they pushed forward, Torie feeling along the inside wall for a light switch. Not finding one, she cast a spell that created a floating globe of white light, illuminating the space. Inside the closet, half the space was dedicated to men’s suits, while more casual wear took up shelving and rack space on the other side.
On the floor of the closet was a laundry bin that overflowed with unwashed clothing, and next to that was a shoe rack where the mayor’s dress shoes sat alongside a couple of pairs of sneakers.
But other than that, the space was empty.
“There’s nothing here,” said Torie, still covering her mouth to guard against the stench.
“No, there definitely is something here.”
Jasmin lifted a hand and closed her eyes. “There’s a cloaking spell in place. I can feel it.” She whispered an incantation that struck out at the barrier in front of them. The air rippled in response.
“Yes, I can feel it now,” said Torie. “It’s very strong.”
“Help me break through,” said Jasmin.
Together the witches placed their hands on the invisible wall and pushed their magic against it. The barrier flared red at the touch of their hex power, crackling in the air as it slowly gave in to their power and fell away.
Once it was gone, the wall behind it looked completely different. Gone was the clothing that was folded and placed on the built-in shelves, and in their place was a number of ornamental, heavily lacquered boxes. Each box was intricately gilded and locked with a tiny, golden lock.
“Well, what have we here?” said Jasmin, taking one of the boxes from the shelf. In all they counted seven boxes, all roughly the same dimensions; measuring about two feet square.
The box she carried was emerald green with gold trim and a curved front. It had four ornately carved legs and she sat it on the bed before them. A lot of work had gone into making them and there was no telling what price tag, if any, could be placed on them.
“The same magic that created the shielding spell is protecting these as well,” Jasmin said. “Only more concentrated. It could take us all day looking through this pig pen to find the physical key for them.”
“Even if we did find the key, I’m betting it would be useless without the spell to drop the shielding.”
“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing we are witches. We will simply have to undo the shielding ourselves. Divide and conquer?”
Torie nodded, focusing her attention on the box.
The technique they used was one that Jasmin had only recently taught her. It involved the two of them performing two different magical chants simultaneously. The idea was that the magic shield could ward off one form of their hex magic, but it would not be able to withstand dual attacks of two different magical incantations.
Their voices rose in pitch as they called on their hex power to break through the enchantment that protected the box. Resistance was strong; stronger than they were expecting. Beads of sweat broke out on the two witches’ foreheads as they continued to call on their power. They sensed the wards begin to weaken and upped the ante, applying even more hex power.
Finally, the gold lock popped open and dropped to the bed.
“Whew. That was harder than it should have been,” said Jasmin.
She gave Torie one last look before slowly opening the lid on the box. They both peered inside in horror at what they found.
Inside, resting on a silk cushion, was what looked like a large, red and gray heart of some kind. It was bigger than a human heart, but the general shape of it let them know that it belonged to something whose physiology wasn’t too far away from their own.
There were no cuts to the vessels and valves that extended from the chambers. Rather, the ends were ragged and ill formed. It had been ripped out of something savagely and then placed in the box.
Despite her horror, Torie bent closer to examine it.
“Wait. Please tell me that is not…” She used her magic to float the heart up out of the box and turn it slightly in midair so they could see the underside more clearly. There were what looked like teeth marks along the bottom where it rested in the box. In disgust, she placed it back into the box and looked away.
“Well, at least we know what that smell is,” Jasmin said, nodding at the closet. “God knows what’s in the rest of those.”
“Well, she may know, but we need to know as well. But not here. We need to get these back to the house.”
“Wait, you want to bring this to my house?” She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“I don’t think we want anyone else finding these. Plus, whatever is going on is a lot darker than I was thinking. There is strength in numbers, and it will take us working together to unlock the rest of these.”
“What about that shadow we sensed earlier? It’s still here.”
“And I’m betting that it is tied to these boxes somehow. We can come back and cleanse this place later. But this is definitely looking like something that can help absolve you of any involvement.”
Reluctantly, Torie agreed. She wasn’t keen on the thought of desecrating her new house with a ripped-out animal heart and who knows what else; but she also knew that something that radiated so much darkness wasn’t good to be left unattended.
Things like this tended to attract rather unsavory supernatural elements. She would have to trust that whatever came forward, she and Jasmin would be able to handle.
Closing the box, they started the laborious effort of carrying each box one at a time and placing it in the back of Jasmin’s SUV.
15
The ride home was uneventful at least. Torie kept looking over her shoulder at their cargo, sending snippets of magic their way to probe them occasionally.
“Would you stop doing that?” said Jasmin. “They aren’t going anywhere.”
“I know. But they make me nervous sitting back there.”
