Chapter 53
Bo tried to call Dyson and Tamsin on her way to the location the GPS tracker had indicated Casey was, but neither of them were picking up their phones. She knew they were probably in the middle of some intense hostage situation, but she had desperately hoped that Tamsin could be on this with her right now.
The location Kenzi traced, according the GPS, was somewhere in the woods. Not the same one where they had found the other girls, but similar surroundings.
It was already midnight, and the only light source in the woods was the moon. Bo had packed a flashlight with her, but she didn't want to expose herself.
She arrived at the location, and found one of Casey's shoes abandoned in a pile of fallen leaves. All the fake gemstones on it sparkled underneath the pale moonlight. Something heavy dropped on Bo's heart when she held it in her hand because she recognized that shoe as one of Casey's favorites. She had seen her wearing the pair on many occasions. Bo knew something was up. Casey definitely would not come to a place like this, and certainly not on foot. Bo knew that girl would only walk when shopping, and she would never give up her favorite shoe before giving up her own life.
Bo put the shoe in a plastic bag and put it in her bag. Now she finally felt that it hadn't entirely been a waste of time for her to learn some tracking skills from Acacia when she had prepared for Tamsin's Rebirth Trial. She never got to use it during the Trial, but now she found that it was coming in handy.
It didn't take Bo long to find a piece of torn clothing hanging on the thorns of a bush not far from the place she had found the shoe. There was a crimson smudge on it. She quickly took out the toolkit Tamsin gave her for identifying Fae blood. Seconds later the transparent liquid in the test tube turned red, which meant it was Fae blood. Bo felt her heart getting heavier. She tried Dyson and Tamsin's phones for the third time, but still, no luck.
An abandoned vacation house appeared in front of her. It was just the same thing she saw when they had found the crime scene in the other woods. She circled to the back of it, crouching down under the broken window, trying to take a peek without alerting anyone who might be inside.
Just as she was slowly raising her head, her phone vibrated inside her pants. She almost jumped up. She quietly took it out and saw that it was a text from Kenzi saying that she couldn't get through to Dyson, but that Amanda had returned her call, and that she was safe. No info about Casey.
Shit. Bo cursed inside her heart. She put her phone back and took a glance inside the house.
No one was in there, but she saw a few pieces of used furniture which were too new for a rundown house like this. She remembered last time they had found something similar over at the other crime scene, and that Tamsin had said someone might be squatting there. To Bo, it made sense because they were never able to find the killer. The only explanation would be that he was living somewhere off the grid, like an abandoned vacation house in the middle of the woods.
Bo took a deep breath before she pushed the door open. The door made a squeaky sound, which was creepily loud in the quiet night, seizing up Bo's heart. She checked every corner of the house before she started to breathe again. Other than the furniture, no one was in there, but Bo did see some muddy footprints on the floor. There was one set of prints that looked like someone walking with one foot bare and the other in high heels. She knew it was probably Casey, since she had found one of her shoes earlier. She was expecting to see a second set of footprints, because she thought Casey was probably being forced by someone to be out here, but her footprints were the only ones Bo could see. And that reminded her that the last crime scene didn't have the footprints of the killer either.
Is he a ghost or something? Bo asked herself. Then she shook her head, because she had seen ghosts, or spirits before, and they looked nothing like the man she saw in Kenzi's dream. That man was charming, and alive, although in a creepy way.
Bo stood in the middle of the house after she had searched everywhere with no results. Then she remembered that the last time they had found a hatch to a tunnel under the bed. She got down on the floor, trying to ignore the dirt and the cobwebs, and found a hatch door under the bed, just like last time.
Bo let out a deep breath. Remembering walking in the dark underground tunnel from the last time, she felt a conflict of emotions. She felt warm inside because, Tamsin had been holding her hand the last time, and scared because the Valkyrie was not with her now. Bo knew she shouldn't rely on Tamsin every time she was in a situation like this, but she just felt a lot safer and more confident when the blonde was with her.
