Blood, Fire and Vampire Slayers: Jasper Hale love story Book #2

21: Ashes

There was no time for mourning. The cover story needed to be settled immediately so that the human world had an explanation for Klaus and Alice's sudden deaths. Astrid sat with police and the authorities that worked to conceal the magical world for hours. They wanted to call it an accident, but she wouldn't have it. She wouldn't settle for anything less than a double murder. If they did not agree to craft that story, she would tell it anyway, and she didn't care if anyone thought she had gone mad. While emergency services dealt with the wounded and the dead, while rain and water-bending wizards put out the fire, she argued with authorities and fielded phone calls from everyone who heard the news. Sofia came looking for the group and did her part to help, which was watching Ezzy and sheltering her from as much of the events as possible. She took the little girl to a neighbouring cabin where a pair of witches were making potions to treat burns. The three women kept her spirits up and recruited her in the measuring of herbs and healing ingredients.

It was Edward who found Alice. He joined the search party looking for those who were lost and wounded in the forest. She was a blackened skeleton, but he just knew that it was her. Edward blew the orange whistle that he was given to alert police before he walked away to collapse where no one would see him. In minutes, Jasper heard the news and ran to the scene. It was exactly where they had parted ways and he came away shaking and in shock. Astrid left the cabin to say goodbye to Alice before they zipped up the body bag, and then she ran away to vomit. The smell of burned flesh was overwhelming and it brought back memories of her family in the same condition. Bella found Edward, and the group rallied together inside the cabin.

They held onto each other and broke down, except for Jasper. He could scarcely absorb everything that was going on. He didn't cry, though he knew that he should. Police came knocking again and Astrid wiped her tears away to get back to business. Edward left to continue aiding in the search effort and Bella went to be with her daughter and help the witches. Jasper went about packing everyone's things, bringing paperwork for Astrid to sign, and acting as her witness where Klaus would normally put his signature. He collected their prizes, he fetched the horses, he used a translator to send emails in German and hoped they were grammatically correct. The planning and questioning continued on the train back to Berlin with Astrid sitting a few booths away, surrounded by police and international officials.

"Can't they leave her alone for five minutes?" Bella muttered, glancing down the train car where Astrid was barely keeping herself awake as she dictated yet another statement to someone in uniform.

Eventually, using pieces of the real events, the authorities wove a cover story and the paper arrived the next morning. The headline translated to, "Slayings in the Hinterland". The involvement of American citizens would ensure that the story broke in the USA too. The paper told a tale of how the group of friends was in the German countryside for a small medieval sports festival. Klaus had won two events and they were out on a nearby hiking trail when they encountered one of the rivals he had beaten. The rival was apparently out bowhunting, little did the friends know that he had stalked them and was now waiting for an opportunity. He fired an arrow as they walked away up the trail. Klaus was shot and the situation dissolved into chaos.

The friends became separated as they ran to hide or escape. Alice tried to disarm the shooter when he found her. She got the bow away from him before he pulled out a large knife. Alice was stabbed and pushed off a steep drop-off before anyone could help her. While bleeding profusely, Klaus tried to take the madman down. Astrid intervened as well and together they managed to wrestle the knife from him. After he showed no signs of stopping his attack, Klaus stabbed him twice and the man finally ran away. Astrid came away with bruises and a few cuts, but Klaus died of his wounds before help could arrive. A search party found Alice's body over the side of the trail. The fall had killed her. Their attacker was discovered later, having bled out from the stabbing.