Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (23 page)

The detective
scrawled feverishly on his notepad before looking up at Dimitri.

“No, I was unaware she was the one who broke in and stole the blood.
I suppose it makes sense now that she is in a vampire cult
,
and you guys would want blood for whatever it is that you do
.
I will notify the
guys on
that case
, thank you for the information.”

“Of course
.
Always doing my best to help with investigations.
I like to perform my civic duty on occasion, Detective.
How are you feeling
, by the way
?”

He hesitated, taking time to survey
Dimitri’s actions.

“Why would you ask, Dimitri?”

“Just curious.
I thought you might have
a touch of what is going around,
”
he
locked eyes with
me
, his eyes widening
.
He
cocked his head to the side
once again
, studying my face
as he continued, “
You, young lady,
look
a ta
d under the weather yourself.”

“Well
, enough
for today.
Thank you, you’ve been a great help.
I’m
sure you’ll
be released
soon
as you’ve about served your time for the parking tickets
.
”

Detective Chase
folded his
notepad and tapp
ed
me on the shoulder, gesturing me to head to the door.

We took a brisk walk
out of the ja
il
,
and after a hasty
debriefing,
I jumped into the car with Agent Bronson
. With health deteriorating, I stressed about my overdue medicine and longed for a good
night’s sleep
.

I
was
worried about having nightmares from the sickness coupled with the appearance and behavior of Damien Lee and Dimitri LeMorte.
After saying hello to my parents,
I climbed into bed, choosing a
positive
television program to guide my mind into a hap
py place before going to sleep.

Before I could drift off, I heard my phone buzzing
.
It was a text message
,
and I
couldn’t
resist
. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. Wolfe.

Fiona, I’ve been sick with strep throat
.
I might be back at school tomorrow.
I am sorry that I missed the meeting at your house.
I’ll just catch up with Lauren tomorrow
during
first period
.

Relief flew through me
that he hadn’t
skipped
school with Camber Johnson.
My mind catapulted into a happy place
as I
met the Sandman
.

M
y alarm
sounded,
but it seemed as only an hour had passed
since I went to sleep
. At first, I believed my sickness was in full force, but after
moving around
and getting a drink of water, I realized
the
fever was barely present,
if at all, and
my throat
hardly
ached.
My parents’ policy was after
twenty-four hours on antibiotics and with no fever—you
are allowed to go
to school.

After getting ready, I
ambled into the
living room
to
discover
my mother engrossed
in
a
television
news report
.
I
dropped
onto the
couch
next to her
,
laying my eyes on
a familiar face
splashed across the
screen
.

“
T
his is the case I’m working on,” I whispered
.

U
nkempt grayish-yellow hair, cracked
,
dingy
teeth
with
eyes
covered by an
opaque haze
—probably
cataracts.
No
makeup or
any
attempt
s
had been made t
o look presentable
for television.
Emily Vance
,
the transient, was being
interviewed by
a
news reporter
only moments before a
police officer escort
ed
her into the back of a police car
.

“That lady
’s
a loon!
”
m
y mother
scoffed
as she felt my fo
rehead to
check for a
fever.

“
Well, something must have happened because she’s
headed
to the station for questioning.
I’ll get with Detective Chase later for the details
.
W
hat did she say to the reporter?”

“
S
he was
mumbling something crazy
about
a
prophecy of
a
W
itching
H
our murder
.
She claim
ed
she knew a murder would happen one day
at
the
exact time
that it did—
I guess
it
means th
e time the victim was murdered was during this
Witching Hour
,”
my mother said with a perplexed tone
, leaning over to the coffee table to grab her coffee mug
.

“Yes, the time of death
was around
two in the morning
when the
Witching Hour
begins.
We can thank the Paranormal Science Department at
the
U
niversity
for calling it that
and
making it a big deal.
I heard they do a bunch of crazy ghost hunting research in there.
”

My mother angled her eyebrows as she tapped on my knee
, pausing to take a drink of her coffee
.

“
Fiona, don’t start.
It’s a privately funded department
. We all know
it doesn’t have anything to do with real academics
, but
if somebody
wants to throw money around
, what do you expect the
college
to say?
Go away and let someone else
take your money?
”

I laughed.
She
saw things black
-
and
-
white and
always called
things how they were.

“You’re right.
It’s just annoying.
What else did she say?”

“
T
he reporter asked her if she knew the victim
. She seemed to contradict herself, saying no, and when
the reporter asked if she went to dinner with
the victim
the night of the murder,
she
admitted she
knew her.
Th
at lady is all over the place
—
changing
her story in one interview!”

