Flickering Creatures | ONC 2024 Longlist | ✔︎

(6) Like Potion's Vapor

"She was right here," said Daphne, stopping behind Bryony's house in roughly the place Bella had caught her the previous morning. "Then she checked over her shoulder and started moving the buckets—but slowly, like she didn't want to make noise. She did that both times, and then moved them back after."

"Show us," said Titus. "See if you can recreate what she did."

Daphne hesitated with a glance at Bella, as though seeking confirmation. Bella inclined her head stiffly towards the buckets. Daphne edged forward and moved two off to one side, where faint circles in the grass indicated they'd sat recently. For all her reluctance, Bella had to admit there was another reason Titus had been right to bring the kid along for this investigation. Neither he nor Bella would have had the strength to move those obstacles themselves.

"And then she crouched down like she was looking..."

Daphne broke off. Bella fluttered after Titus as he joined the kid beside the wall. Daphne traced a brick with her fingertips. It still had all its mortar, but that sealant didn't look sealed, and was chipped on one side. Daphne hooked a fingertip into this gap and tugged the brick. It wiggled. She found a second divot on its other side and worked the brick back and forth, easing it slowly out of the wall to reveal a secret space beyond. It was small—no bigger than two stacked bricks—and seemed built into the wall itself. It was empty.

"She might have put something here the first time she came, then fetched it again," said Daphne.

"That would be my suspicion," said Titus. Daphne pulled her hands back as he slipped past them to sniff around the inside of the hidden cavity. He wrinkled his nose.

"Was there something there?" asked Bella.

"A potion, most likely." Titus sniffed again, whiskers pulled back in visible distaste. "Not a particularly pleasant one."

"In smell, or in properties?"

"Impossible to say. Henbane has equal use in medicinal and poisonous concoctions. I don't recognize this particular potion."

Henbane was used in more than those two things, but Titus might be abbreviating the plant's utility to prolong Daphne's innocence. Pleasure-seekers of many kinds were drawn to henbane potions, a class of Herbalism Bella was glad Bryony had never dabbled in. It would only increase the number and decrease the quality of her already unwanted midnight visitors if that were part of her reputation.

As for storing such potions out here, that much made sense. The plant stank on its own, let alone in any preparations. Bryony sometimes opted to even handle it outside, let alone leave its potions to mature overnight. That would explain why Bella hadn't detected the foul plant indoors over the last few days.

"Do you have any trackers?" Titus asked Daphne.

"I might." Daphne frowned hard for a moment, tugging on her long, dark braid. "Wait here."

She was off a heartbeat later. When she returned, Titus nodded around the house. "You'll need an individualizer, will you not?"

"Yeah. A strand of hair would be best, if you know where to find one."

"I'll see," said Bella before Titus could offer to bring the kid inside, too. She winged around to her crow-door and spent less than a minute poking over Bryony's pillow before she came up with a long, brown strand. She brought this back to Daphne, who uncorked a portly potion bottle and poked the hair inside. The clear potion there began to swirl a misty purple almost immediately. Daphne gave it a good shake and let it mature for a minute longer before looking to Titus again. He nodded to the ground around the mulch buckets.