by Harper Lin
“Told you,” Bea said to Aunt Astrid. “I knew when she didn’t finish that salad that something was wrong with her. Eating like a bird, that is not my cousin.”
“So is that a yes? You guys coming with?”
“I’m beat. I’m going to go to bed,” my aunt said, scratching the back of her head and heading toward the door.
“Sorry, cuz, you wore me out,” Bea added. “But tomorrow we have facials, mud baths, and hot springs.” She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“That sounds awesome,” I said, because it really did.
We said our good nights, but I was full of energy. I hadn’t felt this good in weeks. I welcomed the anger I felt toward that Prestwick house and swore if it were the last thing I did, someday, somehow I’d burn the whole thing to the ground. But right now wasn’t the time. I had more important issues to address.
I went down to the dining room. Waving over the waitress, I pointed to the late-night menu.
“Don’t you guys have any meat burgers?”
Good Old-Fashioned Murder
After a pretty satisfying black bean burger with sweet potato fries and a Green-Eyed Monster smoothie packed with kale, spinach, apple, banana, and pineapple, I returned to my room, hopped onto the bed, and snapped on the television.
Thankfully, I found one of my favorite guilty pleasures on: a really horribly acted crime show about detectives in New York who always picked the wrong guy as the culprit, interrogated him, told his wife, the papers, and anyone else who would listen, only to have to go back and say oops. Every episode they did this, and yet they still had their badges. How would that work in real life?
Happily, I pondered these thoughts, made really snide comments to the characters, and ordered an onion blossom from the all-night menu. I ate in bed and finally fell asleep…only to wake up two hours later in the middle of the night to the fire alarm going off.
“Aunt Astrid, any idea what this is all about?” I asked as I walked up to her and Bea in the parking lot. The spa staff had herded us all out there. Thankfully, it was cool but not cold, and the stretchy pajamas Bea had picked out for me were enough to keep out the chill. Both Bea and Astrid had managed to snag their robes before slipping out. I felt a little naked beside them.
“It’s not a fire, that’s for sure,” she said.
“Your psychic radar tell you that?” I asked.
“No. I don’t smell any smoke, though. Do you?”
I sniffed the air and shook my head, smiling.
“Me neither,” said Bea as she looked around. Three fire trucks came rumbling up the hill along with two squad cars and two ambulances. It looked like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Everyone moved back to give the first responders room to do their thing.
All the red and blue flashing lights turned the spa into a bizarre outdoor discotheque without the music. Trying to watch what was going on was like watching an anthill. There was too much movement for me to focus on any one spot for too long.
“They’re dead,” Aunt Astrid said in a whisper. “Sisters. They died in their room.”
“Of what?” Bea asked.
“I don’t know. Not yet.”
“Please let this be a good old-fashioned murder,” I mumbled. Bea and Aunt Astrid looked at me with hands on their hips.
“What? I’m not trying to be mean. I just would really like to enjoy those facials and mud baths tomorrow instead of searching out some interdimensional troublemaker. Is that so wrong?”
Bea raised her eyebrows and shrugged as she looked at her mother.
“I just don’t know about you two,” Aunt Astrid said, shaking her head. “Glad you’re feeling better, Cath.”
“Hey, if this is something paranormal, I wonder if…” I choked on the words. “Oh, no.” I swallowed hard, took Bea by the hand, and pulled her in front of me.
“What is wrong with you?” she scolded.
“Nothing. Just stand where you are.”
“I’m trying to see…”
“Don’t move!” I stage whispered.
“Hey!” came a familiar male voice. “Hey, Cath!”
I stepped out from behind Bea, pulling my hair off my face nervously and smiling.
“Hi, Officer.” Suddenly I remembered. “Oh, gosh! Is your sister okay? Her guests?”
“Yeah. I called her on her cell when the emergency call came over the dispatch.” He smiled, that dimple winking at me in the dim light. He was so handsome in his uniform. I shook my head to focus.
