Monster Magic in Witchwood

by Jessica Lancaster

  “In the car,” Cassandra said, breathlessly. “They—they’ve got tape all around it.”

  Maybe Ivory had been correct. If the evidence speaks, you’ve got to listen. I was making it difficult for myself by hoping for the best instead of letting the voice of the worst speak through me.

  “They’re coming out,” Greg said. “Handcuffs?” he gasped.

  I opened my eyes and looked ahead: a haze. Shoving my glasses, I tiptoed to see over people’s heads. Jennifer and Ryan were both pulled from their houses in handcuffs, both in tears, crying and pleading.

  Locking eyes with Jennifer, she screamed, “help, we didn’t do this.”

  I looked away, turning to Greg and Cassandra.

  “Did she say help?” Cass asked.

  Greg sucked air through the space between his teeth. “Bit late for that now.”

  I looked again, trying to see Jennifer or Ryan, but they were now in the back of a car. My sight was instead guided to another direction. I went straight to the man in the black car, glaring out of the window, this time sunglasses covered his eyes.

  If he was an investigator, I wanted to know what he knew. I couldn’t say anything bad against investigators; I was the same, except when I staked a location, I wasn’t usually sat in a black car looking completely out of place.

  “—according to officers on-scene,” a voice came close by.

  I flinched, turning to see a reporter filming with a large camera in her face, filming with the crowd of people behind her, myself included. I moved, pulling Cassandra with me. “From the camera,” I said in a grumble.

  “Vulture,” Cass let out before moving.

  “—blood was found in the family car, beneath the boy’s booster seat—”

  Another voice came, filming in front of another large camera resting on a man’s shoulder. “—in a twist of fate, the family have been dragged off in handcuffs.”

  I made a beeline toward the family car, roped off with tape and officers. I had to see, even if it hurt, I wanted to get a look in. I needed to get all my facts in order before I knew what to do.

  “Ma’am,” an officer said.

  I glanced at the young man, puffing his chest out. “Yes?” Tickling the rings along my knuckles. I locked eyes with him. “Shhh.” He was under a light trance, a skill I disliked using, but a compliant tool nonetheless.

  The man moved aside for a moment, away from the car door. It was on the seat, all over it, a square patch of dark red stained the grey fabric. I looked away, clapping a hand around my mouth.

  “You okay?” Cass asked, swinging her arm around my shoulder.

  “I looked,” I said. “I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have looked.”

  She squeezed my arm. “We should go.”

  The man snapped out of his trance. “We need you to be at least two feet away from the car.” He posed with his hands on his hips.

  Cassandra ushered me away from the people. We stood still for a moment as she spoke, but I couldn’t listen, my eyes were fixed on the car across the road. The man’s head cocked in my direction.

  “That car is still there,” I said.

  She hushed. “It’ll be okay.” I felt her grasp on my arm leave. “Let’s go home. I heard there’s a nice fish and chip shop up the road. We can get lunch.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  I stomped across to the car, a bull racing to a red handkerchief.

  The engine began, a large roar erupted, and a plume of smoke spat out from the exhaust. I outstretched my arms, glaring at the driver as the window ascended.

  SIXTEEN

  With a finger snap, I cut the engine to the car. The man’s face changed as he faced me. I caught my reflection in the window, charging forward, ready to attack with a hundred and one questions I had no answers for.

  “Who are you?” I demanded, tackling the window with both hands.

  The window came rolling down as the man pulled his sunglasses away from his face. He smiled. “Just a man, taking in the neighbourhood.”

  “Are you an investigator?” I asked. “What do you know?”

  He scoffed. “Don’t you feel it?”

  “Feel what?” I asked, my forehead crumpled into two deep lines.

  “It’s all around the town. The power. It’s strong.”

  “Power?” I asked. “Do you know what happened?”

  He threw his head back in a chuckle. “I’m not the only person who felt it.”

  “What are you?”

