Chapter 3

Mystery murder or magical revenge?



"I wouldn't take this seriously. These are just rumours that have no credibility. The press wants to make the story more sensational, so they’re just peppering it with salacious details. We need to wait for the official statement from the police," Nathaniel said after a moment, sounding angry. He was probably regretting that he said anything in the first place.
All of a sudden, I started laughing, and I just couldn't stop. Nathaniel stared at me like I’d gone crazy.
"They’re wrong—she would’ve never done anything like that," I finally said, pulling myself together.
"I know, Julia, don't get worked up about this. Your family will make a statement, and I’ll sue them myself if I have to."
Then the phone rang again. This time it was Mum. Apparently, my dad wasn't doing so well—he came home a few minutes ago completely drunk. He told her that she didn't need to worry, and he was only trying to take care of family business. That got me really concerned, and I promised to speak to him as soon as I could, at least before the family meeting.
For the rest of the afternoon I kept speaking to my friends about what happened. Nicky, Kelsie, Kate and Ella were giving me their condolences, letting me know that they were there for me. They didn't believe the accusations that had been splashed across the papers since this morning. I realised that this was just the beginning. Tomorrow there would be more damaging stories and I needed to be prepared.
At a quarter past three, Nathaniel took the remote control out of my hand and switched the TV off. I had been flicking through the channels the whole day, listening to the absurd news and reading about all the gossip. I wasn't helping myself at all.
“That's enough, Julia. You’re not watching any more of this garbage," he said, standing in front of me. First, a surge of magic rushed through my back, pulling up the hair on the nape of my neck. The magic that held me together was strong and Nathaniel had affected it a great deal.
"I need to read the Daily Secret, find out what else they’re writing about," I said, grabbing my smart phone from the dresser to check the paranormal website. Nathaniel was quicker; he snatched the phone from my hand, shaking his head.
"It's a lot of rubbish; none of the stories are accurate. You’re not reading it while I'm here with you. You’ll only get more upset."
In some ways Nathaniel was right. Daily Secret was a trashy paper that liked to exaggerate their stories, at the same time, some of their facts were spot on. I needed to know exactly what we were dealing with and what my grandmother had been accused of.
"Probably, but I want to read it, just so I can prepare for the worst," I said, giving him my glassy-eyed look. My emotions were all over the place. I couldn't think straight, and I didn't want to fight with Nathaniel, but I needed to find out if there was anything I could do to help my family in any way. It didn't take me long to find the related article. The story about my grandmother’s affair was on the front page.

