Chapter Six

“Oh crap.” Zeke groaned the next morning as they watched the news. Jen had stayed the night at the Arcadia’s just in case something happened. She felt very odd without her guitar case but she trusted her instincts and versatility enough to know she knew how to kill a man in several effective ways with a pillow case.

“What?” Jen asked as she woke up on the couch.

Zeke looked over at her then turned up the news. “Last night Marcus Smith was kidnapped from him home with his Aunt.” The news reporter said. “The suspects are three teenaged boys, one known as Edmund Williams and the others not yet to be identified. Graceland Amanda Smith was reportedly attack by the three young men before they tore Marcus away…”

“That’s not how it happened.” Zeke growled.

“Trust me.” Jen sighed. “The police always get it wrong.”

Zeke looked at her confused. “How would you know?”

Jen chuckled. “I’ve had my fair share of getting them off my case. Why don’t I call in a few favours and have this fixed.”

“How?” Zeke frowned still utterly confused.

Jen pulled out her mobile and started to dial. “Don’t worry how but the cops won’t be chasing you guys. Someone has to go get Edmund though.”

“Why do you always call him by his full name?” Zeke frowned.

Jen paused. “I don’t know. It’s just the way he introduced himself to me.”

Zeke nodded. He stood up and picked up his own car keys. “I’ll go grab him.” As Zeke left Jen could hear the ring tone on her phone.

“Detective Crane.” A sleepy voice came from the other line.

“Not an early riser. I’ll have to add that to my profile of you.” Jen teased and walked into the kitchen to get away from the sleeping Greg and Angel.

“Who is this?” he mumbled. There was a small pause. “Emerald?”

“Yes, Andrew. It’s me.” Jen leant against the counter and spoke as quietly as she could without alerting Crane.

Crane’s voice perked up. “Why are you calling me, Hunter?”

“Odd, isn’t it?” Jen smirked. “But I need a favour.”

“Me? Give you a favour? Emerald, you’ve been a thorn in my side from day one.”

“I know Crane but unless you want innocent people to die and be sent to jail you’re going to have to listen to me.” Jen sighed. “Last night, the Smith kidnapping. It was a rescue. Go raid Graceland Smith’s bedroom and you’ll find a lot of freaky demonic stuff. She was trying to kill Marcus until I intervened.”

“How’d you intervene? The report said three teenaged boys…Unless?”

“I’m all woman, Crane.” Jen chuckled. “Listen, you know there is something more to all of this. You’ve already figured out that I’m not insane and these people I kill, there’s a bigger reason I’m killing them. I don’t want anyone to die but thing that’s organising this. It isn’t Graceland. She’s just a pawn. Now will you or will you not drop the charges?”

There was a long pause on the other line. “Only if you let me help you.”

“Crane…”

“No. Emerald, I want to help you. You’ve given me enough grief these past four years and…”

“Andrew, you can’t. You have no true dealing with the Supernatural.”

“I do now.” Jen’s interest was perked as she heard the fear pitch in his voice. “And you need to know about this one.”

Jen leant further on the counter. “Tell me now.”

“I can’t. Not over the phone. Just know that I know something that is extremely important to you. You need to lay low and not contact me again.”

Jen thought about it clearly. Crane didn’t seem the type of person to lie and additionally, he didn’t seem the type to be easily scared. But the fear in his voice was more than evident. “Okay but first off…you’re going to have to know I still can’t tell you my name.”

“I’m fine with that.”

“And I can never meet you.”

“But…”

“Andrew, do you really want this to be harder? My mentor won’t be happy.”

“Mentor?”

“Yeah…” Jen sighed thinking about what Jeremiah would say. “Look, I’ve got to go. Just…send me a message once Edmund Williams and the two other boys names are cleared. Then we’ll figure out a way for you to tell me everything that happened.”

“Thanks Emerald.”

“Thank you Andrew.”

Jen hung up just as Saint tapped her shoulder. Jen spun around the shocked look on Saints face made her realise he was there. “How much of that conversation did you hear?”

“All from ‘Last night, the Smith kidnapping’.” Saint crossed his arms. “How did you intervene?”

“I-I didn’t.”

“But you said you did.”

“I lied.” she said quickly. “I lied to keep Edmund safe.”

Saint frowned at her, “I don’t believe you.”

“You should.”

“How did you know what was in my Aunty Grace’s bedroom then?”

Jen bit her lip. Saint was still young. Barely twelve and most definitely innocent. He’d heard about a lot of things but she was more than positive he had never seen any of it. “Saint… I…” Just then her mobile started to ring. She looked at the number and saw it was Chase. “Hold on, okay?” Saint didn’t look pleased but waited for Jen to answer the phone. “Hello?”

