Mystery's Choice (Vengeance Of The Fallen Book 1) (10 page)

“Ma’am.”  The other officer said. He had red hair cut in a buzz cut.

“Did they try to hurt you in any way, Ms. Williams?” the black officer asked.

“No.” Mystery came around the car. Seth could see her shaking, so, he went to her and took her hand.

The officers both whistled when they saw the mess. The redhead gagged on the stench wafting through the house. Seth tried to pull Mystery back inside, she wouldn’t come.

“Why don’t you guys look around?”  He turned Mystery around and pushed her forward. “We’ll wait out here.”

“Okay.” Both officers said in unison. They went further in the house and Seth took Mystery back to the car.

After a few minutes the officers came back out. The redhead went to the patrol car and the black officer came over to Seth and Mystery.

“We are going to call for a couple of detectives to come and look at this. The walls are covered in animal blood. Plus the feces make me think we may have an occult thing going on here. If so, these people are nothing to play around with. So, it’s worth checking out.” He turned to Mystery. “Ms. Williams, do you know of anyone who would want to do this?”

“My mother told me I was stolen as a child from a religious cult. We have been getting hang-ups and we’ve come home a few times to broken windows. I figured if we ignored them they would eventually leave us alone.”  Mystery looked up at her house. “I really believed they were just trying to rattle me. Then this happened, after nothing for a few days.”

“Do you know the name of this cult?” the officer asked her, looking up from the notes he was taking.

“No. I know nothing about them, except maybe they are located in California. Our lawyer was trying to check the story out and he hit a dead end.” She rubbed her arms trying to warm herself.

“I suggest you go inside and get some clothes and toiletries. After you talk to the detectives, go stay in a hotel.” The officer told Seth.

Seth went inside and once again he was struck with how sick these people had to be. Shaking his head he headed upstairs to see what he could salvage in the way of clothes. One look at the bathroom and the mess there told him there were no toiletries to gather. So he went in the bedroom and looked through the mess in there. All of their clothes were covered in blood. He went back downstairs and after looking around one more time, he thanked God they hadn’t hurt Mystery. Checking to make sure the officers were busy with Mystery, he took a vial out of his coat pocket and popped a small white bill into his mouth, swallowing hard and wishing he dared something stronger. He adjusted his expression to hide his fear and went back outside.

“There weren’t any clothes or toiletries to gather.” He told Mystery and the officers.

“The detectives are on their way, they have to come from Denver, so, they will be a bit. We’ll try to get you out of here as soon as we can.” The redhead said.

About 45 minutes later a dark, late model sedan pulled up and two women got out.

“Hi, Detective Ballard.” The black officer shook the short, black-haired woman’s hand, and he turned to the tall, thin Latina woman with her and nodded. “Detective Ramirez.”  He turned back to Seth and Mystery.

“This is Mystery Williams and Seth Parsons. They are the owners of the house.”

Seth stuck out his hand and Detective Ballard shook it. Detective Ramirez was already walking toward the house.

Detective Ballard smiled. “You’ll have to forgive my partner, she’s brilliant at her job, but she’s not much of a talker.” She stepped back. “Why don’t you follow my partner inside, Mr. Parsons?”

Seth kissed Mystery on the forehead and followed Detective Ramirez into the house.

Detective Ballard leaned against the car right by Mystery. “So, why do you think this happened?”

Mystery looked down at her feet. “They want me to come back to them. They aren’t going to leave me alone until I do.”

“Who wants you to come back?” she turned her kind hazel eyes on Mystery.

“The cult my father stole me from when I was a baby. Our lawyer says I more than likely was reported missing about 17 years ago, in Los Angeles, California. However, my father died recently and everything he knew about them went with him. We’ve been getting hang-ups and a couple of times we’ve come home and the windows have been broken.”

“Why didn’t you report it?”

“I thought if I ignored them and didn’t take the bait, they would leave me alone.”  Mystery looked up. “I mean, if they want me so bad, why did it take them 17 years to find me. Why not hire a detective to look for me?”

