Witchling Wars

by Shawn Knightley

  She wanted to get me out of the house. Now I didn’t have a house to live in because a crazy vampire had wrecked it by opening up a time warp tunnel using vixra magic in my kitchen. If she wanted in, she could deal with the consequences. And regardless of how annoying she was, I didn’t want to be involved in this mess alone anymore. I had spent months alone. I had spent months grieving. I had spent months locking myself away. No more. I was a lowly kruxa with little to no ability to control her magic. And even though I was more powerful than my sister was, that wasn’t saying much.

  I took a deep breath, then told her everything I saw. Her eyes were transfixed on me the entire time. Once I was done, she took a generous step back with her hand covering her mouth. I don’t think I ever saw her look quite so shocked.

  “She’s dead, isn’t she? That girl they’re looking for. The Congressman’s daughter.”

  “Yes. I think she is.”

  She shook her head. “It can’t be the vampires. My thoughts went to that initially, but it can’t be.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because they would never go to such trouble to hide the body. They just make it look like a mugging and move on. A chain wrapped around her ankles to keep her submerged in water means someone went to a lot of trouble to hide her.”

  She wasn’t entirely wrong. The vampires would have just tossed her into the swamp with a gash on her neck just like they did the girl in Sealing. And if the Catach-Brayin decided to kill her, she would have simply dropped dead from the brand cooking her insides. The thought gave me goosebumps. I couldn’t let Madison see the brand on my side. She would completely freak. But in the end, she was right. Whoever murdered Samantha took the time and effort to hide her.

  “I guess you can breathe a sigh of relief then,” I said. “If it wasn’t the vampires, we might be rid of this mess soon and they’ll find something more interesting than a small town murder in Dilton.”

  “Ok,” she said with a nod. “Let’s get this over with then. Remember, the story is that your house was broken into. You were robbed. But you were out of town so you weren’t there when it happened.”

  “Out of town where? There’s nothing near Dilton and my car was still in the driveway. Everyone knows I take my bike everywhere.”

  “Say you had a friend come through town from Eastern Europe. He was taking you out to get your mind off things.”

  Eli. Use Eli as the excuse. Fair enough. If he wanted my help maybe he would confirm the story if I needed it.

  I reached for the door handle and walked toward Officer Parker’s office. Madison was right behind me. And for the first time since Caleb’s funeral, I was glad she was there.

  When we walked in, my eyes were instantly drawn to Brian. He was slumped over in the chair to the corner where Officer Parker had a stack of files the last time I was there. His hand was resting in his dirty blond hair. His eyes were starting to surrender to a light sleep, but the tension in his arms was still there. His eyes jolted open when I entered.

  ‘If only he knew just how indifferent Samantha was to him. Maybe he wouldn’t be taking Samantha’s disappearance so hard.’

  I walked in and sat in the chair opposite Officer Parker’s desk. Only this time, I knew he wouldn’t be starting with questions about other young women. Dead young women. He wanted to know that I was alright and what happened at my house. I gave him the story Madison had come up with and he promised to pursue whoever had broken into my house and…well… gutted it. Even so, there was a flicker of distrust in his eyes. He didn’t believe me. Or at least he didn’t buy the entire story. He knew there was something more. I was grateful more than ever that Madison was standing directly behind me, leaning against the wall and watching Officer Parker’s reaction. He wouldn’t push the issue too much with her standing there. Nor would he discuss certain details about the Sealing case. But that wouldn’t stop him from asking about Samantha given that her disappearance was common knowledge.

  Brian tapped his foot on the floor in the corner, clearly bored with Officer Parker’s questioning about my house and my own well-being. He was itching to speak up. When he finally did, his question didn’t come as a surprise at all. In fact, I rather expected it. Not just because so many people ask me all the time, but because the exhaustion written all over his face told me that their search for Samantha must have come to a dead end.

  “If you’re alright with it Miss Ashwood, I was wondering if you might read for me,” said Brian. “I mean, not for me exactly. But could you do a reading to help us find Samantha? Her father is worried sick and now Emily is missing too.”

