Chapter 20: The dead woman

Three police cars blocked the road, preventing cars from going further. A barricade tape strapped around the scene of the crime.

I sat on the sidewalk, staring at the body that was already in a bag. Shawn had called the police after the incident. They arrived quite quickly and athey took our statement. Shawn was still talking to a police officer, who claimed to be a detective.

'So much for trying to get home on time.' I wrapped my hands around my body, trying to shake off the cold.

"We can leave now " 

"They don't need anything else?"

"No, they'll call me if they need any more statements." 

"Why you?"

"I don't want them to bother you Emily. And plus, your parents will definitely find out that you left home when you were clearly grounded.

"That is if they aren't back yet."

"Let's hope they're not." He gazed at me. His gaze was soft and caring

"So what happened? Was she dead already or…"

"They can't tell that now." He held onto my hand. I closed my eyes and leaned into him. He wrapped an arm around me and I inhaled his scent. Lavender with a touch of spiciness.

"I'm here for you Emily. It's ok to be scared." He whispered softly. He ran his hand along my hair. I've never felt so secure, so safe. I felt safe in his hands.

His body was so warm that my initial tremors from the cold vanished into thin air. Shawn comforted me silently, neither of us said a word for a while.

"Are you ready to go?" I nodded. He guided me to his car, opened the door and I got in. Shawn got into the driver's seat and drove off.

When we got to my house, I found out that my parents were not back yet. I sighed in relief.

"Feel better now?" He asked.

"Very. Thank you Shawn, for everything." He gave me a warm smile.

"It was my pleasure. Can you stay by yourself? We can head to my house instead, or I can stay with you."

"No, you staying here will make my parents suspicious. And your house must be far from here."

"It's actually not. It's the fourth house from yours, on the right."

"Wait, What! How come you didn't tell me?"

"We never talked about it." He said with a laugh.

"So we're literally neighbours, that's quite nerve calming." 

"If you need anything, you know where to find me." I gave him a smile and alighted from his car. I opened up the door, waved at him and closed the door. I rested against the door, everything finally hitting me.

"I witnessed someone die." I muttered. I fell onto my couch and grovelled in it.

"How will I survive in this place?" After a few minutes, I heard the bell ring. I struggled to get up. I was both physically and mentally tired. I saw a pizza guy in front of me, holding a big box of pizza in his hand.

"Can I help you?" 

"Your pizza." He handed over the pizza and left. I then saw a note strapped on top of it.

"I figured you'd be too lazy to order food, not to talk of cooking something, so I decided to order this for you. Be careful new blood. Shawn."

I smiled softly. That was so thoughtful of him. It was weird that he already knew me so well when we only just met yesterday. I then went to the kitchen to serve my dinner.

****

Somewhere out Vanity Estate;

In a huge clearing surrounded by scanty trees, a fire burnt violently. The crackling sound of the fire was all that could be heard. Three hooded people surrounded this fire, a man who stayed afar seemed to be the one in charge.

A man was on the ground, unmovingly. His clothes were torn and his body was dirty. His eyes were bloodshot, but his eyes never moved.

"Saphilus branome." One of the hooded people uttered. It was a woman. Her voice was soft but there was a hint of something malicious hiding behind her. 

The man's body started to shake violently. The woman made a cut onto her hand and her blood dripped into the fire. She then made a command.

Another man was brought into the small circle. He was forced onto his knees. The woman used the same blade she used to cut herself to cut the man. Collecting it into her hands, she dropped a few drops onto the lips of the unmoving man. He immediately started to shake once again. His eyes turned black, and strange markings like ink curved around his body. It stopped, but then, the man started to turn black like coal. The woman let out an exasperated sigh.

"It didn't work." A highlight of her red hair could be seen.

"You're just useless." The man stated. He walked over to where they were and stared at the man who had turned charred.

"This is the hundredth trial! When will you get this right?"

"It's a new procedure. You can't just perfect it that easily!"

"Then what is the essence of starting it? I'm running out of patience. We haven't even finished stage one! Not to talk of finding the chosen witch."

"It will take time. We will improve it slowly."

"How many more bodies will we need until It doesn't cause that." He pointed to the charred body. 

"I don't know…"

"Exactly! The council already knows something is wrong. They will know that we're brewing something and if they find out what it is, it will all end even before it begins."

"You think I don't know that Bernard?! All I need is more time. To perfect the procedure and then, we'll go find the chosen witch damn it!"

"Don't you dare use that tone with me." The man named Bernard said with an ominous tone. The woman immediately backed down.

"Lucifer won't be happy." The woman sighed.

"He'll just have to understand. She said softly." She waved and the two people who stood beside her carried the charred body away. Then they carried the second man who seemed like he was turning lifeless away.

"He doesn't listen to words all we need are results!" He then continued,

"I need results and I need them fast." He walked away and the woman turned to stare at the raging fire.