by Shaw, J. D.
Once back inside the vehicle, and with her cell phone safely in her possession, she was surprised to see that she had missed a call. She pulled up the recent caller display and discovered the last one had been from Kathy’s store. Her phone beeped twice, indicating she also had a voicemail waiting for her attention.
She turned the ignition on and let the heat from the vents warm her for a moment before hitting the road. She put in the pin number for her voicemail and listened to Kathy’s message.
“Vivienne, it’s me again. I know it’s asking a big favor, but could you have Joshua come over to the store and maybe look things over with his eyes? I don’t think that rookie guy did a very thorough job, especially after you mentioned how the safe wasn’t even touched.” Kathy’s voice crackled from the cell phone speaker. “It doesn’t have to be today…” There was an ominous pause followed by a loud thud. “Hello? Is someone there?” Kathy asked. “Hello?” There was another thud followed by Kathy’s scream and then the voicemail ended.
Vivienne nearly dropped the phone. “Kathy?” She yelled without thinking and then dialed the Sheriff’s office. It seemed to take forever before her call was answered. “Yes, this is Vivienne Finch. I need you to send a car to Trade Winds Clothier on Main Street right away.”
“We have already sent a car there earlier Ms. Finch.” The dispatch officer replied.
“No, not about that.” Vivienne nearly screamed. “My friend just called me and it sounded like something happened to her. I think she may have been attacked inside her store just now.”
“Trade Winds Clothier on Main Street?” The dispatcher asked again.
“Yes.” Vivienne put the Jeep into drive and sped away. “Her name is Kathy Saunders and she is the owner of the shop. I’m on my way right now.”
“Ms. Finch that might not be a good idea.” The dispatch officer started to argue. “You should remain on the line until the authorities arrive.”
Vivienne ended the call and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat. She had no time to get into a debate whether or not her going to check on Kathy was a good idea. She nearly took out a corner sign as she swerved the Jeep at high speed, unfamiliar with the extra weight that her smaller vehicle did not have. “Keep it together, girl.” She spoke to herself as she headed for Kathy’s store. “You’re no use to anyone dead.”
The cell phone rang and Vivienne grabbed it. She saw Kathy’s name on the caller display and her heart leapt. She slowed down and answered the call. “I called the police thinking you were in trouble.” Vivienne explained.
“Oh, Vivienne thank God it’s you!” Kathy’s voice was shaky. “I was in the stockroom looking to see if anything else was stolen when I tripped over something.”
Vivienne did not slow her speed. She turned onto Main Street and headed for Trade Winds Clothier. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” Kathy’s voice wavered. “But, I think the guy on the floor is hurt pretty bad. He’s bleeding all over the place.”
“The police are on the way.” Vivienne tried to reassure her.
“It gets worse.” Kathy continued. “Vivienne, I think the guy in my stockroom is Joshua’s brother.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Vivienne had beaten the police to Trade Winds Clothier and rushed inside as fast as she could. “Where are you?” She called out.
“Back here.” Kathy called out from the rear stockroom.
Vivienne rushed past the racks of clothing, propelled with a mixture of fear and adrenaline. Once inside the stockroom, she found Kathy kneeling on the floor with a tall man lying motionless at her side. She had taken some pastel-colored tee shirts from one of the boxes of spring inventory and draped them over his chest, where maroon-red blood soaked through and produced a gory pattern that almost looked like something framed in a modern art show.
“Oh, Vivienne. He looks bad.” Kathy looked up at her.
Vivienne rushed over to her side to get a better look. She had hoped that Kathy was wrong about the identity of the man in her stockroom, but there was no mistaking him. It was Hunter Arkins. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Kathy draped another shirt over Hunter. “I think he’s been stabbed.”
Vivienne knelt down next to her. “Hunter? Can you hear me?” She asked.
There was no response from him.
Vivienne put her fingers on his neck and felt for a pulse. She was relieved to find one. “He’s still alive.”
