The Veiled Monarch

by Shae Bryant

  I secretly hoped that Catherine and I can avoid this case. I hated working on cases involving children. In my line of work, I don't see happy children often. The kids in my cases are distraught, traumatized and in need of help. I can handle adults in these situations. When kids are in these situations, it breaks my heart.

  I felt sick when Darius put a file on my desk, "We've had a nice break from the Iron Oath. Now, back to business."

  "I don't need to look at it. The poor kid was just on the news." I groaned, pushing the file away in hopes it would stay gone forever.

  "This is so sad." Catherine said, "Who would do that to a child?"

  "People who have no idea how to be parents." Darius huffed. "Let's find them and make sure they answer for it."

  I flipped through the file, checking the little information we had. We didn't have much more than the news reporter. The young girl was about four years old, found wandering in the Everglades by a group of friends. They took the girl to the Police immediately, and she was rushed to the hospital. Social services got involved right away. Now, it was our turn to investigate it.

  "Where do we start?" I flipped to what should have been another page, but it was the back of the file. "The Everglades? What do you want me to do? Talk to an alligator?"

  "Can you?" Catherine asked.

  "No."

  "Figure it out, Detectives." Darius walked out of the office to his desk, giving us both the signal to get the heck out of the department and onto the streets.

  When Darius sat down at his desk, Catherine slumped and let out an exasperated sigh, "Let's go talk to Child Services and find out what they have to say. Maybe we'll go to the Everglades after? I could have my first air boat ride."

  "You sure you don't want the air boat ride first, Catherine?" I chuckled.

  Darius cleared his throat with an insistent look at the both of us. Once he got our attention, he slapped his desk and pointed to the door. Catherine and I both reluctantly shuffled to the car. Neither of us wanted to take this case.

  We arrived at the hospital and showed our badges to reception. She called for the Child Services advocate to come and meet us. The woman walked briskly down the hallway from a room towards the end. When she reached us, she introduced herself.

  "Detectives? Sandy Lewis."

  Catherine and I both made the formal introductions, showing our badges to confirm our identity. We sat down in the waiting room of the Pediatric wing to speak about the case. Sandy told us what was already in our files.

  The Doctors who examined her confirmed that there were no signs of abuse. Catherine and I were thankful to hear that. However, she did show signs of severe neglect. She was malnourished, underdeveloped and covered in bug bites and scratches. No one had any idea how long the girl had been in The Everglades alone.

  I closed my eyes, hoping Catherine and I would be able to solve this so the child would find a family. "God...the poor thing. She isn't speaking at all?"

  Sandy shook her head, "We don't think she can speak, Detective. Right now she makes grunts and noises while reaching for the window."

  "Aww!" Catherine looked sad, "She wants to go outside."

  Sandy looked out the window, "She's going to have to wait, I'm afraid. She'll be taken to foster care once the Doctors release her. If she's feeling up to it, she can play outside at her new foster home. I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything else."

  "That's plenty for now. Thank you so much." Catherine stood up and shook Sandy's hand.

  We all three parted ways. Catherine and I had very little to work with. No family. No clues and a kid who couldn't talk. Our only other option was to check where the child was found in The Everglades and maybe we'd find something.

  As Catherine and I walked through the parking lot, a small tern flew towards us. It was whistling loudly and flying circles around anyone who came near it. When Catherine and I came near, the bird called out to me.

  "Lily? Lily!?" the bird was frantically searching for someone. When I looked up at her, the bird let out a shrill whistle of relief, and flew to my shoulder. "Have you seen Lily? Where is she!?"

  "Uh...hi?" I tilted my head at the little thing.

  "I didn't say anything." Catherine interrupted herself when she turned to talk to me. She pointed at me and the bird with her mouth open, "Is that...? Are you talking to a bird!?"

  "No Catherine. I'm talking to my imaginary friend." Maybe my sarcasm wasn't called for right then. "Yes. The bird is talking to me. Just a second."

  "This is weird." Catherine stared at me. I guess it did look strange to other people. To me, this was a normal occurrence. I talk to animals. This is part of what Druids do.

