Twistchapel Witch Cozy Mystery Box Set: Books 1-4 plus Christmas Short Page 19

  Empty.

  “Ugh,” I groaned. Just my luck.

  I went back into the supply closet and checked for some soap. I pushed past some mops, and found a fresh container, just out of arms reach. I leaned in as much as I could while still keeping my feet outside of the closet, just brushing the soap with my finger tips. I pushed forward several times, nudging it just a little more each time. I pushed forward one final time, and knocked the container to the ground.

  “Seriously?” I asked myself. I’m sure Bart would’ve told me to just leave it, but I was on a mission to get this soap now.

  I pulled the mop and a few brooms out of the closet and set them next to the bathroom. Now with enough space, I walked in and crouched down to get the soap.

  “Gotcha,” I muttered, beginning to stand up. I looked next to where the soap landed and paused. Why did she have these wooden sticks in here? What we she going to use them for? I looked a little closer and picked one up. Both ends were sharpened to a point. This wasn’t just some random wooden stick. This was a stake. And it was the exact size as the one I pulled out of Konstantin.

  I put the stake back where it was, then moved everything I pulled out back in. I went back into the bathroom, closed the door, and frantically washed my hands.

  After quickly drying them, I flipped through my phone and dialed a contact. I waited a few seconds as it rang.

  When I heard the other side pick up, I quickly said, “Don’t talk, just listen. I’m keeping the phone on, but muting your side. Don’t get off the line until I pick back up.”

  Thankfully, the person didn’t say anything but kept the line open. I slipped the phone into my pocket and walked out.

  “That took a while,” mumbled Bart.

  “I’m back,” I cheered. “I switched out the soap for you.”

  “Oh, sorry about that!” said Jill. “I should’ve done that since I knew you were coming over.”

  “Jill… we’re friends, right?” I asked.

  “Of course,” she smiled. “Why?”

  “There’s something I feel like I need to get off my chest,” I said. “Something about myself that I’ve never told anyone before.”

  “Zoey… what are you doing?” asked Bart suspiciously.

  “You can tell me anything,” said Jill, setting down her paint roller and looking at me.

  “It’s going to sound crazy. I wouldn’t be shocked if you don’t believe me. I probably wouldn’t have believed me.”

  “Zoey, don’t tell her you’re a witch,” said Bart, floating up to eye level. “You should only share that information as a last resort. You’ve talked to this woman a handful of times in your life. This is a pointless risk.”

  “You’d be surprised what I believe,” said Jill.

  “It’s something… paranormal,” I said.

  “Stop, Zoey!” begged Bart. “If this gets out, people will hunt you down!”

  “My friend was killed by a vampire,” I declared.

  “Huh?” said a confused Bart.

  “A vampire?” she said slowly. “Like, a real one?”

  “Yes. A real one.”

  This would be really awkward if I was wrong, but I was growing more and more confident as I thought about it. I think I knew who the killer was, and I bet I knew who helped them, and why.

  “She’s going to think you’re insane,” said Bart. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

  “Are you messing with me?” asked Jill, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

  “I’m dead serious,” I lied. “There were bite marks on her neck, and she had lost a lot of blood.”

  “Did it happen in Twistchapel?”

  “It did.”

  “Zoey,” Jill said calmly, standing up a little taller. “I think I can help you.”

  “She can?!” coughed Bart.

  “You can?” I asked.

  “Yes. I’m a vampire hunter.”

  “A vampire hunter?” I repeated. “Wow. That sounds scary. Have you ever killed a vampire before?”

  “Many,” she nodded. “In fact, I killed one two nights ago.”

  “Oh my gosh,” said Bart. “She’s the one! How did you figure this out, Zoey?”

  “I remember you never explained why you came to Twistchapel in the first place,” I said. “Was it because you knew there were vampires here?”

  “Exactly,” smiled Jill. “I couldn’t tell anyone the real reason I came, so I just said it was complicated, or to open up this beauty shop. I don’t really care about this store, and to be honest I haven’t actually been working on it recently.”

  “Really?” I feigned surprised.

  “My contact told me where to find vampires, so I’ve been watching their activity all night near their shack, and then sleeping here in the day. I killed one earlier this week, too. In fact, I’m going out in just a little bit to kill one more.”

  “Tonight?” I asked. “You’re killing another vampire tonight?”

  “Yes,” she nodded excitedly. “Do you want to come with? I’m sure my contact wouldn’t mind having someone else join.”

  “I don’t know…” I said, trying to sound conflicted. “It sounds pretty dangerous.”

  “You want to avenge your friend, don’t you?” she asked. “That’s how I got my start, too. Well, sort of. My great grandfather was killed by a vampire about a hundred years ago. I’ve been passed down the task to eliminate as many vampires as I can. You can join me in this. I can train you in what to do, and how best to take them out. What do you say?”

  I paused and looked down at Bart. Jill probably thought I was thinking. Bart probably thought I was stalling. Neither were right.

  “Alright,” I nodded. “I’m in. Let’s do it. Let’s kill some vampires.”

