One Last Spell Vol 1 & 2 Paranormal Witch Cozy Mystery & Romance

by Snow, Raven

  I'l be long gone by then anyway."

  Milly was meowing for food, so I went to the cabinet and got her some. I bent down to pat her as she nibbled away at her treats, my hand catching on the rough pink collar she wore around her neck.

  As I stood up, I heard the sound of a car engine coming up the hill. I stood and waited as I heard it turn onto my driveway, the wheels crunching the gravel underneath.

  "Looks like the cab is early," I said, reaching down to give Milly another quick pat on the head. "Eat up quick."

  I walked to the door and pulled it open. "Can you just give me a few..." I stopped talking. "Jessica." I tried to shut the door but she stepped in and stopped me.

  "Zelda, what's going on? Why did you leave the station like that without even saying goodbye?" She stopped talking as she looked over my shoulder and saw my packed bags. "What? Where are you going?"

  I turned and walked back towards my bags and started throwing the remainder of my stuff into them. "Away from this town."

  "You were going to leave without even saying goodbye to me?" I could hear the hurt in her voice. "I know what happened at the graveyard scared you, but we can get through this together, Zelda. You've got me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

  So much anger was pulsing through my veins that my arms began to shake as I tried to pick up my belongings and shove them in the waiting bags. "That's not why I'm leaving," I said in a low voice, without stopping to look up.

  Jessica became very quiet. "Why are you leaving, then?"

  I stopped packing and slowly looked up at her. "I think you know, Jessica."

  I watched the veins on her neck pulse as she took a slow gulp. "What are you talking about, Zelda?" she whispered.

  Trembling, I took a step towards her. "Helen Blackmore isn't dead, is she?"

  Jessica's face dropped. "Zelda, please..."

  I shook my head and brought my hands up to my face. "Oh my goodness, how could I have been so stupid? It's so obvious now! 'Didn't want it leaking out to the press.' Ha. I knew there was something weird about how you were in no hurry to solve the case. Taking your time, trips to the diner, coffee breaks, despite this so-cal ed deadline breathing down your back." I let out a long, heavy laugh.

  "Zelda, will you just let me explain?"

  I shook my head as the revelations kept coming to me. "That's why you didn't want me to bump into Harry at the station. Not for my sake, but to keep him from tel ing me that the case was completely made up."

  "Zelda..."

  I kept talking, ignoring her pleas. "That's why the rock was cold!" My mouth dropped open and I looked at her in horror. "Jessica, how could you?

  Do you think it is a joke to play around with my powers like that? Did you not realize that it was a big deal for me to agree to use them again? That I was only doing it as a favor to you? And it was all a lie. A game to you. You let me think my powers were gone, and when I was upset about it you still didn't tell me the truth."

  "Zelda, I'm sorry, please."

  I shook my head and turned towards the door. "Save it, Jessica. We're not best friends anymore." I reached for the door handle and pul ed it back.

  "I think you should leave."

  "Zelda, I was only trying to help you..."

  I shook my head and looked down at the floor, my hand still wrapped around the door handle. "Help me? How could any of this help me?"

  I heard her footsteps hurry towards me. "Zelda, you hadn't replied to any of my messages in months, I hadn't heard from you. I missed you."

  After a few seconds of staring at the door handle, I dropped my arm and turned towards her. "I don't need you to worry about me. I'm fine the way I am."

  "You're not fine, though. I know what happened scared you. I know Jim Beasley's threats scared you."

  "They didn't," I tried to say. "I just wanted to get out of this small-minded town. I wasn't...I wasn't scared."

  "Zelda..." Jessica walked over and placed her hands on my shoulders.

  "Zelda, it's okay to admit that you're frightened. I would be, too, if people threatened to kill me. But you can't shut yourself off up that mountain forever."

  I was stil stubbornly staring at the floor, refusing to look at her. "That doesn't give you the right to lie to me, Jessica." I raised my head a little. "So you just concocted this whole story about the murder to lure me down and back into society?"

  She sighed. "Pretty much. I wanted you to face up to everything that had happened. I knew you'd come back to town if it would help me. That's why I told you there'd been a murder." She reached up and rubbed her face.

