by Tess Lake
Chapter Twenty-Three
Three tense days passed.
The national media was still all over town. They’d come for Harry Sparkle being attacked but now stayed to mock Harlot Bay and make it the joke of the entire country thanks to Rufus and Dawn of the Mysterious Mysteries. They’d begun releasing their latest series, The Mysterious Mysteries of Harlot Bay. They had a video on the scratches found in the alleyway, another on the mysterious symbols carved into doors around town, and another showing a blurry figure of a monster, leaping across the rooftops, its sharp claws clearly visible. I watched the video and saw immediately that Rufus and Dawn hadn’t managed to capture the actual monster at all. It was someone using the monster suit that had been in their holiday rental. To most people it was obvious it was a suit, but the national media in town had hyped it up, attracting attention from all over the country, and the nightly news often featured a reporter barely able to keep the smirk off their face reporting on the latest development in Harlot Bay.
In the blur of work I still found time to talk with the writers every now and again. They seemed somewhat disappointed that Rufus and Dawn hadn’t yet been taken in for questioning or been arrested by Sheriff Hardy. I explained that he needed to gather evidence and that he had them under surveillance, not knowing if that was actually true.
It appeared that since we’d found the suit and carving equipment in their rental property, Red, TJ, Jenna and Jay had considered the mystery solved. They didn’t seem too enthused about it however. They seemed quite disappointed that from their view the two attacks and mysterious symbols around town were simply two charlatans putting together a fake documentary.
As for the family and me, well, we knew the truth. There were still wards around the house that the exhausted moms refused to let us help with. Molly and Luce were now staying at home every night so the moms could take the wards off our collective boyfriends’ houses. Kira was under a curfew which she wasn’t too happy about, but at least she understood why she couldn’t go creeping out into the darkness. It was all too easy to look out the window to imagine a monster out in the forest with sharp claws, watching us.
My slip power hadn’t resolved itself. I was testing it every now and again, frosting up glasses of water. The stone Aunt Cass had given me infused with the potion was still working well.
On one of the days I’d heard from Red that she’d confronted Markus Hornby, the author who often set up publicity stunts around his books. Despite what Harry Stern had claimed about his cousin being hired by Markus to perform in a publicity stunt to promote his latest book, Marcus denied everything and that was that.
Carter Wilkins was still going crazy with his paper, publishing articles every day about the vandalism around town and whom he suspected was behind it. He jumped right on the “monster of Harlot Bay” bandwagon, recognizing it is an excellent opportunity to sell more copies of his newspaper. I think the tourists in town found it all amusing. It certainly didn’t hurt business any. The streets were packed every day. Every hotel and motel, and bed and breakfast was sold out, and there were still hoards of vampires and other fans dressed up despite the boiling heat.
I worked every day with Red; her days were packed with writing sessions and we were frequently rushing from one place to another. I was tense and looking forward to the end of Writerpalooza. I’d barely seen Jack as he was too busy with his parents and I was too busy working and then staying home under curfew.
I was at home early one afternoon after Red dropped me off, wandering around the house, thinking that perhaps everything was going to be okay, that the writers would all leave town and then us witches could keep going on about our witchy business in private, when my phone chimed a message from Aunt Cass: Tonight we take the prize!
“Oh, great,” I grumbled to myself. I was looking at my phone trying to think of some way I could convince Aunt Cass to delay a break-in until at least the media had gone or the writers, when there was a knock at my door.
It was Jack, wearing his work clothes. He grabbed me and kissed me so hard that it left my head spinning. I pulled him inside and closed the door to keep the heat out.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I had to see you, it’s been too long,” Jack said.
He smelled like sunscreen and wood shavings, which was a delectable combination.
“Have you considered getting out of town? My parents won’t mind if I leave. Maybe your whole family can go and the Sterns too,” Jack said.
“I considered it but the monster or the man wouldn’t vanish because we did. Maybe that’s what happened all those years ago–it couldn’t find Stern and Torrent, and so it went on a killing spree,” I said.
Jack frowned as he considered this terrible outcome. I could suddenly see why Molly was so upset that we kept talking magic in front of Ollie. Relationships were tough enough without adding magical complications to them.
“Do you think it’s going to go on a killing spree?” Jack asked. He was seeming much less small country town builder and much more former policeman with a duty to protect and serve.
“It was saying killing spree wasn’t it? Brings a few bad images to mind,” I said.
“It’s not every day that your girlfriend is being hunted by a supernatural monster, is it?” Jack said.
He looked around the house and saw there was no one home except me. Not even Adams was around.
“It’s only you here now?” Jack asked, a glint in his eye.
I felt some butterflies start to flutter in my stomach.
“Just me,” I said.
“Have you got your magic stone that keeps you warm?” he asked. I pulled it out my pocket and flicked it between my fingers. “Here it is,” I said, my voice softening.
“Keep a damn good hold of it,” he said before he hefted me over his shoulder and carried me laughing to my bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was midnight and the deep and profound relaxation that had come over me after Jack’s visit was giving way to the jitters which had three possible causes: one, we were about to engage in some crime; two, the giant coffees me, Molly, Luce and Kira had drunk before coming out; and three, Aunt Cass’s driving.
