by Lelana Croft
She pushed a cherry tomato around on her plate before taking a deep breath and speaking. “I could sense that you have a lot of power. Probably more than you realize. I couldn’t quite make out what you are, though. It was…muddled. I know you aren’t a witch or shifter. Or a vampire. But I’ve only met those three, so you must be something I’ve never met before. I could only feel that you’re quite powerful, but it was restrained in some way.”
I listened as I took a few bites of my salad, savoring the flavors. I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was and now that I was feeding my face, it was like someone had opened the floodgates in my brain.
I nodded, but didn’t say anything. And what was I supposed to say? That I’m some kind of weird half-breed angel?
“So, since you said you could tell that I wasn’t a witch, wouldn’t you think that would disqualify me from being your guide?” I asked.
Katie shrugged. “I dunno. This is all so new to me. I’ve been sheltered most of my life and didn’t even know I had powers until about a year ago. The book that I read from was something that was not shown to me until my father died. Only then, did he reveal that I was adopted. Well, kind of adopted.”
“Kind of adopted?”
“I was left on their doorstep. Apparently, my adoptive mother couldn’t have children. She’d wanted a child desperately, but it wasn’t in the cards for them. When my father was on his death bed, he told me he was sorry and that all this time, they’d kept the truth about it from me because they’d wanted me to have as normal of a life as possible. I’ve always felt like I wasn’t normal, though. Like I was…different.”
I knew that feeling all too well. It was exactly how I’d grown up. Constantly trying to keep myself out of trouble and not fitting in anywhere. That’s why we’d had to move so much.
Thoughts of my mother came into my mind. I missed her so much.
“Anyway, apparently they were told that I was born from a witch who had been hunted down and killed. But before she was caught, she’d taken me and left me on my adoptive parents’ doorstep, along with a letter and the book, which wasn’t to be shown to me until after I was eighteen and an adult.”
Patty decided she wanted in on this conversation. “Katie and I got to know each other as kids. We grew up together. I always knew she was special. She had special talents, but she never knew exactly how to use them.”
“Talents?” I probed. “Like what?”
Patty and Katie glanced at each other, both of them grinning like Cheshire cats.
Katie looked around to make sure no one was watching. She took her napkin and balled it up in her hand. Then moved her hand down before turning her palm up and wiggling her fingers. I watched as the napkin went up in flames and then disappeared, without any trace of ash.
That could come in handy.
Chapter 6
Katie told me that only part of the diary had been revealed to her. That the book had a spell on it. It would take two days before the remaining part of the texts would be revealed and if I was the true guide, she’d know by Friday.
Before Katie, Patty, and I finished our lunches, they invited me out to the one place that adults could hang out and have a good time. Friday nights were the time to go and let your hair down and the place to be seen was Arcane, the local pub that sometimes had live bands. Plus, Katie would know by then if anything new had been revealed in her book.
I figured it couldn’t hurt to have a place to have a drink and let loose, even though it was probably nothing like what I’d had back in the city. I was already beginning to miss the conveniences the city had to offer. But it wasn’t like I had a choice. I had to stay. It was nice to have met them and know that there were actually some single women my age in town.
With my to-go iced tea in hand, we were having a good chuckle about the potential dance partners at Arcane. I was walking backwards and leaned into the door to open it, but as I turned towards the outside of the building, I crashed right into the broad chest of a man. The impact sent me backwards and I landed flat on my butt, spilling my tea all over my white top.
“What the…?! Why don’t you watch where your go…ing…?” I began to yell as I looked up into the face of what had to be a page ripped out of a fashion magazine, causing my words to get caught in my throat.
“Oh goodness, I’m so sorry. Here, let me help you up,” said the god in the dark grey suit with a fitted crisp white shirt.
He bent down to offer me his hand. I could smell the soft scent of his cologne. I quickly pushed myself upright and onto my feet. Katie and Patty were both standing there, frozen with their hands over their mouths. It was apparent they were trying not to explode with laughter.
“Please, allow me to get you another drink,” he offered as I looked down at the empty styrofoam cup and my white t-shirt, covered in a light brown stain.
“No. Just watch where you’re going next time,” I barked.
“My apologies. You’re so right. I need to make sure I’m facing forward when coming inside a building.” His smirk was both annoying and sexy. I knew it was my fault, and so did he.
Patty couldn’t hold back any longer and busted out laughing, as both she and Katie turned to go back to their car.
“See you on Friday!” Katie yelled as they took off to go back to Elemental.
I half-waved as I grabbed the broken cup and tossed it into the trash. I lowered my eyes to the ground as I walked past him to get to my scooter. Great. The one chance to meet some sexy dude and you cover yourself in your tea and have to get on an orange scooter to leave. I contemplated just walking home and coming back later to get the scooter.
“Please…” I heard him call from behind me. “At least, allow me to replace your drink.”
I stopped and paused. I was so embarrassed that I just wanted to go hide. I spun around and faced him.
“Look…I’m sorry. It was my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going. So please, stop pretending that it was your fault just to make me feel better.”
