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Author's Note: Rabbit rabbit, hare hare :) Sorry for the delay again, I have to blame a game called Skyrim for it. That's what happens when they release DLC I've been waiting for. This chapter is mostly dialogue but I don't think that draws away from things in the least. I'd like to thank djkauf and Indy for the magical editing and everyone for enjoying this universe :)

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TWENTY-ONE:

When I woke, my head was pounding. It was like a thousand drummers were inside, all banging as loud as they could. I moaned loudly, slowly opening my eyes. As soon as I did the first thing, I noticed was how bright my room seemed to be. Like the pounding in my head, the throbbing of the lights was a little overwhelming. I shut my eyes to get my bearings. Last night was still pretty damn fuzzy; the only thing I knew for certain was that I was never drinking again. Now that I had time to realize what she did, I was pretty certain I never wanted to hang with Sophie again either. Who the hell gives a sixteen year old a couple of exotic drinks anyway? I thought she was supposed to be my friend but instead she got me drunk and left me alone. What the hell kind of friend was that?
I reopened my eyes, the throbbing was gone but the pounding was taking its time going away. I pushed myself out of bed regardless, stumbling through the room as I did so. I caught sight of myself in the mirror and groaned. The girl reflecting back at me looked like shit. It was hard to see myself in the mess of tangled hair and ruffled clothes. I turned away, opening the bedroom door. I staggered out into the hall and down to the bathroom. I managed to make it to the sink before I threw up. As soon as I did however, the pounding seemed a little less violent than before.

I undressed afterwards, climbing into the shower. Letting the warm water wash over me helped a lot with the pain. In the shower, I tried to recall more of last night but it was all still a little fuzzy. I vaguely remembered two girls; I think one of them was that girl I met outside the sorority house. I couldn’t really remember all of it though. Strangely though, I had a dream last night that was really vivid. In the dream, I was back in the Pratchett’s basement, going to the Vault once again. I wasn’t scared either. I’m not sure how I supposedly got into the house but I had no problem doing so. I also had no problem reentering the Vault. I also didn’t seem to have a problem walking right up to that black cloth covered object.

I found myself removing the cloth in the dream and then that’s when I woke up.

I sighed thinking about it. It felt so real. I shuddered, then shut off the water. I stepped out of the shower, grabbing a nearby towel. I toweled off a bit before wrapping it around my body and heading back out into the hall. Back in my room I finished drying off then got dressed. I decided today I was going to loaf around a bit before heading to Melissa’s so a baggy t-shirt and a pair of sweats were good enough for me. With breakfast beckoning, I found myself heading down to the kitchen.

Mary was at the table with a bowl of cereal.

“You look like shit.”

“And good morning to you too, “I said as I dropped into my usual seat.

She scoffed. “Only slightly. I have this pounding headache.”

“I know the feeling,” I said.

Both of us laughed then winced, clearly her head hurt as much as mine.

Looking at her, I couldn’t help but smile at our shared pain. It was like we were having a shared moment, something in common for once.

I grabbed the box of cereal sitting in front of her and started to eat from it. “So where’s grandma?”

She shrugged. “She’s been disappearing a lot lately. You don’t think she’s got a boyfriend, do you?”

We laughed again. Seriously, it was starting to get really scary.

“You weren’t out partying late too were you?”

She shook her head. “No just feeling off late….wait a sec, you were out partying!”

I moaned, rubbing my temples. “Not so loud.”

“Where did you go?”

“Some place called The Pit, I think.”

Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. “You got into The Pit?”

I nodded. “Is that hard to believe?”

“Yes actually. You have any idea how hard it is for high school kids to get in there?”

I shrugged. “I have a college friend; she snuck me in through the back.”

“A college friend?”

“As of last night, a former college friend.”

Yeah, no more hanging with Sophie.

“This the same girl with the motorcycle?” At my look of surprise, Mary smirked. “What, you think I don’t notice. I saw her pick you up last night; I’ve seen her around town too. You said she was a college student?”

I nodded. “Yeah. She told me that when we first met. She’s from out of state.”

Mary gave me a perplexed look. “I’ve seen her all over the place and none of those places have been anywhere near the college. Living in this town, you notice a few things and one of those things is that college students tend to mingle around in the same places. I’m not sure what kind of crap she’s been selling but I can tell you there’s no way in hell she’s in college here.”

