After telling what they knew, with leaving out the moment with the grimoire, the girls were curious to know who the culprits were.
"All the evidence leads to a group riled up to believe a witch lived at your shop, Ms. Rathz," inspector Evans said, "You could say it was a modern witchhunt."
"A witchhunt, hm?" Sybil sighed, "I know this scar would bite me in the ass someday."
The inspector showed a look of confusion until the woman took off her headwrap.
"Is that..?"
Sybil nodded. "A pentagram yes."
The man scribbled something in his notebook.
"I understand why they thought there was a witch. Some people in Salem are very superstitious. May I ask how you got that scar?"
She wrapped up her hair again.
"It was a stupid teenage prank involving booze and a branding iron. As you can immagine, it still haunts me to this day. That's why I usually cover it."
The inspector nodded.
"I also questioned the owner of the bookstore next door, luckily he had a security camera recording that night, and we saw some people on the tapes at the time of the fire. Do you know any of these people?" Mr. Evans procured an older model smartphone and showed some pictures of the suspects. The images were a bit blurry, but one woman in particular catched Sybil's eye.
"That woman is, or was, a regular at my shop."
"What do you know about her?"
"Well, all I know is that she suffers from delusions."
The inspector scribbled something in his notebook again.
"Did she visit your store recently?"
Sybil nodded.
"About two weeks ago. I was about to close the shop when I was busy rewrapping my hair. She might have seen my scar."
A look of concern appeared on the man's face. He took a few moments to formulate his next words.
"Did you know she was part of a cult?"
The woman shook her head.
"A cult? I knew she was mentally not the most stable, but I never imagined she would fall for something like that."
"It could have been her who led the assault. We still have to interrogate her to be sure, but for now I suggest to find a safe place to hide. You two too," he said, looking at the two girls next to Sybil.
"Where do we go?" Eliza wondered.
"As long as we're not in Salem, we should be good, right?" Sybil asked, looking at the inspector for confirmation.
He nodded.
"Then I know where to go."
Inspector Evans took that as a cue to get get up.
"Then I guess we're all settled. Let's exchange phone numbers so we can keep contact. I'll let you know when we confirmed the culprit and when you can return safely."
The ladies nodded and watched as the man left the room.
-------------
After some final check ups, the girls were free to leave the hospital.
"Finally!" Rose exclaimed, "I'm so happy to smell the fresh air again!"
Sybil led the two young witches to her car, which she had parked in the underground garage.
"I only smell fuel," Eliza retorted.
The older woman snorted, having fun listening to them bickering for the next few minutes. In the meantime she thought on where they would be going. She had thought of a few options, but settled of the safest one. It was also the place she was the most reluctant to go. Nineteen years had passed since she had last seen them. Would they still feel bad about what had happened that night? Would they still pity her?
"Hey Sybil," the more extroverted one interupted her thoughts, "You said you knew a place to go, where exactly is it?"
The darker colored woman stopped, and unlocked the doors of a cute, green hatchback.
"We are going up north, to some of my former coven sisters. Megan and Lily are quite powerful, so they shouldn't have a problem setting up a barrier for us. I called them just before we left the hospital room, and they said they would gladly offer us a place to stay until everything was safe again."
Eliza had a worried look on her face.
"We should probably tell the girls at home about our whereabouts. Plus, someone needs to pick up Rose's car."
The group put their bags in the trunk of Sybil's car and then stepped in.
"I can ask Lily if she would be willing to pick up the car. That way, when you need it, you'll have it close by."
Rose nodded and then fastened her seatbelt. The other two soon followed suit. Sybil started then engine, and soon they were on their way to the next part of their journey.
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Nora found Violette in her living room. She was sitting on one of her couches, reading a letter. The shapeshifter noticed that his bound partner was only half dressed, which was unusual for her. Something was up.
"Who sent you that letter?"
Nora sat down next to the demon goddess while trying back his long, strawberry blonde hair. He looked at the woman who had her eyes still glued to the piece of paper.
"Kumiho," she grumbled.
A sigh escaped Nora's mouth. That evil witch always had to sour the mood. He stood back up again and snatched the letter from Violette's hands.
"Come. Kumiho only enjoys provoking you, you know that. No way I'll leave you for a bitch like her."
The demon goddess nodded and then looked up, finding her partner's deep blue eyes.
"Here," Nora extended a hand, "I'll help you get dressed and ask Pips to make you some Christmas tea, okay?"
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