“I’m sorry. This is my aunt, Astrid Greenstone, and my cousin, Bea Williams. This is Officer Tom Warner.”
Officer Warner shook their hands politely. I did everything I could to avoid the surprised and all-too-interested looks of my fellow witches.
“I’m glad your sister is okay. Lucky you were close by, right? In case they needed you.” I had no idea what I was saying. My hands were sweating, so I kept rubbing them together. Taking two steps away from Astrid and Bea, I managed to get Officer Warner out of their earshot.
“I wasn’t here to check on her,” he said, slipping his fingers into the loops on his utility belt. “You didn’t give me a phone number, so I had no way of calling to check on you.”
“Me?” I laughed out loud. “Oh, trust me. I’m okay. Yes, sir. I’m fine. Right as rain.”
“You got your toes painted,” he said, pulling out his flashlight and shining it on them for a brief second. “Red. That’s my favorite color.”
Thankful for the dark of night, I was pretty sure Officer Warner couldn’t see me blush. I wrapped one foot around the other ankle and couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Instead I grinned like a lunatic, I’m sure.
“Well,” he said, still smiling. “Now that I see you are okay and your toes are colored, I think I can get going. But there is one problem.”
“If it’s about that picture of me in the post office, I can explain.”
“Funny,” he said, looking me in the eyes. His were kind, and I got the feeling he would have liked to stay and chat longer, but duty was calling. “No, see, I had to make the trip all the way up here to check on you. You kind of owe me.”
“What?”
“Yeah. You know, there could be a bank being robbed right now, and I’m all the way up here checking on you. So I think that deserves dinner or something.”
“Or something?” I huffed. “I didn’t tell you to come all the way up here. That was your choice. I can take care of myself.”
“Really? What makes you so tough?”
My heart skipped a beat when he asked me that question. Normally, I’d just shy away from it. I’d shrug or shake my head and not give an answer, but not this time. Without flinching, I spoke.
“I’m kind of a ghost hunter. I don’t scare easily.” It wasn’t the total truth, but it wasn’t exactly a lie, either. I wasn’t going to let what had happened with Blake happen again. So if this guy turned tail and ran, which he probably would, then I’d be no worse off than I had been when I first got here. He can think I’m weird all he wants. No skin off my nose. No ma’am. No sir.
“No kidding?” His intense gaze made me feel proud. “I’d like to hear more about that.”
“Really? What makes you so tough?”
“Let’s just say I appreciate life’s mysteries. I’ll be seeing you soon, Cath Greenstone.”
As he walked away, turning to give me one last look before he disappeared into the crowd of EMTs, police, and firemen, I tried to look everywhere but at my relatives. Finally, after studying every shrub, leaf, car, and pebble on the ground, I looked at them and smiled.
“What?” My eyelids fluttered with innocent concern.
“Officer Warner is very cute and very interested in you,” Bea said. “Would you like me to have Jake check him out?”
“He already knows Jake, and no, I don’t want you to. If he’s a weirdo, I’ll find out on my own. Besides, don’t we have bigger issues at hand?” I waved toward the two gurneys
being wheeled out with both passengers completely covered with sheets. Passing in front of this solemn scene were two figures that were more than familiar.
“Jake is here,” Bea said, pleasantly surprised.
“And Blake Samberg bringing up the rear,” my aunt added, sounding like she was naming a slightly offensive ingredient in a bowl of soup. I loved her for that.
“Hey, honey,” Jake said, stepping up to Bea and kissing her on the cheek. Blake had stopped to peek morbidly underneath the sheets of both victims. “Glad to see you are all okay. We got the call about the victims, and since the Muskox is in the Wonder Falls jurisdiction, this is now our issue. Can’t say I’m all that surprised.”
“Do you have any details?” Aunt Astrid asked, looking all kinds of concerned.
Jake tilted his head to the right.
