18.
Moth
M ost of our rescue party has relocated to the cabin to watch the slew of comments from Marsha’s cellphone. We tried to convince her to come with us to the castle, but she was firm that she did not “pack any castle outfits” and I was too tired to argue. My flame may be different from her mother, but in some small ways, the apple has not fallen far from the tree.
The tagged photographs are blurry and clearly not Heather, but it has gotten traction which Marsha assures me is a good start. Oak and Clara chat easily with my mother-in-law about things like photography and the internet which I do not understand, while Pepper sharpens weapons that I hope we will not need. It is a full house, though Mother, Holly, and Ruby have remained in Eclipsica. It seems I have become the unwilling host of a disgruntled party—a party that, from the sounds of it, has another guest.
Hurried footsteps rush to the doorway, accompanied by the sound of something being dropped as if we’ve received a delivery, which is odd considering our postal box is at the end of the road. Sprout picks up his head before a loud knock reverberates through the cabin, and I wonder who has joined us this time.
Moving to the door, I open it to see a strange assortment of items that are lined up on our welcome mat. Namely, pepperoni rolls and a bottle of green off-brand soda. Strange… similar offerings have been left at my statue in Point Pleasant over the years. They are favored by the locals—including me during my many years in their woods—and it would be a lie to say the familiar scent does not tempt me…
“Don’t freak out!” Chris—the sorry excuse for a hunter—stands a comical distance away from the house. “I’m here to help!”
What kind of help could he possibly offer?
Before I can bear my claws, Rosie leaps into action, racing down the porch steps and toward her brother.
“No! Nope! Absolutely not!” She punches the man in the chest with every new word to punctuate her point. “Why. The. Hell. Do. You. Keep. Showing. Up. Here?” While he flinches, it is not nearly enough pain…
But it is a start.
“Did you do something to her?!” she screams, continuing to pummel her brother. And something in me snaps—his involvement in this situation was not something I had previously considered. The thought of this man palling around with Magnus is enough to make my stomach lurch. But I must stay focused.
“Holy shit.” He throws his hands up in the air. “Stop, stop! Please, just listen. I promise I’m not here to cause problems.”
The fool has backed toward me, and Rosie clears the way so I may move forward. Baring my teeth, I shift into the monster he feared and hunted two years ago. My claws flex. I will not kill this man, but he does not need to know that.
“Wait! I’m here to help!” he begs. Hm, doubtful , but I do enjoy the way he is cowering.“Please, man, hear me out. I promise I wouldn’t have come back without a good reason.”
“Explain yourself.” My claws twitch, itching to be done with this. I will never tolerate this disgrace of a mortal darkening our doorstep again. Rage boils within me at the thought of what men like Chris and Magnus have done with their unwanted obsession. How dare they have caused my flame such pain and distress.
“I think Heather is in some kind of trouble—she is, isn’t she?” He frantically glances toward my future mother-in-law as if she will save him or at least help mediate. Considering Marsha is now armed with the knowledge that this man shot her daughter, she does not budge.
The growl I emit is guttural, and I find my resolve fading. Perhaps I will maim him ever-so-slightly for the crime of allowing her name to pass his lips.
The group has now gathered outside to watch the show. Oak mutters something about making popcorn, while Pepper stands ready with a blade. But this infernal mortal persists.
“Why should I not kill you where you stand?”
“Because,” Chris says, backing away. I follow each step, keeping my eyes trained on him. “I think I know where she is…”
He— what?
There is a flash of light below us in the trees—a portal has opened. My sister tumbles through, a mess of blue wings and periwinkle hair, before she straightens, brushing leaves off of her clothes.
“Compatriots!!” Holly springs toward us, her gaze focused on me, not the surrounding chaos. “Promising news! Gil has made much progress on the wards and—”
“What the fuck?” The human hunter gawks. Concurrently, my mother-in-law’s jaw goes slack. I sigh. At least now she can see an example of the portal travel we described yesterday.
“This is Chris. He’s Rosie’s—” Clara begins and within seconds, Holly’s blade is at the man’s throat. A fair reaction, one that I am unsure I want to put a stop to. This man will not die by my hands. I cannot make the same promise for my sister.
“Oh, I know exactly who you are.” She narrows her eyes, looking at him like he is a rat who has clawed its way into our home. She is wrong, of course, a rodent would be welcome. “And I should skin you alive for what you’ve done to Heather.”
Tension hangs thickly in the air.
“Yeah, we got past the overt threats of violence about two minutes ago,” Rosie says with a glance at her watch.
Holly raises her eyes to me, and I nod, confirming what Rosie said to be true. At that my sister withdraws, heaving him away from her person like a bag of garbage being tossed in a bin.
“It is just as well.” She crosses her arms and shrugs. “This is a new gown, and his blood seems unworthy to stain it.” I let my fangs spread into a smile.
“Oh my God,” Chris wheezes, his eyes wide. It would be so easy to snap him in half. And I doubt the god he calls to would save him.
“The information. N ow .” It is bad enough to speak to him—to know that he has knowledge about Heather’s whereabouts that I could not find makes me feel that I have failed. But, I will not let my pride keep me from what could be valuable information.