Before she went down the tunnel, she made one last phone call to Tamsin, still no answer. Bo sighed. She tried to leave her a voicemail, but the blonde's voice mailbox was still full. Bo frowned, because she thought Tamsin should have cleared her voicemail when they got back, if not, she definitely should have cleared it before she went to the robbery site. She knew it was not the time to think about minor details like that, but it just scared her a little, when suddenly she couldn't reach Tamsin. The desperation she had when Tamsin was inside the drought monster came to her again. She sent the blonde a few texts, and just like before, the blonde did not reply.
" How long does it take for a damn hostage negotiator to show up? Are they shipping him in from the planet Mars or something?" Tamsin asked Dyson outside the gas station. The suspect was inside, holding a few hostages, and the police had been there holding position for hours now. They were waiting on a hostage negotiator, and they had no idea where he was, or why he wasn't there yet.
" I'm sure he'll be here soon." Dyson said.
" Yeah, you said the exact same shit like thirty minute ago." Tamsin rolled her eyes at him.
" Maybe he's just too busy." Dyson said, " We've have armed robberies in our district a lot recently, almost every night..."
" Well, that's certainly a little bit weird..." Tamsin said, frowning, " But who cares...I just want to be out of here as soon as possible."
" You are extremely impatient tonight, partner." Dyson said, " Is it because this is so boring, or because you have someone to go to?" He emphasized the word someone, with a teasing smile on his face.
" God, Dyson. What are we now? Two thirteen year olds talking about a schoolgirl crush?"
" No, and she's not a crush."
Tamsin shook her head. " Yes, now I have someone to go to, so what?"
" I think it's great." Dyson laughed, " You should have something else to do, beside bar fights, hook ups, or getting drunk at night."
" Should I start calling you mom?" Tamsin retorted, but she would admit in her heart secretly, that having someone to go to at night was something nice. Not just because of the warmth during night, but also those warm eyes looking at her when she woke up in the morning. It was then she realized that it was the first time in several weeks that she and Bo were not with each other at this time of the day. They were always together, in each other's arms, except the few days she was inside the monster. She was already addict to Bo's touches, and she was thinking about them right now.
Dyson smiled, and he stopped talking. He could see that Tamsin had softened a little in front of other people. He knew the blonde might not have realized it yet, but she had changed a little since being with Bo.
Thinking of Bo, Tamsin frowned. A weird feeling occurred to her, like she had something that she should worry about, or she should take care of. She shook her head, trying to get rid of that funny feeling, but the more she tried, the stronger it got. Eventually it got to the point that she felt her fingertips were pulsing because her heart was beating too fast. She took a few deep breaths, but nothing changed.
" What's wrong?" Dyson asked when he saw Tamsin frowning.
" I don't know...feels like I'm having a panic attack, but I don't see shit that would be making me panic..." Tamsin said. She could feel the cold sweat coming out from her back, and she could hardly breathe. She had to grab the car door hard, so she would not fall.
" Whoa, what's going on?" Dyson asked. He grabbed Tamsin before she fell, when he saw how pale she suddenly got.
" I don't know..." Tamsin said, gasping. Then she suddenly had this feeling that it was related to Bo. She had no idea why she would think this, but somehow deep inside her heart, she just knew. She cursed and searched for her cell. Eventually she found it buried under a pile of case files on the back seat. Seeing a few missed calls from Bo, she cursed again. She dialed back, but Bo's phone was out of the service zone. She checked her voice mail, and it was then she realized that her voice mailbox was full, as well as her texts. They were all meaningless messages, from a number of different numbers that she didn't recognize. And new ones appeared faster than she could delete them.
" Fuck!" Tamsin cursed for the third time, and hopped in the car.
" Whoa, where are you going? We are in the middle of something here, Tamsin." Dyson grabbed her hand before she started the car, " Besides, you could barely stand a minute ago. You can't drive."
" Then you drive." Tamsin handed him the keys, " I think it's the bond. I can feel that Bo is in danger. Bitch's thrown herself into some deep shit hole again. I've got to go find her."
" You sure?"
" Never more sure in my fucking life." Tamsin said, " Come on wolfboy, let's go."
The tunnel was dark, damp, and quiet. Bo turned on the flashlight, but it only lit up about a few steps away from her, the rest was just pure darkness. And the weird, nasty smell in the tunnel was making it hard for Boto choose between holding her breath or throwing up.
