Forgotten Fires

by Sara C. Roethle

  “I was willing to give you a chance,” Ben spat as he stood, “but demons truly are evil. You've proven that.”

  “Please sit down,” Devin said calmly.

  Ben turned his rage-filled gaze to Devin and gave him a look that would have made many a man back down, but Devin stood his ground. The stand-off ensued for several more seconds, until finally Ben sat back down, looking cowed.

  “We are trying to help you,” Devin said sympathetically. “My partner has simply spent too much time in the demon underground. She's lost her manners.”

  I tried to keep the confusion off my face as it clicked that Devin was trying to make me seem more scary. The scare tactics might work on Cynthia if we had her alone, but I doubted they would work on Ben.

  “Vampires have to be invited in to your home!” Cynthia blurted, breaking the silence.

  Ben's eyes went wide and his face turned even redder. He patted his wife's hand and said through gritted teeth, “Cynthia is having trouble with the idea that our daughter might have invited a vampire inside.”

  I almost shook my head, but caught myself. Vampires didn't have to be invited inside, and the statement let me know that the witches really weren't used to dealing with other supernaturals. I wasn't sure if it made me trust them more, or less.

  I sighed. “Did Claire meet any new friends recently?”

  Ben's face set into hard lines. “What is that supposed to mean?” he asked defensively.

  Could I say nothing right? “Vampires like to hunt their prey,” I explained, trying to not get defensive in return. “They don't just break into random houses to feed on people. Why go to the trouble? Someone wanted Claire specifically.”

  “Are you saying this was my daughter's fault?” Ben asked as he stood again and took a step toward the desk.

  This was getting me nowhere, and I was pretty sure we had learned all that we would from our interviewees. I just stared at Ben and didn't answer.

  Ben grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her up from her seat, then stormed out of the room, dragging poor Cynthia behind him.

  Once the sound of their footsteps disappeared, I turned to look up at Devin. “Next time you get to be the bad cop.”

  Devin chuckled and looked over at the empty doorway. “They're hiding something,” he said, referring to Ben and Cynthia.

  I nodded. “You know, for once, I agree with you.”

  A moment later, Sasha strode in through the open doorway. “I think it's time that you go,” she announced.

  “Are you firing us?” I asked as I stood.

  “I never even hired you to begin with!” she exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air. “As far as I'm concerned, this has nothing to do with you.”

  I squinted at her in confusion. “Then why am I here? I thought you said you wanted our help.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “I was told that I could meet with you, or I'd have to answer to a greater demon. I chose you. Now I'm unchoosing you. I will not let demons terrorize the members of my coven.”

  Of course my dad had threatened her. He couldn't have just nicely offered our help. No wonder she was acting like such a, well, witch.

  “I'll still want to question you,” I said as I walked around the desk, then past her into the hallway. “I'm involved in this now, and I plan to see it through.”

  “Why?” she asked with a sigh.

  “I'm bored,” I said with a challenging look. I wasn't about to explain to her all of the reasons that I wanted to find Claire's murderer. It was simply none of her business.

  “I'm free at one tomorrow,” she said almost cordially, though she was probably just glad that I was finally leaving her house.

  We walked back through the sitting room as the other coven members stared at us silently. Ben and Cynthia were nowhere to be seen. Sasha walked ahead to open the front door for us, then stood stiffly as Devin walked through.

  She stopped me with a hand on my shoulder before I could escape. The unpleasant feeling of the house amplified with Sasha's touch, and it took everything I had to not take a step back as I turned to face her.

  “You must understand, that one of our own has been killed,” she explained. “Claire was like a daughter to me. Surely the human half of you can understand why some of us are a little . . . worked up.”

  “Yes,” I answered plainly. “The human side of me understands that you've all suffered a loss, but the demon side of me knows that sometimes it's humans that are capable of the greatest evil. Be careful who you trust.”

  Sasha narrowed her eyes at me. “You do the same.” She gestured for me to leave. “Tomorrow at one. Meet me at the Blue Moon Cafe.”

  I stepped outside and the smothering electric feeling eased. I let out a breath as the door shut behind me. Devin had returned to Lela's car, and Lucy, Allison, and Max had gone back to Allison's car while I was speaking with Sasha, leaving me to walk across the driveway alone. I slid into the back seat of Lela's car and looked tiredly at Chase.

  The clock on the dash said 12:45. Had we really only been in there for less than an hour? It had seemed like days. I knew Chase and Lela were waiting for an explanation, but I was too tired to give it to them. They would just have to wait until everyone could be filled in at once back at Allison's.

  As we pulled out of the driveway, I went over a checklist in my head. First, I needed to talk to my dad to see what his take was on all that had transpired. Then I needed to talk to Jason. Part of me dreaded seeing him again and being confronted with the fact of how cold and distant he had become, but if the witches suspected him of murdering Claire, he needed to know. One of them might decide to act before I could prove him innocent.

  I would try to talk to both Jason and my dad before my meeting with Sasha, another meeting I was not looking forward to. Something fishy was going on in that coven, and Sasha was at the center of it.

  Chase gave me another worried glance as we drove, and I offered him a tired smile. He put a finger to each of his cheeks and lifted his mouth into a grin, making me smile for real.