“Yes! Okay, look, it’s right here. Look.” He pulls out his phone and shows me a website that reads ‘CRYPTID SIGHTINGS’ in a bright green text. “There’s this forum I go on, and one of the subjects is this guy with the red hair. There’s something about him that’s eerie, right? Anyways, I’m scrolling and all of a sudden, I see this—” With the flick of his thumb, the screen moves, revealing a series of photographs.
At first, they appear to be King Magnus through time. But I do not believe that’s true… The first man has hair far too light, the second a forehead too wide, none of them are consistent. Though they are similar and perhaps related, I do not believe them to be him.
“Everyone says he might be a vampire,” Chris says with an expression that reminds me of a dog bringing home a bone and expecting a treat.
“That is not new information,” I say flatly.
“Chris, you promised you’d stop going on those monster hunter forums!” Rosie says. A deep frown creases her brow, and I wonder if she thought he was capable of keeping such a promise.
“I know, I know. It’s just… I’ve been talking to the old group again, the guys from high school, and they’ve got such a different outlook on things. I’ve been—”
“Skip to the point,” Clara snaps, crossing her arms as she takes a step in front of Rosie. I would venture to guess that there has been more stress and strained communication between them that I am not privy to, nor would I expect to be.
He is Rosie’s family by blood—and though it has been a complication for my flame and me, I can imagine it has been stressful for the humans. Seeing them together now only confirms it. The betrayal and hurt is so thick in the air you can almost taste it, though he seems oblivious. Perhaps he has been micro-dosing their disappointment for so many years it fails to affect him.
When he hesitates, I stand at full height. It is only a little satisfying to see the way he squirms in discomfort. He reaches for, then drops, and reaches for his phone again. Despite the strangeness of his peace offering, I am glad he has not forgotten I am something to be feared. With shaking hands, he shows me the next series of photos.
Long chestnut hair and freckled skin—it is her, on the balcony of a restaurant. From the style of the building, it appears to be somewhere in the mortal realm. The vampire king is at her side, but more chilling than his presence is the smile that adorns her lips. They are laughing, blurred in motion, and there’s a look on her face I thought was meant for only me.
“And you know where this is?” I ask through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to turn the cellphone to dust. I know, from experience, they crumble quite easily.
“Yes! I’ll go with you,” he offers. I laugh. He has to be joking if he thinks I would allow such an action.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. The mere thought of having his joke of a human near any of my dearest friends makes my claws lengthen.
“Come on, I promise I can do this—” he begins, attempting to cross into the threshold of the cabin. With a small pivot of my body, he is easily blocked.
“You will not step into our home,” I say, standing firm.
“Okay, fair. I can wait at The General Store. Call me in for backup. “
Rosie shakes her head. “I promised Heather you’re still banned there.”
“But she’s not—” I glare, and the hunter presses his mouth shut. “So, the farm?”
“I don’t really want him at our house either,” Clara whispers to Rosie under her breath. I can tell from the way Clara nervously fiddles with the strands of her teal hair, there is no love left between them as family, married-in or otherwise.
“Okay, so I’ll just stand outside wherever you all are meeting and—”
“You are not, and you will not, be a part of this,” I say with a finality I hope is hard to argue with.
“I hurt her once. Let me try to save her,” Chris begs, his eyes glassy and tinted with remorse. He is sorry, that much is certain, but it does not change the fact he must go.
“Imagine on the day of her rescue, Heather sees your face, how do you believe she would feel?”
“She’d…” Chris begins, his smile wavering into a deep frown. “She’d hate it, wouldn’t she?”
“If you are truly sorry. If you truly want to do right by Heather, as you have said, you would have sent a message to your sister instead of showing up here. You will always want her forgiveness. It is her right to never give it to you, understand?” I say. “You should not have come.”
“I will do anything,” he says in his sad earnest way, and I know it to be true. I could ask him to charge into King Magnus’s castle with nothing more than a wooden sword and he would agree—but he will never be a hero in this story.
“Then heed my flame’s wishes—and do not return,” I demand. “She will not give you redemption, but you may grant her peace.”
“Okay.” He gives a hard swallow before finally accepting my words. “I am sorry—for everything.”
“And that matters very little,” I respond, not caring that it is cold. The foolish hunter retreats into his car, leaving the information in Rosie’s hands, and I am pleased it has fallen to a source we can rely on. We have the threads from the “forum,” as Chris called it. The website seems to update with new theories by the minute, and though most of it is focused on Magnus, we have a location.
“We should organize,” I say, once the chaos has settled. Too many of us are gathered in one place, and we should split our resources. “I will go in search of Heather, along with Holly and we could use Pepper’s skills if this turns out to be some kind of trap.Mother will remain in Eclipsica, waiting for word. Marsha, you will stay at the cabin with Clara in case Heather makes her way here. Oak, you can—”
Oak stands from his place on the porch and stretches his wings. “I will take on my duties as Uncle Oak with the children—Gods know Ruby will need reinforcements with her little cherubs by now.”
“And I’m coming with you,” Rosie says to me. “You need someone who knows how to work a phone in case more information comes in.”
“Then let us go.” If Heather is truly on this mortal plane, we have no time to waste.