“No, I’ve nothing to tell you, except I’ve never seen anything like this, so be careful, detective, you and your helpers,” Callahan replies curling his lip in disgust, before exiting the cave.
****
The first body is that of an old woman. She’d been propped up against a plank of wood, against the wall of the cave. Apparently wood plays an important factor in the killings. Like the previous victims, the old woman’s mouth is smiling a gruesome smile, with her intestines displayed around her. But unlike the other victims, the old woman’s hand is beckoning us further into the cave. Taking a closer look at the woman, I recognize her as the rude witch from my grandmother’s shop, the one who had wanted a revenge spell. What was her name again?
“I recognize her from Magick of Old.”
“You know her? What’s her name?” demands Kheda glad to have a lead.
“No, I don’t know her. I served her once in my grandmother’s shop,” I correct as I try to remember her name. “She was after a revenge spell, but I wouldn’t give her one, and her name was Mrs…Mrs. Hayes, I think.”
“Sounds about right,” agrees Jasmine, studying the corpse of the old woman. “It’s the smile that made me not recognize her at first.”
At this, Kheda and Victor stare at her, as if she has two heads.
“It’s why it took me a moment to recognize her, too,” I admit.
“Bloody hell, what an unflattering way to be remembered,” Kheda states with a disgusted snort.
“Look, at least we remember her, and we only met her once so give us a break,” I growl in annoyance. “But we did see her last night, at George Seabast the Fourth’s house,” I add in surprise. “Unless it was someone impersonating her, or she was killed straight afterwards.” I stare in befuddlement at the dead woman. We were gaining more questions than answers.
Ignoring me, Kheda withdraws a notebook from his pocket and writes in:
FIRST CORPSE: WITCH.
NAME: MRS. HAYES.
Peering over his shoulder I watch what he writes. With a snort I mutter, “Yes, so much more flattering.”
With a huff, he puts his notebook away and proceeds toward the next body. Once he has a clear view, he comes to an abrupt stop.
“Fucking hells bells, he was supposed to be away on a camping trip.”
“I gather you know him?” Jasmine quietly asks as she rests her hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah, I know him. He’s my cousin.”
In shock, we stare at the dead werewolf. I see the pain in his blue eyes and realize just how young the victim is, eighteen at most. His shaggy brown hair is artfully messed up. He must have taken ages each morning to get it just right. His young face was just beginning to show the promise of adulthood.
He was a handsome kid and would have broken a lot of hearts if he had lived long enough. His hand is also beckoning us deeper into the cave. A chill skitters its fingers down my back, as I take one last look at the young werewolf.
Slowly we leave Kheda’s cousin behind, as we proceed to the next corpse. Just around the bend we find a female werewolf. She looks about twenty-five, with big brown eyes and shoulder-length blond hair. Her face and breasts have been mutilated.
“I think the killer could be a woman.” I move closer to the dead woman and realize she was beautiful.
“Why do you say that?” A puzzled frown pulls across Victor’s forehead.
Turning to look at Victor I point to the dead woman, and in a calm voice reply, “Jealousy. What was done to this woman was done because the killer was jealous. She was beautiful, but the killer couldn’t leave it at taking this poor woman’s life. She had to destroy her beauty.”
Looking at the young woman, I shake my head. “Up until now I was assuming the killer was a man, but now I’m positive it’s a woman.” Going by the look of comprehension dawning on the others’ faces, they had been assuming the same thing.
Leaving the woman behind us, we carry on to the next corpse. What we find has us all staring in horror.
Bile rises in my mouth, which I force down with considerable effort. Before us, the two vampires and the last werewolf were laid out in lurid positions. All three have been stripped of every inch of clothing.
The female vampire lay on her back on top of a wooden board, her jaw forced wide open, her full lips pulled back over her elongated fangs. Her eyelids removed, so even in death she couldn’t block what was before her.
The male vampire knelt with his head between the female’s legs, his arms locked in a position to support his weight, his palms holding the female vampire’s hips. His eyelids had also been removed.
The male werewolf stood behind the male vampire. His eyelids had been removed, his hands secured onto the vampire’s hips. A strap around his waist is securing him to the vampire. All three of them share the same wooden board.
****
“Oh my God, this is really, really sick,” I whisper putting a shaking hand over my mouth. “How the hell did…Have they been…?” I gasp in shock as I notice bruises on the werewolf.
“What the fuck are you on about?” Kheda angrily demands. “Oh.” Realization dawns as Kheda follows my glance, and his face pales in shock.
I kneel down so I can have a better look at the male vampire and spot similar bruising on him, too.
Feeling even sicker than I had when I first saw them, I look for a source of water. A little further, I find the stream. I take a couple of minutes just to breath and get my heart rate under control, before I head back to the others.
I find them exactly where I had left them, all of them, looking pale and grim.
“Do any of you know them?” I quietly ask.
“No.”
“Do you want me to take pictures?” I finally ask, feeling sick at the thought.
Kheda closes his eyes and turns toward me with a disgusted look on his face until he realizes it is a job I would prefer not to do.
“Please, we need the pictures. This way we can study them away from the precinct, if necessary.”