Why would Sophie lie?

“Are you fucking with me again?”

Mary sighed and took out her cell. She brought up her call list and dialed a number. A second or two later she was talking. “Hey Scar, it’s Mary. You know everyone who is worth knowing at RCU, right?” Mary gave me an arrogant look then asked. “What’s the name of your friend?”

“Sophie Green.”

Mary nodded. “Do you know a Sophie Green by any chance?” She waited a second or two. “Blonde girl, drives a motorcycle. Seems to be a regular at the Pit?”

She looked at me and shook her head then shut off the phone. “Scarlett makes it her business to know everyone worth knowing. A girl like Sophie would definitely be in one of her social circles and guess what…no dice. Whoever your friend is, she’s not a college student.”

That didn’t make any sense. If she wasn’t a college student then why was she in Ravencrest? I mean this place wasn’t exactly on the list of “Best Vacation spots”. I started to mull things over but was interrupted by the doorbell. I looked at Mary, but of course, she didn’t seem to notice or more than likely, she didn’t care. I groaned loudly as I got to my feet. My head was still swimming from last night but it was definitely a lot better.

I was still thinking about Sophie and why she was lying when I got to the door. As soon as I opened it, I regretted it.

“Miss DeWitt?” I said, confused to see the Inquisitor standing there.

“Miss Daniels” she said, her tone as cold as always.

There were two rather serious looking goons behind her. I say goons because both of them were dressed in dark suits and looked really scary. It surprised me. I didn’t expect her to have any back up, let alone two guys. It surprised me even more that she would bring them to our house of all places.

“My grandmother isn’t here right now, she’s off running errands”

It was a half lie.

“May we come in please?” asked the Inquisitor.

I wasn’t about to let this woman into my house without my grandmother being present.

“Is there something I can do for you?”

“I would feel more comfortable discussing this in private.”

At that particular moment, Mary came into the room. She had Princess in her arms; the cat was struggling to get away as usual.

“What’s the Dragon Lady doing here?” asked my cousin, giving Miss DeWitt a nasty glare.

“This doesn’t concern you Miss Crawford.”

“The hell it doesn’t” said Mary, letting Princess out of her arms. She stormed to the door. “You’re standing in my doorway, demanding we let you into the house with your two thugs. You think I’m stupid?”

I looked from Miss DeWitt to Mary. The Inquisitor was a scary woman but apparently Mary wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

“Miss Daniels” said the Inquisitor, directing her gaze back to me. “We just want to ask you a few questions about a incident that took place last night.”

Last night? Did she know about the club? Oh shit, I was in deep this time.

My heart skipped a beat before answering. “Look I’m really sorry about sneaking into the Pit. It wasn’t my idea, this older girl I know she got us in. I only had two drinks and well….I can’t really remember much after that but I know…”

Miss DeWitt gave me a strange look before speaking. “The incident I am referring to took place at the Pratchett house.”

The Pratchett house?

“What about it?”

She spoke from the doorway; apparently what she was going to say wasn’t as secretive as she was letting me believe. “Last night at 1:36 am, someone entered the Vault in the basement, at 1:48 am, they left. The closed circuit camera in the room was mysteriously disabled but we don’t need it to identify the culprit because we identified the magical signature.”

Why did this sound bad. My body went a bit numb as I took a step back, allowing Miss DeWitt and her two goons to come into the house. Mary gave me an incredulous look. I followed our guests into the living room where I dropped onto the couch. Miss DeWitt sat in one of the chairs, Mary took the other. The two goons stood behind Miss DeWitt.

“Do you want to tell me about it or should we make some guesses based on the evidence?”

I sighed. “Earlier yesterday, Jack and the Dud Club were holding a meeting at Jack’s. It turns out all they really wanted was for me to get them into the Vault. Them being Duds and all they couldn’t get in so they bugged me to do it. After a lot of annoying begging, I agreed. So Jack and I went down stairs to the basement. As soon as I got down there I knew it was a bad idea but there was something about the Vault, it practically dragged me to it.”

“And you went inside?”

I nodded. “But I didn’t touch anything. Everything had this really scary vibe to it, especially this thing. It was under a black cloth, it spoke to me.”

