On the other side of Slate mountain, is where Nicholas's father, Frederick Silvet, owns a few acres of land stacked right against my family's property. Most of that land contains fields his family farmed for generations. I have not come here since they were investigating Valerie's resurrection a year ago, and for good reason, too. Something about his father is even more creepier than him.

I find the old vampire sitting on his porch waiting me as I hop out of my truck. This location is even more remote than my family's property. If something were to happen to me out here, help would be a far cry away.

"Hello, Frederick!" I holler while approaching the porch. "Nicholas told me you were having some animal problems. I'm no vet, but I'm willing to see if magic is involved!"

"Yes, Mr. McCaster. I remember. Y'all helped us find Darren last year. M'uh other son should be here soon. I'll show y'all what I found when Nicky gets here," he explains while hobbling ahead of me toward the barn. Nicky? Something tells me Silvet would love to be called that. "Y'all was spotted on m'uh land last night and animals been acting up since-"

"Well, actually, no," I argue while wiping the smile off my face, "I wasn't there with them, but I'll speak to my coven tonight after taking a look around. We did have a meeting yesterday. I'll find out who. How many people did you see?"

"Around five. When I come outside, they done run off into the woods toward y'all property."

"Right, well, this is a pretty big farm."

I'm expecting to see cows or horses, since he has so much land, but there's no animals in sight outside. By the time we walk behind the house over to the big black-painted barn, I hear another car pull up in the drive behind us.

It's about time he showed up.

"There's Nicky now," Frederick says. He rests his calloused hands on the rail of the wooden fence watching the empty field in front of us with a crooked smile. "He tells me y'all been working together to figure out why that young woman came back from the dead. It seems like a cold case, if you ask me, since no progress has been made for a year."

"That's right, it seems like that, doesn't it?" I answer.

Nicholas joins us by the barn.

"Will, I was hoping you'd stop by the station after we picked up the cat!" he announces, "I hope you come by soon. I'm starting to feel like I'm running a zoo. I see you've met my father Fred."

"We've met before, when your younger brother went missing."

His father leads us into the barn. I wrinkle my nose in disgust seeing the amount of pigs cramped into the tight space. They squeal amongst each other with little room to move around. There must be over a hundred pigs in here and they aren't little pigs either.

It smells bad, but there's a rancid odor that surpasses the stench of poop and old wet food stained around the lips of the hogs. The old vampire leads us to the other end of the barn where the pigs come in and out.

There's a massive giant hog right in the entryway bleeding out. It's dead. I think the other pigs are too scared to walk around it and go outside.

"Pigs are smart creatures," Fred says from behind me. Nicholas climbs over the steel rail keeping the pigs contained and walks into the barn as though to inspect the dead pig. "They normally come in and out all day, but they're too scared to. After those kids left, I found my most prized, and costly, pig dead. Do you know how much money goes into feeding a pig that big?"

"I don't see any marks on it. The blood is coming from its mouth. I think it had some kind of internal bleeding. We may need to call the vet, Dad," Nicholas says. He and his father begin to drag its body out toward the field. "Will! Give us a hand! This piece of seven hundred pound bacon ain't gonna move itself."

I scoff while climbing over the rail. They have vampire strength. They don't need me. They just want to make this as painful as possible. His father and him have the pig by its two front legs. What do they expect me to grab it by? It looks like they aren't having much trouble dragging it. Fred is old, though. He looks like he's in pain, but it's hard to care.

"I'll give you the easy job. Get my tractor!" Fred hollers at me. He reaches into his pocket and hands me a rusty set of keys smothered in pig blood. "You can help us move it out of the grazing field."

"Where's the tractor?" I ask on the verge of losing my patience.

"Parked out front the barn," Fred explains, "You can't miss it, boy."

After we successfully move the dead pig outside the barnyard, Fred and his son walk me back over to the house. That took way longer than I anticipated. I'm going to be late for my dinner date with Valerie.

We also had to look along the property line, for traces of magic, or at least, an aura trail. We didn't find anything. At least, we drove in the truck for that portion of this ridiculous event.

"I don't think the coven was involved, Fred. I suggest you call the vet and have them take a look. If it died from internal bleeding, it probably had a health condition you didn't know about-"

"I don't know, Will," Fred sighs after glancing at his son. "Maybe, I should have more witches look around since you didn't find anything."

The police chief folds his arms.

"Don't worry, Dad. We'll continue to look into this. We'll see what we can come up with. I know you can't afford to pay extra bills right now. You owe Will a thank you for coming out here for free - even if we didn't find anything."

"Thanks," Fred mutters thanklessly while trudging back into his house.

Nicholas follows me over to my truck like an annoying hornet.

"I need you at the station, Will. David is waiting. The sooner we solve this problem, the better. I know you and I don't always see eye to eye, but my father has the memory of an elephant and a temper as predictable as a loose canon. I'm going to have to call someone else out here, but he isn't going to want to hear from a vet."

"Fine!" I shout from my driver's seat. God, I wish I could just run him over. "Call someone else, then. I'll stop by the police station tomorrow morning."

"That'll do, Will."

