“You haven’t seen him since?” The police officer asked, looking up from her notepad. A name tag on her chest read ‘Sergeant Marsden.’ She had pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail that hung down over the collar of her uniform. The sky to the east grew lighter, the first rays of light heralding the rising sun.

After Zev abandoned him, Elion had called the police.

“No, sir, uh, ma’am… Miss Marsden,” Elion said. He shivered in the chill morning air, and pulled the emergency blanket given to him by the EMTs tighter around his shoulders. He still wore nothing but his bathrobe and boxers underneath.

I should have changed into something warmer. But he’d been so overwhelmed. And his current state of dress supported his story better.

Elion had not slept, and a raw numbness coated his body like a shield, allowing him to continue functioning despite the cocktail of anguish, confusion, and uncertainty which swirled inside.

“Did he drink a lot?” Marsden asked.

The true answer was no; Elion had never seen Zev drinking. “Yes,” Elion said. “He came home drunk a lot, but never crashed the car before.” He watched the cop carefully, hoping that the woman wouldn’t notice the lie. So far, everyone had seemed ready to believe his story.

“And your sister,” Marsden asked, “She wasn’t here when it happened?”

“No,” Elion said. “She went out and hasn’t come back yet.”

“Does she often stay away all night?”

Elion shrugged, remembering Liora’s screams as Dorian’s warlocks dragged her through their portal. “Her boyfriend picked her up,” he said. “Keith. I don’t know his last name, but he drives a red mustang.” As he said this he wondered if he should have come up with a different lie. Keith would certainly tell the cops that he’d dropped Liora off.

Elion wondered if Keith had seen the warlocks or the arachnatronics standing around in the front yard. Probably not. Keith didn’t seem like the kind of guy who made sure a girl got safely inside her house after dropping her off.

“We’ll look out for her,” Marsden said. “I’m sure you’re worried about her.”

“I am,” Elion said. Not that the cops could do anything to help with that.

“And your uncle can’t have gone far on foot,” she added. “We’ll find him too.”

Elion wondered how long the police would look before giving up. Did stepping into a magical portal count as traveling by foot?

“Okay,” he said. “Good.”

“Are you sure your legs are okay?”

“Yeah, they’re fine,” he said, glancing down at the bandages. “I just scraped myself in the wreckage.”

Marsden looked over at the hole in Elion’s house. He looked with her, scanning the scene in the early morning light. A fire truck and two police cars sat on the road in front of Elion’s house, lights flashing. Zev’s truck still lay on its side, near the hole in the house.

To Elion it didn’t look like Zev’s truck had hit the house. Crime scene tape blocked off the area, and a few crime scene investigators were taking pictures of the damage. The cop glanced back at Elion, and he could tell that she didn’t quite believe his version of events. But she wasn’t likely to believe what really happened here, either.

Elion wondered if the investigators had found shotgun pellets, or if they’d even looked at the shotgun, carefully hung back over the mantle. Surely someone in the neighborhood would have heard the shots. Didn’t the police have ways of identifying what bullets came out of what guns?

Mrs. Phillips appeared on her front porch, drinking in the scene of devastation with gusto. Elion guessed that she felt vindicated. She loved to tell Elion that nothing good would come from his lifestyle.

Zev had mentioned a sound absorbing spell, but surely the old woman heard something last night, between the screaming, the shooting, and the fighting. Elion bounced on his toes, wondering what she might tell the police. He might have to get creative with his explanations.

“We can’t let you stay here. The house is damaged, and your legal guardian is missing. You’ll have to come downtown with us.”

“You’re taking me to prison?” Elion asked.

“No,” Marsden said. “Child Protective Services has a temporary shelter where you can stay until we contact a suitable relative.”

“Can I at least go get a few things before you take me?”

“I’m not sure about the structural integrity of the house…”

“It’s fine,” Elion said. “I was in there when it happened. The stairs up to my room aren’t near the hole.”

“So you’re an expert, huh?” Elion could see her making the calculation in her mind: let a minor go into a potentially dangerous house, or fight with a distraught teenage boy. An investigator inside the house snapped a photo through the hole, drawing her attention. “Well, if they’re in there you may as well,” she said. “But don’t take too long. Just get what you need for a few nights.”

What about my cat?”

“You can bring your cat,” Marsden said.

“Thanks,” Elion said. The crime scene tape at the front of the house didn’t seem worth disturbing, so he walked around to the back door.

He slipped past the crime scene investigators to his room, and a few minutes later came back down the stairs, now fully clothed. He’d pulled on some jeans to cover up the bandages on his legs, and a nice hoodie to keep him warm in the crisp autumn air. The house smelled strange now, open and exposed to the elements, and Elion wondered if he’d ever come back here.

When Zev comes back, where will he stay? Elion hoped he wouldn’t have to stay with the Walkers. He’d rather hide out in a tent with Zev.

Snickers picked his way through the wreckage at the front of the house, bothering the investigators by getting into their pictures.

