Witchling Wars

by Shawn Knightley

  The man I saw was Tobias Vallas. Coven master to the Catach-Brayin. The man who gave Nathaniel his orders. The man who used Isaac as a henchman. He gave Samantha that pocket watch. And somehow, he was involved in her dreary end.

  Chapter 13

  The image of everyone in Officer Parker’s office, including my sister, floating around in the water completely lifeless was seared in my mind. Unwilling to leave. Unwilling to allow me a single moment to relax or take a deep breath. It was the single worst vision I had ever had. Worse than seeing Samantha’s rotting corpse. Worse than seeing Officer Parker’s grandmother pass away. Worse than Officer Parker standing before me with his chest ripped open. And I had absolutely no idea how to interpret it. How to make sense of it. How to even go on about the day knowing that whatever it was that I was doing might very well lead to the deaths of everyone in the room.

  Why did Madison have to do this? Why did she have to get involved in my life and try to make it better? She tried so hard to help but she inadvertently started a series of events that could result in her death. And mine.

  I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t let this happen to her girls. I couldn’t let them grow up without a mother. I couldn’t let Officer Parker get killed. Or Brian. I already felt responsible for Emily going through god knows what in a place and time that wasn’t her own. This had to stop.

  I stood up from the chair in Officer Parker’s office. “I have to go home now,” I said.

  “No,” Officer Parker responded, standing up in front of me and stuffing his hands into his pockets. “You’re coming with us. You will recognize this area you’re seeing better than anyone else. You have to be there during the search.”

  “I don’t have to do anything. I’ve done all that I can to help you.”

  “My sister needs rest,” Madison said behind me.

  ‘What the hell? She’s actually taking my side!’

  “Maybe I wasn’t clear before,” said Officer Parker. He looked directly at me and wouldn’t let my eyes veer away from his. “You’re coming with us. Samantha Larsen’s disappearance is becoming a highlight of the mainstream media. Congressman Larsen’s face is on every TV station begging for help. And you, the only person who has a clue as to where she is, are you going to deny everyone the opportunity to find her?”

  Another guilt trip. Did Madison tell him that this was the way to get me to do whatever someone else wanted?

  “You’re coming with me,” he repeated. “Brian, you ride with Madison.”

  Officer Parker moved around the desk and took a hold of my arm, guiding me out of his office and toward his police vehicle outside.

  “What are you doing?” I objected. “You’re hurting my arm.”

  “Let her go,” Madison cried behind me.

  He stopped briefly to stare at her. “Are you going to interfere with a police investigation, Madison? I’m warning you, that’s a crime.”

  “You only have my sister’s help because of me!” she hollered.

  “Thank you for that, but we’re not done yet.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Officer Parker went from nice and accommodating to a cop who was willing to bully me and my sister to get what he wanted. He was always so polite before. Always calling me by my last name. And now he was using my sister’s first name so casually. And rudely. What changed since Isaac kidnapped me?

  He stuffed me into the police car’s passenger seat before I even had a chance to speak up again. It happened so fast that my head was spinning. Madison continued screaming at him from behind but it didn’t seem to have any effect on him what-so-ever. He was a man on a mission. A man who wanted something. And he wasn’t about to allow my introverted ways to stop him.

  He tore away from the street so fast that I saw a cloud of dust swirl in the air behind us in the rearview mirror. Madison was getting into her car with Brian beside her, doing as Officer Parker said but clearly as rattled as I was by his aggressive behavior.

  “What’s going on?” I demanded.

  Officer Parker’s eyes were focused on the road. It was then that I noticed the strain on his face. The veins around his forehead and eyes were dark like he had been concentrating so hard that he strained them.

  “You tell me,” he said.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You know a lot more than I do. More than you’re willing to tell me.”

  “I told you everything that I know.”

  He scoffed. “You know a great deal more than what you want to admit. I can see it in your eyes. I’ve been bombarded by the media, accused of not doing my job properly, the Congressman is breathing down my neck and telling the entire country that our department isn’t doing everything we can to help find his daughter, his younger daughter has now disappeared, the station’s reputation is being dragged through the mud from bad media coverage, and then the one person who’s capable of helping us just happens to disappear for days after the interior of her house is destroyed. I spent the last few days thinking you were probably lying dead in a ditch somewhere. And you have the audacity to claim what happened to your house was just a robbery and a friend casually took you out of town?”

  I was silent. I had been gone for only a few days and everything appeared to have changed. Officer Parker wasn’t going to tolerate my allusive answers anymore. If only he knew how much danger he was putting himself in. Is that what it was going to take? Did I need to tell him that he was going down a road that would lead to his end? Would that make him stop? Or would that only make him dig deeper and lead to it all happening even faster?

  I could sense his irritation growing as we sped down the road. And for whatever reason, I had a distinct feeling that Officer Parker wasn’t the same man I left a few days ago. He was so different. He was quick to anger and he wouldn’t mind laying on the pressure to get what he wanted. But it was his eyes that truly daunted me. The way they had seen through me like a laser. The dark hue of the veins. Something was wrong.

