The Coven's Heir

Chapter 20

 "Hello Fallon. Mrs. Oxley." Mr. Kane nodded in our direction as he took a seat on the sofa across form my Grandmother and myself. "I wish we were meeting under different circumstances, but unfortunately we are here to talk about the tragic event that happened at the Hale's last night." He stated.

I looked at Eli, but his eyes were directed towards the floor refusing to face mine. He looked exhausted. They both did.

I bit my lip. Mr. Kane caught the small movement and held my stare. I had seen this side of Mr. Kane before but I had never been so harshly placed at the end of his arrow. He was wound so tightly these days - the pressure of trying to look after a town that was being terrorized by a serial killer - that I got the feeling he would snap that string any day and at anyone now. I knew Tasha's death cut him very deeply it cut them all, and it changed them. I had even noticed; not even including our recent arguments, that Eli had also slowly started to turn into that harsh cold hunter that he was born to be. Witch hunters were bloodhounds; my grandmother would say, and once they had caught their scent they would not stop until they had found their witch.

I had no idea how nervous I was until metallic tasting fluid started leaking from my lip. I released it slowly trying to not initiate any sudden movements.

"We won't take up too much of you time. We just want to ask you both a couple routine questions. Where were you last night around the times of the boy's death?" Mr. Kane asked.

"Well, I would have been home by then I suppose. I decided to leave early. Not quite the lively spirit I once was." My Grandmother stated. I admired her always trying to shed a sliver of light onto the situation even if it was just a small phrase.

Mr. Kane nodded and then everyone's eyes locked on me. I looked and saw Eli had since raised his head and he too was staring at me. I couldn't stop my mouth flooding with saliva. Think Fallon...Alright knowing Ashton, he liked to keep things to himself. He is a very private person, so he most likely didn't even mention my name. So, I should keep my story far away from him, which is for the better.

I forced myself to swallow before opening my mouth. Everyone's eyes seemed to pierce farther and farther into my soul. I had to speak now, as the longer I sat here in silence the guiltier I looked. I didn't even know how much time had passed already.

"I was trying to find my Grandmother to tell her I wanted to head home as I wasn't feeling so great, when I heard someone scream. I hadn't realized she had already left." I lied surprisingly smoothly.

I saw my grandmother look at me out of the corner of my eye. She knew that was a lie. She told me she was leaving well before the boy's death. I'll have to explain myself later. The last thing I wanted to do was lie to my Grandmother more, but I'm in a deep enough hole already with hiding my magic from her. What's one more lie?

"Very well. Did either of you see anything or anyone that might have looked suspicious?" Mr. Kane asked.

I shook my head, and glanced back at Eli and he was still staring at me. He also knew what I said wasn't the truth. I didn't know how, but he just knew me to well. Shoot.

"No, neither I or Fallon saw anything that could be described as suspicious." My Grandmother said. Gratefully I didn't have to say another word. My heart squeezed for not being a hundred percent truthful with her.

Mr. Kane looked at me and then nodded in approval. "Alright, thank you for your time, ladies. Please let myself or any of the other officers know if anything else comes to your mind about last night. I fear some people's memories might be a bit fuzzy after all the alcohol consumption last night. We are just praying someone will remember something-" I cut him off. Something popped into my head like a balloon, that jarred me from any other thought and before I even knew what I was thinking words started blurting out of my cursed mouth, "What happened outside of the Hale's house last night after the boy was found?" I started.

Mr. Kane was about halfway from standing up when he froze. "Oh that...that was just some difficulty carrying the boy's body outside the house." He brushed off my question as he stood up to his full height, and began to make his way across the room. There's no way that's true. I hope I lied better than that. Again, I looked at Eli his eyes were on the ground again. I already guessed it, but his eyeline just confirmed it. That was a lie.

I looked over at my Grandmother. She gave me a weird kind of look but before I could reach out and feel what she was feeling she walked off towards Mr. Kane and the officers and led them out of the room slowly towards the door talking about... Biscuits? I shook my head amused. The officers in baggy blue uniforms looked so stiff and uncomfortable by my Grandmothers warm nature.

I looked back it was just Eli and I in the room. He was halfway through the door but he had paused to look back at me. I didn't get a good look at him before, but he had very noticeable  dark rings hugging the bottoms of his eyes. It looked like he hadn't slept at all. A part of me thought that maybe that made me a monster for having had a decent sleep after someone had just been murdered. What does that say about me?

I could tell he had a question tossing in his mind. I had a feeling it had to do with where my actual where abouts were or something to do with Ashton. I wanted to close my eyes from anticipation but when he opened his mouth, he just shook his head and began to walk away. I let out a breath.

"Wait Eli, how are you? You look like you haven't slept in a year." I wanted to repeat the question I asked his father only a minute ago but I thought it'd be rude to ask outright. I was his friend, and I needed to be there for him.

He met my eyes, "I've been better Fallon." He chuckled probably mostly out of exhaustion. I wrapped my arms around him, and squeezed him tight. "I'm here for Eli. I really hope you know that. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with. Do you need help interrogating or looking for anything specifically?" I asked really trying to convince myself my offer was genuine, but I knew deep down that I also wanted to know if they had found anything. I felt his arms wrap around my torso and sighed. "Thank you Fallon but we don't need your help if anything these visits are more of a distraction than anything-" He paused. "Distraction? How?" I asked.

"Nothing just a distraction for me to get my mind off of things." He stated poorly.

"What? All your doing is talking about last night's tragedy to other people how is this a distraction for you?" I asked. He knew he had slipped up.

He looked back at his father who was still talking to my Grandmother. "Fallon any other time I would have told you but these are not my secrets to tell you. This is my father's choice if he wanted you to know he would have told you." He said. I looked at him and gave him that look I did when we were kids, whenever I wanted him to tell me something. He just shook his head and scoffed. "No, Fallon that does not work anymore. We are not five and this is not about who I had a crush on..." His glimmer of humor fizzled out "This is about people's lives." He said.

"Eli please I just want to know what's going on. To make sure you're okay, if things are going to be okay. Have you found anything else? What was out front the Hales door last night?" I rambled.

Eli sighed and glanced back at his father one last time. He seemed to be still distracted. Perfect. "Fine. We may have found a witness." He said. I wanted to say something but I was scared if I stopped him, he wouldn't continue so I tried to save my comments for the end. "When we evacuated the boy's body last night, we found another one. The boys father. He should have been dead. He had been stabbed multiple times his tongue was cut out. We wouldn't have even found him if we hadn't heard his muffled cries from inside the bushes." He paused and took another breath, "We took him to the town's hospital and he's in a secluded ward, so he's away from prying eyes. We are hoping he remembers something about last night or the last couple weeks. He's been resting but we'll go up to the hospital later and see if we can communicate with him, and then maybe he can confirm our suspicions." He said dreadfully. All of my thoughts were trying to catch up with me most were of horror and sadness, but the most recent popped up.

"Suspicions?" I asked.

"We believe that witches have returned Lullin, Fallon." He said.

A/N: Happy Easter Everyone! I hope you enjoyed  reading this chapter :)  How are you feeling about Eli & Fallon's relationship?

Next post will be on Sunday! I will be back to posting on Friday's on April 29th just due to my work schedule. Thank you for understanding :)