Nancy Werlock’s Diary: Judgement Day
By
Julie Ann Dawson
Episode Thirteen of the Nancy Werlock’s Diary Series
Features Two Nancy Werlock Stories:
Blame Games
A formal investigation from the Justicars into the attempt on Nancy’s life reveals unexpected information.
Judgement Day
The trap has been set for Chana Magus, but will it catch her?
Bards and Sages Publishing
Bellmawr, NJ
www.bardsandsages.com
© 2015 Julie Ann Dawson. All rights reserved.
These stories are works of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living, dead, or undead is coincidental and vaguely disturbing.
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Blame Games
October 27th,
I open the front door to find Justicar Stewart Hannity standing on my porch. “Madame Warlock, my apologies for the early call. I was asked to come speak with you regarding the incident at your shop.”
The “incident” in question was the widow of the man who killed my mother in a drunk driving accident deciding that the whole “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live” thing was an actual thing. She showed up at the shop a couple of days ago and tried to stab me. While disconcerting, I was never in any real danger. I’m proficient in defending myself so the only real damage was to a display case. But she made very public rants about witchcraft and devil worship and my mother “returning from the grave” for revenge before committing suicide in jail.
So I’m not surprised to find a Justicar at my door.
Potential breaches are a huge risk to the magical community. Some people don’t understand why we have to go to such lengths to prevent mundanes from learning the truth about magic. There are even some vocal factions that think going public with the truth might actually be a good thing. These people have a naïve view of human nature. Individuals, under the right circumstances, can come to terms with the existence of the supernatural. Houston’s Aunt Ruth is an example. She knew her sister was a psion and she knows that Houston has powers. But it took her a long time to come to terms with that knowledge.
But humanity as a whole? I didn’t live through the Inquisition, but as a member of the College of Evocation it is a required field of study. Tens of thousands of people, both witches and mundanes, were murdered. And while the root causes of these atrocities were complex, those complexities don’t change the reality that people were murdered simply because others felt comfortable with the idea of slaughtering witches. And the fact that someone tried to stab me to death for being a witch only proves those people still exist.
I let Justicar Hannity in and offer him some coffee. We sit down at the kitchen table and he pulls out his tablet and a silvery metal sphere from his briefcase. He twists open the sphere to activate the secretary spider. The glasslike figure twitches for a second and then settles into place near the tablet.
“Before we get started, how are you holding up?” he asks as he finishes setting up his equipment for the report.
“I’m not curled up in a ball under the bed. Not that the thought isn’t appealing.”
“We don’t get a lot of these cases in industrialized nations, but we’re seeing a lot more of them in the Middle East and Africa. The majority of the victims aren’t even witches. Just accused.”
“That sounds unnervingly familiar.”
“Exactly. All the more reason we need to take extra precautions when we have incidents here in the States.” He rests his elbows on the table and folds his hands under his chin. “Not to sound ominous, but just know that this entire thing is a formality. Don’t take any of the questions I am about to ask personally. All of this is just standard protocols. With the public nature of the accusations and the political climate being what it is these days, we just need to dot all the i’s and cross all of the t’s.”
“Is that why you are here instead of Steve?”
“Steve is the senior Justicar in the region, but he recused himself from this investigation in order to avoid any semblance of a conflict of interest.” He smirks. “And, you know, potential Hellfire.”
“But you aren’t afraid of being engulfed in Hellfire?”
“From what I understand you only set your friends on fire, so I should be good.”
“All these years and I still don’t hear the end of that.”
Stewart taps an app on his tablet and reaches out to start the secretary spider. “I’ll need to interview your apprentice and your ward as well. Are either of them home?”
“No, they are at the shop.”
“You reopened the shop?”
“Just limited hours for now to fill special orders and receive deliveries. This time of the year folks have a lot of last minute reagents they need for rituals. And it keeps them both out of trouble. But you can go down to the shop to talk to them if you need to.”
“I’ll go there after we finish up. Let’s start.” He touches the top of the secretary spider and it begins to tap its legs to the sound of his voice. “Justicar Investigation Report 476-900-900-AP43. New Case File C-000-201-F. Justicar Stewart M. Hannity, primary investigator. Rank Two Demonologist Nancy C. Werlock, interviewee. Madame Warlock, can you please state the series of events that occurred on October 25th at the Three Wishes boutique?”
I explain how LeAnne Williams came into the shop and attacked me. I hadn’t received any threats from her or anyone else in the days leading up to the attack. I hadn’t even met her. In fact, she had wandered around the shop for a while before I approached her to see if she needed assistance.
