by Ruby Loren
I opened my mouth to tell her ‘absolutely not’ but then I shut it again when I remembered something else. It felt like an age ago, but I’d seen my cat Hedge appearing to communicate with a large black dog sporting a pair of glowing red eyes. “What do they look like?” I said, unwilling to bluff something as important as this.
“Literature describes them as big black dogs with glowing eyes, but who really knows?” Heather said, as if reading the thoughts straight from my mind.
“They’re invisible, dummy. But we’ve all heard the howling. Have you maybe considered why they’re here… and the reason they went after Sarah and Helen?” Aurelia drawled.
I instinctively opened my mouth to shut her down, but I realised she’d actually made a good point. I looked at her expectantly.
She made a sound of disgust. “Obviously, it’s the Witch Council coming after all of us one by one. They view this town as a festering boil on the face of all witches. We represent everything they hate and they know our older witches worked to take them down the first time… not that you had anything to do with that.” Aurelia directed the last comment at me, adding extra venom when she said it.
“You didn’t either, Aurelia! All of that was back during your mother’s time in this coven. And we don’t speak of it!” Heather said, cutting her off with such sharp words I was shocked. The old psychic was genuinely worried about Aurelia shooting her mouth off.
And I thought I knew the reason why.
I’d always wondered why no one had bothered to mention that I had aunts. I’d assumed it was because of the way my mother had kept everyone out of her business, whilst sticking her nose into everyone else’s. They’d probably feared retribution. However, Heather had just planted a new theory in my mind. Wormwood might have been the meeting point for the mysterious Grand Coven all those years ago when they allegedly hatched a plan to take down the Council. And by the sounds of it, some of the members were still in town.
“How old was Helen?” I asked, knowing looks could be deceiving when it came to witches.
“Older than she looked,” Heather replied, shooting me another warning glance. I was definitely getting close to the truth.
I bit my tongue when I realised I’d just spoken about one of the missing women in the past tense in front of her daughter. Curse the way this coven meeting was going!
“The Council is picking us off one by one and you’re doing nothing to stop it,” Aurelia said, as if this was somehow all my fault. I hadn’t even been aware of magic’s existence when the Witch’s Council had gone AWOL.
“It’s one theory. We shouldn’t be too hasty to jump to conclusions,” I said, feeling like I was pouring a teacup on a bonfire.
“Conclusions? Two of this coven have disappeared, and it’s just lucky that we got a heads-up before something serious could happen,” Aurelia said, convincing me once and for all that she was the most self-centred person on the planet.
“Want me to drop down on her head again?” Hemlock muttered from wherever he was lurking.
I was touched. It was probably the nicest thing he’d ever said to me.
It was a clear sign that I definitely needed a better familiar.
“We’re all going to be dragged off by these hounds! I heard there’s nothing you can do to protect yourself,” Ally said, her hands fluttering to her face.
“I heard they drag you straight down to the dark dimension,” Jane contributed, pushing her glasses higher up her nose.
I looked around the room, feeling a mutiny brewing. I racked my brains, trying to think of something I could do to head… whatever this was… off.
“I’m sure our high priestess has a plan to solve all of our problems. She’s always sticking her nose into other people’s business. Have you solved the mystery yet?” Aurelia drawled. “As our leader, you should be taking on the hellhounds. Not that witches traditionally do well against those things. Our magic does nothing to stop them. But I’m sure a Salem would have better luck.” She smirked at me, probably hoping to see fear or uncertainty reflected back at her.
“If anyone sees something unusual, or if anyone has a reason to believe that something might be coming after them, my door is always open. Of course I will do everything I can to protect every member of this coven,” I told the group, meaning every word. I’d been reluctant to accept the position of high priestess of the coven when I’d barely been able to control my unusual magical abilities, but now that I was their leader, it was something I took very seriously - no matter how annoying some of the members were. I knew it was my duty to do everything I could to protect them. I was ready to defend my coven.
“And I’ll stay in bed,” Hemlock commented from his hiding place. “Hellhounds are gross.”
And with that comment, Hemlock lost his ‘familiar of the week’ badge.
“…typical that the police are caught up in the letters. I’d like to strangle Emma. She’s distracting from the real issue, which is our lives!” I heard Adelaide say to Aurelia.
I frowned, realising that no one here believed the letters and the disappearances were in any way linked. I understood the twisted logic behind the Council being responsible, but when paired with the letters, I’d imagined it to be more than just a coincidence. Now I wasn’t sure what to think.
“People have always loved knowing each other’s secrets in this town. Especially when those secrets can be used against others for personal gain,” Heather said, sounding as though she were reading my thoughts again.
“Who here has received a letter?” I asked, suddenly curious about who’d been targeted.
I raised my own hand and then watched as others went up around the room. Only Tara and Hannah kept their hands down… and Jane’s wavered, because she’d never actually received hers.
“When did you all receive them?” I enquired and got a slew of responses ranging from a few weeks ago to mere days in the past.
