‘You can control its temperature,’ Jake breathed in awe. ‘The flames, you can make them burn as hot or cold as you want can’t you?’
‘Yes I can,’ Olivia smiled, ‘but that’s not all.’
‘What?’
Olivia cupped her hands around the fire and it jumped back into her palms. It swirled and writhed in her palm. It seemed to be undulating, changing as they watched in rapt fascination.’
‘Holy crap,’ Louisa laughed in delight.
A large dragonfly shivered in her hand, pulsing with light and comprised entirely of red and gold flames. Suddenly it launched itself into the air and dancing high above them it split into two.
‘Wow,’ Jake breathed, as he watched the two fiery dragonflies chasing each other playfully around the room.
Olivia lifted her hand and they landed gracefully in her palm. Her skin glowed for a moment as they were reabsorbed back into her flesh.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Louisa breathed. ‘That was amazing.’
Olivia shrugged.
‘So I guess you decided to follow in your family’s footsteps and live as a witch then,’ Jake stated rather than asked.
‘It wasn’t so much a conscious decision,’ Olivia picked up her glass and took a thoughtful sip. ‘I always knew what my mother and grandmother and aunt were, they never hid it from me, although we were never allowed to discuss it with anyone outside the family. After my mom and Nana died, I turned from the power for a long time. Not only because the fire reminded me of that night, but because I was trying so desperately to fit in with all the other foster kids and I didn’t want to be seen as a freak.’
‘So what changed?’ Jake asked quietly.
‘I did,’ Olivia dropped her head back against the couch and breathed deeply. ‘I don’t know, I guess I figured choosing to be a witch was kind of honoring my mom. It was a way of being close to her, because I missed her so bad. But in the end I realized that being a witch wasn’t a choice. It’s who I am, if that makes any sense. The power I have is part of me, and I can’t ignore it or pretend it doesn’t exist, because that would be denying who I truly am.’
‘Wow that’s deep,’ Jake whispered.
Olivia grabbed a cushion and threw it at his head.
‘Brat,’ she laughed.
He grinned as he caught the pillow and tucked it comfortably under himself.
‘So what about you two,’ Olivia asked. ‘Did either of you explore your gifts?’
Just as fire had always been Olivia’s greatest skill, she knew her best friends were also gifted; it’s what had drawn them all together in the first place. Louisa had always been able to tell what was wrong with someone if they were hurt or sick and Jake, well Jake had this uncanny knack for knowing if someone was lying or being deceitful. Suddenly she realized that they had made use of their gifts, even if they hadn’t realized it, by the professions they’d chosen.
‘Just connected the dots didn’t you!’ Louisa laughed, draining the rest of her glass. ‘Guess our jobs don’t seem so crazy now.’
‘Yeah, you could say our professions chose us, rather than the other way around,’ Jake replied. ‘We didn’t explore our gifts after you were gone. After all, we thought you were dead and it just made us too sad, but we still have our special talents.’
‘I guess,’ Olivia mused
‘Besides, our parents are still staunch Christians, although they still enjoy our town’s “colorful history”’ Louisa lifted her fingers to draw imaginary speech marks in the air.
‘They don’t really believe in witchcraft and I think they’d pitch a fit if they found out their children were pagans, so we never really took that final step. We’re just kind of happy as we are. We believe in God, we just also happen to have unusual abilities.’
‘Fair enough,’ Olivia shrugged smiling. ‘I won’t hold it against you.’
‘It’s funny when you think about it,’ Jake smirked, ‘even though the town embraces the legend of it being founded by witches, most folks around here don’t actually believe in magic. They have no idea that an honest to God witch lives in their midst.’
‘Very funny,’ Olivia rolled her eyes,
‘Hey,’ Louisa suddenly sat up. ‘Do you remember when we used to sneak off to the woods to our secret den and pretend to practice witchcraft.’
‘To be fair Lou, we were kinda practicing witchcraft, even if we didn’t actually know it,’ Jake replied.