“Who said I was doing it to make you feel better” he said as he took a few steps closer. “Maybe I was doing it to make me feel better?” He closed the distance between us. “Maybe I wanted to see you in that wet t-shirt again.”
He was right in front of me now. In my personal space. I raised my gaze to meet his and felt my stomach drop and my chest tighten. The world around me disappeared and I felt like time was slowing down. He was so beautiful. So perfect. His eyes were a clear royal blue and I felt like they could see through me, see what I was.
I forced myself to step backwards and cover my chest where the tea had soaked through to my bra, making things show that I didn’t want showing.
“I…I need to go.”
I turned to leave and he gently grabbed my arm.
“Maybe coffee then? Do you like coffee?” he asked.
Why was he so intent on this? He was so sexy that he could have anyone he wanted. Maybe that was it. I’d bet he liked the conquest and notches on the bedpost. Of course, someone that looked that good probably had women throwing themselves at him. I wasn’t about to be another one.
“Maybe,” I said, then paused. “Maybe not.”
He smiled as I pulled away and hopped on the orange demon, driving away and not looking back.
My first full day on the job was pretty uneventful. Ruby showed me what I needed to know about putting makeup on people. Most of the time, we had a photo to go off of and tried as best we could to make them look almost like they were alive again.
I found it almost relaxing to work on them. Their spirits were calm and still, and most of them were elderly folks whose bodies had just given out.
Fortunately, the young man who’d been so mutilated had been moved into a closed casket and I didn’t have to try to figure out how to reconstruct the face. While it didn’t really bother me, I just knew my skills weren’t that good.
Hobbs strolled into the room while I was working on an older gentleman that had
passed from Alzheimer’s the day before. He walked over and took a look at my work.
“You’re a quick study,” he said with a quirky smile and a nod before heading over to bring out the young girl from the day before.
“Did you ever figure out what killed her?” I asked as I went over and helped him move her from the cooler to the exam table.
He looked up at me and furrowed his brow. I could see he was struggling with a response.
“Well…uh…” he stammered.
“It was a vampire, wasn’t it?” I blurted out, hoping it was enough to break the ice and let him know that I knew about such creatures.
His eyebrows raised and his face lightened a little. Then he let out a heavy sigh.
“Most people would run screaming out of the building if you suggested that. What makes you think it’s a vampire?”
Oops. Now how was I going to explain myself?
“Well, you said that all of the blood was drained from her body. So that was the first thing that came to mind,” I said with a shrug, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
He nodded. It was a reasonable explanation.
“See, that’s the thing. If it was a vampire, where are the bite marks?” he said, pointing to her neck. “I’ve checked her whole body and there are no bite marks anywhere. So, if it was a vampire, how are they draining her?”
I pursed my lips as I looked at the girl’s face.
“Look, I know I’m new and probably have no business asking, but would you be opposed if I examined her? Maybe I could find something?”
Hobbs studied me for a moment. “Well, that isn’t how we normally do things here. But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt, as long as it’s kept between us. Do you have an interest in forensics?”
“Yes, I always have, but just never pursued it. I know I’m not trained, but I read a lot and…” my statement was cut off by Ruby rushing into the room, flustered.
“It’s Marilyn! They just took her into the emergency room!” Ruby cried, looking like she was trying to hold herself together.
“Oh dear. Scarlett, would you mind putting her back into the cooler. I need to go. We’ll be back in a few hours. Can you manage things here? I’ll put the phones to the service, so you can just finish up on Mr. Taylor,” Hobbs asked as he hurriedly removed his lab coat and followed Ruby out of the exam room.
Whoever Marilyn was, she must have been quite important for both of them to go to the hospital. I waited until I heard the footsteps upstairs cease and building go quiet, except for the buzzing sound of the fluorescent lights in the exam room.
Well, this was convenient. I had the whole place to myself and this young girl, too. If I could find a way to view her life, I might be able to determine how she’d died.
Walking over to her body, I put my hand on her forehead and closed my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I began to let my power drip into her brain. Pulling memories from the living was easy. Pulling them from the dead was a bit harder.
The tingle of electricity from the anklet began to increase as the power I used also increased. I wondered just how much power it would take before it would trigger some kind of alarm back at the High Council. Of course, I’m sure they knew I would test the power of the anklet a few times and probably wouldn’t worry about it much, as long as I didn’t use it for too long or with stronger powers.
I tried to ignore it as I let myself wander inside the girl’s brain. With searching the dead, it was sometimes spotty memories. Bits and pieces came into view, and I saw her as a little girl, playing outside with someone and swinging on a swing really high. The emotions that were felt also come through and that day must have been quite special for her.
I pushed to go deeper as the anklet started to become more uncomfortable. Pushing past the pain, I kept searching. I saw her looking in the mirror at herself in her prom dress. She was so beautiful and her dress was the richest shade of royal blue, with tiny silver stars weaved into the organza that sparkled when she turned. Then, there was a boy who smiled at her when he saw her beauty. They danced the night away and she felt like she was in love.
