Chapter 1
Damin
Raymond
John
I didn’t want to leave John and Art to their own devices but I knew John wasn’t going to let me go into Hell or anywhere near the portal. I was surprised Art offered to do it, but of course, John was the one who ended up going. They still had to wait for the next lunar eclipse but until then they were taking shifts watching Lysander and sleeping. I still checked up on them but I had cases to work on that interrupted the visits.
One odd case that had appeared lately was the string of parents being murdered, with their only children being left alive. It was like looking at my case file except I doubted it was a demon because the Gates were closed. Unless it was one that had gotten trapped in this world like Lysander’s look alike.
Raymond was already on the scene when I arrived. I waited till all the street cops and CSIs cleared out and left and then Raymond brought me inside.
I walked in and saw the dismantled brick fireplace where the parents’ bodies had been found. Across on the opposite wall was where the little girl who’d been left alive as the only witness had been found.
I walked through the kitchen where there was a broken coffee cup. But it was in the middle of the counter with the stain running down the side of the island. If it had fallen off and broken, the stain would be on the floor, how did something break without impact?
Raymond joined me in the kitchen and saw me looking at the cup.
“It exploded during an interview with the girl,” Raymond informed me.
“Exploded?” I question.
“I can’t explain it; it was intact one minute, the next it exploded. Glass and coffee were everywhere,” he continued.
“Maybe we have a spirit haunting this house but if it were the locations, the MOs would be different, they’re the same, the ghost must be possessing people and killing the parents,” I reply.
“But there’s no sign of break-ins or other people being in the house,” Raymond adds.
“It could be someone they knew, did the girl see who it was?” I inquire.
“She’s in shock. She has short-term memory loss. We have to wait till she recovers to see what she remembers,” Raymond replies.
Why would the ghost leave the children alive? Had the parents done something? Was the spirit defending the kids?
“Have the police had to come to any of the victims’ houses for domestic disturbances?” I question.
“I don’t think so, but I can check. The children were all found completely unharmed,” he replies.
If the children weren’t in danger from the parents then who was this spirit protecting the children from? I had to figure out who the spirit was so I could salt and burn the bones anyway but knowing why might help me find the person.
“I’m done here; I’m going to the city hall to look through records, okay?” I tell him.
“Oh, I actually get to know where you’re going for once?” replied Raymond sarcastically.
“See ya,” I reply.
