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"So, let me see if I get it..." Yui starts, adjusting their back so they're leaning against my shoulder. "Some crazy witches entered Wayhaven and requested for the detective, and not only did you accept their request, but you too agreed that the only one to accompany her would be Dalia.
"Yeah, now I see why Colette got so mad." Yui finishes with a not-amused smile.
JB rests her hands atop her knees and shakes her head, apparently choosing to ignore Yui and focus on me. "I promised I would find a way to help your friend, and so I did.
"I'm sorry it isn't the safest option, but I trust that you two can handle things together."
With a serious expression, I nod. "I understand, and I thank you for the help." Forcing Yui to stop nuzzling me, I rise from the couch and walk to JB. Grabbing her hand and lightly squeezing it to provide comfort.
JB's face lightens up a little, and with that, she continues talking. "They left a map for you two, but asked for us not to open it."
She puts the map on the table, looking at me, so I pick it up and open it. Without wasting time, I do so, seeing a half-drawn map of the mountainside of Wayhaven and some marks indicating where to go.
I look at Dalia, who until now was quietly looking out of the window, and I tap her shoulder, and so she resumes her attention to the matter at hand. But I take notice of her strange behavior; she isn't one to lose her focus.
"Let me take a look." Dalia grabs the map and starts analyzing it, furrowing her eyebrows as she finishes her inspection.
"This map," she starts. "I've seen one of these before,
"It's used to show the way for something only to those it was meant to be given." To prove her point, she turns the map to Yui, who grabs it with a smile and, after some seconds of turning it to all sides, grunts frustratedly and hands the map back.
"Stupid magic," Yui mutters, placing their hand on their chin and looking away like a kid.
"Is there anything more we should know?" I direct my question to JB, and she responds by grabbing a file and putting it on the table.
"The details are on the file, but not only you two will have a mission." JB gazes at Yui quickly, who snorts lazily before looking back at me. "Could you grab Colette for me?"
I nod stretching my legs, quickly complying.
Walking outside, I find Colette resting her back against the wall of the house with her arms crossed. As I enter her view, her expression turns from irritable to her usual face.
"JB asked me to fetch you."
Without a chance to react, Colette grabs the side of my hoodie and pushes me against the wall. She takes advantage of her tall stature to make me only able to gaze at her face.
Even without being transformed, she smells of rain. Her fingers dig into my waist to keep me in place. I feel her sharp nails against my skin, but she never gets to the point of hurting me.
I see in her eyes that she doesn't want me to go; if it's because of fear of me getting hurt or not having me close, I can't tell, but seeing the way her yellow irises shine makes me not want to go either.
Wrapping my arms around her neck, I make her lower her head so we are eye-to-eye. "You know I have to do it."
"Not alone; you shouldn't," Colette protests. "It's too much of a risk to let you go only with Dalia."
"I know, but there's no other option. The only thing I can do is promise you that if any sign of danger appears, I'll run back here." Her grip on me tightens, and so I decide to add one more part in a carefully toned whisper. "to you."
The words seem to be enough to make Colette relax slightly, her sharp nails retracting and her tense shoulders dropping. "I'll hold you to that promise."
We settle the matter, but even so, we don't separate; to the contrary, we are pulled more into each other's embrace. But we both know we can't be like this forever, and I'm the first to break the moment.
"You better go before JB gets angry."
Colette nods, putting her hand on my shoulder delicately. "Be safe." Her words sound more like a beg than a request, and after uttering them, she walks back inside the house, bumping into Dalia on her way in.
They seem to exchange some words before each goes their way. Dalia gets to my side with the file from earlier under her arm.
"Julia said that we better depart now and brief you on the rest of the details on the way."
I nod my head, grabbing my car key from my pocket, and unlock the doors. We enter the car, and I rev up the engine before driving away.
The drive is unsettlingly quiet; Dalia has her eyes solely focused on the map, and I have my focus divided between reading the file and driving.
A group of witches enters Wayhaven; the agency sends five agents to ask questions, and only one comes back barely alive with carrying a letter with their request.
The letter isn't quoted on the file, but the contents are summed up, and it seems that it's all about their interest and curiosity over me.
