Defeated Rose slumped to the ground and sobbed. She thought she was so close, but it was all a cruel game. There was no way out unless he set her free. She just wanted to go home. To get out of the darkness and see her mother, her friends. To see the sun, rise, and set. The Emerald Stars. Anything. She would rather see anything but the four dark walls of her cell.
“Not time for you to leave just yet,” he said as he walked up to her. “I would put better restraints on you but as you can see there is no point. I don’t need them. But still no more running away.” He shook his finger at her.
Rose sobbed as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.
No more running.
It’s pointless after all.
Chapter 1
Moon Investigations
Did she always have to smell like cat urine? Oh, please let it be a cat. While strange and covered in cat hair, Miss Pepper was a sweet and charming middle-aged lady. She sat across from me in a pink sweater with a black cat’s face on the front and the matching sweatpants. Eager to hear what I had found pertaining to her case.
“Thank you,” she said as she slid a check across my desk. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Miss Pepper hired me to find her cat. Now that may seem like a waste of time and in a way, it was but it was an important waste of time. Purrdiful (yes that was the cat’s name) was Miss Pepper’s familiar. She needed her. One day, Purrdiful changed into her human form and left. She didn’t tell Miss Pepper where she was going and she hadn’t come back in a few days.
“I just wish she’d come home,” said Miss Pepper. She sounded like so many mothers that come to me looking for their missing daughters. Runaways mostly. Gone with a boyfriend the mother didn’t approve of and in nor rush to come home. Mothers trying to figure out what they did wrong and how to fix it.
Purrdiful may have been a cat but to Miss Pepper, she was like a daughter. A child she desperately wanted to see again.
I smiled and nodded. “I’m sure she’ll come home when she’s ready. Give her a few days and if she still hasn’t returned give me a call and I’ll try again.”
When I had found Purrdiful, I tried to talk her into going home but that conversation did not go as planned.
“There are so many cats!” she yelled, exasperated by her situation. “It was fine when it was just me but then she got another cat and another and another and another. And they are just cats. Not familiars but cats. Who the hell needs forty-five cats? Who?”
When I started the search I knew Miss Pepper was the epitome of a cat lady but I didn’t know it was that bad.
Miss Pepper just wanted to know that she was okay and she was. Purrdiful just needed a break which I completely understood. As a familiar, Purrdiful couldn’t just leave and not go back. Her fate was tied to Miss Pepper. And if Miss Pepper wanted to, she could make her come home but she was trying to respect her and give her a little space.
“Thank you for finding her and speaking with her. I just want her home and safe.” She stood up.
“I know just give her a little time.”
When she closed the door behind her I leaned back in my red chair and sighed. Cat hair in a variety of shades clung to the chair in front of me. The only reminder that Miss Pepper had been in my office.
Why didn’t I just get leather chairs? They would be easier to clean especially with the types that entered my office. A goblin came in one day looking for some treasure he had stashed somewhere. Where? He was too stoned to remember. He smelled of sewage and rotting meat. It was days before I could get the smell out of the room and I even used magic. Before that I had to replace the chair when a firebird was so upset his wife was cheating on him, he burned a hole through it.
Since then the chair had been covered in goo, cat hair, blood, feathers, and so many other things, it’s a wonder anyone still sits in it when they come in it.
While my office isn’t much to look at, it’s mine and my name is on the door. And it’s all I could afford. Nell Sterling, my landlady gave me a discount because I rent an apartment on the third floor.
The office spaces weren’t completely occupied. It was me, Margaret, an alleged fortune teller, and Blossom’s shop Spells n’ Things. There were two other offices further down the hall but I have never seen who rents them. Nell assured me they were occupied but she wouldn’t say by who. Maybe it was dark magic or maybe it was a vampire matchmaker. There were vampires in the building. I had seen one on the elevator. Although he paid no attention to me as he was too busy reading some smutty romance novel. He carried a vat of blood and got off on the second floor. He looked like the typical vampire. Pale, red eyes.
I opened the window before filing Miss Pepper’s file in my filing cabinet. The smell of Mrs. Lin’s takeout wafted in. The smell of sauteed onions, peppers, and garlic floated in the air making my mouth water. It was just past midday, so the restaurants were filling with the lunch crowd.
A cloud of dust rained down on my desk. Flecks from the ceiling fell onto my hair and desk and then there was a loud thud. I shook my head. After another loud bang, I opened my office door and stood in the hallway. What is happening up there?
There was another loud bang, followed by glass breaking. Nell’s apartment was right above my office.
I took the elevator up to the second floor. Nell’s apartment was directly across from the elevator. I knocked.
After what felt like forever probably five minutes, there was a noise on the other side of the door. In her neon green robe with black triangles up the sleeves, Nell opened the door, spun around and disappeared down the hallway before I could open my mouth.
