The Cupid Conundrum

by Lucy True

  Burgundy couldn’t imagine any three-year-old walking miles through the town without an adult noticing. “Didn’t their parents realize they were gone? Didn’t someone see them or stop them?”

  “Oh, yes, all the parents noticed and they tried. Goodness knows, they tried to stop their children, but the little ones seemed intent on going somewhere.”

  “Where?”

  “Into the woods on the north side of town. They stopped at the edge, for some reason, and came to their senses.”

  The woods Cass spoke of were a good five miles from Burgundy’s aunt’s house. Hearing she’d walked so far, only a preschooler and completely unattended, made her heart beat hard against her chest. She couldn’t imagine losing her ability to control herself, the way more and more people in town were unable to stop falling in love. “That’s... that’s insane.”

  “I’ll say, but the kids seemed to pay the distance no mind. They walked and walked and walked, even with parents and grandparents pleading with them to stop.” Something glistened in Cass’s eyes, but she dashed it away before Burgundy could question it. “Anyway, no children were lost that day, but the town was scared witless. That’s the day...”

  Cass abruptly stopped speaking and Burgundy leaned toward her, elbows braced against her knees. “That’s the day, what?”

  “You know what? If you don’t remember, I’m not going to trouble you with it. Some things are best forgotten. My point was, it’s been awhile since something changed the behavior of folks in town and I think we need to keep our eyes open, do you understand? The other day, I saw a man prepared to jump to his death if the young lady he was pursuing didn’t accept his declaration of love. She talked him down, but we cannot let this go on.”

  Her blood went ice cold at hearing that and Burgundy debated telling Cass everything that she’d seen over the past few days. Knowing the seer, she would have some kind of cryptic information that would lead to a wild goose chase, before Burgundy finally found the guy. In a way, Burgundy didn’t have anything against that idea. It might make it at least somewhat easier to find him. Time was clearly ticking away on more than one life. She wondered if others had fallen victim to the love epidemic in a more dangerous manner, like Mr. Knight.

  “So Cass, since the anti-love potion didn’t work, have you seen Officer Al lately?” she asked.

  “No, thank goodness. Why would I want to and why do you think I’m dressed like this? It’s not so impertinent witches can point out how silly I look.”

  “Crap.” Burgundy picked up the phone and called the downstairs extension. If Mr. Knight had been in physical pain over not having Lynn near him for twenty hours, she couldn't imagine the kind of agony Al might be going through... if he was still alive.

  “Sylvia, I hate to ask, but could Marian cover the front desk? I think we might have a big problem.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cass made a fuss but, in the end, agreed to go with Burgundy. Telling her the story about Mr. Knight took precious time Burgundy wasn’t sure they had. It was some small consolation that the fortune teller realized the gravity of the situation and was willing to help. Especially after Burgundy’s inability to keep the warlock from escaping.

  Guilt weighed on her as she drove, but even worse was the sensation of her heart in her throat, choking her with fear. She’d already called the police station and been told Al wasn’t in the office. “In fact, he’s been looking sick as a dog,” Nancy, the dispatcher told her. “So if you plan to check up on him, will you let me know how he’s doing?”

  Burgundy was almost afraid to find out. If Mr. Knight had gone weak with lovesickness within a mere twenty hours of Lynn rejecting him, what would young Al be feeling after all this time?

  His house was only a few blocks from downtown, so they arrived within five minutes. Burgundy pulled into his driveway behind the police cruiser and swallowed. It didn’t do much to alleviate her fear.

  “I need you to come inside with me,” she told Cass. “If he’s sick the way Mr. Knight was without Lynn, it might be too late. But if it’s not, you’re the only person who can save him.”

  “Goodness.” The woman’s eyes closed briefly and she shook her head. “I knew this would happen. Why didn’t Iris listen to me?”

  “Because, that’s how it goes. People never learn, I guess. I’m truly sorry about that.” Burgundy opened her car door and looked pointedly at the passenger one. “We need to check on him. It’s a matter of life and death.”