  "But when you pushed me for details, I panicked and said Helen's name.

  Afterwards, I realized that was the last name I should have used if I was trying to make you less afraid."

  I looked up at Jessica. There was a huge amount of regret in her eyes.

  "I tried to put a stop to it immediately. That's why I gave you that stone. It was no murder weapon, just a random rock I'd found outside. I thought that if you touched it and nothing happened you would just think you were out of practise or something, and that would be that." She stopped talking and looked thoughtful for a minute.

  "But then you got talking to Josh, and the two of you were getting along so wel , so I thought, what was the harm in keeping up the story for a little while longer?"

  My mouth dropped open. "You kept it going so that I could get closer to Josh? Geez, Jessica, I know you like to play matchmaker, but that is going a little bit too far."

  Jessica grew very quiet then. She took a step back and shoved her hands into her coat pockets, and then started to slowly pace around the room. "I know," she whispered. "And I'm sorry. I should have never done it.

  Especially not the encouraging you to get close to Josh part." She stopped pacing and eyed me with a deadly serious expression on her face.

  "What do you mean?" I watched as her face grew darker and darker.

  "Zelda, when we went to Helen's place to 'check for evidence,' she knew about it; she gave me her key. But then, her place was actual y empty, abandoned for real, and you found that piece of wood that you felt was burning hot..."

  "Yeah?" I asked, still not getting it.

  "Zelda, don't you see? I couldn't have made that piece of evidence up.

  That was never part of the plan."

  "What are you talking about, Jessica?"

  She shook her head and stared at me. "Zelda, Helen is missing. For real this time. And Josh is behind it."

  ***

  "Hey, pull over!" I yel ed as we passed Hal's diner.

  "Do you really think this is the time for coffee and pancakes?" Jessica asked, incredulous.

  I sighed in exasperation. "Josh just walked in there. Come on, Jessica, you're the detective. Be a little bit more observant."

  "Oh, right." She made a hard right and pulled right out the front of the diner. I jumped out straight away and followed him in. Hal tried to greet me as I walked through the door, but I pressed past him and walked right to the back where Josh had taken a seat.

  "Zelda," he said, grinning up at me. "Are you pushing our date forward?"

  "Don't get cute with me, Josh."

  His face fell. "Zelda..." He sighed and dropped his head. "I suppose this is about Jessica's crazy theory. She told me she wasn't going to tell you."

  "You were in that house, Josh. I know that for a fact. Don't lie to me, okay?"

  He looked up stared at me for a long second before he turned his face away again and nodded. "Yes, okay, I was inside Helen's house."

  "What for, Josh?"

  "Jessica had told me you guys were working on a big case, and I wondered what al the secrecy was about. You know I want to make detective, Zelda. I just thought if I could get in on the case I might be able to help out. When I heard you and Jessica talking about Helen Blackmore, I headed over to her house." He shrugged and began to shake his head in confusion. "I couldn't tel Jessica what I was doing or she'd have me
disciplined straight away. But she somehow got it into her head that I was there." He shook his head. "I have no idea how she knows; she won't tell me. Says she's protecting a witness or something." He looked up at me with pleading eyes. "Are you going to tell her that I admitted I was there?"

  "I don't know what I'm going to do Josh. Just tel me what happened when you arrived at her house."

  "But when I arrived at her door she was there, alive and well, so I felt like a total idiot."

  "Wait, Helen was there?"

  He nodded. "She invited me in and offered me a cup of her homemade tea. I'd travelled all the way over there and I still wanted to check around a little, so I came in."

  "Did anything else happen? Josh, it's important that you tell me."

  Josh shrugged. "She made me some tea. We chatted for a little while.

  She told me there'd been a strange man out in her yard recently and she was a little unnerved by it. I tried to reassure her that it was probably nothing and that she could call us at any time."

  I frowned. "A strange man? Did she give any details?"

  Josh shook his head.

  "Did anything else happen at all, Josh? Please, this is important."