  He shook his head as if to forbid the questioning. “An uprising.”

  My name was called twice from behind. Greg and Cassandra. I turned, hoping to tell them I’d be a minute, but they were almost at my side, pleading with me to stop harassing a stranger on the road.

  The car zoomed off, leaving my head in a spin.

  “What was all that about?” Greg asked.

  A lead, I wanted to tell them, but I didn’t know. “He’s gone,” I said. He was talking in cryptic phrases. “A strong power,” I mumbled.

  “Like a gemstone power?” Cass asked.

  “Huh?”

  “You said something about a strong power.”

  I nodded to her words. “Does it ring a bell?”

  “Nope, no idea,” Greg chimed in with a chuckle.

  Cassandra took my arm around her waist, moving to block Greg from listening in. “I don’t think they did it,” she said. “Something is off.”

  “Something is off.” My heart rattled behind my ribcage. “The family don’t have any furniture in their house, how could they pull something off like this?”

  Cass snapped her fingers. “Exactly, and it’s very convenient they only just found the blood in the car.”

  “You need me?” Greg spoke from behind us.

  I turned slightly and shook my head.

  “Okay, I’ll go see what I can scoop from the women around these parts,” he chuckled. “Bet they’ve all got a theory.”

  It was a better waste of time spent than around us. I knew we’d only be confusing things if we spoke with him around. I nudged Cassandra onto the pavement, opposite the house. The police cars were stationary on the road while the family car was still guarded.

  “This has magic written all over it,” I said. “But I just can’t get a read on what type.”

  “We need to get back into the house.”

  “Agreed.”

  We both looked out over the people on the opposite side of the road. It was getting busier with people crowding around, asking questions, begging for answers and trying to get interviews from reporters with cameras.

  “What are you thinking?” I asked, noticing the focused look over Cassandra’s face.

  A droning hum came. “Tonight,” she said. “I think we should go tonight.”

  “Good thinking,” I said. “Trusting your gut.”

  “I’m trying.”

  My body was well-adjusted after the buzz of energy earlier. I let out a sigh. “I’ll take you up on the offer of fish and chips, for dinner. I don’t think I could stomach food right now.”

  Before leaving the street, Greg rushed up in a panic.

  “People are going crazy,” he said.

  “Oh? What do you mean?” I asked, looking at the people, far from a frenzy or tearing down the structures of society.

  “They want answers,” he said. “If they y’know did it, then there’s got to be a body somewhere.”

  “And what if they didn’t do it?” Cassandra asked.

  He shrugged. “It doesn’t explain all the blood.”

  “Enough,” I said. I’d had it with all the talk about blood. “I need to lie down.”

  “I’ll be over later,” Greg said.

  I pawed his arm. “Oh, that’s okay,” I replied. “Maybe tomorrow.”

  “You sure?” he asked in a chuckle. “I mean, that garden isn’t going to finish itself.”

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “We have some important stuff to talk over.”

&n
bsp; He pushed a finger across his lips. “Sealed,” he said. “Talk to you tomorrow.”

  I knew Cassandra wanted to say something else, the way she poised her body toward him as if to refuse his offer. “Okay,” I said, clapping my hands once. “As much as I hate to waste a beautiful day, my head is a little light.”

  All I wanted was to shove my feet into the dirt and embrace the earthy tickle again. I wondered how much of my body I could cover in dirt before it was technically considered as being buried alive.

  SEVENTEEN

  It was 7:08 P.M. when Cassandra came back from ‘Lorette’s’, the fish and chip shop at the end of Eden Road. I’d been trying to build an appetite the entire day with no luck. I handed over the reins of the case to Cassandra, allowing her to focus on the logistics. It would be our first joint case.

  “I’ve got it,” she called, the front door slamming shut behind her.

  “How was it?” I asked from the living room. I sat flicking through channels on the television. “Hopefully they didn’t ask you too many questions.”

  “No, no,” she said. “I mean, about getting into the house tonight.”

