Chapter 12

"I can't believe this..." said Henry, shaking his head. He, O'Hara, and Lassiter were all sitting in Henry's living room after explaining the whole situation. Spencer was still extremely fuzzy on some details, but he did remember that he had a son who was a 'psychic detective', and thanks to the photo Juliet showed him, he remembered his face. "I have a son..."

"Yes, I believe we've already established that, can we move on?" said Lassiter impatiently.

"Well excuse me if I've just had my only son wiped from all known memory!" Henry snapped. "But you don't think he was responsible for the attempted bombing?" he asked Juliet.

"No, Shawn would never do something like that," she confirmed.

Henry gave a relieved sigh. "But then what was he doing there?"

"We still don't know, and that's the problem!" Juliet said as she stood to pace. "We know next to nothing! We didn't even know they existed until today."

"They? Plural?" Henry asked.

"Shawn and his friend Gus," Juliet explained. Henry nodded and frowned, seemingly trying to remember.

"Well, if he's my son, then he'll probably be able to take care of himself. My main concern is what caused us to forget. I mean, can you think of any devise or chemical or anything that could erase specific memories?" said Henry.

"He's got a point," Lassiter agreed. "Whoever took them must have access to some pretty high-tech stuff. Plus they're probably blackmailing Shawn, or—"

"You don't think they wiped his memory, too?" Juliet asked nervously.

"I don't know if that's even possible, he's got a photographic memory." Henry looked up suddenly. "Hey, I just remembered—he's got a photographic memory!"

Lassiter frowned. "Funny, he's never mentioned having a photographic memory before."

"Actually, that does explain a few things..." O'Hara thought out loud.

"So how is it that you two seem to remember Shawn perfectly, meanwhile I'm still playing catch-up?" Henry asked after a few seconds.

"Add it onto the pile of things we don't know," said Juliet as she shrugged. "But in any case, we should get started on the crime scene, it's our only lead."

"Agreed," said Lassiter sharply.

"I'm coming with you," Henry said as he stood. "This morning I woke up thinking that my life is garbage, now there may something in my life worth living for, so I'm going to help find my son and bring him home."

Juliet was about to argue, but the words never came. Instead she said, "You know what? You should absolutely come. I mean, who else is gonna help us, the PD? They don't even remember that Shawn exists."

"O'Hara," Lassiter began in frustration.

"No, Carlton. We need him."

Lassiter heaved the loudest sigh a grown man can heave without sounding too childish and pulled out his keys as he lead them all to his car. They got in and were silent as they drove toward Shawn's last known location.

"This is it?" Henry blurted, stepping out into the sun. "What, did they take him in a car, or something?"

"The security cameras don't show any vehicles coming in or out of this area except for Gus's car, and the video on Gus's phone cuts short," Juliet explained. She walked over to the place where Shawn would've been standing that night and looked around. This ally was so dark, even during the day.

Over the next half-an-hour or so, the three of them swept the scene clean, and in the end they found nothing. No prints, no DNA, nothing.

"O'Hara, give it a rest!" Lassiter cried after Juliet insisted that they must have missed something. "There's nothing here! We did our best, but clearly these guys knew what they were doing. We have to find a new lead, or just close the case here."

Henry sullenly agreed with him.

Juliet desperately wanted to object, but he was right. In that moment, she wished Shawn was there; he'd know how to find... well, himself, in this case, but the point was that he always seamed to know exactly where to go next—exactly who to find—exactly what they needed. She sighed, lowering her head in defeat.

Then she looked up. If it were her who was missing, Shawn would stop at nothing to find her, which he had once before. Now it was her chance to return the favour.

"You guys go, but I'll stay and check one last time," said Juliet.

"O'Hara—"

"Go," she said firmly. The both turned their separate ways; Lassiter to his car, and Juliet toward the ally.

She looked up and down, left and right, but the only thing that stuck out to her, still, was how abnormally dark the ally was. The more she thought about it, the more she saw that the back of the ally was where it was darkest. She took a few steps forward and reached for the wall. It was probably nothing, but she placed her hand on the wall anyway. Except, there was no wall. When she reached out, all her hand touched was air. She stuck both hands out, and still felt nothing.

"Guys!" she yelled, just before Lassiter and Henry had closed the car doors. They came right away and she directed them to the wall. "Look," she as saying. "There's nothing there."

"Some sort of hidden passage?" Henry wondered out-loud.

"Do you think it'll lead us to Shawn?" Lassiter asked.

Something nearby began to hum quietly.

"Only one way to find out," said Juliet.

She and her partner both pulled out their weapons and slowly ventured into the darkness, Henry at their heels. The moment Juliet's whole body passed through, she was surrounded by blinding light, moving her forward, faster and fast, until she stopped suddenly. Her feet touched solid ground and she nearly bumped into Carlton, and Henry came bumping into her from behind.

She looked around, jaw gaping, at the enormous stone castle that stood before them. It was at least five, or six, stories high, with too many towers and rooms to count. It was surrounded by dense foliage—trees, bushes, and other plants—but the most extraordinary thing was the air. As they breathed in, they felt energy surging through them, clear and clean. It seemed to help their minds focus; helped to clear their thoughts.

"What the..." Carlton breathed. "Come on. We can't let anyone see us." He ducked behind one of the nearby trees and motioned for Juliet and Henry to follow.

"Where the heck are we?" Henry asked quietly.

"You're asking me?" Juliet replied.

"We can sort out the details later. Right now, we should scope this place out, see if Spencer is here," said Lassiter. He held is gun up again and began to lead the group through the brush and around the castle. Soon, they found themselves in one of Avonlee's gardens, surrounded by flower beds and manicured topiaries.

There wasn't much nearby, just a stone bench sitting under a large tree, and past that, a small stream cutting through the grass. Overall, this was a very secluded spot, but further in, closer to the castle, they could see several people dressed in white clothing.

"We can't exactly sneak in," said Juliet. "How are gonna do this?" She looked to Lassiter or Henry for an answer, but both of them were staring out at the garden. "What?" She asked quietly, then she turned to look at what they were so fixated on.

Coming down the garden path, dressed in white, carrying a notebook, was Shawn Spencer. He walked over to the stone bench and sat down, beginning to scribble in his notebook. He looked so calm and at ease, it was almost like he was another person. Juliet silently hoped that they hadn't erased his memory and called out, in a loud whisper, "Shawn