The apron wasn't the worst of it. Next, she found one shoe that also appeared to be caked with blood. She leaned over, examined the leather, and stood up again.
When she was completely upright, Zoe noticed that there was a reddish brown handprint on the doors that led from the kitchen into the dining area. Again, unable to stop herself, Zoe proceeded to the doors.
She didn't dare touch them. Something inside of her screamed to stop touching things. But, she did stand on her tippy toes and look out the round window that allowed people to see what was on the other side of the door.
Zoe found Abrielle. The woman was splayed out face down on the floor a few feet from the door. There was a giant kitchen knife in her back.
Without needing any more prompting, Zoe turned and ran out of the restaurant. She got back into the truck and locked the doors in case whoever had killed Abrielle was still in the area.
The newest member of the Winterfield Police Department was the first officer to show up on the scene. He was new to Winterfield, but like Ben, Officer Luther Jackson was an experienced veteran. Officer Lucy Cornwall pulled up a few moments later. They parked their cruisers across the entrance and exit to the Devil's Pesto to keep people from driving onto the lot. They got out and started walking towards the restaurant door.
Zoe hopped out of the truck and met them in the middle of the lot. She told them what she'd seen, and Officer Jackson told her to wait outside.
"Get back in the truck and lock it," Lucy added as the pair of policemen walked around the back of the restaurant to the door that Zoe had propped open.
Ten minutes later, Luther and Lucy appeared around the corner again. They walked over to the truck and told Zoe to go back to the bakery.
"You be careful out there, okay?" Luther said.
"What's going on?"
"The body's gone," Lucy responded. "We can see where it was dragged out of the restaurant and over towards those trees." She pointed towards the tree line that was several hundred feet away from the edge of the parking lot. "We don't know what's going on, but be careful.
Lucy moved her cruiser out of the way and let Zoe out. Luther walked over and met Lucy as she got back out of her car.
“Should we call in some sort of backup? Like perhaps the County Sheriff or the State Police?” Luther asked as Lucy stood up.
“No, we can’t do that. You know what this place is, and it looks like a shifter or another creature got to Abrielle. I could call the Coroner, they’re fine with Winterfield, but we’ve lost the body.”
“Maybe we should go into the woods and look. We can see where the blood trail goes in, and perhaps we can locate the body.” Luther offered.
“I don’t know,” Lucy said. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
“Well, we’ve got our guns, and I’m sure I can defend us if there is something unsavory waiting in the trees. Just stay behind me.” Luther said with authority.
“Right, because you’re a golem,” Lucy said.
“Well, yeah. I can turn into a golem. It was a curse. It’s a long story. Let’s go look for our perp.”
“You sound like a tv detective when you say it that way.” Lucy teased him.
“Probably because I started talking like one of those fast talking, quip-throwing tv detectives when I worked in the city. It was the only way to get the younger generation to take me seriously. If I didn’t talk like the cops on television, the kids thought I was fake police.”
Lucy just shrugged her shoulders and began walking toward the tree line. She thought Luther was a cool guy, but she didn’t want him to know that.
As they approached the trees, both officers heard a distinct rustling sound in the underbrush followed by the sound of footsteps running away. They looked at each other.
“Stop, police!” Lucy shouted.
Luther didn’t say anything, but he began to give chase to whomever or whatever was hiding in the woods. Lucy wanted to tell him to wait for her, but she knew that some of the forest area around Winterfield was extensive. If they didn’t catch the suspect right away, they could lose them quickly.
It occurred to Lucy after about two minutes that she needed to hit the gym more often. Her chest was so tight that she couldn’t draw a full breath.
She issued a strangled cry out to Luther that she had to stop running, but when she did, Lucy’s head started to swim in and out of consciousness. Her vision swished and swirled as the muscles of her heart struggled to keep beating.
“I’m not this out of shape.” She muttered to herself.
Lucy’s strength left her, and she fell to her knees before crumpling to the forest floor.
“Help.” She tried to scream, but the sound came out as a whisper.
As her vision grew dark around the edges, she happened to bring her hand up to her face. There was a line of dark blood across her palm where something had cut her, and a sharp smell emanated from the laceration.
She’d felt what she thought was a stick or switch sting her hand, but Lucy didn’t think it’d cut her that badly. Now, instead of thundering, her heart slowed to an almost non-existent rhythm.
I’ve been poisoned.
Were her last thoughts before the world went completely black around her.
Lucy went in and out of consciousness. For a moment, while she was awake, she could feel strong arms carrying her.
Not just strong, but they felt as though they were made of stone. Her head lulled, and she rested it against the hard, icy chest of the giant stone man that took her out of the woods.
It was odd to hear a heart beating beneath that stony surface. Luther was in his golem form. It was probably to protect himself from being poisoned.
“You’re going to be fine.” A big, rumbly voice said to her. “I’ve called an ambulance. It’s meeting us back in the parking lot.”
Lucy could hear the siren in the distance, and she knew that the ambulance wasn’t far away. That didn’t give her much time to change the course of what would have been a tragedy if humans were allowed to treat her for the magical poison the coursed through her veins.