  He furrowed his brow. "We just drank the tea. Oh! Then she asked me if I could help her bring her firewood in from outside. She didn't feel safe going out there. So I grabbed it all for her."

  I threw my head back a little and groaned. I slumped down into the seat across from him and buried my face in my hands. "Wel , now we're back at square one."

  Josh frowned. "What do you mean square one? Zelda, can you tel me what's going on?"

  I lifted my head up. "Josh, the person Jessica was protecting was me."

  He frowned. "You saw me at the house."

  "Not saw. Felt."

  "Oh." His frown deepened and he looked down at his hands, which were placed on the table. He began to absentmindedly rub his fingers together as he spoke. "You mean, you used your psychic powers to sense that I was there."

  "Something like that." I glanced over my table, as I'd become acutely aware that Hal was hovering. He looked away quickly and went back to wiping a table, pretending he'd been busy with the task al along. I turned my attention back to Josh.

  "You see, Jessica just wants to protect me after what happened last time."

  "What happened last time, Zelda?" Josh said, his voice heavy with concern. He reached across the table and took both my hands in his. I didn't pull them away.

  "Last time I...I got the name of a suspect wrong, and almost allowed the real killer to go free." I dropped my head and looked at Josh's hands still wrapped around me. "The police needed someone to blame, so they threw me under the bus. Told the news I was one of those fake psychics you find online, that I led them al down the wrong path on purpose just so I could get money out of them."

  "Oh, Zelda..." Josh rubbed my hands softly. "Is that why you hid away?"

  "Partly," I answered. I took a deep gulp. "There was this group in town -- the Citizens’ Brigade. They're deeply superstitious about anything paranormal. Anything to do with psychics, magic...witches." I cleared my throat. "Anyway, they sent me death threats. Told me I needed to get away.

  That I needed to watch my back or they'd get me."

  I looked up at Josh, worried to see his reaction to all this. But he wasn't looking at me in shock, or with pity, or with disgust. Just genuine concern. "Zelda, I'm sorry al of that happened to you."

  I smiled at him and pulled my hands away. Part of me felt relief at having confided all of this to him, but another part felt guilt that it wasn't the whole truth. I still didn't think he was ready for that.

  "So what's all the fuss about Helen Blackmore?" Josh asked, leaning back in his seat.

  "She's missing," I said quietly. "And Jessica and I have no way of finding her."

  Josh must have heard the sadness in my voice. "Did you know her?"

  "She was like me," I said softly. I turned away before he could ask any more questions, and looked at Hal still pretending to be busy with his wiping and mopping. "Can I get a coffee please, Hal?"

  He jumped up and walked over to us. Smiling a little too widely, he clapped his hands together and asked me what kind of coffee I would like.

  "Latte, please."

  He nodded and turned to leave, but one foot stayed in position and he turned back to me. "I couldn't help overhearing..."

  I froze and stared at him, waiting for what he was going to say.

  He looked down at me, a little nervous. "You said that Helen Blackmore is missing?"

  I nodded slowly, my brow slowly creasing. "Why? Did you know Helen?"

  "A little..." he murmured. "I know she didn't get out of the house much, but she used to come in here for a coffee every Tuesday morning. I didn't see her here this Tuesday, though. I thought it was a little strange."

  He frowned and thought about it. "What a shame. She's a bit of a character, but a lovely lady. Always dressed the same, too."

  "Oh?" I asked.

  "Yes. Always all dressed in black from head to toe. Well, asides from the pink necklace she always wore around her neck."

  Chapter Six

  "Where are we going?" Josh asked as I dragged him out the door.

  "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said, and almost collided with Jessica on the other side. I stopped and stared at her. "What happened to you?"

  She looked first at me and then at Josh. "I saw you two talking.

  Figured you could handle it. Well?" She raised her eyebrows at me. "Did you get him to confess?"

  "Not exactly." I pul ed Josh towards Jessica's car and told Jessica to get in the driver's side. "Quick, we need to get back to my house, pronto."

  "Zelda, why?" Jessica asked, running after us to the car. I was glad that she'd final y started parking within walking distance of the location she was visiting. Josh climbed in the back seat and I got in the passenger side. I pulled my seatbelt on as I told Jessica to hurry. "Milly is in trouble!"

