Author note: Okay, I know everyone has been waiting, so I'm posting this chapter. But, please be aware that I continue to edit chapters after they are posted and this one will be the same.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that is recognizable in this fanfiction story. The Midnight, Texas series belongs to Charlaine Harris.
Chapter6 – Blinded By the Light
"Tonight is the full moon," said Winnie as she came up to the black clad man sitting in the front pew.
He turned to her with a small smirk. "I know."
Chuckling, she glanced at her feet before looking back up and swiping away a stray ruby curl from her eyes, "Of course you do, but I was wondering…if you wouldn't mind some company?"
"Winifred—" he started his voice sounding taken aback.
"No, no," she quickly interrupted, "I just mean, hanging around outside. You know, keeping an eye on things."
Features tense, he asked, "Is this one of your 'feelings'?"
The redhead pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and responded with a reluctant nod.
Standing, he stepped closer and placed his hands on her shoulders while giving the psychic a reassuring smile. "I couldn't ask for better company, but you must promise to stay safe."
She smiled brightly at him before happily responding, "I promise."
There was shouting down the road, but the gypsy girl couldn't make out the words from where she sat outside the church. Several howls started up, seconds later, Winnie glared as she saw a group of kids enter Fiji's yard and start throwing things around.
When Fiji came out, the teens ran away from her house and towards the pet cemetery, which was close to where Winnie sat next to the cellar doors.
"Cherry-popping time, Aerin," one of the boys told the only female in their group.
"You know, it's okay. You go ahead. This place kind of creeps me out," she replied.
"I suggest you stop," Winnie told them coming out of the shadows, "Property damage is a small thing, but you don't want to mess with animal spirits. They haunt those who disturb them, relentlessly. You might lose an arm."
"Whatever, bitch," one of the boys said, "You can't do anything to us."
She grinned dangerously, "Who said I was going to do anything?"
There was a deep growl from the other side of the cemetery and a large dark shape pulled away from the other shadows. They didn't know what was coming towards them but the teens didn't wait to find out as they quickly ran away.
The girl screamed as she stepped on a dead opossum and then jumped when the tiger in the cellar started banging against the doors.
The psychic watched as the teen girl ran away.
Suddenly, there was a strong nudge from behind which almost knocked the redhead over, and caused her to laugh.
"Yes, you did a good job, buddy," she said to the hulking figure behind her. Then her brows knit in confusion, "but whatever I'm feeling isn't them. Ugh, this is frustrating."
After the sun came up, Winnie removed the lock and chain on the doors before walking into the restaurant for a cup of coffee, and then getting a refill.
Going back to the church with a third mug-ful of coffee, she leaned against the building to wait.
"Good morning," she greeted when the reverend exited the cellar.
She had taken to mentally referring to the weretiger by his title when he was dressed in black, or they were in public, to keep herself from jumping him. The plan was working so far, resulting in her having mixed feelings about how well it worked.
"It's a little messy out here," she commented and silently added, ' but the view just got a whole lot better, literally a sexy beast.'
"I see that," he said, looking around at the dead insects and small mammal.
"Animals are a part of nature," the gypsy said as she handed him her mug, "The presence of Evil harms nature. It's affecting you too."
"Yes," he admitted and took a drink if the bitter brew, "That's why the full moon is even more dangerous now than before."
She just smiled and took the mug back before taking a sip. "I'm being careful," she told him indulgently and then looked at the ground, "We should grab a broom."
He shook his head. "I've got this, and you should go eat, I'll join you after. Did you sleep?"
"Mm, I took a nap. But don't worry, it's been hard to sleep lately anyway," she replied before adding, "I'll see you inside." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she left.
Inside the restaurant she stopped at the bar to place her order before heading to the Midnighters Room. A short time later, her brother joined her, taking a seat across the table.
"You look like you didn't sleep," he observed.
"You look like you have a headache," she stated. The siblings shared tired smiles.
"Touché. More spirits have been showing up lately. It's crowded…weird," Manny told her.
Winnie nodded, "There's a lot of bad vibes, that's for sure."
He nodded in agreement. "Listen, about Creek staying at our place…"
"Don't worry, things are a little awkward but it'll work out. Besides, I'm not going to get in the way, I've got the RV. You guys are in a relationship and I'll respect that, as long as you do the same."
"Deal," he told her with a grin. "So, how are you and the Rev?"
A small affectionate smile bloomed on her face. "We're good. He's sweet and kind, and we're both happy taking things slow."
"Good," her brother said, "but I can tell there's something bugging you."
"It's just," she hesitated, "These feelings I've been getting lately…I'm worried."
"Me too," he acknowledged.
Their food arrived together and Winnie started to eat but Manny paused to dig out his pills.
"I'm running low," he said.
"Same here," she admitted quietly.
Manny took one of the pills and looked up just as the reverend approached them.
