by John O'Riley
“We need to call an ambulance. He’s dying,” Josephine announced.
“You’re wrong,” Morgan said.
“There’s some sort of spell that’s wreaking havoc on his body. He may not survive,” Josephine said.
She walked over to the phone and dialed 911. Once she finished with the call, she turned to find Morgan and Jennifer pointing their wands at Gary’s unconscious body. An emerald green luminescence spilled from the tips of their wands onto his body. Josephine recognized the energy configuration as a general regenerative enchantment. It wouldn’t be powerful enough to cure Gary but perhaps it would buy him some time.
“The spell must be a byproduct of the pertorqueo sententia enchantment. I wonder if it’s possible that the wizard who did this to him made a trap that would cause this to happen if he came too close to identifying him,” Josephine said musingly.
“That’s exactly what this is,” Morgan said.
“You knew what was happening when he wanted to stop, didn’t you?” Josephine said accusingly. “You forced him to continue anyway.”
“Yes, we did,” Morgan said. “We needed to find the truth. Unfortunately, he succumbed to the enchantment before he could uncover enough clues for us to identify the killer.”
“I didn’t realize how inhuman you are,” Josephine said with displeasure.
It sickened her to be in the room with Morgan and Jennifer knowing they harbored such disregard for someone’s life.
“We needed to stop the killer from taking more innocent lives,” Jennifer said passionately. “We were taking a risk by forcing him to hold the vision but in the end, it will help him to shake loose of the pertorqueo sententia enchantment faster. Instead of living with the vile influence of a serial killer in his mind for another two months, he may be free of it within days.”
“Or he may be dead in days thanks to you and Morgan,” Josephine said coolly.
“We did what had to be done. It’s a difficult and thankless job being an enforcer,” Jennifer said.
Vickie had remained silent and impassive during the entire exchange but she now shifted uncomfortably and cleared her throat softly.
“I think I’ll be going,” she said.
“You may go now but we might contact you later,” Morgan said.
“Okay,” Vickie said apprehensively.
Chapter 20
Morgan stood with his arms crossed over his chest in the hospital lobby radiating displeasure and impatience while Josephine sat nearby in one of the plastic chairs. Jennifer was seated beside Josephine leafing through a magazine with her foot tapping energetically in a most obnoxious and distracting way. Gary had been admitted to the emergency room over an hour ago. Josephine fervently hoped he’d recover from the ordeal he’d suffered at the hands of Morgan and Jennifer. She couldn’t believe the two enforcers could be so callous with someone’s well being. Josephine was harboring serious doubts about Gary’s recovery after so much time had gone by without receiving any news. If anything happened to him, she planned on making sure that Morgan and Jennifer would be held accountable for their actions.
Josephine reached down and grabbed one of the parts of the newspaper which had been broken down into sections. It was difficult to concentrate but as she leafed through the pages, she caught sight of an article focusing on Seattle, Washington. She was shocked to discover that the serial killer had demanded the enforcers vacate the premises surrounding the vortex and to leave it unguarded or many people would perish. Unfortunately, the enforcers had ignored the orders and over four hundred people had died in a spell unleashed at the point of the vortex including all but two of the enforcers who’d been guarding it. The MEA was now under investigation for incompetence and corruption.
“What are you reading?” Morgan demanded.
“The newspaper,” Josephine said.
Morgan snatched it from her and scowled at it. “This is utter nonsense. The MEA did everything they could to protect the people in Seattle from him.”
“But the MEA couldn’t protect them. The killer made a demand that the MEA ignored. As a result, many people died,” Josephine said defiantly. “How do you justify that decision?”
“We don’t negotiate with killers or terrorists,” Morgan said.
“I don’t think the government will see it that way,” Josephine said. “This is a terrible tragedy that could have easily been avoided.”
“We’re not going to give in to demands.”
“The enforcers could have left the vortex alone until they developed some system of protecting it without being detected or protecting the vortex from a distance. There were many alternatives that the MEA could have taken,” Josephine said.
“It’s easy for you to say,” Morgan said coldly. “You know something? I haven’t been completely candid with you. I’ve been using psychometry to pick up details about your life. I’ve been investigating you.”
Josephine stiffened and shot him a hostile look. “You’re supposed to be protecting me.”
“There’s a possibility of magical abuse going on. You may be breaking the law. You may be intentionally disabling your aequitas enchantment which makes you a liability to this country,” Morgan said in a chilling tone. “You need to be controlled and tamed. You need to become disciplined.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Josephine argued. “I haven’t done anything to jeopardize anyone’s lives.”
“You’re sidestepping the issue like you always do,” Morgan snapped. “I have reason to believe you have the ability to disable your aequitas enchantment at will. If this is true, you will need to enlist in the enforcement training camp.”
“I don’t want to do that. It isn’t necessary.”
“You may not have a choice. I’m going to perform a full investigation on your daily life and discover the truth,” Morgan said.