  She was thankful that for all her eccentricities, Cass was kind-hearted. The redhead exited the vehicle and followed Burgundy up to the door. “Are you sure he’ll be here?”

  “Nancy said he called in sick today and he hadn’t been looking well lately. I can’t think of any other place he’d be, except the hospital, and I don’t think they can help him.” The words tasted like ash on her tongue and Burgundy hated that she had to say them, let alone think them. But as she pressed her hand to the door and turned the knob, her instincts told her they were nearly too late.

  The house was dark, dishes piled in the sink from what Burgundy could see. It smelled like trash had also accumulated and she covered her nose with her arm. After scanning the one-story bungalow from the doorway, she turned toward what she hoped was the bedroom door. Her three knocks against it sounded sharp and loud in the silence. When there was no answer, she cracked open the door and peered into the room.

  An unmoving lump lay beneath the covers on the queen-sized bed. “Cass,” she hissed, flinging the door wide. Her heart beat so hard, she thought it would explode from her chest. This looked like exactly what she’d feared they would find.

  “Oh no.” The fortune teller gasped and then brushed past her. “I didn’t want this to happen to anyone, not even Al.”

  “I know you didn’t.” Burgundy approached the opposite side of the bed and reached out to touch Al’s neck. The young man was curled into a tight ball, eyes closed, and skin ghostly white. But at least he was breathing and his pulse was fairly strong, even though it skittered a bit. “You need to let him know you’re here. That should give him strength.”

  Cass bent her head close to Al’s and crooned in a soft voice. At first, Burgundy wasn’t sure her presence had any effect. Then the police officer’s eyelids fluttered open and he moaned, “Cassandra?”

  “Yes, dear boy, it’s me.”

  “Oh, Cassandra. I thought you’d never love me.” His eyes closed again, but only for a moment. Burgundy let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding as Al blinked up at Cass.

  She backed toward the door and said, “I know you don’t like it, but you’re going to have to stay with him.”

  “What? But for how long?” Cass turned to look at her, but did not leave Al’s side. Considering the way the house looked and smelled, Burgundy had to give her a lot of credit.

  “You need to be here for however long it takes to cure this.”

  Cass closed her eyes and inhaled, nostrils flaring. When she looked at Burgundy again, she gave her a nod. “I’ll get him up and eating, and then see what I can do about this mess. But you have to do this town a favor and get your aunt back here now.”

  “I’m trying,” Burgundy said. “Trust me, Cass, I’ve been trying.” She hesitated a moment, wondering if Cass had a vision or foretelling she could pass on to her, but the seer didn’t say another word.

  The entire house stank as Burgundy walked through it, and she wondered if that was how an invalid’s home smelled – full of trash and dirty dishes, not to mention something even more unpleasant. It was hard to believe their small town calm had been so egregiously disrupted by one warlock’s malicious actions. All Burgundy wanted to do, more than ever, was hunt him down and stop him.

  She drove back to the library, sickened by what she’d seen of Al’s condition. Even worse was that she’d had to drag Cass into a situation the woman tried so hard to avoid.

  Yet Cass had certainly brought up an interesting bit of
town history that had Burgundy questioning her own childhood. Apparently, it wasn’t as mundane or straightforward as she’d always thought. Why, though?

  As far as she knew, her parents left her with her aunt when she was a toddler. Iris had done the best she could, placing Burgundy in school and teaching her everything she knew about witchcraft. Nothing remarkable had ever happened to Burgundy. At least, that’s what she’d always believed.

  She knew where the answers to her questions would lie – in the local newspaper. Maybe even in the larger supernatural paper that covered big news events in the entire state. “Well, at least I work in the right job to find that kind of information,” she muttered to herself as she pulled into a parking spot in front of the library.

  Even though her stomach growled, Burgundy ignored the sensation. She could grab a granola bar from the kitchen and get right to work, rather than wasting time on a full lunch. With that in mind, she circled around to the back and entered through the lower level.

