The Phantom Queen

by Yasmine Galenorn

  The meeting went south from there. There was a lot of talk about the zombie, and who the necromancer could be, and whether he had any ties to the Whisper Hollow area. For myself, I sat back, staring at the table. It’d been a long day, and all I wanted to do was go home and fall into bed.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Peggin and Deev decided to come home with us and by the time we got there, it was snowing so hard that it was difficult to see and the windshield wipers weren’t doing their job.

  On the way home, I asked Bryan if I could meet Juliana tomorrow. “It’s not that I don’t want to meet her, but I’m wiped out. I’m overwhelmed with everything. I know that finding the serial killer isn’t really my job, but I feel an odd sense of responsibility, like I should be able to help more. Everybody seems to feel that I should be able to find out more about him by talking to the spirits. And I can’t.”

  I was feeling a little fragile, like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.

  Bryan handed me his phone. “Punch in hashtag three. That will bring Juliana up on speed dial. Press the speaker button, if you would. I need both hands to navigate the ice.”

  I did as he asked. Juliana came on the line.

  “Hello? What’s up, Dad?”

  “Hi, I’m on speaker. Kerris and I are headed home, but we’ve had one hell of a day. Do you mind just joining us for breakfast?”

  “No problem. I’ve got a show I want to binge watch on Netflix anyway. Hi, Kerris!” Her cheery voice made me wonder if I was overreacting.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” I said. “I’m just exhausted.”

  “Of course I don’t mind. As I just told Dad, I’m all settled over here with popcorn and Netflix and I found a package of Oreos. I’m good.” With a cheery good-bye, she hung up.

  “Thank you,” I said, leaning back against my seat. “Boy, it’s really coming down out there. I haven’t looked at the weather report for a few days. When’s it supposed to ease up?”

  “Check the weather app,” Bryan said. “Again, I’m sorry I wasn’t here today. The zombie could have killed you.”

  “Puck intervened. He did his best to help out. He’s really a nice fellow,” I added.

  “Yes he is, but don’t you get any ideas,” Bryan said, but he was smiling.

  I shook my head. “Trust me, I won’t.” I checked the weather app and grimaced. “Strong winds coming in, and another heavy band of snow. It looks like we’re in the midst of an arctic front. We better make sure we have enough batteries for the candles.” Although I loved regular candles, I kept the battery-operated ones around because my cats were all too curious about the flames. “I’m grateful I have a gas fireplace,” I added.

  “I should call Juliana and tell her to make sure that there’s wood inside for the fireplace. I do have a generator, so if the power goes out we can always go over to my place and take the cats.”

  “Oh!” I said, suddenly remembering. “To add to the chaos, I found the mama kitty and the other kittens today. They’re all in the bathroom with Frost.”

  “Frost?”

  “I named the kitten. I’m keeping him.” I paused, biting my lip. “You wouldn’t want a mama kitty and three babies, would you?”

  “You do realize once we move in together, we’d have eight cats, don’t you?”

  I shrugged. “Blended families are where it’s at now.”

  “Oh for… I’ll think about it,” Bryan said, a grin on his face. “Is she friendly?”

  “I’m not sure, but I was able to catch her. She’s a tiny thing, barely old enough to have kittens herself. Poor baby. I’d like to take them all to the vet tomorrow if we can get out of the driveway. And by the way, Frost checked out just fine. He’s had his first shots as well. I’m just hoping that mama and the others don’t have anything, because I put them all in the bathroom with him.”

  By that time we had eased into my driveway. Deev and Peggin were close behind us. They parked next to Bryan’s car. We all headed toward the door, and once again I jumped when Trecht stepped out of the shadows.

  “You startled the hell out of me,” I said.

  Truck shrugged. “Well, I suppose that’s par for the course. I was wondering what you wanted me to do tonight.”

  I sighed, then shook my head. “Come on in and we’ll discuss it. Actually, I have some news that Veronica might want to hear.”