Eventually she reached the exit. She checked the surroundings before she got out. No one was outside. It was just trees and the moon. She didn't even hear bugs chirping.
There were no blood trails this time, but the footprints were still pretty clear, and they lead to a cave.
Oh God. Bo whispered to herself. Please, no Manticores. She knew if there was a Manticore or two in there, even if she could take them, it would certainly be a bloodbath.
Standing at the entrance of the cave, Bo almost couldn't make herself walk into it. She stayed there for a while, trying to make sure that there was no monster inside. She heard no growling, and she smelled no rotten corpse like last time. She tried to call the Valkyrie again, but it was then she found that she was out of the service zone.
Slowly she walked in, with her dagger gripped tightly in her hand. She could feel her palms getting wet, and her heart pounding hard. The cave was deep and dark. Bo had to turn off her flashlight because the last thing she wanted right now was to draw any attention to herself.
Please no Manticores. Please no Manticores. Bo repeated as she walked into the chamber at the end of the cave tunnel. She heard some suppressed noise coming from inside, and she immediately crouched down, trying to make herself as small as possible to avoid being seen.
Inching forward, Bo raised herself a little bit, just so she could be able to see inside the chamber. She almost made a noise when she saw Casey lying on the ground, her hands and feet tied up. Bo made sure no one else was there, before she ran to the poor girl. She saw some minor bruises and cuts on the girl, but no major wounds, no blood on the ground, no strangulation marks on her neck. Bo felt relieved when she felt the pulse on her neck. She cut off the ropes on her wrists and ankles, and shook her hard.
" Damn it, wake up!" Bo whispered to her, tapping her face hard. She almost slapped her, but the girl suddenly sat up and gasped.
" Shhhhh!" Bo covered Casey's mouth before she screamed, " It's me. We need to get out of here now." She could see the fear in the Kitsune's eyes. Tear welled up in Casey's eyes, and she was shaking in Bo's arms. Her lips quivered, like she was trying to say something to Bo, but she was just too afraid to let a single word out. Then Bo saw her eyes moving towards the direction of the entrance of the cave, and the girl's eyes went wide.
Bo moved before her mind even started to think about why or where. She just felt the danger with her skin. She grabbed Casey and rolled to the other side of the chamber, then she heard a loud noise, like some metal object hitting the rock on the ground. She gripped her dagger tight, before she turned around to see what was going on.
" Wow, you are a hardy prey..." A man said playfully. Bo immediately recognized him as the man in Kenzi's dream. The one with that pendent, that right now was glowing crimson on his chest.
" So you are the killer we've been looking for." Bo said, slowly moving backwards, shielding the panicking Kitsune behind her back.
" So, you are the bonded succubus I've been looking for." The man didn't rush to attack her. He just paced in front of Bo, with his finger slowly running on the blade of his scimitar. That piece of weaponry looked really old, but was polished to a sheen and looked sharp enough to cut through any flesh.
" Yeah, well, you're about to find a piece of her foot shoved up your ass too!" Bo said, slashing her blade at him. The man dodge her swiftly. It was then Bo noticed that he moved so quietly that she couldn't hear anything. He didn't leave any footprints on the muddy ground either, like he was gliding on top of it without pressing his feet down. He was smiling, and his smile kinda freaked Bo out. She thrust her blade at him again, and the man parried with his scimitar this time. He moved his blade forward onto her dagger's rain guard, forcing Bo to take a step back. Bo wanted to push him away, but she couldn't.
" I thought the Valkyrie's bond is supposed to make you strong." The man mocked her, " Or maybe this is just as much as a succubus can do? How did the Valkyrie even agree to bond with you? You seduced her, right?"
" That's none of your fucking business." Bo retorted, " And don't, ever, think of seducing one yourself, 'cause I'm sure they'd die before they agree."
" Ahh, I never thought the Valkyrie's bond would work anyway. Probably just another one of those many things that is way overrated." The man said, " I guess I'm just too careful. Maybe I didn't even have to separate you two tonight."
Hearing the man's words, Bo frowned. She pushed the man back, and said to Casey, " Run! "
A light puffy sound exploded in the air, and the girl shapeshifted to a fox. She ran like she was getting away from a blood hound. Bo watched her disappear as she cornered the man and forced him not to pursue the girl.