Miss DeWitt raised an eyebrow. “And what did it say?”

“It wanted me to take off the cloth and touch it.”

“And did you?”

I shook my head. “Something happened. I’m not sure what but the next thing I knew, I was outside the Vault and Jack had me.”

Miss DeWitt gave me this look. I knew the look. It was the kind of look someone gave you when they thought you were full of it.
“I swear to God that’s all that happened.”

Miss DeWitt shifted herself slightly. “So tell me if you were so scared of the Vault then why did you go back into it?”

“I didn’t.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Now we both know you’re lying.”

I was too pissed to reply, thankfully for me I didn’t have to.

“What the hell is your problem, you stuck up bitch?” snapped Mary, jumping to my defense. “You prance around this town, thinking you know everything. First, you blame Tracy for a series of murders she didn’t commit and now you’re blaming Kelly for something she didn’t do. You have to be the worst investigator I’ve ever seen.”

Miss DeWitt didn’t skip a beat. “As colorful as usual Miss Crawford but this time you can’t be more wrong”

I turned to Mary and whispered. “What the hell?”

She shrugged and whispered back. “I may not like you but we’re family, we’re not supposed to like one another but we are supposed to stick up for one another.”

“Thanks” I said and meant it.

“But if you try to hug me I’ll punch you in the throat.”

And that’s the Mary I know and love.

Miss DeWitt cleared her throat. “As I was saying, Miss Daniels I’m here right now in an unofficial capacity, I’d like to hear your side of things before I officially charge you with a crime.”

“My side of things? I told you my side of things.”

She sighed. “According to you, you were at a nightclub last night?”

I nodded. “The Pit.”

“And how long were there?”

I shrugged. “I’m not really sure. I had a couple of drinks and kind of don’t really remember much after that.”

“Well then let me enlighten you shall we?” She waved her hand and that funky notebook of hers appeared out of midair. She took it in her hand and read it. “As I said before, at 1:36 am someone entered the Vault and left at 1:48 am.”

“Someone you think is me?”

“Someone we know is you.” clarified Miss DeWitt in that condescending tone of hers. “Your magical trace signature was all over the place.”

“She was in there earlier, she admitted to that,” said Mary defensively. “Of course her trace would be all over it.”

“What about the witness?”

“What witness?” asked Mary and I at the same time.

“Jack Pratchett testified that he saw you running across his front yard, fleeing from the house with something in your hands. He said it was dark but it looked like you were carrying a basketball.”

What the hell? Why would Jack tell her that?

Mary gave me a look. I could see her wavering.

“I have a witness too,” I said.

“Oh” she said, making a pen appear in her hand. “Do tell.”

“My friend Sophie. She’s the one who snuck me into the club.”

“And does this Sophie have a last name?”

“Green.”

“Where does Miss Green live?”

“She’s in college.”

I didn’t add that Mary had supposedly debunked that theory. Mary didn’t pipe in either. I think she knew that doing so would dig me into a hole.

Miss DeWitt nodded and took out her cell. It only took her a few seconds to dial a number. “Can you get me Administrations please?” a second or two later. “Donna, it’s Gloria. I was wondering if you could pull up a student for me, her name is Sophie Green. I need to know her dorm room so I can get in contact with her.” Miss DeWitt turned and smiled at me before a moment or two later she said. “So she’s not a student there, then?”

Mary and I looked at one another. Shit, Mary was right. She gave me a sad smile then gave my hand a gentle squeeze. Going to bat for me was uncharacteristically unlike Mary but I wasn’t soon to forget it. We might hate each other but in the end, there was no way we’d throw one another under the bus. I hope she knew that if she was ever in the shit then I definitely had her back.

She shut off her phone and turned to us. “There is no record of a Sophie Green ever being enrolled at Ravencrest University.”

I wasn’t ready to toss in the towel just yet. “So she lied to me; that doesn’t mean we weren’t together last night.”

“So you and your “friend” were at this club last night?”

The way she emphasized friend made it sound like she didn’t even believe Sophie existed.

“I’m not making her up.”

“So you have witnesses at the club? People who saw you there with her?”