  When we were all inside, I shrugged out of my coat and boots and turned up the heat. I was chilly, and all I wanted was something hot to eat. Like soup. I headed into the kitchen and pulled out three cans of chicken noodle soup. Peggin followed, and when she saw what I was doing she found a large saucepan in the cupboard and set it down next to me. Without asking, she brought out a loaf of French bread and split it open and buttered it as I emptied the soup into the pan. I set the pan to heat on the stove as she slid the loaf into the oven. Bryan and Deev set the table.

  Trecht watched us move in silent unison. After a moment he said, “The four of you seem to have developed a hive mind. It’s been so long since I was alive that I find the living fascinating at times, like a scientific study.”

  I realize that he was right. The four of us did work as a team, and I put it down to being such good friends. But even that didn’t seem to explain it.

  “Listen, a zombie attacked me today. Do you know what zombies are?” I asked him.

  “Unfortunately, I do. That is news I’m sure Veronica will want to know. Where did you find it?”

  “Bryan, will you show him on the map? Trecht, I know that Puck looked through his thicket today, but there are places he might not have been able to see or find. Would you see if there are any more zombies running around the woods there?”

  “Did you find out anymore about the lair that I found last night?”

  “Yeah, but it didn’t offer us many leads, unfortunately.”

  “All right. I’ll check on the new section of woodland tonight. I’m also going to return to Veronica and tell her about the zombie.” Trecht eyed the spread of food that we were placing on the table. “I’ve been around a long time. I’ve watched civilization rise out of the dirt and mud. While I don’t admire a great deal about your society, one thing I think I would have loved to experience was being able to have ready food at hand. And warmth other than sitting around a bonfire or fireplace.”

  I had gotten the feeling that Trecht didn’t admire anything about our civilization or the modern age, so it surprised me to hear him say that.

  “Go ahead, head out now. Come back if you find anything. We’ll be up for a little while.” I didn’t feel like sitting down to eat while Trecht was standing there staring at us.

  With a faint grin, he gave me a half-assed salute and headed out the door.

  I sat back in my chair, breathing easier. “I know he’s on our side, but he still gives me the fucking creeps.”

  “Me too,” Peggin said. She began to ladle out the soup in our bowls. Bryan tore off chunks of the bread, handing it around. As we began to eat, I felt myself relax for the first time all day.

  After a few minutes, Peggin spoke up again. “I’ve been doing research on the Soul Collector. I found a few things, but nothing strong enough to bring up at the meeting tonight. After we’re done, if you’d like, I’ll show you what I found out.”

  “Might as well. I don’t think you two should drive home tonight. It’s icing up out there, and even the short distance to your house could be dangerous.” I paused. “Does anyone know how Ellia got home tonight?”

  “I think Oriel drove her,” Bryan said. “I saw them leave together.”

  After we ate, Peggin pulled out her laptop and plugged it in. As she brought up her notes, Bryan helped me clear the dishes. When we gathered back at the table, I made sure to bring my notebook. I liked writing things down—it helped me remember them better.

  “All right, I looked up every reference I could find about the Soul Collector, weeding out novels and movies. That still left quite a s
ubsection of references. I decided to add in parameters, so I added references to serial killers, murderers, and necromancers. For the hell of it, I also added grave robbers, and now I’m glad I did because of the zombie. I ended up with a good handful of links.”

  I admired Peggin’s abilities with the computer. She knew her way around a keyboard, that was for sure.

  “I still haven’t sifted through all of them but I began with the ones that seemed the most relevant. It seems that in five different states, someone has made a link between a serial killer and a necromancer they call the Soul Collector. While I’m not assuming he’s the same as ours, it stands to reason that there’s probably a connection. Then I checked dates. The most recent mention was made seven months ago in Oregon. Four girls were murdered in a small town down there.”

  “Girls?”

  “Teens. Also, there happens to be a spirit shaman in the town. Her name is Tara Beth Knightwalker and she’s been the spirit shaman in Glen Harbor for fifteen years. She took over from her mother. Annabelle Knightwalker broke her hip when she was sixty-nine, and she handed over the reins to her daughter. Annabelle is now eighty-four, and her daughter is fifty-two.”