The older man took the chair at the end of the table between Manny and Winnie. He folded his hands on the table in front of him before speaking, "Good morning, Manfred. How was your night?"
The brunette hesitated for a moment. "Good, and yours?"
"Mine wasn't great either," was the knowing replied. Winnie placed her left hand over his.
The male psychic scoffed and spoke quietly, "Yeah, full moon last night."
The reverend looked down at his hands and moved them to surround the redhead's hand in a warm grip before he spoke, "My wereself…it's hungry."
"Every day, I see more and more spirits," the medium said, "Feels like something weird is going on."
Winnie felt the hand covering hers twitch, and she took a sip of her coffee unable to look her brother in the eye at that moment. They sat in silence as the two psychics ate but neither was able to finish their meal.
"Excuse me," a voice said from the door.
Winnie looked up and saw one of the teens from last night. She pulled her hand back, physically retreating, and wrapped both hands around her mug which she then brought to her mouth without taking a sip.
The teen kept talking, "My friend was in here last night—uh, Aerin," he pulled out his phone to show them a picture of himself and the mentioned girl, "Her mom called and said that she didn't make it home, and, uh, have you seen her? We're pretty worried about her."
"I'm sorry, no," Manny told the boy.
"Neither did I," the Rev said, "However, I did see my cemetery was vandalized. You weren't here with your friend, were you?"
"Uh, no, no I—I don't know anything about that," the youth denied.
The reverend and male psychic shared a look, "Maybe my friend Manfred here could help. He's…intuitive."
"No, stop, stop right there. Don't use that witchy crap on me. It was a mistake asking you people." The young man started to say as he moved toward the door.
"Sure was, 'cause this 'bitch' can't do anything, right?" Winnie said while staring at the boy over her mug, and watched as the teen's eyes widened when he realized who she was. Then the teen was gone.
"You people?" Manny asked.
"He's inconsequential," the other man told the siblings, "What is a problem is that there's another missing girl."
Manny's face grew worried.
"I'll let the others know to meet us at the church."
The brunette nodded as he got up, "Right, I'll tell Creek to take a break."
After the other man left the room the black clad man turned to the woman next to him. "There was something significant in what you told that young man," he voiced.
"He was here last night. He and his friends were…rude," she told him.
"Why didn't you tell me," he asked, eyes showing concern and just a hint of anger.
She shook her head, "Because it was nothing, I've been called worse," she placated. "I'm fine."
He wasn't reassured by her words but let the conversation drop as he began to call the others.
"Hopefully she's just out partying," Creek said once they were all gathered and the others had been informed about the missing girl.
Winnie frowned and quietly uttered, "If that were the case, she would be partying with her friend."
"Yeah, and not laying in a ditch somewhere," Olivia added.
"Still, we should try and find her," Bobo said.
"What if…" Fiji spoke up hesitantly, "something else is going on? Something supernatural?"
Creek turned to her boyfriend, "Manfred, you've been seeing an uptick in ghosts, right?"
"Seeing and hearing, everywhere," he confirmed, "Psychic energy's off the charts."
"And I've been finding dead animals and bugs on Witch Light Road," the reverend added as he looked at Joe.
Winnie was the only one who understood Joe's sudden nervousness.
"Shouldn't we focus on finding the girl?" the tattoo artist questioned, "I'm gonna head out to the ranches." He swiftly left after making his declaration.
"Creek and I'll take the back woods," Manny offered and the two left behind Joe.
There was unease as Bobo looked to Fiji but it was cut when Olivia spoke, "Bobo, you're with me."
"Rev, you and I can look in town," Fiji suggested.
Said man glanced to the redhead beside him, who gave him a smile and nodded her head slightly in the other woman's direction. 'Go,' she mouthed.
Winnie was the only one left in the building and she sighed. Hoping to catch up with Olivia and Bobo, she started to leave and was hit with a vision. Images flashed in her mind; bright headlights coming toward her; a figure silhouetted in light; she was suddenly consumed by terror; and then the vision ended.
The sudden vision left her wrong footed and she crashed into one of the pews. She was suddenly struggling to catch her breath and swallow the foreign feeling that had caused her heart to race.
She took a moment to collect herself before pushing away from the bench and leaving the church. She felt a twinge in her side and knew she would have a bruise later.
Thankfully she was able to catch up to Olivia and Bobo before they left; unfortunately, it wasn't long after that Manny called to tell them he had found a body.
Winnie stood behind her brother as he crouched over the dead girl, the others stood a few feet away. She winced as her brother touched the dead body.
"If you're here, please make yourself known."
"Her name's Tiffany," Olivia reminded the male psychic.
"Right, Tiffany." He agreed before trying to address the girl's spirit, "We met on the vampire bus. You were donating blood."
"She was killed a while ago," Bobo observed.
"Yeah, a lot of things were killed here," Creek said her face scrunching up in disgust.
