Chapter 19 - Klaus
I poured myself a cup of coffee and twisted the top on tightly before I headed out the door. I left a note for Aubrey letting her know I was heading into City Hall. I had a handful of tasks to take care of, and I wanted to let her sleep in.
I arrived at the office and waved to Julia, who was on the phone. I slipped into my office and just sat down when the door reopened. Julia looked nervous, tapping her fingers together. “There is someone on line one for you.”
I frowned. “How is someone calling me already? It’s not even eight yet.”
She swallowed, looking a little green. “It’s the coroner.”
I was confused. Why would he be calling me? He was working on Mike’s autopsy, but I already knew what it would say. He died on impact. Aubrey survived in self-defense. Case shut.
“Alright.” I waved a hand. “I’ll take it.” She slipped back out of the room, shutting the door behind her. I turned to my phone and picked it up. I clicked on line one and cleared my throat. “This is Klaus.”
“Klaus, it’s Eric. I hate to call you so early, but we have a situation here.”
I rubbed my eyes. “I don’t know what kind of situation you could be having that would concern me, especially at this hour. What did the body get up and walk away?”
“Well, it is gone.”
I froze, my body stiffening. “What? What do you mean by ‘gone’? I was making a joke.”
“I arrived here and was planning on starting the autopsy, and it’s not here.”
I shook my head because it wasn’t possible that a body just up and walked away. “Did the cops take it? They spoke about wanting to maybe have their own people do the autopsy.”
“No, they haven’t arrived yet. And if they wanted to, I wouldn’t have had an issue handing the body over. All the paperwork is still here, but the body is gone. His phone is here, his clothes are here, even his wallet is still here.”
I leaned back, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. How could a body just disappear? “And you spoke with the police already? Are you 100% sure they didn’t come and pick it up? Forever everything else.”
“Yeah, I called them, wondering if they came to grab the body, but they hadn’t. They knew that paperwork would have to be filled out. I have no idea where it’s gone.”
I tried to think of anything else that would make sense. “Was there anyone interested in the body? Snooping around? What about your surveillance? What does that show?”
“No, not that I’m aware of. It hasn’t been here long enough for people to even notice. And the system was updated last night. It went down at ten.”
I pinched my nose. “And he was dead? You’re sure that he was dead?”
“Yeah, he didn’t have a pulse. It wasn’t like he could walk himself out of here. He was already set into rigid mortis.”
“Alright. Cal and I will look into this. I want you to do another search. Look in every room. The body is to be found.” I ended the call and called up Cal. I grabbed my jacket, slipping out of the room.
“Julia, reschedule all my meetings.”
Julia looked up from her computer and gave me a nod as I headed down the hallway.
“Do you realize how early it is?” Cal asked as he answered the phone. “I was up all night, Klaus. I need my beauty sleep if you want me to be nice.”
“Mike’s body is missing.”
The line went silent for a second. “What!? How the hell does a body go missing? Are you trying to pull my leg right now?”
“Do you really think I want to call you up in the morning for jokes? Yes, I’m serious. His body is missing, and we need to look for it. I need your help.”
“This doesn’t make sense. He was dead. It wasn’t like he could walk himself out of the morgue. Did someone take his body?”
“I don’t know, Cal. Meet me outside City Hall.”
I headed outside and looked around the streets. I didn’t even know what I was looking for. None of this made sense. But I did know we needed to find the body before Aubrey found out. I didn’t want her to find out at all.
Cal arrived a few minutes later, looking half asleep. “Alright, so what’s going on?”
“His body is missing.”
Cal shook his head. “Did the police take it? Is it in another drawer? Did they look hard for it? What about the security system? Did it show anything?”
I shook my head. “No, the system was down. We just need to find it.”
Cal looked at me with a look. “How exactly are we going to find a body, Klaus? It isn’t like he could walk himself out of the damn morgue.”
