Chapter 20 ~ Searching for Clues

We shifted back and got dressed before we walked through the village. The trees still held the shape of the houses they'd been grown into but grass had grown through them and the paths were overgrown with more grass and new trees. There was no real sign of the slaughter that had taken place, but no evidence that it hadn't either.

My eyes searched the ground with every step terrified I'd find the long dead body of a Fae but there was nothing. It was like no one had ever been there. When I saw the familiar outline of my home I hesitated. The red door sat wide open and the top had come loose so it hung lopsided. Perhaps I had done that in my desperate race to escape with Mia that night, or maybe the next morning when I'd searched for my family.

I trailed my fingers down the red wood once I'd convinced myself to take the final strides to the house I'd grown up in. I ducked inside holding my breath. The once packed earth of the floor was now grass and weeds, the roof over head had splits in it allowing light to filter through. The small table and chairs still stood as it always had in the centre of the front room a thick layer of dirt and grime covered it and the woven place-mats had started to rot away.

I moved into the next room, mine and Mia's. The memory of scrambling out of bed and grabbing Mia, pulling her with me as screams rent the air stopped me from moving further in. I turned back and climbed the stairs to the room above. My parents room, the queen bed sat in the centre, their shared office desk to the right covered in leather bound books much like the one I'd found on Kellan's desk in the cabin.

My father had taught me to write and read the Elder language with those books. I picked one up but the pages were rotting away and anything they might have said was no longer legible. I sighed, the ache in my chest growing with each new item I saw. Kellan had followed me up but kept his distance, giving me the space I needed to get through this.

I walked to the bathroom doorway and glanced inside. Her jewellery box sat open on the shelf by the mirror and I couldn't resist entering. The gold locket she'd always worn sat in the centre. The snapped chain the only reason she'd taken it off. Inside old pictures of Mia and I. I wrapped the chain around my fingers and hugged it to my chest.

What had really happened that night? If they were still alive, why had they left me behind? Did they think I was dead too? My heart squeezed in my chest and I struggled to breath. I felt the world spin around me and sagged to the floor for stability. Kellan raced over and grabbed me. "Hey, are you okay?" I rubbed my temples and shook the dizziness away.

"Yeah, lets keep going," I pushed myself to my feet again, using Kellan for stability and hurried down the stairs and out of the house. The walk through the rest of the village was a blur as my mind kept skipping back to that house. To questions I wasn't sure I'd ever have the answers to. We reached the other side of the village and Kellan stepped forward, leading us through the last of the houses and out to a stretch of what was once empty space and was now an overgrown region full of young trees and new growth.

In the centre were three rows of three well established pines all evenly spaced in a manner that could not have been natural. I moved closer, fear wrapping its claws around my chest. There was a human sized space between each tree.

"This is where we buried the dead." Kellan confirmed my suspicions and I dropped to my knees. Only nine? I'd seen bodies strewn everywhere throughout the village and into the forest beyond. There were hundreds of Fae and he had only found nine bodies?

"Where are the rest?" He just looked at me. Waiting.

"If they're still alive, where are they?" I whispered, tears trickled down my face as I stared up at him, "Why did they leave me?" He shook his head.

"We don't know where they went. There are a few rumours about other countries or underground. Some Mythics even think they might have travelled to another dimension dimension somehow. But no one knows. The Fae just disappeared into thin air and no one has been able to find them so far. We've still been searching bu mostly we're just waiting for them to come back to steal the last two Amulets and coming up with potential plans to stop them when they do."

"Could they still be here?" My mind flashed back to the last day I'd been in Kat's lab as a patient. The flash of a violet aura I'd thought I'd seen and dismissed knowing there were no Fae left alive."I think we would know by now if they were still here. There's been no sign as yet. At first we thought they might have been behind the disappearances, especially when they took Jasper. Even weakened by the missing amulet it is hard to take on a member of the Council. But that turned out to be humans so..." He paused, "Why?"

"I thought I saw a Fae aura a few days ago. Not far from Kat's lab actually. But it could also have been my imagination, she had just taken a fair amount of my blood so I was a bit hazy."

"Knowing that the Fae are still out there. What are the chances it was a Fae?" I thought back to that moment as I'd walked through the doors and onto the street. It had been the briefest flicker of violet on the edge of my vision and when I'd turned to investigate it was gone. I had no idea. The only thing that flickered and danced like that was an aura and only Fae had purple. But I had been a little light headed, not to mention excited about the cure. It could just as easily have been my imagination.

"I don't know. It could have been. But I'm not certain, I only saw it for half a second and then it was gone." He ran his fingers through his hair and nodded. Letting it go, though the frustration was written clear across his face. If they were here already we needed to know.

"Where are the last two Amulets?" I asked and his eyes shuttered as he stared at me. For the first time, I realised I wasn't the only one who was withholding trust. He wasn't sure what side I was on either. The pain in my chest somehow got worse at the thought, though I knew I didn't deserve his trust after how I had acted so far.

As far as Kellan was aware I hated Wolves. Hell I hated all Mythics. And it was true, at least it was, now I wasn't sure what I felt, or believed. So, how could he possibly know?

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me. I'm a Fae, I get it. But wherever they are, you need to make sure they're still there. And I hope they aren't together or it might already be too late."

"They're not." He sighed, "But I am going to have to check with the Witches and make sure they still have theirs. I just don't know how we're supposed to keep them safe when we don't even know if the Fae are here. If I go check on both Amulets, how do I know I'm not leading them straight to what they want?"

"You don't. Get the Witches to check theirs and you check the Wolf Amulet. I think I should head back to the lab building. If it was a Fae I know what direction it was heading in, maybe there is something around there that could give us a hint as to where they are and what they're doing."

He nodded and we started the trek back out of the woods. We followed the over grown road that no longer resembled a road at all, it was so overgrown we might as well have just bashed our way through the bush but we got through to the outskirts of town eventually. And it wasn't until we were clear of the trees that Kellan spoke again.

"I already know the Wolf Amulet is safe," He lifted a hand to his chest and I noticed the small lump under his shirt and the chain around his neck. "It was hidden at the cabin, but..." He trailed off.

"You didn't trust me?" I asked, he dropped his gaze and lifted a shoulder, "I didn't even know they were real until today. I always thought it was some made up legend that Mythics got their power from the Amulets. I don't even know what they look like. You had nothing to worry about."

"Maybe," He shrugged again and tugged the chain up out of his shirt, a jagged piece of shimmering clear stone hung from the chain a blazing silver aura similar to Kellan's, flaring from it. I gasped at the sight. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and the power radiating from it was awe inspiring.

"It's a piece of clear tourmaline," He tucked the stone back under his shirt, "The Witch Amulet is green Tourmaline. Each amulet contains the origin of power for its race. If the stone is separated from its race, then its people grow weaker. We've seen it happen to the other four races already. And if the Fae get the last two they could wipe us out completely."

"Then, I guess we need to find them and stop them before it's too late." He nodded and pulled a phone from his pocket.

"I'm coming with you to the lab. I just need to check in with Adeline and make sure the Witch Amulet is safe as well."