“Let the record indicate that the interviewee is speaking of Wanda Werlock, Rank Two Demonologist, who was killed in the aforementioned drunk driving accident in April of this year. Madame Warlock, can you think of any reason why she would have come to the conclusion that your mother was involved in the death of her husband?”
“Three Wishes has always catered to the New Age and pagan communities among the mundanes. Mom didn’t flaunt her beliefs, but she was active in the pagan community and didn’t hide her spiritual leanings, either. I guess it wouldn’t be a stretch for her to jump to that conclusion in a time of grief. It isn’t uncommon for people to lash out irrationally when dealing with a devastating loss. I’ve seen similar situations in my private practice.”
“Private practice?”
“Before taking over the shop, I engage in family and couples counseling. I had an office in Philadelphia. I couldn’t do both so I closed the practice.”
“Of course, I had forgotten. It’s Doctor Werlock, correct?”
“My doctorate isn’t in demonology, so it doesn’t really apply these days.”
“I suspect not. So there was no previous indication that she might prove violent? I presume a person with your unique training would have been able to identify any potential warning signs?”
“It isn’t always that simple. In general, the only people in a position to recognize warning signs are people who know the subject well and who might notice unusual behavior. But in this case, no, there were no warnings. I had never even met or spoken to her previously.”
“So there was nothing unusual, in your opinion, in the days or weeks
leading up to the attack?”
“There was something strange during my meeting with the DA before her husband’s accident. I was too mad to really think about it at the time. I don’t even know if it is relevant at this point.”
“What was it?”
“The reason why the DA was offering Williams a soft plea deal. He had said that Williams’ attorney intended to make an issue of Mom’s religious beliefs in court.”
“What exactly did he intend to gain from that? Last time I checked it wasn’t exactly legal to run over non-Christians with a car. I can’t imagine that would have served as much of a defense.”
“I’m not sure, but it was enough to get the DA to offer Williams a very lenient sentence. I suspect to avoid turning the courts into a sideshow?”
“Do you have any documentation on that?”
“No, but my brother Scott was there when Mr. Frazner said it. He can confirm the conversation.”
“Madame Warlock, while that indicates the Williams were both prejudiced against your family before the accident, it also provides motive.”
“Motive?”
He takes a deep breath and looks around the kitchen cautiously. “How did your mother take to the news that her murderer was going to walk?”
“Better than I thought. Mom never was someone to hold a grudge. She’s moved on and is doing well. She just started a new Overseer position in fact. She’s enjoying the work and it keeps her busy.”
“Sidebar,” he says. The secretary spider stops recording. “Your…your mother is now an Overseer for a demon lord? How…how does that work?”
“An Overseer is someone that keeps lesser demons from rebelling against the demon lord of the fief and roots out spies from rival demons.”
“I know what an Overseer is. Or at least, I thought I knew. I just…I mean…she was a warlock, too. And now she works for a demon?”
“It’s an executive management position.”
“Right. End Sidebar.” The secretary spider begins to record again. “Madame Warlock, according to the police reports, there was no alcohol in Mr. Williams system and there was no mechanical failure with his car. Mrs. Williams accused your mother of returning from the grave to kill her husband by causing the accident. You would say that was untrue?”
“Yes. It’s ridiculous.”
“And your mother never gave you any indication that she wanted revenge against the man who was responsible for her death?”
“No, of course not. As I said, she’s moved on.”
“So you have no idea why we found astral residue at the crash site?”
“What?”
“You have no idea why we found astral residue at the crash site?”
“This is the first I’ve heard of this. No, I have no idea. When did you people actually open this case?”
“Madame Warlock—”
“Is this actually about the attack on me or is this an investigation into my mother? What’s going on?”
“As part of the investigation we went to the initial crash site. We were obligated to look into the matter because of the public nature of the accusation.”
“Public nature? It was a grieving widow that snapped and made crazy statements to the police. That is hardly what the Council normally considers public.”
“We’ve found some social media posts from Mrs. Williams that have received undo attention since her death.”
“I thought that was what the Technomancers were for?”
“Madame Warlock—”
“Were you able to determine the plane of origin from the residue?”
“It was too degraded by the time we found it to identity anything helpful. If we had examined the accident scene immediately, we might have been able to get better samples.”
“So it could have been anything.”
“It doesn’t strike you as a strange coincidence?”
“I realize you are a Mesmer, Justicar, but you do know we are only a few days away from Samhain?”
“I’m aware of the date on the calendar, Madame Warlock.”
“Then you understand how thin the Veil is right now and how saturated this area is with spirits and all sorts of astral beings? Not to mention the ongoing investigation into the deaths of several witches that my mother AND grandmother have been assisting with by binding imps to animals to serve as eyes for the Justicars.”
