Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Madison: The Lost Tra'lapp ❯ Detective Williams ( Chapter 6 )

 

Chapter 6/?

 

The Hag soaked in a huge, shimmering pool, lit softly with flickering blue light. The place was called Reflection. Every Tra palace had one, in order to let the resident Tra bask in their element and release stress. The Tra'lapp Reflection was beautiful, but it showed signs of its owner's corruption with the abundance of dead insects and flora. Once blue blossoms had bloomed all around the deep pool, but they had long since withered in the care of evil. The Hag didn't care.

 

She rose from the pool, water streaming from her body. The Hag had ordered Mattyu was tied in the corner in order to regenerate his precious magic as well, and his face twisted in disgust as he turned away from her nakedness. She reached up and took his chin between her fingers, deliberately pricking him with her long nails.

 

“Like what you see, Mattyu?” she cackled as his tired gray eyes flashed with anger.

 

She turned and studied her nakedness in the mirror, gazing at her sagging, wrinkled body. Time had taken its toll on her. Time and evil…

 

“I was beautiful, Mattyu. Remember those days? Before your damned cousin, I was gorgeous.”

 

She whirled suddenly and slapped Mattyu, the sound reverberating in the room, sounding out of place in the peaceful Reflection.

 

“That doesn't matter now, though, does it? It doesn't matter because I have you…and I have your precious Terra…and soon I'll have your daughter. How does that make you feel?”

 

Mattyu couldn't answer, because the Hag had begun leeching magic from him, and the pain drove all thoughts away.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Terra bit her lip, telling herself she wouldn't give the Hag the satisfaction of watching her sob. She knew that even though the Hag was not in front of her, she was always watching through the eyes of her bespelled army. The three guards in front of her were like robots, pacing the exact same number of steps before turning and retracing their steps with unnatural precision. The door was wide open, a deliberate taunt. It was the Hags cruel way of saying she knew that Terra would never be able to escape.

 

Terra surveyed the small room. She wasn't tied up, and the guards didn't object to her walking about and stretching. She was allowed to use the bathroom and bathe when she asked. There were no windows, only one door, and three guards to keep her from using her magic. Already her earth magic was weakened; she had barely used it at all during her stay on Earth except when the Tra'lapp soldiers had attacked, and being in the water nation diluted her connection to unspoiled forest she needed to work her magic.

 

Terra took a deep breath. Even if she had been allowed to leave, or had the opportunity to escape, she honestly didn't know if she could. Mattyu was here, she could feel her husband near. Having his so close and not being able to touch or talk to him was excruciating. She was positive the Hag was well aware of this.

 

“Bitch.” She hissed suddenly, running her hand through gray streaked dark hair.

 

“Yes.” One guard said.

 

She whirled with shock, staring wide eyed at the guards who had not ceased pacing or missed a step. Had she misheard? All the Hags guards were under a total obedience spell that could only be broken by killing the Hag! And yet the guard's low voice had rung clearly through the small room she was being held captive in. Which one of them had said it?

 

The first guard was guarding the door; a lithe blonde with a small puckered scar running from his eyebrow into his hairline. He looked to be around thirty-five, and could be called handsome if his face didn't have the blankness of the Hags' spell.

 

The second guard was short and stocky, with curly dark hair and hazel eyes. He was one of the pacers, and his steps were measured and precise. He seemed to be around forty or so, and without the spell he may have been a quiet, steady person. The third guard was very tall and thin, but clearly stronger than his appearance would let on. Muscle showed through his blue uniform, and his green eyes showed that, before the spell, he had been a prankster. Laugh lines were abundant around his mouth. He seemed younger than the other two, only around twenty-five, or somewhere around Madison's age.

 

Madison, Terra thought sadly. What had happened to her? Was she safe? She pushed that thought back and focused on the issue ahead.

 

“Which one of you said that?” Terra whispered. None of the guards even looked her way. They continued their duties without a hitch.

 

Terra asked again, louder and maybe a bit desperate. “Which one of you said that?” she demanded.

 

No response from the blonde guard, the short guard, or the young guard.