  Even though I knew there were other spirit shamans, I had never met one outside of my own family. I had a sudden urge to call Tara Beth and introduce myself. It might be advantageous if we met, or at least spoke on the phone.

  I had a sudden vision of creating a network of spirit shamans all around the country, so when we encountered a problem we could have someone else to talk to. It also occurred to me that I might be able to learn some of the knowledge I missed out on from not training with Grandma Lila.

  I turned my attention back to Peggin. “What else does it say?”

  “All the girls were in the sixteen- to seventeen-year-old range. And they were all sexually assaulted after death. The sheriff of Glen Harbor told the local news they were searching for a serial killer who went by the name of the Soul Collector. She said she had been working in conjunction with the spirit shaman. They put out an APB on a man whose description matches the one you gave us tonight at the meeting. I saved the image of the sketch.” Peggin turned the computer so we could all see it.

  And there he was. The man in the sketch matched the description that Rosemary and Emmet had given me, down to the scar on his face. I knew instantly that was who we were looking for.

  “Forward this to Sophia. She needs to see it. That’s him. I can feel it in my bones.” I stared at the face, feeling oddly connected to the energy behind it. It was hungry, greedy, and grasping and thirsty for blood. The Soul Collector craved power over others, and he viewed the world of the dead as his playground, I knew it.

  “I want to talk to Tara Beth. I want to ask her whether they ever managed to find him. I doubt it, given he’s up here but…” I said, gathering my thoughts.

  Peggin scan through the article, then shook her head. “No, I don’t think they caught him. Let me do a search on this news site.” Moments later, she shook her head again. “There’s no further mention of him. And there’s no further mention of any more victims. It looks like the girls were killed over a three-month period and then the killings stopped.”

  “What about before that? Can you trace him further back?” Bryan asked.

  Peggin tapped away the keys, then said, “I sent Sophia the sketch and the link to the article. The most recent mention of him before that took place…around eighteen months ago. And this one is on a forum board. A forum board about necromancy, actually. And all I see is a single post starting a new thread on the boards. It says, ‘It looks like the Soul Collector has popped up again. Arizona this time.’ But there are no replies and there’s nothing else on the boards about it. Let me check the Arizona new sites to see if I can find anything mentioning a serial killer around a year and half ago.” She glanced at me. “Can you make me a mocha?”

  “Sure,” I said. As I headed over to the machine, I said, “If you can find me a phone number for Tara Beth Knightwalker, I’d appreciate it.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem,” Peggin said.

  Deev stretched out his legs, leaning back in his chair. “Do you think the FBI knows about this character? If he’s killing from state to state, shouldn’t they be involved?”

  “You would think so, but who knows?” I fired up the machine. “Anybody besides Peggin and me want caffeine?”

  Neither Bryan nor Deev wanted any, so while I made mocha for Peggin and me, she clicked through link after link.

  “All I can find in Arizona is that in a suburb of Phoenix, little over a year and a half ago, five teens were murdered within two weeks’ time. Four girls and one boy. The boy was hanging out with one of the girls, so it seems like a similar case to Rosemary and Emmet. The cops were totally stymied, and the killing stopped abruptly. All five murders are still unsolved.”

  “So eighteen months ago, he was in Arizona. Seven months ago he was in Glen Harbor, Oregon. Now he’s in Whisper Hollow. It looks like he made his way west, up the coastline. I wonder… Can you search for multiple murders of teenagers along the Southeast from about three years ago to a year and a half ago?” If he was following the coastline, and moving from east to west, there should be something indicating his presence in the Southeast before he landed in Arizona.

  “It will take me a while, but yes. I’ll start looking right now.” Peggin accepted the mug of mocha that I handed her and went back to her computer.

  I yawned, exhausted. But I didn’t want to go to bed yet. It seemed like we were onto something, and I wasn’t about to leave Peggin up late, working by herself.

  “I wonder if Gareth’s brother will help us?” Deev asked.

  “I didn’t even know Gareth had a brother until he mentioned it,” I said. “Bryan, do you know anything about Liam?”