“Fool me once, Mom,” Jake said, shaking his finger at her. I had no idea what he was talking about, but my aunt’s face looked guilty.
“What? She fooled you, too? Now you know how I felt. Shameful is all I have to say.” I folded my arms and looked down my nose at both Bea and Aunt Astrid.
“They sure did. Told me they were just going to this spa to help you feel better. Hot springs, mud masks, and all that girlie stuff. Turns out the place is not only famous for natural hot springs but for UFO sightings, ghostly apparitions, unexplained phenomena, missing persons, and a string of weird deaths over the past couple of decades that aren’t directly tied to the place but are suspiciously connected.”
“Bea, how could you?” I whined dramatically, placing my hand over my heart.
“I didn’t know anything about the UFOs,” Bea said.
“A little basic Internet research spilled the beans on this place. I’d like it if you guys would check out now. No one is going to try and make you pay for the rooms. I’ll see to that.”
“No, Jake,” Bea said. “We had nothing to do with this. Our stay has been relatively uneventful and very relaxing until the management herded us out here like cattle. Why don’t you let me take a look at the women, and I’ll tell you—”
“Bea, you know I can’t do that.”
Sticking her lips out like a fish, Bea nodded.
“But before Samberg comes,” Jake continued, “have you guys, you know, sensed anything?”
We all looked at each other as if we weren’t sure what he was insinuating.
“No, honey,” Bea said.
“Nothing strange going on while we’ve been here,” Aunt Astrid added.
I shook my head as well.
Looking past Jake, I saw Blake tug the sheet back over the second body and start walking in our direction. Part of me just wanted to run and hide, and another part of me wanted to run up and slap him across the face. Since my duel was internal, I just ended up standing still and shifting awkwardly from one foot to another.
“Evening, ladies,” he said in his normal quiet and condescending way.
“Detective,” my aunt said, nodding in Blake’s direction.
“What did you get?” Jake asked.
“Not much. The victims were sisters. This was their first time here. From the markings on their bodies and the blue lips, I’d say they suffered some kind of poisoning.”
“What, like eating-too-much-seafood kind of poisoning or adding-antifreeze-to-your-smoothie poisoning?” I asked Jake, more interested in the facts than in who was presenting them.
“We won’t know that until we run some blood tests,” Blake said, but I didn’t even see his mouth move.
I nodded and began to think. What could poison a person at this place? The spa didn’t serve alcohol or meat. The chances of the staff using bleach or any harsh chemicals in the holistic, all-natural environment were probably nil.
“Do you have some thoughts?” Blake asked. He had been staring at me.
I didn’t like that. It was too confusing. The guy went to great lengths back home to stay away from me, and now he wanted to pick my brain like he had when we sat in my car together outside the Roy house. That wasn’t fair or nice. I shook my head. Any ideas or sparks or hunches I had I’d share with Bea and Aunt Astrid. Blake Samberg was on his own.
Jake said, “I’ll need to take a look at the victims before they get transported to the morgue. We’ll have to notify next of kin.”
“They wore no wedding rings, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Blake added.
I wrapped my arms around myself and rubbed my skin briskly to chase away the chill that ran up my spine. It was a warmer night than usual, but I got the feeling something was standing back watching this whole thing take place. I wondered if the astral spiders were circling, looking for anyone with a weak spot, a tender area like Smaug from The Hobbit had on his belly that was big enough for only one single arrow to pierce.
“You probably should have worn your robe,” Blake said to me, studying me like he always did as if I was some kind of strange bacterium he was observing. Normally I would have rolled my eyes or had some kind of smart quip about how observant he was or how high the bar was for detectives these days, but that fire had gone out. How could he even pretend to be interested in what I was or wasn’t doing when he obviously had his hands more than full with Darla Castellano?
Instead I just looked away and walked a few steps away from everyone. I heard Jake tell Bea they were staying on the scene for some interviews and to investigate the room. The sun would probably be rising by the time they were done.