She hit a corner at high speed. I swear the car nearly went up on two wheels. Molly was hanging on for dear life in the front passenger seat. Luce, me and Kira were packed into the back like sardines.
“I’m running a business, I’m engaged, I shouldn’t be breaking into museums,” Molly wailed.
“Bit anxious are you? I have a potion for that. Take a big gulp and pass it on,” Aunt Cass said, pulling out a large silver flask. Molly unscrewed the lid, took a gulp, and winced before passing it on to Luce, who did the same. She gave it to me and I took a huge gulp, hoping it would calm my nerves. The potion burned its way down my throat and into my stomach. I pulled the flask away from my lips and gave it a sniff to be sure. Yup, it was whiskey.
“This isn’t a potion. This is whiskey,” I said.
“It’s a potion if it makes you feel better,” Aunt Cass said.
“Harlow, pass it on,” Kira said, reaching for the flask. I pulled it away from her, screwed the lid on and passed it back to Molly in the front seat.
“No fair,” Kira grumbled.
Thankfully, Aunt Cass had to slow Molly’s car down because even at midnight there were still tourists in Harlot Bay. We drove down the main street, took a right and ended up in the street roughly behind where the museum was. Aunt Cass parked behind a building in the shadows. The plan was quite simple: we were going to go into the museum, use concealment spells to cover ourselves from the camera, steal the compass and then get out. Because there were so many cameras, we needed all four of us.
We followed Aunt Cass through the dark towards the museum, heading down a narrow alleyway that adjoined one side of it.
“Good evening witches,” a voice said out the dark. Everyone except for Aunt Cass nearly jumped out of their skins. Than
kfully it wasn’t the police, but actually a former policeman, Jack, grinning at us as he stepped out of the darkness, carrying a small black bag.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I invited him. He has some useful skills,” Aunt Cass said.
“The museum security system is quite good. If you shut off the power it will trigger an alarm, and I’m not sure how many extra cameras they have. But I’ve seen ones like this before, when I was a police officer. I’m going to help you bypass it,” Jack said.
“But you could be arrested!” I said and realized half a second later how absurd that sounded.
“You could be arrested too,” Luce murmured.
“It’s going to be fine Harlow, besides, this is important. I can’t have some supernatural monster stalking my girlfriend and her family and friends and not do anything about it,” Jack said.
“You need to husband that, pronto,” Kira said, pointing at Jack.
“Enough chitchat, let’s get moving,” Aunt Cass said.
Perhaps Aunt Cass’s “potion” had worked because, although I was shocked, I followed along with everyone else until we reached the museum. Jack found a large power box on the outside, which he opened. He removed small wires with clips out of the bag he’d brought and then did some security magic on the box. He turned to us after a moment.
“The cameras aren’t recording now. You have about ten minutes,” he said.
“This is crazy,” Molly said.
“This way,” Aunt Cass commanded. We left Jack behind at the power box and went to a small side entrance. Kira used a spell to unlock it and then we crept inside.
In the museum at night the only lights were around some of the exhibits, small glowing pools surrounded by liquid darkness. There were no security guards.
“Let’s go,” I said as soon as we got inside. Me and Aunt Cass knew the way, so Molly, Luce and Kira followed behind us as we went directly to the Wreck of the Appalachia exhibit. It took us about two minutes to get there, another minute for Kira to cast an unlocking spell, and then Aunt Cass to take the compass. She was closing the glass case when we heard whispered voices from the other side of the museum.
“Hide over here,” Aunt Cass urged. We bolted away from the light and went to a darkened corner. It was a good thing we moved fast because a moment later four figures emerged out of the darkness, heading towards the Wreck of the Appalachia exhibit. Even in the dark it was easy to recognize them thanks to the giant who walked with them. It was the writers. TJ and Jenna split off and vanished into the dark while Red and Jay went to the exhibit.
“What are they doing here?” Luce whispered.
“Obviously after the compass,” Aunt Cass said.
“We have to get out of here,” I whispered. We moved around the corner as quietly as we could, but then we heard footsteps ahead of us. At the end of the corridor we saw Jenna and TJ creep out of the dark and then stop in place, appearing to have a whispered conversation.
We all froze, pressing ourselves against the wall and waiting in the darkness. Yes, we could have cast a concealment spell over all of us but who knew how much power that would take?
I was standing there with my heart thudding when I felt a small furry shape brush past my legs and then from out of the darkness at our feet Adams spoke.
“I want one extra tin of tuna every day until I die,” he said.
“Keep your voice down, this isn’t the time to demand food,” I whispered.
It was almost impossible to see the small black cat in the dark, but we saw when he flared his claws and scratched them down the side of one of the exhibit stands, setting off small sparks.
“I went into Bella Shade’s hotel room and read the next book,” Adams said.
“You what!” I whispered.
“I want one extra tin of tuna every day until I die or I’m going to reveal what Carlotta did to Yasmin… and the babies!” he said, dramatically.
I heard Aunt Cass, Molly, Luce and Kira gasp in the darkness.
