Spellcaster series #5: The Sage

Wayward

TRISTAN

I teleported Heidi and myself to the front porch of Captain Bells's house, just across the street from ours. Heidi rang the doorbell. The air felt dark and heavy, like something was hovering above us. Heidi noticed them first.

"They're hiding," she said, casually glancing at a tree that stood on the pathway near the road. "But they're not very shy either."

I turned to see three djinns peeking from behind the old tree. I felt Heidi's energy swirl inside her like she was channeling it.

"No need for that, my love," I said and turned back to the door. "We can't keep fighting them off every time, especially if we are risking them entering the Captain's house."

Heidi's shoulders slumped. "Fine. But how do we know they're not already in there?"

I turned to see if there was anyone around and asked her for the Vampire dagger. She handed it to me as I carved a Sage's protection rune on the front door, as subtle as I could, and chanted a spell onto it.

"Are you asking to be arrested?" She asked, bewildered.

"It's for her protection. She'll understand."

"She's a police Captain, she understands vandalism." Then she rapped on the door impatiently, "And what is taking her so long?"

I pulled out my cellphone and gave Bells a call. Heidi glanced at the three djinns again before turning to me. "Should we take them down while we wait?"

It was ringing on the other line. "Let's spare our energy for the bigger things."

The door opened and Bells's brown eyes bore on us. She beckoned us in and shut the door.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice. There is something you need to see."

She led us to the basement that had a heavy, bulletproof door—which explained why she took so long. She heaved it open and we walked down the stairs before she closed and locked it with four different latches and a padlock. Heidi and I exchanged a curious glance.

"This is for our safety," the Captain muttered and jogged down the stairs.

We climbed down to the foot of the stairs and walked around a tall wooden furniture to see five sleeping bags on the floor. The captain's gun was placed on a table with sheets of paper lying about, in safety mode.

"Have you been camping down here?" Heidi asked, lifting a child's toy that was neatly placed on one of the smaller sleeping bags.

Bells turned to us and picked up a piece of cut-out newspaper from her table. "My family is out of town to stay with my in-laws for the time being. We were attacked last night by a couple of djinns. I must've led them here without realising."

"Attacked? Is your family all right?" I asked, taking a step forward to her.

"We are, just shaken up. I called my two detectives and they managed to chase those things away."

"How did you lead them here? Djinns don't attack you unless you have something they want or are tasked to do so," Heidi added, folding her arms.

Captain Bells handed her the paper in her hands. "I was digging up on Sam Locke's past and I found some pretty messed-up things. This might answer your question."

Heidi took the newspaper cut-out and read it. I read the heading in a bold, black text. Neither of us could make sense of it.

"Devastating mansion fire kills five-year-old boy, one missing?" Heidi read out loud.