The Witch's Key

Episode 14: No Way Out

Poison ivy wound its way around the trees here behind the house. Not that unusual, but it was an awfully convenient location for Julie Peterson.

I glanced around, looking for any sign of lavender, but no one had planted any specific gardens out here or anything. It was just wild vines, weeds, and debris from the trees. I clipped off some of the poison ivy and put it in my backpack to study later. If only I had access to one of the bundles left at the girls' houses, maybe I could compare them.

I was thinking through the logistics of breaking into the evidence locker of a small-town police department when Kai suddenly appeared around the corner of the house, shaking his head.

I wiped my hands off, closed up my bag, and threw it over my shoulder as I joined him.

"What happened?" I asked. "What did they talk about?"

"Nothing happened," Kai said. "No one is in there."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "We literally just watched Bates go inside. How can no one be in there?"

He shook his head, obviously just as confused as I was.

"I searched every inch of that house, thinking maybe there was a secret entrance to a basement or a special room somewhere, but there's nothing that I can find," he said. "It's as if Bates walked in and just disappeared."

"Without a trace," I whispered. "Just like the girls. There's something going on here. Come on."

"Where are you going?" Kai asked, though it was obvious where I was going.

I wanted to see the inside for myself. Bates hadn't just evaporated. He was either inside somewhere we couldn't see, or he'd gone through some kind of portal in the house.

"We need to figure out where he went. Maybe that's how we find the girls," I said.

"I think we should let Martin know what we're doing," Kai said, running after me. "It's one thing to tiptoe through a house while invisible. It's something else entirely to walk in and start looking for a secret portal to a demon's lair. You're going to get yourself in trouble again. What if Martin doesn't get here fast enough next time?"

"Do you understand how close we are to the truth?" I asked, turning on him. "If there's a portal in this house, it most likely leads to wherever he's keeping Peyton and the others."

"Yes, but if we go in there now and get ourselves killed, how does that help anyone but the demon?" Kai asked.

I wanted to punch a hole in the side of the house. We didn't have time to sit here and discuss this. Bates's trail was getting cold every second we waited.

"We aren't going to get ourselves killed," I said, motioning to my backpack. "I brought some provisions this time around. I'm more prepared. The reason Algrath nearly got us last time was because we weren't prepared. Besides, we aren't going to try to fight him. We just need to see where he's hiding. If we can locate the portal, we can come back later with reinforcements. But every second we wait makes it more difficult for me to track Bates's footsteps. So, come on, already. I'm done discussing it. Stay out here alone, if you want to."

Kai's eyes widened. "You can track his footsteps?"

"Yes," I said, glancing around the neighborhood before sneaking around the front of the house and walking through the front door. I wanted to make sure no one was watching us, but it was a quiet day on this street.

We slipped into the house and shut the door behind us.

The inside was absolutely pristine, but it was still a house of secrets. Secrets I wanted the answers to.