For an elf, Nell Sterling was not as advertised. Depending on the story, elves were helpful and happy. Nell was none of those things. Sure she had the pointy ears and long silver hair and sharp but delicate features but with that, she was also spiteful, forgetful and easily annoyed.
I stepped in, cautiously. The door opened to a long hallway that opened up to the living room. The wall that led to the living room was littered with pictures. There were a few of her children but mostly it was her late husband the occupied the space. He died the year before in a boating accident. I stepped into the living room and stopped.
The TV was on but the sound was muted. “Nell?”
Connected to the living room was the kitchen and on the other side of the kitchen was a hallway with some bedrooms. As I moved past the kitchen, hushed voices were coming from the end of the hallway.
“Nell? Are you okay up here?”
I reached out to grab the doorknob, the door flew opened. A force slammed into me. My head slammed against the wall and I crumpled to the ground. As the world spun around me and I struggled to sit up, I heard the door close.
“What are you doing here? Who let you in?”
“You did!”
I slowly sat up and leaned against the wall. My vision pulsed to the same rhythm as pounding at the base of my skull.
“That’s coming out of your rent.” She pointed to the wall.
I looked up. My head had made a dent in the wall.
“Seriously? You threw me against the wall.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have come in here.” She walked by me.
I took a deep breath and pulled myself up. With a hand on the wall to steady myself, I made my way to the kitchen.
“You let me in.”
Nell grabbed a drink out of her refrigerator. “What do you want anyway?” She sat in an old recliner that sat right in front of the TV.
“Well I heard a loud bang, so trying to be neighborly I came to check on you.”
“And instead you ruined my wall.” She grabbed the remote. The sound turned on just as a reporter started to recount the events of a raid that had taken place the night before.
“Some of the revolutionaries have been captured and are being interrogated as we speak. However, officials have told us that this was not the revolutionary base. It
is now believed that there may be a base on each of the main islands. What does this mean for the Five? I’m not quite sure. I would say it proves that people on the islands are not happy with the current leadership and no longer want to stand by and watch as…”
“Get out!” Nell moved quickly by me. I heard a door slam as I walked to the front door.
Starview Apartments had the cheapest rent I could find in the city. As tenants, we put up with a lot but it wasn’t often. I had gone days without seeing her.
What about the revolutionaries set her off? Why would she even care? Crystal Lake wasn’t one of the main islands. It wasn’t even ruled by any of the five rulers. People lived on Crystal Lake because they wanted a slow, peaceful life.
“Hazel!”
I spun around to see Marla, one of my neighbors.
“Hey, Mar.”
I met her halfway between the elevator and her apartment.
“How’s the business going?” Marla shifted her laundry basket to her left hip.
“Pretty good. I just finished with a client. Still teaching?”
Marla tucked a lavender strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, it’s not bad. I was worried at first because I thought I was going to be placed with older kids. I heard once they get their powers it can be difficult to reign them in. But second grade is okay. Once you can get them to focus.”
“What do you teach?”
Marla set the laundry basket on the floor between us. She pulled up her sleeves. “Generalized magic.”
“Not water magic?”
Marla shook her head. The tattoo of some water goddess was prevalent on her right forearm. Half mermaid, half sea witch with long flowing lilac hair. I couldn’t remember her name but I knew she was someone that mermaids and mermen revered.
“They are only in the second grade so they haven’t really gotten their powers yet. Mostly I just teach them the mechanics of magic. I teach them the different types of magic and how you should never hurt anyone.”
“Second grade is kind of early, right?”
Marla nodded. “But kids are getting their powers earlier now. A boy at school is a dragon. Some kid was picking on him and he got so angry fire came shooting out of his mouth.”
“Guessing he doesn’t get picked on anymore.”
“Yeah, but he’s more of a bully now.”
“There should be some kind of school for that. If you get your powers early this is where you go.”
Marla shrugged. “There is Sanctum, but so many are getting them early I don’t think they can house them all.”
“I get that and with everything happening on Haven, it's probably better to stay away.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” Marla picked up her basket. “Well, I’ll see you later.”
“Okay.”
I walked to the elevator as Marla moved towards her apartment. I didn’t get my elemental powers until I was in high school but I could do magic when I was ten. Someone on my father’s side of the family was an elemental while my mother was a witch. I would make things levitate or my brother’s toys disappear. One summer my brother exhausted himself trying to find a pair of skates and a baseball bat.
My mother said he had been careless and needed to take better care of his things, so she wouldn’t use a locator spell to find them.
If he had been better at magic or nicer to me I would have told him where they were. If I remember correctly they were in the wall behind his headboard.
I returned to my office and my door was open. Inside was a woman pacing.
Chapter 2
Stupid Witch Names
“Uh…hello.” I eased through the door.
The woman jumped at the sound of my voice and spun around.
“Didn’t mean to scare you.”
The woman ran a hand through her hair. “Are you Hazel Moondance?”
I nodded. “And who are you?”
“Ruby Stone,” she answered as she smoothed down her skirt.
