by N. M. Howell
Mr. and Mrs. Littleton’s ghosts followed me in silence as I walked home. I led them down to Mrs. Brody’s apartment and introduced them to my pink-haired landlady.
“Lovely to meet you,” Mrs. Brody said as we came into her kitchen.
I noticed a shocked-looking Mr. Richards floating behind her, and realized he was expecting to go on another search.
“We won’t be needing help with the search,” I said to him, apologizing when I noticed the disappointed look on his face. “They were waiting where the bodies were found.”
He glanced back and forth at the two newcomers, made a Hmph noise, and then floated out of the room without saying a word.
“Sorry,” I muttered under my breath. He had clearly been looking forward to the hunt.
“Oh never you mind him, dear,” Mrs. Brody said to me, waving her hand in the direction Mr. Richards went. “Why don’t you go upstairs and get the girls, I’ll entertain our guests.”
I glanced at Mr. And Mrs. Littleton, and they both smiled and nodded to me. This might be easier than I thought.
I stopped in my room on my way up to find the girls and was surprised to see Jessica standing next to the bed.
“Oh, hi,” I said to her, pausing at the door. “I’m glad to see you didn’t wander far. What are you doing in my room?”
She smiled at me. “I’m playing with your kitty.” Soot was chasing her fingers as she waved her hand over my bed.
“He can see you?” I asked, astonished.
She nodded. “Well, yeah.” She giggled and continued to play with the cat.
“Huh, cool.” I watched the two interact with each other. I guess it made sense now why cats and witches were always assumed to go together in stories.
“There are people I would like you to meet,” I said to her after a few minutes. “Can you come with me downstairs?”
She pouted.
“I can bring the cat,” I added hastily. “Right, Soot?” The cat meowed.
Jessica beamed at me. “Okay. Yay!”
“Just one second, though, I need to grab the others.” I left my room and ran up the stairs two at a time. The three girls were hanging out in the lounge and looked at me keenly as I came running up the stairs.
“Two more ghosts, can you guys come down?”
Bailey jumped up. “What? You’re kidding. Two more?”
I nodded. “Yeah, unfortunately. An older couple. They were found this morning. Same people that we saw in the fire.”
The girls followed me down, and I picked Soot up on the way. Jessica followed us down into Mrs. Brody’s apartment, and Soot jumped out of my arms as soon as we arrived and leaped towards his new friend as she followed me into the room.
I sat down at the kitchen table and addressed our new guests, “I don’t mean to bring up bad memories, but do you remember anything about your murders?”
Mr. Littleton seemed mesmerized by Jessica and the cat and didn’t seem to even notice I said anything.
Mrs. Littleton watched her husband momentarily with sad eyes, then turned her attention to me. “Of the murder, itself? No. But the last thing I remember was getting in our car to drive up to Brimstone Bay.”
Well, that was interesting.
“Brimstone Bay?” I asked. “Why?”
“For the festival, of course.”
“What if I told you that you were in Brimstone Bay right now?” Jane said as she joined us at the table.
The ghost looked at Jane in surprise and then turned back to me. “Are we? Oh, how lovely.”
“So you were on your way here?” I asked. “Do you remember anything after getting in the car?”
She shook her head. “No, I just remember being excited about the journey. We don’t get out of the farm much these days.”
I let out a loud sigh.
“I do,” a small voice said from behind us.
I turned to see Jessica looking at us. “You do what?” I asked.
“I remember. We were driving,” she said quietly. She closed her eyes, trying to remember. “We were coming to the festival, too.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “We had never been before, and Mom promised that I could go see it. We left early, and I slept in the back.”
“Do you remember anything else?” I asked, hoping for more.
She shook her head. “No, I just slept in the back. I couldn’t remember before, but now I know that’s the truth. I was sleeping in the back of the car, and then I was in the haunted house.” She looked sad.
“It’s okay, dear,” Mrs. Littleton said, moving over to the girl. “There, there. No need to be sad. You did a good job in remembering.”
Jessica smiled up at the woman in front of her, and I was glad to see how happy they looked together.
“So all of you were on your way here at the time of your murders,” I said, mostly just thinking out loud to myself. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“What are you going to do?” Bailey asked.
“Not sure yet. I’ve got to talk to the sheriff, though. Are you all okay here with the…” I paused, unsure what to call them. “Guests?” I finished.
“Of course we are,” Mrs. Brody said. “Go, do your thing.”
I went back up to my room to organize my thoughts before contacting the sheriff. I paced back and forth a few times, then decided it would be best to go see the mayor before talking to Sheriff Reese just so we would be on the same page before involving the police. I hoped he was feeling well enough to meet. Then I realized, I really didn’t care. People are being murdered, and he would have to just suck it up.
I ran downstairs to grab my bike so I could get there faster, then sped into town as fast as I could on my rickety old thrift store bicycle.
The mayor’s door was open, and the lights were on, so that was a good sign. I locked my bike to a bench and walked into his office. Only I was hit with what can only be explained as a concrete wall of exuding power. I had to stop and collect myself at the door before I could walk the rest of my way into his office.