  “Hey Sylvia,” she greeted the other librarian. “As soon as I get upstairs, you can have Marian back for the rest of the day.”

  “Great.” Sylvia crooked her index finger, beckoning to Burgundy. “Lynn hasn’t come out of Mr. Knight’s office all day.”

  “Really? Not even to use the bathroom?” When Sylvia shook her head, Burgundy quipped, “Well, maybe he set up a litter box for her.”

  Sylvia wrinkled her nose.

  “Fine, I get it. None of my jokes are getting laughs today.” Burgundy let out a sigh, accompanied by an eye roll. “Well, she’s not clocking in, so I guess it’s not like she’s getting paid for sitting on his lap. But this is ridiculous. There are four of us here for a reason.”

  “You could ask Mr. Knight if he can spare her for a few hours,” Sylvia suggested.

  “Yeah, and have him bite my head off again about telling Lynn how to do her job, when he’s the one who told me to discipline her in the first place? No thank you.” Burgundy waved the suggestion off and turned to the auditorium. “Let me grab a snack from the kitchen and I’ll get upstairs.”

  The other librarian nodded and Burgundy hit the restroom first. With Cass’s story, she had at least some direction now – some clue. After all, how often did an entire town have its mindset altered in some way? This was big news, as far as Burgundy was concerned. She took two granola bars and a soda from the kitchen, promising herself she would pick up a healthy dinner on the way home.

  Marian smiled at her as Burgundy approached the desk. “Hey there,” she said. “It’s been pretty busy. Everyone’s checking out DVDs today.”

  Burgundy glanced at the shelving cart behind the counter and saw that it was fairly empty. On Monday, it would probably end up full of DVDs and Blu-rays.

  “Ah yes, the weekend movie rush.” Burgundy opened one of her granola bars and settled into her office chair. One of the benefits of working at the library was access to the state’s historical newspaper database, which she opened in her browser. “You can head back downstairs and help Sylvia for the rest of the day,” she told Marian.

  “Great.” The younger woman logged out of the other computer and rose from the seat. “Oh, someone stopped by to see you while you were gone.”

  “Someone?” Burgundy bit off a piece of granola bar as she selected which newspaper she wanted to view on the website. There was the Rock Grove Journal, their small local newspaper. It usually only had about ten pages of news, which was more than enough for their tiny supernatural community. She selected the year she wanted and pondered what to type in as a search term. “Children” seemed like her best bet, so she typed it and waited.

  “Mmhmm.” Marian leaned against the desk, lacing her fingers together in front of her. “I didn’t catch a name, but I remember her.”

  A chill rippled over Burgundy’s flesh and her fingers froze, poised over the mouse. “You remember her? It’s someone who’s been in here before?” Considering Marian still thought of herself as the queen bee of Rock Grove, Burgundy wasn’t surprised she couldn’t remember a person’s name. Even locals fell beneath her notice unless she had a reason to love or hate them.

  “Yeah. Your friend. Um, blonde hair, really light blue eyes, kind of snooty. She went to school with you, right? Jennifer? Jessica?” Leave it to Marian to forget the name of the one person who’d dominated their school before Marian got her turn. The person Burgundy least wanted to see.

  Burgundy swallowed, not sure if it was the news or the granola bar making her throat dry. “Jenna,” she whispered.

  “That’s it. She said she’d come back and try to catch you before closing.”

  “Well,” Burgundy said, turning back to her computer, “that’s just peachy.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  True to her word, Jenna returned right before close. She walked through the door with long, confident strides. Her silky platinum blonde hair swished around her shoulders in a way that Burgundy had always admired and envied, especially back in high school. Even when Jenna was her nemesis, not her lover. She was tall enough that Burgundy had to look up at Jenna, into those pale blue eyes.

  Jenna had always sparkled like a diamond, like some sort of untouchable ice queen. She had that certain something and when she turned it on, anyone near her was lost. It was an aura she emanated naturally as a succubus. Intention only amplified it, drawing in more victims. Her high school popularity certainly hadn’t been a fluke.

