“I know my next action,” I declared. “I have to get back to my body. My eight hours must be well and truly up by now.”
“Very well,” Thorn agreed. “How about we let Stephen go back, and Nix and I go to the glade the king told us about?”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” I disagreed. “I want to be there as well. So, I suggest that we go back with Nix to have a quick look at the crime scene, and from there Thorn and I will return to the settlement for my transfer. We’ll meet up with Nix the following day and go and visit the King’s glade. Okay?”
“It sounds like a plan,” Nix agreed. He looked at me intently. “Have you found something, then?”
“Not as such,” I replied, slowly. “But I want to compare the two crimes scenes. There’s something niggling at the back of my brain. Something out of place, but I just can’t think of it right now. I’ll need more time, but I really have to get back to my body. I’ve been away far too long as it is and it’s making me edgy.”
Chapter 10
We made a hurried trip back to where Nix lived, reinforced by my urgency. Nix quickly led us to the murder site, which encompassed a bare patch of ground at some distance from the town. The body was long gone, of course, but a few dark patches where blood had seeped into the rock were still observable. I crouched down to examine the area, but, as expected, there was nothing much to be seen. On a hunch, I asked Nix whether the victim had ever met with friends in a ‘secret’ location.
“I did once hear that some of the young hotheads used to gather at a nearby cave,” Nix said, eyeing me in surprise. “How did you know about that? But it isn’t what I’d call a secret location.”
“No matter,” I said, dismissing his last objection with a wave of my hand. “Thorn’s murder victim also had a ‘secret’ meeting place as well. It’s simply a wild guess that the two killings are connected in other ways. Both victims were young, financially well off and social types. They were both stabbed to death in a similar way, so I was just following the similarities to assume about the meeting places.”
“But what does it all mean?” Nix exclaimed, exasperated.
“I don’t know just yet,” I replied. “At this stage we’re simply assembling facts. I don’t have much time, so let’s have a quick peek at this cave of yours.” The meeting cave turned out to be very similar to Thorn’s Rocky Cavern. The floor was littered with food and drink debris.
“What slobs!” Thorn exclaimed, in disgust.
“And, of course, your Rocky Cavern was swept and tidied,” I teased her.
“Okay, okay,” she admitted. “The young Ones are just the same. Neither of our races should be proud.”
I prowled around the cave, searching for anything out of the ordinary. The problem being that I didn’t really know what to look for. There was definitely something stirring in the back of my mind. A little thing, not quite right. An item I’d seen recently. Here? No, further back. The Rocky Cavern? Yes, somewhere there, I felt certain. Something that didn’t belong in the flotsam but, try as I might, the image wouldn’t come to the forefront of my memories. Never mind. I didn’t have time for it now, anyway.
“Time to get back to the settlement,” I told Nix and Thorn. “We’ll pick this up in a day’s time.” I grasped Nix’s forearm. “You’ll be waiting for us?” I asked, hopefully.
“For sure,” Nix assured me, grinning amicably. “I’d need the excitement. Life is never dull with you two around.”
“You’re so funny,” Thorn announced, giving him a hug. “Of course, I’m lying.”
“I thought the One never lied,” Nix declared, pretending to be shocked.
Thorn held him at arm’s length and smiled. “We don’t,” she confessed. “Unfortunately, I’ve been corrupted by criminal companions who delight in turning me into one of their sordid fraternity. I’m probably beyond redemption at this stage.”
Nix softly applauded Thorn’s statement. “You’re sounding more like Stephen all the time,” he told her, winking. “Is he teaching you other things as well?”
“Nix!” Thorn exclaimed, blushing.
He chortled at her embarrassment. “Sorry,” he apologised. “I didn’t mean to poke into things that are none of my business. Just tell me to shut up when I cross the line.”
“Shut up, then,” Thorn immediately replied.
Nix grinned at her and winked again.