“Guess what?” Chase’s voice came through the phone.

“I can’t really talk.” She replied, staring at Saint’s angry face.

“Are you in trouble?”

“No.”

“Well you need to hear this.” There was a pause and Jen could almost hear Chase flicking through a book. “Got the public records office. Did a search for Graceland Smith. Nothing. Did a search for a Marcus Smith. Nothing. No family, no relatives… Smith is the most common name and I couldn’t even find his parents death certificate.”

“So it doesn’t exist.” she said quietly in a half-code.

“But of course, we both know him and his aunt do exist as we saw the mutton attempt to murder the lamb.”

“Murder.” Jen looked down at Saint who stood right in front of her. Before consulting with Chase, she got eye to eye with him. “Saint, how did your parents died?”

Saint stared at her, his small face frowning. “I don’t want to tell.”

“Please, Saint.” Jen looked deep into his eyes, trying to make him trust her. “I’ll tell you how mine died.”

By this, Saint was even more shocked. He walked over to the kitchen bench, pushing himself up and down off of it as he thought. “I- They died in a very, very weird way.”

“Mine too.”

“Jen, are you sure about this?” Chase muttered in her ear but Jen hung up the phone on him.

She slid next to Saint, watching him carefully. “I think that Tony’s story is perfectly normal. I think it’s real. If you tell me your story I’ll think it’s real too.”

“Why?”

“Because my story is real.” Jen lifted up her pant leg and showed her bandaged ankle. “I can tell you why they burnt this off me. I can tell you why your aunt froze solid last night.”

Saint now looked astounded. “How’d you…?”

“I was there.” Jen said even quieter. “I’m the reason why she froze.”

“What?” Saint was beyond shocked now. He looked as if he’d discovered a whole new world.

“You can’t tell anyone.”

“You’re delusional.”

“Saint.” Jen grabbed him by the wrist. “Do you want me to prove it?”

Saint looked intrigued yet at the same time unbelieving. “You can’t freeze time Jen. Aunt Grace didn’t freeze. You can’t freeze people. It’s impossible.”

Jen grabbed an apple and threw it up in the air. She twisted her hand similarly to the way she did the night. “Stop.” The apple froze in midair, defying gravity by all odds. Jen wasn’t sure it would work a second time so was just as surprised at Saint was. “Believe me now?”

Saint stared disbelievingly. “You…what? This isn’t right.”

“Saint you can’t tell anyone but at the same time, you have to tell me what happened to your parents.” Saint reached out and tried to grab the apple. He started tugging at it in midair but it wouldn’t shift or budge.

“Morning.” Tony mumbled as he walked in. Jen grabbed the apple, pushing Saint off. She leant against the counter and held it in front of her. “Move.” She whispered, jerking her wrist hard and it unfroze in her hand. Tony stopped where he was when he sensed the awkwardness in the room. “What’s going on here?”

“Nothing.” Jen and Saint said together.

“Okay then.” Tony shrugged and kept making his toast. Jen nodded her head at Saint who understood and the two left the kitchen together and walked into the study.

“So you’re the one who froze her?” Saint absorbed it in as Jen nodded her head. “And unfroze her?” Again, Jen nodded. There was a long pause where Saint just thought long and hard. “Fine. I’ll tell you everything.”

******

Edmund ran down his apartment stairs and headed outside to where Zeke was waiting. He cringed slightly before getting in the car. As always he was silent. “You okay?” Zeke asked.

Edmund shrugged. Zeke kept driving before reaching out and taking the bottom of Edmund’s shirt and yanking it up revealing bruising. Edmund grabbed Zeke’s arm and pushed him off. Then sat up on the seat and started punching Zeke in the shoulder.

Zeke swore and turned the car onto the sidewalk and pulled up the park. “Mysterious!” Zeke shouted. “Edmund. Ed!” he had to pushed Edmund onto the opposite side of the car and hold his shoulders down to stop him. Edmund glared at Zeke long and hard, breathing heavily through his nose. “What?” Edmund spat.

“I knew it.” Zeke said calmly. “After your little speech last night and the way you acted…I figured it out.”

Edmund laughed mockingly. “You haven’t figured out anything Zeke.”

Zeke moved his hand down and tugged up Edmund’s shirt again. Edmund made to move but Zeke shoved him back against the car. “Edmund, I already told you. You’re like my brother. Please don’t hide it from me.”

“I’m not hiding anything!” Edmund shouted, lunging forward. Zeke found this really peculiar as it was the most emotion Edmund had ever shown towards anyone. He kept the younger boy firmly in place against the car door and just stared at him. “Just…Nothing alright Zeke. Just don’t.” Edmund tried wrestling out from underneath Zeke but failed.

“Ed, you can tell me anything.”

