Chapter 2

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The town was quaint and very welcoming, it looked as if it was pulled straight from an old movie. Houses lined the street, painted in soft yet bright colours and edged with white borders. Not a single lawn was unkept and little figurines and windmills were spotted about the grass. As the librarians strolled down the red-bricked road, they were met by smiling strangers that waved at them pleasantly.

"This is so creepy. Why do they keep doing that?" Jones asked, a shiver running down his spine.

"It's just that kind of neighbourhood, Jones. Where people are friendly even with complete strangers." Baird replied as her eyes roamed around, probably searching for threats. "Let's go in there while we figure out our next step." She pointed to a brightly lit diner with a horribly inaccurate 50's theme. The others then nodded and followed her inside.

Sliding into the baby blue booth, Stone began talking about the case. "From what I understand, the lady and her child were pretty ordinary and nobody around here disliked her. So, if she was targeted for this, I can't see a reason why."

"Could it be someone connected to them? The kid's dad maybe?" The guardian suggested whilst the others pondered over their milkshakes and burgers.

"According to this," Jones held up his phone waving it so the others would take notice. "The dad is loaded. He owns some big pharmaceutical company and even has his own wing at the local hospital. With money like that, he's bound to have made some enemies along the way."

"Yeah, but why would they go after his ex-wife and kid?" Cassandra chimed in. "If he's the target I mean."

"The gossip around town suggests that the man loves his kid a lot, and he's still good friends with his ex. They probably think they can get some money out of him by threatening the two of them." Stone leaned back in his seat; the freezing cold drink left untouched in front of him. "That still doesn't explain the cow and calf they found at the scene."

"Some kind of warning." The witch replied, but she wasn't too confident with the response.

"Maybe... Weird thought," the historian sat upright, his eyes unfocused as if he was looking inwards. "What if they're the missing people."

"Say what?" Baird asked, her expression read as both perplexed and amused.

"The cow and its calf, what if they're the mum and kid? What if someone turned them into cows and just left them there?"

"Why does that sound familiar?" Jones asked himself, the rest of the team unaware of what he'd said.

"It would explain why the clippings book sent us." Baird was just starting to come round to the idea. "We don't usually cover regular old kidnapping cases." She turned to look at the librarian in charge. "What's the plan now then, Stone?"

"Me and Cas will check out the police station, see if they have any leads, whilst you and Jones go to the dad." Jake started to make his way to the door when the guardian's strong grip stopped him.

She pulled Stone's wrist until he sat back down. "Woah, how about you and me go see the cops while those two speak to the dad."

"Why? Thought you would want one of us to keep an eye on Jones." He looked past the offended thief and over to the redhead standing next to him. "No offence Cas, he can be a lot to handle and sometimes you go soft on him."

"He can't do much harm around here, there are no museums and the bank's so small it would just bore him." She let a sly grin slip through the crack before turning back to the historian. "Besides, I want to keep an eye on you while your head is hurting."

"Who said my head was hurting?" It was, but he thought he'd been hiding it pretty well.

"You, you've been rubbing at your temples this whole time. And I know it's not brain freeze because you haven't touched your milkshake."

Jake fell backwards into his seat. "Fine." His eyes rolled but he wouldn't try changing her mind. There was no point in arguing with the guardian, they'd had this confrontation many times and the librarian was still yet to win once.

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"Do you ever have weird dreams?" The red-headed librarian asked as she and Jones walked swiftly down the path. They were heading to the north end of the town to meet with the missing child's father, making idle gossip as they travelled.

"Since starting this job... Hell yeah." He quirked a small smile at his colleague before continuing on. "With everything we see on a daily basis, it's no wonder that Stone's head is so messed up. Ever since we rescued that Phoenix last week, I've had this recurring dream about waking up to find all my underwear has been burnt. I mean who knew that fire birds could be so sensitive."

"Yeah, me too. I just wondered if there was more to it with Jake, what with Eve being so concerned." She started chewing on her lower lip, big baby blue eyes slowly rising to meet dark brown ones. "Do you think there's something wrong with him?"

"Nah," he waved off her worries with a quick flick of his hand. "She's just being Baird. You know how protective she gets of us, especially Stone. I'm pretty sure she sees him as a little brother that she has to look out for. And ever since he got that head injury a couple of weeks back, she's gone overboard with the mothering."

Jones paused noticing that they'd reached their destination. Standing by a white picket fence that lined a large perfectly cut lawn, the librarians waited so they could finish their conversation.

"But it's weird though, that he keeps dreaming about this guy. Slotting him into our old missions as if he was there."

"Yeah, I guess." He stretched his words as he thought over them some more. "Baird's probably right. He's just stressed and his mind is compensating for it by giving him an escape. You said it yourself, that some nightmares are caused by mental health disorders, I bet stress is a cause too."

"Yeah, your right." She pushed open the gate and made her way through with Jones following closely behind. "He just needs a break. Maybe he can take a week off, we can cover the library for a little while."

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At the local police station, Stone and Baird were waiting to meet with Deputy Myres. They'd been placed on a couple of chairs just outside his office, where two young constables sat staring at the newcomers. Jake tried to avoid their eyes, lowing his head as he rubbed the ache at the base of his skull.

"So, did the headaches ever go away?" She shifted to face the librarian, sending him an accusing look as she turned. "You said you were fine after the accident, but this doesn't look fine."

Stone sighed, he didn't know what to say, but staying silent would just aggravate matters. "Look, I got checked out after the lake incident, didn't I. And the scans revealed no brain or skull injury, they said the headaches and dizziness were probably due to a concussion." He threw his head back, trying to ignore the way it made his head rush. "And yes, the headaches did go away, this now is completely unrelated." He closed his eyes, hoping for a reprieve from the constant pounding inside his head.

"Then what is the cause?" The guardian moved a little closer, her hand coming to rest on the historian's shoulder. "I'm worried for you Jake. I've seen you poppin' those pills for the last three days and they don't seem to be helping you much."

He peeked open his eyes, looking over at the guardian and noticing the concerned look on her face. "I just need a proper night's sleep. These dreams have been waking me up nearly every hour and now the exhaustion is just catchin' up on me. I was gonna ask Jenkins to make me one of those draughts to help me to sleep."

He didn't hear Baird's response; he was too distracted by a man walking through the station's door. He was a tall man, clean-shaven and wearing an expensive-looking jacket. Behind him came two scruffy-looking mutts that walked close to his heels.

"I'm here to report a missing person case, two actually. Both of my brothers have disappeared and I want Deputy Myres to help me find them." The man's loud and authoritative voice lured the deputy out of his office and over to the front desk. "Deputy Myres, my brothers have gone missing. I checked their house and all I found were these two dogs that won't stop following me." He pointed his thumb at the black and brown dogs that were whining at his feet.

"Ricky," The deputy said his name like it was a disappointment to him. "Your brothers are a lost cause; they always have been. Let me guess, you lent them money again, even though they'll just blow it all like that last three times."

"Yeah, I gave them money, but they're my brothers, what was I meant to do?" His shoulders slumped in defeat as he placed his hands into two deep pockets.

"Cut them off, it's what they deserve after what they did to you."

The two dogs started barking and snarling at the deputy, lifting their noses to the air and showing dangerously sharp teeth.

"I forgave them for trying to rob me, they were just desperate."

Myres shook his head. "You're a good man, Ricky. Too good."

The poor man's story reminded Jake of something, but he couldn't for the life of him, think of what. It would soon come to him, plus it probably wasn't that important anyway.