  "Lily? Who is Lily?" I asked the bird.

  The bird's head darted back and forth, "She is in there! I need to find her. Keep her safe! She isn't safe!"

  "Does she have brown hair to here? About so big?" I made some gestures to try to describe the girl who was the subject of our case.

  "Yes! Yes!" The bird chirped, "Fawn had me keep her safe! These walls are not safe! Are they? Fawn will be so worried if she isn't safe!"

  "She is fine." I reassured the bird, "Who is Fawn? Is she OK?"

  "No no. None of them are. Especially not Lily and her siblings. We must keep all of them safe!" She flapped her wings, levitating away from me. "Come! Come with me! You can help!"

  "Wait! I can't run as fast as you can fly. Where are you going?" I walked away from Catherine as fast as possible, trying to keep up with the bird.

  She hovered in the air, "Everglades! Come with me!"

  "Meet us at the entrance to the park!" I called to it, "Then take me where you need us to go!"

  Poor Catherine had no choice but to follow me when I sprinted to the car and got in. I pulled out of the parking lot quickly, rushing towards the entrance to the Everglades preserve. I got onto the highway and started to weave through other cars, dodging trucks and motorcyclists in an attempt to keep pace with the bird.

  "What are you doing!?" Catherine shouted, "You're driving like a maniac!"

  "What? We are in South Florida. I'm driving normal."

  Catherine ducked under the dashboard of my Jeep, "You went through three lanes of traffic!"

  "The exit is here!"

  "What is going on!?"

  I explained to Catherine what the bird had told me about the child and whoever this Fawn person was. Catherine had her doubts, but I did not. Animals didn't lie. They had no reason to lie. Humans lied because it was part of our nature. But animals? Their lives are so much simpler than ours. They tell things like they are.

  The only time an animal lies is if they are trained to lie. Which means it has to be domesticated in the first place. This bird was not domestic. It had no way to understand what a lie was. Whatever she told me was the truth.

  I have had so many cases where an animal was the one who solved it for me. Unfortunately, their word was not admissible in court. A Druid can't act as a translator for an animal, because they don't technically speak to anyone but us. To everyone else, they are just animals.

  When we arrived at the park, the bird told Catherine and I to follow her into the swamp. Which meant I had to rent an air boat. It wasn't exactly what Catherine had in mind for her first ride, but it would work.

  The bird took us miles away from civilization. Waving sawgrass, trees covered in Spanish moss and the occasional alligator replaced busy roads, houses and buildings. We stopped at a relatively dry area, surrounded by streams of dingy swamp water. Dry wasn't the best way to describe it. We were in the middle of The Everglades. Catherine and I both had to lift our feet high in the air to keep our shoes from sinking into the marshy soil.

  After a mile in, the bird asked us to wait, and she flew off, leaving both of us surrounded by reeds and fifty thousand biting mosquitoes.

  Catherine slapped one from her arm, "Ugh. This is like walking through the woods by my Grandpa's farm. Instead of poison ivy, it's bugs everywhere!"

 
I chuckled "Yep. Welcome to The Everglades."

  "Do you smell something?" She looked around the area, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

  I wrinkled my nose after I inhaled the sulfuric stench of a swamp. The breeze carried more of it into my nostrils and I coughed. But, I did notice the distinct scent of wood smoke.

  "I hope that isn't a wildfire." I was already getting ready to turn around and run. Being caught in an Everglades wildfire would spell certain death for both of us.

  The bird flew over to me, "No! Don't go! She's coming! Fawn is coming. Please! Just wait here a minute longer."

  "What?" I turned around.

  "I didn't say any..." Catherine saw the bird, "Oh. You're talking to the bird."

  "She said to wait here."

  Catherine slumped her shoulders, "Why not? We'll just be eaten by an alligator."

  "They're too small to eat us whole." I took the opportunity to tease her, "They might take our foot or something."

  "This is not helping me feel any better!" Catherine lamented.