“No I can’t Zeke!” he yelled. “You don’t even know any of my family. Whenever you come over it’s just us. No one else. So don’t make any assumptions. For all you know I live there by myself.”

Zeke nodded slowly, letting go. He would get no where if he carried on and knew it well. He turned the car on and started reversing and getting back onto the road. “I just want you to know Ed that when you’re ready to talk and when you need help, I’m here.”

Edmund laughed. “Yeah…sure.”

“Ed, I am.”

“I believe you just…don’t worry.” The rest of the car ride was silent. As soon as they got to Tony’s place Edmund got out of the car and jogged to the front door.

Zeke waited in the car for a bit before sighing and getting out.

Edmund walked into the kitchen and tapped Saint on the shoulder. When Saint turned around Edmund raised his eyebrow in his normal questioning state.

“Yeah…I think I’m alright.” Saint looked to Jen. “Yeah…I’m okay.”

Jen sighed as Edmund walked over to her. To Jen’s surprise, he pulled her into a tight hug. “Sorry about yesterday.” he whispered.

“Are you better?” she asked rubbing his arm lightly.

He smirked and nodded wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“Mysterious?” Greg walked in. “You alright? I saw you on the news.” he smirked.

Edmund smirked and nodded.

Jen’s mobile rang. “I’ll be right back.” she ducked out of the kitchen and Edmund followed her with his eyes.

Zeke walked into the room. “Who wants eggs?”

“You’re banned from my kitchen Zekehill.” Maria said walking in. “Edmund? Are you okay? You were on the news. They said they’re looking for you.”

“Not anymore.” Jen grinned skipping into the kitchen. “I’ve got it all under control.”

Edmund rose an eyebrow questioning.

“Don’t worry. I did nothing illegal. But I have to go now.” Jen shared a suspicious look with Saint who just nodded. She grabbed her jacket from the counter and looked at Maria. “Thanks for letting me stay Mrs Arcadia.”

“Jennifer? Will you be alright?” Maria frowned as she asked.

Jen put on a fake smile and quickly glanced at all the worried faces in the room. “I’ll be fine.”

******

Chase sat in the middle of the public records library, reading away when he felt someone approaching him from behind. He half turned to face them and saw Jen, almost ten meters away. “I see someone still has keen senses.”

“I hear someone still hasn’t practiced their sneaking skills.” He turned back to look at the records.

“I sneak around just fine, thank you very much.” Jen’s heels clacked against the ground. “When I need to. How’d you get in here?”

“Used one of my badges. You?”

“Said I was your sister, bringing you lunch.” She shook a small paper bag and dumped it on the desk.

“Incestual.” Jen leant down and kissed him. “Found something curious while looking for people who don’t exist.” He pulled out a few pieces of paper and held them out for Jen.

“More people who don’t exist?” she guessed as she started flicking through the pages. She then frowned as she recognised one of the pictures. “This is Angel.”

“Angelos Stavropoulos. Born and raised in Sydney by two loving parents, Steven Stavropoulos and Daphne Stavropoulos. They had Angel, enrolled him in the best schools, cared for him, loved him… He would have had a perfectly normal life, should they have lived.”

“What happened?” Jen flicked through the pages of information but couldn’t find anything about his parents disappearing. Jen could barely read text messages. She knew enough about the alphabet to spell out texts and knew a lot of Hunters speak. Apart from that reading was never a big thing for her.

“Well that’s the interesting thing. According to these documents, they’re still around.” Chase tapped the forms in front of Jen. “They still pay for his school bills and provide him with his student allowance but…” He rustled through some papers and Jen sat on the edge of the table, watching him. He passed over a photocopied piece of paper. “According to this, they’re dead.”

Jen scanned the document for the words ‘death’ or ‘died’ but couldn’t find them. “House burnt down. Two deaths but only one body.” They were the few words she picked up.

“Yep. Mrs Stavropoulos was found never Mister.” Chase smirked. “Gets more interesting.” He gave her another paper. “He was never registered dead by some ‘clerical error’ and then this happened.”

Jen looked over the papers again and again and frowned as she read the typed script of the proceedings. “Steven Stavropoulos has off-officially been renamed to be Sk-Sk…”

“Scorpios Stavropoulos.” Chase said for her.

She smirked, not even bothering with feeling embarrassed. It was a normal thing for her. “Either he really has a thing for his star sign, or Steven Stavropoulos turned into a demon.”

“I’m thinking the latter, rather than the former.” Chase leant back in his chair and watched Jen with a satisfied smile. “Am I good, or am I good?”

“I’ll give it to you, you’re good.” Jen winked at him. “But I’m better. I have the inside scoop on Sainthood’s family.”

“Do tell.”

