Chapter Thirty Four: The Road to My Father

Early Sunday morning found Cedric and Bates on the road to Jamestown heading to Raymond Brown’s address, which they found in the file. “It isn’t fair to question Aiden’s loyalty the way you do. I’ve known him for a very long time and he wouldn’t betray me or Lorraine like that.”

Cedric’s grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly, and he took some time before he gave an answer to Bates. “You should ask yourself if the choice was between you and his brother, who would he pick?” After his retort the car ride remained silent, each of the two men thinking of different things. While Bates’ mind was reeling about Aiden, Cedric’s head couldn’t be diverted from his thoughts about Lorraine. He decided that if there was a God out there, then he definitely hates him for making him feel the way he did.

They arrived at the address on the file, exiting the car they noticed the unkempt state of the front yard of the house. They knocked on the door over four times, but there was no answer. They could hear the man breathing inside. It was on the fourth time Cedric knocked that they heard the loud and complaining grunt of the man. The door opened roughly and they were hit by the unpleasant stench of alcohol hitting their noses right away. The man revealed was in a white flannel shirt, with a brown beard and an annoyed look on his face. “Who are you?”

“Raymond Brown?” Bates asked and the man nodded his head displeased.

Cedric took a step closer, “I’m Cedric Bloodworth.” Once he said his name the man’s eyes widened and he took a step back. Cedric smirked, “I see you’ve heard of me, great!” He pushed Raymond to the side and walked into the house. His eyes scanned the place with a disgusted look on his face. There were articles of clothes scattered around everywhere, and empty bottles of different alcoholic drinks on the floor. Bates found a seat on an armchair and felt something hard behind him. He moved a bit forward and grabbed an empty bottle of Vodka then put it on the small coffee table. “Let’s get straight to the point. We want the grimoire.”

Raymond fidgeted in his seat, his heart going a million miles an hour, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Cedric grinned, “Come on, I thought that would go smoothly since you know me.”

Bates shook his head, “We wouldn’t come here if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Your daughter’s life depends on having the grimoire. Maybe your life too.”

Raymond looked visibly flabbergasted, “I don’t have any children.”

“But you do, Mr. Brown.” Bates then started to explain everything that had happened so far with Lorraine.

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Lorraine woke up after only having a few hours of sleep. When she left her room, she heard a sound coming from the kitchen. She went downstairs and found Suzan standing in the kitchen preparing breakfast. “Good morning.” Her tone held the hesitance she felt. She wasn’t sure how her mother would handle the situation.

Suzan smiled brightly, “Morning, honey. I made us breakfast.” Lorraine blinked a couple of times and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She took a seat on a stool by the kitchen island. *“So, she’ll pretend like nothing happened, why am I not surprised?”* Lorraine was not a stranger to her mother trying to ignore the problem until it disappeared. While she wasn’t one for confrontations, she believed that certain things had to be faced head on. “I’m off work today, I already called Lucy and told her that I would be there tomorrow though. We cannot afford to miss a lot of work.” Suzan chuckled softly and placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her daughter.

Lorraine gave a small sad smile then in a weak voice she said, “That’s good.” She wondered if her mother would even mention what happened through her kidnapping, if she would talk about the kidnapping thing. Lorraine kept her eyes on her plate then asked in a low voice, “Are you okay? I mean after everything.”

Suzan seemed hesitant before she answered, “I think it’s good that I don’t remember much.” She shook her head softly and her eyes held an unfocused gaze, “I still don’t understand how I cannot remember; it’s all blank.” Then a smile came over her face, “We must thank that detective who helped me, I think his name was Cedric Bloodworth. He told me he was working with the sheriff of the town.” Lorraine blinked a couple of times in shock. *“What the hell did Cedric put in her mind?”* She wondered staring at her mother unblinking for a second longer before she smiled and nodded her head.

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Raymond placed a rectangular wooden box on the small coffee table in front of Cedric. The two immortals stared at the wooden box, without saying a word. The box seemed heavy and quite large for a book. “I tried so hard, to run away from all of this, to escape the horrors that came along with being a Vancsura, but this curse will haunt me until the day I die” Raymond shook his head, “How’s she?” He didn’t think the other two knew who he was talking about so he clarified, “Suzan, I mean. How is she?”

“She’s well.” Bates answered him with a kind smile, and Cedric grabbed the box with no interest in whatever small talk they were making. Had it been up to him he wouldn’t have told Raymond anything about Lorraine. He didn’t think the man had any right to know anything about the girl he had left.

“And the girl?” His eyes held Bates, “You said her name was Lorraine.” Bates nodded, “How’s she like?”

Before Bates could say anything, Cedric interjected, “Better than you deserve to have for a daughter.” His eyes didn't leave the wooden box, “You’ve never opened this.” It wasn’t a question, he knew the man didn’t. However, Raymond nodded his head nevertheless. Cedric couldn’t shake the feeling that Raymond was hiding something about the grimoire though. It was the way his eyes would glaze for only a fraction of the second as he looked at the box that made the suspicion rise in Cedric’s mind. He stood up, carrying the box, “Well, it’s time for us to go.”

Bates followed after him, but Raymond frantically stopped them. “I have to go with you.” The two men looked at him with a mixture of consternation and confusion. Raymond dithered stammering through his words, “I mean you need to open the box, right? You’ll need my help to do that.” Cedric gave him a distrustful look then attempted to open the box, but failed. Raymond triumphantly said, “I told you. I have to be there.”

Bates looked between the two, “I don’t think there’s a need to open it.” His eyes drifted to Cedric, “Lorraine doesn’t seem all that interested in being anything but a witch.”

Cedric raised an eyebrow, then turned to Raymond, “You’re coming with us.”