Jackson gently ran a hand down my back and held me close. “Shhh. It’s alright. You’re safe now. Just let it all out. You’ll feel better after.”
I put my arms around him and held on like he was my only lifeline while I poured out my grief and shock and sadness. Sadness for the burnt man and the poor girl whose only crime was to tell Felicity we were telling the truth.
As Jackson comforted me, a gesture that seemed like such a small thing became something huge. I hadn’t realized how much I really needed this. Mum wasn’t the hugging type — or so she always said. The amount of hugs I’d received from her in my life I could probably count on one hand. I drank in the emotions running through me and it filled me up.
At some point Jackson guided me over and we sat on the edge of the bed. He held me till my tears had stopped, but I didn’t want him to let me go. I knew I should move away, but doing that would mean facing the world again. I just stayed there wishing I could hear his heartbeat against my ear. That jolted me back to reality. He was dead. I shouldn’t be doing this.
Yes, I’d desperately needed the comfort, but I should have moved away once I’d stopped crying all over him.
I reluctantly released him and put a little bit of distance between us.
My cheeks heated and I looked away. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. What you went through was traumatic, and I doubt anyone else here would care that much– No, I take that back. Kellie cares.”
I nodded. I was pretty sure she did — she was a genuinely caring person — but she was probably tucked up in bed sound asleep right now.
I looked into his eyes. “Thank you.” My cheeks were on fire now. Why was I embarrassed?
“You’re welcome.”
His smile faded. “I’m sorry I left the party when I did. As I walked further into the bush, I could hear Felicity ranting, but then I disappeared again. I don’t know how long I was gone, but when I was finally able to go back to the campsite, no one was there.”
“You don’t have to apologize. You can’t help disappearing. And you had no way of knowing what would happen. How could any of us have known what she would do?”
“I know, but I still feel bad.”
I yawned.
Jackson stood. “You should get some sleep.”
I nodded. The sun was fully up and shining in through the glass.
He pulled the curtains closed again with ease. It looked like he’d been practicing. “Are you okay?”
I nodded again. “Yes. Thank you.”
He smiled. “Anytime.”
And with that, he was gone.
I wasted no time in stripping off my clothes, putting on my dressing gown, and climbing into bed. I fell asleep within minutes.
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Two days after Halloween, the church called an urgent meeting, so all of us jumped into the van and headed into town. Ms Grant drove her own car.
I’d slept half the day after the Halloween party from hell and when I finally woke, I was so hungry I thought I could have eaten six large pizzas by myself. I had to answer a million questions from everyone in the house about the whole nightmare — except Mitch. He didn’t seem too interested.
Once we were all seated, Jericho greeted the crowd with a sombre tone. “Good evening. I’ll just get right to it. As you all know, the body of a man was found late Tuesday night out near the old St Joseph’s Church. They had been tortured and burned alive and buried in the bush not too far from the graveyard.”
There were murmurs in the crowd as he paused for effect and shuffled papers around on his lectern.
“The body has now been formally identified. It was our own minister, Father Kevin Jacobson, who has been missing since the twentieth of October.”
The murmurs grew louder and some people started firing off questions.
Jericho put up his hands. “We don’t know too much at this stage, but we do know that he was kidnapped on the day he went missing, so if there is anyone here that can think of anything you may not have told the police already, anything at all, even if you think it’s not significant, please contact them. Ask for Detective Forester. He is heading up the investigation.”
He let the crowd talk amongst themselves for a while, then spoke again. “There is also the matter of the fighting that broke out at the Halloween party Tuesday night before Kevin’s body was found. I’m sure you are all aware of the incident. A group of teenagers started fighting over a boy and one individual used magic to inflict serious injuries to many and caused the death of a young girl. In the process, they started several fires that had to be put out by other partygoers before they got out of control and started a full bushfire.”
Everyone started talking again.
Jericho cleared his throat and the noise settled down. “This kind of behaviour is not acceptable and the person who instigated the fighting has been taken into custody. Her name is Felicity Townsend. She caused serious injuries to many people, and almost caused the death of Jason Dickinson. It took many of the teens at the scene to stabilize him so he could be transported to the hospital.
“He is expected to make a full recovery. Felicity also killed young Bridgette Morgan using dark magic. This is unacceptable.” He rubbed his hands over his face and sighed deeply. “We will not tolerate fighting and the use of magic in public places, especially when used so recklessly. And the use of dark magic is illegal for good reason; because of the life-changing effects of its use.
“The Guild has become involved and they are working with the local police to keep an eye on things around the area. This is an official warning to each and every one of you.”
There was a hush in the room as everyone absorbed this.
I tried not to yawn. People would think I was bored with what was happening. Far from it. I was just so tired. I desperately wanted a nightmare-free sleep. After that first blissful sleep, every time I closed my eyes, I would be back in the fight watching people die. And I kept seeing Kevin’s burnt face staring back at me in the darkness.
Jericho put a hand on each side of the lectern as he continued. “The injured have been healed. We have sent Elemental Healers out to heal the bush. It’s a delicate operation because, although the gum trees and other native plants benefit from fire, a lot of them were damaged by raw magic and from being ripped out of the ground by elemental magic.
“The Healers won’t remove all traces of the fire as that would raise suspicion. All the Normals in the area saw the smoke and flames.”
That made sense.
A woman put up a hand. “Where did Felicity learn dark magic? It’s not like it’s well-known or taught as part of our magical training.”
Jericho shifted his weight to the other foot. “I’m told she refuses to answer any questions about how she has learnt these skills. She has not been co-operative with the authorities at all.”
A lot of people were talking at once.
Another woman spoke up. “How is Fiona Pullman?”
I sucked in a breath. Fiona was the girl I’d blasted with raw magic when they were chasing me. Parkinson told me the details of the injuries I’d caused. And that she was Emily’s cousin.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvVi1YnjjT
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Author's Note: Did you guess who the burnt ghost really was?
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