SIXTEEN: MISSING!

Dust danced in the golden light that poured through the cracked windows of the abandoned garage. The place reeked of motor oil, rusted chains, and old blood. Nemus stood before a small crowd of his enforcers, silent and watchful. His voice was calm, commanding as he outlined their next move.

Then the heavy metal door creaked open.

Regina strode in, her heels clicking sharply against the stained concrete floor. She tossed a folded newspaper toward him. It slid across the ground and hit his boot with a soft thwack.

Nemus glanced down, then looked up at her with a raised brow.

"What's this?"

"A gift," she said coolly, folding her arms. "A report from this morning. Page three. A vampire was eaten at the park last night."

He picked up the paper, unfolding it carefully. A photo caught his eye first, blurred and grainy, but unmistakably gruesome: a mangled body in the tall grass of Caveroop Park. Limbs twisted. Flesh torn. Eyes wide open.

The headline above it read:

Corpse Found in Park – Locals Fear Wild Animal Attack.

Nemus smirked faintly, brushing a thumb across the image.

"Gruesome. But how are you so sure it's a vampire?"

Regina stepped closer, her eyes dark and serious. "Because I was there when the body was taken. I saw the wounds myself. Whatever did this… didn't just kill her. It fed on her. The bite marks, they weren't human. And they weren't werewolf."

Nemus's expression shifted. He slowly rose from his seat, the paper crackling in his fist. His gaze never left the image.

"That's impossible," he said, voice low. "Vampires don't eat their own. Not unless..."

He stopped mid-sentence, a slow grin curling at the corner of his mouth.

Regina's eyes narrowed, unsettled. "What?" she asked. "What are you thinking?"

He dropped the newspaper onto the desk and turned to her fully.

"There are three major vampire clans," he said, his tone almost amused. "And only one of them, only one is capable of feeding on their own kind."

Regina went still.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her lips parted slightly, then closed again. For the first time in a long while, fear flickered behind her eyes.

"No," she whispered. "It can't be…"

Nemus didn't hesitate.

"Yes," he said, his voice low and final. "Tarrus is in town."

...

It was all over the news.

By the time I stepped out of class and into the hallway, it was like the entire school had frozen mid-breath. Clusters of students were gathered everywhere, some sitting on the floor, others leaning against lockers, all of them with eyes locked on their phones. The low hum of shocked murmurs filled the air like static.

Their faces were pale, blank. Glued to their screens.

It looked like something out of a horror movie.

I nudged Zack, who was walking beside me. "What's happening? Why does everyone look like zombies?"

He didn't answer right away. Just stared ahead, then finally turned to me with a stunned expression.

"You haven't heard the news?"

I frowned. "What news?"

He stopped walking and faced me squarely. "Charles's body is missing."

I blinked. "Wait... what?"

"It's all over the net," he said, pulling out his phone and handing it to me. "Check the headlines."

I took it and skimmed the top story:

BREAKING: Body Reported Missing from Caveroop Hospital Morgue – Authorities Baffled.

Underneath was a still image of police tape, flashing red lights, and the familiar silhouette of Caveroop's ancient hospital wing.

"Wow," I whispered, handing the phone back. "That's huge. Do they know how it happened?"

"No clue," Zack said, stuffing the phone into his pocket. "The report says the surveillance went down for less than three minutes. When the cameras came back on… the body was gone."

We reached our lockers, still reeling. The metallic clank of our locker doors opening echoed between us.

"What the heck kind of sick person steals a corpse?" I muttered as I swapped out my books for our history class.

Zack shook his head, grabbing his notebook. "That's the thing, Caveroop Hospital is one of the oldest and most secure medical facilities in town. It's protected by enchantments and ward sigils. People are freaking out because… whatever did this got in and out undetected."

"That's not possible," I said flatly.

He shut his locker and looked me dead in the eye.

"I know… but it is. If magic's involved."

We both froze.

In that moment, something unspoken passed between us.

