Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (9 page)

“Tell me, Fiona!
Tell me what Detective Chase has updated you with
—
I cannot stand to wait until after school
at the lab meeting
.
I thought about
the
cave and all the samples we collected all night
.
I even dreamed that Damien Lee was chasing me with that sword
.
It was so crazy
.
”

Her
eyes widened with excitement
like a toddler about to be read a fairytale.

“
Alright
, hold on, Maddie
.
I do have an email from him on my phone
,
but let me
see what this is about first,” I said
, pulling
Wolfe’s
note out of my backpack.

I unfolded
it
,
and
after scanning it quickly, I
read it again to
focus on every word:

Fiona, I formally apologize for everything I have done regarding my inappropriate behavior towards you.
I should not have
tricked you into saying yes to go with me to
the prom or tr
ied
to tak
e advantage of you in the cave
when you were in a time of need.
Then last night, I bothered you on the phone like a crazy stalker.
You’re my ‘boss’ in your training program, and I know I am not allowed to act this way towards you.
I respect you
more than anybody I have ever
met and would
go
crazy if I ruined our friendship.
I understand your position
100%
.
Please accept my apology.
Friends
?
Wolfe

My heart
drained of its blood; I secretly gasped for air
. Emptiness filled my
chest
cavity
as the back of my tongue swelled
, constricting my throat.
With a great force,
I swallowed
t
o prevent choking, but soon
realized
it was
just
mental
.
I
had lost something so
significant.
Yet, how could I lose something that was never mine?
I
gasped for air as my pores open
ed
, the sweat gathering on
the back of my neck.
Maddie
’s eyes
investigated
me
.
She asked if
I was
alright.

“I-I’m
great
.
This is
…
nothing,” I lied
, crumbling
the n
ote
.

I
ran
over to one of the main
trash bins
, tossed it in, and
came back to my stool,
staring at my pizza, trying not to launch into a
fit of tears
.

She knew I was lying
, but
what was I going to sa
y
—I was sad because
Wolfe
was only
friends with me?
That was to be expected.

“
W
hat did
the note
say?
Who wrote it?
”
she
said
,
slapping her hand on the lunch table
.

“It’s nothing
.
No worries.
I just don’t feel
good
,” I
said, diverting
her attention away from the
note;
“
I think I might be coming down with what Janice has
.
Let’s see what
Detective Chase
has to say.”

Her
brows contorted into
an
uneasy
angle as her expression turned sullen.

“How is
Mrs. Santa Claus
feeling
?
”
she
asked
, chewing on the end of her last F
rench fry
.

We
often referred to my nanny as
Mother Christmas
because she
had a striking resemblance—
white hair in a
perfect
bun, thin
-
framed glasses,
and rosy
ch
eeks
with
a
pale
complexion
.
Ironically, she often wore red velvet dresses.

“
M
y mom said she was doing worse this morning
, so
she’s going to the doctor today.
She
’s
never
been
sick
like
this
;
I don’t know what to do!
I’ve never seen her
with more than a
minor
head cold
.
”

Wolfe’s
note flooded to the forefront of my mind as
I pulled out my phone
.
T
he room moved
in slow motion
around me
.
A full panic launched
in
side
of
my head.
My mind was in a conundrum
, thoughts scattered, bouncing around in my skull
.
I didn’t know if I should scream, cry, or rush
out of the cafeteria
to
find
him
in class
.
Every cell in my body ached to admit how I felt.
I
calmed myself and forced my fingers to pull up the report from the detective.

“Okay, here it is,” I whispered loudly as I pulled up t
he email.
I scanned the text
of the report.
“Here’s the victim’s description
—
Jody James, 45, short brown hair, brown eyes.
She was only 105 pounds and 4’10” tall.
Oh my gosh, she was tiny
like my mom
!”

Maddie
propped up on her elbows
, attempting
to read his email upside down from across the table.

“
She was
so
small
.
How could such a small person do anything worth murdering her over
?
”

“
Let’s see.
It says she was wearing a gray pl
aid hoodie,
had
thin,
tattooed
and shaved eyebrows, a crooked nose
—
which
he
says
here
it might have been broken before
,” I said,
skimming
the email, “
H
ere’s a possible reason for murder
—s
he was a major criminal.”

“Really
?
For what
?
”

Maddie leaned forward to get a smidge closer
.

“Miss Christie, please get off the table and sit down in your seat,” an infamous voice resonated from a
bullhorn
across the cafeteria.
It belonged to our big-nosed principal, Mr. Dinges.

“Yes, sir,” Maddie whispered as she settled back down onto her
stool.

I smiled for the first time since seeing
Wolfe’s
note.

“Burglary,
a few
assault
s
, forgery,
identity theft,
impersonating a medical professional.
Wow, she
wasn’t a nice person
.
”

“
Are you not hungry
?
”
she
inquired softly, pointing to my tray of food.

“Nah, you can have it if you want
.
I ate breakfast this morning,” I lamented.
“With Janice sick, I
ate
a bag of chips
.
Chips keep me full all day.
”

She
grabbed my tray and slid it in front of
her, picking
up my pizza
.

“
There’s an
argument
—
the murderer clea
n
ed
up society,”
she
chuckled.

“Not right to say that
,
”
I countered bluntly, my foul mood was surfacing.

“I know, I’m only joking
,” she said, taking a giant bite of the pizza.

“
S
o here’s the scoop on our main suspect
.
It seems as though Sydney
Sergeant
told the police last night after her arrest she was the last of the members to arrive at the cave for the meeting.
She wasn't an official member of th
e
vampire club, by the way.
He says here you are not an
official member until you are burned with the letters
NA
o
n your arm.”

“For
not applicable
?”

“I
’m
thinking it m
ust have a deeper meaning
.
Sydney said
when she arrived, Damien was holding the bloody
sword
,
and the victim was
already
dead on the table.
She claims she
feared f
o
r
her life and
ran
out of the cave
,
and the other three
teens
followed her.
She believes they were going to kill her.
”

Maddie shook her head slowly,
staring at me for a prolonged moment.

“Oh my gosh, Fiona.
Well, case solved, right?”

I shrugged.

“Due diligence
.
Everybody is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
We still have to pr
ocess evidence,
analyze
the data,
and discuss the case.
Plus, Damien is adamant he was at home that night, and Victoria
is
claiming she was home.
They deny being in the cave, so that’s where our cave samples
might
come into play.
We have got to place them in the cave that night.
”

Maddie’s expression was thought-ridden yet morose.

“Is there anything else?”

I
examined the report
for a few moments.

“Damien Lee
.
Leader
of the
House of the Nightmare Army
,
”
I flinched as I spoke the words.
“It seems the House is a section of the larger group, Order of the Black Moon.
He
says
the
House of the Nightmare Army recently downsized when three brothers, who were all members, were sent away to a
military
boot camp by their parents.
This group must be trouble.
”

She
shrunk into her seat
, cocking
her head to the side in repulsion.

“
Is the House of the Nightmare Army
the name
of
the cult or something?”

“I guess, I don’t really understand it
,
but it might explain where the
NA
comes from
.
We spoke about him before
—Damien’s a senior,
large guy, over six feet tall, bulky
,
and very pale
.
H
is head
’s
shaved on one side.”