Chapter 28
Cats Cradle, in the dead of night
While everyone was asleep or on guard duty. Camila and Serita secluded themselves from the others, in their room. Huddled around their joint desk, in front of half a dozen monitors. The girls Scoured the internet for the mysterious Baron.
“I can’t believe this!” Camila exclaimed frustrated. “He can’t be this good, he has to be someone, but if he is….” She paused, a small smile widening. “I’m intrigued to learn this skill”
Serita smiled at her lover’s enthusiasm. “Looking for tips love”
“It will better official for the OCS, keep our sisters safer on infiltration”
“That will be nice, but no one is that good”
Camila hummed. She leaned back on her chair and started to swish it left and right. “no one is that good” she whispered. She turned to her lover and scooted closer to the screen. “Maybe that’s it”
“What’s it?” Serita questioned, watching her lover work.
“We’re looking for the wrong person. If we can’t find out anything about Baron, then we can at least prove if he’s actually Persephone father”
“Okay then, that’s good”
“Got IT!” Camila shouted excitedly. “Alright we have one article, let’s see what we have” Camila pulled up the article on screen. Her girlfriend slid closer till chair legs pressed together. There was a clear photo of Persephone, when she was four years old, and a couple holding her up with gleefully expressions. Same blonde hair as their daughter.
“Well he’s definitely not the biological father” Serita comment.
“Okay, that’s one, now lets see” and then she began reading aloud the article. “On the night of twenty-six October two thousand and twenty three, in the small house outside the city of Berlin. Young Verna family were sound asleep when the assailant broke in and…” Camila trailed off unexpectedly. She threw herself forward, reading ahead with concerned eyes. “oh no” she whispered.
“they died”
“murdered, all expect for Persephone” Camila scrolled her mouse down as she whispered “police are still on the hunt, but they have a drawing of Persephone kidnapper”
At the end of the article, they found the drawing and the very sight of the man, of Baron, sent a chill up their spines. Without another word, they looked to each other, then threw themselves out of their chairs and sprinted out of the room.
Back in the Silva’s house.
Hanna stirred in her sleep by the whispers of her friend beside her. “there’s someone in the house” the voice repeated like a terrified drumming.
“what?” Hanna whispered back, half awake, half asleep and fully delirious. "huh? no one's here go back to sleep"
“there’s someone in the house” her friend's voice insisted.
Hanna's body suddenly jolted with a quick shiver. Hard and sharp, as if her bones were rattling a warning bell under her skin. She slowly opened her eyes to find her friend sitting upright in bed, facing the wardrobe with her back to her. Hanna blinked twice till her vision cleared, the small silhouette just barely formed in the darkness of her room. Hanna didn't have the time to question why her room was so dark. Her body gave another of strange shiver, sending Hanna sitting upright. “What’s wrong?”
“there’s someone in the house”
“Persephone your scaring me”
“there’s someone in the house”
“Persephone who’s in the house?” she urged.
The girl didn’t respond.
Hanna started to full body shiver with fear, an unsettling and strange concept to her. “Persephone” she begged scared, "Persephone please stop this, what's going on". Again the girl didn’t respond. So she turned to her lamp and flicked on the switch. Under the yellow dull light, she turned back around to her friend and let out a short scream. Her hand quickly raised to her mouth, covering it.
Her best friend’s body was soaked in blood, beyond her, the door was open and the faces of her dead mothers came to view. Bea slumped pressed against the hallway with a single hole in her temple and mound of blood splattered above her. Ava on the ground beyond Bea, with her throat slit and facing Hanna. Wide eyed and still.
“now he’s in the room” Persephone voice whispered.
Hanna turned to her friend. Fear bringing the girl to tears. Cold and body jittering, she pushed herself back in slow lean till back pressed against the wooden headboard.
Persephone slowly cracked her head around to face Hanna, her head ticked with every movement. Till her full face was in Hanna’s view and her blood soaked face revealed her slit throat and two pitch black eye sockets where eyes should be. “hanna” a much older woman’s voice whispered, using Persephone’s body as a vessel. “wake up, he’s in this room”
Hanna screamed herself awake.
Hanna shot out of bed and turned to her friend. She roughly rolled her on her side, fearing the worst and soon let out a relief sigh at her friend’s untouched appearance. “it’s just a dream” she sighed, dropping her head on Persephone’s shoulder. “it’s just a dream”
“Hanna” Persephone whined in her sleep. “go to sleep it’s too early”
“yeah fat chance now” Hanna remarked pulling herself away from her friend. “go back to sleep”
“Fine” she groaned, rolling over and smothering her face back into the pillow.
