Fallen Shroud: An Urban Fantasy Novel: (Twisted Curse Series Book 1)

by D. J. Dalton

Chapter Thirteen

  Keren

  Baldwin Park’s upscale neighborhood had a wide variety of home designs. Nadria pulled up in front of a light blue, two-story house. Two picturesque front windows framed each side of the front door.

  A white railing surrounded the front porch, which extended the entire width of the house. White rocking chairs and a wooden double-seated swing gave the house a welcoming appeal.

  Three looked out-of-place standing on the porch. Its massive body made the rocking chairs seem like playhouse toys.

  Nadria knocked on the door. It only took a couple of minutes for Ordell to answer. His red-rimmed eyes revealing raw emotions.

  “Thanks for coming.” He stepped aside so they could enter. “The police just left. Mom and Dad are in the living room.” He led them past the formal dining room into the kitchen. White cabinets with framed glass doors reached up to the nine-foot ceiling.

  “I could barely understand you over the phone. Did you say Broden was missing?” Keren sat next to Nadria at the kitchen island, tossing her backpack on the floor.

  He pulled a couple of waters from the refrigerator. “It’s been crazy here. Right after the demonstration, Broden had planned to go to the beach with some friends for a couple of days. He was supposed to be home this morning.”

  He sat next to Keren, handing her the waters.

  “When he didn’t show up, we tried calling him. But he didn’t answer his phone.” He blinked several times. She noticed a tear drip down his cheek. “So, we called his friends. They said he never showed up at the beach. They figured he stayed home to study for midterms.”

  Nadria put her hand on her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Ordell.”

  His bottom lip quivered. “Mom was hysterical. We called the police. That’s what you heard in the background when you called.”

  Keren’s heart broke. “Do they have any leads?”

  Ordell scrubbed his palms over his eyes. “That’s the worst part, the police refused to start an investigation.”

  Nadria rushed to his side. She put her arm around his shoulder, hugging him close. “Why won’t they search for him?”

  He rested his head on Nadria’s shoulder and closed his eyes. “Two years ago, Broden ran away. They ended up finding him a week later with some girl. I can’t even remember her name.”

  Keren remembered that incident. Ordell’s parents had every police division combing the city for Broden.

  “Because he has a history of leaving for long periods of time and not letting anyone know where he went, they won’t start an investigation. Besides, Broden’s not a minor. We’re supposed to call again if he doesn’t show up in a couple of weeks.”

  Keren gasped. “A couple of weeks?” Her muscles tensed. Frayed nerves teetered on the breaking point. “That’s insane.”

  Placing her hand on Keren’s arm, Nadria spoke in a gentle tone. “We’re all a little on edge right now.”

  Her cheeks burned. Instead of helping Ordell, she added to his stress with an emotional outbreak. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s OK. I had the same reaction.”

  She changed gears, trying to redeem herself. “Can we see your parents?”

  “Sure, they’d like that.” Ordell hopped off the stool and led Keren and Nadria to the living room.

  The couple sat huddled on the couch. Mrs. Murphy dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

  “Mama, Papa, Keren and Nadria are here.”

  Nadria rushed over to the couch. She sat down next to Mrs. Murphy, wrapping her arms around her. “I’m so sorry to hear about Broden. Is there anything we can do?”

  Mrs. Murphy sat up. While patting Nadria’s knee, she fought to compose herself.

  “I appreciate that Nadria. All we can do now is wait.” Her voice quivered.

  Mr. Murphy stood, tugging his shirt down over his belly. “I don’t know what good the police are if they won’t help you find a missing boy.” He waved his hands in the air. “Good tax money goes to supporting the police department. You’d think we’d get help when we need it.”

  “Take it easy, dear. Remember your blood pressure.” Mrs. Murphy reached a hand out toward her husband.

  Keren walked up to Mr. Murphy, catching one of his hands as it sailed by. “You’re not alone, Mr. Murphy. We’ll help you through this.”

  His bottom lip quivered. At that moment, Keren saw how much Ordell resembled his dad.

