by Magnum Opus
It wasn't until two weeks later that Ross finally did manage to get himself and Aradia to the crime scene. It had been cleared of investigation equipment and the crime scene tape had vanished as well. It was still considered private property so they had to be very careful when they broke in. Her father grabbed his flashlight and with it in one hand and his daughter's hand in the other he lead her up the stairs. Once they got into the apartment Aradia took a look around and was surprised to see that considering what had happened the apartment was relatively clean. It had been cleaned out of special items like wall decorations or pictures, but the furniture remained and they in addition to the carpets and everything else were completely spotless. "They are planning on renovating this place at the very least," Aradia's father explained. "They want to renovate a place where a guy got killed?" Aradia asked sounding awed by that fact. Ross chuckled darkly and said, "Yeah but the victim's family wants to sell the whole place including the hardware store." "Who could blame them?"Aradia asked her father as she tiptoed into the apartment as softly as possible.
"True but the store has been in the victim's family for years. It must be hard for them to just want to sell it to anyone," Ross said switching on the flashlight. "Yeah well," Aradia said with a shrug, "the victim was also part of their family for years too." Ross became silence at this but after staring at his daughter for a few seconds he used his flashlight to find the light switch to the apartment and flip it on. "They have not cut the power yet and yes I know that with the lights are on people are bound to start rushing up here so firecracker I highly urge to be through but quick," Ross said to Aradia and before she could even argue he walked off to the windows to stare down at the street to make sure no one had seen them.
Aradia shrugged and looked around the place. It was obviously a bachelor pad with its lack of elaborate ornaments on the wall or floor like paintings or uniquely designed carpets. But Aradia had remembered the boy (werewolf) at the movie theater calling the murder victim his father but with the way it looked the father must have been a divorced parent raising his son on his own. Hit by a sudden inspiration Aradia decided to investigate the son's room first. Slowly making her way across the hall he saw a white door with four holes on it indicating that had had once had a plaque or sign on it. This was usually a decoration on a kid's room so Aradia figured this must have been the son's room. She turned the knob and looked around, the whole place had been picked clean no posters, no clothes, no electronics, or anything even the bed was gone. Aradia took a deep breath and decided that now was a good time as any. After taking a few deep breaths, Aradia closed her eyes and cleared her mind completely.
It had taken her a long time to figure out how she could summon her psychic ability which was to basically see what had happened both in the past and future. But now a days and especially for this special occasion, Aradia could just stand in a room and see what had happened in it as far as three years ago. She didn't even have to touch an object that belonged to the room. The catch was her powers required a lot of her energy so indeed she could do a lot of amazing things with her powers but for every power she had to use her energy and if she had to use a lot of her power that meant she had to use a lot of her energy. In other words, whenever Aradia used her powers it took a lot out of her.
Once she had to use her summoning power to douse a house on fire with water but the moment the house had ceased to stop burning Aradia had passed out and slept for two weeks straight. But after years of practice Aradia knew how to properly proportion her power so it did not drain her as much and yet she could use still her powers satisfactorily. After a few minutes of her breathing exercise and closing her eyes she stood in the middle of the room spread her arms out and feet apart and readied herself. It only took a second for it to happen. Aradia opened her eyes and in a blurry blue yellowish haze Aradia found herself on the night of the murder. The first thing she heard was the shouting of a boy and a man. She went to the door of the boy's room and peered out. She automatically recognized the faces of the boy from the movie theater and the face of the father from the crime scene photos. They were arguing viciously she could not hear the words for the power she had only worked with surroundings she could see the events, read whatever was around them, move in the visions but she could not hear the words going on or anything else. After what seemed to be a very heated and long word battle the boy said something to the father making the father's face turn from an angered expression to that of an expression of a wounded animal. The boy, however, noticed nothing he just turned on his heel grabbed his coat from the sofa and stormed out of the apartment. The father still looked at the ground gloomily but all of sudden raised his head and his expression brightened. He ran to the door and threw it open. Aradia moved from the room towards to where the father was. She got close enough to see the father's expression change yet again to that of a deflated one. Nevertheless, the father attempted to smile and extended his arm indicating to the person at the door that he was welcome. Aradia at first felt gratified because she had been right about her hunch that the victim knew the killer. As the person at the door (the killer) walked in Aradia tried to get a look at his face but the moment the man came in the atmosphere in the room changed. The father and the killer started arguing about what Aradia could not tell. The father kept shaking his head while the killer seemed to be pleading with him but after a while it became obvious that whatever they were fighting over the father had made up his mind and there was nothing that the killer could do about it. Aradia tensed up sensing that this was the part where the killer finally