  “Yes, it was a robbery,” I replied as calmly as I could. It wasn’t technically a lie. Isaac robbed me from the confines of my house. I grabbed onto the handle above the window. Officer Parker was speeding more so than I thought the speed limit allowed, but given that he was a cop I gathered he was one of the only people who could get away with it.

  I took another deep breath and slowly exhaled to let go of some of the tension gathering in my shoulders, hoping it would give me time to come up with an excuse. Or something else to say that would veer him off course. Nothing. I couldn’t come up with a single thing. The truth seemed like the only option. Perhaps a small piece of the truth would protect him.

  “You have no idea how dangerous this is, Andrew.” I used his first name. Not his job title or his last name. His first name. Maybe that would get his attention. “You’re going to end up dead. The first time I came into your office, I saw it. Someone murdered you. If you continue going down this road, you’re going to die.”

  He finally took his eyes off the road to look at me. We completely lost my sister and Brian. Only God knew where they were behind us. Madison was probably frantic.

  Officer Parker pulled the car over onto a side street near the woods and drove a few minutes up a road where we wouldn’t be found. I lurched forward as he came to an abrupt stop. I managed to prevent my body from launching forward by grabbing onto the dashboard, but only at the expense of my wrists. We took off so fast that I didn’t even fasten my seat belt.

  The leather over the steering wheel made a strange sound as Officer Parker white knuckled them with his tight grip. Almost like it was going to break if he just applied a touch more pressure. His fingers left an indentation.

  “What did you see exactly?” he asked.

  I didn’t need clarification to know that he was talking about me.

  “It wasn’t for certain. None of my visions are. If you change course now you can stop it from happening.”

  “What did you see?” he holler
ed at me. I’ve never been the type to respond well to being yelled at. It only makes me shrink back into myself even more. But now wasn’t the time to cower in fear. I had to make sure that Officer Parker didn’t keep going down this road. I had to convince him that he must stop. For his own good.

  “I saw you with your chest ripped wide open.”

  He turned back to stare out the front window of the car. When he finally let go of the steering wheel, parts of the leather had ripped open.

  “What else?” he demanded.

  “That was all.”

  “No,” he said. “What else did you see about Samantha Larsen? Did Emily make it over to your house the night you both disappeared? Were you together?” His eyes veered over to me again. This time I could clearly see the veins around his eyes. They were a mixture of dark purple and black.

  “Uh…” I tried speaking, unable to find my words. All I could focus on was the skin around his eyes.

  “I’ve had plenty of training in reading body language,” he continued. “I’ve helped in interrogations with people you never want to cross paths with. I suggest you tell me the truth, Harper. I know you’ve been keeping out details and I’ll know if you’re lying. I let you do it before because I figured any new information was good information. But that doesn’t apply anymore. I need to know the truth.”

  I tried speaking up, but only stutters came out. I closed my mouth, swallowed hard, and tried again. “Samantha’s dead.”

  I shouldn’t have said it. I should have just let him find her body and discover it on his own. But the words came tumbling out.

  “Where’s the body?” he said without hesitation. Almost as if he already knew. Or at least suspected.

  “In the swamp behind the interstate. Near the bridge that leads to Pike Hill Lane.”

  He reached for the radio between us and lifted it to his mouth.

  “This is Parker checking in with all other units. I’ve received a lead on the Samantha Larsen case. All units meet me at the pathway entrance to the swamp behind Pike Hill Lane immediately.”

  He reached to restart the car but stopped before he twisted the key into the ignition.

  “Where’s Emily Larsen?” he asked. “Is she dead too?”

  “I...uh…” I mumbled. He was staring at me again. The stare that I had grown to hate. I never realized how intimidating Officer Parker was until that moment. He played the nice cop routine so well whenever we met before. Always gentle with his southern accent and kind in a very law-abiding sort of way. But if he caught the scent of someone doing something wrong, he rapidly turned into a bloodhound. Or maybe that wasn’t it. Something had changed in him. Something I couldn’t entirely place.

  “I don’t know,” I whispered.

  “Don’t give me that answer, Miss Ashwood.”

  “But it’s the truth!” I cried. “I don’t. She came to see me that night. And then…” I stopped myself. How much could I tell him? How much should I tell him? Nathaniel said not to reveal his identity. He didn’t mention anything about Isaac. But what if I told Officer Parker and he only dug deeper?

  “And then what?” he asked.

  This time I composed myself before speaking up again. “Someone invaded my house and took us.”

  He leaned into me. “Someone?” he shook his head in frustration. “Someone as in a vampire? Was it the Catach-Brayin? Did they do this?”

  “I don’t know who did this. I can only tell you that Samantha is dead. She got involved in something she shouldn’t have and she ended up dead. And if you continue to go down this road, you will die too. And so will Brian and my sister. And I can’t have that. Charge me and her with interfering with your investigation if you have to, Andrew. But I won’t put my sister and her children in more danger than they are already. You’re up against forces you can’t possibly imagine. They’ll kill me and my entire family. If you truly want to do the right thing, find Samantha, and call her death a mugging gone wrong just like the case in Sealing. Then stop. You have to stop! There’s no end here where you keep digging and don’t wind up dead.”

