CHAPTER 12 | loss

📎A/N. Hello my lovelies!

I hope you enjoy the chapter, it's not short, so settle back and grab some popcorn.

Take care and don't forget to vote...

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From the flutter of curtains as they approached the house, Ryker knew either Grant or Maize had been alerted to their arrival.

The familiar surroundings brought back fond memories. He had been to this house so many times over the years he had lost count. Ann's parents counted among the few people he trusted. While he knew and socialised with half of Essex County, he could count on one hand, those that he considered friends.

It had come as much a surprise to him, as to them, when as a small child Ann had insisted a Vampire come for dinner. What had been more extraordinary, was that after the initial uncomfortable first part of the evening, he'd actually enjoyed himself. More surprisingly, was that it was the first of many.

As Ann, or, as she was better known as—Annie, grew and bloomed into a remarkable young woman with endless possibilities, so did his friendship with her parents.

How he had befriended a pair of witches was beyond him. Over the years he had questioned it less and less, preferring to just accept it and enjoy the limited time he ultimately knew they had. He had celebrated all their successes and each milestone as Annie, and her sister Velvet grew.

Outside of Deacon, he considered them as an extension of his family.

Ryker's guilt only amplified with each step he took down the well-worn path. If he was so much of a friend, why did it take him four days to go back and see them after he had to break the tragic news to them?

Because you couldn't face the fact that it was your job to protect her, and you failed, that's why.

A vice like grip squeezed at his chest. He had been living in fear, not capable of facing them again. Ryker didn't think he'd be able to endure the condemnation that he was sure would be written all over their faces.

"Are you all right?"

Ryker mentally shook himself and glanced at Keira. Her mystical green eyes were staring at him questioningly.

Instead of replying, he pressed the doorbell and took off his hat. As the door edged open, his throat became parched and he felt like someone had just dragged sandpaper down it.

Grant's red-rimmed eyes were staring back at him. Ryker was taken aback to see no sign of accusation or retribution. His friend was a man lost in his grief. Wordlessly, Grant stood back and indicated for them to come in.

Keira entered first. As Ryker passed the grief-stricken man, something made him stop and place a hand on Grant's shoulder. For a moment, they made eye contact. The pain he could feel from Grant was overwhelming. His friend's face crumpled, the effort to hold back the tears was disintegrating. Not knowing the words to say to a parent who had lost a child, Ryker tightened his grip on Grant's shoulder.

In his very long lifetime, death had been a constant. Humans aged. It was a fact of life. Death came in all shapes and sizes, and more than once, it had been by his hand. Ryker had learned the hard way to accept it. However, until now, it had been easy. He had grown up an orphan, so, until Deacon he had no concept of family.

Grant wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Did you find who did this?" he asked.

Ryker glanced at Keira and noticed her eyes were glazed, and she was blinking rapidly. "That's what we're here about."

They followed Grant upstairs and down the hallway. Just as he reached the last door, he turned back to them. "She's been trying to channel her since this happened."

Ryker steeled himself as they walked into Annie's bedroom. Her scent was everywhere as if she was still with them. Maize was seated on the edge of the bed, an old and tattered teddy bear clutched in her arms. She was slowly rocking back and forth, her lips moving but no words could be heard.

When she noticed she was no longer alone, Maize came out of her stupor and glanced towards the new arrivals. Her gaze rested on Keira and she faltered, confusion marring her features.

Perhaps I should have warned them I was bringing a stranger with me.

"My baby's gone."

The broken way in which Maize cried out the simple sentence ripped through him. Ryker moved over to the bed and sat beside her to pull her into a hug. "I know, and I swear I'll get the bastards who did this."

Maize burst into tears, and her body convulsed as she wept.

Not wanting to show weakness, Ryker looked away and focused on revenge. He was now, more than ever, determined to find this 'Order' Keira was convinced was behind this, and kill every last man or woman. He would make sure they suffered tenfold before he would allow them the grace to die.

As his resolve hardened, he noticed that even Keira couldn't fail to be affected by Maize's grief. A single tear ran down her cheek, and her eyes welled as she silently observed the distraught parents. It was at that moment that he realized that Kiera wasn't as hard or as unfeeling as his original assumption.

Behind that schoolmarm, black-suited exterior was a woman who was capable of empathy. Why he assumed she would be unaffected, escaped him. However, nothing about her was normal.

Ryker cleared his throat and glanced around the bedroom, which, until recently had been occupied by a teenage girl. Posters of her latest obsession adorned the walls and photos of Annie, and her school friends were wedged into the mirror on the chest of drawers.

