Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (21 page)

“Alright, I can
pick you up, or maybe I’ll just call Agent Bronson and have him bring you to the jail to meet me there.
But only if you feel up to it.
”

“Deal, that sounds like a plan.
Hey, did you ever find out if Gerald Smith and Sydney
Sergeant
are connected in any way
?
”
I
stumbled with my words
, grabbing my glass of water
from the end table
, gulping down a swig
to clear my flaming throat.

It was time for my anti-inflammatory.

“No evidence of that in the least.
I think it was a coincidence he walked on the side of her house.
It’s connected to the alley.
The alley behind your house, Fiona.
We believe he was on foot, stalking your house
,
so Agent Bronson
and the others are
watching closely.”

“Great.
That’s just great,” I said, not able to hide my sarcasm.

“
Okay
,
we’ll go
in about two hours.
I have
some other stuff in the lab to take care of first.
Hold tight and get plenty of fluids and vitamin C.”

“Already on that, Detective.
See ya in two.”

Unease oozed through me
that Gerald Smith
had been
in my neighborhood.
This was one man
I
certainly
did not want to encounter
—
especially since he was a hardened criminal who
was angry with my father.

Over the next two hours, I
rested on the couch watching television
. I started to feel
slightly
better
, albeit the medication was straining to do its job for me
.
My phone alarm signaled for me to get ready and within minutes, my doorbell rang.

“Ready to go to the county jail, Fiona
?
”
Agent Bronson said, smiling as he gestured
towards the
open passenger’s side door
.
“Do you feel good enough to go?”

“Yes,
I do
,
and I’m ready
.
T
hank you for taking me.
I feel as though I have
a
chauffeur
.”

“I guess you can consider me that.
Or more like your personal bodyguard,”
he
chuckled as
he
hopped
into the driver’s seat
.

Inhaling deeply, I couldn’t enjoy the spicy pine scent of his pristine car. Annoyed, my sickness
had
altered my senses.
At least I could still hear the soft, relaxing melodies of the classical music from the radio.

“How long will Damien, Victoria and Sydney be in
the
county
jail?
Will they be moved to Huntville Prison if they don’t post bond?”

“
No, not until they are convicted, Fiona. They’ll stay where they are until they can post bond, or they are found innocent.
”

“Wow, I can’t imagine how scary that would be to be my age
as
a prisoner.”

“Makes you want to do the right thing, huh?
”
he
smiled, adjusting his rear view mirror.

“I want to do the right thing
,
anyway
,
but
jail and
prison
are
definitely
deterrent
s
for me
.
”

Within minutes, h
e
veered the car into a parking space
next to
the
beige Impala,
immediately in front of the entrance where
the detective, wearing a fawn-
colored suit, was waiting for me, looking at his phone.

“Thanks!
I’ll see ya in a bit,” I said as I climbed out of the car, nearly forgetting I was ill before a burning wave of pain
in the back of my throat reminded me.

The county jail was only a block away from the police station.
It was more modern in appearance than the station as it had been rebuilt within the last ten years.
I walked down the pathway
towards the detective, pulling out a
throat lozenge from my pocket
.
He surveyed me, making sure I was well enough for the excursion.
He was a medical examiner and forensic scientist, so I was in more than
capable
hands with a little case of strep throat.

“Hello,
Detective.
I’m ready
.
Don’t think I’ve said a word to Damien
since elementary school
.”

“Don’t run in the same crowds?”

“No, not for a long time.”

“By the way, Sydney
Sergeant
might be released sooner than the others.
Her story is checking out as far as not being a
full-fledged
member
of their group
.
She told us she hadn’t been
awakened
yet
,
and the other two in jail have
corroborated
her story.
Also, she doesn’t have the
N
A
burn
mark
on her wrist
and was only recently
spotted hanging
around with this group.”

“Not into this vampire lingo.
What does
awakened
mean?
”
I said sheepi
shly as
he
opened
the
heavy glass
door for me.

“It means once a member drinks the blood of another person, they become
awakened
into their vampire life.
She hadn’t done this yet.
You get the initials of the
House that awakened you burned into your wrist as part of the ceremony
.”

