Detective Witch (Devil's Witch Book 2)
Chapter 28-The Letter

It was wrong of me to let Nick spend the night at my house yesterday after the fact he shifted back. He should have gone home, but I was too tired and too freaked out to care. It bothers me I didn’t put much thought into the situation at the time because I can’t fight off the bad feeling I’ve been having about him lately.

I don’t know if he’s really trying to help replace the missing at this point and if he isn’t, I can’t continue to be here. I should have stayed at Wally’s. It’s my fault Stella and Colin are missing.

I can’t work here anymore.

I wish Will and I hadn’t gotten in a fight over it all. Nick shouldn’t have been the one to be there with me during my mental breakdown, but I suppose I should just be glad he didn’t get angry at me for our magic being conjoined. When the coven replaces out it will make the police look guilty. It’s just another of the many reasons why I need to distance myself so no one else gets hurt because of me.

A soft melody drifts through the air and I look away from the clear sliding glass doors of the police department. The wind picks up and I clutch my typed up letter of leave in my hand tighter to keep it from flying away down the street.

The sound of the church music continues and needing an excuse to delay my letter delivery, I walk a little bit away from the station and replace the music to be coming from the church Stella was healed in. Kind of strange they would be playing music this late at night, maybe it’s a church event or something.

The organ’s tune sounds much louder now that I’m this close and the church is lit up so nicely inside. Since I’m not really in any hurry to drop off my letter, I walk up the church steps to take a quick peek inside. I could use some time to think about quitting and maybe prepare myself for what to say in case I run into Nick too. Although, I hopefully won’t and can just drop it off in his mailbox on the wall right outside his office door.

When I walk inside the church, I replace the organ player way up on the balcony high above me. I guess the best time to practice is when no one’s around to hear, but still, it’s kind of eerie to witness. A little fitting for this hour of the night in a big old looking building like this I suppose to fit the mood of the tune. Someone is sitting at one of the pews closest to the church stage with their head bowed probably in prayer. Suddenly, their head shoots up and they turn around looking back at me.

“Heinrich?” I laugh uneasily.

I never really took him for the churchgoer type, but maybe he isn’t here to pray. Some people I’m sure just come to clear their mind. It’s pretty late though, but maybe it’s the only free time he gets. I know he doesn’t get much being a higher ranked officer.

He must be on break.

“Oh!” He exclaims looking excited. He uses his vampire speed to transport himself over to me and in the blink of an eye, we’re standing face to face.

“Need drink? Come, ’tis way. I want show you something.” He beckons me while striding off down a hallway to the right of me before I can answer. I rush after him to keep up. I’m surprised he hasn’t bothered to ask why I’m here. Maybe he thinks I came from work. I have been working overtime a lot.

Heinrich points at a water fountain for me to get a drink.

“Oh, I’m okay...” I say gently while watching him already walking off again further down the hall.

He walks into a room on the left and I follow reluctantly seeing the room was once marked off with yellow police tape that appears to be ripped and now hangs off the sides of the doorway onto the floor. The moment I step into the room, I get a bad feeling. The red walls are lined at the top with latin phrases that I don’t recognize. I’m not even sure how I would interpret them anyway because the lettering is so jagged and the black ink too dark in this lighting to read.

There’s quite a few clear glass cases with old relics in them from the war decades ago. Hanging on the wall directly across me is a giant crimson black flag with an upside down five-pointed star in the center that matches the paint of the walls.

The star is known by the coven as the devil’s sign. We were taught all about it growing up, it’s a forbidden rune to use in craft and has been for centuries just like the six-pointed star on my stomach. It’s satanic, so why is it hanging in here as if it’s being glorified? I thought Mr. Silvet was a priest, the flag doesn’t fit in here.

“Chief father’s old office. Need see this too.” Heinrich grunts while pointing at an opened book in a glass case near him. Already feeling disturbed enough, I walk over to him hoping it’s not what I think it is.

“Prophecy.” Heinrich says while gazing down at the illustrated pages and I frown bending over to get a better look at it.

For the first time, I replace the white witch drawing to not be one of an old hag, but of a younger looking woman appearing more like a saint rather than a devil-worshipping witch. The picture on the right side, however, may be more in league with the beliefs of the coven. It’s a ghoulish looking man clothed in a red robe. He looks more devilish than the witch because he stands in front of a giant mob of demons looking like their ruler. The man’s arm is reached out toward the witch on the other page. The witch looks afraid though and cowers back towards the blank space behind her.