“When Saint was growing up, he didn’t live in a house he lived in a commune.”

“A commune of what?”

“He never knew. He just lived in one with his parents. They used to keep him away from the comings and goings and sent him to a primary school which none of the other kids in the commune seemed to go to. When he was about eight or nine, so he says, there was a big falling out between his mum and aunt who also lived there and his family packed their bags and left the commune.

“Saint said everyone was pissed they left. All the leaders and the congregation wanted them to come back. Once apart of the commune, they weren’t supposed to leave.”

“But they tried.” Chase said. “And that was the death of them, I’m guessing.”

“Their death was ruled murder-suicide. It said Saint’s dad gave his wife wine poisoned wine and then drank it himself. Found a note and everything. But Saint said, the night before his Aunt and Uncle were over. They were trying to apologise. When Saint’s parents announced that they preferred life outside the commune, Saint’s Uncle disappeared into the bedroom, came out half an hour later and then brought out a bottle of wine.”

“Why didn’t he tell the police?”

“He did, but the Aunt and Uncle had legit alibis. There were photographs to prove they were somewhere else when Saint said they were at the dinner party.

“Magic.”

“Or amazing use of technology.”

“Where does Aunt come into all of this?”

“Ted Smith wasn’t always apart of the commune. Before, he grew up in the Shire.”

“So instead of leaving Saint with the commune, they left him with their Black-Magic practicing Aunt.” Chase put his feet up on the desk and leant back. “I see how that makes excellent sense.”

“I’m sure they didn’t know. But this begs the question… Saint left the commune too. Wouldn’t they want him back?”

“And what does it have to do with Aunty wanting to kill him?” Chase started writing down on a notepad and wrote down the questions they were asking. “What does Scorpios have to do with all of this, if anything at all?”

“If he’s a demon, we need to check it out.” Jen took the pad off of him and started scribbling it down. “Also, I want to find out who Maria and Phillip Arcadia were before they were… well, Maria and Phillip Arcadia.” Jen paused and looked at Chase. “I think we should research the others too. Saint, Angel and Tony all have demonic histories. For all we know…”

“Zekehill Jonas and Gregory Hill are my next targets. I already read through Edmund.” Chase tapped three separate piles. “We’ll figure out whatever’s happening here, Jen. You, me and Jer always do.”

Jen looked at one of the piles and frowned. She leant over and picked up a photograph of Edmund. It was a mugshot and in it he looked barely twelve. “He’s been involved with the police before.” She said quietly. His hair wasn’t coloured. Instead, it was a fluffy brown.

“The police report was the only thing I could find on Emo-kid. He got done in for shoplifting up to six-hundred dollars worth of stuff. They found his ‘hiding hole’, the police called it, and apparently there was more stolen goods that he had been hording up in a park somewhere.”

“Behind Montague Park.” She knew without Chase having to tell her. Jen couldn’t help but feel sad about the photo. Edmund’s eyes looked empty and hollow. Across his face was a colourful purple bruise as if someone had struck him. “Was it in the police report how he got that?”

“I think it came with him. He did six months in juvenile prison.”

Jen thought about the way that underneath his overly large clothing he was actually quite solid and firm. She then blushed at her thoughts and looked back at Chase who was staring at her curiously. “Well, you keep on researching.” Jen dropped the pages on the table. “I um… I need to go back to Tony’s. I told them I’d go back.”

Chase reached out and took Jen’s hand. “Babe, are you okay?” he rubbed her hand slowly and put his legs back on the ground. Jen felt uncomfortable as Chase pulled her closer towards him. She stood between his legs and Jen felt guilty for thinking of Edmund like she had. “Why is this case affecting you?”

“It isn’t.” She pulled away from him and turned away. “It just frustrates me we can’t figure out exactly what’s happening here.”

Chase stood up and moved her hair back from her shoulders and kissed her neck softly. “It’s more than that, don’t lie.” He kissed her again and Jen shivered.

“It’s nothing Chase.”

He nuzzled deep into her neck. “You’re lying, Jen.” He breathed across her skin.

“And you’re using my weaknesses to your advantage.” She mumbled.

Chase turned her around so they were facing each other. He leant down and kissed her, long and deep. Jen’s guilt overwhelmed her and tears spilt down over her cheeks. Chase wiped them away, holding either side of her face tightly. He pulled her closer and hugged her tightly, breaking off the kiss only when she was leaning against her shoulder. “Jenny, whatever it is, you can tell me.”

Jen shook her head and pushed herself off of Chase. “I need to go.”

“Jen!”

She kept walking and got out of the library as quickly as she could and made her way towards the first car she set her eyes on before stealing it.

Author's Note

Spelling? Maybe plot advise... I'm feeling happy.