I winced at the thought of
it as I stepped
towards the
entryway
, a huge gust of wind
coating
me as I
crossed
the threshold
.

“But her prints were on the sword
,
and she was at the scene of the crime
.
How could she be released?”

“Story checks out, Fiona.
Waiting for your dad to sign the papers
for her release
.”

“But if she lives on my street, her parents have to have enough cash to pay a bail bondsman, right
?
My street doesn’t have mansions like Willow or Camber, but
I mean
…I
can understand Victoria and Damien’s situations
,
but Sydney’s parents leaving her in
jail doesn’t make sense to me.”

He
opened another
heavy glass
door, nodding for me to proceed.
My eyes were drawn to the marble floor.
It had
sparkly
spec
k
s
, they were beautiful.
T
he
sun domes
in the ceiling allowed the sunlight to blast inside, illuminating the floor as if it were a pure, white glitter.
It was
incredible
.

“Her parents are teaching her a lesson, Fiona.
They feel if she got herself into trouble, they are not going to bail her out.
They obviously had warned her about this vampire cult
,
and she disobeyed them.”

We e
ntered the foyer with a
nother
gust of wind blowing my hair like a supermodel.
The building obviously had differences in pressure from the outside.
It smelled
remarkably
clean, like a hospital and in
great
contrast to the police station
. I
t was
ultra-modern
with contemporary white leather and chrome chairs in the waiting area
. There was
an
ultra-thin
television
mounted high
on the wall.

“I see.
That makes sense.
My dad would do the same
,
but my mom would be the first one at the jail to get me out.
She popped Haley out
within an hour
after breaking into my lab.”

He
smiled, shaking his head.

“Your mom is a tender soul, Fiona.
She puts a lot of stock in family.”

I agreed with
his
assessment.

We checked in with the receptionist at the front and a
bulky
guard soon escort
ed
us to the interview room where Damien Lee
would be waiting for us.
Turning the corner from the main waiting area, the hallway
turned basic
.
The tile changed to a muted white, no glitter flakes
, the walls a matte finish, white
.
I was
glad
to see the change
;
a jail shouldn’t be so glamorous.

The guard opened the door
,
and we shuttled inside
as he
took a position in the corner of the room behind Damien, nodding at Detective Chase.
Damien was sitting at the table, his head resting in his hands.
As we took our seats across from him
, he slowly
raised
his head and glared at us with black
-
as
-
midnight
eyes
—
his pupils
in
distinguishable
from the irises
.
His appearance was
nefarious
,
but he was
a
n intentional
outcast of society.
He sat up straight
,
put his clenched fists on the table, the tattoo
LIFE SUXX
displayed across his knuckles.
He
wore a bright orange
jumpsuit
—
different
from
the black
leather
adorned
garments he typically chose to dress in
.
He had a
nother tattoo of a dragon
on his forearm
spitting out what appeared to be blood on his palm
.

“Hello
,
Damien,” Detective Chase said as he opened his notepad and grabbed a pen from his
coat
pocket.

“Hello
.
”

Damien
glared into
Detective Chase’s eyes for an awkward moment.
I felt intimidated; he
seemed like he could easily be a murderer.
I envisioned him holding the bloody sword
,
and his presence
seemed to
fit the image.
I could imagine how a jury, upon seeing this kid, would
instantly
want to convict him without even hearing the evidence.

“Damien, we are here today to talk to you about the Jody James murder case you are being held for at this time
,
”
he stated
formally, opening his leather bound notebook.

“Obviously,” Damien sneered, turning to glare at me
.
I looked down,
towards the
table, hoping he
would switch his gaze
by the time
I raised my head.
“Nice, you’re bringing nerds from school to make fun of me, Detective.
I know who you are, by the way.”

My heart
kicked into fifth gear
as I fought to remain calm
.
I didn’t want Damien to detect fear
as
he would feed off it and taunt me more.
My eyes remained focused on the table, my fever radiating from my blushed face.
I looked at my phone to
check
the
time;
I was due for my next dose of medicine.
It would have to wait.
I casually slipped a cough drop in my mouth and
ushered it
to the side of my cheek.