Josephine swallowed nervously and realized that he would discover her abilities. There was no hiding the truth from him. She would need to devise some way to avoid undergoing such an investigation or her life would be ruined. She became aware of the cold, predatory gaze that Morgan directed at her. She stiffened reflexively and glared at him.
“What is your problem?” Josephine said sharply.
“You’re my problem,” Morgan said snidely.
Josephine abruptly stood up which caused him to flinch. She took great pleasure in surprising him. Morgan brought up a dampening field in preparation of an attack but Josephine turned her back on him. She forced her thoughts back to the murder investigation and relentlessly reviewed the clues in her mind. She didn’t expect to uncover any revelations but it helped to tune Morgan out.
“Your little temper tantrum isn’t going to sway my decision,” Morgan taunted.
Josephine pointedly ignored him. She ruthlessly dredged up every shred of information she could remember about the serial killer. Abruptly, she made a horrifying realization and shivered as chills danced along her arms and back. Her eyes widened with alarm and she whirled to face Morgan who was still sneering at her.
“The killer got what he wanted,” she said softly.
“What?” Morgan said with confusion.
“The killer had a goal and he finally got it when he attacked Vickie,” Josephine said.
“He did?” Morgan asked.
“I never paid attention to how his mind felt in that particular way until now. It’s not something that would occur to me,” Josephine said.
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Morgan said moodily.
“The killer was working on an enchantment to increase magical strength. The murder victims were guinea pigs. He finally made a success with Vickie but thought he’d killed her. He probably didn’t realize until he’d read in the newspaper the following day that she’d survived the attack. At that point, he must have discovered that his enchantment was really a success. It just needed a little fine tuning and he did the next experiment on himself,” Josephine said swiftly and began pa
cing as the horror of what had occurred made her sick. “I have never really paid attention before when I read a crime scene but I get short periods of times where I feel the mind of the killer. The serial killer was definitely a lot weaker until after he’d attacked Vickie.”
“I think you’re right,” Morgan said with concern. “No wonder he’s been able to do more and more powerful enchantments. He probably experimented in Florida since it was so far from his home. Now that he’s so powerful, he feels safe.”
“He’s becoming more powerful every time he connects with the power vortex,” Josephine said with utter certainty. “He’s demonstrated an exponential increase in strength every time he’s tapped into it.”
“If we don’t stop him soon, he may become too powerful,” Morgan said.
“I think it’s already too late,” Jennifer said.
Morgan shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. He still needs access to the vortex to develop his abilities.”
“We need to report this to the MEA,” Jennifer said.
“I’ll make the call now,” Morgan said as he pulled out his cell phone.
He walked a short distance from them as he placed the call.
“That was good thinking,” Jennifer said.
“Thanks. I wish I would have thought of it sooner.”
“If you would have had more experience as an enforcer, I believe you may have,” Jennifer said.
“Wait a minute. You’re a category six so you should be able to read crime scenes just as well as I can,” Josephine said.
“No, I can’t read like that anymore,” Jennifer said regretfully.
“Why?” Josephine asked curiously.
Jennifer opened her mouth as a mixture of emotions danced across her face. First, hesitation and fear but then unexpectedly, rage burned in her eyes.
“After I was forced to participate in the enforcer training camp, I lost that ability,” she said bitterly. “I can’t tell you any more than that.”
Josephine shivered with apprehension at the murderous expression on the enforcer’s face. Abruptly, the raw emotions were gone and Jennifer’s typical unreadable yet intense expression returned.
“It would be best if you told no one about our discussion,” Jennifer said crisply.
“Of course,” Josephine said.
Morgan ended his call and returned to them.
“The MEA is very concerned. They feel by the killer’s behavior over time that Josephine’s theory is definitely correct,” Morgan said dourly. “We don’t have much time to stop him.”
“How powerful do you think he can become?” Jennifer asked.
“There’s no way to measure it,” Morgan said. “And if he reaches his potential, there will be no one around to do so.”
“Meaning what?” Jennifer asked.
“If you’ll remember, we’ve had category fives and sixes who’ve suffered through some sort of trauma or accident become more powerful. With the development of their new abilities, their minds lost touch with reality. In the end, they tried to access the power vortexes. One of them performed an enchantment that looked exactly like the one that Brenda had used to create the Disaster.”
“You think that’s what the killer will do?” Jennifer asked.
“He’s already manipulated the power vortex before. He’s experimenting. He’s liable to recreate the Disaster unintentionally as he loses his mind,” Morgan said.
“His mind never felt like it was deteriorating,” Josephine argued.
“You can’t really sense someone’s sanity through brief glimpses of their mind,” Morgan reminded her.
“That’s true,” Josephine said apprehensively.
“This is the first time anyone has successfully created an enchantment to increase one’s magical potential,” Morgan said.
“Too bad it’s a serial killer who’s made this achievement,” Jennifer said acidly.
“Once we’ve got him locked behind bars, we could learn a lot from him.”