  “Stop being nice,” I whispered. “Demons are supposed to be evil.”

  Chase looked a little confused, but whispered back, “Demons aren't evil, Xoe. That's just you.”

  I punched him in the shoulder as we both started laughing. Devin glanced over from the passenger seat at Lela. “Are they always like this?”

  Lela snorted. “They're usually worse.”

  “This is going to be a long week,” Devin replied like he was in pain.

  He had no idea.

  Shortly after we returned to Allison's, Lela drove Devin to the nearest hotel, and took Max home while the rest of us prepared for bed. I'd had to take a few moments to explain to everyone what had happened during the meeting with the coven, but luckily no one pressed the issue too far. Lucy and I slept in Allison's room, leaving Chase to sleep downstairs on the couch. It would have been incredibly awkward if Allison's parents decided to come home during the night, but she assured us they would be gone for another week.

  As I laid my cheek against the cool pillowcase and began to drift off, I wondered if Allison ever felt abandoned by her parents being gone so much. I'd never really thought about it, and now here I was, unable to get over the fact that my mom had kicked me out of her life, when Al's parents hadn't been in her life that much to begin with. I made a mental note to be a little more considerate of Allison's situation. She never complained about it, but with my recent experiences, I knew it likely affected her more than she let on.

  With that depressing thought, sleep took me.

  7

  I woke drenched in sweat. Oh please no. Tell me it wasn't happening again. I grabbed a pillow to press against my face as memories of the dream hit me. Witches. I was surrounded by witches, but I couldn't make out their faces because everything was . . . orange. I looked down to realize that I was in the middle of a campfire, which was more than a little strange. It wasn't like I was standing in it, or even in it
physically, but I could see out through the flames. The witches chanted together, but I couldn't make out the words.

  Suddenly I was in the dream-world, and no, not the one you go to when you sleep. The one where dream-walkers go to travel to different planes. I'd gone there once before to search for my grandmother. I waited at the dark, dream-world bus station for a cab, but one never came.

  I groaned as I removed the pillow from my face. I was alone in Allison's room, which meant it was probably late if everyone else had already woken up. I rolled out of bed and stumbled out into the hall. I was in serious need of a shower, but coffee came first. Coffee would make everything better.

  I made my way downstairs toward the scent of cooking pancakes, and yes, coffee. I reached the living room and was almost to my morning savior when I heard a knock at the front door. Allison peeked her head into the living room, and seeing me frozen mid-step, gestured for me to answer it.

  Grumbling all the while, I changed course for the door, not really considering that I was still in a ratty tee shirt and flannel pajama bottoms, and probably looked like a sweaty mess. This factor was the first thing on my mind, however, when I opened the door, and there stood Jason, looking freshly washed and dressed in a hunter green flannel and jeans.

  So many thoughts rushed through my head of what I should say. Sorry? Good morning? You're looking well? Nothing seemed good enough, so I just stood there feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed.

  “I figured we could have that talk now,” he said as he took in my disheveled appearance.

  Now? He wanted to have our relationship talk now? I was so not ready for this. I stood there for a moment longer, then realized that I'd kept him standing on the doorstep for several minutes.

  “Um, come in I guess,” I said, disgusted with how meek and afraid my voice sounded.

  I stood out of the way as Jason came inside. I closed the door after him, then followed him to sit on the couch. I noticed out of the corner of my eye as Lucy briefly poked her head out of the kitchen, then immediately withdrew. The illusion of privacy was nice, but Lucy would hear everything we said regardless.

  I turned to Jason as he opened his mouth to speak. Panicking, I tried to think of anything I could say to delay the talk. “I met with the witches last night,” I blurted out to delay whatever it was he planned on saying.

  “What?” Jason asked, changing gears.

  “My dad set it up,” I explained quickly. “I didn't even ask him to.”

  Jason sighed. “What did you find out?”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “You're not going to lecture me about getting involved?”

  Jason hunched his shoulders in defeat. “I knew you would get involved no matter what I said, especially with Devin on his way here to help. So what did you find?”

  I searched his face for any sign of the frustration he'd exhibited the day before, but he looked normal. A little morose maybe, but he'd returned to the Jason I was used to.

  “I'm pretty sure they're hiding something. Devin agrees,” I explained, relieved that I had successfully switched the conversation to something I was more comfortable with. “Sasha seems so sure that a vampire killed Claire, and I think she expects her coven to blindly follow what she believes. Claire's dad refused to veer away from the vampire idea, even when we gave him plenty of information that should have instilled a little doubt. I think I could get more information if I could talk to Claire's mom alone. Her husband is a bully.”

  Jason nodded thoughtfully. “They didn't share any of their suspicions with me, so I assumed they were simply at a loss. If Sasha is so sure it's a vampire, why would she hire one to investigate?”

  I bit my lip. To tell, or not to tell. “You're a suspect,” I explained, “so Sasha wants to keep you where she can find you. If you're not the murderer, then you can at least help her find who is. Who better to track down a vampire than one of his or her own kind?”

  Jason shook his head ruefully. “It's all coming together now. I should have seen this coming.”