I shook my head vehemently.

“She
’s
the one who claims she discovered the victim’s body in the cave.”

“Well, whatever the
Room of Orbs
is in that cave, they found more of the
victim’s
blood
in
t
here.
Emily Vance claimed th
e
room
w
as her residence,”
she said, checking
the lymph nodes in my neck
for swelling
.

“I’m fine, Mom.
Medicine’s doing the job
—
no fever today
, I’m
going to school.
Have you heard any
thing about Gerald Smith?
I didn’t get a cha
nce to talk to Dad last night.”

She dropped her
head
down
in disappointment
with her hands folded in her lap
.

“Nope, not a thing since he was spotted in the neighborhood.
Agent Bronson is still watching
over
you
.
I see you’ve given up
and
are riding with him i
nstead of having him follow you in your car.
I think that’s wise, Fiona.
I knew your
senses would win over
,
and you’d
give in,” she said lovingly, swiping my hair behind my ear.

“How is Janice
?
Can I go see her in the hospital yet?”

“No, you cannot
.
The hospital is detaining her for
quarantine
.
But,
if all goes well, she can
still
come home on Sunday.
They are testing her twice a day
,
and as of yesterday, she didn’t have any bacteria left in her system.
They want to be sure she is not contagious before she
’s released
.
She sounds very
cheery;
I’ve been in constant contact
with her
.
Give her a call
when you
get out of school.”

“Absolutely,” I said
, grabbing my
backpack from the
countertop in the kitchen.
“Better yet, I’ll call her on the way to school!”

I
scooted
through the foyer and
out
the front door
to meet Agent Bronson in the driveway
, waving him
off from getting out of the car to open the door for me.
I already
felt
guilty
enough
he
had
to watch over me every
day, much less have to act as my servant.

“Good morning, Agent
B
!
How are you today?
”
I said cheerfully.

He
had on
the typ
ical black suit
with perfect hair and glistening teeth.
He offered me a stick of gum and I refused, grabbing the last cough drop from my pocket and thanking him for the offer.
Even though my throat was better, the cough drops gave me an added insurance policy my throat would continue to feel good.

“
Y
ou seem
as though
you
feel
much better, Fiona.”

I inhaled the clean pine scent of his car
,
and it soothe
d
my throat even more as I swallowed the aroma.
My senses had returned.

“I’m feeling much better than yesterday.
Pardon me w
hile I make a quick call to my
n
anny, okay?”

“Certainly,” he said
with a smile
, pulling
the car
onto Nikale Street.

I dialed the hospital
and
was
quickly connected to the operator.
I
asked
her
to locate Jan
ice Parker’s room
,
and
within moments, she put me on hold,
saying
I would be connected shortly.
After
a few
quirky
-
sounding
rings, I heard
Janice’s
jo
vial voice and my heart melted.

“Janice
!
It’s Fiona!”

“Hello dear
!
How are you?
I tried to call you yesterday
,
but your mom said you had taken ill and were sleeping
.
I hope you are better
,
and I am sorry that I was not there to take care of you
.
I thought of you all night
.
I have been so worried, dear!
”

Janice
always thought
of
everybody but herself
.
I missed her
so much.

“My mom took
wonderful
care of me, so no worries
.
I miss your smiling face at home
,
and I
’m
so glad to hear
you’re
doing better
.
I’ve been trying to visit
you,
but Mom says
you’re
under quarantine so
—
boo
!
”
I said playfully.

“That’s true
,
but I get released on Sunday as long as I continue to show improvement
and
test negative.
I heard about Luminal, Fiona.
I
regret
I was not there for you.
My heart aches
and
continues to ache for the loss of our beloved family member.
He will always be missed.”

“
It
was very difficult, to be honest.
I’m still torn up about
it
, but I’m trying to stay positive.
Well, I’m almost to school.
I just wanted to check in
,
say I love you
.
I
can’t wait for you to come home!”

“I love you too, dear.
I’ll be home on Sunday and
will
make you a batch of your favorite cookies!”

Agent Bronson
pulled up to the front of the school and waved goodbye as I got off the phone
, climbing
out of the car.
I walked up the steps
and
Wolfe and Camber Johnson
were
sitting on a concrete bench in front of the school entr
yway.
What I did next, I certainly didn’t think about before I acted.

“Can I speak to you for a minute?
”
I said coldly
,
pointing t
oward
s
the steps.

With widened eyes, he
followed me as I stomped out of
Camber’s
hea
ring range
.
I glanced over my shoulder to see her
staring
at us
, trying
to
eavesdrop, so I kept my v
oice a hair above a whisper.