  “Oh, go on,” I said, picking myself and my empty tea mug from the sofa.

  Cassandra led the way to the kitchen where Jinx sat pawing at the back door.

  “Want to go out?”

  “Pee!” Jinx said.

  “You should’ve told me,” I said, planting myself firm in a seat at the kitchen table. “I would’ve opened the door.”

  Cassandra let her familiar outside. “Stubborn,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Should I get plates?”

  “No, they come in wrappers,” I chuckled.

  A small gust of air blew the smell of freshly fried fish and chips in my direction.

  “I got two portions,” she said, plonking the plastic bag in the centre of the table.

  “So?”

  “So.”

  “The boy, the plan, tell me.”

  She cocked her head at me with wide eyes. “Yes, yes, one second, let me get cutlery.”

  “I’m assuming there will be police officers around the house tonight,” I said. “We’ll need something to—”

  “Yes,” she said. “Moonstone.”

  The word brought a smile to my lips. “Okay, what makes you say that?”

  She sat, smiling to herself and wiggling her eyebrows.

  “Go on,” I continued. “We don’t have all night.”

  She handed me a knife and fork. Her eyes flickered from side-to-side. “When I was younger, I’d use moonstone to leave the house and go unnoticed by the cleaners and gardeners.”

  “One of its many purposes, I suppose.” It was good thinking. “I’m not sure I—” I paused, mid-thought. “Actually, I do have moonstone.”

  “Wonderful,” she said, clapping her hands. “I brought some with me. Oh, perhaps I could get a ring made with it?”

  I unravelled the food parcel. “Perhaps not. It’s a potent stone.”

  “Oh?”

  The scent of salt and vinegar hit my face, spreading the acidity to tingle the inside of my nostrils. “Not a bad thing, but the magic from our rings lasts about five minutes or so once activated. Possibly due to their size.”

  We both picked at our chips and pulled at the flaky batter from the fish, eating only as much as our stomachs would allow. With food in my face, my stomach wanted to eat more, but there was a tightness in my throat.

  “I’m nervous,” Cassandra said, putting her cutlery over the food. “Not sure I can eat the rest of it.”

  “We’ll need all the strength possible,” I said. “If we’re going to be using stones to get to the house, it’ll take all the focus in us to keep ourselves warded.”

  She picked at a single chip. “We could take the kyanite. In case, he’s—” she looked away, unable to say the word.

  “Dead?” I asked.

  Considering the last time we kind of worked together, nobody who wasn’t human died, this time was different. It was my job to prepare her for the prospect of a death, even if it was difficult to happen every single time.

  “And what about the weird guy in the car.”

  “Oh, you think he’s weird too?”

  Dipping her head toward her food, she forced another chip into her mouth. “We need to think about all options.”

  “We do,” I said. “That, we do.”

  A large white ball flew into the kitchen through the open door, stopping and perching on the ground. Ivory stood, fluffing her feathers. “Any for me?”

  “You’re up early?” I said.

  “She could probably smell the food,” Cass said.

  “Oh no, she can’t smell,” I said. “Owls don’t have that sense.”

  Ivory clacked her talons against the floor. “I would if you gave me it.”

  I rolled my eyes at her. “I’m not some mad scientist, and I’m definitely not going to mutate you into some monster.”

  “I gave Jinx everything,” Cassandra said. “Her little trick earlier, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.”

  For a moment, I thought Jinx would patter her paws in through the kitchen behind Ivory.

  “Did you know, owls eat cats?” Ivory chortled, snapping her beak together.

  Cass gasped. “What? No, I did not know that.” She stood. “I need to find her.”

  “Relax,” I said, “Cassandra, she’s kidding. Or she best be.”

  Her eyes darted to Ivory, in what appeared to be a stare-off. Ivory had the upper-hand, given she could go a while without blinking.

  “I didn’t touch your—” Ivory began.