“I don’t know! But I do know that we need to find it before Aubrey finds out that it’s gone. So, help me look.”
Cal threw his hands up. “Okay, okay, okay. I’ll help you look, but I feel this is going to be a waste of our time.”
“I know that. But this is the last thing I need Aubrey to hear about. She’s finally relaxing. I don’t want her to stop feeling like she’s free because the very dead body is gone.”
We started down the road and looked through the streets. I wasn’t even sure what we expected to find. But I had to look because anything was possible.
“You’re sure he was dead?” I asked as we turned another corner.
Cal nodded. “Yes, he didn’t have a pulse. He bled out. There is no way this man is alive, Klaus.”
“And you’re absolutely sure he was dead?”
“He was dead, Klaus.” He glanced at me before looking back toward the road. “The coroner pronounced him dead, Klaus. He was dead. There is no way he walked out. Something else had to happen.”
I did a circle, looking down other roads and across the street. I didn’t know where to look or what I was looking for. It wasn’t like he was going to be walking the streets.
“He’s dead, Klaus,” Cal added. “We can ask around, but I don’t think this is that concerning. I’m sure it was a simple mix-up, and his body was probably taken by accident. I’m sure it’s going to show up. Why don’t you give it a day?”
I ran a hand through my hair, and Cal tilted his head. “You really care about her, don’t you?”
I swallowed. “Yes.” And I couldn’t stomach the idea of her ex doing something to him.
“She’s a good person. She evens you out.” Cal patted me on the shoulder. “Everything is going to be okay.”
I nodded because that seemed most logical. But my gut was twisted up. I didn’t know if it was that simple. There was something else going on, and I didn’t know what it was.
After an hour, we finally gave up. I tried to finish some other tasks in the office, but my head kept going back to Mike’s body. I grew uneasy and needed to see Aubrey.
I called my day short and headed home. I found Aubrey sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in her lap. She had a movie playing, a smile on her face as her eyes watched it. I felt my heart twist up seeing her so relaxed.
Her eyes looked over at me, and her smile grew. “Klaus, welcome home. How was your day? Anything happen?”
If I said the truth, I knew that she would worry. That peace that had settled over her would slip away, and she would begin to grow nervous again. I couldn’t ruin that when I didn’t even know if anything was wrong. It could be something so simple.
So, I lied. “No, just another day. I did some paperwork and caught up on some other stuff I needed to get done.”
She smiled wider. “Sounds nice. Want to join me? I just started the movie.” She waved the bowl of popcorn. “I’ll share.”
I joined her, pulling her close to me and soaking in the calm. Aubrey popped some popcorn into her mouth. I couldn’t stop watching her, taking in every inch of her.
It was strange. Just a month ago, we were forced together, and I couldn’t imagine adjusting to having her around. And now, I couldn’t imagine her not being here. It made me sick to think about the house being empty again.
“Tomorrow I have the monthly Alpha meeting. Do you want to join me?”
She paused as she brought some more popcorn to her mouth. She seemed to think about it for a moment before she nodded. “Yeah, I’d like to join. They all seem nice, and it would be nice to get to know everyone a little better.”
“We were thinking about discussing everything and going through notes. I think it should help us figure out how to help the pack.”
“That would be a great idea. I look forward to it.”
She leaned against me, resting her head against my shoulder. I felt her melt against me, and I hoped things would last like this. I knew once this was over, we were supposed to go our own separate ways, but what if I didn’t want that now?
The next morning, we heard that Riley’s pack was joining the meeting. I couldn’t help but watch Aubrey. She held her head a little higher and walked with a skip in her step. She almost looked like a different person. She had confidence and happiness.
We headed into the meeting where Riley was sitting with Janella. Janella was rubbing her stomach, looking ready to pop any day. Across from them were Titus and Dustin. I pulled up a chair for Aubrey, who sat down.
“Morning, Klaus. Aubrey.” Janella smiled happily, her eyes sparkling as she looked at us. “It’s lovely to see you guys.”