“I’m well aware of that, Madame Warlock. I’m also aware that some people might consider that a convenient cover.”
“Some people might consider a lot of things.”
He holds up his hands defensively. “As part of the official record of this investigation, interviewee is referencing existing Case Files A-194-237-B and A-194-941-D in regard to explanation for unusual presence of astral residue throughout the region. Let the records note that both Wanda Werlock and Morrigan Magus, former Magus of the School of Demonology, have been providing assistance to the Justicars on said cases. An Addendum 42-V will be filed with this report to provide additional clarification.” He then shrugs and mouths “Happy?” without saying it out loud.
“Sorry,” I mouth back to avoid the secretary spider recording it.
“Madame Warlock, did you send a demon to kill Shaun Williams?”
“No, of course not.”
“Did you send a demon to kill LeAnne Williams?”
“No. I…did…not. I didn’t even want them to arrest her.”
“Why is that?”
“You know why. It’s why you’re here. Because all it takes is a single fanatic to strike a match and set off a powder keg. I wanted to diffuse the situation. I didn’t want to create a circus. I already knew their lawyer was willing to make our spirituality a spectacle over a drunk-driving charge. I can only imagine what the result would have been of a court case. I didn’t want her charged. But the DA made that call. She killed herself before I even had a chance to talk to him.”
“I’ll need a copy of the police report for the official investigation.”
“When I spoke with Officer Lopez yesterday, he said they would have the report ready for me in a few days. As soon as I get a copy, I will forward it to you.”
* * *
Houston looks like he hasn’t slept in a week when he walks in the door. “I’m really getting not to like Justicars on principle,” he says as he hands me a pint of Friendly’s double chocolate ice cream and a plastic spoon.
“WOW, you really are a mind reader,” I reply. “It was going to be either ice cream or wine tonight.”
“Well, I figured you should stay sober. At least for now.”
“It’s okay if I get fat, though?”
“You can always come to the gym with me.” He collapses onto the couch. “Besides, the way I figure it the only man that has a right to comment on the size of your ass is Lee. And I think he is physically incapable of doing so.”
“I’ll share if you want some.”
“That’s all you, Boss.” He leans back and puts his hands behind his head. “Hannity doesn’t think we did anything, which considering we didn’t is a good thing.”
“Did he tell you that after the interview?”
“He didn’t have to. Justicar or not, he’s still just a Mesmer. They’re all Jedi Mind Trick. I’m Professor X.”
“What did I tell you about poking around in people’s heads?”
“I didn’t poke around in his head. I’ve gotten really good at reading auras. He believes us.”
“I sense a ‘but’ in there.”
“But…I get the feeling there is something else going on. He made a point of saying that they had to do a thorough investigation to avoid the semblance of impropriety.”
“He made similar comments to me.”
“Well, you only make comments like that if you know people are watching. So…who have we pissed off recently?”
“I can’t think about this now. Not with…not with everything else going on.”
“We’re going to have to at some poin
t.”
“By the gods, I never should have let the Archmage talk me into taking my Rank Two trials. It’s the one thing Mom always complained about was the backstabbing politics that come with the rank. I didn’t want this crap.”
“Yeah. We don’t always get what we want, Nancy.”
Houston gets up from the couch and goes upstairs to his room.
Judgement Day
October 30th,
Tomorrow, I’m going to kill my apprentice’s mother.
Technically, she’s already dead. It’s just her blackened soul that has been lingering around. But still…
I know that this needs to be done. Vivika’s entire existence has been an elaborate lie. In the late 18th century, she was Chana Magus, head of the school of Haemomancy. Blood magic. Back then, they were a school within the College of Necromancy that had good intentions. In that time, medicine focused on the study of humors. Haemomancers studied the mysteries of the blood to help “cleanse” the humors of a person and heal them. Her work eventually led to the development of a process through which a person could “consume” latent residual energies off of other living things to heal or slow the aging process. Humans produce a lot of “waste” spiritual energy, most of which simply dissipates into the environment. The research allowed a witch to actually convert that waste energy into physical sustenance. It was revolutionary research with so much potential to do good.
But you know the cliché about Hell and good intentions.
Eventually, residual energies were not enough and, in her obsession to extend her life, Chana Magus began siphoning all of the life force out of her victims. The College of Necromancy finally deemed the magic Forbidden and purged the entire school.
But Chana Magus had escaped by jumping bodies using a ritual called Soul Jar. Through the centuries, she would take over the body of an unborn descendent of her bloodline and be reborn. And with each incarnation she grew more and more powerful. However, her plan hit a snag when Lord Advocate Joshua Brynwolf finally put all of the pieces together and arranged for her to be killed before she had a chance to jump bodies again.
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