"Tell me what happened. We need to stop whoever did this to you," Manny continued.
"Oh, you poor thing, you were just dumped out here like garbage."
Olivia scoffed, "Yeah, she survived a vampire bus for this."
Manny shook his head. "I'm not getting anything," he told them as he stood up, "Her spirit's not here. It moved on, which is a good thing, the natural order. Spirits that stay are unsettled, unhappy."
"This is another Aubrey," Bobo told them.
"We don't know that," Olivia denied.
The pawn shop owner nodded, "Yeah, I do. Lowry didn't kill Aubrey. I know I didn't. Someone else dragged her body to the river, left her to die. Same person who did this."
"Should we call the authorities?" Creek wondered aloud, when Olivia and Bobo turned to her she went on, "In case someone is looking for her—"
"No, Tiffany fell of the grid long before she got to Midnight," The blonde woman stated firmly.
Bobo spoke next, "We need to find who did this. Deal with it ourselves."
"Which means, what exactly?" Manny asked him.
"We'll decide the punishment when we find out who's doing this," Olivia responded. "For now, let's just go look for the other girl."
Bobo's words were half-sarcastic, "Fingers crossed we find her before the cops start digging."
"Hey, guys, I need to head back to town," Winnie told the others.
Her brother looked at her in curiosity, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just not feeling too good."
Creek offed, "I needed to stop by my house anyway, so you can head back with us."
"Thanks," Winnie told the girl with a half-smile, but the feeling in her gut was making her anxious.
Winnie went with Creek and Manny to the waitress's house.
"So you just wanna check on Connor?" Manny asked as they quickly headed inside.
"I just wanna let him know what's going on," the waitress replied as she opened the door and called out, "Connor, you here?" She went into the back rooms and Manny closed the door after his sister entered.
"He'd call you if something was wrong."
"Yeah, or he'd heep quiet and protect my dad," she countered. "It's the Lovell way. I'm gonna check out back."
In the quiet, the psychics started hearing muffled sounds. Manny quickly took one of his pills while Winnie shook her head trying to will away the noise.
"Oh, great. You," the waitress's father said coming into the room. "What are you doing here?"
"Mr. Lovell, I'm here with Creek." Manny explained.
"Where is she?" her father asked.
Manny sniffed, catching the same scent of alcohol as his sister but he was the only one who commented on it.
"Starting early, huh?"
Mr. Lovell punched Manny in the face and loomed over the psychic who had fallen to the floor, "You come in my house, and I'm supposed to explain myself to you?"
Winnie wasn't surprised when the man hit her brother, she was mad, and if Creek hadn't come in she would have decked the girl's father.
"Are you kidding me? You're hitting him now?" Creek said to her father before asking her boyfriend, "You okay?"
"I'm fine, yeah."
"We're looking for Connor," she told her father.
"Well, he's not here," the man replied.
Creeks started shaking her head before she spoke, "Just because I'm not here all the time doesn't mean I'm not watching out for him."
"Get him out of my house."
Creek gave her father a disgusted look before she and the twins left.
They made their way down the street on foot.
"There, I texted Connor. Warned him Dad's hammered," Creek announced as they got closer to the church.
"What are you thinking?" Manny asked.
"I'm thinking I should've kept lying. I thought he could handle me having a life, but, boy, was I wrong."
"Any luck?" the Rev questioned as he approached them.
"No, we searched the river, fields by the Gas & Go—no luck." Manny informed him.
"Fiji and I searched the town," the black clad man told them.
"Well, should we check the road to Davy?" Creek asked.
"Hey, I'm seeing a lot of ghosts these days, so I'm not sure, but…Is someone out there?" Manny said looking out past the church yard.
The others also saw the person and squinting Creek recognized the person walking towards town, "Connor!"
When they reached him they saw that he was dirty and bleeding.
"Oh my god," Creek exclaimed before asking, "what happened?"
But Connor quickly fell unconscious and Manny caught him. The Rev helped carry him over to Winnie and Manny's as the two women followed. On their way Fiji saw and joined them.
Inside the house Creek and Fiji started to take care of the young man and Manny waited.
Winnie had stopped inside the door to the house and the Rev passed her on the way out. She followed him outside.
"You should know I had a vision," she said quietly.
He stopped and turned to her. "When was this?" he asked.
"After everyone left the church, I was still inside and it suddenly hit," she looked at her hands and began threading her fingers together, "It caught me a little off guard, the emotional feedback was intense."
His warm brown eyes filled with concern and he came closer to her taking her hands in his and soothing her fretting with soft strokes to her knuckles.
She continued talking as she remembered the things she had seen, "I saw four headlights. I think there was a pair mounted on the roof. I'm pretty sure it was a truck. Then a figure was standing in front of the light, but they were so bright I couldn't tell who. I'm only guessing, but it might have been male. It was like what happened to Aubrey but it wasn't her in the vision. I think it was the girl that went missing last night."