Mayor Scott was sitting at his desk speaking with the vampire from the haunted house. The pale-faced man turned to look at me as I entered and bowed his head.
“Uh, hi Mayor Scott,” I said awkwardly. “Nice to see you again.”
He turned his attention back to the mayor. “That should be all for now, Mr. Mayor.” He stood up and bowed, then walked out of the office without making eye contact with me.
As he left, the tension and level of power in the room subsided dramatically, and both Mayor Scott and I let out deep breaths.
“What’s news, River?” He managed a small smile.
“Oh, you know. A whole lot right about now,” I said.
The mayor laughed.
“Wow, that guy has a strong presence,” I said as I approached the chair the vampire had been sitting in.
“That’s an understatement,” the mayor said. He looked much better than before and seemed to relax in his chair as I sat down. “Look, I wanted to talk to you about something. The sheriff filled me in this morning about the bodies. Two more symbols and two more sewn mouths. He also tells me, this time, the symbols were added after the people had been killed and that he thinks the killer might be getting sloppy.”
I nodded and watched him thoughtfully.
“Whoever is doing this must obviously really have a thing against magic,” he said. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t have bothered with the symbols. If they’re trying this hard to frame…” He paused, then continued, “…a certain community, then I don’t doubt that they would go so far as to try and try and kill them, as well.”
I leaned back in my chair and nodded. “I know.”
“Just be careful, okay?”
I nodded, then we sat and just stared at each other for a long moment. Times were getting dark, and neither of us were prepared for what might come.
“So, what’s news?” he asked me finally, break
ing the silence.
“All three murder victims were heading to Brimstone Bay before they were murdered,” I said. Right to the point. No sense beating around the bush.
“And should I ask how you know this?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nope.”
He nodded. “I see. Well, that’s cause for concern. Do we know if they were murdered before they arrived, or after?”
“I have reason to believe they died before getting here.” I wish I could tell him all the details about how I was getting this information, but while I definitely trusted him, I didn’t know to what extent that trust could go. And given the secret of his that I discovered earlier today, I wasn’t sure what other dark secrets he may be hiding.
Mayor Scott took in a deep breath and let it out dramatically. “We need to inform Sheriff Reese.”
“I’ll call him.”
I unzipped my bag to grab my phone, but Mayor Scott interrupted. “No need. He’s here.” He tilted his chin in the direction of the door.
I turned to look, and Sheriff Reese came walking in. He sat down in the chair next to me without saying a word.
“Long day?” Mayor Scott asked him.
“You have no idea.”
“Oh,” the mayor answered. “I think I have some.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ve all had a long day,” I said, feeling exasperated. I turned to look the sheriff in the eye. “Look, I have more information about the murders.”
Sheriff Reese sat upright in his seat and looked at me.
“The victims were on their way here,” I said. “On their way to Brimstone Bay.”
“Are you serious? How do you know?” he asked.
I paused for a moment. “Facebook.”
He nodded, clearly believing my reasoning. If there was one thing that Sheriff Reese didn’t understand - apart from the paranormal, apparently - it was social media. I would have to keep that one in my arsenal for future use.
I glanced up at Mayor Scott who raised his eyebrows at me in reply. I shrugged.
“Whoever killed these people obviously knew they were coming this way, then,” he said. “Do you think it has anything to do with the Shadow Festival? I’ve told the fair staff not to leave town, in case we need to question them further. You don’t think it was one of them, do you?”
I shook my head. “Absolutely not. This is terribly bad for business. Murder would be the last thing anyone from the festival would want happening while they’re in town. Right?”
“Mr. Kraevak, the festival director, was just in my office. He insisted his people have nothing to do with it, but they will cooperate fully with the investigation as it progresses.”
“Do you believe him?” the sheriff asked.
“I do.”
“I do, too,” I added. Not that anyone asked me.
15
The town was absolutely packed on my walk into work the next day. The main street was nearly shoulder to shoulder people as I tried to weave my way through the crowd to get to my office. I practically had to shove my way to the door.
“What the hell is with all those people?” I asked JoAnn as I finally got to the office.
“Seems the murders have put Brimstone Bay on the map,” she replied, putting aside the proof of this week's paper she had been reading.
“That’s kind of gruesome,” I said. I didn’t realize murder made a place desirable.
She shrugged. “Seems death is good for business.”
I put my bag down and went to look out the window. The streets were full of people, and the shops across the road were full. I noticed the Shadow Festival decorations had been added too, and the entire street looked like a scene from a Halloween movie.
“Wow,” I said, staring out at the scene below. “The festival must be doing really well.” Seems I was wrong about murder being bad for the festival. The creepy vampire guy must be thrilled.
I pulled down the blinds to block out the view and set to work researching the murders.
I spent a solid few hours trying to see what more I could dig up on the symbols, but I was coming up blank. There had been no other instances of similar murders or anything else that involved the symbol in recent years. The only current article I could find on it was from a private museum’s website, advertising an ancient dark magic exhibit that took place a few weeks ago.