“No. Call Belladonna.” She choked out. “Have her bring Sumac so they can get rid of the ambulance too.”
Luther nodded his big, stone head yes and set her down gently in the grass. He’d called the ambulance on instinct, but it had been a mistake. Luther knew that the Chief of Police’s wife was a witch, and he hoped that she could help Lucy.
Him too.
He’d only managed to turn to stone in the seconds after the creature’s tail split the skin on the back of his leg and injected its foul poison into him. His golem form had kept the beast from finishing him off, but it hadn’t stopped the attack entirely.
His stone form had slowed the magic toxin down, but Luther could feel it take effect as he dialed Ben’s number. He lay down in the grass next to Lucy and prayed that Ben answered the phone fast.
Chapter Seven
“Belladonna!” Ben yelled from the back of the house.
She’d just hung up the phone with Jessie when she heard her husband calling for her urgently. Bella ran towards the back of the house and nearly collided with Ben in the kitchen.
“It’s my newest officer. He says he needs to talk to you right now.” Ben said and thrust his phone into her hand.
Belladonna took the phone and said hello. Then she quietly listened and nodded her head while Luther told her what was going on. She hung up the phone, handed it back to Ben, and turned to Sumac who had appeared behind her.
“We need to be at the Devil’s Pesto right now,” Bella said to her Aunt Sumac in a grave voice.
Aunt Sumac took Belladonna’s hand, and they both disappeared in a flash of soft white light. Aunt Sumac preferred not to teleport that way when in the company of a large group of people as the brief temporal disruption could make people feel queasy. But, it was an emergency.
They blinked back into existence behind a dumpster and the Devil’s Pesto. Two E
MTs were wandering around the parking lot looking confused, so Aunt Sumac went to spell them away.
As soon as the ambulance was back on the road heading away from the restaurant, Sumac and Belladonna walked into the woods to find the two injured police officers.
Luther, who was back to his human form, and Lucy were in the grass on their backs barely breathing. Bella noticed right away that Lucy was burning up with what appeared to be a fever, but Luther was cold.
“It’s not a fever,” Lucy muttered when Bella put a hand on her forehead. “I was trying to use my power to burn the poison off.”
Lucy never made a big deal of her abilities, and she rarely used them. The only daughter of a fire elemental and a telekinetic human, Lucy was born with pyrokinesis. It was more of a curse than a blessing when she was a child because it had been difficult for her to learn to control her powers. The family had to move three times while Lucy was a toddler because her temper tantrums resulted in their family homes burning to the ground.
Her mother didn’t believe that the fire inside Lucy should be controlled, but when she was older, her father used his knowledge to teach Lucy to tame the flames.
“I’m going to give myself brain damage,” Lucy said with a chuckle.
Belladonna suspected she was hallucinating due to the heat in her brain. “You can stop now, Lucy. I’ll help you.”
“What do we do?” Sumac mused as she watched Luther.
He was groaning as his body would turn part way to stone and then fall back to being human. The process was happening over and over, and Bella knew that it was draining his strength. Luther sounded as though he was in pain too.
“I think it’s a magic venom,” Bella said. “We should be able to use a spell. Let’s grab some of those wildflowers to amplify the effects” She pointed toward a patch of brightly colored blooms a few feet away.
Sumac and Bella rushed over to the blossoms and plucked as many of them as they could. Once their hands were full, they went back over to Lucy and Luther.
“Why were they here?” Sumac said as she looked around.
“There was a murder at the restaurant. The owner was stabbed. Before the police got here, something dragged the body into the woods.” Bella said as she arranged the flowers on the officers’ Chakras.
“So, it’s still out there.” Sumac stated.
“Yeah, and I can feel it watching us, so we need to make this quick.”
When they were about to begin a cleansing spell, a truck came tearing into the restaurant’s parking lot. Its breaks squealed as it slid to a stop at the edge of the lot, and Jessie jumped out. She ran, waving her arms in the air, towards Bella and Sumac.
“I can help. I can help. Wait for me.” She called out. “You’ll need Elven magic to cure them. I could feel the cursed venom from all the way at my bakery.”
“Get over here.” Aunt Sumac answered. “We’re losing them.”
From the safety of the trees, it watched. The creature knew that the fire beast and the stone monster probably wouldn’t die. But, that hadn’t been the point.
Marfaliel had to know what he was up against in Winterfield, and he was about to get a show. The fiend watched as the witches and the elf worked their magic on the victims.
He had been particularly interested in the elf. Of all of the ways he could have wounded the police officers, he knew his poison would draw her to him. Elves were everything he hated. Loving, loyal, and utterly predictable to a devious genius like Marfaliel.
Despite his distaste for her race’s way of doing things, he’d also heard that their flesh tasted amazing. So, eating her would be a bonus once he’d finished his business in Winterfield.
Watching the witches work was painful. Their white magic and the elf’s nature magic wounded him. It wasn’t anything fatal, but it did hurt. Marfaliel took the pain, though, because the reward was worth it.