Great, now my anxiety is over the roof. They are clearly dangerous and most probable killers, and even if they didn't kill those other four agents, they kept them, so I don't know what would be worse.
Taking the right path, we leave the main road and start our drive across the dirt tourist path leading to the mountains. We drive for about an hour before reaching the place where the map points to: Wayhaven State Forest.
There are lots of dark green, tall pine trees, and long rivers where some people enjoy their weekends fishing. I look at the map on Dalia's hand and watch as the empty parts of its yellowed material start to gain shape.
The continuation of the map's missing parts leads deeper and deeper into the mountains, which we can only access by walking.
It's a shame I'll have to leave my car here; if I still had my job, I could use my badge to ask the rangers to keep it with them, but even so, it would be risky.
After what I saw on the trip, we can't trust anyone anymore. The hospital was in the hands of the scrappers; the mayor is one of them as well, and for that, I am prohibited from visiting the PD or talking with Verda until the situation is taken care of.
Turning the keys, the rough roaring of the engine comes to a stop. "We will have to keep on foot."
My words are met with silence, and when I finally focus on Dalia, I'm able to catch a glimpse of her troubled expression.
"Lia..." My fingers resting on her shoulder seem to bring her back from her mind. "Talk to me; what's going on?"
With a sigh, Dalia rests her back against the seat more heavily. "It's nothing."
This is not like her; she's the one who always wants me to talk to her about how I feel, and now she's hiding? Why?
I let go of her shoulder, moving my leg and shifting awkwardly until I'm able to change seats. At first, I guess she assumed I was about to leave the car, but as I get closer, her troubled expression grows curious.
Settling on her lap, I put both my hands on her shoulder and look deep into those gray eyes of hers, looking for any sign that tells me that she's uncomfortable.
But what I found is the contrary: her hands rest on my back, keeping me close as she closes her eyes.
"Talk to me," I beg, mimicking the way she acts with me, and to my surprise, it works.
Dalia's eyes open and widen as we switch roles; her hands grip tighter on my hoodie and threaten to tear it. "I don't want to talk about it now." I feel Dalia's breath against my neck as she buries her face in its empty space. "But I want you to promise me something."
Her eyes become overly serious. "These witches we are going to meet—I have some story with them. And I just need you to promise me that whatever they tell you, you won't be disgusted... that you won't leave me."
I don't need to ponder her words much before nodding my head. "I promise." Obviously, I'll keep them in mind, but assuming anything right now is not productive, and I can't stand the way her eyes lose their pretty color as she grows bitter.
With my right hand, I guide her face away from my neck and up so we have our noses touching. I watch as she takes a deep breath, but before she can fully relax, I lock lips with her.
Her hold on my hoddie weakens, her strained shoulders relax, and she adjusts her back so we can be as close as possible. The kiss threatens to escalate; we both part ways from the kiss and lock eyes, like teenagers full of hormones.
But we both know we have a job to do, and it's not like we won't have a chance after all of this is taken care of. We leave the car, and with our hands tightly holding each other, we start our journey through the long trail across the mountains.
"God, how much more do we have to walk?" I ask, sweat dripping from my forehead and raining down on the dirt. We must have been walking for two hours at least, and the map just keeps showing more walking.
"We are near; the map's magic is almost wearing off," Dalia comments with a small smile, but it's clear that she is as tired as I am, if not more.
Looking at the path ahead, I see that we are almost at the top of the mountain and something else as well. I see a bright red light flying at high speed toward us, and before I can understand what's happening, the light hits my forehead with such force that it almost manages to make me fall backward.
"Ouch!" Me and the small light both grunt; a familiar feeling instantly makes me aware of who it is.
"Flamma?"
"Oh, hey, Iustitia," She rubs the top of her head apologetically and flies toward my shoulder. "I was looking for you. There's something I have to tell you."
Turning my head curiously, I look at her strained smile and wait for her to continue talking.
"So, I'll be quick because I have to go back soon. The Queen asked me to help with some things that happened with some of my sisters, and I'll need to be away for some time. Sorry."
Extending one finger, I gently caress Flamma's hair. "Hey, it's fine. You do what you have to; there's no need to worry."