“This is just Bridgette’s revenge from beyond the grave. Someone should have considered that before they killed her,” Aurelia stated, like it was firstly all my fault, and secondly, that it was factually correct - despite the culprit being caught. I remembered the crazy argument for possession by ghost and then firmly stomped on the idea. I was wandering down paths that would only get more maddening the further I went.
As smaller discussions sprung up and the highly unproductive, and unrevealing coven meeting continued, I was so distracted by the letters and the accusations flying about that I didn’t even consider the question I would later find myself obsessing over.
If magic didn’t work on hellhounds, how was the Council able to control them?
I was about to call it quits when Aurelia cleared her throat and stood up.
Annoyingly, everyone fell silent to listen to her.
“Due to two official members missing from this coven and the arrest of a third, our numbers have been significantly depleted. With the Council back on the board, we have reached the decision to add a member to the coven, as well as inviting Hannah to take her mother’s position.”
I raised my eyebrows. We?
“We already took a vote,” Aurelia hastily added with a sideways glance in my direction.
“When?” I said, sensing that mutiny again.
“It doesn’t matter. The majority rules when it comes to new members. Or in this case… reintroducing an old one.”
It was at that moment I heard the shop door open. I turned around and wasn’t at all surprised to see the person standing in the doorway.
“Looks like I’m back in the coven,” Natalia Ghoul said with a smirk.
8
Hidden in Plain Sight
It took me until the next morning to cool down and start thinking rationally after the disastrous coven meeting. Natalia’s return had been greeted with varying levels of enthusiasm, but I’d been forced to admit that the general consensus was that she should be allowed to come back, now that Hellion had gone missing (I happened to know it was
something he definitely wouldn’t be returning from). No one was searching for him, but that didn’t surprise me in the slightest.
However, Natalia was not going to march back in and demand to be high priestess. That was something I’d made abundantly clear when she’d entered the room. While I’d never wanted the role in the first place, I knew what the Wormwood Coven had done under her guidance. In fact, I’d been on the receiving end. And I hadn’t liked it one bit. I’d sooner challenge her to a duel than hand over leadership - vote or no vote. Fortunately, the rest of the group hadn’t decided to challenge me on that… yet.
I’d also taken the opportunity to propose that another member was recruited in the near future. As hard as it was to admit, people who went missing from Wormwood didn’t have a habit of coming back. Or when they did, they didn’t come back alive. We were still down a member from the last disastrous turn of events.
I was secretly hoping that I’d be able to find someone who wasn’t a Ghoul family supporter. With Natalia back in play, anything we chose to take a vote on might not end as fairly as it had once done. I wasn’t going to try to ostracise Natalia, Aurelia, and their associates (they did a great job of that all by themselves) but it would be good to have a balance in the coven.
Especially a balance in my favour.
I sighed out my frustration as I walked through the lanes of Wormwood carrying that morning’s deliveries. It was Easter Sunday tomorrow, and I was waddling along with more organic chocolate eggs than the Easter Bunny, delivering to people who either couldn’t visit the shop, or didn’t have the time to. The eggs had been another one of Tristan’s ideas. He’d sourced them for me to sell to boost my seasonal business and upgrade the image of the apothecary as being more than just a herb shop.
My morning walk took me down the road where Sarah May’s house was situated. I was only too aware that the police hadn’t released any further details pertaining to the case since they’d arrested Emma Kirkus. The hopeful part of me thought it might be because they were close to wrapping the whole thing up and recovering the missing women… but my gut instinct was that my coven had been closer to the truth last night when they’d suggested the letters had nothing to do with the disappearances.
I idly wondered how the communication in crime analyst was getting on with the letters, and if Emma had let slip anything that was making Melissa Bentley question the witch’s sanity… or her own sanity. I wasn’t sure which was more likely.
I don’t know what it was that made me slow down and take a closer look at the cottage where Sarah had lived. Perhaps I really was too nosy for my own good, but when I looked at the door, I noticed something. Although the police tape was still in evidence, cordoning off the scene, the door itself looked like it hadn’t been shut properly. I walked up the garden path, meaning to pull it closed to rectify what must surely have been an oversight on the police’s part. When I got closer, I realised there were signs of forced entry.
Someone had broken into Sarah May’s house.
I hesitated on the doorstep for a moment longer, before turning around and looking up and down the street. No one strolled by on this sunny April morning and no curtains twitched at windows. I’m just being neighbourly, I reassured myself, before I lifted the police tape and slipped inside the house to see if something had happened to the property.
It was only when I was standing in the dimly lit hallway of Sarah’s cottage that I stopped to consider what I’d do if the intruder was still inside the house. My magic answered me, and before I thought too much about it, I made a weapon materialise. A short gladius blade I’d used before appeared in my hand. I took a moment to reflect that it was indeed a good choice for a tight space like a house, before I ventured further into the cottage in search of any clues the burglar may have left behind.