  “You’re a good girl, Keren.” He patted her hand. “Thank you.” He turned to face Nadria. “And you too Nadria. You’re like daughters to us.”

  The lump in Keren’s throat caused her breath to catch. The Murphy’s had been kind to her as she grew up. They indulged her talking to and playing with imaginary friends, never making her feel stupid or silly. She’d thought of them as her second family. They didn’t deserve this misfortune.

  “You go along with Ordell.” Mr. Murphy pulled his hand away. “We’re fine.”

  Ordell took his dad’s cue and motioned for Keren and Nadria to follow him upstairs. Nadria kissed Mrs. Murphy on the cheek before standing to follow.

  At the top of the stairs, Ordell turned to face them. “I know something is wrong this time.” He opened the first door on the right. The room looked neat and organized. A picture of Marilyn Monroe hung over the bed. A desk with four computer monitors sat on the far wall. He walked to the desk, picking up a laptop. “Broden would never leave this behind.”

  Ordell moved his hand over the laptop cover, his eyes glazing over. “Broden and I promised we’d never hack into each other’s computers.”

  Nadria put her hand on his shoulder. “He’d understand.”

  “I suppose you’re right.” He led them down the hall to his room.

  In contrast to Broden’s well-kept room, organized chaos described Ordell’s. Clothes covered his dresser and the unmade bed. Stacks of paper and books took up most of the floor space. Superhero figurines crowded together on a dusty bookcase, and computer components and gadgets blanketed the desk.

  His cheeks blushed. “Sorry about the mess.” He tossed some clothes on the floor to make room for them to sit down.

  Lost in thought, Keren wandered to the bookcase. What could have happened to Broden? She noticed her favorite superhero, Aquaman, pushed to the back of the shelf. Her fingers reached out, plucking him from his prison. While brushing away the dust, she reasoned something associated with the demonstration must be connected to Broden’s disappearance.

  “Did Broden mention anything out of the ordinary happening before or during the demonstration?”

  “He mentioned a guy at school harassing him. I can’t remember why.” Ordell worked on connecting Broden’s laptop.

  “Did he specifically say harassing him? Did he give any details?”

  He stopped. “Now that you mention it, he said threatened.” He rubbed his temples. “Why didn’t I remember that before when the police were here?” With a sigh, he opened Broden’s laptop.

  “Can you get in?” Nadria stopped folding clothes and leaned over to look at the laptop screen.

  Ordell smirked. “I can hack pretty much anything.” He opened an application on his computer. “This is an automated process that uses well-known words and phrases to create different combinations. It will feed into Broden’s laptop until something fits. I’ll add some common words and phrases I think he might use. It’s called a dictionary attack.” He started the application, then sat back. “This might take a few minutes.”

  “Let’s get back to the threat.” Keren rolled Aquaman between her palms. “Why would someone threaten Broden?”

  Ordell rubbed his face. “He said he bumped into a jerk at school bullying shifters while he was recruiting volunteers for the demonstration. He wanted to figure out a way to stop him.”

  “Do you know if he did? Find a way to stop him?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” When his computer chimed, Ordell turned back to the desk. “I�
�m in.” After a few keystrokes, Broden’s laptop came to life.

  “Can you find out this guy’s name?”

  “Maybe. Let’s see. I’ll check his email first. He has a couple of addresses.” Ordell flipped through several screens. “He uses this one for junk, and this one for everything else. Whoa, wait a minute.”

  “What?” Nadria rushed to his side.

  “Broden subscribes to MAXIM.” Ordell laughed.

  She hit him in the back of the head. “For heaven’s sake, get serious.”

  Keren knew joking around was Ordell’s coping method. The brothers were always playing practical jokes on one another. They were only two years apart. He idolized his older brother.

  She moved to the dresser, setting Aquaman in a pile of socks. Broden and this guy weren’t friends. Yet he found Broden and threatened him. While moving along the dresser, she ran her fingers over the pamphlets and badges from the demonstration. She picked up a pin and turned it over in her hand.

