The Hidden Paths to Power (6 page)

“I’ll just tell him, I found it.”

I graced him with a big smile as we headed back to the garage.

The wait for Detective Cramer to arrive gave Doriane the time to defeat the spell guarding the door. She showed me what she was doing, as everything was a lesson.

She slipped her wand into her hand then quickly muttered the keyword for the spell she wanted.

When the dark energy dissolved, the door could be seen with normal eyes now. It was still well hidden. The door had been cut to fit with barely a seam showing. It would be enough to make it plausible, it had been missed in all the previous searches.

Detective Cramer’s blue eyes widened, when he stepped into the garage and saw me.

I smiled big but put a finger in front of my lips, in a shushing motion.

I got a good hug then he asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Playing private detective. I got tired of running and decided to help. You should feel fortunate me and my friend Kim came because we found something you missed. By the way, call me Debbie while you’re here, and pretend you knew we were coming out. The cover story we’re using is, you hired us because Kim’s detective agency is known for finding clues missed by others. It’s simply a story to keep it from getting out that I’m hiding on purpose, not missing.”

“Your father came to see me, shortly before your car was found, to make sure I wouldn’t flip out. He told me about your plans. Unfortunately it didn’t work. Ryan didn’t make any mistakes. I’ve been looking into a series of murders that have happened recently. Don’t worry. All your friends are safe but a few people you went to school with, have been turning up dead. We think it’s Ryan but he hasn’t left much to make us certain. The main thing that makes us think it’s him is, they were the known bullies at the school, when you two were attending Rangeview. One is Trevor McShane.”

It was like a punch in the gut. Hearing the name of the bully, who was partly to blame for me being in this, was hard. Ryan was obviously using his skills to get revenge on those who tormented him in school.

I asked, “Can I ask how they died?”

“The same way Tom Walters did. Whatever this thing is, he invented, burns the flesh and has the power to turn the heart to ash. We’ve tried not to be too public about it but there are mutterings in the community, as people put the pieces together.”

“When did they start?”

“Two months ago. We have five bodies. We’ve done what we can to find the others but some have moved to other states. Those we have been able to locate, have been warned to keep their eyes open. The problem we’re running into is, the sheer number of those we’ve been told about, who used to bully him. I didn’t realize, until I started checking into these, just how tormented he was.”

“It’s still no excuse. There were a dozen kids who got treated as bad and I don’t hear reports of them running around slaughtering people. Maybe, something down there will tell us how he became so evil.”

Harold did a good job of keeping my name out of it, when he called for crime scene personnel and extra officers to help move the storage. Being the home of a respected, retired police officer, ensured the things were handled gently, as they were moved off the door.

Doriane made sure, she and I showed no signs of the torment we were in. Every moment we had to stand on that property was eating at my senses but we had a duty, to see what it was and stop it.

My mentor and I were provided gear, to ensure we wouldn’t make the CSI’s job harder.

We wouldn’t have, as we didn’t leave signs of our presence, but had to keep up the pretense as we followed Harold down the ladder that led into darkness. I could see just fine but the detective needed his flashlight.

We encountered a door, similar to Doriane’s, but this one, didn’t have the symbols of the good, natural world. This door had been designed with skulls, dead bodies and the symbols of dark magic.

Harold asked in surprise, “A satanic cult?”

Doriane, as Kimberly, answered, “I don’t believe this is standard satanic ritual. The symbols are wrong. This is something different. Prepare yourself to see the worst in there. When Debbie and I talked about her case, we speculated that maybe, Ryan’s father was into this stuff. It fits with the clues given by the grandparents and Ryan’s aunt. Those who believe in these things tend to be very insular. Ryan gravitated toward science but may have been exposed to some dark mystical influences as he grew.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it. Are there really people who believe this crap works?”

“Like any belief structure Detective, there is a matter of faith. It’s no different than those who believe God grants miracles. What a person believes, is part of what defines, who a person is. Whether Ryan believes in this himself or not, it’s clear his father, and possibly his mother, did believe.”

I sensed Doriane using her skills subtly, to check the door for traps, and knew there weren’t any, when she stayed quiet, as Harold worked to force the door open. The lock was sturdy but gave way on his third attempt.

I didn’t have to hide my need to throw up when the door opened. Harold was looking a little green himself. I managed to use the puke bag I’d been provided rather than decorating the floor but my breakfast made a reappearance. Fortunately there wasn’t much in my stomach.

Inside were the desiccated corpses of fifteen children. They’d been posed in ritualistic arrangements on stone slabs. The room was nearly air tight, which is why the family up above, never smelled them. The odor was obvious and overwhelming now.

Doriane said, “We need to give the room a day to air out. The poisonous fumes would make anyone sick being in there for too long. This is an old scene and you already have your perpetrator buried wherever Ryan’s father was laid to rest. I don’t believe Ryan’s father was trying to stop him from using his explosives. I think Ryan’s father was worried, his son’s actions would bring attention to this place.”

Detective Cramer answered, as we moved to the ladder to go back up, “I believe you’re right. I need to get this on the wire fast. We may have just solved fifteen cases of missing children in this one find.”

Doriane and I went to sit in her car, as we cleared our senses of the foulness. We could still feel it but not as strongly.

I asked, “With the police all over this place now, how are we going to heal the natural balance?”

“With a little subtle magic. We’ll have to go home for the night, so I can prepare the spell. I haven’t seen anything like this in over a hundred years. I have to contact a friend as well. We need to know how a powerful dark user went so long, without being discovered until now. It may lead us to Ryan’s mentor.”