Mystery murder or magical revenge?
Late last night an anonymous caller informed human police that a woman had been found dead in her home. For some reason, the phone call wasn't picked up by the paranormal unit.
Barbra Taylor, the head of The Elves Association and retired businesswoman, was pronounced dead at the scene, approximately at five fifteen in the afternoon. Mrs. Taylor’s granddaughter had been on the way to visit her with her current fiancé, renowned businessman, Nathaniel La Caz.
Mrs. Taylor lived in a quiet magical community, a small village in Canterbury. She was well respected by everyone in the village. Over the past two years she had been an important and active senior member of The Elves Association. All the residents are in shock and everyone has been asking themselves who would want to murder an elderly elf. Especially when the crime rate in the village is very low.
Chief Inspector Jerry Taylor, the son of Mrs. Taylor, was on the scene too. It was clear to them that Mrs. Taylor was killed by a strong black magic spell, the spells that have been banned by the magical association since the fifteenth century. The air was filled with remnants of the lethal and dangerous spells.
As our source reports, Mrs. Taylor hadn't been living an entirely quiet life after all. Unofficially, Mrs. Taylor had been put in charge of a trust fund for The Elves Association. Many members had reported that around five-hundred-thousand-pounds went missing two days before Mrs. Taylor’s murder.
The only person who had access to the money was Mrs. Taylor herself, and, despite her wealth, she was the only suspect in the theft.
The source believes that the suspect wasn't working alone. A few months ago, Mrs. Taylor was seen with an unidentified wizard on a number of occasions. They seemed intimate, despite the fact that at seventy years of age, Barbra Taylor had been happily married for over forty years.
I stopped reading, glancing over the pictures that Daily Secret had managed to get of my grandmother before she died. The pictures were blurry, but I could see the skinny man with her. In others, she was having dinner in one of the best restaurants in London and Brighton, but my grandfather wasn't accompanying her. My heart sunk, and I swallowed hard coming back to the article, thinking that this couldn't possibly be true. My grandmother was old fashioned, and she would have never cheated on Grandpa Fred.
Our source reports that the unidentified wizard was part of the black coven of witches that has terrorised London over the past few months.
There have been rumours that Mrs. Taylor had become interested in black magic. The five hundred thousand pounds that went missing were supposed to help her with the creation of some sort of potion.
We can only speculate that something went very wrong and Mrs. Taylor must have angered the wrong individuals. That night she paid with her own life, but so far, the Paranormal Unit hasn't confirmed anything. We are still waiting for a comment from Chief Inspector Jerry Taylor.
The entire community is in shock and questions are being asked. Was Barbra Taylor involved? Or was she just the victim of an affair that went terribly wrong?
This remains to be seen.
I put my phone away, trying to calm my racing pulse, but millions of questions began exploding in my mind. Nathaniel was sitting in the chair opposite me, not taking his eyes off me. I swallowed again feeling sick as my breakfast started turning inside my stomach.
"I don't believe any of this," I said, my voice loud and cracking.
"It's a pile of garbage. I told you to leave it alone and not to read it. We need to wait for the police report before we start jumping to any conclusions."
My magic was on alert, actively racing through me. Since my lessons with Tron, I’d been able to control it, but right now I was powerless.
"My grandmother always had secrets, but she was a good person, Nathaniel."
"I don't doubt that, and for your family’s sake, stop reading this bullshit. No one knows what really happened there."
I dropped my head into my hands trying to understand why no one had heard from Grandpa Fred, trying to figure out who that wizard was that had been seen with her just before she was murdered. Nathaniel sat beside me and embraced me with his strong arms. I felt safe, and somehow, he managed to push away the anxiety.
In the past year everything had been slowly falling into place. My parents were back together, Nathaniel and I were getting married and I’d finally gained control of my magic. All of a sudden, my family life was shattered, with yet another mysterious magical drama.
We couldn't hide in Nathaniel’s apartment all day long. Too many thoughts were rushing through my mind. Somehow our perfect Saturday passed filled with grief and anxiety. I wasn't looking forward to meeting with my family, but we needed each other at a time like this.
I left Nathaniel’s apartment an hour later. Just after four, Roberto picked us up at the entrance. Reporters were nearly everywhere and when they saw Nathaniel’s limo they started snapping pictures, screaming and running after the car. Luckily for us, Roberto managed to get out of the gate quickly enough.
Nathaniel pressed his mouth to my forehead, and I felt warmth spreading down my body. The drive through London was long, the traffic was terrible and by the time we reached my Aunt Dorothy’s home I had this horrible feeling in my gut that something was wrong. I checked my bag, wondering if I had forgotten anything, and looked through my messages. In the end I tried to relax, thinking about the future.
"Mr. La Caz, I believe we have been followed by a few reporters," Roberto called back to us looking at Nathaniel through his rear-view mirror.
"I should have anticipated this would happen," Nathaniel muttered when Roberto stopped the car. "Julia, I think it’ll be better if I stay in the car. Your family will feel less nervous if I'm not there."
I rubbed my hands together.
"But you’re part of this family, Nathaniel. They should be used to you by now."
"Of course, but I'm still a dhampir, firecracker, and we only just got engaged. Some of the members of your family might feel a little on edge with me being in the same room with them."
I took a couple of deep breaths and got out of the car. I was instantly surrounded by reporters. They were snapping pictures, stirring up my magic.
"Julia, hey, Julia, any comments on your grandmother’s murder case?"
"Do you believe that she really committed fraud?"
"Where is your grandfather?"
I very nearly snapped, but Nathaniel was beside me within moments. He grabbed my hand and we ran to my aunt’s apartment block.
"You can't stay in the limo, and I don't see why you should have to wait outside. My family has to respect that we’re together." He hesitated, looking back at the street filled with a crowd of reporters. He knew I was right. Nathaniel wasn't particularly well behaved when it came to being civilised around the press, and we didn't want to bring more attention to ourselves.
"All right, maybe it's easier this way," he replied with a faint smile.
No one in my family, apart from me, had ever been involved with another breed of paranormal. Most of my cousins and my aunt were all married to fairies and elves. My grandmother had never given me enough reasons why she didn't want me to be with him. She could never tell me why I couldn't date Nathaniel and I hated secrets.
I felt sad that she never had a chance to get to know him. I felt obligated to convince the rest of the family that he was a good and responsible man.
Aunt Dorothy lived on the second floor; she shared her three-bedroom flat with her husband and daughter Claudia. A few years ago, my cousin had been kidnapped by a bunch of paranormals. They had been draining her blood in order to replicate a product of Nathaniel’s. It turned out that Caleb McGregor had been involved, Nathaniel’s long-time enemy, who was now dead.
In the end I rescued Claudia, putting my own life in danger, and I had a feeling that I would need to do the same to find my grandmother’s killer.
Aunt Dorothy opened the door, hitting me with an unexpected energy. It looked like she had been crying; her red-rimmed eyes were all puffy and swollen.
"Julia, please come in," she said glancing at Nathaniel.
"Hello, Dorothy, please accept my condolences," he said.
"Thank you, Nathaniel, please come on in. Everyone is convened in the living room.” She looked at me. “Your parents are on their way."
"Dad?" I asked, surprised. "I didn't think he would come."
"I told him it was his duty, and he yelled through the phone that he doesn’t have time for this kind of nonsense. It's difficult for him, I know, because he’s not involved in the case, but family must stick together at a time like this."
I agreed with her and was really looking forward to talking to Dad. Mum could handle him, but it was difficult.
Paulina, Paula, Claudia, and my other aunt and uncle were scattered around the small living room. As soon as we walked in, all my cousins surrounded me. It was hard to get ahold of my emotions when I knew that Grandma was gone.
I swallowed my tears and sat down. My other aunt, Aunt Jenny, glared at my fiancé like she had just swallowed a lemon. Nathaniel was leaning against the wall looking at me intensely.
"Aunt Dorothy, are you sure Dad’s going to be here?" I asked again, doubting very much he would give up tracking down Grandma’s killer.
"Yes, yes, he’s on the way. In the meantime, maybe you can explain what you actually saw in that house? I don’t believe anything written in the papers. They’re just looking for a good story, if you ask me."
Each member of the family muttered with approval, nodding their agreement.
I don't know if I can talk about what I saw.
Then everyone turned their blue eyes on me, waiting for some kind of explanation. I opened my mouth to say that it looked like my grandmother was struck with a black magic spell, when we heard a loud knock, and a second later someone barged through the door.
It was my dad, but I barely recognised him.