  For whatever reason, I got through to him. I could see a slight shift in his eyes. Did he have enough of a survival instinct to stop while he was ahead?

  He sat back in his seat and started the engine. The car reversed and we were headed to the crime scene. My phone rang from inside my pocket. I reached for it to find Madison calling me. Probably wondering where I was after Officer Parker ripped me out of his office and took off down the street.

  “Please don’t ask me to get further involved in this,” I told him. “I already put my loved ones in enough danger.”

  He didn’t say anything. He just kept on driving. His eyes were glued to the road. He was still angry. He still wanted to know more. But for some reason, he was going to let the issue drop. For the time being. At least long enough to find Samantha’s body and get the Congressman off his back.

  I sat there in silence as he drove, unable to look away from his face. The more minutes went by, the darker the veins around his eyes became.

  Chapter 14

  There were four other police cars already at the entryway along the path to the woods by Pike Hill Lane when we arrived. A few of the officers gave curious looks in my general direction when they saw me get out of the police vehicle.

  “Really, Parker?” one of them said. The officer crossed his arms over his chest as if he was offended by my very presence. “A town psychic?”

  “More like the town loon,” another said beside him.

  Whatever the Congressman said about the local police department must have been pretty bad, because they all seemed on edge. And very unwilling to accept outside help.

  ‘Fine by me. Can I go home now?’

  “Any of you have a better idea? I’d be more than welcome to hear it,” said Officer Parker as he led the way down the path. I texted Madison once I was halfway up to the bridge to let her know where we were. It was then that I heard another car, a much larger car, pull up behind the police vehicles. It was a black Lexus. And I had little doubt as to who was inside it.

  Congressman Larsen got out and slammed the door shut. Whatever tension was among the officers before only got worse as he made his way through them and up the path.

  “This is your idea of helping?” he hollered up at Officer Parker. I didn’t need to touch Andrew’s hand or even see his eyes to know that he was getting more agitated by the second. Everyone was doubting his decision making even though they had all come up dry as far as ideas were concerned about where to look. No one knew where Samantha was. But I did. And now, Officer Parker did too. He would be vindicated as soon as they found Samantha. And he seemed eager to get there for the mere purpose of getting the Congressman off his back. The kind Officer Parker I once knew who was too nosy for his own good was now a very disgruntled, tired, and annoyed cop who wanted nothing more than to do his job. And anyone who interfered with that was the enemy.

  A few vans with journalists showed up after that. The remaining police officers stopped them before they could get too close and insisted that they stay behind as the officers walked toward the path leading to the swamp.

  “Does this look like the area you saw?” Officer Parker asked me in a hushed voice.

  “Yes,” I mumbled.

  Officer Parker took out a radio from his pocket. “I want a boat brought in along with any tools you can find to help us search the water. Does this property belong to anyone in particular that we might need to get permission from?”

  “Not that we’re aware of,” said a voice on the other end. “It’s county property.”

  With that, we walked up toward the bridge I rode my bike down so many times as I came and went to see Madison. Officer Parker started giving orders for the search and I was left to watch on the sidelines along with a few other officers and one very agitated Congressman who didn’t think my presence was at all appropriate. But then again, no one else did either.

  “It’s
been nearly four hours,” the Congressman whined as a boat continued to move around the swamp with a small motor attached to the back. His suit was dripping in sweat. “This can’t be right.”

  “We have to follow all the leads we get, Congressman,” said Officer Parker with a tone of voice that told me he wasn’t having any more of the Congressman’s dismissive superiority.

  There was no need to even reach for the droplets of sweat trickling down my forehead anymore. I was saturated in a pool of my own perspiration. I could only imagine how hot the officers were getting as they stood there waiting, occasionally directing the boat around as they dropped a hook in the water and watched to see what came up. So far that was nothing more than an old toilet seat, a bike, and what looked like some headlights from an old car.

  Even Officer Parker was starting to lose faith in me. But I knew what was coming.

  “You sure this is the right one?” he asked me under his breath.

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “You said that what you saw wasn’t always accurate. That it could change.”

  My shoulders slumped. I wished that was true this time. But chains hooked onto dangling legs in nasty swamp water rarely changed locations unless someone physically moves them. And I doubted someone would go to the trouble after doing so much to make sure she would never be found.

  “I’ve had enough of this. It’s pointless. She’s obviously not here,” said the Congressman. He turned around to walk back down the path to the cars. And probably to tell the media how inept the cops were.

  No sooner was his back turned did one of the officers on the small motored boat call out.

  “We have something!” he hollered.

  He brought the hook up out of the water only to reveal a long fishing lure someone had dumped in the water. Probably after they caught a bush in the bottom brush and finally gave up by throwing their rod into the water.