Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom, there lived a queen, who was called the fairest and most beautiful woman who ever lived. But the queen was also vain, selfish and ruthless. Every year she invited to her castle the maidens who were considered as equally beautiful as she, and once those maidens went through the castle's gates, no one saw them again. Rumors about this spread all around the kingdom, saying the queen was a witch, with a magic mirror who showed her all the maidens who were more beautiful than her. And because she couldn't stand the idea that someone could possibly be more beaitiful than her, she killed every potential rival.
"Beware the queen's gifts". Those words were written in capital letters all over the walls, over and over again. Dana can only ask herself what those words meant. Which queen? Why someone should be careful?
- So, have you make some conclusion?
Dana asked the nearest Auror. A young english boy, with black hair, wearing glasses.
- Well, it seems whoever wrote this didn't use magic.
Now that she thought about it, the Auror was right. It seemed like someone carved in desesperation the letters on those stone walls with something sharp, like a knife. But when she take a closer look, she notice some dry blood. The person didn't used a knife, he or she used their own bare fingers. With that realisation in mind, Dane heard she stepped into something. When she looked above, she realised she stepped into a human nail.
She screamed. The english Auror run to ask her why, and she didn't said a word, just pointed out to the nail on the floor. The Auror kneel, call his superior and inspect the nail, before he put it in a plastic bag, like the rest of the evidence. Dana thought she could easily stand that case, but by the moment she has been proved wrong. She was called before for thousand of murder cases, but despite of the pain and anger of the spirites, she always have found a way to help them rest in peace, no matter how violent the death was. But this time, there were no spirites, which already gave her a bad feeling. For her, grown accostumed to see the people's spirites once they died, the fact so many people died and there were no spirites whatsoever was something unnatural, something wrong.
She started to feel nauseos thinking again about it, and the young Auror, whose name was Harry, asked her if the she was okay. Just a look in his green eyes, who reminded her so much to Kay, and suddenly Dana felt slightly better. At least she knows she didn't want to puke now.
- Don't worry, i'm fine, it's just...There's no spirite or ghost. I can't sense anything.
- That's bad?
- Very bad. Normally there's always something the person left after they died, but dying that way and not leaving anything. Something's not right. I don't know what kind of magic the murderer uses, but must be something really dark and ancient. Some spell like that must've been forbidden and forsaken a long time ago.
In the last seven years, seventy-seven girls, both muggles and witches, always between the ages of thirteen and twenty-four, where found dead, in always the same circumstances: despite their physical age, the bodies looked like a hundred years old woman, and they ate some kind of poisoned apple, which it was identified as the cause of death. The first cases was in the german city of Hanau, latter all over Germany, and by the third year there were cases like this all over Europe. Last year the last seven victims were all students of Hogwarts, one of the most prestigous and ancient magic schools in Europe, and since them it seemed like the killer finally stopped. For almost an entire year, it seemed like it was finally over. But then the killer stroke again, in Madrid, Spain.
- We gan go now, if you want. We've already collected all the evidence there is.
Dana take just one last look to the walls before saying yes. But even after they get out of there, the words were still in her head, carved like they were carved on the stone with the last victim's naked fingers. Beware the queen's gifts.