  “Not really. Gareth said he lives out in the woods. If he’s anything like Gareth, and he’s willing to help us, then it will only help to have him on board.” He paused as my phone rang.

  I glanced at the caller ID. Sophia.

  “Hello?” I hoped she was just calling to thank me for the sketch that Peggin had sent her.

  “We have a problem,” Sophia said. “I think the Soul Collector’s struck again.”

  “Did you find another body?” I asked. The others froze, looking at me anxiously.

  “Not yet. But Arnica Jones, the fourteen-year-old daughter of the pharmacist who runs the Whisper Hollow Pharmacy, didn’t come home tonight. Arnica was studying with her friend Jen, and Jen’s father was supposed to bring her home. But apparently he had to work late, so Arnica decided to walk home on her own. She didn’t call her parents, and they thought she was still studying until around ten thirty. When they called over to Jen’s house, Jen told them that Arnica left at nine o’clock.”

  I glanced at the clock. It was eleven fifteen. “How long would it take her to walk home? Factoring in the snow?”

  Sophia’s voice was shaky. “Twenty minutes at the outside. That’s why Jen—Jenny Forge—wasn’t worried when Arnica told her she’d walk. Jenny’s mother wasn’t home or she would have given her a ride. Neither girl can drive yet.”

  “Where do Jenny and Arnica live?” I asked.

  “That’s the scary thing. Arnica lives on Plum Street, off the Mulberry Lane cul-de-sac. Jenny lives on Whipwillow Lane. She lives close to Snowstar Avenue, so Arnica headed in that direction. She would have had to pass the area where Snowstar Avenue forks off of Whipwillow Lane.”

  “But that’s not exactly over where the bodies were found. Snowstar Avenue East is across the bridge that goes over Juniper Creek.”

  “True, but the entire area around there could easily be his hunting ground. He’s not going to go hunting around the high school, because it’s more populated. It doesn’t really matter, though, because Arnica Jones is missing.”

  I sat there silent for a moment, thinking. “What do you want us to do? And did you get the sketch that Peggin sent you?” />
  “It just popped up on my email. I was at the Jones household and over at the Forge house, taking notes. As to what I want you to do, I have no idea. I don’t know if there’s anything you can do. But I felt you should know, especially after the zombie. By the way, the medical examiner figured out how Chester died—at least, the first time. Someone slit his throat. Whoever did it had to be stronger than he was, or Chester had to be drunk. At this point in time it’s impossible to tell what his blood alcohol levels were at the time of death. Especially since he ended up a human torch.”

  I cringed. Sometimes Sophia had a blunt way of putting things that made me queasy. I realized that, in her business, she couldn’t help but be direct. But even though I dealt with death every day, I still wasn’t used to how much the police and medical personnel had to disassociate themselves from the grim realities they dealt with every day. They had to in order to function, but it still felt cold to me.

  “So, he was murdered.”

  “Yes. I sent an officer out to track down Chester’s last known whereabouts. His wife said he left the house four nights ago after an argument. Two of his buddies over at Misty’s Bar & Grill said Chester had hung out with them for a while. He left the bar at eleven p.m. that night, and that was the last time anybody saw him alive. So he’s been dead since Monday night as far as we can tell.”

  “Where’s Misty’s Bar & Grill?”

  That’s the thing,” Sophia said. “It’s a little hole-in-the-wall joint on Huckleberry Way, in the general vicinity of where we found Nancy. Chester lives on Crow Man Drive. He was probably going to walk home, given his wife wouldn’t let him drive when he went out to drink. Or maybe he thought he could catch a ride home with a friend. But nobody was driving that night, and so he left on foot, planning on taking a ‘winter wonderland’ stroll, as he put it.”

  “Well, that’s the last stroll he ever took. So what happens next, regarding Arnica?”

  “I have teams searching for her. I have limited resources because I don’t dare send out officers on their own. I’ve called in search and rescue, on a voluntary basis, given the danger. They’re assembling teams right now. I don’t know if there’s anything you can do at this point, but if there is I’d appreciate any input. I don’t want to see another dead girl cross the morgue’s threshold.”