"I know this is going to be hard for you both," he began, "but we've come to a roadblock and need some answers."

Ryker stood and nodded towards Keira. "You might have heard that Dr. Wynter is working the case with me."

Maize blew her nose, and he could see she was hovering between closing off and going on the defensive. The entire family were witches, and they would assume she was a Natural.

He took a step closer to Keira. "What you probably haven't heard through the jungle drums is that she's one of you."

Grant and Maize's heads snapped to Ryker.

"What exactly do you mean by 'one of us'?" asked Maize. "She's who the F.B.I. sent. The last I looked, I wasn't on the government payroll."

"Technically, Doc here is not F.B.I.," Ryker explained. "She's a witch with the knowledge and experience to help us get who's behind this. Not to mention she's the only one keeping the federal authorities out of this. And I don't need to tell you why we don't want them poking their noses into our business."

Grant narrowed his eyes and looked fixedly at Kiera. "How do we know this isn't a government trick."

Not backing down from his piercing gaze, Keira stood her ground. "You don't," she said, "you're going to have to have a leap of faith that I will do everything I can to help Sheriff Ryker find who's behind this, and stop anything further from happening."

From the pointed glances Maize and Grant gave to each other, it was clear they were not sure how to proceed.

"Did I mention she's a witch?" Ryker reminded them. "I've seen what she can do first hand, and I can tell you right now, the woman has skills. She can help."

Maize's shoulders dropped as if the wind had been taken out of her. "No one can help us, it's too late for that."

She was right. Nothing would bring back Annie. Even if they got every last one of the killers, it wouldn't return her to her loving arms of her family.

"Where's Velvet?" Ryker asked. While their eldest daughter no longer lived at home, he had assumed she would be with her parents right now.

Grant made his way over to his wife. "She's on her way to Virginia," he said as he reached for her hand.

Virginia? What the hell is the girl doing in Virginia?

His surprise must have shown when Grant quickly explained, "Maize has an aunt who wants to pay her respects. She doesn't trust planes and doesn't drive, so Velvet volunteered to collect her."

"You said you had some questions," Maize asked before he could ask them why they would allow them out of their sight. Especially when there was a bunch of madmen on the loose hunting witches and trying to open a door to let a version of the devil through.

Rather than push the point, Ryker focused on the reason they were here. "We are having trouble trying to work out where Annie went after school that day."

Maize looked confused. "She was with Isabella and Rebekah. She was supposed to pick up some ginseng on the way home, but rang to say she was spending time with her friends instead, and that she'd be home around six."

Ryker ran a hand through his hair. He didn't think Annie was in the habit of lying to her parents, but it appeared she had. "The problem is, her friends claim she went straight home."

Grant and Maize looked at each other and then back at Ryker, disbelief and denial in every movement.

"Was Annie seeing anyone?" he asked. There was no way of sugar coating this.

Grant shook his head. "No. She broke up with that reprobate last year and decided to concentrate on her studies."

Ryker understood Grant's defensive attitude. He had disliked his daughter's boyfriend from the moment she brought him home. While Ryker had to admit, the boy was more brawn than brain, he wasn't such a bad kid. However, after Dan had been caught DWI, his fate was sealed as far as Grant was concerned.

"I hate to push this, but..." said Ryker as he shuffled uncomfortably on the spot. "Are sure she wasn't seeing anyone."

"Positive."

From the nervous way in which Maize tugged on her husband's arm, Ryker was sure she knew; or at least suspected something different. No longer able to put off the inevitable, he cleared his throat and prepared himself for their reaction. "Grant, Maize, I need to tell you something, but I think you both need to be sitting for this."

Once Grant sunk down onto the bed, Ryker struggled with the words. This would be the second time he'd delivered devastating news to them.

When Keira began to speak, relief flooded through him. Somehow, she had picked up on his reluctance.

"The preliminary autopsy results came back," she said.

Grant's entire body stilled and Maize's hand clutched tighter around her husbands. "And?"

"Annie was twelve weeks pregnant."

Grant bolted off the bed. "She was what?"

His voice was so loud; Ryker was sure the neighbours had heard him.

Maize's hands snapped to cover her mouth. "My baby."

"No. That's not possible." Grant shook his head with conviction and clenched his fists. "There must be a mistake."

Before he could work himself up any further, Maize stood and reached for Grant. Once she had managed to calm her husband down, Maize studied Keira and then looked to Ryker. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Ryker nodded in confirmation.