By the time they were done, and the police officers were on their feet again, he knew what magic they would use to stop him. Of course, the witches had more tricks in their bag, but this knowledge gave him an advantage. It bought him time in a battle.
Although it would be fun, Marfaliel had hoped that he wouldn’t personally need to use the information he’d gathered. He’d rather not go up against the witches himself if he could avoid it.
The information was to be passed on to another. The other thought that Marfaliel worked for them, but the truth was, they labored for Marfaliel. It was just easier if he let them think they were in charge.
But, when the time came, they could put their neck on the line instead. The other would most likely be killed in the confrontation, but that was okay. As long as they were able to destroy the one they’d come to kill, the mission would be a success. The elf would be a bonus prize.
The creature licked his lips in anticipation.
Belladonna and Aunt Sumac helped the officers to their feet. Luther brushed grass off his pants, and Lucy self-consciously did the same thing. Suddenly she was worried about looking weak and messy in front of the man that had become kind of like her unofficial partner. He’d also saved her life, and that endeared her to Luther even more than she’d already been from the moment Lucy had met him.
She watched him check his gun and did the same. Luther was either significantly less rattled than Lucy, or he hid it better than she did. The only crack in his armor came when he felt his pocket for his badge.
“It’s gone,” Luther growled. “That thing took my badge somehow.”
“Maybe you dropped it.” Belladonna offered. “I’m going to walk into the trees a little ways. If I see it, I’ll bring it back.”
“I should go with you,” Luther said.
“No, you should stay here with Aunt Sumac and rest for a while. If you need anything, she can get it for you. If you start to feel the toxin working again, make sure and tell her right away.”
“I’ve got this Bella, you go ahead.” Aunt Sumac said.
Belladonna strode confidently into the woods. She parted the tall grass that skirted the tree line with her hands and took surefooted steps into the forest. Whatever was in there, Bella knew that she couldn’t show it an ounce of weakness.
The magic seeping off of the thing hiding in the woods was dark. All illusions that Bella and the Nightshade coven had prevented dark magic from entering the world fell away from her mind. While the witches may have prevented an explosion of black magic from taking over the world, it still trickled in at an alarming rate.
Creatures like the one hidden mere feet away from Bella were nothing but mythology to her. They were the stuff of scary stories from old days that were supposed to be in the past. But, there it was. She couldn’t see it yet, but her mind and heart had all of the evidence they needed to confirm that monsters and fiends roamed the planet once again.
“Come closer so that I can have a better look at you.” Something hissed from a grouping of shrubs. “I won’t bite.”
Belladonna pulled her wand from the waistband of her skirts. “Why don’t you come out and face me.”
“Not yet, little witch. I’m not ready just yet. But soon, we’ll meet very soon.”
Chapter Eight
The next morning, Francine arrived at Bella Beauty Salon early to open up the shop. She’d run the shop on her own while Bella was on vacation. Franny wasn’t able to do hair, yet, but she could keep the doors open and the lights on to sell hair care and beauty products. Bella Beauty Salon made most of its money from hair care services, but they still profited quite nicely from the extensive array of top-of-the-line products Bella kept the store stocked with, and that included some made by local artisans. Belladonna’s selection rivaled that of even the big city salons.
Francine had begun booking appointments by hand as well. Belladonna had a computer program installed to do the booking on the internet a while back, but she believed it wasn’t personal enough. When she’d hired Francine, it had given her the push she needed to start offering more personalized
customer service again. With Franny’s help, Bella planned on turning her salon into the ultimate beauty experience. It was about more than just helping people look good, Bella wanted to offer the best in customized, personal service.
Francine took a look at the morning appointments and saw that Bella’s first day back was completely booked up. There were back to back appointments all morning until lunch, so Franny put on both pots of coffee. One was hazelnut for the flavored coffee drinkers, and the other was a strong, black roast for the others. She also checked to make sure that the mini fridge in the back, that thing was also relatively new, was stocked with soda and bottled water.
She swept the floor one more time and tried to figure out what was missing. It was the pastries. Belladonna got a delivery every morning from Big Buns Bakery to share with her clients. The rumor around town was that Jessie had to help Belladonna with a magical issue the night before, so Franny assumed that the elf might be running a bit behind schedule. She decided to call the bakery just to make sure everything was alright.
“Hi, Franny. Sorry.” Jessie said after the customary exchange of greetings. “I’m running a bit behind this morning. I’ll be over with your delivery in about five minutes.”
“It’s okay. You must be in the middle of your morning rush. I’ll come get it.” Franny answered. “I could use the fresh air. We can always use more fresh air.”
“That’s true, and as an elf, I heartily endorse that sentiment. The only thing we need more than fresh air is fresh baked goods.” Jessie said with a laugh. “Are you sure you don’t mind picking up your order?”
“Yep. I’ll give you a bit to get done, and then head that way.” Franny said.
“Thanks, Franny.”
Francine looked at the clock. There was still almost an hour before the salon opened, so even if she waited ten minutes and then went to get the pastries, she’d still have plenty of time.
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