She's Home

As the three stood outside the home, their hearts raced, but they all remained level-headed. Keeper took a flashlight out of his bag and handed it to Zoe, who shoves it into her pocket and waved for Keeper to follow her.

“Be quiet; let’s go through the back,” Zoe whispers, leading them over the house’s fence.

Once they enter the backyard, they search around for an entry point. The house looks empty, with no car in the driveway, and Owen looks around in the snow until he finds cellar doors.

“Hey, Keep! Here are the doors to the basement! They’re chained up.” Owen points out.

“Shit, I didn’t bring bolt cutters,” Keeper grumbles.

“Why do you need bolt cutters?” Zoe whispers to him; she pulls her hood over her head and pulls up her face mask. “Wouldn’t it be easier just to break in through a window or something?”

“Sure, but the main part of the house is probably alarmed,” Owen mumbles as he looks through a window.

“Alarms. There’s an entry to the basement over there.” Keeper briefly translates to Zoe while gesturing over to the doors.

“Right…” Zoe sighs and looks around. “Well, there’s a shed over there, and maybe there are some bolt cutters or something you can use to open it.”

Keeper moves through the heavy snow and throws the doors open. Instead of opening the shed to find tools, he finds a table against the back wall with shelves and jars. Each jar is labeled and holds some herb or magical ingredient. Keeper stands at the doorway, examining each shelf before finally stepping into the shed.

“Jesus, what is all of this?” Zoe grumbles and looks at the jars.

“The doctor’s altar….” Keeper mumbles as he looks at the table. On top of the table is a circle of salt around a bowl, which holds water. A dagger sits outside the ring, along with other tools.

“The what?” Zoe laughs quietly; she’s still having difficulty grasping that Keeper may not be entirely human.

“Their altar. They’re a necromancer, which is why I am hunting them down.” Keeper grumbles. “I guess this is where they do their regular rituals.”

“Regular rituals? What would that be?” Owen looks at Keeper. “How do you know so much about witchcraft… I mean, I know that’s kinda why you died… but were you an actual witch?”

“I wasn’t when I was alive, at least not on purpose.” Keeper sighs as he looks at the ingredients on the shelves. “Magic is a complex thing. Each witch has their own way of doing things, so I can’t say exactly what he would do as daily rituals. However, it does look like they do a lot of scrying.”

“Huh,” Zoe responds while listening to the one-sided conversation. “Like scrying as in seeing?”

“Yep.” Keeper sighs and grabs the dagger from the table. “This should be small enough to pick the lock.”

Zoe and Owen move out of the way for the Keeper to go over to the cellar doors. He kneels in the snow and focuses on picking the lock. Zoe looks through the windows of the home.

“What exactly are we looking for, Ezekiel?” Zoe sighs.

“Didn’t you want to come here on your own? What did you want to find?” Keeper sighs as he twists the dagger a little.

“Owen’s records or some sort of evidence that Dr. Allen tried to cover up Owen’s murder,” Zoe mumbles a response. “But what were you looking for?”

“I was probably just going to kill them.” Keeper sighs.

“What?!” Owen yelps.

“They’re a threat. Plus, they tried to kill you. Shouldn’t you be glad they’re going to die?” Keeper chuckles at Owen’s response. “You didn’t think this through very much, did you?”

“I could live with her suddenly dying,” Zoe says. “Life for a life.”

“I’m glad we agree on that; it makes things easier for me. Two out of three say they need to die, Owen. You’re outnumbered.”

“Won’t you just have to deal with her in the veil?” Owen looks at Keeper as he finally gets the chain off.

“Nope. When I kill a human, it stays dead.” Keeper says as he pulls the chains off the doors and opens them.

Instantly, the two boys are hit with the foul smell of death. Zoe gags in the distance. Even though it’s snowing, the cellar seems so much colder than the outside world. Keeper glances around the dark stairwell, shifting his weight, and he feels a chill of familiarity.

“Are you okay?” Owen mumbles to him as he covers his nose.

“Nothing I’m not used to.” Keeper mumbles and hesitantly takes a step into the cellar.

The three of them slowly make their way down into the cellar. There they find corpses of animals hanging along the walls and piled over the floor. Zoe gags as Owen watches the walls in horror. Keeper ignores all of it and moves into the center of the room.

“They sure made this place easy to break into….” Keeper mumbles as he looks around at the mess. “These pour souls….”

Owen watches Keeper as he reflects on something; Owen can’t exactly tell what, but it is almost as if they traded spots for a moment, and Keeper became the ghost instead of him. Owen blinks and looks back at Zoe, who stares silently at the bodies.

“I’m getting out of here.” Zoe darts through the room to the stairway and into the home.

“Why would he have so many dead animals?” Owen says as he slowly goes over to Keeper.

“Practice. They’re trying to perfect bringing something to life.” Keeper mumbles. “It’s a pretty common experience for a necromancer. They’re too far gone into this search….”