Maize, let out a small whimper and brought a hand to her mouth as she digested the information. After a long drawn out silence, she wandered over to the chest of drawers, reached out and reverently touched a recent photo of Annie. "I suspected she was seeing someone."

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Grant, clearly shocked at the revelation.

"After Dan, and how much grief you put her under, I just assumed it was someone you wouldn't approve of. Her grades weren't slipping, she wasn't missing school or her other commitments, so I let her have her little secret."

Before the two could escalate the conversation to a domestic argument, Ryker cut in. "Do you have any idea who it might be?"

After drawing blank looks from both parents, Maize suggested they speak to Annie's friends. "Perhaps they know who it is?"

"Do you think this boy was involved in what happened?" Grant asked.

Ryker had an uneasy feeling about the secret boyfriend. Not telling her parents was one thing. Keeping it from her best friends was an entirely different matter. "At this stage, he's a person of interest. He may be able to give us a better idea where she might have gone afterwards or where they were. We need to understand how they got to all five of them."

Grant pulled Maize closer to him. Their shared strength was the only thing getting them through this. "Have you spoken to the other families yet?"

Ryker shook his head. "You're the first. We're headed to see Zac Cole's next." He paused. While he would share as much information with them as possible, this didn't extend beyond this room. "I don't need to tell you that you need to keep quiet about this conversation, we don't want to show our hand before we are ready,"

Ryker glanced around the room. Perhaps there was something in here that might give us a clue as to whom Annie was seeing?

"Did Annie keep a diary?" he asked.

Maize bit the inside of her lip. A habit she had when she was concentrating hard on something. "No, I don't think so."

"Do you mind if we look?"

For the next fifteen minutes, the four of them scoured through Annie's possessions. A sense of urgency charged the room as every draw was rustled through and every nook and cranny searched. Disappointed, Ryker set the large cushion back where he found it and scanned the room once more.

Keira, after closing the last draw, quickly made her way over to him. "Do you think she kept a diary?" she asked in a low voice.

He considered the question. "She didn't tell her friends and, in my experience, teenagers need to share their secrets with someone, even if it is only on paper. So, yes. I think she kept a diary of some sort. We just haven't found it."

Keira glanced over to Grant and Maize who were still searching through the closet. Indecision flitted across her face as she studied the grieving parents. She took a deep breath as if she were about to jump off a cliff and didn't know if there was anything to catch her at the bottom.

A moment later, she had pulled Maize to one side. "I'm so very sorry for your loss, and at any another other time I wouldn't intrude or invade anyone's privacy."

She glanced towards Grant who had stopped his rummaging and was listening intently. "But in this situation, I don't think we had any alternative. If Annie had a secret, we need to know what it was. Someone is targeting witches, and we need to find them before anyone else dies."

Maize frowned. "I don't understand, we've been looking."

"If Annie kept a secret in this room, I can use my power to find it. What I won't be able to do, is know if it is the secret we are after. You may not like what I find," said Keira.

Ryker raised an eyebrow. Now she tells us. Had she mentioned she had another trick up her sleeve it would have saved them valuable time.

At first, he thought they were about to not agree to the magic. However, as soon as Maize nodded and said, "Do whatever you have to, as long as I get to see it first," Ryker took a step back, not knowing what would shoot up out of nowhere.

The woman was becoming an enigma. The crazy cat lady was right, never before had he seen the level of power she possessed. What he was beginning to realise, was that she rarely used a fraction of what she was capable of.

As Keira gracefully meandered through the room randomly touching Annie's belongings, he noticed a stray hair had come loose from the tightly coiled bun at the nape of her slender neck. Ryker suppressed a smile; had she known, it would be whipped back into shape with the other strands.

For some reason, Ryker found himself fixating on her stunning red hair. The colour was caught somewhere between a vibrant red and burnt orange. When he caught himself wondering what it would feel like to run his fingers through her magnificent tresses, he stopped short.

Where the fuck is your mind at? he berated himself.

It had been an abnormal while since he had bedded anyone.

That shouldn't mean you start fantasising about a colleague — especially a stiff, no sense of humour professor at that!

Ryker mentally shook himself and forced his attention back to what she was up to. He could tell from Grant and Maize's expression, they had no idea either.

After she had circled the room a few times, Keira stiffened, and her eyes darted to a clothes hamper next to the chest of drawers. Once it was quickly moved to one side, she dropped to her knees and began to pull on a loose floor board. Much to their astonishment, it pried loose without much effort. Keira's hand disappeared through the hole and emerged clutching a small leather bound book. After inspecting the front and back covers, she rose from the floor and handed the journal to Maize.