“Well, you’re making me nervous. I say, all things considered, we should probably head straight back home. It would not be a good idea to stop in town at the market with these rattling around in the car.”
Torie couldn’t agree more. The sooner she was back in her home, even with boxes filled with what she could only assume were more stolen organs, the better she would feel. She felt like she needed a long, hot shower.
Make that a Silkwood shower, she thought.
Luckily, once they got back to the house, Elric was there waiting for them on the porch. Torie had texted him to be sure he would be available to help carry the boxes inside.
“What’s up?” he asked. “Got your text. Did you find anything interesting at the mayor’s?”
“You might say that,” said Torie as Jasmin popped the tailgate on her car.
Elric looked at the gleaming boxes and let out a low whistle. “Can’t wait to tease Max about how he missed all this in his sweep of the house.”
“He wouldn’t have found these. They were hidden with magic, magic that I’m betting thwarted even his senses, though I can’t imagine how he missed that stench,” said Jasmin. “Let’s get these into the study.”
Together, they moved the boxes into Torie’s study, setting them on her long work desk in a row.
Leo bounded up to Torie happily and scampered up onto her shoulder. She immediately felt better. The stress of the last couple of hours started to melt away as she playfully scratched at the dragon’s belly.
Fionna came into the room, curiou
s what was going on.
“How’s Effie?’ asked Torie.
“Oh, she’s fine. I’ve been going back and forth between her room and taking care of this little fella. You know, Effie thinks you have a cat, and she keeps asking to play with it.”
Torie smiled. “Yeah, well this little cat doesn’t seem to play so well with others.”
“What have you got there?” asked Fionna, looking at the boxes. She reached for one, but Jasmin stopped her.
“I wouldn’t,” she said. “They are warded with magic and…well, we don’t know what’s inside.” She gave Torie a quick look.
“Fionna, can you do me a favor and take Leo to another part of the house to entertain while we get these open? I’d rather he not be exposed to this. And you either for that matter.”
“Sure, not a problem. Come here, you.” She took him off Torie’s shoulder and cradled him like a baby as she walked out of the study.
Elric frowned. “What was that about? You’ve never not let Fionna be around when you performed magic.”
Torie looked at him and then Jasmin.
“There is something very dark going on at the mayor’s house, and these boxes…well, they are filled with some pretty nasty stuff. At least the first one we opened was. It’s probably not a good idea having anyone non-magical around when we open them. That includes you,” Torie said, moving to stand next to Elric and caress his cheek.
“Yeah, well that pretty much means I’m not leaving. I might not be able to help open them, but I’ll be here to help deal with whatever comes out if need be.”
Torie knew not to argue. Elric was extremely protective of her, and it was truly one of the things that she enjoyed the most about him.
“Fine,” said Jasmin, “but before we do anything, I think we need to not only raise wards of our own about the house, but we need to make doubly sure this room is sealed.”
Torie agreed and asked Elric to take a seat at the far side of the room, away from the desk where the gilded boxes were.
She moved to the center of the room and raised both arms, activating the shields she and Jasmin had worked so hard to create. Then, taking Jasmin’s hand, both witches began to chant.
“Oh Silver Lady, grant us this boon,
and let no evil escape this room.”
While he wasn’t sure what it was, Elric felt a wave emanate from the witches and pass through him. His supernatural senses were on high alert, and he decided to give in to the urge to shift into his wolf form. In that form, his senses were even sharper, and he immediately zeroed in on the boxes on the table. Torie was right. They reeked of darkness. He let out a little growl and stole down onto the floor, watching keenly as the witches began to use their magic to assault the tiny boxes.
As before, Torie and Jasmin worked in unison; first stripping away the magical shields that surrounded each box, before then attacking the tiny gold locks.
Again, their tactic was a success as one by one the locks popped open and then dropped away with a small thud to land on the desktop.
Elric rose to all fours and started to make his way over to the boxes, but Torie waved him off.
“Stay back,” she said. “Just in case there is something in here that you shouldn’t be exposed to.”
They slowly began to open the boxes. Torie lifted each lid and Jasmin stood next to her, magic at the ready if needed. Once all the boxes had been opened, they took stock of what they had.
“Well, no booby traps at least,” said Torie. “Seems like the shielding and the locks were all the protection placed on them.”
“Gross. Why would anyone want to protect all that?” It was Elric, standing behind the witches and peering over their shoulder.
He was right. Torie looked at the contents in disgust. To go with the heart, there were more organs, some of which had come from humans, and some they had no clue as to what they were.
There were two kidneys, a black oily liver, a large tongue that looked far too big to belong to any human being, a complete brain that seemed to be the size of a golf ball, and an ear that was covered in fur. Those, along with the heart they had seen earlier, accounted for the contents of the boxes.