It might be as simple as a burglar taking advantage of an unattended property, I thought as I looked into the front room. It was true that we didn’t have much normal crime in Wormwood (primarily because everyone was able to use spells to curse a robber who’d inadvertently left DNA behind whilst carrying out their crime) but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a first for everything. However, when I looked around the room and noted that the flatscreen television and expensive looking gem-encrusted candlesticks were still in their positions on either side of the mantlepiece, I was pretty certain I could rule out a standard burglary. Whoever had broken in had been after something else.
The question was… what was it?
I kept the sword down by my side as I walked further into the house. The blood on the floor had turned rust brown as it dried, but the scene looked no less violent. The police had left everything exactly as it had been when I’d found it, probably with the intention of coming back, should they need to take a closer look at anything. It was a different matter to Helen’s house, where her family still lived. Sarah had been alone.
Something had changed.
When I’d first walked into Sarah May’s house, finding her missing, the cupboard under the stairs had been shut. In fact, I hadn’t even noticed there was a cupboard under the stairs. It was the panelled kind that blended in with the rest of the decor on the side of the staircase. Now, it was wide open and there was a key in the lock.
The police must have found the key and opened it as part of their investigation, I thought, my feet carrying me further down the corridor. Although it sounded entirely logical to me, I could feel my heart beating in my ears as I took those last few steps that brought me past the ajar door, so I could take a look at what was inside the cupboard. Some part of me didn’t believe the logical explanation… and that part of me was absolutely right.
The cupboard under the stairs looked like someone had decided to redecorate using blood instead of paint. The worst part was the pool of blood on the floor, so thick that it hadn’t yet dried. I took a deep breath and regretted it when all I could smell and taste was death - despite the bundle of car air fresheners someone had thought to hang in the tiny area, presumably to conceal any scent of decomposition prior to the body’s removal. My mind raced as I recovered myself and tried to think.
Had the police opened the cupboard and found some new evidence, but decided to keep it to themselves? I found it hard to believe. The drag marks had led out of the house, and I knew that the majority of their time had been taken up searching the woods beyond the property for signs of Sarah May.
And she’d been in the cupboard all along.
I looked down once more at the pool of blood that had been just shy of spreading out under the door. Then, finally, and sensibly, I called Sean Admiral.
I stood for a long time, staring at the gory scene within the cupboard, holding a short sword in one hand and a bag of Easter eggs in the other. It was only when the front door opened that I was shaken out of my stupor. I instinctively raised and pointed the sword. Sean Admiral lifted his hands in surrender. I shook my head and willed the weapon to disappear. The detective gave me a funny look, which probably meant his mind had come up with a weird explanation of what it had just seen, but he didn’t comment.
“Did you look in the cupboard under the stairs?” I asked, hoping I was wrong about all of this.
The detective’s grim expression was all the confirmation I needed. “We investigated the house, but…”
“…the trail led out of the door, the same as with Helen,” I finished for him, knowing that I’d been right. The police had focused on the trail that led into the woods. “And all that time, she was probably in the cupboard.”
“It would appear that way.” Sean did not sound amused. He looked at me sternly and I knew what was coming next. “What are you doing in here anyway?”
“Not returning to the scene of a probable murder to remove a body, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said, strangely deciding to attempt to lighten the mood. Unsurprisingly, it fell flat. “I was walking past to make deliveries further up the street. I happened to notice that the door had been left open. I thought it
might have been a mistake, but then I looked more closely and realised it had been forced.”
“What wonderful powers of observation you have.” Sean didn’t believe my story.
“Too bad they weren’t working the first time I came in here,” I said, knowing the same applied to the entire police force. “I didn’t even notice that there was a cupboard,” I added. Even the keyhole was surprisingly concealed in-between the slats.
“What a mess,” Sean said, and I knew he wasn’t just referring to the inside of the cupboard.
“Is it her blood?” I asked, knowing he’d been seeking confirmation on that.
He nodded, grimly. “We matched the DNA with hair samples from her hairbrush.”
“Oh,” I said. Somehow, that knowledge made the scene in the cupboard even worse, but I’d known the truth as soon as I’d seen it. This wasn’t a scene dressed dramatically by animal blood, or some other ruse, this was a brutal murder. And it was one that no longer fitted with the coven’s theory of hellhounds, or the local talk of a wild animal attack - not unless wild animals and hellhounds had started creating false trails and stashing their victims in cupboards for later collection.
“Do you think a similar thing might have been done to Helen?” I asked.
“I’ll be investigating every avenue in light of this new evidence.” The detective’s grey eyes were stony. I sensed he was already anticipating the backlash there would be for this missed piece of evidence. The knowledge that Sarah’s body had likely been just a few inches away from where they’d been searching, and they hadn’t found it, was not going to reflect well in any publicity.
“I won’t publish anything about this without your permission,” I said, hoping that it would win me some brownie points and give Sean time to think up something he would like me to share… or perhaps he could conveniently solve the case. That would fix many, many problems.
“This is a nightmare,” he said, speaking frankly.