‘Whatever,’ she shrugged
‘Is our den still there?’ Olivia asked, her eyes bright with curiosity.
‘I have no idea,’ Louisa grinned back.
‘Let's go see,’ Olivia climbed to her feet.
‘Are you mad?’ Jake glanced up at her as she stood over him. ‘It’s late, it’s wet and it’s been twenty years; it’s probably not even still there.’
‘Quit whining and get your ass up,’ Louisa grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up.
‘I’m not going,’ Jake shook his head.
‘Fine you stay here, chicken shit. Olivia and I will go.’ She hooked her arm companionably through Olivia’s as they turned and headed out of the room.
‘I know I’m going to regret this,’ Jake murmured, as he hauled himself off the floor and followed them.
Olivia pulled on her coat and a pair of her Aunt’s green rubber boots that were in the mud room and grabbed a couple of torches. At least she had gotten round to changing the batteries, she thought smugly.
They trotted down the steps from the back door and headed into the woods. But as they hit the cold air, the alcohol caught up with them and before long Olivia and Louisa were giggling like a pair of twelve year olds.
‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ Jake frowned, seemingly the only sober one of the three of them.
‘Stop your bitching’ Louisa hiccupped. ‘You’re the one with the gun.’
Suddenly Louisa tripped and grabbed onto Olivia, causing her to lose her balance. She slipped on the wet leaves and they both went down on the muddy ground, in a tangle of limbs and uncontrollable hysterics.
Jake cradled his face in his hand, shaking his head in exasperation and with a long suffering sigh he reached down and scooped the pair of them up.
‘I really think we should head back to the house.’
‘Whatever, dad,’ Louisa giggled.
‘God, what is that smell?’ Olivia coughed as a rancid scent filled her nostrils and mouth.
‘Nice Jake,’ Louisa hissed in disgust.
‘Hey it wasn’t me,’ Jake replied. ‘Smells like a dead animal; watch where you’re stepping,’ he warned.
‘Yeah yeah,’ Louisa mumbled.
‘Come on,’ Olivia interrupted, ‘it can’t be much further.’
‘Fine,’ he conceded.
‘Besides, it’s not like we’re gonna get lost,’ Olivia laughed as she walked backwards, her flashlight on Jake’s face. ‘We know these woods like the back of our ha….’
The rest of her sentence was cut off by a small yelp and the whoosh of air, as she tripped backwards and landed in something wet and unpleasantly slimy.
‘What the hell?’ She gagged as the smell from earlier hit her full force.
She fumbled with her flashlight to see what she’d fallen in. A scream caught in her throat as the beam of light fell across the mangled remains of a human body.
4.
Olivia huddled tighter in the blanket she had been given as the pale ghostly rays of sunrise dawned through the trees, illuminating the busy crime scene. Sighing, she cast her eyes to the gray skies and blew out a discontented breath. It was Samhain; she’d imagined herself rising with the dawn and lighting the balefires, not standing wrapped in a police issue blanket surveying a murder scene.
Crime scene tape already cordoned off the immediate area surrounding the body. A white tent had been erected over the remains to protect what little physical evidence was left from
the elements, but after the rain there probably wouldn’t be much to go on.
Olivia tried to keep her eyes averted from the tent, knowing what lay inside. But even though it was hidden from view, she knew she would never be able to erase that image from her mind. She had never seen anything like it. It was like a puddle of biological matter. If it hadn’t been for the tatters of clothes and the fingers and hair, she wouldn’t have even known it was human.
Forcing the bile back in her throat she shifted, attempting to stay upwind of the rotting stench.
‘Hey’ Louisa moved to stand next to her. ‘Hell of a way to sober up.’
‘You’re telling me,’ Olivia murmured. ‘Do they know who it is yet?’
‘Not for sure,’ Louisa replied, ‘and they’re being pretty tight lipped, but from what I’ve been able to overhear they think it may be Adam.’
‘Adam?’ Olivia breathed. ‘Shit.’
