WARNING: Dark themes ahead.

Chapter 7: A Terrifying Truth

Rachel was in town with Leo and Emma as they were grabbing some things for their father and Lance was with them, having put on his human disguise. As they had just finished getting what Balan had asked them to get, a police car drove up to them and a policeman got out, looking right at them and he walked up to them. "Rachel Jacksmith?" He asked.

She blinked, having not used that last name in a long time. "Yes, officer?" She asked. "How can I help you?"

He looked relieve it was her. "You might not remember me, but my dad worked on your case after your dad died," he said.

She gasped. "Detective Raver?" She asked in surprise.

He smiled. "Sergeant, actually," he gently corrected. "But that's not why I'm here."

"Why are you here then, Sergeant?" Lance asked. "What do you want with my niece?"

Sergeant Raver looked worried now. "Rachel, I'm sorry to dread up bad memories, but you remember your grandmother, right?"

Rachel's eyes widened. "Y-Yes?" She said.

He looked more worried. "She's trying to have you put in jail again," he said.

"Again?" Lance asked, looking at his niece, who looked a bit upset by this news.

"Where is she now?" The seventeen-year-old asked.

"She's at the courthouse now," the policeman said. "My dad, who's the commissioner now, asked me to find you and bring you to the station for your safety."

Emma and Leo looked worried and Rachel turned to them. "Uncle Lance, please take Emma and Leo back home," she said. "I have to go with Sergeant Raver."

Lance looked like he was about to argue that, but just then, a car came up and a woman jumped out. "There she is!" She screamed out. "You little brat! You'll pay for my son's death!"

Sergeant Raver quickly ushered Rachel to his car and she got in quickly, turning to look back at the others. "I'll be alright!" She called out. "Tell Dad!"

Lance nodded and quickly got Emma and Leo to an alleyway where he teleported them to the theater. Balan looked up in surprise at seeing them appear suddenly and the two fifteen-year-olds ran up to him, hugging him. "What's wrong, my dears?" He asked. "And where is your sister?"

"She's at the police station, Balan," Lance said. "Rachel's grandmother apparently thinks Rachel is guilty in the case of her father's death and is looking to have her put in jail."

The Maestro of Positivity felt his blood run cold. "What?" He asked.

"It's not the first time she's tried," Emma said. "Not long after Leo and I met Rachel, that lady came to the orphanage and tried to have Rachel arrested, but the police refused, sticking with the ruling that she was innocent, but that lady kept on insisting she wasn't."

Balan blinked as he tried to make sense of it before shaking his head. "A grieving mother so distraught that she refuses to believe that her son abused her granddaughter and his death was accidental," he said.

"A policeman came up to us and not long after, that woman came up and she was screaming at Rachel, Dad," Leo said.

The white-suited being hugged them close. "Emma. Leo, I want you both to stay at the theater at all times until this matter is settled," he said seriously. "It would be awful if that woman tried to get to you both as well."

They nodded in agreement, not seeing Midnight listening by the door and the purple-haired costume made up her mind, quickly heading out and going invisible before heading for the police station.

Meanwhile...

The Sergeant brought Rachel to the very top floor of the station and ushered her into an office where a man stood up from his desk. It may have been a few years since the teenager had seen him, but she could never forget him. He smiled as he saw her, but his smile was sad. "Hello, Rachel," he said. "I'm so sorry, youngin'."

She smiled at the term of endearment, remembering when she first met him, he called her that and it made her feel safe around him. "Commissioner Raver," she said with a nod of respect.

"That woman came up to us, Dad," the Sergeant said. "Rachel was with her uncle and siblings, but the uncle got the siblings to safety."

"Good," the commissioner said, looking relieved. "We don't need to have her kidnap two innocent kids just to get Rachel in prison."

"I thought she was under protective custody?" Rachel said, recalling he had told her that.

"She was, but apparently she convinced them to take a look at the case again and is claiming to have more evidence that you did kill your birth father," Sergeant Raver said. "But the video from the case was quite clear. Even I remember it and it's been years."

"Cases like these don't leave your mind easily," the commissioner said.

Rachel nodded before looking earnest. "Commissioner, may I call my father?" She asked. "He'll be worried about me."

"Of course," he said, putting the telephone in front of her and she quickly called the number Balan had given her to contact him.

Hearing the phone ring, Balan picked it up. "Good afternoon?" He greeted.

"Dad, it's me."

Hearing his eldest daughter's voice filled him with relief. "Are you alright, little one?" He asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm with the commissioner and his son," she said. "Did Uncle Lance make it with Emma and Leo to the theater?"

"Yes," he replied. "My dear, I'm guessing your grandmother doesn't want to accept that you're not at fault."

She nodded. "I was hoping to not bring this down on you too, Dad," she said. "It was already a lot piled on you when you learned about my PTSD."

"My little one, I promised to always be there for you and I wouldn't give up on you," Balan reminded her gently. "I'm not about to break that promise."

Rachel felt tears sting her eyes. "You really are the greatest Dad ever," she said before clearing her throat. "My grandmother has never liked me and it was because she didn't like my mom. She would always insist that my birth dad leave her in the dust, but he refused. And when I was born and Mom died, she turned her hatred towards me. My birth dad defended me from her until that day I told you I began to look more like my mom and that's when the trouble started. She claims I killed him because I wanted to, but I didn't, Dad. I just wanted him to stop pointing the gun at me and threatening me."