  “You said Broden met this guy, trying to recruit people for the demonstration. Do you think the guy attended the demonstration to harass Broden?” She turned to face Nadria and Ordell. “That’s the connection.” Keren held up the pin. “Could he have reached your brother through the website?”

  Ordell’s face lit up. “Yes, all the volunteers have email addresses linked to the site.” He pushed Broden’s laptop aside and turned to his computer. “I back everything up on the server.”

  Nadria smiled. “And the volunteers had personalized cards to hand out with the pamphlets. So, the guy would have Broden’s name and email address.”

  “I found something.” Ordell pointed to the screen. “This definitely sounds like a threat.”

  Keren and Nadria pressed close together to read the screen.

  Your disrespect for the true masters of magic will be your downfall.

  “I agree, its threatening and creepy. Any others?” Nadria asked.

  “Yeah, here’s another one.” Ordell froze after reading the brief message.

  Prepare to pay.

  None of them spoke. The air grew heavy.

  He turned off the monitor, his voice a whisper. “That’s it, just those two.”

  Ordell slammed his hand on the desk. “We could find dantheman@internetservice.com’s physical address.” Pulling Broden’s laptop over, his fingers pounded on the keyboard.

  Keren wondered how you could make a connection between an email address and someone’s physical address. Briggs might help with the inquisitor’s database, but she didn’t want to ask him to take any more risks for her.

  “First, I’ll use this online tool to find social media accounts using dantheman’s email address.” A list of accounts with hyperlinks showed on the screen.

  Nadria peered over his shoulder. “Does that mean he has all those accounts?”

  “No, the tool generates the URL as if he used the email to create the account. If you click on the link, the account will try to open.” He clicked on the Facebook link.

  “Bingo.” Silence filled the room as they stared at the profile’s cover photo. A husky man in his mid-thirties, with acne spread over his forehead and cheeks, smiled back at them. Tribal-style tattoos wound around his neck. The page displayed his timeline, friends, and photos, along with his name. Dan Mann.

  “Is that him?” Nadria whispered.

  With flaring his nostrils, Ordell ignored her question. “He hasn’t secured his timeline. Let’s hope he’s sloppy with other security settings.” He clicked the About tab, then Contact and Basic Info. “Bingo, birth date and year.”

  It was that simple, no special hacking required, and Ordell had Dan’s personal information. Keren made a mental note to change her Facebook privacy settings.

  Opening a new tab, he brought up the Voter Information Lookup site. “Now, let’s hope he’s registered to vote.” He entered Dan’s name and birth date. After checking the ‘I understand and agree’ and CAPTCHA boxes, he clicked the Submit button.

  All three sighed when the ‘no record found’ message appeared.

  Scratching her chin, Keren thought maybe they had the wrong information. “Does the search require the full first name? Dan might be short for something else.”

  Ordell changed Dan to Daniel. The same error message appeared.

  Nadria rubbed Ordell’s shoulders. “I guess he’s not registered.”

  “There might be other names.” Pulling out her phone, Keren searched Google for ‘names Dan is short for.’ “OK, I’ve got a list. The first one is Daniel, which we know doesn’t work. The second is Danielle.”

  They looked at each other. Ordell shrugged his shoulders, entering Danielle in the First Name field. He got the same results.

  Keren continued, “Well, we had little faith in that one, anyway. The next name is Danma, D-a-n-m-a.”

  Replacing the first name, Ordell’s finger hung above the mouse button. “Here goes nothing.” He clicked the Submit button, bringing up a full address. He smacked his hands together, then pointed at the screen. “Bingo!”

  Keren chuckled. Covering her mouth with her hand, she tried to control herself. “So, his name is Danma Mann?”

  Ordell and Nadria both looked at her. Their doe-eyed expression pushed her over the top. She busted out laughing.

  Nadria tried to suppress her laughter but lost the battle. Ordell joined in.

  Clutching her stomach, Keren leaned on the dresser for support. Tension drained from her body. It felt like a heavy weight lifted off her shoulders.

  As the laughter died down, Ordell took a screenshot of Dan’s address and his Facebook profile cover photo. Grabbing them off the printer, he headed to the door.