‘No kidding,’ Louisa murmured. ‘Once they’ve finished documenting the crime scene, his remains will be taken for autopsy and the formal identification can be made from there.’
‘Will you be doing the Autopsy?’
Louisa shook her head.
‘Doctor Hughes will be doing it, he’s the most senior doctor on staff and he doubles up as the coroner when needed.’
‘I can’t believe this happened a hundred yards from my house,’ Olivia frowned. ‘Who the hell would do something like that and how? I mean the guy looked like road kill.’
‘I don’t know,’ Louisa lowered her voice as she noticed the Chief of Police making his way towards them with a stern expression. ‘I’ll see what I can find out after the autopsy.’
‘Ladies.’ He stopped in front of them both.
‘Chief Walcott,’ Louisa replied evenly.
The Chief was an austere looking man, standing over six feet tall and broad shouldered, his dark hair peppered with gray at the sides. His face bore some lines and his dark eyes were cold and calculating, as they latched onto Olivia.
‘Ms West?’ He focussed his attention completely on her, ignoring Louisa.
‘Miss,’ Olivia corrected.
‘I believe you discovered the body.’
‘I wouldn’t say discovered so much, as tripped over it in the dark,’ Olivia replied.
‘Miss West what were you doing out in this part of the woods last night?’
‘Louisa and Jake were over. We were having a few drinks and reminiscing. We impulsively decided to go out into the woods to see if the den we made when we were kids was still there.’
She didn’t like the way he was looking at her.
‘But it was your idea to go out into the woods,’ he clarified.
‘It was all our idea,’ Louisa interjected.
The Chief once again more or less ignored Louisa; it was as if she hadn’t spoken at all.
‘Miss West, you returned to Mercy three days ago after inheriting a house from your great aunt. Is that correct?’
‘Yes,’ Olivia replied.
‘Did you know Adam Miller?’ he asked suddenly.
‘I met him once, the day before yesterday at the pub. I went in for something to eat.’
‘So you saw him the night he disappeared?’
‘I guess,’ her answer was guarded.
‘What time did you leave the pub?’
‘I don’t know,’ Olivia shrugged, ‘maybe around nine? I didn’t exactly look at the clock.’
‘What did you do after you left the pub?’
‘I drove home.’ She didn’t like where this line of questioning was going.
‘Alone?’
‘Yes alone’
‘Is there anyone who can vouch for your whereabouts that night?’
‘You’re asking if I have an alibi for the night Adam was killed,’ Olivia’s eyes narrowed.
‘Well, do you have an alibi?’
‘Do I need one?’ Her jaw clenched in anger.
‘You tell me,’ he replied calmly. ‘You were one of the last people to see Adam the night he disappeared.’
‘Yeah, me and the thirty other people in the pub,’ she replied sarcastically.
‘The remains were found not a stone’s throw from your property.’
‘Circumstantial,’ Olivia replied tightly. ‘If I was going to kill someone I certainly wouldn’t do it right on my own doorstep. Let’s just cut to the chase here. This isn’t about some circumstantial evidence, or opportunity, or the fact I have absolutely no motive for wanting Adam dead. He seemed to be a nice guy and I liked him. This is about my father and what he did.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘You want to know how far the apple fell from the tree.’
‘Well, how far did it?’ Chief Walcott’s response was blunt.
‘You’ve got some nerve Chief,’ Olivia’s lip curled in disgust. ‘If you’re quite finished, I’m going home.’
She turned and stalked away, getting no more than a couple of steps when his cool disdainful voice stopped her in her tracks.
‘Unfortunately, that is not all. We’ll need your clothes.’
‘Are you fucking kidding me,’ Olivia snapped, her eyes flashing angrily.
‘I suggest you watch your mouth Miss West,’ his tone was dangerously cool. ‘As you yourself pointed out, you fell into my crime scene, therefore you could have evidence that was transferred to your clothes.’
‘You and I both know that after two days of rain, there is hardly likely to be any evidence that hasn’t been contaminated or washed away.’