"Could you tell where it happened?"
She looked up at him and shook her head. "It was too dark, and she was too terrified to look away."
"We'll find her," he reassured pulling the redhead into his arms.
Winnie's brow knit. She leant back to look him in the face as she went on to say, "After we found the dead body in the woods, Creek pointed out that there were animal remains. Just like when Aubrey's body was found. That makes two sites where multiple animal remains were left to decay. An animal would have eaten what it killed," her voice lowered and was almost a whisper, "It can't be a coincidence, and if it's not a coincidence then it has to be a pattern. Seeing Aubrey's death and the attack on the missing girl…I believe there's a serial killer in Midnight."
He pulled her back in, tightening his embrace for a brief moment, before placing a kiss on her forehead. "I believe you. I have to go but I'll be back soon, let me know if you leave."
"Alright," she agreed as they pulled apart and he left.
Bobo showed up a little while after the reverend left and was standing outside the bathroom with Winnie, when Manny came back from the kitchen and Fiji came to talk to them.
"He's disoriented, might be a concussion," the witch informed them.
"Can I get you anything else?" Creek asked her brother from inside the room. They saw the boy shake his head.
Manny entered to hand the teen a bottle of water. "Connor…Um, you remember anything about the person who did this?"
"I—I went looking for the missing girl, and someone hit me from behind," the boy told them.
Manny turned to Bobo and said, "Same thing that happened to Aubrey."
"Are you sure it was human?" Fiji suddenly asked.
"What are you talking about?" Creek questioned the witch.
Bobo spoke, "What else would it be?"
Fiji hesitated, pursing her lips together before answering, "A demon."
Suddenly a loud knock at the door startled them.
"Oh!" Bobo exclaimed, he held up is hands to stall any panic and explained, "I called Lem." Then he left to answer the door.
Lem was unable to enter the house so everyone decided to go to the restaurant and use the Midnighters Room as a meeting place. Winnie shot a quick text to tell the reverend were to meet them.
Bobo, Manny, Winnie, Joe, Olivia, Lem, and Fiji were all in the room.
"I'm telling you, there's a demon," the dark-haired woman said, "I've been hearing it in my house. Manfred saw it too, when I cleansed his place."
Said medium used the hand that had been rubbing his forehead to gesture with an open palm as he spoke, "We banished it back to the other side of the veil."
Joe tried to redirect the conversation. "Shouldn't we be getting back to the girl?"
Winnie watched the blonde man start to bite his lip as Fiji continued to speak, and she gave his shoulder a brief, gentle squeeze.
"We thought we banished it, but what if that thing is what is doing this?"
"Demons are malevolent beings not of this Earth. The attack on Connor was downright sloppy—very human," Lem stated.
"Which means it's very solvable," Olivia explained, briefly opening her jacket to show the gun holstered under her arm.
"Wait, wait, there has to be something making me see ghosts everywhere and Fiji see demons and-," Manny said, but was interrupted by the door sliding open.
The reverend stood in the door way, but instead of his usual attire, he wore a black button up shirt, dark jeans, and a dark-blue jean jacket with a fuzzy white collar.
Winnie could hear her inner teenage girl squeal and declare, 'dry spell, over!'
Bobo went to close the door as the older man stepped inside.
Joe was the first to speak, "Rev?"
"Emilio," the man corrected with his eyes on the ground. When he looked up he continued, "I'm not here as a man of God. I'm a Midnighter and a friend."
Joe's hand rose to cover his mouth and he seemed to slouch even more into his seat. Winnie's eye glanced worriedly between them for a turn before she kept her eyes on the darker-haired man.
"I'm doing something wrong for reasons I believe to be right and I hope you will forgive me, but my conscience will not allow me to remain silent anymore," the weretiger went on to explain.
Lem stood with something like dawning realization on his face, and asked his old friend, "What's going on, Emilio?"
He shifted on his feet, hesitant, "You need to know that the veil between hell and Midnight is fraying. Evil energy is seeping out of the veil, affecting all of us and bringing out the darkness in us, as well as drawing evil to Midnight."
"Why are we just hearing about this now?" Fiji asked in an accusing tone, "I came to you."
"I was protecting my source," he replied.
"At my expense?" she asked, her voice emotional and angry, "There's a demon in my house, clawing me."
"Wait, clawing you?" Bobo asked, his voice full of concern as his body tensed. Fiji shot him a look and he looked away, "Are you okay?"
The witch turned to the weretiger, "Am I?"
He shook his head and answered honestly, "I don't know."
'Relax,' Winnie whispered in Joe's ear before speaking aloud.
"It'll get worse," the redhead stated.
Everyone turned to her, and she could see that most of the people in the room had just pegged her as the reverend's 'source'. Joe and Emilio were giving her surprised and knowing looks, respectively.