“Snickers!” Elion called, but the cat ignored him. Elion went to the kitchen and started running the can opener without a can in it. He saw Snickers’ ears perk up, but the cat didn’t even look in his direction. He knew Elion’s tricks.

“Pspspspsps,” Elion called. Snickers continued weaving his way through the splinters of 2×4s and crumbled drywall, back and forth, back and forth. Almost like he was searching for something. The investigator trying to photograph the wreckage threw up his hands in annoyance and dropped his camera, letting it swing from his neck.

“Come grab him,” the investigator said. “He’s getting in the way.”

Elion walked over and stood beside the door, which now lay on the ground in the front entry. Snickers disappeared beneath a pile of rubble. The investigator sighed, hands on his hips.

He could have been a bit more patient. Your house didn’t just get smashed in.

“Come on Snickers,” Elion said.

A moment later Snickers emerged, covered in chalky drywall dust. He had something in his mouth.

“What’s that?” Elion said, picking up the cat as dust puffed everywhere. Elion sneezed. Snickers snorted.

Elion lugged the big cat into the kitchen and pulled some deli meat out of the fridge. Snickers was a massive blue-grey Siberian, bigger than half the dogs in the neighborhood.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“What did you find?” Elion asked, dangling the sliced turkey in front of the cat’s nose.

Snickers dropped something golden onto the counter and snatched the meat from Elion’s hand. Elion stared at the slobbery necklace. A seven pointed star on a gold chain. The chain had snapped.

Elion picked up the necklace—Liora’s necklace—and groaned. “This is bad,” he muttered, stroking the cat’s head. The chain must have broken when Liora was pulled from the house. “This is very bad,” Elion said again.

Elion did not know how Zev’s magical portal worked, but Zev had seemed confident that targeting this pendant would bring him directly to Liora. But Liora no longer had the pendant, so what did that mean for Zev’s chances of finding Liora? A knot formed in Elion’s stomach.

He slipped the pendant into a pocket. What had Zev called it again? A Starholder pendant? He tapped his shoulder, and Snickers climbed up, laying across his shoulders and top of his backpack.

“Well Snickers, it’s just you and me now,” he said, trying to put on a brave face for the cat. “We’re going on a little trip, and hopefully everything is going to be okay. I’m sure Zev will find Liora and bring her back here soon, and then we’ll fix up the house and get everything back to the way it was.” Elion frowned at the lie as it left his mouth. He wished he had some way to contact Zev.

When Elion reached the front yard again, Sergeant Marsden had crossed the street and now stood on Mrs. Phillips’ front porch, talking to her. If Mrs. Phillips had seen anything through her windows, or heard anything, she was probably telling Marsden all about it.

Elion watched for a moment. Marsden held her notebook down by her leg, and glanced around as if she didn’t want to be standing there anymore. If Mrs. Phillips had been talking about hearing gunshots last night then Marsden would be writing it down, right?

Hamilton had escaped last night, but Elion couldn’t imagine the little dog getting far away. He hoped that the pup made it home safely.

Elion walked across the street.

“Good morning Mrs. Phillips,” he said. “How’s Hamilton doing this morning?” Snickers hissed at the old woman.

Mrs. Philips looked hurt. “How dare you? You mock my pain,” she said. Mrs. Phillips could be a bit prickly at times, but this surprised Elion.

“Is something wrong?”

Mrs. Phillips ignored him, turning back to the cop. “I told you so,” Mrs. Phillips said. “That man was not a good guardian for those kids. He was hardly ever home, and just let them run wild. I always knew he’d come to no good. I’m just glad nobody got hurt.”

“But you didn’t hear anything last night?” Marsden asked.

“I saw Liora driving off in that awful car,” Mrs. Phillips said. “It’s so loud, it should be illegal to have a car that loud. And so red.” Mrs. Phillips shuddered. “You shouldn’t let your sister hang out with boys like that,” she said.

Elion shrugged sadly. “I know,” he said.

“If you were a good brother, you’d take better care of her,” Mrs. Phillips said. “It’s too bad your parents are dead. It’s not good for boys to grow up without a father, you know,” she said.

“I know,” Elion said again, trying to smile, though her words stabbed at his heart.

Glad that he hadn’t lied to Sergeant Marsden earlier about Keith, Elion watched the cop closely looking for her reaction.

She nodded, and glanced at Elion… approvingly? “But you didn’t hear anything after Liora drove off in that car, did you?”

“Well Hamilton started barking, so I let him out into the backyard to take care of his business. That was probably around midnight, or… oh, no, I remember looking at the clock. It was 1:23. But Hamilton just kept running around in the back barking and barking, and he wouldn’t come back into the house. I couldn’t stay up all night waiting for him to come back in, so I closed the door. When I woke up, he was missing! That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”

How could Mrs. Phillips not have heard anything? Nothing at all? The warlocks must have cast a powerful spell to prevent the nosiest of neighbors from noticing the battle across the street.