I’ve never seen the legend interpreted in this way, but it’s nice to see not all believers think me to be evil. This has to be what Mr. Silvet was hiding from everyone. In here, is where he showcased his true beliefs. My stomach churns seeing the other things in here framed on the walls. They look like historical paintings of witches being burned at the stake.

“Well, it’s nice to see someone didn’t think I could be a monster. I can’t really say I agree with anything else in here though.” I mumble while looking around and Heinrich smiles looking pleased.

“What wrong with all of this?” He asks me jokingly while looking around the room too.

“The hatred.” I reply quietly while glancing at the flag again.

“Which side you think love goddess more?” Heinrich asks me with sudden seriousness.

“Do you believe in the legend, is that why you’ve been teasing me with the whole ‘goddess’ thing?” I counter with a half smile, surprised by his question.

“No.” He answers quickly.

I watch the policeman raise an eyebrow while inspecting an old war medal on the big oak desk that must have belonged to Nick’s father. A small red symbol is painted in the middle of it which just so happens to match the symbol tattooed on Heinrich’s neck.

“Well, love is a strong word, but I know the coven has a long way to go. I’m not sure about the vampires, but I guess they don’t all hate me going off of this book. I’ve heard they want to use me, but I guess you know more about their thoughts on the legend than I.” I say rapidly, just wanting to get out of this room and head back to the police department.

“Only believe what I see.” He replies while turning away from the desk and watching me with a sly gaze. It reminds me of the way he stared at me at the table during Will’s campaign dinner, like he knows something I don’t. Feeling jittery, I step back from the glass showcase and away from him.

I don’t know anything about him really, but from what I can gather he doesn’t seem nearly as disturbed by this room as me. I feel dirty just standing in here like being in here automatically makes me some kind of twisted vampire supremacist like Nick’s father clearly must have been.

“We do not always get choose sides. I no fought, but my father died for ’tis,” He tells me while touching the edge of the tattoo on his neck like it’s a wound,“...all I have left to remember him.” He finishes sounding bitter and I try to think of the right thing to say.

He must know the history behind the mark is no better than the devil’s star on the flag in here. I’m kind of relieved though because I thought he might have supported it. No wonder Nick hated his father and I’m guessing Heinrich hated his too.

“We have to learn from the past.” I say hoping he is done in here, but he kind of seems swept away in his own haunted memories. Appearing choked up, which is unsettling to see on someone like him, he passes by me and heads back into the hallway.

“You think I bad now. I should not have told you. I regret.” He says in his heavy accent and I hurry after him.

“You can’t change other people, but wearing something like that tattoo...is very controversial. Maybe it wasn’t the best to mark yourself with it.” I reason hesitantly.

“It not tattoo, my father burn it onto skin when I was child. He tell me it was mark of manhood.” He says in a soft voice that begs for my understanding and my heart becomes heavy seeing the pain in his face as if he’s reliving the memory.

What kind of parent would brand their own child’s skin?!

“I can heal it.” I tell him.

“No, must wear as reminder.” He says in panic while rapidly covering the mark with his hand.

I don’t know why he would want to be reminded of something so terrible. He doesn’t say anything else though as he leads me down the hallway towards the main church entrance area. It makes me wonder about the marks on Nick’s neck that I healed. I thought they were bruises at the time, but now I’m not so sure.

I just don’t understand why they wouldn’t have cleared out that room. There wasn’t a speck of dust on any of the glass cases either. Someone is keeping that room clean even when it was police taped off for probably a month since Nick’s father died.

It must have been a radicalized vampire.

Just like the coven has radicals, I’m sure the vampires do too. But who would be willing to keep alive such a dark history of death and bloodshed? All in the name of the devil too. With such a high coven population in our town, they would be asking for war because this is exactly what the coven fears.

Well, at least in a huge church like this no one will easily replace the room. Heinrich had fixed the tape on the doorway too on our way out. Whoever was playing the organ must have left because the church is quiet now as we walk back outside into the night.

After seeing Mr. Silvet’s church office, I feel like it will be easier for me to go through with this. Will was sort of right, it’s not worth the risk of me continuing to work at the station knowing what could possibly be true. Nick could be the one keeping that room clean and preserved like a shrine for all I know. It’s not something I want to believe, but the thought of me working for him when it could be is reason enough I think to leave and seek work elsewhere for now.

“What ’tis?” Heinrich asks me while tapping the letter in my hand.

