The Midnight Murder Series: Pieces
Chapter 16

“Happy birthday, Oliver!” cheered Nye, Alvin, and Arvel as Oliver leaned over the counter and blew out the candles on his chocolate cake. The twins popped some balloons next to their brother’s ears and laughed.

“Thanks, guys,” smiled Oliver as he began cutting the cake. The store bell dinged downstairs. Oliver heard it and stopped slicing the cake. “I’ll be back. Customers.”

“I thought you put the closed sign up,” spoke Nye as he watched his youngest head towards the stairs.

“I did, but I thought some customers would be nice,” Oliver smiled and walked downstairs. He reached the last step and saw Beyond holding a large, wrapped box in her hands with a red duck next to her. “Beyond, hi.”

The half-breed smiled as the hunter approached her. “A little birdie told me that today is your birthday. The 22nd, right?”

“You look amazing without your glasses,” Oliver nodded and pointed to the duck. “Did this little birdie tell you?”

“My new glasses won’t be in until next week,” Beyond made a face of disgust. “Oh, God, no. I don’t know why this fiend is following me. It has been following me since we got back home from Sauk Village. I think it wants to kill me in my sleep, and I mostly don’t sleep.”

Oliver awed as the duck quacked at her then him. “That duck so adorable,” he watched it wobbled away. “Look how it wobbles so adorable!”

“You can keep it,” she announced. “I was about to set it on fire. Anyway,” she gave the birthday boy the box. “Here. Happy birthday, Oliver.”

“I think I’ll call her Buttercup the Duck,” Oliver blushed and took the box. “Whoa!” the hunter fell towards the floor due to the weight of the box. “Holy crap! What’s in here? Bricks?”

“You want bricks for a gift?” she asked while helping him up and took back the box. “I’ll hold it, and you can open it.”

Oliver unwrapped the box and opened the lids. He reached in and pulled out a large, worn-out brown book. Oliver smiled as he ran a finger across the spin of the book. “Thank you, Beyond. I love it.”

“It’s real sheepskin binding,” she stated. “It’s a hunter’s best friend. This book has all the strengths and weaknesses of any creature or fiend, and only good can touch this book. You say a name and the pages will go directly to the monster. It writes itself.”

“What if bad touches the book?” Oliver asked.

She shrugged and looked away. “I guess you want to hear about Jonathan.”

Oliver nodded while putting the book back in its box and set – more like dropped – it down on the floor. “If you don’t mind.”

Beyond hesitated and took in a deep breath. “Jonathan Crowden was the kindest man you’ll ever meet. He moved to my hometown from England and wanted to become a doctor. We first met at the college when he almost ran me over with his horse. Women weren’t allowed to go to school, but since my father donated a library to them, they let me in. At first, Jonathan was stalking me, and I hated him, but,” she lowered her head as she felt the tears coming. “I fell in love with him. We wed the following year, and I became pregnant. Jonathan was so excited to be a father, and I was scared to become a mother because I never knew my own. I didn’t know what a mother was supposed to do or how to act,” Beyond turned to Oliver. “Anyway, Jonathan came back from delivering a baby, and I was cleaning his shirt. He was sleeping in his rocking chair in the living room, and I was outside. The bloodstains on his vest weren’t coming off, no matter how much I cleaned. It wasn’t long until Death came. When I saw Death, I ran back into the house and saw my Jonathan wrestling a gun out of our neighbors’ hands. Next thing I know, Jonathan was on the floor, bleeding from a shotgun wound to his chest. I held him in my arms as he died,” a tear slid down her cheek as she continued with a breaking voice. “A few months later, I gave birth to a baby boy. I named him Anthony because Jonathan loved that name. Anthony died in my arms too after being a few hours old. I had to bury my baby next to his father.”

Oliver was speechless. He pulled the grieving woman into his arms and let her cry. The hunter rubbed her back. “Speaking about your troubles is one of the keys to letting go.”

“I hate crying,” she mumbled in his chest.

“It’s okay to cry,” Oliver pulled her back from him and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. “Crying is always good. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you stronger.”

“Thank you,” Beyond whispered as the bell dinged behind her. Her eyes widened as a familiar aura entered her senses. She spun around to see the masked hero from Sauk Village coming in.

Oliver whipped out a gun from his back pocket and aimed it at the figure. “Who are you?!”

“Oliver, wait,” Beyond grabbed his wrist and forced him to lower his weapon. “He saved me. He saved me when we were in Sauk Village.”

Oliver looked at Beyond, incredulous. “What do you mean?”

“Take off the mask,” she commended to the figure.

The masked man stepped forward and removed his mask to reveal a handsome man with blond hair and green eyes underneath.

“What’s your name?” asked Oliver while putting his gun back into his pocket.

The young man chewed on his bottom lip before answering. “My name,” he paused for a minute. “My name is Jace.”