  Directly ahead of us, we heard someone walking towards us. A petite woman parted the grass, staring at the both of us with a look of dread. She was one of the strangest people I had ever seen. Besides the fact she just walked from the middle of The Everglades, I mean.

  She probably would have been pretty if it was not for her horribly tangled hair, dirty skin and exhausted eyes. Her clothes were patches over patches. They had been fashioned to tie in different places, so they would stay on. If I were crazy, I would have thought she was in some strange hippie tribe that lived in a swamp.

  She spoke quietly, looking around her like someone was listening. "Which one of you spoke to Starling?"

  "I guess that's me." I stepped forward.

  The woman looked like someone had lifted a weight from her shoulders. She grasped my arms with a huge smile on her face. "Oh, thank God! I knew there were more out there. I knew it! The birds were right!"

  Catherine and I both exchanged a look between each other before I turned to the woman, "I'm Detective Escobar and this is Detective Kleyman. We're with the Miami-Dade Police. We can help you."

  Her relief turned to terror when I mentioned I was a Police Detective. The woman started to back away from me slowly, shielding her face with her arm. "No! No! Starling! They'll kill us! How could you bring them here!?"

  "Wait. We won't hurt you." Catherine quieted her voice, remembering training on how to deal with a traumatized victim. Be kind. Be disarming. Try to gain trust.

  "I... I can't believe this!" The woman dropped to the ground, lifting part of her shirt to cover her face. "Starling brought the Police! You'll...!" She sucked in a sharp breath, looking at both of us with a tear streaked face, "But...the birds were right about you coming. Maybe? Maybe you might help?"

  "We won't let anyone hurt you." I promised her, trying to offer my hand, "Do you need help? You can tell us what's wrong."

  She started to cry again, trying to convince herself that we were safe. "I've known since I was a child. I think. I think I have. There's...so much I don't understand. I try to listen to the birds, but Lily...she had a chance. I had to give her a chance."

  Neither Catherine nor I could understand the woman's ranting. She was clearly distraught and trying to understand something. Obviously, she knew who Lily was. Both of us were sure she was the one the bird told us about.

  "Is your name Fawn?" Catherine asked.

  A few more tears trickled down her cheeks, "Yes. If Linden found out I was here, he'd beat me. I...had to be sure!"

  "Fawn." Catherine spoke with a delicate tone, kneeling down to take Fawn's hand, "We want to help you, but we have to ask questions first. Who would beat you?"

  "I can't tell you. I just needed to make sure she was safe! You must think I'm a terrible person!"

  Catherine shook her head, "No. We don't. We think you need help. Who is Linden?"

  Fawn wiped her eyes, "My husband. I'm his chief wife. I have to set an example."

  Chief wife. Husband. She was afraid of him. Given her appearance and how confused she was, there was only one answer for Fawn's behavior. This wasn't some strange hippie tribe of people. This was a cult of some sort.

  I had a very bad feeling about all of this. Every so often, people would find a group of Non Humans who had formed a cult around their beliefs. Usually, it was based on some old legend or story that had never been proven. Like any other cult, the leader was so charismatic and manipulative that people stayed. It often resulted in a nasty situation for everyone involved.

  "It's a cult." I said.

  "No no! It's a good place!" Fawn insisted, "It's...it was. I think. It wasn't what I wanted, but I needed it. I... I think I did!" She looked at the two of us with a completely bewildered expression, "Everything is so confusing! With the birds...and Lily...and... I need help."

  Catherine rubbed her arm and sat down next to her on the grass, "That's a big step, Fawn. We can help you. Why don't you tell us about Lily?"

  Fawn closed her eyes, "I was worried about Lily from the day she was born. All the children learn to speak from animals. Lily could not do it. Linden told me she wasn't one of us, but I refused to listen. I had to send her away and I begged him..." Fawn began to cry again, "I sent Starling with her to make sure she was safe."

  I was right. This was a cult of Druids who held deep-seated beliefs that they were the only ones who could truly commune with nature. Fawn had been brought here as a child by her parents. They have since passed away, but Fawn remained. She was likely forced into marriage with this Linden fellow. Judging from the bruises on her arms and legs, he had his own way of making them behave.