I was about to say yes but stopped myself. There were so many people in the club and it was dark, I’m not really sure. I thought maybe the doorman but we didn’t go in through the front. I almost said the barkeeper but he wasn’t really looking at me. He gave the drinks directly to her not me. Sure, he could say she was there but he never actually saw me.

“She exists,” piped in Mary. “I’ve seen her around town. It’s hard not to, what with her motorcycle and all.”

That reminded me of something. “Mr. Wilkes has met her, too.” I smiled. “When he drove me into town from the airport. Our car broke down and she came along, she was actually the one that brought me into town. Mr. Wilkes actually met her.”

Miss DeWitt nodded and shook her head. “Sophie is not in question here. What is in question is the location of a certain artifact you took out of the Vault.”

“What artifact?”

Before Miss DeWitt could answer though, her cell rang. She excused herself for a moment before answering. “Scarlet? I’m kind of busy right now...what, slow down honey…the dorm building lost power. I don’t see how that’s any of my business” She sighed heavily and got up, walking over to the window. “Yes, I’m going to the window right now.”

We always kept our curtains closed during the day. I’m not sure why, my grandmother was strange like that. Miss DeWitt sighed again as she slowly started opening them. She was in the middle of saying, “What am I supposed to be seeing” when she stopped mid-sentence. I jumped to my feet at the sight. I’m not really sure how to describe only to say that one minute it was a morning and the next it was night. There was no explanation whatsoever either. It was almost as if someone snuffed out the sun. Mary was on her feet too, rushing toward the window.

Miss DeWitt stopped her with a hand. “I see it…” she said into the phone then a moment later. “Scarlet? Scarlet?”

Her voice was frantic. She lowered the phone and turned to one of her goons. “The line went dead.” She quickly dialed another number and shook her head. “The line is dead at the mansion, too.”

One of the goons was holding the receiver of the living room phone. “This is one is gone too, ma’am”

Mary managed to get past Miss DeWitt and was at the window. “If it’s night, where are all the stars.”

I rushed to the window. Sure enough, it was pitch black out. It was strange really because if it had been night wouldn’t the streetlights come on, too?

“Get away from the window girls.” Miss DeWitt spoke in an authoritative tone.

I stepped away but Mary didn’t.

I walked back to the couch and dropped down on it.

As soon as I did, the lights went out.

“I’ve seen this movie,” said Mary’s voice from somewhere in the dark.

A second later, a small light started to glow. The light got brighter until I could just start to make out where it was coming from: Miss DeWitt. At first I thought maybe she was the kind of person who prepared for every situation, you know putting a small flashlight in her purse. But there was no flashlight and the light itself was coming directly from her hand. Well actually it was a ball of light floating in her hand. She tossed it up into the air until it stopped gently on the ceiling, soon bathing the room in its glow.

“Carter, secure the premises,” she said to one of her goons.

One of the nondescript looking thugs nodded and made it for the door, disappearing outside.

“You two are going upstairs.”

“Ummm this is my house,” said Mary, clearly annoyed that the Inquisitor was barking out orders.

Given the situation though, I wasn’t one to argue.

“This isn’t a time to be a little snot” Miss DeWitt unbuttoned her jacket and reached inside.

My mother usually carried her Boleen in her jacket. Miss DeWitt actually pulled a gun. I wasn’t really expecting that.

“Jackson” she said, addressing the other goon. “Take the two of them up the stairs and secure them in one of their bedrooms. I don’t want to see either one of them until I figure out what the hell is going on.”

Mary started to argue but shut up when the Inquisitor gave her a look. The goon known as Jackson motioned for the stairs. I wasn’t about to argue either, dragging Mary along with me as I went. I didn’t look back as the three of us marched up them. The hallway was dark but I managed to lead the way to my room. Mary groaned when I opened the door but she went in willingly.

“You two stay here and lock the door”.

Jackson pulled a gun of his own and left the room. I rushed over to the door and locked it just like he said.

“You can’t be serious?”

“Of course not but seeing as those three originally showed up here to arrest me I think it’s safe to say that they have more important things to worry about. I just thought it might be wiser to have a locked door or two between us just in case we decide to go out the window or something.”

“If I could see you I might actually hug you.”

I laughed. “It’s amazing what brings family together.”

