Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of its characters. They all belong to Brad Kern and whoever. I do own Amarie, Melissa, Heather, and Grace. Please don't steal them.
Chapter 4
Wyatt looked up as Chris strode in, slamming the door. "Bad day," he asked calmly.
"What are you doing? I thought you were supposed to be investigating Kacela! Don't you realize how much trouble we could be in?"
His brother's tendency to freak out could occasionally get annoying. "I already did. Her family lives in North Carolina. I've got her birthdate, family members, high school graduation, everything." He waved a sheet of paper at Chris.
"A girl died last night," Chris said flatly.
Wyatt's casualness evaporated in an instant. "Tell me about it."
"She was found bound and gagged, stabbed with an athame. The police found a note on the body saying 'Do you want to play a game?'"
"You think it could have been Kacela," Wyatt asked.
"Could be. Or it could be some other demon, or just some crazy person."
"Think we can get in and take a look at the body?"
"Let's go find out."
Wyatt grabbed Chris by the back of his shirt. "Slow down a little. You won't get anywhere wearing a faded t-shirt and blue jeans complete with holes."
"Fine, fine," Chris muttered under his breath. He headed over to his dresser to change clothes.
"So, how are we going to do this," Chris muttered to Wyatt.
"We sneak in. If we're questioned, we'll pretend to be private investigators."
"Hired by who?"
"No one. We can pretend that we know her. She was in one of my classes, so that won't be a lie."
Chris projected a general don't-notice-me aura that he had perfected over the years. Sometimes being an empath came in handy. Both boys could get a general sense of the kind of magic that a witch, demon, or other magical creature used. "It's really hard to pin down," Wyatt murmured distractedly.
"Kacela's power was like that, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was," Wyatt answered thoughtfully. "Good thinking, bro."
"It definitely warrants more investigation. That cop is getting suspicious. Let's go." They casually walked away from the crime scene.
Kacela looked consideringly at the overcast sky. There was supposed to be a 20 chance of rain. Hopefully it would rain; they desperately needed it. "Hey, Kacela!" She turned to see Chris Halliwell jogging up to her. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks," she answered cautiously. Even a year ago she would have liked him, but right then it was a bad idea to be friends with anyone that powerful.
"I'm going to grab a burger. Want to join me?"
"I'm really busy, I've got lab in fifteen minutes."
"All the more reason to eat now. You won't have any more time before dinner."
"Well, all right."
They ordered burgers and Cokes. Kacela followed Chris to a bench outside. "Did you hear about that girl who died?"
"Marcy? Yeah, I heard about her. She was one of my lab TAs." She swallowed convulsively and very definitely changed the subject. "How did you do on that lit test?"
"Pretty well. What about you?"
"Good."
"Do you know how Marcy died?"
"If you want gossip, read the paper," Kacela snapped. "I've really got to go."
Chris watched her go, thinking about that flash of emotion. Anger and pain were threaded through with fear. The anger and pain would be a normal reaction, but why fear? What did she know?
Kacela skipped lab and went back to her room. Her head began to pound as Erisen intruded on her consciousness. "They suspect us."
"Maybe we should stop."
"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet."
"This is going too far."
"You said you'd help me! You said you'd do whatever it took."
"We could have found another way."
"I don't want to find another way!"
Kacela dropped to her knees, clutching her head. Erisen retreated; that temper tantrum had tired her. "What am I going to do," Kacela whispered. Silence answered her.
Wyatt blinked at the computer characters swimming before his eyes. Why were the words moving? "I need sleep, or maybe coffee. Sleep would be better, but coffee will do." Waving his hand, he conjured a steaming coffee mug.
"Personal gain," Chris called.
"It is not. If I went to sleep now I would never wake up, and that would be a great loss to the world."
They had spent the past two days desperately trying to find anything that might show a connection between Marcy and Kacela. Kacela's birth records and graduation dates had been confirmed. Most demons did not grow up in small towns.
"I found something."
"I hate you. What?"
"Marcy and Kacela grew up in the same town. Oh, and two other people that they knew, named Todd and Rick, died as well."
"One's chance, two's coincidence…"
"Three is murder. What do you say we skip class tomorrow and take that trip to Kacela's hometown?"
"If I say yes, can I sleep?"
"Sleep away," Chris replied with an airy wave of his hand. Within minutes, Wyatt was dead to the world. Chris returned to his search of the small town's newspapers.
The headline Mysterious Disappearance of Teenage Girl caught his attention. He quickly skimmed the article. Five teenagers, Todd, Rick, Helen, Marcy, and Erica had gone camping as a graduation trip. When they returned from the trip a day early, Erica was not with them. The four teenagers all had the same story-Erica had been at the campsite when they went to sleep that night, but she was not there the next morning. A picture of the five teenagers was to the left of the article. Chris recognized one of the girls-she looked almost exactly like Kacela.