became the killer. Indeed the man who had been arguing with the father had at this point pulled out a switchblade, the father's face went ghostly pale, and the killer advanced and slashed the father across the stomach! The father stumbled but after a few moments he regained his balance and Aradia saw his face grow tense. She realized the father was about to transform into his werewolf form. Amazingly, the killer seemed to be aware of this for he dived towards the father and started stabbing him repeatedly. The killer was relentless as the father fell onto the ground writhing in agony from the stabs. Aradia grasped her hand to her mouth as if to stifle her screams even though she knew the killer could not hear her. What shocked her was the viciousness of the killer slashing the father away. The way he moved his hand and the knife; he seemed more like he was a painter with a brush rather than a bloodthirsty psycho committing a horrible crime. Thankfully it was over but Aradia could not help but feel the faint hot pricks of tears in her eyes. She saw the killer falter after the father finally stopped moving. His hand which was holding the switchblade shook viciously he seemed terrified even though he had just viciously committed a heinous crime without a second thought. He hastily grabbed a towel from the bathroom, wiped the switchblade, and stuck it back into his pocket. For a few tense minutes he just stood over the body looking down on it but suddenly he raised his head as if struck by a great idea. The killer raced out of the room towards Aradia who eagerly looked at his face but as he got closer she felt as if she herself had been stabbed as well. Even though the killer was running towards her his face was totally blank. Blank as in no eyes, ears, mouth no nothing his face looked like a complete blank canvas! Aradia jumped back as the killer ran past her, at first she just stood rooted to the spot completely shocked and bewildered about what she had just seen. Aradia could not understand it, her power had never failed her before. It always showed her the culprit of each crime flawlessly so why should this time be any different. But then Aradia started to think back on her previous visions she had indeed found the culprits but each time the culprit had either been someone she knew or she had seen him before. In this occurrence, however, she obviously did not know who the killer was so neither her mind or her power could show her what he looked like. She groaned, frustrated as hell, thinking that this had all been for nothing but then the killer rushed back into the apartment. Stunned, Aradia watched as the killer was not alone for as he ran back into the apartment he was dragging
a small puny ghostly pale man who looked like he was not only struggling to keep himself on balance but to not drop dead on the floor! The killer threw the man onto the floor on top of the body. Most would think, including Aradia, that if such a thing happened to them they would be extremely freaked but once the man realized what he was on top of, his mouth spilt into a bright cheerful grin like a child being given a gift on Christmas day. Aradia was shocked at first but then understood as fangs grew from the man's mouth. He grabbed the father's throat and began to drain him heavily. The killer just stood by watching like he was waiting for something. It wasn't until the vampire seemed to be done with the poor father that the killer finally reacted. He grabbed a huge broom lying on the floor, snapped the top off of it as easily as a twig, and plunged it straight into the vampire's heart. The vampire faltered and then burst into a pile of dust. At least partly what they show on Buffy is true, Aradia thought as the killer threw down the stick and walked casually out of the apartment. So coldly that it was almost as if nothing that the previous scene had described had even happened.
At this point, Aradia woke up back in her bed in her own house. Aradia rushed out of her room to find her father. He was sitting in the kitchen with her mother looking at her as if they had been expecting her for some time. Aradia explained everything her vision had showed her. Her father, although he admitted that he was frustrated that they still did not know who the killer was nevertheless thanked Aradia for everything. "But Daddy," she argued, "we still don't know anything." Her mother, Liza, shook her head and said, "Not so Aradia. We know plenty." "But," Aradia sputtered, "We still don't know who the killer is." "True," said Ross, "but we now know that the reason the murder victim was murdered was because of a conflict or argument so obviously he must be involved in something, plus the victim knew his killer for why else would he let him in? What the murder weapon was, and furthermore that the killer was a werewolf!" (Aradia had told her parents what Roy had told her so now they knew about the hidden race) "Does that really make a difference?" Aradia asked both her parents. "What do you think?" Liza replied. Aradia thought about it and she began to realize that it did indeed make a difference. It not only could exonerate the vampires of the crime, but it also could discourage the current violent conflicts that were happening between the werewolves and vampires. "So I can tell Roy the truth and everyone will stop fighting," Aradia thought out loud excitedly. Ross shook his head and said, "It’s not that simple." "Huh?" Aradia asked, "why not?" "Because Rai-Rai," said Liza, "your father still does not have a suspect or anything." "And until I arrest someone we can't prove anything," Ross said agreeing with his wife. Aradia groaned and ran back up to her room. She threw herself onto her bed tired and frustrated that everything she had done so far had still not accomplished her goal. She knew her parents meant well but it drove her nuts that they did not realize the magnitude of the hatred between the hidden races and how likely it was to explode into war! Well it's not going to happen Aradia determined to herself as she lay in bed that night, if my parents or anyone else won't find out who killed that poor man, I will!