I clapped my hands to restore order. “Children, please,” I ordered. “Show a bit of decorum, if you don’t mind.” I turned to Nix. “I’ll see you in a day’s time.” I captured Thorn’s hand and tugged. “You,” I commanded, “come with me.”
“Oohh, so forceful!” she simpered, coyly batting her eyelashes at me, much to Nix’s amusement.
“Stop that!” I ordered. Sighing, I lifted my eyes upwards. “Why am I surrounded by troublemakers?” I asked in a despairing voice.
Thorn and I flew back to the settlement and sought out Phil who enacted his electronic magic and transported me back to my human body. I awoke, back at my bedroom, my brain seething with questions. What could the connection be? Why had those two been killed? And what was that irritating, scratching thought in the depths of my memories? I knew something was out of place. Something I’d seen. Something that shouldn’t have been there. Think, Stephen, think! What did you see that you wouldn’t normally find in a cave, littered as it had been with the debris of youth? Damn it! I couldn’t pinpoint it. I sighed, hoping that my subconscious would continue to work on the problem and maybe regurgitate the answer.
I spent the next eight hours or so carrying out mundane duties and tasks that had to be done, all the while trying to solve the mystery of the two murders, unfortunately without success. Idly, I turned on the television, flipping through the channels, not particularly caring what I watched. The usual visual fare greeted me – reality shows, cops and robbers, news, more reality shows, interviews, nature documentaries, even more reality programmes and sordid real-life stories of people on the street. For some reason or other, I stopped skimming the channels and dropped the remote. What I ended up with was some major sports figure or other being interviewed about his drug addiction. Yawn! Unfortunately, it was all too commonplace.
“Way to show young people how to behave!” I sneered at the screen. “What a marvellous living example you’re setting for them!” The words reverberated in my brain. …… to show young people ……… the young Ones and the young goblins ……. The thought that had been gnawing on the edge of my awareness suddenly burst into the open and I knew what I had almost missed seeing before in both the caves. I frantically tried to bring the blurred and hasty images of what I had glanced over from the caves into focus. I shut my eyes and mentally walked back over the cave floors. Yes, over to the right in the Rocky Cavern, almost hidden in a pile of food wrappers and again, in the goblin meeting cave, at the very back, discarded next to empty drink containers, was the same item. My eyes had skipped over them at the time as being insignificant and I hadn’t taken any notice then, being too busy looking for major clues like murder weapons and notes with confessions written on them. I kicked myself for being so superficial. And here I’d blamed Fink for looking at only the obvious! I’d have to apologise when I next saw him.
Chapter 11
It was hard waiting around for the remainder of the time until Phil was due to appear. I reviewed my conclusions and could find no fault with them, but I didn’t know quite what to do next. Okay, so I had one lead, but where did it take me? It was while I debated with myself that Phil arrived with his magic box.
“Time to go,” he chirped merrily, brandishing the series of electrodes that would transfer me back to the body of the fairy clone.
“Before we do,” I forestalled, “I want to ask something. Do the One have any chemical laboratories?”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Phil replied, his brow wrinkling in puzzlement.
“You know, places for mixing chemicals and that sort of thing,” I
elaborated, not very succinctly.
“Not really,” he answered, still confused about the significance of my words.
“What about medicines, then?” I asked. “Surely you must have a place that makes them.”
“Oh, medicines!” Phil said, his brow clearing. “Of course we have those! I’ll take you there if you like.”
“That’d be great,” I told him. “Now, weave your magic spell for me, please.”
“Your wish is my command,” he chuckled, applying the electrodes to my head.
The first thing that floated into my consciousness after that was the sight of Thorn’s lovely face looking down at me. She really is rather pretty, I thought fuzzily, as I tried to clear my head. She’d be in the finals of any beauty contest, but her sister, Tracey, who was absolutely gorgeous, would always win hands down. Speaking of Tracey, I’d have to make the time to see her again. I just couldn’t get her out of my mind. Of course, I knew that Thorn wouldn’t approve of any liaison between her sister and me. I believed that Thorn had her eye set in my direction, although I was no means certain of that because of the way she alternated between being coy and being dismissive. Women! Can’t leave them at the shopping mall and weren’t allowed to chase them around the apple tree. I shook my head, blearily. These transfers were rough and made me more than a little weird.