Flamma jumps happily on my shoulder and smirks widely. "Thank you. I promise to be back if I feel that anything happened."
With those words, Flamma jumps from my shoulder and waves me goodbye, quickly returning to the forest. It's a shame she will be away, but with luck, she'll be back soon.
Dalia's hands stop atop my shoulder and pull me, making me feel her chest against my back as well as her breath near my right ear.
"Want to rest for a bit?"
Her tone might have been able to deceive anyone else, but the hint of desperation gives it away. I nod my head and turn around, grabbing Dalia's hand and sitting down on the soft grass patch at the side of the dirt path.
The sun hits us, caressing our skin with its rays. The wisps of wind help us cool down from the walk, and the muscles of my legs ache and twitch in defeat.
My eyes fall on Dalia, and I watch a pleasant scene unfold in front of me. With her eyes closed, Dalia's fingers reach for a small blue flower on the grass, and on her fingertip is a droplet of water.
"I want to show you something." Dalia opens her eyes and smiles as she finds my attention already on her. "A magic I learned from my mother a long, long time ago."
With the muttering of a few words in a language I don't know, the droplet on her fingertip falls to the soil and disappears. Nothing happens for a few seconds, but when I'm about to ask, I catch a glimpse of something.
Blue flowers rise from the ground, lots of them growing and blooming in seconds, quickly becoming a flowery blue field extending only to our surroundings.
"Wow, it's...beautiful." My comment is met with a smile from Dalia, who moves closer to me, prompting my body to act on instinct, resting my head on her shoulder.
"She loved these flowers. Mother always said they meant something I would only understand with time and that if I ever felt lost, I should sit in a field and watch them bloom." Dalia's smile slowly dissipates into a frown. "That's the only thing I can remember of her. Not even her face do I remember anymore."
I plant a kiss on Dalia's neck, and the kiss manages to bring her smile back. "It's okay, and if you want, I can try helping you remember."
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Tilting her head, Dalia looks at me. "How?" There's something in her eyes that screams desperately for me to do so.
Getting up from the ground, I take some steps forward and stop in the middle of the flowers, holding my hands together behind me. Slowly, I turn to her, carrying a smile on my face. "You said these flowers were important to her; maybe they can help you remember."
Memories can be triggered by familiar scents; maybe their smell can unlock something-" I cut my words as, looking at Dalia, I see a single tear leaving her eyes, which are locked on me as if I were a ghost.
Dalia's POV
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I watch as Olivia rises from my side and stands in the middle of the field. The blue flowers make her stand out more.
Her brown eyes turn caramel as they reflect the sun, and between her hair strands, I can see the rays of light finding their way through them.
As she turns to me with a smile, something falls on me. Olivia's features become blurry, and her tone becomes overly familiar to a part of my brain that I didn't know.
"Come on, Dalia, you'll catch a cold if you don't dry your hair properly." The blurry figure speaks with a motherly tone, carrying worry and love like autumn leaves falling from the trees.
Her face starts to take shape, and her voice becomes clearer, but before I can remember further, something inside of me pulls me back to reality.
In my heart, a string of pain echoes; in my brain, a killing headache. 'Somethings are best left buried.' My mind whispers in desperation and pain; a tear leaves my eyes, and I see Olivia's smile turning into worry.
Detective's POV
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I rush to Dalia's side as she closes her eyes and falls to the flowers. Sliding, I'm able to catch her before her head comes into contact with the dirt, but in the process, my clothes become filthy with mud and dirt.
"Dalia? Wake up." Trying to wake her up does nothing; she keeps immobile and in a sleep-like state. Putting my hand on her forehead, I feel her warm—very warm.
"A fever? Why?"
On the edge of my vision, I catch a glimpse of the map's pulsating light, so I grab it from Dalia's pocket and check it. A message is written on its bottom: 'Follow the light and find us, quick.'
Of course something like this would happen: Dalia passes out, and the witches send a message. Great timing, strangely so. But I have no other options; the way back to the city will be impossible if I have to carry her, so I'll risk meeting with them.
Grabbing Dalia, I put her on my back—a piggyback ride, as it's the most effective as I still have a little way to go.
