Chapter 13

  Many years ago, I made a promise to myself: I would not walk away when an innocent was being hurt. I would not walk away when I saw someone being abused, even if it cost me personally. No matter how much it cost me; and it had cost me a lot. Driven me crazy, driven me insane.

  I had once let an innocent die because I had failed to act fast enough and I vowed to myself that I would never make that mistake again. And yet, in spite of all my efforts, I still usually ended up lost and defeated, just like tonight.

  The name the police and the local authorities gave me, which they said behind my back as a way to insult me, was correct.

  I really was the Defeated Detective.

  A failure in every way.

  I lost every case I took on. It was a curse of mine.

  ***

  You have lost more than you imagine, Royce. They have completed the ritual and opened the gates, but they don't know that instead of a demon they can control, they have opened the gates to hell, and millions of the undead will follow. And it is all your fault, Royce. You should have killed the cultist when you had the chance.

  I looked to the side and saw that the mirror had fallen out of my pocket, and I could see the shadow's reflection in it. “Do it” I said, “Close the portal.”

  I'm sorry, Royce, but it's too late. For me to close the portal now will require the sacrifice of at least two innocent lives.

  “Take my life. Kill me. I willingly give up my life. Take it!”

  Oh, you poor innocent puppy. Didn't you hear me? I said innocent life.

  She stepped out of the mirror and touched my forehead. I knew she did that when she was taking some of my power, which she only did in extreme situations. It felt like my blood had turned to ice. And every vein of blood in my body was going to explode. I screamed, but louder than me were the screams of the cultists as all of their heads exploded and they fell down dead. The pain stopped, and I stopped screaming as well.

  “What happened? That was too fast. What did you do?” I asked.

  I knew the pain should have lasted longer - tens of minutes at least, maybe even hours. Not seconds.

  Remember, it was your indecision to act that caused this. I know you will throw a tantrum at me but I won't be listening. I have other things to do. Good luck.

  I pushed myself up, fighting the pain.

  Something was wrong. It was too quiet.

  I ran as fast as I could to the main building. The kitchen door was still open, and I looked inside. There were four dead bodies there: the two Afghani couple, their child and my friend Ram, who had come in to get a cup of tea.

  All of them were lying dead on the floor. Their eyes gouged out of their heads and their tongues ripped out.

  “You bitch!” I screamed. “Why? Why did you kill them? Why? Why?” I punched a nearby mirror so hard it shattered, causing my knuckles to start bleeding.

  In a shattered piece of mirror, I saw her face looking blank and emotionless.

  Remember what I said, Royce? Don't throw a tantrum. It wasn't me who killed them, it was you. If you had acted quickly and followed my instructions, only the cultists would have died. As it is, you were too late and they had opened the portal.

  While I don't care for humans or humanity, I am bound by an agreement with my kind. That forces me to act whenever a large-scale demonic incursion into your world takes place. The sacrifice of these three and the innocent child was enough to close the gate for now, but I could only do it temporarily. It will open again and millions will die, but this time it won't be my problem. And now I would start running unless you want to be here when the police arrive.

  On the wall I saw a flashing red light. A silent alarm. It must have been triggered somehow when everyone died.

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  I heard a phone ringing. It was Ram's phone. I saw his wife's photo come up on the phone. After a few rings, it shut off, and a text message appeared on the phone.

  “Honey, are you okay? Sweetie, we miss you. Your two daughters cannot sleep and want to say goodnight to the daddy. Give us a quick call when you have a few seconds. Bye bye sweetie.”

  I looked at the Ram's horror-struck face. He would never be saying good night to his daughters again. He had taken this dangerous job to help pay the rent, but now it looks like his family's situation was about to get worse. Tears of anger and self-loathing welled up in me. I had killed him and destroyed his family.

  I looked at the Afghani woman and her husband. They were lying dead next to a big pot of something that was starting to burn.

  In the corner, I saw her, a little girl, barely eight years old, sitting with a doll in her hand. She was the only one of the four who didn't look scared. Looked like she had died peacefully, but even her eyes and tongue had been gouged out.

  The shadow woman in the mirror was right. This was my fault. I had taken too long to get here. I had taken too long to make a decision. In my attempt to be a hero and save the homeless woman from being killed, I had not only gotten her killed but four other innocent people as well.