“Stephen?” Thorn enquired, taking one of my hands.
“I’m here,” I reassured her. “More or less, anyway.”
She helped me to my feet and I propped myself against her for support as I tottered around, trying to achieve stability. She put a steadying arm around me and, I had to admit, I enjoyed the experience of her closeness. Even after it was obvious that my orientation had been restored, she appeared rather reluctant to remove her arm. I was culpable too, because I didn’t object to its presence. As I practised walking around, she smiled timidly at me, sending a tiny shiver into my brain. I smiled invitingly back at her and her face lit up. Suddenly, my conscience decided to make an appearance. What did I think I was doing? Was I simply being a tease? Did I feel anything at all for her? The answer came back as a resounding ‘Yes!’, but would it be enough to start a relationship? Unless I was utterly mistaken, it wouldn’t take much on my part to convince Thorn that we did have a bond. And what about Tracey, huh? That fairy was so alluring! No wonder everybody chased after her. And realistically, what were my chances there? Pretty slim, I would have thought, although, on the few occasions when we had met, she did seem interested in me. It just goes to show, I thought ironically. In the human world, I couldn’t get single, solitary girl’s attention at all, but here I had two of them. At least, I think I did. I wasn’t certain about it, mind you. Some hints were there, but I’d always displayed a very poor track record at the interpretation of such hints in the past. I usually ended up being overly optimistic or overwhelmingly pessimistic, and either way I was usually totally wrong about matters.
“I’m fine now, thank you,” I told Thorn. “What’s been happening here?”
“Nothing much,” she replied, reluctantly take her arm away. “Everyone is still shocked and shaking their heads. Have you thought of anything?”
“Maybe,” I hedged. “I do have an idea, but I’m not sure where it’s going. We have to go back to the Rocky Cavern. There’s something I want to check out.”
“For sure,” Thorn agreed, looking at me curiously. “We’ll stop off at my house first for a few supplies.”
My heart leapt a little at her statement. Going to her house meant meeting Tracey, and that caused me to breathe a little faster. Guiltily, I glanced across at Thorn, but fortunately she didn’t appear to notice my subtly increased excitement. Damn it, I hated being in love! Wait a minute, did I just say ‘in love’? No, surely not. How could I even think such a thing? No, no, no! I refused to believe it. Okay, I’d accept ‘lust’ maybe, but that’s all. I steeled myself against any outward expressions of emotions and, with trepidation, followed Thorn to her house.
Chapter 12
We went inside and, as I had simultaneously craved and dreaded, Tracey came floating down the stairs, looking more radiant than ever. It wasn’t fair, you know. No one should appear to be progressively more beautiful with each meeting. It just wasn’t physically possible. Maybe I was falling in love. That would account for it.
“Well, Stephen!” she greeted, her voice all spangles and golden chimes. “How lovely to see you again! I’ve missed you, you naughty boy.” She glided over to me and seized my arm. “And just what have you been doing with yourself?” she asked, in a sensuous, husky tone. Well, anyway, that’s how it sounded to me.
“He’s been behaving himself,” Thorn’s somewhat frigid voice cut in. “It’s something I wish you’d learn, Traculimna!”
Tracey laughed (melodious bird song and babbling stream) and released my arm. She turned to Thorn with a disarming, dimpled smile.
“Why, dear sister of mine,” she said sweetly, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you were jealous.”
“Of what, may I ask?” Thorn snorted, in disgust.
“Oh, I don’t know, “ Tracey replied, winking at me. “You tell me.”
“I believe we’ve been all through all this before,” Thorn said, stiffly. “Why do you always deliberately have to annoy me?”