  Burgundy didn’t consider herself a victim, though, even post break-up. Instead, she gripped the edge of the desk and rose to her feet. This move kept her from being too much shorter than Jenna. A glance at the shelving cart reminded her there was nothing on it to put away, nothing to busy her hands with while her ex-girlfriend strutted toward her. Fine. She could do this without props.

  “Hi there, Burg,” Jenna purred when she reached the desk. “How are you?”

  That delicious, clean scent of Jenna’s favorite perfume washed over her and Burgundy had to fight the urge to wrap her arms around her ex. There would be no more hugs or kisses, or “So glad to see you!” greetings. Resentment flared inside her, hot and furious, and she glared at the blonde.

  “Let me think about how to answer that question.” Burgundy tapped her forefinger against her lips. “Are you asking me because you know I’m stuck celebrating the holidays all alone this year, without a family or friends? Or are you asking because my town is going to hell in a handbasket? Wait – I know. You’re asking because some stone cold bitch dumped me after what I thought was a fantastic year together and you want to make sure I’m surviving the abject misery that break-up must have inflicted. Am I getting warm?”

  Jenna’s features remained smooth, unconcerned, except for the tiny wrinkle between her eyebrows. It disappeared, but not before Burgundy noticed. Considering it took quite an effort to perturb Jenna, Burgundy patted herself on the back for getting even a tiny reaction.

  “Well, since you mention it,” Jenna drawled, “yes, I am concerned about your state of mind since I broke up with you.”

  Instinct caused her skin to tingle and Burgundy narrowed her eyes. “But that’s not the real reason you’re here.”

  “No, it’s not.” Jenna flipped her shampoo commercial perfect hair and said, “The Supernatural World Herald wants the story and sent me to get it.”

  “Ha!” Burgundy barked out a laugh. “Of course they did! Of all the libraries in all the world, Jenna Iverson had to walk into mine.”

  “Are you quoting Casablanca?”

  “Paraphrasing. Some journalist you are. You don’t even know the difference.”

  Jenna folded her arms and glared at her. “Well, we can’t all be language nerds, Blueberry Head.”

  “You know what, Jenna? Actually, I do have a story for you. Are you ready for it?” Burgundy held up both her hands and then drew them apart as if framing a headline. “No damn comment. Oh, and get that corduroy jacket of yours the hell out of my house. How’s that?”

 
Jenna pursed her lips and glared at her. “Really, Burg. Grow up.”

  “Oh, that is rich coming from the woman who just called me a name she gave me in fifth grade and now doesn’t even have the ovarian fortitude to break up with me face to face. Seriously, Jenna, who texts a break-up? Who?” Burgundy knew she was being too loud, but she was fuming with rage. “You can’t show up here out of the blue and expect me to tell all, to be your friendly neighborhood snitch, like nothing ever happened between us.”

  “Look, I realize you’re taking this personally and I’m sorry your feelings are so fragile and delicate right now, but this is not about us. This is about a story, a story I intend to write with or without your help.”

  This was the Jenna who Burgundy both loved and hated. One the one hand, it wasn’t just her beauty that was attractive, but also her confidence and tenacity. On the other hand, she was the master of non-apologies and never accepting responsibility for her own actions. Burgundy might have admired her for being good at her job, but she couldn’t allow Jenna to turn the situation in Rock Grove into a media circus.

  Jenna stared at her, gaze hard. “I’m here to get the scoop and you know that means I can also help figure out what’s going on in town. My mom told me about people doing crazy things for love. She’s been hiding out, afraid they’ll pin it on her. Everyone always blames the succubus first when something goes wrong, you know.”

  For a moment, Burgundy was tempted to tell Jenna she already knew exactly what was going on in town. But she bit back the words. “If you think you can fool me into telling you what I know, you better get that idea right out of your head. Go find a story somewhere else, somewhere that wants you butting your nose into their business.”