Chapter Twenty-One
"I am afraid Xan," Beau stated as he raced into the living room where his brother was now lounging on the couch reading a magazine. Xan looked at his brother scornfully and said, "You know most men would know better than to admit to such a thing out loud." Beau rolled his eyes and said, "What I mean is I am afraid that this 'approaching Aradia directly to get answers' technique is just not working right." Xan raised an eyebrow, "why?" he asked. Beau groaned, "It just isn't Xan I don't want to do this anymore." Xan slammed the magazine down and stood up to face Beau. "Is it because you're afraid to get too close to her?" asked Xan. Beau did not reply. Xan raised his eyebrow again scornfully but before he could say anything Beau ran out of the room and straight to his bedroom. Beau's room looked like any other guy's room except there were a few modifications. His room only had one window leading out to a balcony. The double doors leading out to the balcony were covered with thick boards of black wood that seemed to be nailed on and in such a way that they could never be classified as shutters. But most of all what was different about Beau's room was instead of a bed there lay a large black coffin with velvet cushions. Beau threw himself into his coffin so easily and so comfortably that it was hard to believe that he did not think that what he was laying in was a coffin and not a bed. Rolling onto his back he grabbed his headphones from his bedside table and jammed them onto his head completely covering his ears. After pumping up the volume Beau folded his hands behind his head but as he was closing his eyes a face began to haunt him. Not just any face, it was Aradia's. She was throwing her head back laughing, flipping her long red hair behind her head whenever someone called her name, her blue green hazel eyes sparkling in every light she stood in, her little rosy lips moving as quick as light whenever she talked, her pale skin shimmering in the sun, in addition to her shrill voice cracking several clever jokes followed by roars of laughter. As much as he didn't want it to: a smug crude smile crept onto his face as he continued to think about her not just her face but also her slender body, her funny quirky Pollyanna like personality, even the small little smiles she threw at people whenever she cracked an inside joke. He pulled his right arm from behind his head and grabbed a fist full of dirt that lay on the bottom of his coffin. He held his fist in front on his face and squeezing the contents in his fist listening to the crunching sound of the dirt he looked back onto the times he spent hanging with Aradia. Besides going to the movies, they had gone to coffee shops and sat and talked for hours. They had had walks on the beach (even though it was already October and freezing), discussing everything from politics to what kinds of shampoo they each preferred. Beau had to admit Aradia was not like any other woman he had ever met, not just because they did not know what she was, but because she was so honest, not judgmental, caring, considerate, perceptive, insightful and sweet. The more time he spent with her the more he admitted that he was developing feelings for her. He did not know if he was falling in love with her because he had never fallen in love with anyone before and therefore could not recognize the feelings. Whatever he was feeling for Aradia he knew that it was bound to get deeper and more complicated if he kept seeing her and that was going to make things difficult.
The first step Aradia took into helping to identify the killer was talking to the victim’s son. That in itself had been hard since she did not know his name and therefore could not look up his new address. She could not bring Roy or his brothers with her whenever she interviewed someone at least she couldn't if she did not want violence to occur. Violence where either they would beat the answers out of the person Aradia was interviewing or if they were confronting a different member of the hidden race…what would probably happen would be something that would make the bombing in Birmingham, Alabama look like a picnic. After a while, however, of observing, watching, and asking around Aradia finally found the werewolf in question. He was sitting in the park smoking a cigarette, looking just as gloomy or as miserable as he had been the night he confronted Beau and Aradia. He had noticed her before she approached him or to be more accurate he had smelled her. His nose had twitched like a hound's on the scent of a rabbit and his head had swiftly turned around to look at Aradia. He scowled and she hung back afraid to approach him. After a few moments he just shrugged and turned away, probably thinking that she was not worthy of his attention. Aradia breathed deeply hoping she was going to able to do this and walked straight up to the werewolf to tap on his shoulder. He looked at her and said, "What do you want?" "To find your father's murderer," Aradia answered him bluntly. He stared at her awe-struck either by her question or her boldness but either way he ended up snapping at her, "it's none of your business!" Aradia retaliated by saying, "so your saying you are okay with your father's murderer walking around freely?" This time he just ignored her instead of looking at her. Aradia did not like being ignored and she was frustrated that she wanted to help him for nothing
and he was not trying to cooperate. She snatched the cigarette from his lips and threw it onto the ground, stamping it with her heel, and said, "Look Tad the fact I am trying to help you solve your dad's murder. I know you did not ask me to but that does not matter. I am going to find your father's killer and you are going to help me! Do you understand?!" The werewolf (Tad) was again struck dumb. He opened and shut his mouth a couple times struggling to find the words. Until at last he said, "How do you know my name is Tad?" Aradia groaned and said, "Look are you going to help me solve this case by telling me what you know or do I have to beat it out of you!" This caused Tad to smile smugly. He stood up to look down at her and said, "You think you can?" "Try me!" Aradia snapped. She fixed Tad with the most vicious and intimidating look she had, folding her arms across her chest, and looking at him straight into the eye. At first Tad was just amused but then after a few seconds of Aradia looking at him like the way she was he felt his knees buckle until finally he sat on the edge of the picnic table with his face buried in his hands. "Okay okay what do you want to know?" he asked Aradia who replied with just a single word, "everything!"
Chapter Twenty-Two