  I could hear the police sirens coming, and I knew my mind was about to shatter. The after effect of this killing would be even worse than last time because this time at least 11 people had died, including the 7 cultists. It would take me days to recover. I couldn’t be here when my mind shattered, I needed my mind to escape.

  The police were almost at the gate now, so I ran back towards where the cultists were dead. I would try to slip away into the dark fields and try to make my way home.

  Then I saw something next to the leader of the cultists - a file that looked like it had instructions on how to carry out death rituals. I took a quick look through it, and at the very end, the names of 21 women or girls with the handwritten note saying, “Do these next month”.

  Were these the next victims? I had no way of knowing. The police were almost there, so I ran into the darkness.

  I don't know how long I ran. It was completely dark, not even the moon was out. For the first hour I ran blindly, my only goal to get away from the brightly lit farm. But after what looked like an hour or two of running, I was completely lost. My mind had shattered in the meantime and the line between the physical world and the ghost world was gone. I could see the dead, I could see demons, ghosts, spirits of every type looking at me. Quite a few seemed amused and were laughing at my failure.

  After around two hours of running, I found a small river and I realised it must be near the forest that led to Mirabelle's shop. I didn't know if she would be there this late in the night, but I had to try. I went there and banged the door a few times. Nothing happened, so I banged again.

  “Who is it?” I heard a woman's voice. “I have a gun. Just to warn you.”

  She opened the door and saw me and I fell into her arms. “Oh Royce,” she said, “what have you done?”

  I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell her I was a failure. But no words came out, only tears. She hugged me like she understood. “It's ok, it's ok, come inside.”

  “I failed,” I managed to croak.

  She looked at me expectantly.

  “I killed the cultists but I couldn't save the homeless woman. And 4 other people died because of me.”

  “You can't blame yourself, Royce. You know how it is. The world is an evil place but not because of us. What’s wrong with your eyes?”

  She ran to the other room and came back with a kitchen towel. “You realise your eyes, nose, and ears are bleeding, right? There's a big hole in your forehead like somebody shot you there. That's bleeding as well. You need a doctor, Royce. This is beyond even my skills.”

  “No, I need to lie down and rest for a few days. Can you find me a place where I can stay hidden and nobody will see me or find me? The shit's about to hit the fan. There's no way the police will be able to cover this up. The media, the press they will all be here and I'm sure they'll arrest me this time. I need to hide until my mind recovers.”

  “Don't worry about the police or media. They won't touch you. If you don't want to go to the doctor, that's fine. I have an empty storeroom that you can hide in. It's barely enough for you to lie down, but I'll lock the door from outside. You let me know when you're ready.”

  “I will.”

  I gave her the file. “These cultists were puppets; they were being controlled by somebody else. Somebody was manipulating them into opening the portal to hell and letting out millions of the undead. They didn't even know how to cast basic spells. There's a list of twenty-one names at the end. I'm guessing these women will be sacrificed next but the names are very generic, standard English names like Jennie and Maggie. I don't know how we'll find them or save them. I'm thinking we have at most one week before the next sacrifice, and I don't know if I'll be ready before then.”

  She gave me a big hug. “You've done enough, Royce. Leave the rest to me. You don't have to carry the burden alone.”

  I looked hesitant so she continued.

  “There are very few of us in this fight against the darkness, but each one of us is willing to die for this. Share the burden with us, Royce. You're not alone. I'm going to call in support. We are going to war against this cult if they think they can just come into a town and start messing with us. They need to be taught a lesson they'll never forget.”

  She hugged me again. “Let go, Royce. Let me carry your burden. Let us help.”

  “I am the Defeated Detective. I fuck up every case I take.”

  “No you don’t. Don’t be silly. And this isn’t just your case now.”

  I cried into her shoulders, but I relaxed. She was right, it was out of my hands. My mind was gone and would take weeks to recover. This was her fight now.

  As she locked me in, I gave in to the darkness that enveloped me.

  End of Case 1

  Next Case: Mirabelle only has a few days to find out where the missing girls are. Her only help is a wicked witch who can only curse people, never help.

  Yuki is the Evil Witch, a woman who can only curse, never heal. But when a young girl is kidnapped and no one will help, Yuki is forced to become the Hero. But can her dark magic really help?