  Like any good cult leader, Linden wanted children. Fawn herself was a Mother of three. Lily was the oldest and she was not a Druid. Children who aren't Druids are sent out into the world to fend for themselves. Fawn and the rest of the group had all been lead to believe that the outside world hated them. We would rather kill them than help them.

  Fortunately, Fawn took the time to listen to the birds in The Everglades. They gave her a very different story of the outside world. One that gave her some hope for Lily. When Lily was finally sent off, Fawn made Starling go with her. Perhaps Starling could find someone who was willing to help.

  "How many of you are there?" Catherine asked.

  "Eleven. Five children with two on the way. Five wives and Linden." Fawn turned around, "I have to go. I can't be gone this long."

  I took her hand, "Fawn please. Don't go back. We can take you right now and get you some help. Then, we can come back for the others."

  "No!" Fawn pulled away from me, "I have a baby there. I can't leave him. Please....you're one of us, Raina. Come back. Help us. They'll listen to you!"

  Fawn turned and ran through the grass. We had lost her. There were only so many things you could do to convince a person to stay. Once they left, there was nothing else that could be done.

  Catherine and I watched her walk away. Our shoulders slumped in defeat and we started to trudge back to the air boat.

  "I don't know what to say." Catherine sighed.

  "We need help." I started to walk back towards the air boat.

  "Good!" Catherine smiled, "I'll call it in when we get back."

  I stopped her, "No. Not that kind of help. What we need is Vince."

  "Raina!" Catherine started to run after me, "Oh. Not again!"

  She didn't understand what it could do to these people if the Human authorities got involved. They would split families apart, put people in jail and force them into some sort of deprogramming that would do no good. That's the best case scenario. The worst case -- and most likely -- scenario is the Iron Oath catching wind of it. They would swoop in along with the Human authorities and half of these people would wind up missing.

  The last thing we needed was to call this in at the department. This was a Non Human problem. Non Humans needed to take care of it. We all had our strengths. If you needed so
meone roughed up, you went to the Werewolves. If you needed information, you went to the Druids. If you needed connections, you went to the Vampires.

  I needed connections. Which meant Miami Beach was my destination. Once again, I had a favor to ask of Vince Moretti, fully aware that eventually, he'd need some favors from me.

  Vince answered his door, letting Catherine and I both in. "Detectives. Is everything alright?" He covered his mouth with a snort, "You both reek of a swamp!"

  "We were in one most of the day." Catherine said.

  I wasted no time, "Vince. I need your help. Vampires have connections for things."

  He shut the door firmly behind us and stood in my way. I wasn't able to move any further in the house until Vince inspected me. Most people don't ask a Vampire to utilize their connections or money like that. Either I needed his help or I was stupid. He was trying to figure out which one it was.

  "Is this official business, Raina?"

  "Not yet."

  Vince lowered himself onto a chair, "Then I don't have an answer. Yet."

  The story of our day poured out of me while Vince listened. The change in his expression made it clear to me that he was as concerned as I was. It probably wasn't the first time he had dealt with a Non Human cult like this. When I explained how Fawn ran off, asking for me to come back, he understood my motive. I needed his help so I could infiltrate it. Then, I might be able to do something to help them.

  Just like at the department, I'd need some support. If Vince and his friends knew where I was, I'd have that. There would be little danger to me, because they could come in and get me out. All of this came at a risk to me, of course. The truth was, none of us knew what was inside of that place or what could happen to me when I got there. Still, the lives of ten Non Humans may be at stake.

  Vince called in the help of Louis Yang, requesting him to create a file for me. Louis produced a very good re-creation of a Police file. In fact, it was so good that it scared me a little. Even as a Detective, Louis' phony file would have fooled me unless I combed through it to find discrepancies. I was now Raina Escobar, Druid activist with a record of unlawful protests and disturbing the peace. A few made up newspaper photocopies were the icing on the cake.