“This is black magic,” said Jasmin. “Sacrificial magic of the darkest order. What in the name of all that is holy was the mayor into?”
“Elric, I hate to ask, but…what do they smell like to you? Can you tell what these are from?”
Elric shifted into his hybrid form. It allowed him to remain standing upright, but also gave him access to his more supernatural senses. He leaned forward and sniffed at the gory collection.
“No idea,” he said, his voice guttural and deep. “Wherever these came from they’ve been here for a while. I can’t pick up any trace scents other than the lingering death odor.”
“Yes, they are old,” said Jasmin. “But they aren’t really decayed. Interesting.”
Torie wasn’t sure if interesting was the word she would have used.
“So, what do we do with them?” she asked.
“First, we call Max and see if he is willing to scrub your name from all involvement with this. Then, we start some research into just what is involved in this kind of sacrificial magic, and how it benefits humans. The mayor was into something alright. Something that got him killed.”
“So do we leave them here?” asked Torie, wrinkling her nose.
“I’m afraid so. This room is reinforced with spell protection, so for now, it’s probably the best place.”
Torie nodded in agreement. She might not have liked it, but she agreed with the statement.
“Well, now you’ll need to find a new place to keep Leo. The way he tackled that plate of raw meat you gave him for breakfast, I hate to think what would happen if he got these boxes open.”
The mental image was enough to almost make Torie heave.
“I’m going to move him into the bedroom with me. If Effie’s sister is coming to visit, I don’t need him freaking out on yet another human.”
Jasmin didn’t say anything, but Torie noticed a slight change in her body language.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” Jasmin started, before turning to face her friend. “You know, that dragon isn’t a pet. You’re forming a very close bond with something that…I don’t know, that we don’t know what will happen to. It’s a wild creature, Torie.”
“Leo isn’t a wild creature. He’s part of the supernatural world, just like we are. He might be a little fidgety around certain people, but how do you think someone would react that has never known of the existence of werewolves and one night saw Elric shift? They would probably react the same way.”
Jasmin didn’t say anything because her friend had a good point.
“That’s true; but what I’m saying is, maybe he doesn’t belong here. What if he has family that don’t know where he is? Supernaturals are highly intelligent. If something out there is looking for him, eventually they’ll find him. And then what?”
Now it was Torie’s turn to be silent.
“You’re right. And when the time comes, I will do the right thing. You know that. But in the meantime, I would like him to be as comfortable as possible. So, he can move into my bedroom.”
“Well, that should be fun,” said Elric. “Will he be sleeping on the bed with us? Because you know, until this is all over, there is no way I’m leaving you here by yourself.”
Torie smiled at her lover. “I would not have expected anything else.”
They left the study and headed back into the main part of the house.
“I’m going to run back to my house to get a couple of books on sacrificial magic and black lore,” said Jasmin. “Maybe there is something in it that will give us a clue as to what is going on.”
“Alright. I’ll…I don’t know. I’ll find something to do around here,” said Torie. Her mind was focused on the recording from the mayor’s phone, and she was anxious to play it back again. Why was her nam
e the subject of a murder victim and a mystery woman? “Also, I want to be here when Max and Elion return.”
Jasmin nodded and gave her friend’s arm a squeeze as she walked out the door.
Once she was gone, Torie walked into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. She glanced out the window and saw Fionna playing in the yard with Leo. He might not be a pet but that certainly didn’t stop Fionna from playing fetch with him.
Reaching into her pocket, she took the phone out and laid it on the island. She pressed the play button and listened to the recording yet again. When it finished playing, she listened again. Still no clue as to what they were talking about.
“Torie, is that my son’s voice?”
She turned to see Effie standing in the middle of the kitchen.
“Effie, what are you doing out of bed?” As soon as she said it, she regretted the words.
“That’s just what Terry used to say before he started locking me in my room.” She was visibly upset, and Torie felt ashamed of herself for having any part in the sadness that was coming off the woman in waves.
“Effie, I am so sorry. I just meant that you aren’t familiar with the layout of this house yet. You are welcome to go anywhere you want, but I don’t want you hurting yourself.”
The woman smiled nervously. “Thank you. But this house seems to be very open with large hallways and rooms that don’t have too much furniture and things lying about.”
“Well, yes, I only just moved in. No clutter is one of the benefits of a new house I suppose.”
Effie paused, wringing her hands together before her. “You didn’t answer my question. Was that my son’s voice I heard?”
Torie took a deep breath. “Yes, Effie, it was. The police found this and were wondering if maybe it was a clue that could help them find out what happened to him. I…I was just listening because the police heard my name on the recording and wondered if I knew anything.”
“They think you had something to do with my son’s death?” Effie tilted her head toward Torie, the sadness gone from her face as her expression took on a more hardened look.