The sound of sirens echoed from out front. “The police are here.” Relief washed over Kathy’s face.
“You go and bring them back. I’ll stay here with Hunter.” Vivienne instructed.
“Yes.” Kathy jumped up from the floor, happy to have Vivienne assuming control of the chaos around her. “I’ll go get them.” She ran into the store’s retail floor space to meet the police.
Vivienne pulled the bloody shirts and jacket off of Hunter’s chest and saw several deep stab wounds. Given the massive amount of blood that had pooled on the floor beneath him, she knew he didn’t have long. There was a gurgling sound as a trickle of blood rolled out of his mouth.
He was hovering in the gray area between life and death. It had been the tingle in her fingertips as she passed her hands over his clammy skin that told her all she needed to know. Over the past few months, during the course of her studies deeper into the healing arts of Witchcraft, she had learned that the spirit had a vibratory energy that was unmistakable. The faster the vibration, the closer to death. It was as if the spirit were idling up an internal engine that would propel it into the afterlife. As Vivienne concentrated on calming his spiritual energy, her thoughts drifted back to ordinary people who had experienced near death experiences. How they would report that this vibratory sound was not unlike what one expected to hear from a chorus of angels singing. Given what she felt at the moment, Hunter’s spirit was mere moments away from leaving his body forever.
With time running out, she had no choice but to cast a healing spell without the added protection of casting a proper circle beforehand. Removing the blood soaked shirts from his chest, she quickly paced around his body extending her right, or protective hand as it was known in her grimoire, to draw the power she hoped would create at least a basic energy field. With little time to spare, she knelt down and placed her hands upon his wounds. “I call upon the powers of the East, the bringer of dawn, to guide Hunter’s spirit away from the netherworld. Illuminate the path that returns to hearth, home, and family.”
A sudden burst of wind erupted in the stock room, slamming the door to the stockroom closed with a loud thud.
Vivienne thought back to what she had been studying in the grimoire. There were many healing spells at her disposal, but she feared none of them were strong enough to fix everything at once. Her only attempt at restoring life had been with a squirrel she had witnessed getting struck by a car a few weeks ago outside her home. Cradling the poor creature in her hands, she had somehow managed to make a minor mending spell work which healed the creature’s wounds. Startled back to life, it scampered away into a nearby tree without blinking an eye at the little miracle that had just taken place. Here, in the Trade Winds Clothier’s stockroom, she would have to improvise once again. “I call upon the forces of primal chaos present within this town to empower my hands to close his wounds with a touch. So be it, so mote it be.” She chanted.
The fluorescent bulbs in the lights above the stockroom dimmed and then flashed blindingly-bright as Vivienne felt her hands grow warmer. Her fingertips danced with a primal electricity, glowing amber as healing energy transferred directly into the wounds of Hunter Arkins. The jagged edges of the wounds in his flesh pulled together, blood rolling upwards against the force of gravity back into his body with a slight sucking sound.
Hunter’s eyes fluttered as the spell reached its zenith, revealing a glimpse of only white. With awkward movements, his body twitched, arms and legs flailing wildly as his spirit once more secured itself within his body.
Vivienne released her grip. For a brief moment, she thought she saw the ghostly image of Hunter’s spirit hovering prone just above him, almost looking like a double-exposure photograph. The overhead lights faded back down to their normal level as the spell completed. The wind died away, leaving the two of them together in a peaceful moment of tranquility.
Hunter gasped and the pupils of his eyes were once again visible. He turned his head toward Vivienne and tried to speak, but his voice failed.
The door of the stockroom flew open as two police officers ran in with Kathy behind them. “What’s going on in here?” One of them asked.
Vivienne pointed to Hunter. “He’s been injured.”
Kathy stopped in her tracks. “He was stabbed several times.” She looked again at Hunter who now sported only a few superficial looking scrapes along a well-muscled and quite hairy chest “I could have sworn that he had stab wounds.”