Taking a minute to compose myself, I remove my camera from my pocket and start to take pictures. I systematically walk through the whole cave, starting at the stream and finishing at the mouth of the cave.
Once I develop the photos, I will be able to do a complete reconstruction of every wall, floor, and ceiling, as well as every angle of the corpses. If there is anything to find, we will find it. Once I’ve finished, I put away my camera, and we leave in complete silence.
****
“I need a shower, badly,” I murmur. The smell of fear and death cling to me in a slimy coating, with a horrible scent of glee, floating underneath it. I scan the crowd again this time looking for a female. I spot the nervous young woman from my grandmother’s shop, and she still looks nervous to my eyes. I continue scanning and spot some people from The Witches’ Brew and from random meetings in town. None of them stand out as a stark raving mad killer.
We leave quickly the way we’d come, I notice people regarding us curiously as we pass through the crime scene tape. Ignoring them, I hurry past and away from the caves as fast as I can, without bringing any further attention to myself.
Soon we leave the stench of death behind. Instead of going home, we walk farther into the park. Beautiful lush green grass rolls over the landscape, which is dotted with flowers and trees of all types. Ash, birch, and oak abound with a lot of rowan scattered among them.
Looking at all the rowan trees, I begin to have an idea of how the killer is preserving the dead vampires who should have disintegrated. Moving farther into the park, I head over to a more wooded area and find a group of about thirty rowan trees near a stream. I plod over to the stream and find a family of toads. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I go back to the rowan trees and search the branches.
“What are you looking for?” a frustrated Kheda demands as he watches me search the trees.
“Did you know the rowan tree is a magical tree?” I ask, as I carry
on with my search.
“Umm, I’m not sure. I think I might have heard fairy tales about the tree when I was a kid.” A frown of concentration furrows Kheda’s brow as he tries to remember what he’d heard.
Jasmine and Victor move closer so they won’t miss any of what is being said.
“Several of these trees have either branches or bark removed from them. The rowan tree is a very powerful magical tree. Wands are made from it, and it can be used to prevent bodies disintegrating, like the vampires we found. They must have drunk something with rowan bark in it, probably blood, or they have a part of the tree inside them somehow. There is a family of toads by the stream; they have toxins, dangerous toxins that cause muscle paralysis.”
At the three blank expressions, I spell out what I think happened to the victims. “The vampires most likely drank from the killer, who is using rowan in her food or drink, which would have prevented their bodies from disintegrating when she killed them. She would have used the tetrodotoxin from the toads to paralyze them, so they couldn’t move while she murdered them. They would have been aware of everything she did to them.”
“What kind of person could do such a thing?” Victor demands as he practically spits out his question. Angrily he starts pacing in the short space between the trees before coming to a stop in front of me. “Who could have done this? Who would have the knowledge to do this?”
Looking into his tormented eyes, I notice the anguished face of Kheda, who is most likely thinking of his young cousin, and finally Jasmine who looks just as pissed off as Victor. “I’m thinking a witch. Well, the knowledge is from a witch at the very least,” I amend.
“The thing is The Protectors would have the information on file. They’ve been killing for God knows how long, so the first witch would have given this information when they joined. But with the black magick ritual from earlier and the fact the human man was found in the witch’s woods, I still think it’s a witch doing these murders.”
I plop down on the wooded grass and lean my back against the rowan tree nearest me. I feel exhausted suddenly, physically and emotionally drained.
“There is one thing I don’t understand though,” I add feeling completely puzzled. “If they are paralyzed how is the male werewolf standing? Everyone else has always been leaning against something to keep them upright or in the male vampire’s case kneeling. I know he’s strapped to the vampire, but how are his legs able to support him?
“Kheda, can you get someone to find out if the werewolf has braces inside his legs. I don’t remember seeing any stitches, but if it’s a witch doing these killings, she could have easily healed his wounds so no one would notice.”
Removing his phone, Kheda phones in the question, while a distinctly green color tinges his face. With a gruff “Thanks, keep me posted,” he hangs up.
“I think you should all stay at my house until this case is solved. I’ve put wards up for protection, and the house itself protects and lets us know if anyone enters the land’s boundaries. Why don’t you get some clothing and anything else you might need and meet us back there?” I quietly ask Victor and Kheda.
Victor crouches in front of me, so he can make direct eye contact with me. I guess he doesn’t want to miss any reaction to his question. “Are you sure it’s wise? All of us being seen together could cause The Protectors to come after us next.”
“That’s just it; whoever killed them has seen us all together today at the crime scene. By rights the only one of us who should have been there was Kheda, but we went with him as part of his group. We are now all most likely on the killing list if we weren’t already,” I finish bluntly, making Kheda blanch white in shock, as he realizes the ramifications of his actions.
“Fucking hell, I’m sorry. I didn’t think of the killer being there when I asked you to come with me, though I should have, as murderers are known for revisiting the scene,” he stammers in mortification.
Placing a gentle hand on Kheda’s face, Jasmine smiles at him. “There’s no need to apologize, Kheda, we needed to go, and sooner or later, we all would be on the list.” With that statement she kisses Kheda, wrapping her arms around his neck until with a groan he pulls her closer and eagerly responds by plundering her mouth.