Ruby Stone. She was a witch, had to be. Witches had the stupidest names. And yes, I was included in that generalization. Witches are named after gemstones, and stars and other things in nature because they think it connects them to nature. Most of them just sound stupid.
We sat down and I pulled out my notebook and my lucky red pen.
“Okay,” I said as I flipped to an empty page. “How can I help you?”
“My daughter is missing and someone at the police station said you might be able to help me.”
As she told me about her daughter, I took the time to study. I like to get a feel for my clients before I decide to take their case. Ruby was in her mid to late forties with black hair that was graying around the temples. She was poised and calm as she recounted the events that led her to my office. Her voice stayed stead which was a little strange in my opinion. Most of my potential clients got emotional as they told their stories, but not Ruby.
She sat on the edge of the chair, her back as straight as a board. Her hands clasped firmly in her lap, rested on a folder.
“She’s in college. The police told me she probably skipped out on her classes and is with some boy and that she’ll call me when she runs out of money.”
“But…you don’t believe that?”
Ruby shook her head. “My Rose isn’t like that. She’s always been focused on her studies and even if she did, she would have called. Or left a note. Something.”
“How long has she been missing?”
“Three months. And with all that’s happening on the main islands—I’m just worried.”
“Have you talked to her friends?”
“Yes. They haven’t heard from her either. Here’s a list of her friends and their contact information.” She slid the folder across the desk.
When I opened the folder the lights flickered.
“It seems your power is on a faulty magic grid.”
I nodded. “Yeah. It goes out from time to time.” I got up and opened the blinds. I used the sunlight to look through the folder. In it were the names of her friends, the name of the detective she spoke to, and an envelope with a key to Rose’s apartment. I closed the folder and sighed. I wasn’t really a fan of missing person cases. Sometimes they end in a happy ending but sometimes they don’t.
When they don’t, it can get messy and emotionally draining. At least that’s what I heard.
I tapped my forefinger on the folder. “Okay, I’ll take the case.”
I pulled a contract out of my desk and handed her a pen. After going over my rate and her billing information, I labeled a folder with her name on it and placed the contract inside once she signed it.
The lights clicked off. Ruby smiled.
“I’ll call you with updates once a week for as long as it takes.”
Ruby nodded. “Thank you.” As she stood up the lights clicked on for a second before clicking off again.
When Ruby closed the door behind her, I banged on my lamp. The lights clicked on for an instant before shutting back off. That was the problem with living in my neighborhood. If I lived in a better neighborhood the grid wouldn’t cut off as much. Once upon a time when we could move freely between the human world and our world, people brought things back with them and engineered them to work here. Computers, phones, and appliances to name a few. For technology to work it has to be powered by magic.
My computer can be powered by my own magic but anything larger would be too draining.
“Maybe I should invest in a magic siphoning stone,” I said aloud. I placed Mrs. Stone’s file in my cabinet.
I would love to get one but they are expensive. They were good to have though. You put a little bit of your magic in it each day and you could use it to power anything you want. If you were extremely powerful you could power your whole house. It only worked if you had magic. A good one was more than my rent for both the apartment and my office. It was probably not going to happen. Not any time soon anyway.
I grabbed the folder Mrs. Stone had left, loc
ked my office door, and made my way to my apartment. My first stop would be the police department. Outside it smelled like food with a hint of rain. The rain hadn’t started yet but it was coming. The bus stop was about a block away from the building. I walked there and sat on the black bench that faced Mrs. Lin’s Takeout. A few customers were waiting outside for their food.
I opened my umbrella before the first drop could hit me. I looked around and saw two witches doing the same. It was only a light drizzle. Just in time for the rain, a light blue and white dragon walked down the street. Its tail whipped through the air over my head. People jumped back to get out of the way. Not out of fear. I mean if you’ve seen one dragon you’ve seen them all. It was more out of size. It was at least nine feet tall with a tail that slashed from side to side as it walked. If you got too close and something happened to you that was your dumbass.
I used to think transforming into a dragon would be incredible. I would love to fly and breathe fire and turn my enemies to ash and then roll around in it. Oh, to sleep on a bed of my enemies. I didn’t have enemies but I imagined it would be an incredible feeling.
But now that I’m older, I feel like if you had the option of transforming and staying in your human form then why not? At least in public. There were some restaurants that wouldn’t let you in if you looked more creature than human. Werewolves, dragons, firebirds, and fauns, and so on. But that was mostly in the ritzy areas.
When the bus arrived, I hopped on with four other passengers. WYNTG buses were white and red with red seats and no wheels. The bus driver was at the wheel to steer the bus in the right direction. Speed was controlled by a lever that determined how much magic to feed into the engine.
After the first stop, the bus sped away. A car stopped short in front of us, but the bus tilted up. It hovered in the air over the car until it moved. After five more stops, a scenic tour of downtown, two dragon sightings, and a water elemental down by the river, we finally got to my stop.
Witch Hunt Page 2