A Life for a Life

It didn’t take long for back up to arrive. The man feeling the imbalance—they still didn’t know his name—was kept unconscious and transported to WISP to be placed in a magic dampening cell. Librarians and patrons alike were walking around, cleaning up the mess, or giving their statements to officers. The process was becoming depressingly familiar to Jess.

She and Charlie stood to one side, observing the scene without speaking. A young officer whom Jess could see was a Norm, walked over to them with a meek, older woman following him.

“Inspectors, this is Amelia Johnson. She says the man who was taken away is her husband, Frank,” the officer said, gesturing to the woman.

“Thank you, Officer…?” Charlie replied.

“Officer Vicks, ma’am.”

“Thank you, Officer Vicks. We’ll talk to her.” He tipped his hat and turned away while Charlie placed a gentle hand on the woman’s elbow and guided her to a few nearby chairs. It was the smart thing to do because it looked like the woman was about two seconds away from collapsing. She appeared to be in her mid-fifties, with short brown hair streaked with gray and wearing a simple blouse and slacks ensemble. She wasn’t crying at the moment but there were dark smudges around her eyes from her make-up that said she had been. Charlie took a chair next to her and spoke in a soft tone.

“Mrs. Johnson? Can you tell us what happened today?”

“I don’t know!” Mrs. Johnson replied. She was twisting a tissue in her hands so hard Jess was surprised it was still in one piece.

“It’s okay, why don’t you just walk us through your day today?” Charlie soothed.

Mrs. Johnson sighed. “Everything was normal. Frank and I got up at our normal time this morning. Frank went to work here at the library and I went to the daycare where I work part-time in the mornings. We decided to meet for lunch today when I got off, so that’s what we did. Frank was complaining at the restaurant that he wasn’t feeling well so I told him he should take the rest of the day off.” She hiccupped and her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Charlie.

“He agreed, but he wanted to come back here to grab some work to take home in case he felt better. We were walking back, but he kept getting worse. He made it here to the lobby before he started shouting. He was holding his head and he kept shouting that something was wrong, over and over. Pretty soon the waves of magic were coming right at everybody. I couldn’t even get close enough to try to comfort him,” she finished with a sob.

“It’ll be okay, Mrs. Johnson, we’ll take care of him,” Charlie promised.

“Mrs. Johnson, where did the two of you go for lunch?” Jess asked.

“Jordan’s, a little Italian restaurant around the block.” She gestured vaguely to the East and brought her tissue up to blow her nose. There was no lady-like way to do that so Charlie chose to look up at Jess instead to be polite.

“And you didn’t feel anything wrong while you were there?” Jess pressed after a moment, though she thought she knew the answer. Her senses were telling her that Mrs. Johnson was a Norm though her husband was a warlock. Mrs. Johnson shook her head.

“I was fine. I thought maybe Frank was just coming down with something.” Jess and Charlie exchanged looks.

“We think it was caused by magic. We’ve seen something like this before and fortunately, we have a temporary solution until we find the cause. Your husband should be okay in a few hours,” Jess said, trying to reassure her.

“Really? Does that mean Frank won’t get in trouble? I know people could have gotten hurt, but I swear he’s never done anything like this before. He’s the nicest person ever!” Mrs. Johnson’s voice ended on a loud wail, causing several people to turn and look at her. Charlie made soothing noises and rubbed her back while Jess stared past, feeling awkward. She cleared her throat.

“I’m sure he’s wonderful and no, he won’t get into trouble for this. Now, I’m going to have this officer take you home. Someone from WISP headquarters will call you as soon as you can come to pick up your husband,” Jess said, waving over Officer Vicks again and telling him to take the wife home after getting her contact information. He led the woman away while Jess turned to her partner.

“Jordan’s?” Charlie asked.

“Yep, let’s go check it out.” A quick google search told Jess the exact location. It was right around the block just as Mrs. Johnson told them and it only took a few minutes for Jess and Charlie to walk there. They stood outside for a moment and looked at the small brick building. The front was all glass windows and they could see several people sitting at small tables inside. One couple came out, giving Jess a glorious whiff of garlic and marinara sauce. Her stomach rumbled.

“Well, it’s not the diner this time,” Jess noted, trying to ignore the hunger pains. They had planned on getting a late lunch after their meeting, but that wasn’t happening now.

“No,” Charlie answered. Her eyes were closed and her forehead creased as she concentrated on sensing her surroundings. Jess waited patiently.

“Getting anything?” Jess asked after she opened her eyes.

“Yes,” she answered and she looked concerned. “There’s some very dark magic around here somewhere.” Jess went into cop mode immediately, pulling out her gun, but keeping it pointed at the ground.

“Inside or outside?”

“Outside, I think. Maybe around the back?” Charlie suggested. She had her arms held up in front of her like she was feeling her way through something. She was in the zone so Jess focused on their surroundings and watched Charlie’s back. Other than the few people inside the restaurant, she didn’t see anyone nearby. There were other shops and restaurants down at the other end of the block, but here there was only the Italian place with both businesses on either side closed.

The buildings weren’t connected like in some areas so you could walk down either side of Jordan’s Italian Restaurant without going around the block. It was narrow, with not quite enough room for two to walk abreast so Jess went slightly in front, weapon drawn as they peered around the corner to the back of the building.

There was an alley filled with the typical dumpsters from the businesses. They could hear music coming from the kitchen of the restaurant, not loud enough to disturb the guests in the dining area, but audible through the partially cracked back door. Jess eased her way away from the building and looked around for signs of life. She found something much worse instead.

Behind one of the unused dumpsters was a body. It was male this time, but was as shriveled and dried up as their other victims. He was lying face up and covered in blood. Jess could only tell that he had blond hair and was wearing some sort of business suit. Once again, probably not a homeless person. It seemed the killer was moving away from his previous type.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Charlie swore. She turned away and pulled out her phone, jamming her finger at the screen with more force than necessary in her anger. Jess could sympathize. They were both getting tired of finding dead bodies.

As Charlie called it in, Jess took a closer look around the body. Despite having her shields up, she could feel the dark magic in the air. She wasn’t sure if it was because this killing was more recent than the others or if the act itself was somehow darker this time. Either way, it made her skin crawl. Cracking open her shield a little, Jess could see the dark void she noticed around the other victims in the morgue, but this time there was also the faint black haze that before had only been around those living people affected by the imbalance. Jess didn’t know what it meant and hoped Charlie would have some ideas.

Tearing her gaze away from the body, Jess looked around the alley for any other clues and saw a brief glint under a nearby dumpster. She crouched on all fours and discovered a knife. Not wanting to disturb the scene, Jess left it where it was, but she was anxious for the crime scene techs to get here so she could get a closer look. It could be the murder weapon or a knife from one of the kitchens lost in the garbage. There was no way to tell from her angle.

Jess straightened as Charlie turned back toward her.

“Crime scene is on its way,” Charlie informed her. She wasn’t swearing anymore, but she still looked tense to Jess. She pulled out a pair of latex gloves and put them on.

“You okay?” Jess asked her.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m just on edge from the black magic. Do you feel it?”

“Yeah, but not as much as you I bet. Are you getting anything useful?” Jess asked. Charlie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Jess stayed silent and let her concentrate.

Charlie bent down and gently touched the victim’s right shoe, still with her eyes closed, which amazed the hell out of Jess. She would have stumbled and fallen right onto the body if she tried something like that. With a frown, Charlie’s hand moved up the leg and torso, barely touching the fabric of the man’s suit and stopping when she reached his breast pocket. A slight bulge told Jess there was likely a wallet there, but Charlie didn’t pull it out. She kept her hand there for several seconds before opening her eyes and standing up.

“There’s too much darkness surrounding him for me to sense much about the victim. After the scene is processed and I can get the wallet away from the body I might be able to tell you more about him. I do sense a lot about the killer though.” Jess waited.

“He’s unraveling. He can’t go to work anymore because he can’t function normally and this is stressing him out, but only superficially. Almost all of his focus is on saving ‘her.’ I don’t know who she is, but I think we were right about him trying to bring someone back from the dead. This poor man’s clothes are practically saturated with it. It’s like a mantra I hear: ‘bring her back, bring her back, bring her back...’ over and over.”

“Okay, so we’re on the right track. Is there anything else you can tell about him?” Jess asked.

Charlie frowned. “There’s something about ritual. He thought the ritual was important, but it’s not working so maybe it’s not the right one? I’m not sure exactly, that part is kind of hazy to me.”

“That’s okay. At least we know we’re looking in the right direction.”

“I suppose so,” Charlie agreed. “Have you found anything?”

“Check out under the dumpster. I think there’s a knife under there.” Jess pointed to where she had seen the knife. Charlie knelt and reached her hand towards it, only to yelp and fall back on her butt in surprise.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Jess exclaimed, helping her to her feet. Charlie was rubbing her hand and peering under the dumpster, but she didn’t try to reach for the knife again.

“It was like it bit me! My hand is all tingly but it’s fading. I can tell you right now that that is the murder weapon for sure. It’s covered in dark magic.”

“Really? You didn’t even touch it. Is it that strong?”

“I’d say so. I’ve had trouble with murder weapons before—even with no magic involved, it’s still a pretty dark deed. But I’ve never felt anything like that and certainly not from a distance.”

“Well don’t do it again. I’ll make sure the black magic unit comes here. They have ways of taking care of objects like this so I’m sure they’ll know what to do,” Jess told her.

“They could destroy evidence or anything I might sense from it,” Charlie protested.

“Well...too bad if they do. We’re not risking your life over it. Don’t worry though, these guys are professionals and I’ve worked with them on cases before. They know to do what they can to protect the evidence.”

“Yes, you are probably right,” Charlie agreed, though she didn’t look entirely convinced. They heard van doors opening and closing out front that was probably the crime scene techs with their gear, so Charlie went to show them the way. Meanwhile, Jess called in the black magic unit to come and contacted Matt to let him know what happened. He promised he was on his way. Jess also made sure to tell the crime techs to photograph the knife but otherwise not to touch it. Then Jess and Charlie stood to one side and tried to stay out of their way.

“Jess, this makes two bodies in two days. He’s escalating,” Charlie remarked after a while, a worried frown on her face.

“Maybe too fast. Maybe he made a mistake with this one and we’ll find a clue. I mean, he’s got to be exhausted right? Not only from the sheer amount of black energy he’s using but the act of killing someone too. He should be drained,” Jess mused.

“Perhaps. Throwing that knife away bothers me too, though. I’d like to think it means he’s giving up and there won’t be any more killings, but I feel that is very unlikely. I really should try touching it.”

“No, not until the black magic team figures out if there are any booby traps on it,” Jess told her firmly. “You said yourself that touching a murder weapon at all can be dangerous, but one used in black magic ritual killing is bound to be even worse. It could kill a touch-sensitive like you.”

“I know,” Charlie said with a sigh.

“Let them handle getting rid of the black magic and then see what you can get. Good old-fashioned forensics might give us something too, you know. It doesn’t have to all come down to you.” Jess tried to sound logical, worried Charlie might do something drastic after her emotional reaction when they first arrived at the scene. She needn’t have worried.

“Yes, you’re right. There’s plenty here to be processed anyway. They’re going to be here half the night,” Charlie observed. She was visibly calmer than before and seemed more like her usual serene self. Her observation seemed to be correct as more and more people arrived and the sun started to inch its way past dinnertime. It had been another long and very busy day.

After a while Matt also showed up. He walked around the scene for a minute first, then joined Jess and Charlie. Jess filled him in on everything they learned at the library and the events afterward. As a Norm detective, he wouldn’t have heard what happened with the sensitive warlock at the library. Soon they were speculating about what it all meant.

“So, I’m guessing the library guy was affected because the body was dumped while he was eating lunch?” Matt asked.

“That would be my guess,” Charlie answered. “I asked a few officers to interview all the patrons in the restaurant and there was a mixture of Norms and witches. They are still tracking down anyone who already left but may have been there at the same time as our librarian through credit card receipts, but there haven’t been any complaints about attacks or wrong feelings. So far none of them are sensitives though.”

“What does that mean to be ‘sensitive’, anyway?” Matt asked.

“Sensitives are those who feel magic, without trying, all the time,” Jess told him. “I have a shield that protects me unless I purposely open it, but people like Charlie here, who’s a touch-sensitive, will get magical impressions every day just walking around and touching things.”

Matt turned to Charlie. “So you’re bombarded by magic all the time?” He asked, incredulous.

Charlie shook her head. “It’s not quite that bad, Matt. I have walls too, that keep the sensations at a minimum unless I focus hard. Imagine there being several people in the next room, talking. I know they’re there, but I can ignore them. Unless I hear something interesting, then I can focus my magic and catch a little of the conversation. It’s sort of like that for most sensitives.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Matt said. They stood in silence for a moment before Jess spoke again.

“If this is the same knife he used to kill all the victims, I wonder why he decided to get rid of it. The ritual thing you were picking up on maybe?” Jess asked Charlie.

“Maybe. Maybe he feels he doesn’t need it anymore. He could have found something else to try.”

“Or, maybe he didn’t mean to leave it behind?” Matt suggested.

“Then why would he have brought it all?” Charlie argued. There was no blood at the scene so they knew the victim wasn’t killed there.

“Good point.” Matt sighed. It was clear they were guessing at this point and they were all tired.

The exhausted trio agreed there was nothing more they could do at the scene without getting in the way so Jess dropped Charlie off and headed home. Jess made herself a couple of PB&J sandwiches for dinner and went to bed early. She was asleep in minutes.