  “Wait, where are you going?” Keren didn’t like the look on his face.

  “I’m going to pay Dan a visit.” His eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t try to stop me.”

  “Wait a minute.” She stepped in front of him. “You can’t just show up and ask if he knows anything about Broden.”

  “Why not? He’s just over in Holden-Parramore.”

  Nadria’s wide eyes showed her skepticism. “Won’t that be dangerous? I mean, if he’s done something to Broden, what would keep him from hurting you?”

  Keren held her ground. Ordell wasn’t thinking straight. “The emails came from Dan’s account, but how do you know it was him? What if he’s also a victim and someone is using his email?”

  “We could respond to his email, see what we get,” Nadria suggested.

  “That would take too long. Broden needs me now.” Ordell waved his hand, transforming into a black German Shepherd. His short, dense fur curled in loose waves.

  As Ordell changed, Keren lunged for him, but he slipped from her grip. She fell on her hands and knees.

  He sprung on the bed.

  “No.” Her heart raced. She had to stop him.

  Two’s misty body appeared in the doorway. The flames from its horns licked the top of the door frame.

  Ordell prepared to leap out the door, but he let out a yip and shifted his trajectory back toward Keren. Ninety pounds of German Shepherd crashed into her. She grunted, the weight pushing her to the floor.

  He changed back into his human form. “What the hell?” His ears stiffened as he scrambled away from the door. “What is that thing?”

  Crawling on her hands and knees, Keren grabbed Ordell’s wrist, squeezing it tight so he couldn’t escape. She thought he was joking around at the café when he said he said he saw Four, but she knew he wasn’t faking the panic she recognized in his eyes. “What did you see?” She had to know. Could Ordell see her imaginary friends in his animal forms?

  “An enormous wolf with crazy flaming horns, right there in the doorway.” A shaky finger pointed to the door.

  Nadria joined them on the floor. “I don’t see anything.”

  “That’s Two.” Keren put her hands on his shoulders, turning him toward her. His wide green eyes met hers. “Ordell, in the café, did you really
see Four?” She shook her head. He didn’t know them by name. “The monster the cats were watching?”

  “Of course, I saw the monster at the café, but this one is different.”

  “What you saw at the café was Four.” She glanced at Two standing guard in the doorway. “Two is guarding the door.”

  Nadria stared at the doorway. “Are you talking about your imaginary friends?”

  “Yes.” Keren jumped to her feet. “Wait here.” She sprinted downstairs to the kitchen where she’d left her backpack, Two’s opaque body vanishing as she ran through it.

  Snatching her sketchbook from her bag, she ran back upstairs. Nadria and Ordell were still sitting on the floor. She shuffled through pages of drawings until she found one of Two.

  “Here.” She held the sketchbook out so they could see. “Is that what you just saw?”

  Frowning, he leaned closer to the book. “Yes, but are you telling me I can see your imaginary friends?”

  “I don’t know what I’m telling you.” She flipped to a drawing of Four. “And this one.” She turned it so they could see. “Is this what you saw at the café today?”

  Standing up, he took the sketchbook. “Yes.” He flipped through the pages, then looked at her. “I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do I.” She flopped in the computer chair.

  “Do you think it has something to do with the tea? How long has it been since you drank it?” Nadria stood, placing a hand on Keren’s arm.

  She frowned. “Well, I hadn’t drunk the tea since I lost my serving job last month.” Her cheeks reddened as she lowered her chin. “I didn’t drink it because I think it’s fun interacting with my imaginary friends. Since I was home most of the time, I didn’t think it mattered. I tried to drink some at the café, but then Briggs showed up and we left for the hospital. So, I think it’s been over three weeks since I had any.”

  “What tea?” Ordell asked.

  “The tea her mom gave her to control the visions. I think it’s an herb that dampens magic.” Nadria tipped her head. “Why do you think Ordell can see them?”

  Ordell handed the sketchbook back to Keren. “In my animal forms, I can see and hear things well outside the range of human perception. For instance, in my cat form, I have a kind of spatial perception I don’t have in human form.” He scratched his head. “It’s hard to explain.”