  “She also wasn't terribly keen on me getting involved, and even had her house warded against demons. It was . . . uncomfortable.”

  “Well I wasn't terribly keen on getting you involved either,” he said, almost smiling, “but here we are.”

  “Yeah,” I cringed as I turned my gaze down to my lap. “Here we are.”

  “So we might as well work together,” he added.

  I looked up in surprise. “Really?”

  Jason shrugged. “It would be silly not to. Our personal problems can wait.”

  I knew I shouldn't push it, but I'm just a button pusher. It's what I do. “I thought you said you needed space . . . ” I trailed off.

  Jason smiled. “I guess you do actually listen to what I say, sometimes.”

  I smiled too. Not wanting to lose this new found almost camaraderie, I switched the conversation back to work. “I'm meeting Sasha for coffee today at one,” I explained. “It might be a good time to snoop around her house. I've got a bad feeling about that place.”

  He laughed. “At least you've been allowed inside. The coven seems to hold to the idea that if they don't invite me in, I won't be able to enter the house on my own. Tell me you will at least take backup to this coffee date?”

  I nodded. “If you count Devin as backup, then yes.”

  “Good. I would go with you myself, but as long as I'm a suspect, Sasha probably shouldn't know that we're working together. I also agree that one of us should try to speak to Cynthia alone. Perhaps if I ask to meet with Ben, I could keep him away long enough for you to get to her.”

  “Perfect,” I agreed.

  With that, it seemed we didn't have anything else to say, and just sat awkwardly for a few moments of silence. Not wanting to talk about our relationship, but also not wanting Jason to leave just yet, I remembered my primary objective. “Coffee?” I offered.

  Jason cringed. “I would, but I'm not sure how I would feel about being around you and Chase in the same room. I know it's silly.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “It's not silly. I understand,” I mumbled, feeling ashamed.

  “But we'll meet up after you're done with Sasha?” he offered hopefully.

  I let out a relieved breath. “It's a . . . plan.” I replied, hoping he hadn't heard my hesitation where I almost said date.

  He smiled warmly, making me feel like the cold and distant Jason had simply been a bad dream.

  “Oh wait!” I exclaimed as he began to rise from the couch. “I forgot to tell you that I had a dream last night.”

  Jason knew all about my mild gift for foretelling. He resumed his seat with a concerned look on his face.

  “In my dream I was with the witches, but I couldn't see their faces. It was like I was looking out from the center of a campfire. They were all chanting, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. Then the dream switched so that I was stranded alone in the dream-world.”

  Jason's expression turned thoughtful once again. “Are you sure you didn't physically go to the dream-world?” he asked.

  “If I had, Allison's house probably wouldn't be looking so nice,” I reminded him. The only time I'd gone to the dream-world, I'd accidentally made a portal so that I went there physically. The plan had been for me to go in more of an astral projection sense.

  He nodded apologetically. “I forgot about that. So I assume you haven't figured out why your portals leave destruction in your wake.”

  I shook my head. “I haven't even tried making one since I destroyed my mom's house.”

  Jason patted my hand in sympathy, and I felt a slight rush at the unexpected touch. “Do you have any idea what the dream meant?”

  I shook my head. “I'm not sure, but it makes me trust the witches even less. Maybe I'm just being biased due to my past experiences, but I'm pretty sure they're up to something.”

  I could almost see the gears turning in Jason's head as he processed the information. After a moment he nodded to
himself. “I'll see what I can find at Sasha’s house while you're with her. Call me as soon as the two of you part ways.”

  He rose and walked toward the door, but before leaving he turned to face me. “Be careful, Xoe. Don't go anywhere alone, please.”

  I held up one hand in the salute for “scout's honor”, and then Jason was gone. I took a deep breath, then rose from the couch to face my friends who had most likely been eavesdropping throughout mine and Jason's entire conversation.

  Lucy handed me a cup of coffee as I entered the kitchen, and Allison wrapped an arm around my waist in a comforting gesture. Chase sat at the kitchen table over an untouched plate of pancakes, sipping his coffee and not meeting my eyes.

  Lucy glanced back at Chase, then gestured that we should go upstairs. Lucy and Allison turned to lead the way while I watched Chase as we left, feeling torn. I for some reason felt like I needed to reassure him, but reassure him of what? Jason's visit hadn't really changed anything, and I still felt just as confused as ever.

  Chase looked up just before I lost sight of him, and he looked absolutely miserable. Allison grabbed my hand to pull me forward more quickly, and then Chase was out of my sight completely.

  I followed my friends upstairs to Allison's room, feeling like my steps were heavier than they should have been. As soon as we were all inside, Allison gently shut the door behind us. I felt like it was rude to just leave Chase in the kitchen like that, but looking at the concerned faces of my girlfriends, I had to admit that I really did need to talk.

  “So you're working together now?” Lucy asked as we all sat on Allison's bed with me sandwiched in the middle.

  I shrugged. “I guess? He didn't even seem mad anymore.”

  Allison snorted. “Maybe he realized that he was being an idiot, and decided he didn't want to lose you permanently.”

  I stared down at my lap, not sure what to say.