  Chapter 10

  “What are you doing?!?” shouted Bart as we got into my car. “You can’t seriously want to start killing vampires, right?”

  “Calm down,” I said, turning the volume on my phone up and setting it on the middle console. “You get all that?”

  “I did,” came Allen’s voice. “How did you know it was her?”

  “When I went to the bathroom, I noticed that she had some strange wooden sticks on the ground, which on closer look were actually stakes. When we had talked recently, she kept mentioning how busy she was while setting up her store, but very little work was actually done when we walked in today.”

  “I thought that was odd,” said Bart. “I just assumed she sucked at painting.”

  “The other night, before Konstantin was killed, I ran into her. She suddenly got a text and said she had to go. She doesn’t know anyone else in town, really, so I thought that was strange. I figured her contact must have told her where her target was, and she knew she had to get there quickly.”

  “Who could her contact be, though?” asked Allen.

  “I know who it is, but it’s probably for the best if we wait until we catch them before we discuss it,” I said, following Jill’s car. “I’m following her now, but I’m not sure where we’re going.”

  “How will I know where to find you, then?”

  “I’ll use a beacon spell,” I said. Bart nodded approvingly.

  “A bacon spell?” asked Allen. “That sounds awesome! I don’t know how it’ll help, though.”

  “No, it’s… you know what? It doesn’t matter. Basically, you’ll be able to know where I’m at. Only talk to people you are 100 percent sure you can trust about this, and then meet me at my location. We should be there soon.”

  “Okay, I’ll make some calls,” said Allen. “This is so exciting!”

  I hung up before he could say anything else.

  We followed Jill in the direction of the shack, but then kept going past the turn. As I assumed, the contact was having her meet them somewhere else. Hopefully it wasn’t too far from Crestwood, and Allen would be able to get to me quickly. I also hoped the beacon spell would work well enough when I needed it most.

  We cont
inued to drive for another fifteen minutes, and the sun began to set. It looked like the contact would be able to meet us in the open.

  Jill pulled off and turned down a random gravel road into the forest. I tried to take a mental snapshot of this point in case I needed to remember how to get back here later. We traveled deeper into the forest for a few more minutes, before pulling up next to a raised hill. As we pulled up, I noticed that the hill had a large opening on the side.

  A vampire wearing a large coat approached Jill’s car, his long black hair hanging outside of it.

  “What is she doing with you?” asked Julius to Jill, as Bart and I got out of my car.

  “She’s here to help kill vampires,” she said.

  “Really?” asked Julius, looking me over slowly. “I didn’t expect you to flip sides so easily.”

  “Wait,” said Jill. “What do you mean? You two know each other?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I took a job to help them find the vampire killer, but it was just to find the person and join them.”

  “How cold hearted,” said Julius, his constant frown betraying the hint of a smile. “I love it.”

  “I suspected she was working with you,” I said.

  “Oh?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Do tell. We’ve got some time.”

  “Where would you like me to start?” I asked. I pictured Allen in my head, focusing as much as I could on him. Hey. Over here. Hurry.

  “I’d be interested to know how I showed my cards. Not even Darius seems to suspect me.”

  “There was just the three of you on the council, and you were probably fine with that. Not happy, but fine,” I began. I continued to picture Allen in my head, shouting Hey at him as I talked. “You seemed to hate the werewolves, and when I saw how ultimately Darius worked with you to rile up the other vampires, I figured you were able to influence him at least some of the time. So when it was the three of you, your view could still win out if it came down to a vote.”

  “Very good,” nodded Julius. “Things would be so much different if we would’ve stuck with just having three council members. I was slowly winning Darius to my side on the werewolf problem. It was just a matter of time. All of that was thrown away when Dante announced he was running, however.”

  “You knew you would never be able to convince Konstantin or Dante to turn against the werewolves,” I continued. “It would be a two to two tie on those matters, and that would be the best case scenario. When those ties would happen, Konstantin would get the final say, since he was the eldest on the council. Realizing this, you hired Jill to kill him.”

  “He didn’t hire me,” said Jill simply.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “He’s not paying me to do this. He got in contact with me, and wanted to know if I would come to Twistchapel to kill vampires. I came to do it, free of charge. It’s my civil duty to kill them.”

  “I do wonder why it took so long to kill Dante,” I said. “Jill has been here for a couple of months. Why wait until this week?”

  “I had to gain Dante’s trust, and plan the perfect time,” said Julius. “He knew we disagreed on many matters, not the least of which was the werewolf matter. I asked him to meet me outside of the shack, and had Jill in place.”

  “That’s how you had your alibi,” I nodded. “You were in court the whole time, so when Jill killed him and left his body to turn to ash in the sun, no one would suspect you.”

  “Exactly,” nodded Julius. “Very impressive, Miss Foster.”

  “After Dante was taken out of the picture, you must have gotten a thirst for power. People were starting to suspect the werewolves, which meant that now was the time to try and become the dictator. Konstantin wouldn’t have it, since he wasn’t sure that the werewolves were to blame. Even if he was, he probably would’ve won the vote over you. Then you’d have no power.”