  I had to remind myself to act surprised. I was perfectly aware that Emily was missing. I watched it happen. I was the one who told her to run. I was the one who left her back there with Isaac. He may have been unconscious, but vampires heal quickly. If Nathaniel managed to find her, there was no guarantee that she would be alive.

  A painful hole pierced through my stomach and down into my gut. I suddenly remembered the physical pain that so often accompanied my grief when I thought of Caleb. Only now my pain was for Emily. Not knowing if she was okay was the worst part. I knew Caleb was gone. Emily’s fate, however, was still a mystery.

  “What happened to Emily?” I asked, trying to keep with the story that I had been out of town for a few days.

  Officer Parker crossed his arms and sat back in his chair with a very distinct attitude on his face. What was his problem? He might have known how to read criminals but I wasn’t that bad at lying. And being a small town cop, he couldn’t be that good at reading people. Or so I hoped.

  “She disappeared a few days ago,” he said. “Right around the same time you did. Apparently, Emily told her father that she was headed over to see you and she never came home.”

  I glanced back at Madison then returned my gaze to Officer Parker. “Is there a chance she was in my house when the robbery took place?” I asked, doing my best to sound completely ignorant.

  “We don’t know. We were hoping you could tell us,” he answered.

  “Officer, I don’t know. My friend Eli picked me up that afternoon soon after I saw you.”

  He pursed his lips. Nope. He wasn’t buying it. Whatever happened to the Officer Parker who was eager for my help? He knew something. Something he wasn’t saying.

  “Well, I don’t think it would hurt to have you perhaps do a reading for Brian,” he said. “If you could help give us any leads that would be great.” His eyes moved to his desk, which actually had some space on it this time.

  “Right now?”

  “Yes. Right now.”

  I heard Madison give a sigh behind me. Hell, it was her fault they were wanting me to do this for them. She couldn’t complain now.

  I reluctantly took out my small deck of cards that I usually kept on me in a pocket. A miniature version of the larger deck used by kruxa throughout the years. A gift from my grandmother so I would always have access to the other side where ever I went. I think it was her way of staying with me. By leaving pieces of herself behind through her belongings. I recalled the vision I had of her as I took the cards out and started shuffling them in my hand. She told me a tempest was coming. A storm. She was here to warn me. She wasn’t wrong. My life had been nothing but chaos since that day.

  I set the cards on Officer Parker’s desk and peered over at Brian who was elated that I had actually agreed to help.

  “Cut the deck three times,” I told Brian.

  “Me?” he asked with a look of surprise on his face.

  “Yes, you. You knew Samantha best. Your energy needs to be on the cards.”

  He seemed to accept that answer and got up from his chair, pushing himself up by the sides. The effort to get up was clearly difficult for him. I imagined he had been on his feet for quite some time. Especially if he had been helping to search for Samantha since she disappeared.

  He did as I instructed and cut the deck three times then placed them into one neat pile. />
  “Now hand them to me,” I told him. He did so and I made sure that our hands briefly touched before he pulled away. A flash of light slammed into my eyes. I shut them as fast as I could to protect them.

  Visions usually came swiftly, but with a bit of a warning. Not this time. It was as if my head had been thrown back and someone turned on a massive fluorescent light that was hidden somewhere in the ceiling directly over my head. Now doesn’t that sound pleasant? It’s not. The light wasn’t going away either. I squinted my eyes shut as hard as I could, but it’s piercing glow still invaded through my eyelids. There was no stopping it. When it finally started to dim, I could barely lift my eyelids open. I did so very slowly, waiting to see what was in store for me. This time the room wasn’t filling with water. It was already full. Brian was there next to me, floating with his arms extended, clearly dead. Madison was behind me, her body in the same lifeless position with her arms extended out, along with Officer Parker. They were all dead. But I wasn’t. I was still releasing air bubbles from my lungs. I made it through. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know why, but I was still trapped in the darkness of the murky water. Drowning slowly. The air in my lungs abandoned me in a cascade of bubbles escaping my mouth. My chest was on fire. It was horrific. The bright light quickly came back and blinded me before I could finish dying.