“So we stay at yours. What then?” Victor asks ignoring Jasmine and Kheda.
“I think…I don’t know, Victor.” Shaking my head as if to confirm my lack of knowledge. “But I do believe we need to stick together. Whoever the killer is they’re not who you would expect.
“She possibly managed to trick two vampires into drinking from her, but at the very least she managed to take them together somehow and talk three werewolves into going with her or meeting her somewhere she wouldn’t be disturbed. Paralyzed them and moved them to the cave. But she would have to have been someone the old witch knew and trusted.
“She was looking for a revenge spell, and she was mean, not someone who would trust easily, I don’t think. Though, mind you, she could have been easily caught unawares and just taken, more of an opportunity killing than a planned one.”
I feel I’m on the right track with this line of thinking. But who the hell is the killer, and how did they find the time to do all of the murders?
****
Kheda’s phone rings, interrupting my swirling thoughts. His silence speaks volumes, his face flushed a moment ago from kissing, drains away to a grayish color. In silence he hangs up, dragging a shaking hand through his hair. He looks at us with wide, shocked eyes. Shaking his head, he collects himself before telling us what the officer on the other end of the phone had told him.
“The werewolf had braces inserted in his legs to keep him standing. The female vampire had a wooden stake inside her with the end sticking out. The end was in the male vampire’s mouth.” Rubbing his face vigorously as if to wipe away the knowledge he had just received, Kheda looks at our shocked faces and shudders.
“When the male vampire was moved, he disintegrated. We have got to find the bitch who killed them,” he growls as anger rumbles up inside him, changing his face into a savage expression. “I’ll go get my stuff, and meet you all back at your house.” Grabbing Jasmine, he gives her a fierce kiss before stalking off.
“I’ll walk you out of the park, and then I’ll go and get my stuff.”
“No, get your stuff, there are two of us, so we’ll be the safest out of all of us,” I object.
With a stiff nod of acceptance, Victor kisses me then flits away.
“Why didn’t he fly off?”
“I don’t know, but I think we should hurry up and get home,” Jasmine replies giving me a gentle shove out of the trees.
In silent agreement, we instinctively take the long way around to try and avoid anyone who might be lurking about. Twenty minutes later, we exit the park and head to West Bridge and cross it. We hurry past the college campus and diner we ate in yesterday. Was it really only yesterday we rescued George and my grandmother’s demon impersonator? Blimey, time is either going slowly, or I needed a holiday! “I need a holiday,” I decide.
“Yeah, me, too,” Jasmine agrees with a disheartened sigh. “Or a drink. Actually, I’d settle for a drink right now until this mess is over, and then we can go on a sun holiday.”
On that thought, we stop at the supermarket, buy a bottle of whisky, a bottle of rum, a two-liter bottle of cola, a six-pack of lager, three pizzas, and a bag of chips. With our arms loaded, we get in line to wait our turn to pay.
“I’m serious, they were allowed into the cave,” a woman whispers loudly to the checkout assistant as she eyes us. “Why do you think that was, hmm?”
“I think you should stop your gossiping, Susan, is what I think,” the checkout assistant hisses back. With a huff, Susan pays for her shopping and storms off, but not before sending us another pointed glance.
With a shake of her head, the till operative serves the next couple of customers as quickly as she can, and finally it’s our turn.
“Don’t mind Su
san. She don’t mean no harm, but she is a terrible gossip,” Mary the till operative informs us as she puts our shopping through. “Just be careful, and try not to go out alone. You protected my aunt the other night in The Witches’ Brew, which is why I’m giving you a heads-up.”
“Thank you.” I pay for our shopping and a couple of bags, pack, and hurry home. Thankfully, we don’t meet anyone else. But the feeling of being watched is unmistakable.
Twenty minutes later, with a sense of relief I unlock the door, and we put away the shopping and bags.
Feeling contaminated from the twisted killings at the cave, as if some of their horror has seeped into me, I head upstairs to scrub myself clean. Once finished I switch off the shower, dry myself, and wrap the towel around me sarong style before exiting the bathroom.
I quickly dress, grab the airbed out of the cupboard, and go to my office where I already have a single bed made up for unexpected guests to sleep. I plug it in and collect my dirty clothes while it’s blowing up.
With a grimace, I bring my washing downstairs. Remembering to empty my pockets, I put the washing machine on a long wash. Collecting my wallet, phone, keys, and camera I put my keys away in the drawer in the hallway, go back upstairs, and load the photos onto my laptop. Once done I save them and head to my room. I do not want to look at those pictures tonight.
I make room on my dressing table so I have space for my laptop and printer. Once this is done, I collect them from my office and set them up. I quickly make the airbed. Once finished I slowly go downstairs and straight into the sitting room. Feeling exhausted, I sit down on the sofa and curl my legs up beneath me. A minute later, Jasmine, looking tired but refreshed after her shower, enters carrying two glasses of rum and soda. With a moan of satisfaction, I gratefully accept one from her, and take a large slurp from mine.
Double Magick in the Falls Page 14