***

I haven't spoken to Will for a few days since his familiar showed up in my bedroom. Things just get worse and worse when I go back to Will. My friends seem at peace despite the event, but I can't relax in this house anymore. I want my family. My real family. I clutch my mother's necklace in my hand watching its dull orange glow. David handed it back over to the police. He sounded so scared. As far as I know, he's still there waiting on Will or someone else in the coven to bail him out.

Stella made gingerbread downstairs. It smells really good. I focus on that and the sound of my roommates talking downstairs rather than the bubble of anxiety around my brain. I think I might just go to bed. Feeling antsy, I change into my nightgown and comb through my hair.

When I lay down, I still feel wide awake. Outside my bedroom window, the moon is a waning crescent. Growing up, my parents taught me this phase is the most meaningful spiritually. Humans always think witches are up to no good on full moons, but it's not entirely true. Each phase has a different meaning depending on who you ask. Each phase is as significant as any other. A moon like tonight may tell me something about the future. The world I want to see, but can't.

In the mirror above my dresser, I see my hair floating around my head in my new irritation as my thoughts circle around Will and the coven. Something worse though is the red glow of my eyes. That has nothing to do with magic at all, but me having been bitten by a vampire and not fully turned.

I think I should break up with Will. If he saw my red eyes right now, he certainly would. I'm so mad at him. That's the real reason I stayed cooped up in here all day.

Angrily, I pick up my phone seeing it light up on my nightstand.

Sorry I couldn't make it to dinner yesterday. The police needed me, I read Will's text over again.

Lately, it seems like the police always need him. I set the device back on my nightstand. Will hasn't stayed over in a month. It's been texts mostly with some phone calls. This doesn't feel like much of a relationship.

I still haven't caught on to text etiquette. Ever since he bailed last night, I've avoided texting him. It's my last anxious thought before drifting off to sleep.

I'm not sure what I'm doing here. It's raining outside. The air is really cold when it does this. Inside Nick's house, I can see him and Regina arguing about something. It looks like she's ready to leave.

I side-step the doorway just in time to avoid being hit by the door on her way out.

"I don't want it to be like this!" I hear Regina holler. "I told you to get rid of David. You're going to regret it. He'll start showing up here next. I can't believe you let Will pick him up, again! You've grown soft!" she huffs while hopping into her car.

Nick has followed her out. He lingers by the driver side.

"We can't just kill whoever we want, Regina. We're supposed to be abiding by the law."

Regina's eyes look really red. I know she's a vampire like Nick, but I'm starting to understand it might mean she's livid. I hold my breath when she stretches her arm out of her car. Her aura isn't just red. There's a lot of blue in it, too. She's a hybrid like him.

Going off of how much blue I see in it, I'd say she's been a witch much longer than a vampire.

This is so weird. It has to be a dream. Regina can't be a witch. Regina and Nick are still talking by the car. They don't notice the front door of the house slam shut. The wind must have closed it, yet, I see the hunched shadow of something standing in front of it.

Evil. It's omnipotent presence makes me want to run for the hills immediately.

Of course, she is. I told you to bring her to me. It seems like you forgot. I figured I would give you a reminder, the demon speaks in my mind.

"Valerie, can you hear me?" someone asks. They sound far away.

Confused, I sit upright in a bed that isn't mine hearing the hum of rain outside. In the corner of the room, is an empty crib next to a box of toys.

I can hear it storming just like it was in my dream. Sweat covers my forehead as I roll over feeling exhausted like I just ran a marathon. Someone turns on a light.

"Valerie?" the same voice asks. I blush identifying it as my boss. "Can you hear me? Are you awake? Should I call Will?"

Newly alert, my heart hammers. Nick stands at the foot of the bed gazing down at me with a stern expression. He folds his arms while coming to my side.

"You transported yourself here in your sleep. You must have been afraid. Was it the demon again? I found you downstairs on the couch. I brought you in here. Regina just left a couple minutes ago to run out to the store."

I shiver and look around the pink-painted room as though expecting to find the same creepy shadow. My body feels so icky. It felt so evil. I don't think it's a witch anymore messing with my brain.

"Nick," I whisper in a hollow voice. I'm sure he can sense I'm terrified by the way my eyes dart around the room looking for the demon. "I have such a bad feeling," I mutter.

"Regina and I were talking outside in the rain," he explains. My face reddens as he strokes my arm before pulling the covers back over me. "I put your phone by your pillow."

Sure enough, it's right by my head.

"I know you've been through a lot. I can have Will come here. Do you want me to call him since you're having trouble talking?"

I'm not sure what to do or what I want. He bends down near my head.

"The door has a lock. You're welcome to use it. Let me know if you need anything," he says in a fatherly tone. He turns off the lamp, and at the same time, places a light kiss on my forehead. It happens so fast, he's already walking outside the door by the time I register it. "I know you're under a lot of stress, but I hope you'll let me know what scared you so much."

I really don't want to be alone in this room after being around such evil. How am I supposed to tell him that? I can't ask him to stay here.

"Do you want me to stay in here? I just don't feel right leaving you alone in here by yourself."

I give him a silent nod. I'm really tired. Nick walks back inside and stays by the window watching me from a distance.

🌜