Resuming the walk, I feel the muscles in my thighs hurt from forcing myself past my limits; my lungs scream for more oxygen; and the increasing sweat dripping from my forehead doesn't help.
I see the end of the path right ahead, and standing there, I see a figure of a tall woman waving for me to approach. Now close to the woman, I can make out her facial features: long black hair, a mole under her lip, and violet-burning eyes.
She, like Dalia, smells of herbs and magic. "A good thing you came quick; can I see how she's doing?"
Opening my mouth to say no, I rethink my current situation. Dalia's temperature has been increasing along the way; she appears to be having difficulty breathing, and sometimes the sounds she makes of pain scare me about what could be happening.
"Okay," Carefully, I unload Dalia from my back and put her back against a tree so she's seated up. "Just please help her-"
*Poof*
Purple, lavender smoke circles my eyes. The woman in front of me lowers her raised fingers at what I assumed was some kind of magic. I instinctively take a step back, and my hand falls to my belt, where the sword is.
"What did you try to do?" The shift in my tone to a more serious one makes the woman widen her eyes.
"So it's true," The witch raises her hands and seems to be preparing another spell, but before she can launch it, another woman appears from behind her and stops the action.
"There's no need for that; the agency's pride wouldn't allow them to try tricking us." A mature voice, the same color of eyes, and a more built body.
"I'm sorry, Miss Cordelia." The first witch replies, lowering her head.
"It's okay; now take our friend inside and let me talk with the girl."
With a nod of her head, the first witch grabs Dalia and walks past the path's end, disappearing before my eyes.
"My apologies for my pupil's action; she tends to be very forward in her curiosity. But please allow me to introduce myself properly.
"I'm Cordelia Shadowmire, and I believe you must be Olivia, correct?"
I nod my head, and so the woman opens a smile.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Olivia." Her words cause a strange feeling to scream inside of me, like I know her. "Come with me; I'll prepare some tea, and we can discuss on why I called you here."
Without any chance to speak, the woman starts to walk, not even checking to see if I'm following.
I hate it when people do this. Not that they care obviously.
As I pass through the portal, I have to close my eyes to not go blind as a strong flash of light happens.
But as it subsides, I see the place, impossibly tall bookshelves upon bookshelves stacking against the limitless dark sky. Lit candles are strategically placed on top of each one to give enough light to see the titles of the books.
In the distance, the light of what seems to be the sun finds its way to me. But in the middle of this room is an out-of-place round table with two chairs, a steaming teapot, and two teacups.
"I'll treat you to some tea; you look exhausted." Cordelia comments, pulling me with her to a chair, forcing me down on it, and taking her place across the table.
My ears perk up at the sound of many witch-dressed young women walking past us, whispering things I can't make out, but by seeing their eyes placed on me, I can guess.
"There's no need to keep your guard up, girl," Cordelia states as she pours some tea for both of us. "Dalia will be well taken care of; after all, she was one of us for some time."
"What do you mean?"
Cordelia seems amused by my lack of knowledge, or at least that's what I feel when I see her smug smile. "She didn't tell you, did she?"
"We are a coven of sorts, the difference being that we are a lot more organized than most, but you may be more familiar with the term community. To make it simple, we are a large group of witches who got together to learn more about magic and teach it to a new generation.
"But by your face, I can see that I'm boring you; that's not why you came here. You came because we requested you."
I nod my head. "That's right, and if I have to be honest, I need help as well."
Better to be honest, I want to get something good out of this, and maybe I'll be able to make allies here.
"I know, child, you have someone important to you who needs a more magical type of medical help."
Now that's just creepy. I raise an eyebrow and stare at the woman in front of me.
"Don't look at me like that. Our coven values information above all things, and so our job is to study and know everything this world can teach us.
"A friend of mine works for your agency, and she informed me of a certain patient who they couldn't heal.
"But let's do things like this. I'll tell you about the job I need you to do, and if you find it to be up to your standards, we can make a deal that, once completed, I'll provide help to your friend. What do you think?"
Once again, all I can do is nod my head. In this conversation, I feel like I'm being pulled and pulled, not having the chance to lead.
