Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 5 - Apathy - IV

  "Isn't this outside of town?" Rachel asked as they bounced through a poorly-maintained forest road.

  "Barely, yeah, but staties ain't coming out this far more than once every two weeks at best. Just aren't enough of them. So I come check in when I can."

  The car lurched off the road and into the RV park, which looked mostly deserted. A few lights were on, and Rachel could see smoke from a small fire in the distance, but otherwise the park was forebodingly empty. They bounced along the rough ground between sad, empty encampments until finally grinding to a halt at a particularly forlorn spot on the edge of the park.

  Rachel got out of the car, her hand firmly grasping a pair of rubies tucked in her bag. She expected to run if anything happened; Rachel had never been in a fight, and didn't plan to start now. Still, Rika had taught her a few things to defend herself if it ever came to it, and she practiced them often.

  Rachel crept toward the door on the side, which was slightly ajar. The sheriff followed a few steps behind, her pistol drawn and ready. She'd never seen Jackie this afraid, and that fear began to double down on her own.

  "What should I be expecting in here?" Rachel whispered.

  "A whole lotta blood and death," Jackie hissed. "And I'm not goin' back in there unless I have to. You shout if you need somethin'." She nodded at the door.

  Rachel steeled herself. "Fine. Be right back I guess."

  She hesitated, her hand on the door, and let her mind slip into the altered state as Will had taught her. It wouldn't tell her if someone was inside; Rachel could only see the connections drawn from whatever she was focusing on, and she couldn't focus on something she didn't know was there. In this case, it was herself, and the faint but pure white line that flew out into the distance, representing Will watching her from afar. She held onto that line as her strength and pulled the door open.

  She saw bodies. The men scorched, electrocuted and burned alive, the little girl with the flesh cleanly scooped away from her body. The clean spheres cut out of the chair and the college kid who sat in it, no longer possessing anything above his chest.

  Rachel took it all in, and it was too much for her. Her stomach churned, and that was before the smell struck her, weakening her knees and sending her head spinning.

  Moments later she was vomiting in the grass next to the RV, the door slammed shut once more. Jackie was patting her on the back, handing her a cloth to clean her face.

  "What was that?" Rachel gasped.

  "I used to work homicide in Seattle, and I've never shit like that," Jackie said, leaning against the RV heavily. "The wounds make no sense, it's too clean. No way someone is cut like that so cleanly without being dead already, but with all the blood pumped out everywhere and the struggle, they were clearly alive at the time. Even the little girl." Jackie paused, her eyes grim. "Who the fuck does that to a little girl?"

  Rachel shook her head. "I don't know."

  "You'd better find out," Jackie said. "Lord knows I've turned a blind eye to whatever you're doing in this town, but I can't do that for long if bodies start dropping. Find out what happened and fix it, or I can't cover your side up."

  Rachel looked at her with curiosity. "Why help us? You know I've been lying to you for a year now, so why?"

  "Because whatever you're lying about, you've done nothing but help," Jackie answered matter-of-factly. "Crime rate in this town is basically nothin'. I actually get to enjoy my job and the people living here. You a fuckin' superhero?"

  "No. Nothing like that."

  "Whatever. Point is, you're doing good. 'bout time I returned the favor." Jackie nodded at the door again. "I'll be back for them tomorrow morning. Jenny's parents are already lookin' for her. I can stall them, but not for long. I'll keep the college occupied for you on the other two. Don't fuck this up, kid."

  Rachel sat down on the wet grass, trying to catch her breath as her carefully constructed world was slowly unwinding around her. In her mind's eye, the memory of the sight inside—which was permanently burned into her brain, as with all memories she ever formed—was slowly beginning to clear up. On one of the bodies, she saw the telltale signs of electrical burns, though they were coupled with other types of burns and chunks of flesh missing as with the other two victims.

  Rika's in trouble, she realized with a heavy sinking in her stomach.

  This would change everything. Rachel couldn't let word of the details here get out. Rika was already on thin ice in the town as it was. The Awakened population was still reeling from the conflict between Alpha and Omega, still paranoid and ready to lash out at any perceived threat. If they got wind of a body with electrical burns all over it, it would be a short leap to a witch hunt for Rika's head. Rachel had to protect her friend, and more importantly she had to find the true culprit. It couldn't be a coincidence that she'd discovered this the same day Rika had returned to town.

  She gave the sheriff a heavy nod, still digesting the images in her mind and trying not to gag again.

  "Good luck," Jackie replied dryly, without a trace of optimism. With that grim blessing, Rachel braced herself for the world's first murder by magic.