“What do you mean?” Owen goes to put his hand on Keeper’s shoulder but stops and hovers his hand, remembering that Keeper might feel uncomfortable.

“I… I’ve seen it before. I guess.” Keeper glances away from the mess and to Owen. He notices Owen’s hand hovering over his shoulder and looks confused. “What are you doing?”

“I wanted to pat your shoulder to make sure you were okay, but I didn’t want to freak you out.” Owen slowly puts his hand down to his side. “Are you okay? You just looked upset.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking.” Keeper rubs the back of his neck. “Anyways, I’m not entirely sure what the doc’s motives are. Maybe they want to master life and become powerful, or maybe they’re just an unfortunate soul who got sucked into it by bad people. Either way, they’ve gotta go.”

“Jesus… okay…” Owen sighs and rubs his eyes. “What exactly are you looking for? How can I help?”

“Thank you…” Keeper mumbles. “You know, for hovering your hand like that. It was a kind gesture.”

Keeper sighs and puts his hands in his coat’s pockets. He looks around again at the mess, looking for an answer to give Owen, and he sighs and shakes his head.

“In all honesty, this isn’t normally how I would go about things. I wouldn’t get close to your family, and I wouldn’t break into houses… I’d kill the fucker, then go home.” Keeper mumbles.

“Then why are you changing things up?” Owen asks with a raised eyebrow. From what he knows of Keeper, he isn’t one to randomly decide to change his process.

“Because this is awkward for me,” Keeper mumbles. “It’s awkward facing this situation, and I just wanted someone there with me. Even if I hate mortals….”

“Can I ask another question?” Owen chuckles. “I don’t want to annoy you.”

“I guess.” Keeper rolls his eyes almost playfully. Owen is taken aback by his sudden openness.

“Why are you uncomfortable when necromancers and witches are brought up? For an immortal being, you sound so scared of them.” Owen asks.

“Well…” Keeper glances around the room. “Besides all of this death and destruction? Necromancy isn’t… right. It’s not natural. Death is meant to exist, and life is a cycle. You live and die, and that is nature's way.”

Keeper hesitates, kicking the ground before crossing his arms and looking back up at Owen. His dark hair is pulled back tightly into a ponytail, and his dark eyes look sad.

“I can answer the rest of that question another time. Right now, we need to focus on tracking down that doctor.” Keeper sighs and pats Owen’s arm. “Thanks, I guess.”

Owen only nods and smiles; for once, he feels like he’s talking to the real Keeper. The one whose cottage is full of plants, books, and colorful items. His smile was genuine, and his voice was soft.

The boys finally join Zoe in the main house. She’s digging through a filing cabinet in the office. Keeper sighs and looks around, and Owen watches Zoe.

“I can’t find anything. This is so frustrating.” Zoe grumbles.

“Well, you’re looking at all the obvious places where something would be.” Keeper chuckles as he scans the pictures on the walls. “Owen, which one is the Doctor?”

“That one.” Owen points to a photo of the doctor.

The photo is of Dr. Allen and her husband. Her long blond hair flows loosely to her side. Her hands cradle a baby bump. Her smile is warm, and her eyes are full of hope. This must be an old photo, Owen thought to himself.

The Dr. Allen that Owen knew was kind, he would have never expected her to be killing him, but that hope in her eyes had long faded. He wonders what might have happened.

“Gotcha.” Keeper sighs as he leans against the nearby desk.

Zoe grumbles and slams the drawer shut. Owen jumps to look at her. She looks frazzled as she looks around the room.

“Why can’t I find anything?!” Zoe glares at the desk. “I know she did it!”

“If she killed him, why would she just leave that evidence in the open?” Keeper continues to stare at the photo, analyzing it.

“I don’t know, but she left a bunch of dead animals out in her basement and an altar!” Zoe sighs.

“Those things can be explained.” Keeper sighs. “Taxidermy practice and witchcraft are legal here.”

“This is the stupidest shit ever!” Zoe grumbles and pushes the computer into the floor out of anger.

“What are you doing?!” Owen yelps in surprise, and Keeper chuckles.

“He deserves justice!” Zoe yells out as she begins throwing the pictures on the walls onto the floor, shattering the glass and running them.

“He will get his justice,” Keeper says calmly. “I’ll make sure of that.”

“Oh yeah? Because you’ll kill her?” Zoe laughs and glares. “She deserves to suffer for what she put Owen through.”

“She will. Trust me; I will make her suffer.” Keeper glances up at Owen. “I’m on your side, Zoe. I promise I will make her death long and painful. You have my word.”

Zoe lets out a long and tired sigh; she looks at Keeper and nods in agreement. She starts to leave the room, but the three of them freeze as they hear the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Car lights shine through the curtains as they all look at each other.

Dr. Allen is home.