"I mean, just think about what's been happening lately. Vampires, a succubus, ghosts, demons and evil energies…there all signs pointing to things getting bad. And a psychic gypsy fortune-teller definitely knows how to read signs," she finished with a scoff.
"So there is a portal to hell opening in Midnight, a girl missing, and cops about to swarm if we don't find her," Manny summed up.
The weretiger and angel shared a look, before the former spoke up. "Two of those problems we can take care of right now if we find the girl," the dark-haired man said, "So, we need to keep looking."
"Alright," Manny agreed, "I guess that means we need to split up again."
"I remember you telling me you suspected someone other than the Sons of Lucifer for Aubrey's murder," Lem said to Winnie, as he and the twins made their way in the dark.
The redhead hummed an agreement, "Before, I thought if the gang had killed Aubrey they would have killed Bobo too, so there was either a reason they had left him alive or another killer," she shrugged, "Turned out to be both."
There was a long moment of silence until the brunette man spoke up, "Connor was attacked over there. I figured maybe I'd get a read on something."
Lem simply nodded in reply.
"What do you think about what the Rev said?" the male psychic asked the vampire.
"I'm curious who gave him the information," Lem answered, but for a second he glanced at Winnie. "I've been wondering why I've been so hungry lately."
"I'm not getting any readings."
"Not anything clear," Winnie added.
They paused and looked around before Lem said, "I am," he inhaled deeply and told them, "I smell blood." He pat Manny on the arm and started to walk in the direction they had been going, the siblings followed.
They rounded a large pile of timber and Manny's light fell directly on the startled face of Creek and Connor's father. In the man's arms was the missing girl.
Lem was suddenly there when the man started to run. "You're not going anywhere," the vampire growled and leeched the man's energy until the human fell unconscious.
Brother and sister rushed over to the girl, who coughed weakly.
Manny looked up at Lem. "She's alive."
Lem appeared relieved.
"We need to get her to Fiji," Winnie said looking at the weak state of the girl. She turned to Lem, "You can get her there the fastest. I'll call to let her know you're coming."
The vampire nodded and then looked down at the man on the ground, "I'll come back for him." The next moment the vampire and girl were gone.
"I can't believe Creek's dad is the killer," Manny told his sister.
"I don't know," she said looking confused while staring down at the unconscious man, "The picture I was drawing in my head…the killer was younger."
"What do you mean? Why?"
She looked at her brother and explained, "There's a reason stereotypes exist, and the stereotypical serial killer follows a pattern. The violence escalates, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly, but it usually starts out with violence against those the killer perceives as weaker than them. Usually it starts with cruelty towards animals during adolescence, until the killer believes themself to be mentally, and/or physically, mature enough to kill a human.
"The animal remains we found next to the bodies could mean those places were dump sites for the killer, which would mean the killer is either someone who lives here or frequently passes through. But, the fresher corpses of some of the animals made me think that the killer was young and only recently escalated to killing people.
"If my theory had been true than Mr. Lovell would be too old," she finished with a shrug.
Her brother didn't say anything as he seemed to think over what she had said before he replied, "I guess this time is different."
Lem returned and took the unconscious human, leaving the two psychics to make their way back on their own. When they got to the pawn shop the father was conscious but he wouldn't speak. Manny nodded to the exit and Winnie followed him outside.
On the sidewalk in front of their house, Manny turned to his sister.
He clenched his jaw and averted his gaze before looking Winnie in the eyes and speaking, "I need to tell Creek about her Dad."
Winnie gave him an understanding look. "Do you want me to go in with you?"
He shook his head and explained, "I think I need to do this alone."
"Okay, I'll go back," she said nodding to the pawn shop, "Keep an eye on things."
"Thanks," Manny told her and walked into the house.
Winnie silently observed things from the other side of the counter from where Mr. Lovell sat, duck taped to a chair.
Lem spoke as he stepped around the restrained man, "I always wondered what drove a man to move himself, his two children, somewhere so small and isolated. Most people wouldn't bring their families somewhere so remote…But I imagine you loved it," he growled the last sentence as he stopped in front of the human.
"We need to know for sure it's him," Bobo tried to reason, but the look on the shop owner's face told everyone he was seconds from violence.
"I found him with her," Lem said surely.
There was a pause, in which Bobo turned to Lovell, who glanced behind him at Olivia. The blonde shifted and looked down at the man.
Lem went on speaking to Lovell, "You're gonna tell me how many. How many girls have you killed?"
The man said nothing but his eyes moved away from the vampire.
"I will drain you if you don't tell me how many people you've killed," Lem said before flashing his fangs with a snarl.
Olivia grabbed the man by the hair and brought a knife to his throat.
"Stop," Manny called as he came into the shop and stopped between Bobo and his sister, "We're not torturing Creek's father."
"Why not?" Olivia questioned the medium. "He did worse to those victims, to his own son."
"And he brought law enforcement here. The man has endangered us all," Lem added.