“Yeah, well I was kidding about the hug”

I ignored her. “Help me find my desk; I have a flashlight in the top drawer.”

It’s strange but you would think that I’d gotten used to the room. I mean used to it enough to navigate it in the dark. My room at home I knew like the back of my hand, I could walk through it backwards with my eyes closed. Home huh. Wow, I haven’t thought about it in a long time. Well in over a month anyway. I sorta started to think of Ravencrest as home. Sure, I loved Carsonville but there was something about this place that made me feel like I belonged here. Maybe it was because after all these years I think I actually found who I truly was and was actually happy about it. Sure I liked being the old me but the old me wasn’t the real me. It was hard to explain I guess but I felt more like myself now than ever before.

“Do you miss them?”

“Miss who?”

“Your parents?”

I was about to answer that they’ve only been gone for a month when I realized she wasn’t really talking about my parents.

I sighed. “When I couldn’t get a hold of Mom I was pretty worried. I felt sick to my stomach, weak in the knees. I wanted to crawl into a ball and cry. I actually did cry a few times…” I took a deep breath.

“Do you miss your parents?”

“What no!” she snapped then quickly added in a softer tone. “I barely knew them…I was so young and…”

I’m not sure how I found her in the dark but when I did, I wrapped my arms around her. Mary didn’t resist as I gave her a nice big hug.
“I’m sure your Mom would be really proud of you.”

I think Mary started to cry but it was hard to hear because it was so soft.

I decided that it was time to lighten the mood a bit---for her sake. “Aww, I think we’re having a moment.”

Mary’s shield went up quickly as she shoved me away. “In your dreams.”

I smiled. “C’mon let’s get that light.”

I fumbled about in the dark, banging my knee on the corner of my bed before finding the desk. Still fumbling I opened the top drawer and stuck my hand inside. Something sharp bit my finger and I cursed, pulling my hand away quickly.

“What?”

“I cut my finger,” I said, reaching into the drawer with my other hand.

I cautiously felt around, my fingers gently touching the finely polished handle of my mother’s knife. I grabbed it, gripping it tightly. A centimeter or so away was the little scabbard. I took both out of the drawer, sheathed the knife and stuck it in my waistband. A second or two later, I found my flashlight. I flicked it on and swung the beam wildly around the room, hitting Mary in the face.

“So what’s the plan?”

I walked over to my window. “I’m thinking that while they’re distracted down there, we climb out and get down to the yard. If we’re lucky we can make it to Melissa’s house before anyone knows what’s going on.”

“That’s your plan?”

“You have a better one?”

Mary didn’t say anything so I took her silence to be a no. I handed her the flashlight, instructing her to keep it on me as I tried to open the window. It sometimes stuck a bit, especially with it being so cold right now. People definitely take heat for granted until the power goes out and furnace is no longer working. It was amazing how fast the temperature dropped in the house. My fingers were already starting to go a bit numb being this close to the window. Even with numb fingers, though I managed to get it open. I gave the screen a hard push, knocking it from the window. It slid down the little roof before getting stuck in the gutter.

“Give me the light.”

Mary handed it over and I shined it about, hoping to get a better look at what we were about to step out on to. Thankfully, it hadn’t snowed in a few days so the roof was snow free. However, I could see a thin coat of frost. It would be risky stepping out on there but with the alternative being that we would be arrested by DeWitt and her goons we were going to have to take our chances. Well I was anyway. Mary was innocent in all of this and I definitely couldn’t drag her into it anymore.

I turned back to her. “I’m going out there but you don’t have to.”

She shook her head. “I might not like it but I’m in this.”

“Thanks.”

She scoffed. “You might not want to thank me when you find out that I’m only tagging along because your magic is shit.”

I stepped aside. “Why don’t you go first?”

“Why?”

“So I can push you off the roof from behind.”

So remember that little bonding moment from a little while ago----yeah, totally gone now.

I groaned in frustration then turned back toward the window. I was halfway out it when I heard the screeching of tires. I snapped the light up, just catching three dark SUVs as they pulled up in front of the house. A moment later, their doors opened and several dark figures poured out of them. I cursed, pulling myself back inside.

“What?”

I pulled Mary to the floor, shutting off the light.

“I think we have company”

As soon as I said it, two shots rang out in the darkness.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF