Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (3 page)

Wolfe leane
d
his face
between
our
seats, taking in a deep breath
before an exaggerated exhale.

“I
have
never met th
e
pink-haired
girl
,
but I have seen her in the hallway
.
She’s
a
typical
Goth
who dress
es
differently
for
attention,”
he
said, tapping on the back of
my
seat in a soothing rhythm
.
“And I refuse to ignore
the fact that
you were listening to Frank Sinatra Christmas music in your ca
r on the way to school, Fiona.”

I bit my lip, resisting
a smile
, blood rushing to my cheeks
.
Maddie giggled.

“
Thanks for not letting that slide by,” I sighed.
“
Damien Lee’s
the leader of
the
vampire group.
Detective Chase said he was the number one suspect,” I
added
, turning onto
Astantine Street
.

“Oh, that dude
’s
crazy looking.
He’s got a shaved head on one side
,
and the other side is
jet-black
and long
just like
mine.
W
hen his roots
grow out
, they
’re
blonde,
”
Maddie said
,
raking her fingers th
r
ough her shiny black hair.

“He
is
a
natural
blonde
!
Don’t you remember him from elementary and middle school before he started dying his hair
?
”

I
turned a
s
harp corner onto Osmium Street.

“I
can’t
believe
Camber Johnson
’s
with them
.
Like Willow said, h
er parents are
rich
—she lives in
our
neighborhood in a huge house,
” Wolfe
said
candidly
,
rearranging
his
long legs in the limited space.

“I don’t think weirdness
is related to
financial sta
tus
.
I mean, plenty of rich people are nutty,” Maddie said
bluntly
,
laughing
.
“Look at Marilyn Manson!”

“Good
point,
Mads,
”
he
chuckled.

We arrived
at
the
parking area
next to
the Arles Cave entran
ce and
I
parked
my
car
beside a crime scene investigation van.

“By the way, Fiona
.
Did
the detective
say where the murder occurred in the cave?
Please tell me it is near the entrance
.
I’m slightly
claustrophobic
,” Maddie asked with antic
ipation
, bounding
out of the front seat
.

She held
the seat
forward
as
Wolfe climbed out
of the back, hopping on
the pavement.

“Unfortunately, he said it
was
in
Dracul’s Den
.
From what I gathered
,
that’s
in
—
”

“
T
he
bottom
dungeon
of the cave, Fiona
.
We
’ll have to go down th
e
tunnel
thing
I
spoke
about,
”
Wolfe
interrupted
softly, a slight disdain in his voice.

“Great,” Maddie whimpered.

F
ifty-eight
degrees, the sky a cloudless blue
.
The
chilly
breeze
blew
tendrils of my hair o
nto my face
as
we approached
the mouth of the
c
ave
.
H
appy
birds
chirped
in unison and a
squirrel darted across my pathway
, pausing
for a second for a curious gaze
before dodging
into a hole in the ground
.
This didn’t
seem
like the
morning after a brutal murder.

After a brisk walk down a
dirt
trail
toward
s
the
entrance,
the receding hairline
belonging to
the
director of the
crime lab
came into view. He
jogged towards us
, handing
out
pair
s
of disposable booties
. W
e
slipped them
on top of
our shoes
and sto
oped under the
barrier tape
spanning across the cave entrance
—
bright yellow with
a repeating
CRIME SCENE, DO NOT CROS
S
warning
in black
lettering
.

He was the
appointed mentor
of my program
—
a
n
incessant
middle-aged
workaholic
who
devoted
his time to
train us
in
the
field of forensic science.
Next to my father,
Detective Chase
was one of the most intelligent men
I
was blessed with in
my life
.

“
Been a long time, huh,
”
he
panted
, gesturing
for us to move
towards
the
mouth of the
cave
.

We paused
underneath
the
lime
stone archway
.
The breeze calmed at the entrance
and m
y
nose
filled with the m
usty
air from within the cave
. I cringed
.

“
Glad
you’re here
, Fiona, Maddie, Wolfe.”

We
nodded
, peering
with anxious faces
into the
dark
cavern
.
I glanced over at Maddie’s
bitter face, mouth pulled down at the corners.
Wolfe stood behind me
,
his warm
breath
grazing the
top of my head.

“
Let me
bring you
up to speed.
The victim is Jody James
—
45
-
year
s
-
old
,
unemployed
,
lived in
the
Lakeside Trailer Park
over
by the Silver Springs Marina.
I’ll give you further details on her as we get them
.
A transient named Emily Vance discovered
her
body
.
Ms. Vance lives in this
cave on occasion as well as the
city park
.
She
told the police she spotted four teens leaving the cave
and
within minutes, she found the victim
’s body
.
”

“
Oh, yeah, I know who she is.
She’s
a
crazy
bag lady
,
pushes a grocery cart
everywhere
,” Wolfe
said
, t
he detective responding with a
twisted grin
.

