As Boon sat up in bed, surrounded by discarded fast food wrappers and his Kinesiology notes, his phone buzzed with an incoming text message. He felt for it on the desk until his finger grazed the cool metal and he flipped it over: "Come to me." The words on the phone blurred and he couldn't stop the room from spinning. His body moved as if under someone else's control and he couldn't stop himself from heading out into the night.
The Boon that arrived at the small apartment complex was more of a Zombie, he stumbled through the line of young adults as if he couldn't see them, even pushing Sarah aside, as he approached the man selling tickets. Their voices were a mix of anger and annoyance as Boon forced his way through the line. With a glare, Boon silenced the line a darkness radiating from his body. Sarah shook before shrinking away behind the person in front of her – her mind on what happened last time she antagonized Boon. But Boon wasn't the only one making his way through the line, Zack had been watching him ever since the locker room assault.
"Hey, Sarah," Zack whispered, joining the line behind her, he made sure Boon couldn't see him. He tried to sound casual, but his gaze never left Boon. "Looking forward to the...." He realized he didn't know what the line was for.
"Rave," Sarah replied, her voice barely audible. "Yes, I have been saving all month for this."
Zack winced. "A month? How much are these tickets?"
Sarah shook her head, her blonde hair swaying gently. "They are 175 dollars each." Sarah gave him a Why are you really here look.
"Oh, crap," Zack pretended to pat himself down. "I forgot my wallet, damn." Zack stepped out of line. "Guess I'll have to miss this one."
"Guess so," Sarah said, neither one noticing that Boon had made it to the front of the line
The man turned around with the ticket, only to be met with Boon's intense gaze. "That will be 175." He whispered, a sudden fear gripping him. Boon didn't respond, he just kept staring into the man's eyes. "Uh just take it then," The man forced the ticket into Boon's hand but the boy didn't react. "Fuck this, shows over folks!" the man yelled before slipping into the apartment. The line could hear the lock click behind him.
"No," Sarah whimpered, clearly disappointed by the turn of events. "Now I am going to have to try to find them online for three times the price."
"Oh, that sucks," Zack said half-heartedly, watching Boon walk away. He took note of the ticket in Boon's hand as he walked by.
-----
Elsewhere Rob approached the police station with McDonalds in hand, it was his peace offering for Lindsey, since he had caused her so much trouble recently. Rob approached her office and couldn't help but notice the murder board pinned to the wall. Photographs, newspaper clippings, and scraps of paper detailing the recent killings cluttered the corkboard.
"Hey sorry about everything," Rob said as he entered, his eyes never leaving the board. "You could even say I'm McSorry."
Lindsey chuckled, "That was bad even for you." She motioned for him to take a seat at her desk.
"Not my finest work, I'll admit" Rob took a seat on the green fabric chair and sat the bag on the desk. "How's the investigation coming?"
Lindsey paused, as she reached for the bag. "Not great. We have two new bodies but still no connection between any of them. But we shouldn't be talking about this, the last thing I want is for you to play detective."
"I would never." Rob tried to act taken aback by the accusation.
Lindsey raised an unconvinced eyebrow. "You forget about how well I know you."
"Touche," Rob leaned back in the chair, taking another glimpse at the board. "That's interesting. All of them were the same age?"
"Not all of them, the dean was far older," Lindsey replied, her blue eyes thoughtful. "But... But this isn't any of your business, I know what you trying to do," Lindsey caught herself.
"Fine, I promise that was the last you will hear from me on this case." Rob gave her his scout's honor.
"I doubt that," Lindsey mused, she didn't know what he was up to but she was sure he wasn't done meddling in the investigation.
The rest of their evening was spent talking about Rob's classes while they enjoyed their meal.
-----
The next morning, Rob's fingers raced across the keyboard as he dug into the Dean's history, All the other victims were twenty-four years old. Then he found an article that created a possible connection. He turned to Deb, who sat on his bed, watching over his shoulder.
"Here it is," Rob said, his eyes widening in realization. "The dean had a daughter who died two years ago due to a heart condition." His eyes scanned the article "Teresa would be twenty-four if she had lived, what if the Dean was just a replacement because Sloth couldn't kill her."
"Ok but just being twenty-four to be a target doesn't limit the target pool," Deb murmured, her brow furrowed in thought. "there has to be another connection. Something we are missing."
"Well if we factor in Teresa as the intended victim..." Rob replied, his finger typing away. "Then maybe we can find a connection the police overlooked because they were trying to fit the Dean into the killer's plan."
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
As Rob began to go farther down the rabbit hole, Deb's phone chimed, she looked down at it "I have to go," she shot up from the bed. Before Rob could ask her where she was going, she was out the door.
-----
Deb raced through the doors of the morgue, "What happened?" her heart was racing from Jessica's emergency text. Jessica stood between the silver tables, the bodies of Tom and Nancy lying on them. The sterile smell of disinfectant hung heavy in the air, and Jessica seemed almost angry with Deb.
"Two killers," Jessica explained, her voice quiet yet firm. "Tom was killed by the Familiar, and Nancy was killed by something else." She paused, glaring at Deb.
"Both leave behind a newborn baby girl," Jessica continued, her eyes fixed on Deb. "This is what happens when the exorcists fail. We have a duty to protect humanity from the supernatural because they don't know about what really lurks in the dark."
Jessica stared intensely at Deb, but she remained quiet. "I know you have still been sneaking around with Zack. Do you really think the three of you could stop a creature like this, you thought sparing its life was the heroic thing to do. Look what heroism bought you, these deaths are not you. Their daughter will grow up an orphan because you thought you knew better than the exorcists."
Deb looked away, her guilt gnawing at her. "We didn't think.."
"I know you didn't think, but know it is time to do your duty as an exorcist and speak up before another human life is lost," Jessica instructed.
