Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon

by Dr. Bon Blossman

  The doorbell rang and I purposely stalled for a few seconds before taking off for a full run towards the front door. I grabbed the doorknob, trying to remain nonchalant about his arrival even though I felt more than awkward about the entire situation, yet entirely elated. I envisioned Camber Johnson standing beside him as I swung open the door, but I was ecstatic I was wrong. He was alone.

  His eyes instantly melted me, and all I wanted to do was stand there awkwardly and gawk at him. I could tell he had recently showered, as his hair was still slightly wet. He was wearing a neatly pressed, light blue polo oxford, jeans, and brown leather vans. I was unsure of why he was so dressed up, but he looked phenomenal. He placed his longboard at the side of my porch, and I snapped out of my trance quickly.

  “Hi Wolfe, come on in,” I said as I swung open the door, taking a step backward.

  He immediately looked down at the ground and behind me. I assumed he had searched for Luminal, as typically, he’d be the first to greet visitors. I realized he wouldn’t have known about what happened.

  “Hi, Fiona,” his deep voice echoed in the foyer.

  I paused as I basked in the sound I hadn’t heard for a time. He continued to look around the floor of my house with a puzzled face.

  “Hello Wolfie! Getting your cookies together, love,” Janice sang from the kitchen.

  I gestured for him to follow me to the main hallway. Making my way to my foam chair in a daze, he settled down on my bed across the room. We sat in a clumsy silence for about a minute as we stared at each other. It felt as though we’d been apart for a year.

  “Well, what did you want to talk about?” I blurted to break the tension.

  He looked at Luminal’s dog bed and then back down to the floor, brows furrowed, and jaws tightened. He struggled with his words, raising his head, staring at me with striking eyes. I blushed.

  “I miss you. I miss the club. I miss your friendship,” he said gently, turning his head to the side, a crooked grin invading his face.

  “You aren’t happy with Camber?” I challenged pathetically, my eyes narrowing.

  He grimaced, his mood shifting from yellow to black. At the sight of his reaction, I hated myself for a moment. I couldn’t believe I said those words. I seemed like a jealous nut. We gazed into each other’s eyes, blank expressions on our faces.

  “What do you mean, happy with her? She’s my friend if that’s what you mean,” he said frostily, eyes smoldering.

  “Nothing. Didn’t mean to say that, just slipped out.”

  He stared at me, the sun reflecting in his eyes. He was stunning, rendered me speechless.

  “Fiona, if you think I am with Camber as anything more than a friend, you are dead wrong. I was just helping her out,” he said bluntly, his eyes scrutinizing me.

  I broke eye contact, halting my stupor, staring at the floor, I responded, “But you were going on a double-date with her and my whacked-out cousin Haley. My mom told me.”

  His face turned into a mask of perplexity as he shook his head slowly.

  “Your mother told you I was going on a date with Camber? With your crazy cousin Haley?” he folded his large hands slowly, the hint of a sarcastic grin spanning his tanned face.

  I waded through my thoughts, torn by an internal quandary, replaying his words in my head repeatedly, realizing Haley and my mother had never said whom Camber was going on the date with. Embarrassment took hold of me, turning my face a bright shade of crimson.

  “No, I guess not. I just assumed it since you have been glued to her at school,” I blurted the words, astonished at myself for sounding so jealous.

  His features softened. Pressing his full lips together, he stared at me through narrowed eyes. He lifted his chin and locked into a magnetic, limb-weakening gaze with me.

  “Fiona, she has been talking to me as a friend. She wanted out of that crazy vampire cult. I was giving her advice. She is dating Ralph Booner from Hartford, remember him? I’m actually tired of hearing about how great he is. I’ve met the guy, he’s not that great, and he flaunts his parent’s money.”

  Squeezing my lips into a line, I fought a grin attempting to raid my face. I sat quietly for a moment, dazed, my thoughts nearly incoherent. I folded my hands in my lap, leaning back into my foam chair, staring at my ceiling.

  “Uh, yeah, Ralph is Duncan Doyle’s friend—both members of the paranormal group.”

