A Life for a Life

Jess woke in the middle of the night and for a moment, wasn’t sure why. A soft blue glow out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head to see an origami paper flower, glowing blue. Jess came fully awake and sat up, grabbing the paper flower resting on the pillow next to her. She had seen something similar before.

The shape was roughly that of a camellia flower, the same one that Adair featured on her shop. Because phones didn’t work across the different realms, Adair had used this method to communicate with Jess before. Somehow she used magic to send a message to Jess whenever she felt there was something too important to wait on.

Jess unfolded the paper flower and saw written inside in bold letters “911!” It was underlined three times. Jess threw off her covers and got dressed as quickly as possible one-handed while trying to work her phone with the other. She managed to call Charlie and it rang twice before a sleepy voice answered.

“Charlie, it’s Jess. I just got a 911 from Adair. We need to get to Abhainn right now. I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.” Charlie, to her credit, didn’t waste time asking questions. She said she’d be ready and when Jess pulled up in front of her new apartment nineteen minutes later, Charlie was waiting on the sidewalk. She jumped in as soon as Jess pulled up, and they sped away.

On the way to the gateway, Jess told Charlie about the paper flower and how Adair sometimes used this method to get in touch with Jess in an emergency.

“Do you think it’s related to our case?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t know but it’s possible.” Jess drummed her fingers on the steering wheel while waiting at a red light. She trusted that Adair could take care of herself, but Jess was anxious to get to Abhainn as soon as possible. She and Charlie were silent the for rest of the car ride.

As it was around 2:30 in the morning, traffic was light and they made good time. Jess led the way to the mural and spoke the words of power that opened the gateway. When they stepped through, they saw it was night here also, though the water still glowed blue. As there wasn’t a moon in Abhainn, this was their only source of light. The shops were closed and the streets empty as they traveled along one of the currents to Adair’s shop.

Jess had to help Charlie into the traveling current and once she had her balance, Charlie spent her time looking around in awe. She admitted to Jess that she had never actually been to any of the faerie realms, though she knew a few elves and other species personally. In New York City, she explained, they were a lot more restrictive on who was allowed to the other lands and very few were trusted with the knowledge of where the gateways were and how to open them. It dated back to a war between witches and elves several hundred years ago that was restricted to New York only.

Jess promised to bring Charlie back in the daylight sometime but for now, they hurried to Adair’s shop. When they arrived, the storefront was dark, but they could see through the window a faint glow around the curtain that led to the back area. The front door opened when Jess tried it so they went it in, quietly shutting it behind them.

“Adair?” Jess called softly. A feminine hand pulled back the curtain and Jess saw her friend standing there. Adair was dressed in a short, silky blue nightgown with a silk robe tied around her waist.

“Come in Jess, we’re back here.” Adair sounded worried but not like she was in any immediate trouble so Jess relaxed. They followed the tall woman into the back room and Jess was surprised to see a female elf and a small elf child, a boy.

Like most elves, the woman was tall and lithe, with long blond hair and gold-tinted skin. Jess couldn’t see her ears, but she knew they would be pointy. The boy was a spitting image of his mother, a beautiful child no more than six or seven years old. The only thing to mar their features was their pinched eyes, worry on the mother’s face, and fear on the boy’s. They wore light summer clothes instead of pajamas but still looked as if they just rolled out of bed themselves.

“Thank you for coming. This is Cara and her son, Eamon,” Adair said, gesturing to the pair. She introduced Jess as “a friend of the people.”

“Nice to meeeet you. Thaaaank you for coming in the middle of the niiiight,” Cara enunciated slowly. Her voice was deep and melodious, making you want to lay down and take a nap while she spoke. She had a heavy Elvin accent that was difficult to understand, but Jess was thankful she could speak English at all. Many elves didn’t bother.

“Of course. What’s going on?” Jess looked at Adair as she spoke.

“Eamon saw something I think you should know about,” Adair answered, gesturing to the boy.

“Tell them, Eamon.” Cara pushed her boy forward. He glanced at them before returning his stare to the floor. Jess cracked her shields and saw a jagged bit of purple around his aura. He was afraid. Seeing such a beautiful child in fear tugged at something in Jess. Kneeling down so she was at the same level as him, Jess put her hand on Eamon’s shoulder, pushing just the slightest bit of calming magic into the boy. He relaxed a little and finally looked up to meet her eyes.

“It’s okay, Eamon. Tell us what you saw.”

“I leave Abhainn,” Eamon blurted out. He glanced at his mother. “I not supposed to. I not old enough yet, but my brother go. I curious.” His mother was frowning but gestured for him to continue.

“Left, for our world?” Jess asked, glancing at Adair for confirmation. She nodded.

“I not go far. There bridge and buildings close. No people, so I walk around a little. Then I see behind big building, two people. Two mans, like you, but boys?” Eamon frowned, trying to find the right words.

“You mean they looked human, not elves or any other species?” Jess offered. Eamon gave a hesitant nod.

“One man lying on ground, other man over him. He say funny words. He hold knife.” At this Eamon stopped talking and Jess could feel the fear radiating off him through her touch on his shoulder.