  “I always liked Konstantin, but he had to go,” nodded Julius. “I had him meet me above ground, where I distracted him as Jill took him out. The people of Crestwood were furious at his death, and wanted vengeance against the werewolves. They were practically eating out of my hands. ”

  “Being the only remaining member of the council, it would make sense to elect you when a vote is called for a dictator,” I said. “You get all the power over Crestwood, and you get to fight the werewolves again.”

  “The war with the werewolves would go on forever,” smiled Julius. “I’d never have to give up my power.”

  “Why would you work with a vampire to give him more power, though?” I asked Jill.

  “Like he said, he wants an endless war with the werewolves,” she smiled. “That means I’ll be responsible for the deaths of vampires long after my death. A greater honor could never be given to a vampire hunter.”

  “The only thing standing in my way now, is Darius’ life,” said Julius. “That’s why the two of you are here tonight. I’m going to lure him out shortly, and the two of you can kill him whatever way you please. This is the start of a new-”

  A purple tinted wall of glass appeared between Julius and I.

  “What the-?” asked Jill, a wall appearing in front of her as well.

  I took a step back, realizing that they were both surrounded from all sides with the purple tinted glass.

  “NO!” screeched Julius, his eyes filling with black and his fangs stretching out. He flailed about, trying to break out of the prison. “This can’t be happening! Not now! Not when I’m so close!”

  “W-What is this thing?” asked Jill, looking at the purple walls that surrounded her.

  “You did it,” said Allen, an inch away from the back of my neck.

  “Dude, you gotta stop doing that,” I said, turning around. Allen was there, along with Darius and a few other vampires I hadn’t met. “How did you get here so fast?”

  “This is the secret entrance to Crestwood,” he smiled. “Remember you asked where we park our cars? The answer is under this hill, here.”

  “Are you the one casting this spell?”

  “No. I am,” said another voice, as Warren stepped out from around the hill. “Good job catching the killers, Miss Foster. I never would’ve guess a vampire hunter would be working with a vampire on the council. Very interesting.”

  “How could you do this, Julius?” asked Darius. “You were going to have me killed, just to start a war with the werewolves?”

  “I have nothing to say to you,” hissed Julius.

  “Fine. I hope the courts decide justly that you deserve death,” said Darius firmly, walking away and joining Warren and I. “Thank you two for everything you’ve done. The vampires of Crestwood owe you a great service.”

  “Happy to help,” I smiled. “I couldn’t have done it without Allen, though.”

  “Allen?” said Darius, taken aback.

  “He was instrumental in solving this case,” I said.

  At that moment, Allen decided to walk up and join us.

  “Hey, Zoey,” he said. “I kept hearing you yell in my head, but nothing bacon related happened. Did your spell not work correctly?”

  “This guy…” said Bart, shaking his head.

  “On that note,” I said. “I think I’m going to leave. I’m sorry about everything that’s happened, Darius. I hope this all confirms there werewolves had nothing to do with any of the deaths.”

  “Of course,” nodded Darius. “I will make a public declaration of what has happened once all the citizens are awake. Going to war with them would’ve been a horrible mistake.”

  “Where are you taking these two, by the way?” I asked Warren.

  “To Other’s Court,” he shrugged.

  “They’re the ones who see all the paranormal criminals that aren’t captured by humans,” explained Bart.

  “I see,” I said. “What will happen to them?”

  “That’s up to the court to decide,” said Warren. “You did good, Zoey.”

  “Do me a favor, and quit trying to mess with Drake,” I
said.

  “I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”

  “Seriously, Warren,” I said firmly. “Knock it off.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he nodded. “No promises.”

  “Of course there aren’t,” I sighed, heading for my car.

  I stopped a massive war, saved Darius’ life, and solved the case, and the best I got was a ‘maybe I’ll stop messing with your boyfriend.’

  Epilogue

  I pulled into my home, pausing to take a deep breath as I got out of my car.

  This had been a pretty crazy few days. I was glad to be done with it all, at least for a little bit. I’d take the night to recuperate, and then get back to some work tomorrow. Eric would probably be happy to have me back. I could only imagine how he’s been handling Charline.

  “I’ve gotta say I’m impressed,” said Bart, walking with me to the front of my house.

  “You didn’t find the other two cases equally as impressive?” I joked.

  “I was starting to think we’d never figure this one out, but you did it,” he said as I tried to get the key into the door. “You also improvised really well in the face of danger. You’re getting really good at it. Maybe too good.”

  “Thanks, I think,” I said, still having issues getting the key in the hole with all the shadows. I opened the palm of my free hand and summoned a ball of light to see better.

  I finally got the door unlocked and walked in, throwing my bag on the floor and closing the door.

  “It was getting a little tense, wasn’t it?” I asked, tossing the ball of light between my hands mindlessly.

  “Yeah,” agreed Bart. “What would you have done if Julius actually got Darius in front of you and Jill?”

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I probably would’ve cast that protect spell on… him…”

  Sitting at my living room table was Bridgette, mouth and eyes wide open. She was watching the ball of light bounce back and forth between my hands.

  It was Saturday night. Girls night.

  I completely forgot.

  “This should be interesting,” laughed Bart.