“Excuse me?” Josephine said heatedly. “You can learn a lot from a serial killer? I hope you aren’t going to make any deals with him?”
“We can make a lot of development in the magical field by acquiring the knowledge he’s accumulated.” A mixture of greed and admiration colored Morgan’s words.
Josephine couldn’t believe her ears but didn’t want to provoke him either. She’d already done enough to irk him for one day. She glanced at Jennifer to gauge her reaction but she wore that same unreadable look that never seemed to change.
“Mr. McKinley?” a doctor had walked up to them without anyone noticing.
All three of them turned to give him their undivided attention.
“What’s Gary’s condition?” Morgan asked without preamble.
“It’s not good,” the doctor said. “He’s still in ICU but his condition is stable. We managed to remove the enchantment that was causing instability in his autonomous nervous system but the strain on his mind was serious. He’s unconscious and may fall into a coma.”
“What’s the condition of the pertorqueo sententia?” Morgan asked.
“It’s unstable and will probably dissipate in several days,” the doctor replied. “The patient isn’t going to wake up anytime soon. You should probably come back tomorrow afternoon.”
“All right, Doctor,” Morgan said.
“What are the chances he’ll recover from this?” Josephine asked before the doctor could turn and walk away.
“About fifty-fifty,” the doctor said.
Josephine cringed inside at the bad news. Of course, it could be much worse.
“If you’ll excuse me,” the doctor said.
“Of course,” Morgan said.
The doctor swiftly walked out of the room. Morgan turned to address Jennifer.
“It’s getting late. I’m going to call one of the nearby enforcers and have two of them keep watch at the hospital,” Morgan said. “You and I can leave with Josephine.”
That evening, Josephine had trouble falling asleep. Anxiety gnawed at the back of her mind even as she struggled to refrain from thinking about her ability to disable the aequitas enchantment and being forced to enlist in the enforcer training camp. Josephine tossed and turned until shortly after one in the morning. At that point, she decided it was ridiculous to just lay there. She got up and went to the kitchen to make some chamomile tea which would hopefully help her to relax. She flinched in surprise when she realized someone was seated in the dark in her dining room. Jennifer was perched on one of the chairs with her back straight and her intense blue eyes conveyed a bitter anger and vigilant alertness.
“What are you doing awake?” Josephine asked.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately,” Jennifer said quietly.
“Does Morgan?” Josephine asked.
“No,” Jennifer uttered the word as though she found it loathsome.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t talk about it.”
“Would you like some tea?” Josephine asked.
“Thank you. That would be nice.” Jennifer smiled politely but it didn’t change the rage that burned in her eyes.
Josephine prepared both mugs than set them in the microwave. She went to the dining room table and sat down across from Jennifer.
“So you’ve been having trouble sleeping lately,” Josephine said.
“Yes,” Jennifer said tightly.
“I’ve had the same problem.”
“I know.”
“Morgan seems determined to make my life a living hell,” Josephine said glumly.
“He’s intimidated by category six wizards. He knows he’ll never be able to reach their potential,” Jennifer said cautiously. “He wants them under control. He always suspects them of being rogues in some way. He’ll try to find proof that you can disable your aequitas enchantment. He’ll probably continue to visit your dreams. He’ll try to gather evidence with psychometry, too.”
“Going to the enfor
cer training camp won’t guarantee that I’m under control,” Josephine said defiantly.
“Yes, it will,” Jennifer said slowly as if choosing her words carefully. “Once you attend the training camp, you’ll never be the same.”
Her eyes flitted away from Josephine and stared off into space as though remembering something.
“What do you mean?” Josephine asked.
Jennifer flinched and gasped as though startled then her expression became impassive.
“I really can’t say any more,” Jennifer said calmly.
“Okay.”
The microwave beeped and Josephine went to retrieve their tea. When she returned to the dining room and handed Jennifer her mug, the enforcer offered a stressed smile.
“Thanks,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” Josephine murmured.
“I believe the serial killer is becoming too powerful. I don’t think anyone can stop him anymore. We weren’t able to prevent him from linking with the power vortex in Siesta Key and it looks like the MEA is incapable of preventing him from accessing the one in Seattle. In spite of their best efforts, the serial killer is repeatedly linking with the vortex,” Jennifer said.
“And he’s becoming stronger every time,” Josephine said.
“Yes,” Jennifer said. She cautiously sipped some of her tea. “I’m not sure what the killer intends to do once he’s acquired enough power to feel completely safe.”
“He’s been working on this goal for years,” Josephine said.
“Yes, that’s true,” Jennifer said. “With that type of personality, you would think he’d have other goals in mind.”
“Maybe career advancement and personal goals. Maybe he will just blend in with society,” Josephine said.
“No, he won’t do that. Sociopaths like him who have such utter disregard for human life will continue to find reasons to murder,” Jennifer said. “He won’t stop until he’s locked away or dead.”