~ Marie ~
Her muscles protested as she stood up and leaned against the bookshelf. She took a shaky breath. It was just another nightmare. She really shouldn’t let them affect her like this anymore. Marie took another deep breath before she tried to come up with a way to get to the door without disturbing the piles of books surrounding her. Her body ached from sleeping on the hard floor. Stopping had crossed her mind but she wanted to find answers as soon as possible. Marie sighed. Not that things had gone according to plan. She gradually worked her way to the door. Marie trudged through the living room and up the stairs. More of her aches were felt as she climbed the stairs. A shower would hopefully ease some of the aches. She still had another long day of reading through books.
After her shower and her usual breakfast, Marie took her coffee and headed back to the study. She needed more information. Even a little bit more information on the victim might give her the hint she needed to narrow the search.
Old script, or script for short, was what magic users used in spells as well as in summoning. There were over two thousand script that were used for general magic. Demon summoning commonly used about five hundred of those. Not all of them were used at once but with that many choices the variations were limitless. If this was a standard summoning of a low level demon then the choices would be narrowed down to about a hundred. Sometimes it was as low as fifty. Unfortunately, this was a specialized circle for a specific demon which made the circle much more complicated. Whoever did the summoning wanted to summon this specific demon and only this demon. They didn’t want just any demon with similar abilities coming through the circle, which was something that would happen with a standard circle. Marie sighed. Going through all those script would not be pleasant or efficient.
If she knew who summoned the demon and why, she could narrow it down based on that. Experience told her that there were three reasons why someone might summon a demon: power, revenge, or immortality. Since it looked like this was orchestrated by vampires, immortality was out. Vampires lived a long time as it was, they wouldn’t be worried about dying like humans would be. That left revenge and power. If she considered power, then the possibilities were strength, wealth and knowledge but without knowing anything more about the summoner there was no way to narrow it further.
And with the last choice revenge, the question becomes revenge against who? Adrian was the most obvious choice. Mark was being accused of murder but Bel Meade did lose their Master. It was also possible someone was getting revenge on both clans. Either way, revenge seemed to be the most obvious choice. She would start there and identify demons that specialized in revenge, which were normally demons who had the ability to curse. She would go as high as lower mid-tier demons. They were the only ones that might be satisfied with the amount of death that had been in the room.
The larger the amount of death, the stronger the demon that could be summoned but with only one death, the demon that could be summoned should be a low tier demon. Unfortunately, that didn’t rule out lower mid-tier demons. Anything higher than that and the demon wouldn’t have enough death to manifest. Energy from death was needed in order for a demon to show up. If there wasn’t enough death then a demon would need to use their own energy and no demon would do that. Marie moved around the room pulling out any books concerning demons that were known for revenge or known for their power. Time passed this way for several hours before her focus started to waver. She checked the time. Seven-thirty. Marie sighed and leaned forward to rub her eyes. Even after all this time, she was no closer to an answer.
It was better to take a break and refill her coffee. Marie took her mug into the living room. Two pairs of eyes immediately focused on her. Adrian had kept his word and was here for another visit. Great. What was she supposed to do in this type of situation?
“Um, did you want some? There’s still a lot left.” Mark lifted his plate to show some kind of pasta covered in white sauce. It smelled good, whatever it was, but it was unlikely Adrian would want to share. Not that she was hungry. She still had stuff to make sandwiches if she wanted to eat.
“No, thank you.” She should be fine to act however she wanted in her own house. Overthinking it, when they wouldn’t even be here that long, was a waste of time. Marie walked past them and into the kitchen. She looked around but couldn’t find her coffee maker. Tsk. Where did he put it? Her eyes swept the kitchen but she didn’t see it anywhere. Maybe the cabinet. She put her mug on the counter while she started searching each of the cabinets.
“I put it over here.” She turned around. Adrian was opening another cabinet on the other side. He pulled out the coffee maker and set it up for her. Mark entered the kitchen and went straight to the stove. He served himself from a pan on the stove before he replaced the lid and left, leaving the two of them alone. Adrian dumped his empty plate into the sink before leaning against the opposite counter. “Did you find anything?”
“I’m still researching.” She hoped he wouldn’t ask her questions every time they met. Marie turned her mind back to her research. Maybe she needed to look at this from a different angle.
“How long until you find something?”
“However long it takes.” His eyes narrowed at her but she didn’t know what he expected her to say. The coffee maker beeped and she filled her cup. She took her coffee and went back to the study but she wasn’t alone. Adrian entered her study right after her. “Why are you following me?”
“Is there something you don’t want me to see?” She was more worried he would knock her piles over.
“What do you want?”
“To help. Wouldn’t this go faster if you had more than one person look?” It would go faster if he knew how to read script and was able to differentiate between each of them. She didn’t have the time to explain script to him as well as research. Her time would be better spent researching on her own. Marie crossed her arms. If that was all he came for then he should leave her to her research. “How much do you know about vampires?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Mark won’t be able to stay here for long. As a new vampire, his control is very weak. At the safehouse, he only had to deal with other vampires. Now you’ve forced him to be in close proximity to a human. He won’t be able to retain control for long. It would be better for him if you let him come home.” So he just wanted to try a different tactic to get her to release Mark.
“He’s staying here.”
“Just because there’s only one human here, it doesn’t mean the amount of stress is less.”
“You can tell how he’s feeling?” Adrian frowned at her as his eyes narrowed.
“Don’t take this lightly. His first instinct, after losing control, will be to attack you.”
“He’s going to stay here until the investigation is over.”