  I stood up from the chair and dropped the cards all over the floor. They spread everywhere.

  “What’s wrong?” Officer Parker shouted.

  “Sorry. I’m sorry,” I stammered. The fire in my lungs was still burning. I reached for my chest with my hand, struggling to breathe.

  Madison came up behind me and touched my shoulder. “Are you alright?” she asked.

  ‘No, dear sister who got me into this mess. I’m not alright. I just had a vision of all of you. Floating in water and dead as freaking doornails.’

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay,” I said, kneeling on the ground to pick up the cards. “I’m sorry, Brian. I can still read for you.”

  “Are you sure?” Madison asked. “I can take you back to my place to rest.”

  Was she actually feeling guilty now? Is that why she was backtracking?

  “No,” I insisted, gathering up the cards and sitting back down in the chair. I swooped my hair back behind my neck and took a deep breath.

  ‘I can do this. I can do this. Just focus.’

  I placed the first card on Officer Parker’s desk. He could see my hand trembling. And I could see the doubt in his eyes. Doubt that he believed my story about the robbery. Doubt about where I had been. Doubt that I was perfectly okay. I didn’t know what had happened while I was gone these last 72 hours, but Officer Parker went from nosy yet accommodating to skeptical of my every move.

  I closed my eyes and waited for the images to come to the forefront of my mind. To get any kind of sense that I could. Brian was in a clear amount of pain. Worry. Sadness. Jealousy.

  ‘Jealousy? Where is that coming from? Does he know about Samantha’s indiscretion?’

  I shook my head. It didn’t matter. I had to focus on the images.

  For whatever reason, the bridge I crossed whenever I went to see Madison came to my mind. The entire swampy area was covered in fog. The air was hot and sticky. I wouldn’t have thought that this was strange in any way if I hadn’t seen a vision of Samantha’s dead body tied to a chain and her hair floating around in the water. Along with everyone else in this room.

  Was it a warning? Was the other side telling me that going down this path will get everyone in the room killed? It wasn’t unlikely. But it wasn’t a certainty either.

  “Harper?” My sister spoke my name.

  I lifted my hand to tell her to wait. To be quiet. To let me try to focus as much as I could. I felt Brian’s eyes looking at me with a severity that could give Nathaniel a run for his money when it came to intense eye gazes. He was filled with hope. Hope that I would find something. Hope that Samantha was still alive. A part of me ached. Not for Samantha, but for him. The poor bastard cared about her. Truly cared. But I couldn’t deliver the death blow. If Officer Parker was already on a path toward not believing me or thinking I was lying, he would think I had something to do with Samantha’s murder. This could easily turn into a witch hunt against me. Not the kind with a stake and a mountain of flames, but one with a courtroom and an inevitable end behind bars.

  They had to find her on their own. I could lead them in the right direction, but that was it.

  “There’s a bridge,” I said softly. “A bridge with light brown sides going over a swamp. There are trees peeking out through the water.”

  “That’s it?” said Officer Parker. Seriously, what was his deal? Why was he being so rude after I went out of my way to help him when I clearly didn’t want to? “There are dozens of swamps in this area with bridges going over them. You can’t get more specific than that?”

  I shot him my best evil glare and continued to focus.

  “Here,” said Brian. “Take this. It belongs to Samantha. Maybe you can get something more from it. That helps, right? Having an item that belongs to the person?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out her engagement ring. That huge, expensive, and downright ostentatious engagement ring.

  “Couldn’t hurt,” I said.

  The truth was that I really didn’t want to touch that thing. My hand nearly dropped a couple inches when he placed it in my palm. The thing weighed more than I expected. How did Samantha walk around with that thing on?

  ‘With pride I imagine.’

  No flash of light. Thank god. No bodies floating in muddy water. Praise the lord. But there was one thing. One thing that I didn’t expect to see.