  I was officially an idiot. His story made sense. All along, the double-date never included Wolfe. It was all in my head in this fabricated story I put together because I was so jealous of anybody getting his attention but me. I looked straight at him, a final thought burning into the forefront of my mind so strongly I could see the words.

  “I heard someone in the hall at school say Camber had a big crush on you!”

  “You listen to rumors at school, now? That doesn’t sound like the Fiona Frost I know. People see things, and they make up stories. Just like you did.”

  I sat upright; shoulder’s hunched as my head dropped downward. I stared at the floor, avoiding eye contact. Nothing but a fool, a jealous little brat, I concentrated on the cracks in the wood and how they branched, uniting with the other cracks.

  Wolfe slid off my bed, walked over towards me, and bent down on one knee beside my chair, leaning his head forward to capture my eyes. He gently held my face in his massive hand and slowly raised my chin. I had a full-blown embarrassed pout. The corners of his lips turned upward.

  “I am so sorry, Wolfe. I’ve acted like an idiot. I’m embarrassed, humiliated. I had no right.”

  He sat on the back of his heels, placing his hand on my shoulder, rubbing me ever so gently. His touch was magical, relaxing, made everything in my body feel at ease. Thoughts of our embrace in the cave raced back into my mind, and I longed for another.

  “Fiona, I just separated myself from you, because I thought it is what you wanted me to do. After I acted inappropriately in the cave, and then when I called you, and you hung up on me, well—”

  “My dog died that day. I didn’t mean to hang up, I was just a mess. Janice was sick; she went to the hospital—”

  Hurt and shock had invaded his face before they melted away into an unreadable expression.

  “Are you joking with me right now?”

  “No.”

  His brows tightened into a line of confusion.

  “Janice seems fine,” he whispered tenderly with a voice as smooth as silk.

  “She was released from the hospital on Sunday. She was in ICU at one point. Bacterial meningitis.”

  His eyes were soft, repentant. His expression turned into a saddened mask. He swiped my hair off my shoulder onto my back before gently placing his hand on the side of my neck.

  “I wondered where Luminal was when I got here, but I was reluctant to ask, figured you would tell me if anything was wrong. I loved that dog.”

  “It was difficult losing him.”

  Tears streamed down my cheeks.

  “I can imagine. So, you were going through all that? Why didn’t you just tell me? I would have been there for you.”

  “Internal defense mechanism, I suppose. I don’t like people to see me upset. I have to stay strong on the outside. I hate people to feel sorry for me, and I just lost it. Then, when you gave me that note at school, moved desks in math and started hanging around Camber, well,” I hesitated, staring at the ceiling, trying frantically to suppress my emotions.

  Wolfe put his other hand on my shoulder and pulled me towards his massive chest as he rose to both knees, wrapping his arms around me tightly. With my blood racing, I melted into his arms as I laid my head on his shoulder and threw my limp arms around his neck. Tears streaming down my cheek, I quickly wiped my face with my sleeves.

  “This will never happen again,” he whispered in my ear, pulling me tighter against his body.

  He scaled my back with his palms, landing both hands on either side of my neck, easing his body back slightly. Using his thumbs softly to tra
ce my jaw line, he raised my chin, locking into a steel gaze with me, my hands trembling as a cold shiver pulsed down my spine. I covertly gasped for air.

  Two quick knocks on my door and Janice surfaced in the room. He released his grip, dropping backward onto the floor, smiling awkwardly at her. I pushed back into my chair, taking shallow breaths.

  “Hello, Wolfie! Cookies are done!” Janice sang as she set up a wooden tray, placing the plate of warm cookies onto it, pretending not to notice she had interrupted something. “I’ll be right back with your chocolate milk, dear.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Janice. I live for your cookies! I just heard you have been ill recently. I am very glad you are well now. You certainly look beautiful as ever,” he said with a huge grin.

  “Oh, thank you, dear. You are the sweetest boy,” she sang.

  Once she exited the room, we locked eyes for an uneasy moment. Both wanting to pick up where we had left off, but the mood became rather clumsy—especially since she was due back with his chocolate milk. I broke the tension.

  “I value your friendship, Wolfe. I never want to lose you as a friend again. I was miserable without you in my life.”

