October 22, 2002 – 00:45
A black cat walked through Lizzy's backyard, and a bat stood on its head and stopped by the backdoor. It scratched it. Stephanie opened the backdoor and let them in. She wasn't expecting that sight. She had never seen a bat in her entire life, and she had never seen Coralis in that form, but she admitted to herself that she did look like a mini-black panther.
As soon as Stephanie closed the door behind them, Coralis and Veronica shifted back to their true form. Molly walked into the kitchen at the same time.
"Oh my! Are you two okay?" said Molly, slowly approaching Coralis and Veronica.
"Yes, we are, but there was no way we would have walked around the neighbourhood looking like that. Halloween is soon, but we aren't there yet," said Coralis.
"We might have to miss the game tomorrow," said Sebastian, walking in the kitchen.
"I made coffee when we got back earlier, should be still warm, do you want a cup?" said Lizzy.
"No thank you," said Veronica.
"I need to take Veronica back to Chicago and pay a visit to Sally when I get back. Unless Audrey happens to be at that coven when I get there, I will indeed have to miss the game tomorrow, but you don't have to."
"They'll allow you to miss it?" said Frank.
"They have to. Her guardianship to Audrey is through a blood-binding agreement. If something happens to her protegee, that takes priority over anything else," said Sebastian.
"I'm starting to like your laws better than ours," said Louis.
"You haven't slept in over a day, you need to get some rest," said Molly.
"I'll be fine. I'll make a stop at home to wash up and change clothes when I get back from Chicago, before going to Sally's, but I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Sally is a witch, but she isn't friendly to most covens out there and is a great source of information when it comes down to unregistered witches."
"I'll be there to let you in through the kitchen window," said Frank.
"I'll stand guard while you're gone. Let me know when you're on your way to that coven, I'll go with you. Veronica, thanks for your help today, it was very appreciated," said Sebastian.
"You really don't need to thank me, I owe Blue more than she owes me. Besides, she just handed me the Waldorf clan on a silver platter."
Coralis took off to Chicago, with Veronica holding her tight. She landed in the alley behind The Bloody Velvet. It was in the middle of the night.
"Want a drink before you head back to Montreal?"
"I want to, but I don't want the patrons to call the cops on me," said Coralis while handing her the bag of evidence they collected from the Waldorf clan's warehouse.
"Who said you had to come in?" said Veronica while sending a text message.
Two minutes later, Hendrick walked out the back door carrying a pile of three shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey.
"You know that Halloween is next week, right? Not tonight?" said Hendrick while the girls each grabbed a shot glass.
"If it was tonight, I'd be walking in your club pretending to be a serial killer," said Coralis.
Coralis left a few minutes later and called Frank to let him know that she was on her way. He was in the kitchen when she arrived on the back porch. She jumped on the grill that he had put by the window and stretched her paw to be able to scratch the window. He let her in.
"Thanks!" she said as she transformed back to herself and headed to their bedroom to grab a change of clothes before taking a shower.
"I would join you in the shower, but I don't think you'll be in there for a fun time."
"Not exactly, no. I still have some time before I go meet with Sally, but it's going to take me at least half an hour to scrub all of that crap off of me."
"You want coffee or a drink?"
"Coffee, please."
A few minutes later, Frank entered the bathroom and deposited her mug on a shelf next to the shower.
"Last night you mentioned that it wasn't the first time there was an incident like that at Audrey's school. What happened the last time?"
Coralis stood still and closed her eyes. She wanted to dodge the question and change the topic, but she promised him she'd answer any question and she remembered telling him the previous night that she'd tell him about it when she'd get back home.
"My cousin died."
"Oh! How?... Sorry about that… I mean, if you don't want to answer right now, it's fine…"
Coralis wanted to tell him that it was fine, that he couldn't have known, but she wasn't ready to open up about it. She didn't want to talk about it, but she knew that sooner or later, she would have to tell him more. She grabbed the mug of coffee across the shower curtain and drank some of it before continuing with what she was doing.
She got out of the shower and finished her coffee as she walked out of the bathroom. She put her mug in the sink and went to sit beside him in the living room.
"It's still a painful subject for me. The school claimed she killed herself, but I don't think she did. I couldn't prove it at the time, and still wouldn't be able to prove it now."
"Do you think it's related to what happened to Audrey?"
"No, but it makes me wonder if there have been more incidents that the school might have covered up or refused to investigate. They think Audrey left on her own, but I know she didn't, and I'll make sure that I can prove it."
She arrived at her friend Sally at 7 and left 30 minutes later. Soon after she left, her cell phone vibrated. She was close to a high condominium tower, so she landed on its rooftop to answer.
"Sis, my life has never been so productive before I met you and you know how old I am. Do you have any idea of the kind of research the Waldorf clan were doing in the lab we burned down yesterday?"
"No, but I know that you will tell me."
"They were experimenting on ghouls. What was in the vials we found was what you'd typically find in spelled marble type of cages. However, vampire tissues were in the mix. Our chemist was drooling over the research papers, I kid you not."
"Really? On ghouls? Did you find out why in gods world would they want to have a tunnel linking one of their blood dens to an elemental school?"
"Patience is a virtue, sis, I'm not done. What we found doesn't exactly answer your question, BUT, listen to this. Some of the research documents we found were signed by Lord Meozo."
"Meaning the Waldorf clan are among those who want to continue what he started… and so is probably the coven I'm about to burn down… so that answered my question, Lord Meozo was probably behind that damn tunnel, or any elemental clan associated to him."
When Coralis arrived at Lizzy's, she saw Molly asleep on the couch. She whispered to Sebastian what Veronica found out.
"It's all connected. That explains why Audrey's father wanted her under his custody, but I don't understand why he would enroll her at school, just to kidnap her from there at the beginning of the school year," whispered Sebastian as Frank knocked on the door.
They quickly hushed him in and closed the door.
"I think he never wanted her to attend elemental school to begin with. According to Sally, The Coven of Unholy Saint Mothers doesn't only teach their own, but also elemental kids from questionable mage families. It probably was just a ruse to get her away from her mother. Think about it. Had he taken her from here, her picture would probably have ended up all over the media… but there's something we're missing."
"The school had to call you because you were her official guardian, and they called Lizzy because the CMMA got involved after she received her admittance letter. Otherwise… we would never have known… until the school year was over… Holy gods from above! I'm starting to think that they're planning something big before the school year end… like a war…"
"Let's go grab a bite before we pay a visit to that coven if you still want to come. It's near Rimouski."
"I'll go with you. I'll call High Mage Finnas and coach on the way there. Technically, if you need my assistance for anything you need to rescue your protegee… coach can't say anything if I also miss the game. The team can afford for us both to miss this one."
Frank went with them for breakfast and returned to his aunt afterwards while Coralis and Sebastian left for a remote village near Rimouski. Linda had already left for work.
A few hours later, Pier Glozo rang Lizzy's bell.