 

Had she imagined it? She slid down the wall, despairing of her situation. She stared at the guards, wishing…

 

The blonde guard's eyes slide toward her, then away again. If she had blinked she would have missed it. Terra jumped to her feet again, sure that this time she hadn't imagined that. They were fighting the spell, she was sure of it! How could this be? No soldier had ever escaped the Hag, her spell was too strong! Even when the Hag lost her magic and began using Mattyu instead-Terra's eyes widened in sudden realization.

 

Wait…

 

Terra sat and began to speculate. It was time to make a plan to escape the Hag with Mattyu, and make her way to Madison, Roxanna, and Demetrius.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Police swarmed the house of Mrs. Terra Acreage, marveling at the damage. The entire interior of the house was soaked, from the ceiling to the basement, and there was a huge ragged hole in the ceiling of the living room. Somehow, sharp pillars of earth burst from random points in the floor.

 

Detective Williams studied the pillars. They were perfectly shaped into points, and he could see the still living worms and small insects inside of the dirt. Bodies of men and women in unidentified blue uniforms lay around the pillars. Clearly they had been impaled, but how? The time it would take to build these things and shape them this way…and why in the living room? Further, shouldn't the rain have dissolved the pillars into mud?

 

CSI Hernandez huffed with irritation. The extensive rainfall was making it difficult to get any fingerprints, shoe prints, or trace evidence. The two travel packs found in the corner of the room were very suspicious, but they weren't packed with money, a passport, or any of the other things a person would need to flee the country. They were packed with pots, food, durable clothes, and other things a person would need to go camping, or hiking. The bodies of the blue soldiers were another mystery, but maybe evidence could be gained from them that would hopefully reveal some answers.

 

“Do you have a time of death, Hernandez?” Detective Williams asked.

 

“About an hour ago as far as I can tell, Detective. I can't imagine how these pillars could have killed them. Their bodies are crushed, as though they were…thrown, somehow. These pillars would have had to shoot out of the ground right underneath their feet in order for them to have died the way they did.” Hernandez shook his head, baffled. “I just don't understand it.”

 

A police officer stepped up to Detective Williams and said “Sir, we don't know what the uniforms signify. They aren't related to any country or gang, as far as we know.”

 

“Has anyone been able to locate Terra Acreage, or her daughter Madison Acreage?”

 

“No, detective, they both seem to have disappeared. Further, the 911 call we received tonight from the neighbors around the residence of Roxanna Maxwell must somehow be linked. The report of a giant water monster can't be true, but Roxanna Maxwell's residence is destroyed. Preliminary reports suggest a bomb.” The police officer glanced around, checking to see if the several CSI and coroners were within hearing distance, then said softly, “Sir, I saw the Maxwell girl's house. It was…leveled. It was as if something had crushed it somehow.”

 

 

Detective Williams surveyed the damage, his eyes showing that he had seen too much in one lifetime. Dead people associated with someone no database could identify, three missing suspects, property that was not just destroyed but demolished and no explanation.

 

Six years ago when Mathew Acreage's car had run off the road, it had been clear someone had tampered with his car. The entire car was flooded, as though someone had opened the hood and pumped gallons of water into the engine. At the time, it had confused the people assigned to Mathew's case. If someone had done that, the car wouldn't have run at all. How did Mathew make it all the way to the bridge before the car ran off the road? It was impossible that the flooding could have happened while he was driving, the killer would have had to cling to the roof of the car, or Mathew would have had to drive with the hood up in the rain. The killer was never found, and the file had sat untouched for six years. Now Mathew's wife, daughter, and daughter's best friend were missing, and their house destroyed.

 

“Something very strange is happening here, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it.” Detective Williams said grimly. Detective William's cell phone rang and he answered it with a terse “Williams.”

 

CSI Hernandez watched as Detective Williams' face hardened into a frown and said “You found bloody what at the Maxwell girl's house?”

 

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Back again! Sorry for not updating so long, but I think at this point we all know how I am about updating. I hope you can all forgive me! I've given you plenty of juicy things to chew on this chapter. We'll pick back up with Maddy, Roxie, and Dem at the Flow in the next chapter. Have I got some surprises in store for you!

 

~Asaka_Sama