"Alright," Deb whispered, her voice barely audible. She looked at the bodies one more time. "I'll tell you everything I know."
-----
Zack slipped into the back office at Night School. John, Ethel, and Paulina waited for him inside. "Sorry I'm late." he huffed.
"Look who decided to show up," John said to Zack bitterly. "You think you are so special that you can just waste our time."
"Enough," Ethel said. "We don't have time for this, the Familiar's next target will most likely be at that rave. We need a plan to catch it before it kills again and a way to draw Sloth out to it."
"She's right, your feud will have to be put on hold for now" Paulina agreed, her eyes narrowing as she stared them both down. "We know that Sloth has full control over the Familiar, and we know due to Sloth's nature they most likely only created the one."
"Right," Ethel interjected, leaning in from her seat at the large wooden desk. "We can assume that Sloth will try to conserve as much of their power as possible, so they will try to free their Familiar before they create a new one."
"What if you're wrong?" Zack asked without hesitation.
"Then we die," Ethel explained, just as quickly.
"Let's discuss this rationally," Paulina suggested, pulling out a spice rack filled with small jars, each labeled with a symbol. The clink of glass caught everyone's attention.
"Are you some kind of witch?" John asked, eyeing the jars warily.
"No," Paulina replied with a smirk. "I'm a mixologist. I am sure we can make a special drink for our Familiar friend. It will buy you some time, use it wisely."
Ethel chimed in. "So we just get the familiar to drink it while they are human and we are good?"
"You don't want the human side to drink it," Paulina mused, tapping a silver medallion adorned with an image of Cernunnos, the Wicca Horned God, on her necklace. " A Familiar has two faces, its living human side, and the dead animalistic side. This will only affect the animal side, the supernatural side."
"That's why Boon passed Ethel's supernatural test," Zack speculated. "Because he was human when she did it to him."
"So we have to get close enough to the Familiar to give it this cocktail," John seemed a bit overwhelmed. "And we have to do it while it is in invincible killer mode."
"Not exactly," Paulina said, her voice firm, "Striking while the Familiar is shifting will also have the desired effect."
-----
The next day at the University of Waterloo, Sarah caught up with Zack and Rob between classes. Her blue eyes were troubled as she asked, "I saw Boon on campus, can you believe it." Sarah seemed shocked. "Submitted a report to the dean's office and the police but he is still walking around campus like nothing happened."
"I'm sure they are just investigating it," Rob murmured, sharing a glance with Zack.
"Still," Sarah continued, "You'd think they would have at least suspended him while they investigated."
"True, that does seem odd," Zack admitted.
"Right, all I'm saying is...." She noticed Leona approaching "I have to give Leona something, but I hope if the police contact you, you will tell them what you saw,"
"Of course," the boys agreed, though they both knew they would never actually tell the police the truth. Sarah raced off to join Leona, digging a ticket out of her pocket as she went.
Prof. Dowding intercepted Zack, and Rob, his brow furrowed. "We need to discuss your Mid-term, Zack" he demanded, looking at Rob.
"You know what, I just remembered I have a thing," Rob replied, taking a few steps back.
"Better get to that thing quickly," the professor grumbled as Rob walked away.
Rob made his way over to Leona "Why did Sarah need to see you so badly?" he asked as he caught up to her.
"Oh, she was just giving this ticket to this underground rave thing." Leona flashed Rob the ticket. "It isn't really my scene but Sarah is into it so I figure I would give it a shot."
Rob eyed the ticket, he thought about stealing it for a moment so they could get into the rave to stop Boon but decided against it. "Well just be careful ok, raves can be dangerous."
"Yeah if you do drugs or something, I will be there with friends and will be watching my drinks," She smiled. "thanks for your concern though." As Leona walked away John swooped in with a devious grin.
"I solved our biggest problem," he announced, holding up three tickets that he had "acquired" from another student. His knuckles were bruised, but he held the tickets triumphant.
-----
Zack broke away from Prof. Dowding berating his low effort on the midterm, he needed a pick me up and hoped Deb would be in their secret spot in the Library. He slipped into the corner private study booth and found her hunched over a textbook.
"Thank god," Zack murmured, he went to hug her but she pulled back. "Is everything ok?"
Deb's dark eyes seemed distant. "Yeah I am fine, I'm just worried that Jessica may be on to us. She has been asking a lot of questions."
"Maybe," Zack admitted, "but I"'m still alive and she made it pretty clear I wouldn't be if she caught us together." He hesitated before continuing, "But maybe you're right, we might need to slow things down for a while."
"Yeah, I was thinking about going with Sarah for the girls' night so she thinks I found other friends," Deb said, considering the idea. "She says she still has another ticket available."
Zack nodded, his face showing relief. "It's perfect. With you on the inside with us, we will be sure to catch Boon and Jessica will just think you are out with the girls."
With a sigh, Deb agreed. "Then it's settled." She moved and hugged Zack but couldn't bring herself to kiss him, knowing she had betrayed him. But neither of them noticed Father Bill watching their embrace, his eyes burning with rage.
-----
The following morning, Paulina met Zack and Rob, presenting them with vials of general anesthesia. "This is back in case you can't get the Familiar to drink our potion." She turned to Rob before continuing, "Use this ash made from palms blessed for Palm Sunday. It will create a barrier supernatural creatures can't cross, including the Familiar, I believe." Paulina spoke with confidence. "For it to work however there can't be any breaks in the line of palm ash."
Rob hesitated, clearly reluctant to take on such a responsibility. But Paulina was adamant. "This task is yours, Rob," she insisted. "Zack and John will be too busy trying to subdue the Familiar, besides a vessel in prolonged contact with palm ash could be killed by it." Rob nodded, taking on this responsibility as his own.