“I’ve already warned you. If he gets harmed, I will be holding you responsible.” They stared each other down as quiet descended. The silence was interrupted by her phone ringing. Tsk. Who could that be? Marie moved her books around as she tried to reach the phone. Adrian reached around and picked up her phone. He held it out to her and she took it.
“Hello?” It was one of the informants she paid to search for signs of demon summonings. Usually, the most they were able to tell her were rumors. On occasion, they were able to give her more concrete information like a time and place. This was one of those times. She held the phone with her shoulder as she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote the information down. Marie also wrote down which informant it was since she gave extra money to any information that led her to an actual demon summoning. Marie hung up. She folded the paper and put it in her pocket before turning to Adrian.
“Is that all?”
“You’re taking on another case while working on this one?” Demons didn’t care if she was already working on another case.
“This is Guardian business. If you have nothing else to say, I would like to get back to my research.” Marie opened a book and began flipping through it. The door slammed shut, startling her for a moment. She sighed. Getting this case finished would give her back her peace and quiet.
*~*~*~*~*
Once the clock struck midnight, Marie stood up and stretched. According to the informant, the summoning should take place at twelve-thirty at the Lona China Cemetery. Despite being a private cemetery, it was frequented by people looking for a thrill, hoping to see ghosts. Unfortunately, it was also a popular place to summon demons. Marie made sure her hands weren’t touching anything before she closed her eyes and teleported herself over. Teleporting was incredibly useful but it was something she preferred not to use around other people since it wasn’t a common ability.
The spot she had chosen to teleport to was towards the back of the cemetery behind some brush. Marie had to be careful of the nearby cacti as she checked the area for any magic. Nothing yet. She sat down and got comfortable as she waited for the supposed time. Information on possible summonings wasn’t always credible and there had been instances where no one ever showed. The informant had found the information on a private forum for demon summoners, which made the information even more suspicious. Unfortunately, she couldn’t just ignore it. She sighed. If nothing happened in the next thirty minutes then she would just put down a spell that would let her know if any magic was used in the area. If something did turn up, she could always come back and take care of it.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to do that. Several cars came up the path and stopped a foot away from where she was hiding. Marie peeked out, careful not to make any sounds. Three people got out of one car and two got out of the other. Two of them went to the trunk of one of the cars and opened it to reveal a sixth person. They appeared to be drugged or wounded as they stumbled around and had to be held up. They were blindfolded and their arms were tied behind their back so they were dragged around by their arms. Once the circle was completed, they would be killed to summon the demon. The sacrifice was dragged over to a tree and left on the ground. One of the people was already drawing a circle nearby, while the others stood around waiting. Should she go out now or wait?
It was better to wait. It would be easier to take them out if they were focused on the circle and not their surroundings. Marie waited as they finished up the circle and took their places. They raised their hands and she took that chance to run out. She put the two closest to her to sleep before she ran towards a third and put him to sleep before he was able to do anything. That left two. One of them had scrambled towards the sacrifice. He shook as he held a knife up to their throat.
“S-Stay away or I’ll kill him.” It would have been a smart strategy if the person on the outside hadn’t begun to chant the spell to summon the demon. The one with the knife pushed the sacrifice away as they rushed to get out of the circle. Marie took that chance to teleport behind the summoner and put them to sleep before teleporting behind the last person and putting them to sleep as well. She exhaled as she raised her eyes and searched the area for any signs of other people. The cars were empty and there wasn’t anyone else in the area.
The circle was checked, just in case, but it hadn’t been activated. She stood and examined the circle. It was a standard circle for summoning a demon of strength. The demon itself was also a low tier demon by the name of Noegoleth. The demon wasn’t the best, just the most known and because of that he was the most summoned. She ran across people trying to summon him several times a year. Well, at least this had been an easy one. Marie didn’t need to worry about another demon when she hadn’t even figured out the first one. She breathed a sigh of relief. Marie froze at the sensation of someone watching her.
She turned and peered out into the dark but couldn't see anything. Marie tried to sense if there was any magic in the area but she felt nothing. Hmm. Maybe it was her imagination. She frowned. Marie wrote out her obscure spell and activated it. If someone was out there spying, they wouldn’t be able to see or hear anything happening in a twenty foot radius around her.
With that done, Marie touched each of the would-be summoners to make sure that they were under her sleep spell and to erase the last five minutes of their memories. Keeping her abilities a secret was the highest priority for her. Marie knelt by the sacrifice and put him to sleep before she untied his arms. She made sure that the sacrifice wasn’t wounded before standing back up and pulling out a white piece of paper with script written on it. Marie pushed her magic into the talisman. It turned into ash and disappeared. This was the only way to contact the Black Division. She didn’t like to use talismans since she didn’t like relying on paper that could be damaged or destroyed but it had its uses. Marie just preferred to stick to other methods since they were more reliable.
They were a part of the same organization she was and would take the summoners into custody. The Black Division arrived about five minutes after she had used the talisman. They asked for basic information and she told them everything she knew before leaving the area to them. They would check everyone here and make sure none of them were on a wanted list somewhere. Afterwards, any information pertaining to demons would be erased from their minds and they would be let go. The sacrifice would also get their memories wiped of anything pertaining to demons. Didn’t need the victim to go and try to summon demons in order to get revenge.
Marie walked towards the road, careful to keep herself hidden from anyone trying to look for ghosts in the cemetery. She encountered no one. When she was sure no one was in the area, she teleported back to her study. She sighed as she took in the sight of several stacks of books waiting for her. Marie picked one from the pile and sat down to read. She needed to make back the time she lost taking care of that other demon. There was no telling how much time she had left.
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