When I pushed deeper, I could feel the anklet beginning to burn into my skin. I gritted my teeth and went a little farther into her mind, hoping I could find out what had happened before it burned my leg off.
I saw her walking in the dark, scared and afraid. She doesn’t know how she got there. She doesn’t remember anything.
There’s a car that pulls up beside her and asks if she’s all right. She stumbles and falls, looking up into the midnight sky. She feels the rain start to fall on her as she looks up into the face of what appears to be a man. But the image is blurry from the rain in her eyes. Her world goes black.
I quickly pulled my hand off the girl’s forehead and the pain from the anklet ceased. I couldn’t push through any farther without excruciating pain.
Darn! I need to see farther.
I grabbed some magnifying glasses and began to examine her body. But there were no bite marks anywhere. The only thing that seemed out of place was a fresh tattoo on her inner wrist. It was in the form of a dove with an olive branch. Interesting choice. Plus, she just didn’t look like the type to get a tattoo, but maybe she was feeling the need to rebel a little. Maybe that’s what’d gotten her into trouble in the first place.
I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. It was a text from Tony.
{Testing your powers today?}
Crap. Well, obviously, what I did was enough to trigger something.
{Maybe} I replied.
{I knew you’d try eventually.}
{How did you know?}
{I told you, you’re on my radar now. The GPS shows me where you are, so I know you’re probably working on a body and decided to test the limits of your restraint. Don’t make me come down there.}
I hated it when he got all parent-like.
{This is ridiculous. I don’t need to be harnessed like an animal.}
{Obviously you do or you wouldn’t be. Now get back to work and behave.}
I stuck my tongue out at the phone and shoved it back into my back pocket. What an ass.
I rolled Jane Doe back into her cooler and closed the door.
I’m gonna figure out who did this to you.
Chapter 7
I finished up Mr. Taylor and was packing my things up for the afternoon when I heard the double doors to the basement open. Making my way down the hall, I saw Hobbs and he was motioning to Ruby as she backed the van up to the doors.
By the time I got there, she’d shut of the vehicle and had gotten out of the driver’s side. Her face was streaked with mascara from crying as she patted Hobbs on the shoulder and made her way upstairs to the bathroom.
“Marilyn was a long-time friend,” Hobbs said as he looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet.
I watched as he took a deep breath and opened the van doors. A body laid on a gurney, covered in a white sheet. He carefully pulled the gurney out and let the wheels hit the floor. He pushed the body towards the hallway as I closed the van doors and followed him, not saying a word.
We made our way into the exam room and he lined her up with one of the coolers.
“I’m sorry,” was all I knew to say. The sadness in the room was palpable.
“I’ve known her for about twenty years now. She was one of the biggest donors in town. She paid to keep the cemetery grounds maintained and would donate money to help bury or cremate those who didn’t have anyone left or had no money. I didn’t know her well personally, only professionally. She was always so generous with her money, but never seemed to have a lot of friends. And she never seemed to age. In fact, I almost think she got better-looking with time.”
As Omar reminisced about his past with her, I just waited patiently for him to tell me everything he needed to say. We moved her off the gurney and onto one of the working tables.
“Make her look beautiful. She’s already beautiful, but make her stunning like the woman she was. I know it’s late
today, so you can do it in the morning if you’d like,” he said as he slowly pulled back the sheet.
I looked down at the woman on the table. She was beautiful and looked to be no older than mid-forties. I raised an eyebrow as I wondered how he’d known her for so long if she was this young. Perhaps he’d known her as a kid growing up and just couldn’t see past that. I know that happened to a lot of people when they were grieving. They can only see what they want to see.
“I’ll do my best work. I promise,” I said, as we pushed her into one of the coolers and closed the door.
He nodded his head and I heard him shudder a breath, trying to hold himself together.
“Let’s close up for tonight. I think we all need to just go home,” Hobbs said, as he turned off the light and I followed him upstairs.
Ruby was blowing her nose and tossing another tissue into a small wastebasket that was already full of used tissues.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’m so sorry for your loss…” my voice trailed as Ruby nodded. Hobbs placed a gentle hand on Ruby’s shoulder and I heard him say for her to go home.
This would be the hardest part about this kind of work. Just knowing how to deal with the pain of death for those that are still alive can be difficult, especially when we aren’t sure about the circumstances or relationships.
Walking into the funeral home the next morning was solemn. Ruby was at her desk and looked like she hadn’t had any sleep.
“How are you doing?” I asked, not really wanting to talk about it, but knowing it was the right thing to do.
“Better, thank you for asking. It will probably be a short day for me, though. I didn’t sleep at all last night,” she replied. “Omar will be a bit late this morning. He said to go ahead and get started.”
I nodded and patted her on the shoulder as I walked by.
Flipping on the lights, I gathered all the tools I’d need to do Marilyn’s makeup. Since she had just passed away the day before, she still had her makeup on, so I could take a photo before I washed her face.