"Well, then I'll be straight to the point. A long time ago, an old friend of mine was working on a project—a little experiment—that got out of hand.
"The product of it was an uncontrollable monster that was defeated once and put to sleep. The problem is that the experiment woke up out of nowhere and escaped our hold. My request is that you take care of it."
"Look, with all due respect, I understand that you might need help with this, but..." Is she crazy? I'm not as strong as Colette, smart as Dalia, or fast as Yui. I'm just a normal human, and without Flamma, I can't do the fire tricks. "I have no chance going head to head against anything supernaturally related, not alone."
Cordelia keeps that same smile of hers as she brings the teacup to her lips. "In reality, the fact that you're human is the exact reason I need you to do it.
"The monster only attacks other supernaturals, and with humans, it stays in its docile form. You need not worry; I wouldn't give you a job if I knew you couldn't complete it."
.
..
...
"I accept the job." Whether her words are true or not, it does not matter, and it's not like I can just say no. For Dalia and Tina, I have to do this.
Cordelia beams with joy, rising from her chair and grabbing my hand tightly on hers. "I thank you, child, truly.
"Now," She lets go of my hand and gestures for me to walk with her. "I'll get you to a room so you can rest, and when you are ready, seek me out in this room."
This place is like a giant facility, almost like the agency, the difference being the heavy use of magic.
While the agency is white and sterilized, this place screams old, with wood and books everywhere we go, all smelling of herbs. At this point, I'm getting kind of nauseous from the smell.
Following Cordelia through a small hall to the right of the bookshelf, we reach a simple wooden door with chalk drawings of flowers in it.
"This was Dalia's room; some of her things are still inside. I wanted to keep everything in place in case she decided to come back."
Her words carry a certain heavy feel to them, and looking at her face, I see a bittersweet expression as she reminisces. Catching my gaze, Cordelia returns her smile and pats my shoulder.
"Go on, rest."
Acting with my guts, I take a step forward and embrace the woman in a hug. Seeing her face reminded me of Miss Mary crying when Tina and I graduated from the police training course—happiness for our achievement and sadness over what that meant. We were adults; it was time to let us go.
At first, Cordelia's shoulder tenses in surprise, but not long after, she hugs me back, a little stronger than I expected not gonna lie.
When the hugs eventually ends, Cordelia's smile seems different and more genuine, or at least it's what I believe.
"Thank you," Her hand fell on my shoulder again, but this time she was pushing me gently inside the room. "Sleep well, child."
She closes the door and leaves.
Inside the room, I see the continuation of the door drawings; the walls are all covered with flowers, like an extensive field of blue. It's a beautiful sight.
Almost mirroring the outside, many books swarm the floor; I can even see some underneath the bed on the edge of the room. Many flower pots with dirt, glass vials with stones—all things you would expect to see in a witch's room.
Getting to the bed, I take off my boots, socks, dirty jeans, and hoodie, staying only with my shirt and underwear. Taking one more look around the room, I notice a door that probably leads to a bathroom.
My plan now is to take a good bath, wash my clothes with water and soap, and sleep. With that in mind, I start with the first thing on the list.
The bathroom is pretty simple: a toilet, a porcelain tub, and a sink with a mirror. Lazily, I reach the tub and turn the knob on the wall to start filling it.
Once filled, I don't even wait for the hot water to cool down before sinking my aching, tired body into it.
As expected, it's very hot, but not enough to make me want to get out and rethink my decision. The water makes the scar on my chest sting a little, reminding me of its existence. Sometimes I really do forget about it. The hotel incident seems so far away now.
I would have never imagined that this could ever have happened—a coven of witches, a werewolf, and a witch who loves me—a clingy vampire who is emotionally unstable. Sometimes I'm afraid I'll wake up on the sofa back at the station.
Being able to relax reveals how tired I am really, both physically and mentally, but still, I feel more alive than I ever did. If I did lose my mind, then it isn't so bad.
I wash my hair and my body, and as the water starts to lose its warmth, I use it to wash my clothes, taking the towel from the hanger and extending my wet clothes on the hanger.
With all of that done, it's time for the third step: sleep.
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