“No, she wouldn’t!” Luce whispered.
“I knew we couldn’t trust her,” Kira said.
“How many babies?” Molly said.
“Make a deal, Harlow,” Aunt Cass said.
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” I whispered.
“I wonder what Andreas thinks of Mitchell stealing the blood ring?” Adams said from the dark, his voice cool and calculating. Molly grabbed me on the arm and squeezed, her fingers digging in.
“Fine, one extra tin of tuna a week for three months and that’s it,” I whispered.
“Deal. Do you need me to distract those people?” Adams said.
“Go,” I said.
Adams vanished off into the darkness. A moment later from the far side of the museum there was a toppling sound of something falling over. It sounded like a thousand tons of metal hitting the ground. TJ and Jenna rushed away and so we made our move. As we reached the exit, Adams appeared out of the dark again.
“Those people are coming!” he said before vanishing again. We went out the door as fast as we could. Jack was outside, closing up the power box and stuffing wires into his bag.
“The silent alarm went off, run!” he urged. He sprinted off into the darkness with us close behind him. We’d barely gotten around the corner when we heard the door to the museum slam open behind us. We didn’t stop to see what the writers were doing but continued on our way. Jack said he’d see us later before vanishing off into the dark. The four of us ran to Molly’s car, Aunt Cass jumping behind the wheel again. She started it up, hit the gas, and got us out of there as fast as possible. We were two streets away when we heard the police siren. It was hard to tell which direction it was coming from and so there were five very nervous witches as Aunt Cass drove us out of town, thinking that any moment a car with flashing lights was going to come skidding around the corner to pull us over. It was only once were back at our end of the mansion and safely inside that I felt my heart rate begin to slow.
“We can’t keep doing things like that,” Molly said, pacing back and forth.
“Why were the writers there? How did they know to go for the compass?” Luce asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe they cracked the code on the map and it told them where to go? I’m not sure but it was too close,” I said.
“We got what we were looking for. Here, Harlow, you take it, it seemed to work with the map,” Aunt Cass said. Everyone held their breath as Aunt Cass passed me the compass but there was no burst of light. Although I could feel a slight tingle of magic, nothing important happened.
“Find monster,” I said. The needle didn’t move from pointing to true North.
“I need to go to bed,” Molly said, rushing off without bothering to say good night. I gave the compass back to Aunt Cass.
“Maybe the compass had nothing to do with all this stuff or it could be broken. Or maybe the spell is worn out,” I said.
Aunt Cass tapped a fingernail on the glass and examined it closely.
“This is a witch’s compass, it’s not going to give up its answers so easily,” she said. My phone chimed a message sitting over on the kitchen table (we’d left them at home in case someone tried to call while we were breaking in). It was Jack simply saying he was going to sleep now and he’d see me soon. That helped calm me somewhat but even as I took myself off to bed I couldn’t help but think that it had been far too close a call tonight. I also had a lingering worry: what if the writers had seen us? Would they keep quiet? Or would they start to investigate the mysterious Torrent family?
Chapter Twenty-Five
“You’re lucky you’re not grounded for that stunt you pulled last night,” I told Adams. He didn’t say anything but kept purring as he rolled around my feet, giving himself a very thorough dust bath.
I was standing out the front of the mansion waiting for Red and feeling an incredible amount of anxiety. Molly and Luce were already gone to work and had taken Kira with them. If Red or
the writers had seen someone last night we didn’t want to give them the opportunity to match them to us.
“Did you go into Bella Shade’s room?” I asked Adams.
“A cat would never lie,” he replied, rolling around.
Aunt Cass had told me to stick to the agreement that we had made–an extra tin of tuna a week for the next three months. I think she was afraid that Adams was going to reveal spoilers about Bella Shade’s next book and whether he was lying or not, she admired the cunning of it all.
In the distance I saw the sports car driving up the hill.
“You need to get going in case Red saw you last night,” I told Adams. He rolled for a moment more and sat up, licked a shoulder and then paused long enough to tell me that I couldn’t give him instructions before sauntering off. By the time Red arrived he was gone. I got into the passenger seat and she turned the car around and drove us away from Torrent Mansion. I was tense but it was nothing compared to how Red was obviously feeling. She was gripping her hands on the steering wheel and I think gritting her teeth.
“So are you looking forward to Writerpalooza finishing?” I asked.
I almost cringed when I asked my question. It seemed so obvious I was trying to distract attention from the fact there was something wrong.
Red didn’t answer but instead blew out air from between her lips.
“Can I tell you something and trust that it stays private?” she asked.
I knew immediately she was talking about whether I would tell Sheriff Hardy anything she told me.
“I promise it will stay private and I won’t tell Sheriff Hardy,” I said.
“Last night we went into the Harlot Bay Museum. There was a compass there that, according to our research, possibly had a coded message on it. We’d checked it out earlier that day and then because of the time factor, went to the museum at night to break in and take it. But it was gone and we think someone else was in the museum at the same time we were. Some exhibit got knocked over, an alarm was triggered and we barely escaped before the police arrived,” Red said.
