~ISSA.
The body brought back memories.
Deep dark forgotten memories. There was no point in denying anything any longer. They were getting bolder with this act and it was time to go on the offensive.
“Dear gods,” Whispered, Yulia with a look of terror as she looked up at the large oak tree where the human had been grotesquely nailed.
Blue Lake Public Park was filled with forensic analysts who took pictures of the signs drawn around the tree and the blood splattered on the branches.
“She should not be seeing this, Frostwood,” Jamal whispered to me.
“I can hear you, werewolves have super hearing abilities, Detective,” Yulia said, unable to take her eyes off the corpse nailed to the tree.
“Fine, you should not be here, this is not your scene,” Jamal said. He turned to me. “Stop exposing your niece to things like this.”
I was tired of hiding the fact that I was already mated to Yulia but I was not sure I trusted Jamal just yet. He currently answered to no one and that worried me.
“I can not keep her in the dark any longer. Besides this is connected to her in some way,” I said as I moved closer to the bloodied tree.
“What happened here?” Yulia asked.
“Some sort of ritual, but I am still trying to piece it together with the last murder,” Jamal replied.
“It is a sacrifice, if you bring him down, I am sure that an organ is missing,” I said.
“A sacrifice to who?” Jamal asked.
I looked at the pentagram drawn with black dye and a memory crashed through me again. It was beginning all over again.
A young lady in glasses with a powerful camera and an ID around her neck approached us. “Detective, Khan, we are done here,” she said.
“Alright, take him down and put him in a body bag, we will continue this at the morgue,” Jamal told her.
She nodded and left.
I turned away from the tree and walked away from the scene.
Yulia followed me, watching me closely. “You seem troubled,” she said.
“And you were about to tell us who they sacrificed that unfortunate human to,” Jamal added.
“We need somewhere quiet, so I can talk uninterrupted,” I said and headed for the coffee shop across the park.
The owner was an old man named Simon, a human ex-military. I entered the shop and chose a seat by the window while Yulia and Jamal joined. The shop only opened at night and closed early in the morning. Simon opened it so veterans who suffered from insomnia could have a place to hang out.
It was filled with both men and women who chatted among themselves.
I nodded to Simon and held up three fingers. He nodded and I turned back to the two people who sat with me.
“It is the Cult of the Black Rose,” I said finally.
“So, you did know something about them,” Jamal said.
“I have encountered them several times and I am sure that they were the ones behind my sister’s death,” I told them.
“They killed my mother?” Yulia screeched. Her face was red with a rage.
“Keep your voice down,” Jamal said as he self-consciously looked around.
“Why did you not say anything?” Yulia demanded.
I understood her rage at my deception.
“What would you have done?” I asked coldly. “I have been hunting them for years, they are very elusive and secretive,” I added.
“That does not stop you from letting me know, Issa, I deserved the closure,” Yulia said angrily.
A middle-aged blonde waitress came to our table with three cups of coffee on a silver tray.
“Coffee with cream and sugar on the house,” she said with a pleasant smile.
“Thank you so much, Martha,” I said with a smile.
“It is Simon and I who should be thanking you, you have done so much for us, call if you need anything else,” Martha said and left us.
“What was that all about?” Yulia asked but I could tell that she was still upset with me.
“That is Martha and her husband, Simon is the one behind the counter,” I said. “They were scammed of all their life savings so I helped them. I have been getting free coffee ever since.”
“I did not know you had it in you to be so selfless,” Jamal said with a surprised shake of his head.
“I understand, but if you tell anyone about this, I will deny it, I have a reputation to uphold,” I replied firmly.
“Can we get back to the topic of my mother’s killers please,” Yulia said in an irritated voice.
I sighed. This was why it was difficult for me to tell her because I knew that she was going to get emotional. But I could not blame her for her reaction.
“She died protecting you from them, Yulia,” I told her.
“What do they want with her?” Jamal asked.
“I have not yet found the answer to it just yet but I know that the bodies turning up, is a big part of their plan,” I said.
“Who are they sacrificing the bodies to?” Yulia asked.
“An old god of the dark,” I said to them.
An uneasy silence passed before Yulia spoke.
“What is my use in all of these killings?” She asked.
“I do not know yet,” I said and frustration welled up in me. I hated not knowing what the hell was going on.
“More bodies are going to turn up, aren’t they?” Jamal asked with a grim expression on his face.
“How many bodies to be exact?” Yulia asked.
I recalled the numbers in my head.
“Thirty-nine bodies,” I said.
“What the fuck?” Jamal tightly explained. “Why that much?” He demanded.
“How do you even know that?” Yulia asked in disbelief.
“I know because I stopped the last sacrifice from happening, and you were the thirty-ninth sacrifice,” I said, unable to bear the horrified look on Yulia’s face.