"I know," the entertainer cooed soothingly over the line to her. "So you've never had a good relationship with her?"

"No," she replied, tears beginning to fill her eyes again.

The Sergeant came up to her and he handed her a case file, one she saw was about her mother and she saw it was marked 'open'. She looked at the Commissioner, who looked saddened again.

"We are not completely sure, but we believe your grandmother might have had something to do with your mom's death," he said. "She mentioned once how she had gotten rid of your mother and she'd do the same to you."

Balan's eyes widened as he heard that. "My dear, can you put me on the speakerphone?" He asked.

"Yes, Dad," she said, finding the button and pushing it. "Okay, you're on, Dad."

"Sir, did I hear you properly in saying that this woman mentioned she got rid of my daughter's mother?"

"Yes, sir," the Commissioner replied. "To be honest, I felt that Rachel's mother's death was a homicide and not accidental."

"What do you believe that, Dad?" The Sergeant asked.

"The evidence didn't add up."

Rachel looked at him in confusion and he looked at her. "Rachel, do you remember if your mom ever took medicine?" He asked her.

The teen fell into thought before her eyes widened. "No, but my birth dad did," she said. "I remember Mom telling me not to touch the green bottle if I saw it because it contained my birth dad's medicine and I wasn't to touch it. If I found it, I was to tell them right away."

"What kind of medicine was it?" Balan asked curiously.

"Mom said it was to keep my birth dad sane," Rachel remembered. "Because he could...he could sometimes forget he was home and he'd do stuff."

"Like what?" The Sergeant asked, writing down the teen's statements.

She thought back on one memory that stuck with her and she swallowed hard, her breathing becoming a bit labored. "My dear, do you have your herbs with you?" Balan asked, realizing his daughter was starting to get stressed out and possibly go into a panic attack.

"No, I don't," she said, taking a deep breath to try and calm down.

"Deep breaths, my little one," he soothed and she managed to pull herself together, but she looked worried.

"I was playing in my room with my blocks," she said. "I was trying to make a city in my room." She paused before taking a deep breath and letting it out. "All of a sudden, Mom came in and she was hurt. She had a huge bruise on her face near her eye and there was a cut on her arm, but it wasn't deep. Still, she kneeled in front of me and told me that I had to help her. When I asked her what I could do, she told me to go bring her the green bottle with my birth dad's medicine. I reminded her that I couldn't touch it because she told me not to and she told me that she needed me to bring it to her just this one because it would save her husband's life.

"Well, any loving daughter wants her parents to be safe, so I did as she asked me to. Mom got the medicine in a syringe that is used to deliver medicine by mouth and she tackled my birth dad, who was yelling and she gave him the medicine, to which he calmed down. It really scared me and my mom told me that she hoped I'd never have to witness that again."

The Comissioner looked sympathetic. "How old were you when this happened?" He asked.

"I was three years old," Rachel said. "It was in October, because I remember seeing Halloween decorations."

She then looked at them. "I...I did hear a scream one night, after Mom had put me to bed. It sounded like her, but when I tried to find her, I saw a shadow, but nothing was there. Scared, I ran to a neighbor's house since my birth dad wasn't home and they let me stay in the house with them and called the police. That was when a policeman told me that my mom was gone."

"I remember that case," the Sergeant said. "It shook the whole community on how someone who had no enemies was murdered."

"Some good men retired that day, as Rachel's mother was well liked in the community," the Commissioner said.

Rachel looked up at them. "Do you think...my grandmother might have killed my mom and is trying to either have me killed or go to jail because of her hatred for my mom?"

"A bitter mother-in-law who feels she knows best and then sees her granddaughter looks much like her mother," Balan said, a sad note in his voice. "It sounds like she took her motherly love very seriously and sadly went about showing it the wrong way."

"Sir, I assure you, my dad and I will protect your daughter with our lives," the Sergeant said.

Just then, a knock came at the door and the Commissioner opened it to see a strange woman with purple hair on the other side. "Is Rachel here?" She asked.

Recognizing the voice, Rachel stood up. "Midnight? Is that you?" She asked.

The Commissioner let the costume in and the teen ran up to her, hugging her and Midnight hugged her back. "Midnight?" Balan asked.

"I'm here, Balan," she said. "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't stand by after I heard what happened. I also brought Rachel's herbs."

"Thank you, my dear," he said, sounding relieved. "With you and our two policeman friends guarding Rachel, her grandmother should have no chance at getting to her."

"She won't, sir," the Commissioner said.

Rachel and her father talked for a bit longer until she hung up the phone and looked at her three guardians. "What do we do?" She asked.

"It's a waiting game now," the Sergeant said. "But don't worry. We've got people everywhere. And hopefully your grandmother will slip up and give us a chance to arrest her and prevent her from ever again getting to you."

The teen swallowed hard as the Commissioner asked his son to get them some lunch and Midnight hugged Rachel. "It's going to be okay, Rach," she said softly. "This nightmare will soon be over. I promise."

At the theater, Lance gathered up his Negati. "That woman has gone after one of our own," he said, a glare coming to his face. "No one hurts my niece and gets away with it."

With that, he formed a plan, because just like Balan, he wasn't going to give up on Rachel.

She needed her family now more than ever.

So, yes. Apparently there is a bit more than meets the eye. Will the mystery be solved? Stay tuned. :)

And please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418