" What do you mean by separate us two?" Bo asked, holding her dagger in front of her, preparing to strike at any second.
" I guess intelligence is not something you have acquired either." The man said playfully, his eyes staring at Bo.
Bo frowned again. Something just didn't feel right to her. Maybe it was because the man was overly calm. Maybe it was because they had been chasing this guy for a long time now, and he just suddenly appeared. Also, what the man had just said concerned her.
" I guess it's Ok for us to talk a while longer before one of us dies tonight." The man sighed, as if he was regretting something that was about to happen. " See, I think I was overestimating the positive influence you would get from the bond, and it turned out I was wrong. The bond did you nothing good..."
" Don't judge something you will never understand." Bo said, " And you got one thing right. One of us will die tonight, and it's not gonna be me. So you better spit all your shit out while you have the time."
" You think it's a coincidence that the armed robbery tonight just happened to take place in your Valkyrie's district? You think it's a coincidence that her voice mailbox was full?"
Fear suddenly seized Bo's heart. " How do you know about those things?"
" Wow, I thought at least you would be able to answer that question." The man looked surprised, he couldn't believe Bo just asked him that. " Obviously, I planned those things so I could separate you two. So I could lure you here and ambush you."
" How could you possibly know that I would find the clues that would lead me here tonight?" Bo still couldn't quite believe him.
" I didn't." The man said, " But sooner or later, you would have realize that the fox bitch was missing, and you would have come out looking for her, and as you see, would lead you right to here."
Bo furrowed her eyebrows. She thought this man was hunting for Kitsunes, but what he had just said made her think that he was hunting her instead. " If you are looking for one of those fucking prophecies, too bad, I may be a lot of things, but I am sure as hell not a fortune teller." Bo said.
" Oh, no, no, darling. I'm way past that stage already." The man laughed, " I got the prophecy I wanted when I killed that girl. What was her name? Amy, or Haley? I can't remember, 'cause they're all the same, so loud, shallow, and stupid..."
Bo anxiously stared at the man, trying to be prepared for his attack, but a small part of her mind focused on the prophecy the man talked about. She remembered that Tamsin had heard something about the identical, the bonded, the lurking, and the lifeless. They had no idea what it meant, but Tamsin suspected that the bonded meant her, or them together.
" Anyway-" The man started to talk again, interrupting her thoughts, "-I couldn't figure out who was the bonded, until...I heard just about everyone in town talking about some Valkyrie was doing the Impossible Rebirth Trial with her bonded mate, and I immediately knew it was you that I should be looking for. Then I thought, maybe the Trial would kill you. But well, a couple of days ago, many of the Valkyries were talking about how successfully you two had completed the trial. Beginner's luck I guess, right?"
" What is it that you have against me?" Bo asked.
" Oh, nothing personal really." The man said, running his finger on his blade again. It seemed that he was not worried about getting cut at all, because when he did, he just licked off the blood and gave Bo a smile with blood on his teeth. " Just eliminating the other candidates, and you just happen to be one of them." He said.
" What other candidates?" Bo said. Then suddenly something occurred to her. She remembered when Tamsin and she were in her father's place having a vague conversation where her father warned her to watch out for other candidates.
" So not only are you stupid, you are completely oblivious too." The man said in a soft voice, " But, let's have some mysteries unsolved, shall we?"
" You are going to tell me every piece of crap that you know, when I drag you down to the police station." Bo said, grabbing the man's collar and pulling him closer. Her eyes turned blue, and she began to suck his Chi out, but she choked hard and had to pull away.
" You really think after all the things I've planned that I would face a succubus without possessing a Koushang?" The man said, pulling a pendent out, " I hope that you at least know this thing binds my Chi to my body, so you can't take it..."
" Then how about the old and hard way?" Bo said, punching him on his chin. It was then she felt that her arm was soft, and so was every other part of her body. It felt like her strength had just left her.
" Ouch..." The man said, " That hurt, almost as much as a mosquito bite!"
" What-what did you do to me?!" Bo asked. She felt that she was sinking deep into something soft and light, yet her senses were all clear.