  She climbed in as I was tel ing her to hurry. She fastened her seatbelt with one hand as she started the engine with the other. "What's wrong with Milly?" She pul ed out onto the road and headed east towards the mountain.

  I looked over my shoulder at Josh. "She's not Milly at all, Jessica.

  She's Helen."

  ***

  Jessica turned the wheel sharply as we flew up the winding mountain at breakneck speed.

  Josh leaned forward in his seat. He'd been dumbfounded for five minutes, but he finally spoke. "Wait, what? So your cat is actually Helen?

  Helen Blackmore?"

  I glanced at him in the rearview mirror. I nodded slowly. "Josh, the day you were at Helen's house was the last day anyone saw her. You said that she'd seen a man outside her window that day."

  He nodded.

  I turned to Jessica. "That man was Jim Beasley, Jessica. If he was there to kill her, then he could have witnessed her turn into a cat. That would have confirmed his worst suspicions about her. If he's at my house—if he knew where she went—now she will be even easier to kill." I stopped talking as my throat closed up. "Jessica, we have to hurry," I whispered.

  "I'm going as fast as I can. Hold on tight!" she yel ed as we rounded another bend.

  I could final y see my house as we came into the clear. I gasped as I saw a car sitting in the front. "Jessica, quick!"

  She pressed her foot on the accelerator and sped into my driveway before slamming her foot on the brakes. We both leapt out as Josh just sat there, dumbstruck.

  Jessica and I hurried to the door. I flew through it as Jessica hovered behind me for a moment, reaching for her gun.

  Standing there in my lounge room, with Milly gripped tight between his big grubby hands, was Jim Beasley.

  "Put the cat down!" Jessica yelled.

  He looked at her with low, dark eyes, filled with contempt. "A cat isn't a weapon."

  "Put her down, Jim. Or I'l shoot."

  Ji
m raised one of his hands slowly so that it was wrapped tightly around Mil y's neck. "I ought to strangle this cat right here." He raised an eyebrow. "Or should I say, ‘witch’?" He turned his attention to me and smiled. "I see you've been packing your bags, missy. Some very interesting things in there. Spell books, magic ingredients..."

  Jessica took a step forward, her gun still trained on Jim. "I'm only asking you one last time."

  "What are you going to do, detective? It will be very easy for me to get rid of this cat, and the prison sentence wil be far less than for kil ing a human." His face broke into a wide grin. "Stupid witches—your magic always comes back to haunt you in the end."

  He held Mil y up high in the air. "We can't have vermin like this in this town. My people are relying on me to keep them safe. Don't worry. We'l pay our due respects." He looked down and cast me a sly look. "We've already had the funeral and everything." He burst out laughing. "You should never have attended that, by the way, missy. Made me realize right away where Helen was."

  He tightened his grip around the cat's neck. "Say goodbye to your precious witch!"

  "Stop!" Jessica said, pointing the gun as the back door flew open and Josh came flying through it. He tackled Jim from behind, pushing him to the ground as Milly escaped unharmed, fleeing to hide under the table.

  Josh pul ed Jim's arms around his back as he pinned him down to the floor. Breathing hard, he looked up at Jessica. "You better do the honors, Detective."

  Jessica dropped her gun slowly and looked over at me. "Why don't you do it, Zelda?"

  I nodded slowly and took a step forward. "You're under arrest, Jim Beasley. For breaking and entering and animal cruelty, at the very least."

  I looked back at Jessica and she nodded as she walked forward to cuff him. As she locked his wrists together, she said, "But we can get you on more than that if the three of us have anything to do with it. Stalking, threatening, intent to harm." She pulled Jim onto his feet. "You'll be going away for a lot of years, Jim, don't you worry about that."

  She dragged him out of the house and into the car. Then, jumping into the driver’s seat, she turned on her flashing police lights and slammed the door. Josh and I watched from the house for a moment before I slowly turned around to look at him. "How much...how much did you hear?" I asked nervously.