I clicked on the article and scanned through the images. It seems the symbol was part of the exhibit. Interesting. I wondered if that was where the killer got his information from. I clicked on the website’s contact us page button to see where the museum was located and was not really surprised to see it was located in Boston.
I sighed and sat back in my chair. I was finding it hard not to be suspicious of Ryan’s new friends from Boston.
“I’m going to go look into something,” I said to JoAnn, then left the office to go visit the coffee shop downstairs. I really needed to talk to Ryan’s friends, unappealing as that idea was to me.
“Hi, Mr. Bramley,” I said as I squeezed my way through the café to the back counter. This had to be the busiest I’d ever seen the place. I noticed he was working by himself behind the counter, frantically taking orders and pouring drinks. “Where’s Ryan?”
“Fishing,” he muttered, obviously not happy about it.
“I didn’t know he fished,” I commented.
“He doesn’t. His friends do,” he said. “Couldn’t have picked a worse day to go.”
“Is there anything I can help you with?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No thanks, River. But if you do see Ryan when he gets back, can you send him in here please?”
“Sure thing,” I smiled, then waved goodbye and went to join the crowd in the street.
Wow, murder really was good for business. I couldn’t get over the crowds that had gathered. There were line ups halfway down the block at the different food stands from the festival.
My phone buzzed, and I looked to see a text from Sheriff Reese saying he wants to meet at the mayor’s office in 15 minutes.
I sighed. I don’t know what these guys have against phone calls, but a simple call would eliminate the need to meet in person every ten minutes.
I slowly made my way down the street through the growing crowd of people. I caught the tail end of one couple’s conversation as I walked past. The girl was asking her partner excitedly when he thought the next murder was going to take place. Man, people could be really twisted sometimes.
I finally made it to the mayor’s office after zigzagging through the main street, dodging people like I was in some sort of zombie video game.
The sheriff was already in there waiting for me, both men sitting at the mayor’s desk with large coffees in front of them. I was happy to see a third was waiting for me.
I sat down and graciously took my cup, ready for whatever information they had to throw at me.
“We’ve found another link between the two murders,” Sheriff Reese said.
“We needed more stuff to link them together?” the mayor asked.
The sheriff ignored him. “We’ve determined the cause of death.” He paused for dramatic effect.
“Well spit it out, then,” Mayor Scott said, sounding quite agitated. The events of the past few days had taken a toll on all of us.
“All three victims died of heart attacks.”
“What?” I said, shocked. “How does a thirteen-year-old girl die from a heart attack?”
“The autopsies revealed all three victims has traces of a very strong paralytic in their systems. We suspect they ingested it through inhalation. My guess is that they overdosed on the drug,” he explained. “The exact nature of the paralytic hasn’t been determined yet. It’s nothing we’ve seen before – nothing chemical. We’ve sent samples off to Boston for further testing.”
“Why would the killer want to paralyze them?” Mayor Scott asked.
“To carve the symbols into their skin,” I suggested. I then shuddered. “Would they
still have been able to feel it?”
The sheriff shrugged. “The two older victims sure didn’t. But why would someone want to put that mark on an already dead body is beyond me.”
I shook my head, trying to make sense of it all.
After a few moments of silence, the sheriff asked, “What should we do with all those people outside?”
“Let them snoop,” the mayor suggested. “Brimstone Bay sure needs the economic boost these people are bringing. If it becomes a problem for the investigation, we can do what we can to make them leave. In the meantime, I suggest we let them stay.”
“So long as another body doesn’t show up, that’s fine by me,” Sheriff Reese answered.
“My story is due tomorrow,” I said. “How much of this should I reveal in the paper?”
“Still leave out the details, if you can,” the sheriff said. “Cases like this often promote copycats, and we want to prevent that as best we can.”
I nodded. “Okay then, just the basics. No problem.” So much for world-class journalism.
I spotted the creepy vampire guy lurking around the corner when I left the mayor’s office. I decided to go speak with him, curious to see if there was anything else said during his meeting with the mayor that Mayor Scott didn’t tell me. He was looking rather pleased, looking out over the crowd.
I pushed my way through the crowd, and he turned his face slowly to look at me as I approached. It was really creepy the way he did that.
“Ms. Halloway,” he said to me, bowing his head. I noticed his power wasn’t so overwhelming standing outside in the open. Thank God for that.
“You look happy,” I said. He looked down at me and frowned. “Er… Mr. Kraevak.” I said quickly. I got the impression that he was used to people treating him with the highest of respect.
“In the line of work I am in, Ms. Halloway, you find that dark happenings are good for business.”
“Murder, you mean,” I said.
He nodded. “Yes, murder.”
“And did you know this beforehand?” I asked, trying to make out the expression on his stone-still face.
“You get to know a lot of things when you grow to be my age.”
He looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my shirt. I instinctively looked down at myself as well and guessed he wasn’t impressed with my torn baggy jeans and AC/DC t-shirt. It’s been a long couple of days, and I decided to dress comfy and casual today. So sue me.