" See, another tip, don't stare at people so often and for too long. It's not polite and it can kill you-" The man said as he grabbed Bo's dagger in his hand and took it away. Bo tried to stop him, but she couldn't move any part of her body, and her eyes slowly began to close.
" That's right...just close your eyes, darling." The man's soft yet unpleasant voice was right beside her ear, " Just close your eyes, and enjoy the coming death, when I suck you dry..."
Then his mouth fell on Bo's neck. Bo felt something sharp pierce through her skin, and it was painful. Then she not only heard, but could feel the man sucking on her neck as he made yummy noises in his throat. She figured that the man was sucking her blood out, but there was nothing she could do to stop him. She couldn't open open her eyes.
Things were slowly becoming vague. Bo didn't know if that was just from the blood she was losing, or something else the man might be doing to her. She couldn't feel any part of her body, and eventually the pain started to disappear too.
Am I going to die? Bo asked herself, trying hard to keep herself awake. She thought she heard some noise coming from the entrance of the cave, but she couldn't be sure, because it sounded like some sort of animal growling. Then she could hear the sounds of a scuffle inside the cave, of someone getting thrown against the cave wall and then falling to the ground. Whatever the animal was that she heard, growled loudly in pain.
Then she could heard blades slashing together, someone falling to the ground again, and someone yelling in pain. She wanted to see what was happening so bad, but she just couldn't open her eyes. She felt like her body had left her completely, and all she had left was her not-so-lucid mind. She tried to say something, but she couldn't.
Bo didn't know how long it took before the fighting, or at least she thought it was fighting, finally stopped. Then suddenly, something was flowing into her. After a few seconds Bo realized that it was someone's Chi. And, like a person dying of thirst, she sucked at it with a vengeance. Eventually she had the strength to open her eyes again.
Tamsin was in front of her. The Valkyrie's face and hands were covered in blood, and her hair was all messy. Bo briefly saw fear in those pale blue eyes, and saw it just as quickly disappear when the blonde realized her eyes were open. Tamsin didn't say anything, but rested her cheek against Bo's shoulder, with her arms around her so tight that Bo felt she might not be able to breathe.
" I'm Ok. I'm Ok!" Bo held her tight in her arms, " Tamsin, I'm Ok." Then her eyes fell on the body in the middle of the chamber. It was that man, and judging by the huge pool of blood under him, he was already dead. Dyson was crouching beside him, checking his pulse, and the wolf had a long bleeding wound on his lower abdomen.
" Dyson, are you Ok?" Bo asked him, worried.
" Just a scratch. No worries." Dyson reassured her calmly.
Bo was relieved. Then she felt the blonde's grip on her become tighter." Damn it, Bo." Tamsin whispered to the brunette, " Damn it. The second I'm not with you, here you are, in some fucking cave..." She couldn't finish her sentence.
" Hey, hey." Bo cupped her face, " I'm alright."
" Yeah, five seconds later and you would have been fucking dead." Tamsin shot her a cold stare.
" I guess Kenzi finally got through to your phones?" Bo put her arms around Tamsin's waist, looking at Dyson.
" Kenzi?" Dyson frowned, " I haven't even checked my phone yet. Did she call us?"
" Yeah, I told her to, but she said you weren't answering..." Bo frowned, " Wait, if you didn't get her call, how did you know I was here?"
" Why the fuck are you even here?" Tamsin asked, " You just couldn't wait to dive into some shit hole or something?"
" Well, I was following a lead on the Kitsune killer. Then I found Casey here-"
" Casey?" Dyson said, " She was here? Well that certainly explains the fox smell..."
" Yeah, I told her to run when the man attacked us. I think he's the Kitsune killer we've been looking for."
" What?!" Both Dyson and Tamsin exclaimed, " He's the Kitsune killer?"
" Yeah...I think so."
" Well, I think I'm gonna believe you on that, and call the CSU people." Dyson said, taking his phone out, then he realized that there was no signal. He shook his head, and said to Tamsin, " I'll handle this. Why don't you take Bo home and I'll let you two know if anything else comes up on the case?"
" Ok." Tamsin nodded. Then she pulled Bo up. " Come on, succulette, let's go home." She said, holding Bo's hand in hers.