“He killed the man on the ground with the knife, didn’t he? It’s okay Eamon, you don’t have to say it.” Eamon’s wide eyes filled with tears as he reached for his mother. Cara stepped closer and wrapped her arms around the boy.

“Can you tell me what happened after that?” Jess asked gently.

“Blue ghost.”

“A blue ghost?”

“Blue ghost come out of dead man. Bad man with knife put ghost in bottle.”

“Okay, he put the ghost in a bottle. Then what happened?” Jess asked, but Eamon turned his head into his mother’s stomach.

“Then he ran away,” Adair answered for him. “He got scared and ran back to the gateway and all the way home.”

“He been scared and skittish, having bad dreams,” Cara told them. “When he woke up from bad dream again tonight, he finally tell me what happened. I came straight to Adair.” Of course she did. Adair might run an apothecary shop and homeless shelter for pets, but she was also held in high esteem in Abhainn. People often came to her for help for all sorts of things, whether it required a potion or not. Cara would have known that Adair would know what to do and she was right. Very few others in Abhainn had connections in Jess’s world.

“How long ago was this?” Charlie asked.

“Two days ago, very early,” Cara answered. That meant Eamon had likely witnessed the murder of their latest victim, Marcos Gabriel. And there might still be evidence there.

“Eamon,” Jess coaxed until the boy was looking at her again. “You were very brave to tell us all this. Thank you. Now, can you tell me any more about the man with the knife? What did he look like?”

“Dark,” Eamon said with a shake of his head. Then he brightened. “Sound sick. Coughing.”

“Okay, that’s good. What about the building you were behind? How far away was it from the gateway? Do you know what direction you went?” Eamon appeared to think it over for a moment.

“Turn this way,” Eamon said, waving his right arm. “Walk not far. Big building all alone. Broken windows.” The boy shrugged as if to say that’s all he knew.

“Thank you Eamon, you’ve been a big help,” Jess said, giving him a little pat on the shoulder. Eamon smiled shyly and turned away. Jess stood from her crouch, her legs muscles protesting.

“Thank you Cara, for coming,” Adair said, ushering them towards the door. “You have the tea I gave you, right? It should help with his nightmares and if it doesn’t, let me know.” Jess and Charlie waited while Adair showed the small family out, each lost in her own thoughts.

“Well,” Adair began as she walked back towards them, “does that answer your question about what this guy is doing?”

“We’d pretty much already figured it out, but yeah, this confirms it.” Jess told Adair what they had learned about the Witch Queen and the information Charlie picked up from the body of Marcus Gabriel. Adair relaxed against a wall as Jess spoke, looking thoughtful.

“I admit I’m not as familiar with witch-lore, but that certainly sounds like it fits with everything I’ve heard and felt, in both my realm and yours,” Adair said.

“What about the bottle Eamon mentioned? Do you think it would be possible to bottle up a life force like that?”

Adair shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t think so. Maybe a spelled bottle could temporarily hold the soul, but it would continue to degrade, like the Librarian said.”

“That explains why Charlie felt the killer is still desperate. I’m guessing he killed Marcus Gabriel, went back to wherever he’s holed up with the bottle and tried to put the life force from the bottle into whoever he’s trying so hard to bring back. It was only after he was unsuccessful that he came back to dispose of the body and lost his knife in the process. What do you think, Charlie?” Jess asked. Charlie stood silently and didn’t answer. Her gaze wandered around the shop, but not as if she really saw it. Jess gently touched her shoulder, jolting her.

“Everything okay?”

“Yes, of course.” Charlie’s gaze still appeared unfocused but Jess made the introductions to Adair anyway. They shook hands and muttered polite “nice to meet you”s before Charlie turned back to the shop.

“This is a nice place you have here. I’ve only been to a few other places that felt as peaceful and welcoming. It’s kind of relaxing,” Charlie commented. Adair eyed her critically, then smiled.

“I’m betting you would know, too. Thank you.” Jess looked back and forth between them. It was when Charlie allowed her hands to brush over some of the items on the shelves that she finally got it. Charlie was a touch-sensitive and Adair’s apothecary was full of items that created a sort of harmony that Jess guessed Charlie could feel acutely.

“When you finish with this case, come back and visit. We’ll have tea and I’ll introduce you to some of the animals,” Adair offered.

“Thank you, I will.”

Adair turned back to Jess. “Jess, this is some messed up shit going on and the bad juju coming from it is leaking over into our realm. You’ve got to put a lid on this and I mean now, or something very serious is going to happen. Nature is not meant to be so imbalanced like this.”

“I hear ya, Addy. Got any tips or advice to help us? Learned anything new since the last time we talked?”

“I’m sorry chica, but I don’t this time. You two have learned more on your own already than I’ve even heard rumors about. All I know is that the creatures here are edgy and absolutely no one wants to venture into your realm, even the frequent flyers.”

“Alright, thanks Addy. And thanks for telling us about Eamon. Let me know if there’s anything I can do for him, okay? We’re going to go try to find the building he mentioned,” Jess said with a glance at her partner. Charlie nodded.

“Good luck, ladies. And be careful,” Adair warned. Jess waved farewell and the two women left.