“If your father hid his tracks well, they might not have been able to find you until recently. We may find if we look into your father’s death he was murdered in retaliation for taking you.”  She pursed her lips and looked up from her notes. “We’ll look at all the cults we know are active in the Los Angeles area. I suggest you stay at a motel or with friends until a cleaning service can get your house cleaned. Also, be careful. Take more notice of your surroundings, if you see something and it just doesn’t feel right go where you are around people and call the police.”  She stopped talking as, Detective Ramirez and Seth came back outside.

“Definitely occult related. There is animal feces and blood smeared all over the house. Some of the symbols scrawled on the wall in feces are Satanic.”  Detective Ramirez said, as she walked over to them.

“So, what do I do to keep Mystery safe?”  Seth asked as he put his arm around her slender shoulders. His arm tightened when he felt the fine trembling going through her body.

“I already told Mystery this, but just be cautious and careful. If anything else happens, even if it’s minor, call us.” Detective Ballard handed him her card. “In the meantime, we will check into cults active both in California and Colorado. We will check into David Williams’ death. On the back of the card are a few listings for cleaning services who will clean up your house.”  She reached out her hand and Seth shook it.

Detective Ramirez went to Mystery. “If you want to talk about the dreams you have probably been having since all of this began, call me.” Her brown eyes burned with intensity. “I can help.”

They both started for their car. Detective Ballard smiled and waved as she got in. Detective Ramirez looked at Mystery, before she got in the driver’s seat, started the car and they pulled away.

Seth hugged Mystery and she hung on to him for dear life. He tucked her head under his chin and held her. After a few minutes he helped her into the car. Once there she curled up into a little ball. Seth went and locked the front door, got back in the car, started it and backed out of the driveway. As he drove down the street, he patted Mystery’s back. She pulled away and tried to curl up even tighter.

“Hang on baby. Just hang on. The cops will find whoever is responsible. It’ll be better soon.”

Seth hoped he wasn’t lying.

8

Felicity looked over at her partner. “One of the symbols was the same as the warehouse.”  She glanced back at the road, using her side view mirror to pull onto the highway heading back to Denver.

“So, now we know where to start looking for them, either California or here or both. We can connect them to several different crimes, if we can just match the symbol to a specific cult.”  Mary Kate frowned. “Do you think they will keep harassing the girl?”

“Yes.”  Felicity maneuvered her way through the crowded rush hour traffic. Cranky commuters were making the traffic backup, by refusing to let other cars onto the highway. Felicity sighed, she had been in Colorado for ten years and she still hated the traffic. “They will keep coming back until they get whatever it is they want. After a while, if they don’t get it, they will probably kill the girl and cut their losses.”  Felicity turned her intense eyes on her partner. “They want her, I think they want her to come of her own free will, and if she won’t they will kill her. It’s just a feeling, I can’t see clearly, their power is too strong.”

“Great. I’ll check out known cults in the area and California.”  Mary Kate looked at her partner’s profile. “You check out the girl, she may be our best bet for keeping her safe.”

“Sounds like a plan.”  Felicity turned her full attention to the crazed drivers and their daily war to get home.

It had been three weeks since the cleaning service finished cleaning up the house, but nothing Seth said could convince Mystery to go home. She kept talking about screaming demons. She said she had lied to the police because they wouldn’t have believed her. She insisted demons had done the damage to their house. He told her he would get her help, and he loved her. She looked hurt and had stopped talking all together. She had stopped eating unless Seth fed her. Mystery was giving up. Seth couldn’t let her give up, but he didn’t know whom to turn to for help. And he hated the part of himself who wondered if she were just being a drama queen, trying to make it worse, so he would be afraid to leave her alone. He wouldn’t let her destroy everything he had worked for and he wouldn’t let her give up.

So, he had packed everything up and loaded it into the car, went back into the hotel room and picked up Mystery and took her out to the car. She didn’t respond to him in any way except to turn away from him once he got in the car. Seth started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

Mystery was visibly shaking by the time they pulled onto their street and as they pulled into the driveway she turned terrified, pleading eyes to him.