I nodded my head. “Morning, Janella. You must be due any day now.”
Janella nodded. “I am in eight days. I’m ready. I’ve been ready. I feel like a cow.”
“You look wonderful,” Aubrey added. “You have that pregnancy glow.”
Janella’s smile grew. “Thank you.”
Once everyone was settled, Aubrey plopped the diary onto the table. Elize’s eyes widened. “Did you unlock it?”
Aubrey nodded. “I did. I just had a pull to pop in certain numbers, and it opened.”
“What’s inside?”
“She wrote about her life. Everyday. She didn’t miss a single day. Even when she was sick, she wrote.”
“Wow,” Janella looked impressed.
“And it stopped on her wedding day.”
I watched Elize frown. “Well, that makes sense.”
“Was there anything about the curse? How to stop it?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s just a diary. There is nothing evil in here. There is no plotting, no planning. It’s just about her life, and it suddenly stops.”
They all frowned. “So, the diary is useless?”
Aubrey frowned. “It doesn’t contain any answers to the questions you have.”
“Maybe a visit to the cauldron?” Elize offered. “Have you brought it down to the cauldron unlocked? Read anything?”
“That’s an idea,” Janella offered. “Why don’t we go see? Couldn’t hurt to try.”
Aubrey shrank a little in her chair. I knew how hard she’d been working trying to figure things out. I reached over, squeezing her hand. “Might be the answer.”
She gave me a weak smile in response.
We headed into the basement, where that cold chill set over me. I hated the feeling of dark magic even more than the smell. The rancid smell always made my stomach curl.
Aubrey glanced at me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I just hate being down here.”
“Same,” Riley added. “Makes my skin crawl.”
Janella scrunched up her nose. “You know I couldn’t really smell it before, but now I can. It doesn’t smell great. It’s like…”
“Rotting flesh,” Titus said. “Let’s be as quick as we can.”
We headed down the hallway, and Riley pushed open the door. Inside, the cauldron sat, but not like before. The water inside bubbled, seeping over the cauldron onto the ground. The energy in the room was stronger than before, and it vibrated throughout the space.
I felt like someone was pushing against me, shoving at my skin. I ground my teeth together as Aubrey stepped into the room. She frowned. “It feels so different in here today.”
Riley nodded in agreement. “I don’t understand how it changes so much. What makes it act up like this?”
“We’ve not been able to narrow down why or when it acts up. Try reading from the diary, Aubrey.”
“Where do you think I should read?” Aubrey asked, looking toward Elize and Janella.
“Just read anything.”
Aubrey popped the diary open and began reading from it.
As the others spoke, I felt someone wrapping around me, but no one was there. I felt heat course through my blood, and rage hit me like no other. I took my breath away at the sudden change in my emotions.
I looked at Aubrey, her eyes glued to the diary. She was talking with Janella, but she seemed so far away.
“Klaus?” Riley turned to me. “You good?”
I curled my hands into tight fists and tried to calm myself. It had to be a panic attack or something. But I couldn’t calm myself.
“Klaus?” Riley’s voice dropped lower, his face turning serious. All eyes turned to me, and I knew something wasn’t right. This feeling. I couldn’t control it.
“You need to tie me up.”
“What?” Aubrey looked stunned now. “What are you talking about? Klaus, what’s wrong?”
“I feel angry.” I knew the others would understand what that meant. Riley was moving, stepping between me and the others. I watched as Aubrey looked confused, horrified.
Her voice pitched higher. “What are you doing? What is wrong with him?”
Riley grabbed me, pulling me back, and they took me across the hallway to another room. Riley chained my legs to the ground, and I couldn’t do anything but stare at Aubrey.
“Stop! Riley! What are you doing!? What’s going on!”
“The dark magic has attached to him.” Riley stopped Aubrey from coming closer to me. “It’s safest this way.”
Aubrey stared at me, and I felt like I failed her.