"Doesn't mean we can act as judge, jury, and executioner," Emilio countered coming to stand beside Winnie and her brother.
"Oh, sure, we can," the blonde woman said with a humorless chuckle. "We're gonna do this the Midnighters' way," she tugged on the older man's hair and he winced, "swift and simple."
"There's nothing simple about this," the weretiger told her, then pointed his finger at Lovell, "This man should be locked away."
"Or we do to him what we did to the succubus, and Zach and the other vampires," Lem started to dispute, "End him."
Manny tried again. "Maybe it's the veil," he said before turning to Emilio, "You said the veil is making people give in to the darkness. Maybe that's why he's—"
"The veil can't make someone evil," the Were interrupted, "If he gave in to the darkness, it was already there inside him."
Manny's jaw clenched as he stepped closer to his girlfriend's father, "Creek is devastated. She needs to know why. Is that why you didn't want me around her? 'Cause you know I see the dead and they tell me things?"
The man remained silent.
Manny backed away with a look of realization, "He's hiding something."
"Where are you headed?" Lem asked when the male psychic started to leave.
Manny spoke over his shoulder as he answered but kept walking, "If he won't talk, maybe his victims will."
"Manny, I'm coming with you," his sister called out as she rushed to catch up before he left.
They exited the pawn shop and started down the road and the medium turned to his sister, "I thought you were going to keep an eye on things?"
"I was, but now I'm done. The room is split fifty-fifty and I'm the final vote, which isn't good because I don't even believe he's the killer," she told him.
"Well, looks like we're about to get some answers," Manny replied.
The brunette kicked in the door when they arrived and entered first. They paused and a moment later both psychics could hear noises coming from their right. Winnie followed her brother as the voices got louder and she started to make out whispered words and sobbing.
It got louder as they entered one of the bedrooms. The presence of spirits affected the two psychics. Manny reached for his head as he groaned in pain, and Winnie started to breath rapidly, the emotions flooding her senses were a chaotic mess of fear, pain and hopelessness, she raise a hand to press against her chest.
It only got worse as Manny knelt down to remove a vent cover on the floor. He reached in and pulled out a box and suddenly, blessedly, the voices and pain stopped.
Winnie finally felt the tears that had begun to run down her cheeks and she wiped them away before glancing around. She could tell that this was a teenagers room form the posters on the wall, and she glanced down at her brother who took a seat on the bed and cautiously raised the lid to the box.
Inside was a familiar mask and both siblings reached for it at the same time, and they were assaulted by visions. They looked at each other wide-eyed, alarmed by the realization of who the killer was.
"Is it him?" Manny asked the girl, showing her a picture he had taken off the wall of the Lovell home before coming to Fiji's, "Is he the one who hurt you?"
The girl looked at the photo of Connor and Creek, and nodded. "I tried to run away. But he found me."
"You're safe now. I promise," Fiji told her.
"He had a metal pipe," the girl continued, "He hit me with it, and I passed out."
Winnie stood next to the box that had been placed on the table and looked at its contents, but she never touched anything. Bobo stopped next to the box too, listening to the girl as he started looking at the things inside.
"But when he came back, I was ready for him, and I had a rock. And I hit him with it, hard, and then I just tried to get as far away from him as I could," the girl finished.
Manny went over to his sister and landlord. Bobo started to speak to the other man.
"I gave this to Aubrey," he said as he showed the siblings Aubrey's engagement ring.
"I need to tell Creek," Manny quietly informed the other two.
"I'll go with you," Bobo said.
Winnie was right behind them, "Me too."
"Be hard not to strangle him with my bare hands," Bobo said as he marched to the door of the siblings' home.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Manny said grabbing Bobo's arm and pulling him to a stop on the porch, "Creek's there. She's been through enough. Let's not make this harder on her than it has to be."
"I'll restrain myself in front of Creek," he replied.
Bobo continued and threw the door open as he stepped inside, only to find the house empty.
Manny went to the bedroom calling out, "Creek?" No answer so he tried again, "Creek?" another pause, "They're gone."
They left and returned to the pawn shop as Manny tried to get ahold of his girlfriend, "Creek, it's me. Call me back. I need to know where you are. Call me."
Hanging up, Manny went to the missing girl's father, "I need to know. Where would Connor go? Where would he take her?"
"I don't know. I really don't," Creek's father answered. Once he spoke he continued babbling, "Creek never understood why we couldn't have pets, but it wasn't fair to them. It made me sick, but Connor said that it was…fun. We took him to doctors. They wanted to put him away. I lost my wife. I couldn't lose him too."
"You put our home in danger," said the vampire.
"I never meant for that to happen. I'm here because it's isolated. You all, you can protect yourselves from him."
Bobo fisted his hands and spoke, "How about the ones who couldn't, hmm? Like Aubrey, Tiffany?" Manny held the angry man back.