“A letter.” I tell him simply, but I have the feeling he wants to know more. He kept eyeing it while we were looking around in Mr. Silvet’s office.

“A letter? I take to post office if need.” He offers and I think about how to respond as we walk down onto the sidewalk right outside the church.

“It’s for the police chief actually. Um, would you mind giving it to him for me?” I ask the officer nervously and he nods his head rapidly looking giddy while he takes the letter.

“Are going home? I walk with!” He implores happily and I laugh at his energy.

“Thanks, but I’ll be okay walking home alone. It’s not a far walk from here. Goodnight and...thank you.” I tell him with sincerity, but my lip trembles thinking about what I’m leaving behind as we go our separate ways.

The police never mistreated me and it was not a bad place to work. It was convenient for my curse too and taking care of the demons was fairly simple to do. I felt welcome working there and protected. However, I’m more afraid of Nick now than I’ve ever been after learning our magic to be conjoined because if it wasn’t the devil there’s the possibility it could have been him. Seeing Mr. Silvet’s church office didn’t help the doubts swirling around in my head at all either.

There’s too much to risk staying there any longer. I just feel confused and I need my friends back. I hope he understands, I did explain everything in the letter and he’ll be reading it soon so there’s no use in worrying over it now.

_______________________________________

Yansmen

The big german officer nearly makes me spill my drink when he barges by me as I sip my coffee on my way to drop off the report Val and I finished today. She seemed kind of out of it while we were working on it. For once, I felt I was doing most of the work because she looked like she was busy writing an email or something for most of the day. I don’t know what kind of email takes that long to write, but I didn’t ask her about it. I’m not going to lie to myself. She always does most of the work anyway so I didn’t mind finishing up the report for us.

Looking frantic, Heinrich pivots on his feet into the chief’s office ahead of me with a sealed envelope in his hand.

I follow him inside thinking the mail might be our paychecks. Darren is still hogtied down on the ground in the corner of the room near our card table. Noctus flips through a cream-colored file and hasn’t looked up at us yet.

“Goddess leaving!” Heinrich bellows like a cow for the whole world to hear while waving the envelope in the air.

Noctus takes his time setting down the file and stands up from his desk looking bored. I shut the door of his office so no one else has to hear or see Heinrich’s ridiculous panic attack. The boss takes the envelope from Heinrich and gives him an annoyed look before opening it. He unfolds the paper inside which I’m guessing is Valerie’s resignation letter.

“Why not bite her yet, savior? Why goddess leave, but no...goodbye?” Heinrich trails off while the chief skims over the paper.

He finishes reading the letter and sets it down on his desk without removing his hand from it.

“I don’t need to bite her.” He says simply and my jaw drops.

When did he decide that? He has to make her a hybrid for this all to work.

“I am not going to turn her yet. She chose to leave so I wouldn’t have to. It is time we be silent and let the coven make the most noise for now.” The chief responds calmly, but he looks pissed off at the two of us for still being in here.

“What happen last night? Why you not come back to station?” Heinrich pesters him further.

Noctus picks up Valerie’s letter and walks behind his desk. Then he opens up the middle drawer and puts her letter inside, locking it closed.

“I returned here the moment she fell asleep after the rest of you had left for the night. Darren needed watching. I have not left this room since.” He responds icily through his teeth while his slightly younger looking ‘stepbrother’ screams for help through his gag.

“Quiet.” Noctus tells him sharply and Heinrich snickers.

“Mr. McCaster has selected a new headmistress for the coven. She will be inducted tomorrow at the town hall. I will not be attending, but you and the others will go. If I do not return after the ceremony tomorrow, Heinrich, you will fill in for me.” Noctus states.

“What did they replace out?” I ask him with concern.

“Let us hope nothing.” He answers with disdain towards Heinrich.

“Me no want kill Stella, want for self. Colin I will put back like asked.” Heinrich informs him and I glare at the idiot.

He has this weird infatuation with the witch and almost turned her before we made Colin take her down in the portal. Johnny and I had to rip him away from her because he kept trying to give her his blood so she’d turn.

It’s enough trouble babysitting one newborn, but I refuse to babysit two. It’s his job to glamour them anyway and he won’t be able to help me watch Colin Wallace if he’s too caught up taking care of her.

“Do as you wish, but only when you put the witch back in the right mind like we agreed. Ms. Parway was not buying it last time. When Stella Gild’s mind is truly corrected we will go from there. Now please, return to your work.” Noctus tells him.

Then Heinrich and I walk out to do just that.