  The pocket watch immediately came to my mind. The one Officer Parker had held in his hand. The one he almost had me hold before another officer knocked on the door and interrupted us the last time I was here. It was old. Intricate. Gold with a crest over the front. I didn’t notice when Officer Parker first held it up. Probably because he was intentionally keeping the proper side facing away from me. The engraving on the front had a very recognizable symbol. The symbol of the Catach-Brayin. The one branded onto my side.

  ‘What the hell does that pocket watch have to do with the ring?’

  I couldn’t ask without revealing to Brian that I was helping Officer Parker with cold cases. And I didn’t know how ‘in the loop’ Brian was. I wasn’t going to take chances because if Officer Parker hadn’t told him anything then he didn’t need to know. If anything I gathered he was the source of Officer Parker’s frustration. He was trying to be helpful with the case and unintentionally got in the way.

  I closed my eyes and let more images come to my mind, even though I was dreading what the ring might reveal. The area around the pocket watch started becoming clearer. It was being held in someone’s hand. A hand with long fingers. A male hand. Then it was passed into another one with feminine hands and acrylic red nails. Samantha. I was inside her mind. Her memories. She was wearing this ring when the pocket watch was given to her. And she was beaming with pride. Not for the ring. But for the fact that whoever was handing her the pocket watch was trusting her. He held her in high esteem. And she couldn’t be more thrilled. She tucked it away in her pocket then veered her eyes upward.

  I saw a face that I didn’t recognize. The man was tall. Lean but muscular. Dark brown hair with a bit of scruff for his beard and mustache. Green eyes. Maybe even greener than mine. He took that same hand and brought it up to my cheek. Samantha’s cheek. He caressed it then tucked a strand of black hair back behind my ear. His fingers trailed down my neck to the space just above my shoulder. He leaned in as though he was going to kiss me, but his fangs slowly sank into me instead. I leaned into him as if I was enjoying it. Actually enjoying it. My arms wrapped around him, hoping he would take it further. I wanted him to touch me. I had begged him to take me. But he wouldn’t. He only gave me hopes that he would one day reach for my clothes rather than pulling away after having one ta
ste. A sample. Enough to keep me coming back for more.

  I groaned in irritation when he pulled away, wiping a single droplet of my blood from his chin.

  “Go now,” he said calmly.

  I stared at him for a good long moment before turning around and walking away with the pocket watch still in my hand. I didn’t get a good look at my surroundings, but I could see that it wasn’t some ordinary building. It was old. The walls were aged. Even so, they were still ivory. Maybe a few centuries old. The echo of Samantha’s high heels was the last thing that I heard before the vision slowly faded to black and I opened my eyes. There was nothing more to see. What a relief! I didn’t want to be inside Samantha’s horny little head longer than I had to.

  “Miss Ashwood?” said Officer Parker.

  “I’m not getting anything from the ring.” I handed it back to Brian. “But I think I recognized the area where the bridge was. There’s one similar a mile or so away from Madison’s house. I sometimes take it to get home a bit faster. It’s safer than riding my bike along the streets.”

  Officer Parker leaned back into his chair and settled his hands over his chest. “You really didn’t get anything from the ring?” he asked.

  “No, I didn’t.”

  He knew I was lying. The way his eyes drilled into mine told me so. But Brian couldn’t know all these details. He was already in an obvious amount of pain. And if they did manage to find Samantha’s body hidden in the swamp, it was about to get even worse.

  One thing was abundantly clear. I needed that pocket watch. I had to touch it. To see what I could sense from it. I needed to find out who that man was that gave it to Samantha. He was a vampire. That much I knew. But nothing about him screamed Catach-Brayin. Or even a man of any stature. From what I could see through Samantha’s eyes, he was wearing a casual t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He blended in with anyone else walking the streets.

  Even with that in mind, a part of me already knew who he was. A part that only needed validation that my suspicion was correct. The same part that urged me to dig deeper even though I didn’t want to. Even though I feared my visions were trying to warn me of the inevitable. An inevitable future that I desperately wanted to stop.