Clare hadn’t slept
well. All she could think about was
everything she needed to get done before the trip. She still had mountains of paperwork to get
through, not to mention the scheduling for the new cases that were coming
in.
What if another big case
came in while she was away? What if
something like Sumthak showed up again?
Who else was going to stop it?
When she finally made it
to her office, she was already exhausted.
She was worrying herself into uselessness.
“Not sleep well?” Ashtyn was already at her desk, thumbing
through the latest spiritual guides they had received.
“Not really.” Clare made her way to the coffee maker. She needed caffeine, and now.
“Same here.” Ashtyn didn’t look up from her work. “My mind doesn’t seem to know how to shut off
these days.”
“I guess that’s one of
the hazards of the job.” Clare picked up
a clean mug off the small table that housed the coffee maker, and poured
herself a cup.
“So, this trip really
happening?” Ashtyn’s typing
stopped.
“That’s the plan.” Clare took a sip of the hot, black
liquid. It burned her throat, but it
sprang her back to reality. “Unless
something comes up.”
“It better not!” Ashtyn turned towards her. “You, me, all of us, we need to get the hell
out of here for a while. I have been
living and breathing demonology, cryptozoology, ancient religions and lost
deities for way too long. I need some
sun, a drink with a brightly colored umbrella in it and maybe a little casual
sex.”
Clare laughed. “Well, then Heartsong Island should be right
up your alley.”
“Heartsong?” Ashtyn gave
her an odd look. “You mean Heartbreak
Island?”
“What?” Clare walked towards Ashtyn’s desk.
Ashtyn fished through a
stack of papers on her desk, finally pulling out an old copy of some
supermarket tabloid. She started through
the yellowed, ripped pages.
“Here we go.” Ashtyn handed the magazine to Clare. “Heartbreak Island. The legend says that some
witch who was scorned by her lost love cursed the whole damn place. The
stronger the love bond, the worse the effects of the curse are. Good thing I’m
single!”
“Ashtyn, this article is
from Weird World News.” Clare handed the tattered periodical back. “I doubt you could…”
“Turn to page 45.” Ashtyn crossed her arms, a stubborn look on
her face.
Clare did as she was
told. She could feel her heart skip a
beat when she finally reached the article.
There was a picture of Fantasy Land, and a picture of the two missing
college kids. This was the story that
had gotten them involved with that case in the first place.
“Most of those articles
are junk, I’ll admit that, but sometimes…” Ashtyn turned back to her desk,
“sometimes they get it right.”
“Well, that explains why
Max got the trip paid for.” Clare dropped the magazine on Ashtyn’s desk as if
it was contaminated with a flesh-eating virus.
Just seeing that place,
even in an old picture, made her ill.
“They ever figure out
what they are going to do for the episode they had planned?” Ashtyn didn’t look at Clare as she spoke, but
her eyes narrowed.
“Max hasn’t told
me.” Clare took another sip of her
coffee. It was already getting
cold. “I hope they just drop the whole
thing. No one would believe him,
anyways.”
“When has believability
ever bothered Max or his producers?”
Ashtyn sneered.
“True.” Clare turned towards her office, unable to
take talking about that damn theme park, or Max’s show, anymore. “I’m going to try and get some loose ends
tied up before we have to get ready to shut down for the trip. If anyone calls, tell them I’m in the
field.”
“You got it.” Ashtyn gave Clare a halfhearted salute.
Once she was in her
office, the door closed, she could feel the panic welling up inside of
her. She had managed to keep it at bay
while she was talking to Ashtyn, but now that she was alone, she couldn’t hold
it back.
She hated admitting that
she was still scared, no, terrified, of what had happened at Fantasy Land. She knew if she told anyone, they would just
tell her to go get some counseling. What
councilor was equipped to handle her problems?
How do you talk to an outsider about the trauma of seeing one of your
friends hacked in half by a giant, perverse deity?
She tried to choke it
back, to bury the feelings inside of her, but she couldn’t. Not this time. They were too strong. She had held them down for some long, and now
they wanted out.
She felt the scream
building in her gut, then moving up through her throat, and when it finally burst
out of her mouth she was worried she wouldn’t be able to stop.
She screamed, and
screamed until her throat hurt. Tears
poured down her cheeks.
“Clare?” Ashtyn was at the door, banging on it. “Clare, what’s wrong?”
She couldn’t speak. She just crumpled to the floor, sobbing. She heard the door open, and through blurred,
tear filled eyes, she saw Ashtyn rushing in.
She could feel arms wrapped around her, and the warmth of a person
holding her.
“I’m so sorry.” Ashtyn’s voice was a calming whisper. “I shouldn’t have shown you that
article. I’m so sorry.”
Clare couldn’t
speak. Her throat was raw, her sobs to
strong to allow her to form words.
“It’ll be okay.” Ashtyn’s hand gripped Clare’s shoulder, and
she started rocking her gently.
It was felt odd being
rocked, but at the same time, she could feel herself starting to relax.
“It won’t be, though.” The words croaked out of Clare’s mouth. “Not for me.
Not for us. It won’t be
okay. No matter what, they keep coming.”
“And we’ll keep kicking
their asses.” Ashtyn let her go, and
Clare sat up. “Every time they come at
us, we will come back with just as much.
Clare, you’re a fighter, and the rest of us, we are working to be just
as strong as you are.”
“But what…” Clare was cut
off.
“No. No ‘what if’.
We can’t change what happened, but we can work our hardest to make sure
it never happens again.”
All Clare could do was
nod.
“Come on, we need to get
you out of here.” Ashtyn stood, helping
Clare to her feet in the process. “I’ll
drive you home.”
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