"I tried to keep an eye on him. I found out about Aubrey too late. When I heard about the girl gone missing, I—I went out looking for her. I wanted to find her.
"He's got Creek," Manny told him.
"He wouldn't hurt her," the father denied.
"You sure about that," Olivia quietly asked while looking the man in the eye.
"Connor knew we'd discover the truth sooner or later," Winnie suddenly said but her eyes stayed glued to the sleeve of her brother's jacket beside her. "He's scared because he doesn't have anyone to help clean up his mess anymore, so he's running and he's got Creek."
Her eyes moved to bore into Lovell who flinched. "I'm against punishing the innocent, but you're not innocent," the redhead stated as the energy in the room changed and Mr. Lovell started to breathe harder.
"When I walked into your son's room, the souls of his victims were crying out," she said and began to walk towards the bound man. Each footstep echoed and was punctuated by her words as she seemed to stalk closer, "gasping...sobbing…screaming…pleading, for it to stop, so much fear and pain. If he gets away, your daughter is next. Just thought you should know," she whispered her next words into Lovell's ear, "because she's already lost to you, either way. Creek will never forgive you."
The man suddenly broke down into tears and uncontrollable sobs. He called out his children's names before repeatedly uttering the phases 'I'm sorry' and 'I don't know' over and over again.
Winnie straightened and headed for the door while speaking to the others. "I need some air," said the gypsy girl but she kept walking after she got outside.
She unlocked her trailer and unloaded her bike and helmet. She already had her riding jacket on; it had been getting cold enough that she had started wearing it most of the time. Locking it back and searching on her key ring for the engine key she saw Manny come around the corner.
Lem suddenly appeared in front of the brunette man and asked, "Manfred, where are you going?"
"Creek's in danger. I'm not waiting," he answered.
"So you're just gonna get in your RV and start driving!" Olivia shouted as she came after him.
Bobo was a step behind the blonde, and then Emilio came around the corner. Fiji came from the other direction.
"Yeah, until I find her," Manny told Olivia.
"Okay, you go south. I'll go north," Bobo suggested.
"What, they could be anywhere," Fiji protested.
"That's a lot of ground to cover," the weretiger added.
Winnie was watching from her place beside her bike and saw Joe unzipping his jacket with a resigned look.
"Am I supposed to hope that Connor will kill a stranger but not his sister?" Manny snapped but then he sounded lost, "Or just wait…just until we find her body somewhere?"
"No," the tattoo artist told him before taking off his shirt.
"Joe!" Winnie cautioned when she realized what her friend was doing.
"My goddess…Joe, what are you doing?" a puzzled Fiji asked.
There was the sound of popping joints as features started sprouting from the blonde man's back. Everyone simultaneously stepped closer, and Winnie pushed her bike around them toward the street until she stopped beside the angel.
"I can cover more ground from above," Joe said as he flexed his wings and then started running before his powerful wings lifted him into the sky.
Manny was the first one to speak after Joe left. "Was I the only one not in the loop?"
"Nope," Olivia replied.
Fiji said, "Did not suspect that."
"Well, that explains a few things." Lem added.
"So he's an…" Bobo started to ask.
"Angel," Emilio and Winnie said together.
The man finished by saying, "Joe is an angel."
Lem took off and Winnie grabbed Joe's discarded clothes before getting on her bike.
The weretiger noticed what the redhead was doing, "Winifred…" he didn't get a response as she stuffed the clothes inside her jacket and zipped it up, "Winifred."
"Winnie!" Manny called and his sister turned to him.
"What?"
"What are you doing?" he asked his sister.
"I'm going to help find them," was her reply as she went to put the key in her bike, but then it was suddenly pulled out of her hand. She turned to see the person that had taken her keys and found Emilio.
He backed away and she got off of the bike to follow him.
"Give me my key back," she demanded flatly.
He shook his head, "I can't do that. Joe and Lemuel will find the Lovell's. You should stay here."
She glared at him. "You can't just..." she started but her eyes glanced behind him and she gasped.
Everyone turned to see what had startled the female psychic and a second later a loud engine started. Everyone turned around to see Winnie speeding down the street on her motorcycle.
The weretiger glanced at his hand and found it empty.
Manny clasped him on the shoulder. "Don't feel bad, I fall for that one too."
By the time Winnie arrived, Connor was already dead. She handed over Joe's sweater and vest and the man got dressed.
Winnie faced the other girl and looked her in the eye. "I know your world's just been turned upside down, and you feel even more lost than you did before. Eventually it will lessen, just hang in there, and let me know if you think you can't. I'll help," she said sincerely.
Creek surprised the psychic when she hugged her and started crying. The waitress allowed herself a few minutes of crying before she dried her eyes and backed away.
"Thanks," Creek said quietly.
Winnie nodded, "Anytime."
"We should get back to Midnight," Lem told the others.
Creek cleared her throat and nodded before replying, "Right."