  “Meeting without me?” a sharp voice scoffed from behind Ivory as Jinx slinked inside, pressing her back against the door.

  “Yes,” Ivory said.

  “No!” Cassandra said immediately after.

  Jinx approached the leg of the table, rubbing herself against it. “I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on, given so much happens during the day, and we’re not nocturnal.”

  “Behave,” Cassandra said.

  “Both of you,” I added.

  I couldn’t have it getting out of hand in the house, not like the way they’d both been in the garden. Anyone could’ve seen them, thankfully nobody did. But inside, there was only so much room, and I wasn’t having them trash the place, only to regret it after the heat died out.

  “Ivory,” I said, “tonight we’ll be going to the house on Mercy Avenue. Could you keep an eye on the area? Just make sure nobody comes in after us, or if someone is, make sure we know.”

  “Given my skill set, I’m sure I can do that.” She glanced at Jinx.

  As Jinx craned her neck, Cassandra stroked her behind the ear. I wondered what job we’d be able to give the cat.

  “Jinx will come with us,” Cass added. “She’s stealthy enough and can help get a better read on the house.”

  “Great,” I said, snapping a finger. “We’ve all got something to do.” I grabbed a chip and bit into it, my face wincing at the concentrated vinegar inside it.

  EIGHTEEN

  We waited until it was dark. Given the impending summer months, it was taking longer for the sun to set and a true layer of darkness to form in the sky. It wasn’t just getting into the house under the cover of darkness, but we were sure people continued to loiter outside.

  Ivory was out hunting, but she’d know when we were on the move. She could sense me wherever I was, given I wasn’t under any wards like I had been at the Kingsway manor house.

  “Think I’ve got everything,” Cassandra said, holding a beige tote bag with the slogan ‘resting witch face’ on the side of it.

  “Candles? Matches? Crystals?”

  She chuckled. “Got it all.”

  Slipping my arms inside the navy trench coat I’d dug out from the back of my closet, I swished my hips. “You have moonstone, right?” I asked, sliding my hands into the coat pockets; they were deep.

  Holding the milky stone to her eye, she
smiled. “I’m prepared.”

  I held mine to hers, knocking them together. “Great. Wonderful. Right—”

  “You nervous?” she asked.

  Somewhat. “I like to take control, so giving you the task of control, is proving to be difficult,” I said, my voice petering off into a slight chuckle. “I’m confident in you, just nervous in taking a backseat.”

  “Investigator in training,” Cass laughed back. “But I have a lot to learn, and I’m pretty sure I’m learning from the best.”

  The truth was, she didn’t have to butter me. Not that I had a big head about my talents, but I was confident in how headstrong she was, a skill which would get her far.

  The streetlights on Eden Road twinkled as strolled toward Mercy Avenue. Jinx followed behind us and Ivory was probably flitting around above. Clenching the moonstone and channelling the potent properties of magic inside it, the whizzing from earlier came once again.

  “Nobody’s here,” Cassandra said, pausing at the end of the road.

  From our vantage point, we saw the house and all that surrounded it. There was a single police car and a forensics van outside the family home, but there wasn’t a single light from inside the house. White and blue police tape was wrapped around the garden fence and taped across the front door.

  Nobody stood outside the gate, but people walked slowly by the house with their heads turned. Our first obstacle would be getting through the tape without breaking it. There wasn’t enough magic in either of us to bend the metaphysical world; we couldn’t pass through objects.

  “Have a plan?” I asked, watching her face in the orange lamplight. She bit at her tongue and her eyes squinted at the property. “We could—”

  “I know, I got it,” she said with a firm nod. “We can dip under the one at the door, and the one at the gate, we break.”

  It was one plan, but it was hers. I stayed silent, only taking in the order.

  “Is that a good idea?” she asked, eyeing me from the side.

  “Ideally, we don’t want to disturb the place. Usually, I’d go over the fence instead of through the gate.”

  She snapped her fingers. “That’s better.”