‘Be that as it may,’ he persisted, ‘it is procedure.’
‘Fine,’ she hissed. ‘I’ll bag them up and give them to Jake.’
‘Not good enough.’
He beckoned another deputy forward and a tall fair haired woman stepped up. She looked like a Valkyrie. She was nearly as tall as him, with long white blonde hair which was wound so tightly at the nape of her neck, it almost gave her a full face lift.
‘This is Deputy Helga Hanson. She will accompany you and bag up your clothes for evidence.’
Helga! She might have known. Olivia rolled her eyes.
‘Fine,’ she snapped. Turning sharply she turned and stalked back toward her house, with Louisa at her side and the blonde warrior maiden striding along behind them.
‘Sorry,’ Louisa murmured as she tried to keep up with her friend’s angry pace.
‘It’s not your fault,’ Olivia snapped. ‘I guess I expected to be stared at and gossiped about, I just never expected to be accused of murder the minute I got back into town. I’m not my father.’
Louisa stopped, grabbing Olivia’s arm to halt her movements.
‘I know you’re not,’ Louisa’s blue eyes shone in sympathy, ‘and most other decent people around here won’t believe it either. The cops will figure this out and then they’ll owe you the biggest, fattest apology there is.’
‘I hope so,’ Olivia replied softly.
‘Look, I’m sorry I can’t stick around longer,’ Louisa apologized, ‘but I need to get home and catch a couple of hours sleep before my next shift starts.’
‘It’s okay,’ Olivia nodded.
‘There is one more thing,’ Louisa smiled, pulling something from her pocket and handing it to Olivia.
‘Happy Birthday by the way.’
‘I can’t believe you remembered,’ she spoke quietly.
‘Well it’s an easy one to remember,’ Louisa laughed lightly. ‘You’re the only person I’ve ever met who was born on Halloween.’
Olivia looked down at the small pink package in her hand. It was flat and square and wrapped in tatty wrapping paper.
‘Sorry about the state of it,’ she gave a small smile. ‘I’ve had it a long time.’
Olivia looked up and stared at her friend.
‘I made that for you just before your mom was killed,’ she replied to the unspoken question in her eyes. ‘I just never got
the chance to give it to you and I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it, so I think it’s about time you have it.’
‘Thank you,’ Olivia swallowed to shift the knot of sentiment lodged in her throat.
‘I’ll call you later,’ she threw her arms around Olivia and hugged her hard. ‘Just remember, no matter what happens you’ve still got me and Jake, so call us if you need anything at all.’
‘I will,’ Olivia managed as she let go and watched her friend walk away.
The sound of a disapproving throat clearing behind her, had Olivia turning her gaze back on the tall deputy, who raised her brows in impatience.
‘All right,’ Olivia sighed rolling her eyes, ‘let's go before you add a strip search just for the hell of it.’
Olivia returned to her house and endured the humiliation of having to strip in front of the Olympic size deputy Helga, who bagged up her clothes. That left her with the added inconvenience of no longer having a coat, as the frighteningly efficient woman took that as well. Cursing the Mercy police department, she locked the door behind her unwelcome guest and headed straight for the shower.
She turned the water temperature up as high as she could stand it and scrubbed for what felt like hours. Emerging pink and wrinkled and still feeling as if she were covered in something gruesome, she threw on some comfy clothes and climbed into bed. Ignoring the daylight filtering through the window she pulled the comforter up over her.
Leaning over to her nightstand she picked up the small package Louisa had given her and turned it over in her hands. The tape, which held half the paper together, was yellowed and peeling with age, giving testament to how long Louisa had kept it for.
Smiling to herself Olivia traced her name, scrawled across the front in childish handwriting. Unable to hold back the curiosity any longer, she carefully peeled the package open and a small bracelet fell out. It was quite obviously handmade, in pink and white beads, and carefully spaced between each bead was a plastic letter making up the words ‘Best Friends’ Forever.
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 6