“Honey we have to get on with our lives.”  He smoothed her hair back, and held onto her face with both hands, “The cops said whomever did this probably won’t come back. Since they didn’t follow us to the hotel, they are done harassing us. There haven’t been any hang-ups. Nothing has happened. This is our home, baby.”  Seth got out of the car and took their bags in and came back and carried Mystery inside. She closed her eyes as they crossed the threshold.

She completely surprised him by wanting to walk. He set her down and she went upstairs taking her bags with her. She went past the master bedroom and went into the spare bedroom. Seth tried to follow her but she pushed him out, closed the door and locked it.

“Mystery, we need to work through this together, baby!”  Seth pounded on the door.

“How can we, when you don’t believe me?”

“Please give me another chance. Tell me again.”

The door unlocked. Seth opened it to find Mystery sitting on the bed. He went and sat next to her.

“I was in the kitchen and something started screaming, it wasn’t human, but it wasn’t any animal I knew of. I turned around and these little, winged creatures were flying around the kitchen flinging food. One of them took a swipe at me. I ran upstairs and hid in the closet. I could hear them trashing the house.”  She rubbed her arms as though she was trying to warm herself. “I thought they would come for me, but the noise stopped.”

Seth tried to think what to say, he searched his mind for the name of a psychiatrist who would take her on as a patient and not lock her up somewhere. The strain had obviously been too much for her.

“Look, Seth. Look at my side.”  Mystery raised her shirt.

Seth gasped. Mystery had a set of claw marks on her side. They were inflamed and angry looking. He kneeled down to look at her wound.

“This is infected.”  He stood, went into the bathroom and came back with bandages and antiseptic. “I’m going to open it up and clean it out.” He looked up at her. “Why didn’t you show me this before now?”

“I wanted you to believe me. Not have me prove it, just believe.”

“This is pretty far out.”  He cleaned the scalpel he had brought with him from the bathroom.

“I don’t know why it was so important, it just was.”

“I believe you. I have no idea what to do now, but I believe you.”

“Thank you.”

“I love you. You’re welcome.”  He examined the scalpel, making sure it was clean. “This is going to hurt.”

Sweat poured down the girl’s face as she knelt naked by the fire. The flames danced with ancient joy in her blue eyes, making them glow eerily. Twelve bodies clad only in black cloaks encircled her and began to dance. Slowly, menacingly Cain stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Rise and face me, Shauna.” He said as he helped her up. The girl swooned slightly as she turned toward him. She smiled mindlessly.

“Are you ready to join the Master?” Cain said silkily, brushing her hair out of her face.

“Yes.”  Shauna said confidently.

Cain led her over to the altar and helped her lie down upon it. He kissed her forehead lightly. She moaned and her eyes fluttered shut.

The cloaked figures stopped dancing. One by one they dropped their cloaks and began to sway slowly to music only they could hear. Cain closed his eyes and lowered his head.

“Our Dark Master, after fasting and preparing her mind, this child has chosen to come home to you. We, your children, send our sister home to spend eternity in your presence. Please, Father, receive her with open arms! NATAS SEVIL!”  Cain roared in prayer as he prepared ornately carved wooden bowls on the table next to the altar. He dipped his long, claw-like fingers deep into the bowl containing goat’s blood and marked the Sign of the Beast on her forehead. He dipped them in the bowl containing pig urine and sprinkled the sprawled body.

Raevanne slipped through the naked cult members and handed her husband a small, sharp dagger. Cain took it from her and kissed her fleetingly. He dipped the dagger into first the blood and then the urine. Cain raised the reeking dagger over his head and plunged it deep into Shauna’s chest, drawing it down until he reached the blond, wispy hair at the juncture of her thighs. He kissed the dripping dagger, and two women stepped forward, removing the bowls and dagger. He motioned the others forward.

