After so much loss and trauma, Isaac decided that staying alone was his best option. No attachments meant no hurt. He has trained himself to be a mere human, denying his wolf abilities, and has focused mainly on his doctoral research. But a particul...
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Xavier's POV
This Isaac guy looks like a kid in his early, maybe mid-twenties max, but somehow his eyes trailed the shadow of loss and frustration.
I, unfortunately, know very well that shadow. The old case I am trying to solve involves multiple victims in the McKinson home. When we arrived, we found three people dead, one barely clinging to life, and the fifth family member remains unaccounted for.
This case is personal; one of the victims was my fiancé. She was brutally taken from me, a month before our wedding. I haven't caught the killer or killers yet, but I will one day avenge her.
The remaining person is Nia. She was my beloved Patricia's younger cousin, and I hate to see her struggling alone with the sadness that is too heavy for her to carry on her shoulders.
She has built high walls to protect herself, and I hardly get her to talk with me. I think that by solving this case, I will also help her rebuild her life. I can only hope.
Xavier explains to Isaac the McKinson case and why he thinks it relates to the serial killer.
"The fact that we haven't found Michael, the missing brother, makes me think that somehow, he knows something. Poor Nia is still in this place waiting for him to come back home.
He was five years older than her and protected her like a knight in shining armor. Their parents were successful businesspeople and traveled extensively, so Michael cared for Nia from a very young age.
Patricia lived in Spain, where I met her. I fell head over heels for her and followed her here," explained Xavier with his gaze lost in space, like he saw Patricia just there before him.
Isaac knew too well what it felt like to lose someone important. Maybe he didn't had the chance to fall entirely in love with Allison; after all, they had just started their relationship when she sadly passed, but the pain was still intense.
"Sorry to hear about your fiancé; I will do everything I can to help you with this case. You said this happened four years ago.
In my research, I found records or mentions of ritualistic sacrifices around the area every few decades in the past centuries. However, around the 1940s, there were no more cases until four years ago when seven mutilated bodies were found."
"Yes, I was fully focused on solving that case when I lost Patricia. The mutilations were weird and followed a pattern.
They all had the symbol from the previous rituals in the archives, but this time we found three bodies missing brain matter, two missing their fangs, and the last two were females with their hearts ripped out.
What if the McKinson family was the last three to complete the ritual?"
As Isaac walks around the city thinking about what Xavier is getting at, he realizes that Tonerie still has a cute little town aura attracting many backpackers into the supernatural, from the Jacob team fans to the ones still mourning Hayley from The Originals.
"I hear you; we just need to find the connection. We need to find the "why"? What is the objective of this ritual?
Did any of the McKinson victims have any mutilation?
I noticed from the three cities in the Triangle that this is the only one where there is still a direct living descendant from one of the original druid families; maybe having that connection to the roots of the town made the McKinson a target. Maybe if I could talk to Nia?"
Before Isaac could continue, Xavier interrupted him.
"Nope, that is not a good idea, my friend. That night we found Nia clinging to her life; she was so severely injured that she was in an induced coma and bedridden for almost a year."
Isaac cringed at the thought of someone going through such an ordeal. Xavier explained that Nia had just turned 16 a few days before the attack. Her family was a beloved part of this community, so many rallied around her to help as they could.
"When she woke up and started therapy, I urged her to leave; I even offered to go with her. We could go to Paris or back to Spain after all she is what I have left of Patricia.
I still think she needs to get out of here. However, Nia is adamant that she will stay until she finds out what happened to Michael. Hence, she hasn't moved from that dreadful house."
Xavier continued the story. The town folks helped seal part of the house and converted one section into a cozy apartment suitable for her.
"The Nia living there now is just a sad shell of the lively, gorgeous girl she used to be.
And she doesn't talk about that night; it is as if her memories were wiped out. Since she is the only witness, we still haven't been able to put the crime scene puzzle together", said Xavier sadly.
"So, what is Nia doing now?" inquired Isaac.
"She owns a bakery and man, those are the best croissants I have ever eaten.
Before the tragedy, she was the "it girl of the town" without being pretentious, and now she keeps to herself.
Of course, it doesn't help that the town is full of ghost stories and gossip about what happened that night and going as far as to say that she is cursed."
Curiosity was building in Isaac's head, so he made a point to stop by tomorrow morning to check the bakery out and see what he could get from Nia.