Looking up into the sky, I was amazed at how many stars I saw. It made me feel small. Had I seen this view with that horrible creature sucking on me, I was afraid I would have thrown myself off a cliff in despair, but not now. It was comforting to know so much was out there.
It was beautiful and deep, and I was even moved to wonder at the astral spiders that did exist alongside angels and devils and ghosts, with us people thrown into the mix. There wasn’t really time to dwell on a broken heart, right? It was such a miniscule speck compared to those great spaces above and below the planet.
I heard the men walking off and returned to Bea and Aunt Astrid.
“It will be hard to get into the room with Jake and Blake there,” Bea said, watching them speak to the spa manager, who had greeted them with an outstretched hand.
“But they said it sounded like poison,” I said. “That sounds like someone with a vendetta or an ax to grind. Not a job for us witches. Maybe it was suicide? Whatever the case may be, I don’t think it involves us. Do you?”
“They were in room 116. You mentioned the man who saw something in there,” my aunt reminded me.
“Yeah, but he said he was terrified by something. Not that something tried to kill him or poison him. He just got spooked. The website obviously states this for its customers, so I’m not convinced this is a job for us to look into.”
The spa staff began herding all of us back inside. It was then that I saw something out of the corner of my eye off to my right. I thought I saw a woman running like the devil was chasing her to the back of the spa. She was carrying her shoes. Her hair was long and wild. I held my breath for just a moment and listened. I couldn’t tell if it was the wind or not, but I could have sworn I heard laughing. I looked in the direction the girl had run and listened again.
There it was, the laughing. Olga had been right. It was a sick, deranged sound that made me think of yellowed eyes and cheeks flushed with fever. However, the sound wasn’t coming from the back of the building. It sounded like it was right beside me. When I turned slowly to look, I saw I was all alone.
My feet wanted to run, but I decided keeping my cool, even just the appearance of being cool, would be a better tactic. Something was out there in that beautiful landscape, and it had found a way in.
Pellucidium
The warmth of the spa lobby felt like a flannel shirt over my shoulders. The entire room was alive with people talking and speculating, and the staff behind the check-in counter was busy answering questions and dealing with quit
e a few upset guests. The spa is going to suffer quite a few refunds and early checkouts, I thought as I spied Bea talking quickly with Jake as Aunt Astrid made her way to the elevator.
“What is Bea talking to Jake about?” I asked when I caught up to her.
“I’m not sure. But I don’t think he’s happy,” Aunt Astrid said. “If he saw what I was seeing right now, he wouldn’t be happy at all.”
“What are you seeing? Please don’t tell me it’s more astral spiders.”
My aunt narrowed her eyes and looked around the entire lobby.
“No. But things are not what they seem around here. It isn’t like this all the time. Those girls in the backs of those two ambulances were chosen for something.”
“What, like sacrifices?”
Aunt Astrid nodded and looked at me.
“We need to get into that room.”
Bea walked back to us.
“Well, that is going to be darn near impossible,” Bea said in a hushed voice as she pretended to be straightening her robe. “Jake and the others are going to be here through the night. They need to question everyone. They’ll be taking photos, dusting for prints, all the usual stuff. And he wants us to check out when he leaves tomorrow.”
“But I feel better,” I said, selfishly pouting. “I haven’t soaked in the hot springs yet. This trip was to make me feel better, right? We don’t even know if this is a case for us. Maybe it was a suicide pact. Perhaps it was just accidental, you know?”
“I need to get into that room,” Aunt Astrid said. “And the sooner the better. The energy and trace elements might still be strong enough for me to get a reading or see a flashback or something.”
Instead of standing around looking suspicious when the elevator dinged, we piled in. The doors slid shut, and Aunt Astrid told us her crazy plan to get into that room.
“What do you call it?” I asked, scratching my head.
“Pellucidium. It’s a trick to make myself sort of invisible. Well, not invisible. More like a chameleon. I’ll blend in.”