  His mouth twitched into a twisted smile as he snatched a cookie from the plate, smiling at the wolf head drawn on the cookie with frosting.

  “I agree, Fiona. We are friends for life—no matter what. And maybe more than that, huh?” he smiled deviously, unveiling his luminous teeth.

  “Let’s be friends, great friends…best friends. Later, who knows? I don’t want anything complicating it and messing it up again. And I apologize for being so jealous. I had no right to be like that. I guess I’m protective of you, I was kinda acting a little psycho,” I sighed, closing my eyes, hoping he wouldn’t agree.

  “Yes, you were, Fiona,” he smirked. “But I give you the right to act however you want if you feel that way. I’m actually flattered you’d be jealous,” he said, his face radiant.

  I shook my head and couldn’t help but smile. He had nearly devoured the cookies by the time Janice delivered the chocolate milk.

  I believed nothing in the world would ever be wrong again. I never wanted anything to get in the way of my friendship with him again. I hopelessly wanted more, but would settle for the meantime.

  13 FALSELY ACCUSED

  Wolfe and I ended up spending the rest of the evening chatting with Janice. After he had gone home, we spent a couple of hours on the phone talking about nothing. Devoted friends again, I was overjoyed to have him back in my life and reinstated as a club member. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

  Detective Chase woke me with a call to invite the team to the police station to discuss the case after school. I coordinated the meeting with the rest of the club, who all agreed to attend.

  Agent Bronson turned the radio on the news station during the drive to school, and I was shocked to hear the remaining three teen suspects in the murder case were about to be released on bail via money raised by Dimitri LeMorte’s fundraising event. I would most likely run into at least one of them at school.

  The morning brushed by, and I walked into calculus, grinning as I spotted Wolfe in his original seat across the aisle from me. We smiled at each other during the entire class period. I daydreamed about hugging him and about our future first kiss. I didn’t hear a word of Mrs. Garcia’s lecture.

  The final bell rang, and Maddie, Wolfe, and I piled into Agent Bronson’s spicy pine-scented Lincoln. I opened the door to the backseat and climbed in, Wolfe followed my lead. Maddie shook her head and laughed as she took the front passenger’s seat.

  Carden, Willow, and Lauren piled into Lauren’s car, a burgundy Acura, and we headed off to the police station to meet with Detective Chase. Agent Bronson kept our car ride lively with questions about our high school, the marching band, our sports program and our mascot—the wolf. The time flew by, and we were soon pulling up to the station and climbing out of the car.

  Reaching for the door first, I held it open for my club members. Carden and Maddie continued their flirtatious connection, and I was more than happy for her—however I winced, hoping they’d be incognito around Detective Chase.

  Wolfe was the last to enter, taking hold of the door for me, nudging me mischievously to go inside. The dirty sock and strawberry cream aroma was in full force. I waved to Ms. Spinks at the reception counter, passing by the mismatched chairs of the waiting room. She pointed with her neon orange acrylic nails towards the green door as she pressed the button under her desk.

  “Hello, Fiona and friends, go on back!” she sang.

  “Hello, Ms. Spinks!” I countered, passing through the green door.

  We made our way into the conference room and waited for Detective Chase. No windows, the newly remodeled conference room remained slightly dark, even with the lights on. The room was shaped longer than wide—perfect for a long conference room table. The eight chairs surrounding the dark wood table were plush brown, matching the suede wallpaper on the walls with recessed lighting along the ceiling. There was a bar at the end of the room where coffee and water were always available. I organized my documents in front of me and pulled out my favorite purple pen as my phone rang. Janice. I answered it on speaker.

  “Fiona, I just received a disturbing call. Do you have a pen?”

  “Yes, you alright?” I said carefully, looking at the group as they shot their attention towards my phone.

  “Yes, of course. But somebody called the house phone a few times, didn’t say anything, and hung up. Then, they called again, and it was a man with a deep voice. The caller said 94 puppies, take 25 away. Are you left with 8 or 1 female? It doesn’t make any sense to me; he was so cryptic and ended the call with no further explanation. It might have been a wrong number, but just in case it’s not.”

