Flipping through a stack of maps, Shiobhan selected one covering Providence and nearby towns, then laid it out on the table. She picked up four carved stones, engraved with silvery runes for the directions, and placed them on the map. Reaching underneath her blouse, she pulled out a crystal pendant on a golden chain, and set it on top of the photograph.
Walking to the door, she turned off the overhead lights and opened the windows slightly, letting in a cool breeze. Returning to the table, she opened a drawer set in the base and brought forth her athame. Taking a deep breath, she grounded herself, visualizing herself as a tree sending roots down deep into the earth. Centering herself on that image, she walked along the inside border of the circle set into the hardwood floor, white flame answering the call of her athame as she closed the circle.
Setting the athame in her belt, she called the quarters. Touching each stone on the map, starting in the East, she named the direction and asked the blessing of the Guardian. As she did so, the rune set into the stone lit with an inner glow– yellow for East, red for South, blue for West, and green for North.
Meditating within the sacred space of the circle for a moment, Shiobhan let all the tension of the morning flow away. She was reminded again that rushing from one moment to the next separated one from the divine, and rejoiced in the communion of holiness that was magic and worship both.
Grasping the chain, she lifted it until the pendant was upright, still touching the photograph, touching Sorcha’s face. She visualized her sister for several moments, sending all her thoughts and memories into the crystal. Setting the photograph aside, she set the crystal spinning over the map, holding it lightly and waiting for a tug towards one direction or another.
Several tugs she felt, but only feathery touches, each time indicating a place where she had been. Her dorm room was the focus of most of those, but one indicated the shop Shiobhan stood inside. Interesting… I never saw her, but she must have stopped by recently, perhaps just to remember Mom. Or maybe she came to see me, but backed out. I’ll have to ask her when I see her again.
After a half an hour, with no further results, she set the pendant down and released the circle after dismissing the quarters. Stretching, she heard several joints pop from the tension of standing still for so long. She put everything away and headed back downstairs.
Shiobhan shook her head. “Either she’s not in the city, or she’s been magically blocked from being traced. And if she was out of the city, I would still expect to be able to get some idea of what direction she was from the city, so I’m suspecting the latter.”
With obvious hesitation, Robert asked, “Is it possible that she’s no longer–”
“No. I’d know if something serious happened to her. Even if she was on the opposite side of the world and someone was shielding, I’d still know. She’s part of my blood, and you can’t ever block that completely.”
“Good, that’s what I was hoping you’d say. So, what’s the plan?”
“We go hunting for her the old fashioned way… at least partly. You bring the truck?”
“No, traded it in a bit ago. Wasn’t really practical for me anymore. I do have a spare helmet, though.”
Great. As if the idea of him in leathers on a bike wasn’t appealing enough, now I get to torment myself by riding behind him, pressed up against his body? Just peachy keen. Drawing a deep breath, she tried to banish the thought and regain the sense of calm that had filled her moments ago upstairs.
“You can take my Honda if you want, Shiobahn,” Taz offered. “I don’t need it at the moment, not even sure why I drove it in this morning rather than walking over from the dorm.”
“Serendipity, Taz, serendipity. I’d really appreciate it,” she said, with a sense of relief. He tossed her the keys, and she smiled as she caught them. “Ready?” she asked Robert, snagging a bag of trail mix to keep her energy up through the day. Knowing Robert, she tossed him one as well.
“Sure thing. I’ll follow on the bike, in case we decide we need to split up or something later.”
“Ok. She was last seen at a club on Pine Street– not a shock, given how many clubs are in that area.” Robert nodded and followed her out the door, sliding onto a motorcycle parked nearby as she walked to Taz’s red CRX. She rolled the windows down after getting into the car, and it started up with a throaty purr. Taz hadn’t said much about the friend he had bought it off of, but it had certainly been modified from stock several years ago.
It only took them a few minutes to navigate Providence morning traffic past Brown and across Route 44 to Pine Street. Robert pulled up behind her as she parked next to the club, the neon sign advertising “Dancing Shadows” turned off.
“Not sure that we’re going to find much here when the club’s closed, Shiobhan,” Robert said as she got out of the car, setting his helmet on the bike.
“You never know,” she said. Pulling the shirt out of her purse, she tossed it to him. “Intuition told me this might be helpful tracking her. I wasn’t expecting to use you in doing so, but seems like Someone guided me.”
He shrugged off her comment and said, “We use the tools at our disposal.” Waiting for a nearby couple to finish walking past them, he sniffed the shirt before tossing it back to her. Looking around, his nostrils flared as he drank in the smell of the city.
He walked towards the door, then turned back to the street. Walking towards a nearby street, he beckoned her to follow. “She went into the club, and came back out and walked over here.” Nostrils flaring again, he leaned down, smelling close to the ground. A low growl came from his throat, and he moved forward, slowly at first, and then with increasing speed.
Shiobhan hurried to catch up with him, surprised to find him easily outrunning her down a street and across a large parking lot, mostly empty. He stopped at the next street, looking confused as he tried to catch the scent again.
“What’s the matter?”
He growled again, then controlled himself. “Someone hurt her. There was a fight– more than one, actually– but someone hurt her back there. She ran from them, through to here, but this is where I lose her scent. It just stops right here.”
“So she probably got into a car or taxi. That would explain it, right?”
His eyes scanned the ground, back and forth, until something caught his attention. Leaning down, he picked up a dirty piece of plastic and handed it to her. As she turned it over and brushed off the grime, she realized it was a school ID card.
Sarah’s ID card.
“I don’t think she got into the car willingly,” Robert said. “It’s hard to tell, but I think there was a struggle here.” He pointed to several marks in the dirt, but no pattern emerged to her sight. “Add in the fact that she didn’t go back to the college, hasn’t been seen or heard from since, and I think it’s more likely that someone has her.”
“Why would someone want to kidnap Sorcha?”
“I don’t know, Shiobhan… I don’t know.” He scanned the area again, and shook his head. “Nothing more to see here, but there was more back at the club.”
She followed him back to the club, and he took some time going over the area, kneeling down and sniffing several things. Shiobhan watched in amusement as several people walking by gave him strange looks, still in shock at the thought that someone would have kidnapped Sorcha. Why would someone want to take her? Is this something random, someone crazy rapist… Gods forbid… or is this something else, someone intentionally taking her? And if so, why?
I’m not sure which of the two options is worse. And that scares me.
Finally, he stood up and brushed the dirt from his leathers. “Ok, there was more than one fight here. There was one with Sorcha, and there was another around the same time, but afterwards. Scent is that of a man. Maybe he saw something, or heard something, that can help lead us to your sister… or to the people who took her.”
“How do you know it was a man?” she asked.
“Blood scent is different between males and females… at least to someone like me, it is,” he said, pointing to a small spatter of blood on the side of the building.
Acting on instinct, she reached forward, the tips of her fingers just barely touching the dried blood. A vision appeared before her, walking into a hospital room. A vision of the previous night, where she helped cleanse the taint of shadow from a sleeping victim.
A sleeping man, a sleeping man who had been attacked. The same man who had been here, who had been attacked soon after her sister was attacked, and taken.
“I know who he is,” she whispered. Standing, she swayed slightly, dizzy from the vision. “And I don’t believe in coincidences. This has gone from a father’s concern, to something very dark and ugly. Dad was right to worry for her… we all should.”
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