Grant, who opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it and rushed to his wife as she dropped to the bed in shock, not once taking her eyes off Keira.

Maize's hands visibly shook as she placed the bear she had been holding back onto the bed beside her. He could see the effort it took for her to keep herself together. They had already been through so much, only to discover there was more anguish to come. Maize lovingly ran her fingers over the hardcover as it rested on her lap.

When she glanced at her husband for reassurance, her face full of sorrow, ready to drown further into the abyss, Grant placed a reassuring arm around her and rested his forehead against hers. Maize closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them again, she pulled away and flipped the cover and stared at the first page. As she continued turning the pages, her brows knitted together and the wrinkles in her forehead grew exponentially.

Grant, who had been reading over her shoulder mimicked her expression.

"What's the matter?" Ryker asked.

"It's illegible," Grant replied. "I don't understand, shouldn't whatever spell she cast on it dissolve the moment she..." he trailed off.

Ryker didn't need Grant to finish the sentence. He already knew the missing word his friend was unable to say.

Died.

Any spell she cast that was still in force when she died should have died with her. Even he, with his limited knowledge, knew that.

Maize shook her head. "Normally, but she must have used a talisman to channel and keep the power so it was disconnected from her."

Keira stiffened, it was barely detectable, but Ryker was sure that something had sparked her interest. "That was smart thinking," was her only comment.

He was sure she wanted to say more but held herself back.

Maize handed Keira the small journal and Ryker made his way over to inspect the leather bound book with her. Each page was full of letters and words. The letters he recognised; but the words they formed were unintelligible.

"Is there any way to break the spell?" he asked.

"If we find the object she transferred the power to—then maybe..."

Ryker frowned. They needed to find the last person who saw her alive, and right now they were stuck. She had lied to both her friends and parents to meet a boy. He could understand her not telling her parents, especially after Grant's reaction to Dan. However, surely she would confide in her friends? Something about the situation didn't sit well.

***

"What do you think?" asked Keira as they headed back to the car a short time later.

Ryker studied the journal Grant and Maize had allowed them to take. "I think we need to find that boyfriend."

"I agree, and unless she told someone, or whoever he is steps forward, we are going to need to break the spell."

"Can you do it?" asked Ryker once they were in the car.

"Probably, but it will take some time, and right now we need to talk to the rest of the families."

Ryker recalled a few conversations he had overheard between Keira and her sister. "What about Dayna?"

"What about her?"

"Is her... you know... skills as good as yours? Perhaps she and your dreadlock TA can work on it."

Keira turned to look out the window as she considered his suggestion. "That's not a bad idea, and might just work."

Ryker let out a snort as he turned the engine over. "Don't sound so surprised. I have been doing this a while you know. I may not have a broom, but I have my own set of skills."

By the time they had dropped Annie's journal to Dayna and Marcus, and headed back towards Salem, it was nearly mid-day. He'd already warned Cecelia, they needed to speak to her about Zac's death. Both Cecelia and Zac worked at a High School south of Salem. Zac was the Football coach and took Drivers Ed, while Cecelia was the Physics teacher.

They were polar opposites in every way. He was a Salem native and could trace his family back generations. Cecelia was a petite refugee whose family had perished on the killing fields of Cambodia. He was a Supernatural, she wasn't.

While she had no family to support her in her hour of need, she had more than enough friends in the community that rallied. The problem was, most of them were Naturals, and he clearly could not have a conversation if they were around when he arrived.

A cat on the side of the road reminded him of their early morning conversation with the lunatic. "We haven't heard from Beatrice yet. How long does it take to make a few phone calls?"

There was a fleeting upturn of her mouth as she suppressed a smile. "When I said she needed to do a calling, I didn't mean she was going to phone them."

"Oh?"

"A calling is done in the rarest of circumstances. It's a spell that is felt by all members of the coven. Both known and hidden. We generally can't resist the request. Once it is cast, each one will make contact with her for a time and place."

Ryker chuckled. "You Broom-Hilder's don't do things the easy way, do you? Have none of you learnt how to Text, FaceBook or Twitter?"

***

By mid-afternoon, the uneasy feeling that had begun when he heard about Annie lie and unknown whereabouts when she'd gone missing had only escalated.

Zac had left football practice early, saying his wife was ill. This had come as news to Cecelia. The same scenario repeated with each of the victims. Each one had lied about their whereabouts.

His frustration only compounded after Beatrice had been patched through from the station to tell them the others had agreed to meet with him and Keira. The only catch was that it wouldn't be until the following morning.

When pressed, the only thing she would admit was that two had already left town and wouldn't be able to make it back until the next day.