  I wrinkled my nose, contemplating whether this should mean anything. I wrote down the message on my notepad.

  “That’s pretty weird alright. Well, I’m in a meeting with the detective in just a minute, and we’ll discuss. The agents are still watching the house outside, right?”

  “Oh yes, dear. And there is one inside as well. They know about the caller, but I wanted you to know since you work on those crazy codes and riddle things with your group. Anywho, it was probably the wrong number.”

  “Thanks, Janice. I love you! See you later!”

  I ended the call, looking around the room and shaking my head in confusion.

  “I didn’t quite catch what she said,” Lauren said.

  “Well, she was getting weird calls where nobody was talking and then hanging up. I’ve had a few strange calls like that on my phone. A man called, said something cryptic and hung up—94 puppies, take 25 away. Are you left with 8 or 1 female?”

  Lauren gazed at the ceiling for a moment, her bushy locks looking more wild than usual, as she wasn’t wearing a cap.

  “Hmm, that seems very odd,” she said slowly. “But I’ll study it after the meeting and see if I can make any sense of it,” she said, scrawling the riddle down on her notepad.

  Detective Chase ambled in, shutting the door behind him. He tossed a file at the head of the table, pulled his chair out, and rubbed his plump hands together.

  “First, I have to show you this,” he opened the cuff of his shirt and displayed a circular rash on his wrist. It was bright red and in the shape of a perfect circle.

  “Poison Ivy?” Wolfe asked.

  “In my opinion, it looks like eczema,” Willow stated bluntly, pushing up the sleeves of her red blazer.

  She was the medical expert of our group, besides Detective Chase, that is.

  “Well, I just want you to know that these crop circles are on my arms and nowhere else. I went to a dermatologist this morning, and they’ve never seen such a thing. They don’t itch, they don’t hurt, and they’re just there.”

  “Aren’t you a doc, Detective Chase? Can’t you just diagnose yourself?” Wolfe exclaimed.

  “Yes, I am, but I’m a pathologist and a f
orensic scientist. Not a dermatologist and I don’t treat the living,” he chuckled, inspecting his rash. “At least not since medical school and that was long ago.”

  “The curse?” I laughed, viewing his rash intently. “Are you thinking it’s Dimitri’s curse, Detective? Maybe he used the Rinden bowls and did some black magic—you said he was using oil, right?”

  “Uh, yes, Fiona. He did use oils with his chant, and I’m hoping he wouldn’t have used Rinden bowls on me,” Detective Chase paused for a long sigh. “Well, I was going to mention it in passing I had some weirdness going on. Coincidence, I am sure. But if I turn into a pumpkin at midnight, well, you know what happened.”

  The room erupted with laughter as he buttoned his sleeve back and thumbed through his papers. At the opposing end of the table, I caught Maddie and Carden in a loving gaze. I waited until she looked at me and I shot her a nonverbal warning with widened eyes. Unable to look in Wolfe’s direction, I smiled at Willow, sitting directly across the table.

  “Alright, folks. Let’s get you up to speed and through the status of the suspects starting with the number one suspect—Damien Lee.”

  “He’s number one on the list?” Carden inquired.

  I was proud that Carden, the newest recruit to my lab and junior at our high school, was finally speaking up in the meetings. I thought it was probably to impress Maddie, but whatever worked was okay with me. He was not officially allowed to attend the police station meeting with Detective Chase, but since we were not going to the crime lab, the detective had made an exception. I needed Carden for my program for the following year when I went to Hartford, but I was worried—he had never shown any leadership qualities and was going to be lucky to keep his membership on the new team if he didn’t step it up.

  “Yes. He’s the leader of the Nightmare Army, Cosmar Armata was scrawled on the altar where the victim was found, and patent prints of the victim’s blood were on the murder weapon. Damien professes not to value life and has a prior history of fighting with the victim who was his neighbor at the Lakeside Trailer Park. He still contends he wasn’t in the cave that night, but we are certain he is lying. Recent evidence has come from another neighbor said he heard Damien Lee threaten to skewer the victim and cook her with onions and peppers on the grill.”