After saying bye to Eric and Laura, who were getting ready to go to a hotel for a short while, and giving Harold promises to come back the next day, we went home.

After fueling ourselves on fresh food, which made me feel better, we went down to the basement. Being in the presence of good magic helped me more.

Doriane pulled out three types of incense, an amulet of clean fire spirits, a vial of sanctified earth and a small cube of maple wood.

I was instructed where to stand, as this was beyond my skill yet. I was only observing.

This time, she sat on the floor without the pillow. Her rear was on the symbol for water, her bare right foot was on the symbol for air, and her left foot was on the symbol for peace, then she made the room dark.

Chanting in the language of mystics, the three symbols lit up.

She placed the incense, in little holes in the floor for this purpose, and they started burning without flame put to them.

Placing the amulet on the floor between her legs then placing the cube of maple on top of it, she chanted for an hour. Every few minutes, she would sprinkle sanctified earth over the cube.

I watched as the grains were absorbed, and began etching the design on the amulet, on all six sides of the cube.

When Doriane was done and made the candles light again, she said with a tired voice, “Go to west wall. Inside the cupboard labeled number fourteen, retrieve one silk pouch and the tongs.”

When I brought her these things, she used the tongs to pick up the cube and put it in the silk pouch, then we cleaned the room.

Once done, we went back upstairs to relax.

After a small amount of small talk, we went to bed.

Dreaming was interesting with my power active. They were still simple dreams but far more vivid. Doriane told me in time, my dreams might show practical things, but usually takes a while, as my mind continues to adjust to being able to access magic.

The next day we drove by the shop. The repair crews were still working on the electrical which meant, The Dragon’s Den metaphysical and gift shop, had to remain closed for another day, then we drove to Aurora.

Detective Cramer was there ahead of us. By the looks of him, he’d been up all night working on this.

I was still sporting my disguise with my essence protected as we arrived.

Harold said as soon as he saw us, “Good thing you’re here. The CSIs have taken air sample readings and determined the air is safe to breathe. They want us to get our impressions of the room quickly, so they can get started processing the room. I would’ve started already but Kimberly seems to have the knowledge we need, to make sense of the room.”

Doriane caused Harold to get a bit uncomfortable in the pants with her smile, as she answered, “I’ve investigated things like this before. Not to this level but I have some knowledge. Most of the cases I’ve worked before, were what you’re more familiar with. Satanic rituals, with your usual pentagrams and teenagers, playing with something that gets out of control.”

We went down the ladder and, though the foulness was still present, the air had cleared.

The largest body couldn’t have been more than, ten to twelve years old, when they died. We didn’t bother trying to determine the cause of death. That could be left for the medical examiner. Our interest was seeing that the balance was corrected and investigate the symbols and tools used.

When we reached the center of the floor, we found an idol of some demonic creature. It stood about a foot high and was the source of the foulness.

While keeping her movements hidden, and only touching the silk pouch, Doriane tipped the cube onto the ground next to the idol, then used the pouch to scoot it, until it was making direct contact.

In a moment, the cube was absorbed by the idol and I could already feel the change occurring. The oppressiveness wasn’t as overwhelming.

Afterward, we moved around the room as if simply gathering impressions. It was hard for me to see the bodies of the children but felt good, we helped to ensure, they’d get properly taken care of.

When Doriane declared she’d seen enough, the three of us vacated the room. Harold hadn’t seen a thing with the idol. Standing outside, as the CSIs began their work, the three of us talked.

Doriane said to Harold, “This is fairly sophisticated. It’s beyond my experience so you may need to find an expert. I think, the idol in the center in Babylonian in origin, so you may need to start there. I didn’t see anything, to give us clues to Ryan’s current location, but the number of people who still practice those rituals, has to be small. It’s possible, Ryan knew other practitioners, and one of them may be providing shelter for him.”

“That would make sense. Dark rituals like these could only be hidden by those, with a lot of experience keeping it out of the public eye. That means, they’d have the skills necessary to keep him hidden.”

I interjected, “When the members of Ryan’s family that could be found were interviewed, they were all from his mother’s side. They all said, Steven Gilpatrick didn’t have any family but maybe, that’s just what they were told.”

Harold responded, “We did a cursory check for family, when it was simply believed he was a victim of his son’s. With this, I’ll start having our teams looking over his background with a fine tooth comb.”

I gave Harold a hug as we were leaving.

I tried to keep my face hidden, when the press started showing up, as they got wind of the news. I’d find out in a short while that, the journalists didn’t recognize me, but someone watching did, as he caught a small glimpse on camera.

After we started driving, we went to a restaurant for lunch. It seemed strange, I could maintain an appetite but, when my body told me I needed fuel, I was able to listen. I think it comes from having gone into a coma for two days because I didn’t take care of my needs.

After eating, I called Eric, “The CSIs are just now processing the room.”

“Thank you for finding it. My family is shaken but I’ve managed to convince them, it would be better not to run from it. You need to know, your face came up for just a split second on the news. I don’t think the journalists have figured it out but be aware, in case your nemesis was watching.”

“I will and Kimberly thinks, those poisonous vapors were seeping into the ground around your house. She believes, as they get cleaned out, the ground will be able to withstand planting again.”

“That would be nice. Come visit me, if your issues ever get resolved.”

“I’ll do that. Bye, Eric.”

At home, Doriane pulled into the driveway to drop me off then said, “I have to go visit the friend I mentioned before. He’s not a believer in modern forms of communications. He doesn’t own a phone. I think, it’s so we’re forced to actually visit, if we need to speak with him.”