***

After dropping Keira back to the house, Ryker headed to the station to deal with the paperwork that was piling up. He had only been in his office five minutes when Alan strode in. "Hey boss, we were expecting you earlier."

"I was following up on some leads, how are you going with the missing girls?"

Alan dumped himself on one of the chairs in front of Ryker's desk. "Nothing. We got the warrant for their bank and phone records and came up empty. There's been no transactions since they've been taken and no calls in or out."

Ryker reached for a file and began to sign the forms in the places marked by the admin staff. "What about the traffic cam footage from Main Street, any unusual activity?"

"Mitos is looking through it now," said Alan as he leaned back into his chair. "Although, if we don't know what we're looking for it might take a while and be a waste of time."

Ryker glanced up at the Deputy. "You know as well as I do in these cases we need to cover every possible avenue."

Colour flooded through Alan's face as he sat forward. Ryker hadn't meant to snap, but he sometimes wondered about the officer's ability to think outside of the rules that he religiously adhered to.

"Sorry boss, but I don't think we're going to find them alive. They've been gone nearly twenty-four hours."

Ryker stared out the door to the bullpen. It was near shift changeover, and there was a lot of movement within the Department as one handed over to the other. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Alan's unspoken implication was spot on. They had not received any ransom demands, and with nothing to go on, it was looking more and more likely this would be a recovery, and not the happy ending the families were hoping for.

"Just keep on it," Ryker said as he picked up the next file and proceeded to initial and sign.

"Yes Sheriff," Alan said as he jumped up from the chair. The Deputy halted at the door and turned back. "You never told us the autopsy results."

Ryker stacked the folders he had completed and said, "I didn't? Must have slipped my mind." He handed Alan the bundle. "Drop these at Marsha's desk, will you? I'll brief you when I get a chance."

Once the Deputy had the paperwork, Ryker sat back down. "There was nothing the ME could tell us that we didn't already know. We'll need to wait for the full autopsy results to come back."

"That'll take weeks."

"That's what they tell me," Ryker said as he went back to his pile of Manilla folders.

***

It took Ryker the better part of the next two hours to get through his backlog. After locking his office, he left instructions with the Duty Sergeant to contact him if there was a break in the missing girl's case.

Ryker was headed out when he noticed a flickering shadow in the AV room. Curious, he peered around the door to discover Mitos was watching traffic footage, all the while grumbling under his breath.

"Anything?" asked Ryker.

Mitos scratched the back of his hair, which had gone silver-white with age. "Nope. Just a bunch of weirdos, faggots, and skanks; and that's just the tourists. Don't get me started on the fucked up locals."

Ryker cringed. "Watch your mouth Mitos or you'll be attending cultural sensitivity training again."

Mitos shrugged and went back to scouring through the video. "You and me both know that's a waste of time. I've been on it that often; I could run the class."

Not wanting to comment on how much money had been spent on the officer's repeated attendance to the many training programs, Ryker ignored the remark.

As he reached for his keys, he heard Mitos call out, "Just make sure you schedule me on the day that hot blond with the big jugs and short skirt is taking it. At least I'll have something to look at."

"I didn't hear that," said Ryker over his shoulder as he headed towards the door.

"Sheriff."

"What is it now?" Ryker muttered under his breath as he headed back to the AV room.

He turned the corner to discover Mitos's head poked around the door.

"You going to be at the Witches Brew tonight?"

Something clicked in Ryker's memory, and he glanced at the station's clock which also displayed the date.

"Shit! Is that tonight?"

Mitos chuckled. "Yep," he said. "See you there."

Damn

Once a month, the local first responders had a longstanding Pool challenge. While he didn't compete, he was obliged to attend. After his station's abysmal loss the previous month, if he didn't go, that smartarse Fire Chief would never let him hear the end of it.

Resigned he had no choice but to attend, Ryker headed home. However, by the time he arrived he had a change of mind.

I could do with a night out. Perhaps I'll be able to top up on some warm blood.

His accident that morning had shown him just how depleted his reserves were.

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📎A/N. So what did you think?? Maize and Grant are already suffering, but to hear their daughter was pregnant when she was killed, cannot have been an easy thing.

Will they manage to unlock the secret of the journal?

And I must say, I cannot for the life of me, work out how Mitos still has a job!!!!

I wonder if Ryker will take the others to the Witches Brew with him?? ;-)

As a bonus, the next chapter is being uploaded at the same time (or at least shortly afterwards). I hope you enjoy it.. so don't forget to vote before you go there.

Take care,

❤ ℳ