"You three should take the truck. I've got the bike," Winnie announced.
They agreed and it wasn't long after that they turned onto Witch Light Road and stopped in front of the group still outside the psychics' place, the motorcycle parking behind the truck.
When they exited the truck, everyone was looking expectantly at the three. Lem shook his head and Emilio lowered his. Olivia went to Lem and hugged him tightly, while Creek made her way to Manny who held her close.
Winnie came around the truck to join everyone. When the dark-haired Were spotted her, she gave him a wavering smile. He approached the redhead and pulled her into a kiss, his hands on her hips, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Oh my…" Fiji exclaimed with a blushing smile.
"Looks like tonight is just full of surprises," Bobo commented.
Joe was a little wide-eyed when he spoke, "I have to agree."
They broke the kiss, Winnie pressed her forehead against his as she spoke softly, "I hope I didn't worry you, too much."
"Only a little," he replied with a light chuckle, "I was more worried that you would be angry with me for taking your keys. You seemed upset before you left."
She leaned back. "And here I was worried you would be angry because I tricked you."
"Lesson learned, I'll have to be more alert around you," he stated.
"You really are amazing," remarked the redhead.
In the morning, the formerly missing girl was picked up by her mother outside of Fiji's. Winnie walked with Creek to the church for the service that Fiji was giving to the spirits of Connor's victims.
The Rev met them outside. "Creek your father is in the chapel and asked if I would pass on his request to speak to you," the man informed the waitress.
"I don't…" Creek started to say when Winnie spoke up.
"This isn't about your father, Creek," the gypsy girl told her, "You need closer. But if you're not ready that's fine. Take things at your own pace."
Creek nodded and pursed her lips before speaking, "You're right." She turned to head inside.
"Last night was a trying time for her," Emilio acknowledged as they watched the brunette woman leave.
"Yeah," Winnie agreed. She turned to look at the reverend. "You know, Reverend, I keep telling myself that it's not appropriate to kiss you when you're dressed like that."
"Holding hands," he gently took her hands and pulled her into his space, "and kissing, are things we have already done. There is no need for you to hold back," he told her, gently tilting her chin to place a kiss on her lips. He pulled back and moved to place an arm around her back as he gently coaxed her into walking with him. "In these, or any other clothes, I am the same man who has come to hold great affection for you. So, you should think of me as simply Emilio."
"Honestly, I'm falling for you hard. The only thing I'm holding back from is ripping off your clothes in front of our friends," she said and blushed when her eyes met his heated ones, "So, no more of this Winifred stuff. Everyone I care about calls me Winnie, and I'd feel a little," she held up her hand, thumb and pointer fingers less than an inch apart, "better if you did the same."
"Of course, Winnie," he replied with a lopsided grin.
They joined the small group that had gathered behind the church, and stood with their arms around each other. Fiji performed her ritual for the spirits and after that the group broke apart.
When the gypsy and reverend entered the church, they found Creek's father still inside.
"I'm going to need a minute," he told the redhead.
She nodded and gently rubbed his back before pulling away, "Okay. I'm going to go talk to Joe. I'll see you later."
Entering the tattoo shop, Winnie found it empty so she headed for the apartment above. She found Joe in his art studio and she walked in.
"That's as beautiful as it is terrifying," she commented as she gazed at the hellish scene on the canvas the blonde man sat in front of. "You're an amazing artist."
"Thank you," he said quietly.
"So the cat's out of the bag, huh? People know you're an angel."
"Look, I appreciate you trying to keep my secret, but the Rev was right, the others needed to know the truth."
"Right, the truth," she murmured and then questioned, "Chuy's been gone a lot lately, and it's because of the Veil, isn't it?"
She looked at him with a knowing gaze when the artist turned to her, a surprised look on his face, "What do you mean?"
Huffing out a humorless laugh she stated, "I'm an empath. I can feel it. The evil is growing. Things keep getting darker every day. And your husband is just as affected by the Veil as Emilio and Lem. I'm kind of relieved that he's not here. Chuy's kick ass but he's not really the fighting type, so it's better if he doesn't have to deal with this."
They lapsed into silence which wasn't disturbed until the reverend entered the room.
Emilio came to stand beside the work bench in the middle of the room before he spoke, "Well...You must be angry with me."
The angel was sad to hear those words, and shook his head lightly before replying sincerely, "No, I'm not. If you hadn't done what you did, I might not have gone after Creek."
"I think you would have," the weretiger said with conviction.
"Maybe..." the blonde answered before drawing in a deep breath, "But I used my light to save her, which means they will be coming for me."
Emilio clenched his jaw and nodded in understanding.
Joe threw down the brush he had been holding. "I should call Chuy and tell him."
"Thank you, Joe," Emilio told him and held out his hand to Winnie, who took it, "If you need anything, we're here."
"Whenever you need us," Winnie added as she let the dark clad man pull her out the door.