Vivienne pointed to the tee shirts which still had some blood on them. “The wounds weren’t as bad as we thought once I cleaned the blood off them.” She felt sorry for making Kathy feel as if she were losing her mind, but it was small price to pay for saving Hunter. “Sometimes the smallest scrapes gush like geysers in Yellowstone Park.”
Hunter cleared his throat and found his voice, although it was still quite raspy. “I saw two men sort of hanging around and checking out the back door to your store here.”
“What men?” Kathy asked.
Hunter pulled himself up to a sitting position with Vivienne’s help. “I didn’t get a very good look at them. They were wearing dark hoodies that they pulled up around their heads.”
“Dark hoodies?” Vivienne was intrigued. For a brief moment, she recalled Pastor Kilpatrick’s memories of walking along the shore of the lake the morning Father William was murdered and seeing an individual who matched that description. “You’re sure about that?”
“I’m positive.” Hunter replied.
“How did you get inside this store?” The taller of the two officers asked him.
“I watched them use a key and open the back door and I followed them in. I thought that I could sneak up on them but they must have seen me. Next thing I know, I was fighting off a pair of knives that were coming at me.” Hunter explained.
“Who are you exactly?” The taller officer asked him.
“She knows me.” Hunter pointed to Vivienne.
Vivienne nodded. “He’s Hunter Arkins.”
“Deputy Arkins brother?” The shorter officer asked.
“That’s me.” Hunter nodded back in confirmation. “I’ve been tracking these guys for months.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I’m a professional bounty hunter, licensed to operate within the state of New York.” With a quick flip through his wallet, he produced the documentation for the officers to scrutinize.
“May I see that please?” The taller officer snagged it away from Hunter.
Kathy looked at Vivienne in disbelief. “What has all this have to do with my store?”
Hunter looked at the officers. “I don’t know exactly.” He groaned as he tried to rise from the floor.
Vivienne assisted him to his feet. “Easy now.” Her eyes locked onto a white plastic box that was mounted on the wall nearest the sales floor. “Is that a first aid kit?”
Kathy nodded. “Yes it is.”
Vivienne scurried over to it. “I’m just going to get some antibiotic ointment and some bandages to cover the wounds.”
“Ma’am, did you notice anything missing from your business?” The shorter officer asked.
Kathy was really beginning to hate all the men referring to her as ‘ma’am’. “Just for once, do you think you guys could call me Miss?” She glared back at the officers.
“I’m sorry, Miss Saunders.” The shorter officer replied as his cheeks reddened.
“Thank you. And to answer your previous question, I have had some items stolen today.” Kathy replied. “Officer Drexler was here earlier investigating that incident.”
Vivienne returned to Hunter to patch him up. “This won’t hurt a bit.” She smiled at him and squirted some ointment on the wounds which were already sealed over.
“Has anything else been stolen this time?” The shorter officer asked.
“No. Everything appears to be okay.” Kathy gave a quick glance around the stockroom. “Do you really think the same people who broke in earlier returned again?”
“That would be most unusual.” The taller officer replied as he took notes on a small writing pad. “But, we will look at all the evidence very closely.”
Vivienne put some adhesive strips over the wounds. “Now, these are going to hurt like crazy when you pull them off that hair of yours.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Hunter chuckled.
“Would you like to press charges against this man for trespassing?” The shorter officer asked her.
Kathy waved her hands. “No. If anything, I’d say that he was acting like a real hero to keep me safe from harm.”
Hunter gave her a little smile. “Thank you.”
“Mister Arkins, it would be helpful if you could come with us and give us a description of the men you witnessed entering Miss Saunder’s business.” The taller officer handed him his license back. “Would you be willing to do that?”
“I didn’t see that much. But I’ll tell you what I can.” Hunter agreed. “Just one thing, my tee shirt got sort of torn up during the attack. Do you have something I could wear out?” He looked at Kathy.
