by D.L. Miles
Chapter 12
The door slammed against the wall as I burst through it, not even glancing at the yellow tape across Charlie’s doorway as I moved.
“Luke?” I called into the apartment to find him sitting on the couch, watching the news. I left the door hanging open as I jumped over to him. “Are you okay?”
“Hi Liv,” he said, a fatigued smile on his lips, “I…I’ve been better.”
“Why did they release you?” I sat down next to him and touched his arm. It was so good to see him again, even though it hadn’t actually been that long. It had felt like a lifetime to me, I didn’t even want to ask how long it had been for him.
“Watch,” he said and pointed at the television, “they’ve been playing this on repeat since I got out.” I looked at the television to find Cindy there, a concerned expression painted across her face.
“Just two hours ago,” she started, “Lucan Harroway was released from police custody after being arrested under false pretences.” An image of Luke flashed on the corner of the screen. “The Detective that called for the arrest was suspended as well, here’s what her partner has to say about it.”
“I would like to apologize for the trouble caused to Mr. Harroway,” Det. Young said, standing in front of the police station, “Det. Miller arrested him on the sole evidence that he is Eidolon and she has been suspended until further notice. Mr. Harroway is no longer a suspect in the case and has been cleared of all charges. If you have any further questions please direct them to—” Luke shut off the television, deciding I’d heard enough. Or maybe he just couldn’t watch it again; knowing that they only reason he was a suspect was because of his birth family’s history. I couldn’t understand why they would out him as an Eidolon, since most people were still having trouble telling the world what they were. It was just cruel but it wasn’t like they would care or even realize what they had done.
Luke sat on the couch, slumped over, defeated. I wasn’t really sure what to do; I had never known anyone that had been arrested, humiliated on a national scale and then released. Instead, I just asked what I really wanted to know.
“Why was it Jared that arrested you?” Jared had told me one thing, but it didn’t really add up in my mind. I highly doubted he had brought Luke in just because he thought it was the right thing to do.
“Hm?” Luke looked at me with dim eyes. “Oh, after the Detective decided I was guilty he brought me in so nobody else did. I think he just wanted the reward money though.” Of course he did.
“Reward?” I remembered the paper he had stuffed in his pocket; a cheque?
“Yeah,” Luke covered his face. “There was some reward to whoever brought me in or told the police where I was or something. How am I going to go into work now?” He fell over on the couch, his head hitting the cushion and groaned.
“It’s okay,” I told him. “It won’t be long before they forget all about it. Especially after the killer is caught.”
“The cops have nothing,” he said, “so what if the killer is never caught?” He leaned up again, looking at me. “If the real murderer is never caught, they’ll all think it’s me! I’ll lose my job, my friends, my whole life will be in ruins!” That stung, just a bit but he never caught on to how he had insulted me. It didn’t seem to matter to him that I thought…no, I knew he was innocent.
“Jared’s working on it,” I said, hoping that would make it better, “I’m sure he’ll find out what’s going on.” Luke just rolled his eyes.
“Great, the guy that arrested me is on the job,” he stood, “I just…I need to be alone for a bit. Sorry.” He waved his hand at me and walked towards his room. I only sighed when I heard the door gently click shut. I wished there was something I could do or say that would make him feel better, apparently.
What now? I was so happy Luke was out but he seemed less than impressed by it. It could’ve been worse; they could’ve left him in there and let everyone think he was a murderer. Although, the more I thought about it the more I realised that everyone at work would think he was a murderer anyway, until they were convinced someone else had done it. Which means…
“We need to find the killer,” I whispered to the darkness. I wanted to rush out the door to find Jared, to tell him I was going to help him. But honestly, what could I do? There was a knock at the door, causing my rather depressing train of thought to come to a halt. When I didn’t answer, whoever was on the other side knocked again, louder this time.
I stood and walked over to the door, taking a brief moment to glance down the hall towards Luke’s room. There was no movement inside, so he was either asleep already, or ignoring the world. He rarely did that, but then again, he rarely got this depressed.
When I opened my front door I came face to face with a desperate doctor.
“You can’t do the summoning spell,” he said, grabbing my shoulders and pushing me inside to the kitchen. “It’s not what you think!”
“What?” I said, confused and taken aback by his very presence. How did he know where I was? “Summoning spell?”
“Please,” he said, “don’t do it! You could get hurt, both of you. Where’s Jared?” The door hung open behind him, allowing an eerie yellow glow into the room, his face shadowed.
“What are you talking about?” I asked again. Dr. Wineman’s grip on my shoulders was tight, and I was too surprised to try and push him off. At least he didn’t seem to want to hurt me.
“You cannot summon a creature from Shadeland,” he told me, “it’s not only very difficult, you need an experienced witch to do it. If you or the bounty hunter tries it yourselves you will most likely get hurt.” So the killer really was from Shadeland? That was why Jared had run off so quickly?
“A witch?” I said, Jared’s actions from the previous hour suddenly made sense. He was going to get Yamuna to summon the thing that killed the women. She was the one he was going to for help. As if the sound of my thoughts slowly clicking together could be heard, Jared appeared in my doorway, gun drawn. Dr. Wineman turned to face him after hearing the gun cock.
“Come on,” Jared said, waving his gun towards himself, “time to go.” The doctor didn’t seem intimidated by the gun, so much as Jared himself. He took a step towards the bounty hunter. “Not you, moron. Her.” His weapon pointed at me for a split second before returning to the doctor.
“What?” I said again, feeling repetitive.
“I need you to give me a hand with something,” he said, “let’s go.” I didn’t question why he was suddenly so willing to let me help, instead I listened and embraced the opportunity.
“Stay,” Jared said to the doctor and pulled me out the door.