Yanking the still pulsating heart from its cavity, he sank his animal-like teeth into it, savoring the taste. As he chewed slowly, he passed the heart around to all the others. Raevanne slowly, sensuously licked her lips as blood ran down her chin and Cain drew her close for a long lingering kiss. Cain reared his head back and a deep satisfied laugh rolled out of him, to bounce off the cavern walls.

Across town, Mystery awoke screaming, she looked around the room, looking for the source of her terror. Finding nothing, she let herself be cradled back to sleep in Seth’s arms. He kissed her hair and rocked her gently. When she settled Seth laid her back on her pillow and took a small, yellow pill. Now, maybe he could sleep.

A couple of hours later, downtown, at the police station, Detective Sergeant Samuel Jeffries yawned and turned off his desk light. As he walked to the door the phone rang. Cursing he turned around and picked up the receiver.

“Helloh.”  He said sleepily, rubbing his hands across his tired, light green eyes.

“Sam. Naomi.”  She yawned, “ ‘Nother homicide, 2274 S. Lansing.”  She hung up.

“Shit.” Sam ran his hands through his curly brown hair and headed out the door.

Naomi Calabrese tried not to gag as the coroner’s assistants loaded the young girl’s remains into a body bag. She forced the image of her bright, bubbly teenager out of her mind as she looked at the girl’s ruined body.

Someone had slit her from her chest to her privates. Her organs were missing and she had the Sign of the Beast scrawled on her forehead. She was the fourth girl they had found like this. All of the girls had been young, attractive, and from affluent homes. None were bound or appeared to have struggled against their murderers. All of them had been relaxed and obviously happy, because they each had a sickeningly, sweet smile on their faces.

And she would be willing to bet this one, like the others had no drugs in her system. They all appeared to have been fed well. Nothing fit.

As Naomi scanned the large tree-lined park, she thought what all this could mean if the press got a hold of it. Another Salem witch hunt. The girls looked to have been part of some sort of ritual sacrifice. The city would be in an uproar.

Sam stepped out of his pickup and breathed in the night. The park should have been a peaceful place. He could almost hear the echoes of the children playing, the families picnicking. And just over the hill, a young girl’s body was being loaded into a body bag. Somewhere, a mother was fretting about her child, and would soon know she was never coming home. Sam took a deep breath and ambled towards the far side of the hill.

The air was so hot; it hung thick and heavy in the sunlit room. No breeze stirred the gauzy curtains and dust clung to everything. Mystery walked to the window and stood looking at the street teeming below. She turned slowly, and sat in a big, rattan chair, fanning herself. The soft, woven fabric of her white dress felt good to her skin, she leaned back and began to drift off to sleep.

The door inched opened lazily and a tall, swarthy-skinned man, with piercing blue eyes beckoned her to come. She tried to fight him, but she felt compelled to follow. She began to cry as her body involuntarily rose from the chair and went to him. Slowly, he embraced her in his arms. Mystery pulled away from him and looked up into glowing, red eyes; the man smiled at her and stroked her cheek. Mystery woke up screaming.

She got out of bed, put on her robe and went downstairs to discover she was alone. She shivered as she walked through what should have been familiar territory. Mystery went into the living room and sat down in her favorite chair. The afternoon sun tried to warm her, but nothing could. She opened the prescription bottle sitting next to the phone and took one of the pills inside.

Seth could tell something was wrong the second he walked into the hospital. Everybody was red-eyed and Patricia was missing.

“Hi, Amy.”  Seth said cheerily.

Amy wiped her nose. “Hi, have you heard?”  Even her frizzy brown hair was limp.

“No.” Seth felt his stomach knot.

“They found Shauna’s body.” she hiccupped. “She’d been butchered, mutilated. All her internal organs were missing.”

Seth turned and fled. He had to get home to Mystery.

Seth sped down the street and turned into his driveway. He stopped the car and jumped out of it leaving the door open. He threw open the front door.

“Mystery!” he ran upstairs. Finding nothing he ran back down the stairs. “Mystery!”

“I’m in the living room, Seth.”  She came to the doorway, “What is it?”