Will Marsden think it’s strange that Mrs. Phillips didn’t hear anything? Even though she was awake?

“I understand,” Marsden said. “I’m sure your dog will come back…”

“You don’t seem that concerned,” Mrs. Phillips countered. “My precious baby is missing. I hope that horrible cat didn’t do anything to him. Can’t you call for backup and go look for him? Oh, here, you’ll need a picture.” She disappeared inside her house, and Marsden shot Elion a long-suffering glance.

Elion breathed a sigh of relief. Strange that Hamilton seemed to notice the warlocks. He thought that Marsden could have been a little more sympathetic to Mrs. Phillip’s plight, but he didn’t say anything. He wondered where Hamilton had gone, recalling the dog scampering away, wrestling with a strip of warlock robe.

Mrs. Phillips returned with a huge, framed picture of Hamilton. She struggled to navigate the large frame through her front door. “Here, take this,” she said, trying to hand it to Marsden.

“That won’t be necessary,” Marsden said. “I can take a picture of it.” She pulled out her phone and snapped a shot. Elion tried to decide if this would make his job easier or harder. Zev had told him to look for traces of the warlocks.

Hamilton ripped one of their cloaks and ran away. Maybe if I find him I will find something helpful for Zev.

Snickers jumped down from Elion’s shoulders and began licking his hind paw. Mrs. Phillips gasped and staggered backwards, leaning against her door frame and clutching the picture to her chest.

“I hope that your evil pet hasn’t hurt my poor puppy,” Mrs. Phillips said.

“Snickers didn’t hurt anyone,” Elion said, grunting as he picked the cat back up and cradled him in his arms.

“We’ll see what we can do about finding your dog,” Marsden said. “But right now I have to take Mr. Walker downtown.”

“Good!” Mrs. Phillips said. “It’s about time you arrested one of them. Book the cat too!”

Sergeant Marsden rolled her eyes as she walked down Mrs. Phillips front steps, gesturing for Elion to follow her.

“Aren’t you worried about Hamilton?” Elion asked, feeling partially responsible for Hamilton’s disappearance. Besides, he needed some excuse to keep looking around the area. “Shouldn’t we look for him?”

“Who?” Marsden asked.

“Mrs. Phillips dog,” he said. “He’s the only friend she has, really. She’ll be miserable until she finds him again.”

Marsden shrugged. “Pets run away. They go missing. I’ll send someone over here later and put out a notice. He’ll probably be home by then anyways.”

“Maybe I could come help look for him?” Elion asked.

“Sure, that’s fine. But we have to take you to the station first.”

Elion sat in the back of the police car as Sergeant Marsden drove him to the CPS temporary shelter. The car smelled musty, like a hint of body odor and cigarettes that someone had tried to cover up with an air freshener.

Snickers stretched out on the bench beside him, taking up two seats and kicking Elion in the leg. Elion shoved the cat.

“Hey, you’ve already got most of the bench.”

He pulled the star pendant out of his pocket, turning it over in his hands, examining it. The seven-pointed star was hollow in the middle, a single line crisscrossing over itself to form the shape. The clasp on the chain still functioned, but one of the chain links had broken.

A sick feeling settled in Elion’s stomach as he looked at the pendant. The same horrible, oppressive feeling that had washed over him three days after he’d found out that his parents were dead. Like he’d accidentally eaten a jar of icy hot, his insides burned and froze at the same time.

For three days before the feeling sank in, Elion had wandered around in a daze. He didn’t remember much of what had happened during that time period, just a vague sense of numbness. He’d probably been in shock.

Finding this pendant had triggered that feeling again, the sense that Liora and Zev were gone forever, like his parents. Elion’s breath quickened, the oppressive sense of loss intensifying. He’d gone through this before; he didn’t think he could do it again.

Twenty-four hours. Zev will be back tomorrow morning. He fidgeted with his phone. If Elion wasn’t at home when Zev came back, he’d call or text. He wouldn’t come to the police station, not with the police looking for him. He’d have to hide out somewhere.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and his chest tightened as he struggled to hold back a sob. He squeezed his fist tightly around the star, feeling the sharp pain as the star’s points dug into his skin. The bite in his palm pulled in his focus, grounding him. Closing his eyes, he squeezed harder, desperate for something real and concrete.

His breathing slowed. He could get through this. The fear began to fade away. The pain remained, though. A tear splashed on his hand, and he squeezed his eyes shut more tightly.

Someone whispered in his ear. Indistinct syllables muttered as warm, humid breath brushed against the skin of his cheek.

Elion snapped his eyes open, looking around the cab of the police car. Snickers groomed himself on the seat beside Elion. Sergeant Marsden tapped on her steering wheel, muttering to herself as she drove.

“Did you say something?” Elion asked.

“Huh? What? No, I didn’t.”

Elion looked around, confused. His right ear tingled, and he wiped at it. He really needed to get some sleep.