Kathy couldn’t help but admire the outlines of the muscles on his chest. He wasn’t over-blown looking like the gym rats that trained non-stop. His frame was quite natural looking, just defined in a way that was pleasing to the eye. She dug around some of the boxes of stock and handed him a basic white tee-shirt that looked like it would fit. “Try this.”
Hunter slipped it on and was pleased to see it fit him like a glove. “Thank you again. I’ll come back later and pay you for everything.”
‘I’m just glad that you’re okay.” Kathy smiled back.
“If there’s nothing more, we should go now.” The taller officer nodded.
“After you.” Hunter smiled.
Kathy looked at Vivienne. “Do we get to go too?”
Vivienne shrugged and looked at the officers. “Can we come along too?”
“It would be best if you left the investigating to the professionals.” The shorter officer replied.
Vivienne looked at Kathy. “I tried.”
“It’s my business since all this involves my business.” Kathy marched over to the shorter officer. “So, I’m coming along.”
“Fine.” The taller officer replied. “But only you.”
Vivienne nodded back to Kathy. “It’s probably better I not be seen down at the Sheriff’s office.”
“I’ll call you later.” Kathy smiled back. “Now let me lock up and let’s get to the bottom of this.”
Vivienne followed them outside and returned to Joshua’s Jeep. She had no way of letting him know that his brother was safe and sound. That was the downside to dating a werewolf. When things got hairy, everything was so much more complicated than it had to be.
She returned to her home, where Tommy and Sammy cat both greeted her with lots of curious meows and leg rubs. She sat down on the comfortable sofa and wrapped a large fleece blanket around herself as she enjoyed a moment of peaceful solitude. Even though it was still afternoon, she was tired. Casting the healing spell on Hunter left her feeling drained, as if she could curl up and sleep for two days.
Her eyes fluttered and then she drifted off for a much needed nap, with two cats flanking her on both sides as they kneaded the blanket with their paws. She could feel the soft warmth of the afternoon sun upon her face as she sank down deeper into the overstuffed cushions of the sofa.
She was jolted awake when the front door opened and Joshua and Hunter stepped inside, flipping the wall switch that turne
d on the overhead light. Vivienne squinted for a moment as the bright light blinded her. She put her hands up over her eyes. “Why didn’t you call?”
“Sorry, I didn’t need to.” Joshua answered as he closed the door. “Hunter found me and gave me a ride back.”
Vivienne’s eyes adjusted to the light and she lowered her hands. “Nice to see you again.”
“Likewise.” Hunter spoke up as he looked around the room. “This is a nice place.”
Joshua hung up his coat on the wall rack and placed Hunter’s next to his. “We figured you needed the rest after what happened today.”
Vivienne forced herself off the sofa, leaving the cats alone with the warm blanket. “Yes, that spell really sapped the energy out of me.”
Joshua walked over and wrapped his arms around her. “I can’t thank you enough for saving my little brother.”
Vivienne embraced him back. “You don’t need to thank me.”
“Yes, I do.” Joshua squeezed her tighter.
Hunter stepped a little closer to them both. “I would have died if you hadn’t cast that spell to heal me up.”
Vivienne, now released from Joshua’s embrace and fully awake, turned on one of the table lamps. “I’m glad I could help.”
“I told Hunter he could move into my house for the time being.” Joshua informed her. “After all, I pretty much live here already.”
Vivienne nodded. “That makes sense.”
“I told him that he could stay for dinner. He hasn’t had a home-cooked meal in quite a while.” Joshua cast a wary eye on his younger brother. “He needs to keep his strength up after his close call.”
“Sure. I’ll go pull something out of the fridge.” Vivienne replied.
“I’ll do that.” Joshua smiled. “You just take it easy tonight and rest up.”
“I don’t think I have that much in the fridge to even make a decent dinner.” Vivienne worried. “I meant to go to the Monarch Grocery but kept getting distracted.”
“How does delivered pizza sound?” Hunter asked.
Vivienne had to admit that delivery and paper plates sounded just about perfect. “Like heaven.”