“It’s not deliberate, my darling,” Tracey announced, fluttering her wings. “You always take it the wrong way, that’s all.”
“I do not!” Thorn averred, clenching her fists. “You’re the one who’s runs around like a common tramp.”
“What did you just say?” Tracey demanded, her voice suddenly edged with blades.
“You heard me!” Thorn hissed.
“You’re so mean!” Tracey claimed, also clenching her fists. “Why are you so mean to me all the time, Arugohumna?”
“Why don’t you ever do as you’re told?” Thorn angrily riposted.
“You can’t tell me what to do!” Tracey answered with a snarl. “And I’m sick and tired of you trying to do that very thing! Just because you’re my older sister doesn’t mean you can boss me around, you know. That’s your trouble, Arugohumna. You think you can take over everything. You’re such a Miss Bossy Boots!”
“You take that back!” Thorn demanded, incensed.
Tracey poked out her tongue. “Make me, Bossy Boots!” she invited. “Come on, I dare you!”
I began to become rather anxious about matters at this stage. The two of them appeared to be on the verge of killing each other and I thought I’d better intervene before I had to explain to the authorities about the two dead bodies on the floor. I stepped between them, holding up my hands in what I hoped was a peaceful and calming manner.
“Ladies, please,” I interjected, “none of this is helping. Why don’t you take a deep breath and think about what you’re doing? With just a moment’s reflection, I’m sure you’ll see that there’s no need for any of this. What do you say? Are you going to be sensible, or not?”
Thorn and Tracey stared daggers at each other, but unruffled their feathers and appeared to calm down to some extent.
“Now, that’s better,” I congratulated them, as the tension in the room decreased remarkably.
“I suppose,” Thorn grumbled. “But she’s so annoying!”
Instantly, Tracey’s irritation flared back to fever pitch. “I’m annoying?” she queried, heatedly. “You have the brazen effrontery to face me and say that? You’re the most annoying person there has ever been in the entire history of the One!”
“You trollop!” Thorn yelled.
“You nit-picking, judgmental, fault-finding, hypercritical, fussy old grandma!” retaliated Tracey, shouting back.
I suddenly became aware of my precarious position, but before I could do anything about it, Tracey and Thorn had both taken direct physical action and I found myself on the wrong end of two slaps to the head. I can remember falling, but that’s about all. When I regained my senses, it was to the delight
ful vision of two of the most beautiful females I knew staring down anxiously at me.
“Stephen, for heaven sake, say something!” one of them said.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it!” said the other, remorsefully.
I carefully blinked my eyes to sharpen the tableau and it resolved itself into Thorn and Tracey both worriedly holding me – a dream come true.
I tried to sit up and was delightfully helped to do so by four very shapely arms. I shook my head, dazedly. “Okay, let me get this straight,” I began. “I tried to stop a war and ended up being punched in the head. Twice! Is that what happened?” Thorn and Tracey’s faces flooded with guilt and two sets of beautiful eyes looked at the floor in repentance.
“It was an accident,” Thorn whispered, contritely.
“Yes, an accident,” agreed Tracey. “You know I’d never hurt you deliberately, Stephen.”
“Don’t start that again, Traculimna,” Thorn insisted, her grip tightening on my arm.
“I am not starting anything! Tracey contradicted, her hand also tightening on my other arm. “You’re the one who’s starting.”
“No, you are,” Thorn declared adamantly.
“It’s always you who starts these things,” Tracey claimed, her voice rising a notch and her hand pressure likewise following.
“Why are you such a pain all the time?” Thorn claimed, unconsciously squeezing my arm muscles to paste.
“Speaking of which,” I contended weakly, “could the pair of you please stop trying to pull my arms off? If you’re going to kill each other, please let me get out of the way first, okay?” I was immediately swamped with little cries of apology, and lifted gently to the vertical position.
Dangerous Desires (2) (The Underground Kingdom) Page 4