Hanna sighed as she looked away. Leaning forward with eyes closed, she raised one hand a massaged her weary head.
Suddenly her bones shivered and followed, a low creaking of opening door echoed in the small bedroom. Hanna’s eyes shot open and she scurried back to the headrest. The Wardrobe door was opening wide and revealed inside a shadow mass darker then the inside of the wardrobe. The mass wondered forward and out revealed a hand creeping through. Clutching onto the door and pushing itself forward.
“it’s not a dream” Hanna whispered fearfully.
The Shadow morphed and took the form of Baron. He pulled out a wicked knife and looked to Hanna complex. “How did you see me?”
Hanna didn’t answer. Too shell shock by his sudden appearance.
Baron looked to her, then turned to his daughter, then back to Hanna with a wicked grin. He raised his knife to Hanna and threaten “You scream and ill slit her throat”
The threat snapped her back into reality. Hanna’s eyes shifted to crimson and she screamed. Lightning blue fire exploded out from her body and charged forward, engulfing Baron. He screamed as the flames surrounded his body, melting his flesh. He thrashed about, trying to smoother the flames. Till he charged forward with knife in hand.
Hanna quickly dove off the bed and reached behind the bedpost for her emergency bed, she faced the charging man and swung. He was cast back through the wardrobe and out into the hallway with a hard snap. The end of her bat broke off and hit the floor with a thud.
Persephone woke with a start and the hurried footsteps of her parents echoed on the floor above racing towards them.
Persephone turned to Hanna and spoke afraid “What’s going on?”
Hanna turned to her and replied “don’t worry I won, stay here!” she turned and fled through the broken wardrobe. However when she stepped into the hallway, all was left was a pile of wood shards and blue flames licking the floorboard. Baron’s body was gone. She studied the carnage left behind and knew the man was still alive, somewhere, but how he vanished clearly wasn't on foot. She turned her head left and right down the hallway, wondering how did he escape.
“Hanna!” Beatrice shouted as she rounded the end hallway and sprinted for her daughter. Ava running up beside her.
“Sweetpea what’s wrong? What happened?” Ava urged. She took her daughter into her arms while Beatrice took out her knife from her shorts. Blade flicked open and ready to attack. Ava pulled away, surveyed her daughter, before looking around the mess. “woah” she whispered. “okay lets get inside” she urged her daughter back into the room through the hole. She glanced at the frighten Persephone before she asked “what happened?”
“Baron was here” Hanna answered.
“Baron?” her mothers questioned at the same time, her best friend queried “my dad?”
“Yes he was here, in my wardrobe..he..he threaten to kill Persephone”
Ava starred wide-eyed at her daughter while Beatrice’s fist clenched on her blade. “he did what” Ava spoke, her eyes flicked to white before returning back to brown.
“he tried” Hanna answered. “I screamed, burned him and I used this, just like you taught me” she held up the broken bat. She shrugged and dropped it back to her side. “I couldn’t let him hurt her or us"
Ava nodded, she took her daughter into her arms and held her tight. “you did the right thing” she whispered. She kissed her daughter’s temple and turned to her lover. She watched Beatrice kneel down to the ground, take a sniff of his scent, then turned and walked into the broken bedroom. She knelt down beside Ava facing her daughter. Ava let her go and turned to check up on Persephone.
“you did very well Hanna” Beatrice congratulated, calmly. “did you see where he went next?”
“no, he just went through the wardrobe…after…after I hit him”
Beatrice nodded. “I will deal with him” Beatrice promised. “Come here” Hanna trudged forward and fell into Beatrice’s awaiting arms. Gripping onto her mother for dear life. “it’s okay we’re here”
“he’s going to find us again, isn’t he”
Beatrice shock her head “not again”
“Why does your father want you dead?” Ava asked Peresphone, as she took a seat on the mattress beside the confused girl.
Persephone shock her head “He doesn’t, he says I am useful alive”
Ava's face fell to disgust “He said that to you”
Persephone nodded. “It’s fine, he says everything will be as it used to once he’s found it”
Beatrice pulled away from her daughter, but still kept her in her arms.
Ava frowned as she held Persephone’s hands. “Found what?”
Persephone shrugged confused “I don’t know what it is, he keeps talking about it, but he never explains it”
Beatrice turned to her daughter and asked “he didn’t tell you what he wanted?”
Hanna shook her head. “I didn’t let him explain, just burned him and hit him”
Beatrice smiled for a moment, proud for her daughter’s first fight, but wasn’t thrilled by the context.
“What is he after?” Ava questioned.
“Something called….the Hybrid”