“Emily Vance
has no prior arrests
;
however, the police
who
patrol the cave have asked her to leave on numerous occasions.
I’ve seen her with the
shopping cart around town,
but I can’t comment on her
mental status
—
I’ll
take your
professional opinion
, Wolfe.”
A stifled laughter resonated
from the group
.
“As we speak, four teenaged suspects
are
being
detained
in the county jail,”
h
e reported, pulling out a handkerchief from his coat pocket to d
ab
a
light mist
from his forehead.

Even at
fifty-eight
degrees,
the detective
always managed to work up a sweat.
H
e was
n’t in the
best physical shape
and
lacked
the basic skills of
stress management.

An imaginary
light bulb
flicke
re
d over my head.

“
Wait a minute
.
F
our
suspects
?
I thought you said the vampire group had only three members
?
”
I asked
in haste.

“
Yes, four
.
I didn’t
get word
about the
fourth suspect
until a few minutes ago
.
Her name is Sydney
Sergeant;
she
’s
a sophomore at
the high schoo
l
and was a new recruit to the vampire cult
.”

“Are you kidding me?
I know
her
!
”
Maddie exclaimed
, her voice rose from a whisper to a normal pitch
.
“She’s
t
all
,
skinny, good hair
—
l
ong with
perfect curls
, brown that fades into
blonde
with purple tips
.
She’s
a vampire wannabe?”

“Maddie, I
know who you’re
talking about
.
Mr. Zuptus recommended her
to be a
member
of
our club
!
She’s good at science
, or at least he says
.”

“Wait a minute
.
She lives on
our s
treet.
I’ve seen her getting into her mom’s car!”

“
Y
ou’re right!”

Wolfe tapped me on the shoulder with a huge grin
.

“Fiona, she’s
in jail
.
If she
’s
a dangerous vampire, she won’t be able to get you.
At least not tonight.
No need to
purchase a garlic necklace
..
.
y
et.
”

I couldn’t help but laugh as
he
attempted to pull off a concerned expression, but a
n
adorable
smile
shined through, giving him away.

Detective Chase shook his head
,
giving
a
tiny smirk
before he continued
.

“
The victim’s time of death was approximately
2 AM
.
This
is what
the
paranormal folks
at Hartford
refer
to as the Witching Hour—
”

“Excuse me, Detective
.
Pardon my interruption
,
but please tell me the paranormal team is not involved
in
this case
.
I couldn’t stand it—
”

“
No,
absolutely not.
Hartford Paranormal Science Department (PSD)
does a lot of
r
esearch in th
is
cave.
They claim one of the rooms
is active with
activity spikes
between
2 and 3 AM
.
”

“So that’s the
Witching Hour
, huh
?
”
Madd
ie spoke through her teeth, arms
across her chest.

“It
’s
what they call it, so th
e
murderers
may have
followed
th
e same
line of thinking
—just keep it in mind
as we investigate the case.
The
crime lab
collected soil samples from each region of the cave. There
are
four
areas of the main floor of the cave and a tunnel
leading
to stairs into a
nother
large
, open
area.”

“
Dracul’s Den
?
”
I
mumbled
, knowing the answer
before I asked
.

“
Correct.
Vlad II Dracul
,
the father of Vlad the Impaler
, is also known in modern fiction as
Dracula.
Whoever originally named the
place
must have been a big fan
.
”

“Got it
—
this is the vam
pire hangout,” Wolfe concluded, narrowing his eyes
.

“Seems that way, b
ut
we can’t
make any definitive conclusions until we get all the data,”
the detective
said as he
pushed on underneath
the
archway and into the cave
.
“Let’s make our way to the crime scene.”

My
shoes
dragged
across the wet limestone floors
as I followed
the detective through
the
shadowy
main
corridor
.
The ceiling launched r
andom
bombs
of water
that splashed
i
n
to puddles on
the ground.
M
illions of stalactites point
ed
downward
from the ceiling like a medieval torture chamber
.

I was plagued with regret with
each step
—
I chose
to wear
a
n expensive
pair of wedges
that morning
,
brand
new with a slick sole.
I
hadn’t planned
to
tour
the abyss of a
cave
. My mother had bought me the shoes in a vain attempt for me to fit in with the other girls at school
. I wasn’t one for fashion and usually
dressed in the least eye-catching attire I could find
.
She worried about that, not me, but I had appeased her.
Lesson learned
—
always
keep a pair of hiking boots in
my
car.