The noise around us faded as we turned to each other at the same time.

Our voices overlapped in a whisper:

"Raymond!"

Zack's expression darkened.

I gripped my history book tighter. The idea clawed at the edges of my mind, impossible but undeniable.

If Charles's body was gone, and it happened under mystical protection… only someone with intimate knowledge of both the hospital and its wards could have done it.

And that someone had just returned to Caveroop.

...

After class, Zack and I hurried straight to the clinic. The halls were still buzzing with murmurs about the missing body, but we didn't stop to listen.

When we stepped into the clinic, the door creaked open to reveal Rejoice sitting calmly on the stool in front of Raymond's desk. Eska was lounging on the edge of a sick bay cot, and Summer stood near the window, arms crossed.

Eska looked up with a smirk.

"Well, well. Look who decided to join the party."

Zack and I exchanged a glance, then stepped fully inside and shut the door behind us.

"Where's Raymond?" I asked, scanning the room.

Rejoice looked up, her brow raised slightly. "Why are you looking for him? Are you sick?"

Zack didn't hesitate. "Charles's body is missing."

A heavy silence fell over the room. The mood shifted instantly.

"And you think he had something to do with it?" Rejoice asked, her tone clipped.

I shrugged, gesturing toward the others. "Frankly, we're not the only ones asking questions."

Rejoice looked past me at Eska and Summer.

"He was at school when it happened," she said pointedly. "None of you thought about that?"

Why was she defending him like this?

Eska rolled her eyes. "Who knows what Raymond is into these days?"

"I think he moved the body," Summer chimed in, her voice low. "To hide something. Maybe the cause of death… something tied to his wand."

That made me pause. Could magic be traced like fingerprints? I wasn't sure. But in a town like Caveroop, anything felt possible.

Zack's voice cut in, sharp. "So where is Raymond? Hiding under his table?"

Rejoice sighed and lowered her gaze. "He was called in by Mrs. Adams earlier."

The room fell quiet. We exchanged glances, unsure what to make of it. Something in the air felt off. Heavy. Like the tension was pressing down on all of us.

That's when it started.

A sharp twitch pulled at my right eye. My fingers tingled. No, not now.

I turned slowly, trying to keep my movement subtle. My hand reached for the doorknob as I struggled to focus, to keep control.

But I didn't make it.

My knees buckled. The room tilted and I collapsed.

"Terra!" Zack shouted, rushing to my side.

The others crowded around as I fell unconscious, my body limp on the clinic floor.

The world around me was dim and musty, lit by a single flickering overhead light. I floated or maybe I stood, it was hard to tell, watching silently.

Charles's lifeless body lay on a cold metal bench in the center of a cluttered lab. Beside him stood an old man in a white lab coat, hunched slightly, scribbling notes with a thick black pen. He had short, graying hair and deep wrinkles etched into his face like cracks in marble.

I looked around. Rusted shelves lined the walls, stacked with dusty books and stained chemical jars. The air smelled of iron and age.

On another table was a long, slender object.

A wand.

The sight of it made my stomach drop.

I gasped and he heard it.

The man turned sharply, his eyes locking onto mine. They were clouded, unreadable… but not surprised.

"You're not supposed to be here," he said.

Then he reached for the wand, muttering something in a language I couldn't understand.

He flicked the wand once, violently and the world shattered into blackness.

I shot upright, gasping for air. My hands trembled as Zack and Summer rushed to steady me, each grabbing an arm to keep me from falling off the bay bed.

"Terra!" Summer cried, hugging me tightly. "Oh my God, what happened? You scared us"

"Are you okay?" Zack asked, his hand firm on my back.

I looked around, dazed. My skin was clammy, and every part of me felt like it had been submerged underwater. The fluorescent lights of the clinic buzzed above me.

And then I saw Rejoice, still seated on the stool, watching me with quiet intensity.

I met her gaze and all the fear that had built up inside me erupted in one breathless cry:

"Raymond is innocent!"