"We lost the body." Worry filled the coroner's nasal voice.
Seraphina's brows shot up and her father grunted his displeasure as he shifted his crossed arms. Down the rows of the morgue chambers, one fridge was missing a door.
"How did this happen? You mean someone stole it during the night?" Seraphina asked.
"There was no sign of a break in." The elderly woman eyed the chambers. "He was in here." She directed them to the fridge without a door.
"Why wasn't he sealed?" Father questioned.
The woman gulped. "He was. I came in here this morning and found the dented door flung across the room. It's almost like he broke his way out."
Seraphina peeked down into the slot where the deceased once laid. Small dents filled the inside, but she detected no traces of black magic. If someone resurrected his body, she would have smelled it or noticed remnants of necromancy magic, and she did not. It was possible had Mr. Snowberry encountered something like a devil or an otherworldly spirit that possessed him.
"You're sure nobody sneaked in here last night?" Seraphina waved her wand over the slot, noticing faint embers glow from ectoplasmic residue. Maybe it was a wicked spirit, after all.
"I mean, it's possible." The coroner rocked on her feet. "If so, they must've been as silent as the dead."
"Did you work alone last night?" Orick asked.
"No, we always work in pairs. Donny worked with me last night," she replied. "He wasn't scheduled today but I can provide his home address."
"That would be very helpful. Thank you."
After the woman jotted down his information for them, Seraphina tried to wrap her head around who would do such a reprehensible thing. Steal a body? Unless nobody took him and he walked out of the morgue all on his own. How in the devil he did that was beyond her, but with how crazy things were lately, it wouldn't even surprise her.
Once outside, Seraphina pulled her wool hood tightly over her head to shield herself from the cold. Her pink curls peeked out from underneath and danced in the wind.
"Don't tell anyone about this," Father warned her. "We don't need everyone panicking yet."
"Did you notice the ectoplasm back there?" Seraphina asked, gripping her wand tightly. "What if someone's brought his body back?"
"Nonsense, dear. We would have found traces of black magic. Which we didn't." He slanted his eyes in her direction. "Most likely, this is the work of the wolf walker who killed him. They wanted to finish their meal, the disgusting beasts." He made a face of disgust.
Nerves churned in the pit of Seraphina's stomach. If she weren't careful, they'd start looking at Silas. Especially if the council learned what had happened to him.
"What should we do?" Seraphina asked.
"I'll have my greatest investigators look into it. Shouldn't you be heading to your bakery soon?" Father asked as he checked his pocket watch. "I can handle things from here. Just wanted you to witness the same thing I did here. When I heard what happened, it concerned me."
"As it should," Seraphina said, frowning. "There must be more I can do. My employees have been doing a fantastic job at running the place and they know how to get a hold of me if problems should arise."
"I'll let you know if I need you again, alright?" He waved a dismissive hand. "Go bake your cakes and pastries. You're the one who wanted to open a bakery, of all things."
Seraphina glowered. "You know I've worked hard to keep the place running after Charlotte died."
"I've offered to buy the building from you countless times so you don't have to worry your pretty little head about it anymore." He offered her a condescending smile, as if treating her like a child. "I understand how much you and your friend Charlotte had wanted to make your way without the council, but be serious now. Look where that got her. Do you want to end up like that?"
"Of course not." Seraphina clenched her fists at her sides. She knew more about where Charlotte had gone than anyone else did.
For him to even suggest she'd die without the Supernatural Council was absurd. More than ever, she understood why her old friend turned to the dark arts for protection. Charlotte had been one of the most powerful wizards in Briarwood, and Seraphina knew how royally fucked up it was to summon her demon in her bakery's basement, but she could learn from her. Out of any demon in hell, she trusted her more than them, believing Charlotte's soul was still somewhere in there and that she cherished their friendship as much as Seraphina had.
"Why don't you just sell the bakery then?" Father asked. "You could just focus on your council duties instead. I'm sure your mother could find you another position if you're not satisfied where you're at now. Maybe you could be an apprentice for her? I know she'd love that."
He always knew how to guilt-trip her. Of course her mother would love to have her work alongside her, and Seraphina wouldn't mind that at all, but balancing that kind of workload with the bakery would be exhausting. She didn't want to burn herself out either.
"I'll consider it, but my answer is still no on selling my bakery."
It was all she had left of her beloved friend. Deep in her heart, she knew that selling the bakery would go against Charlotte's wishes.
🪄
Sunlight struggled to penetrate through the thick gray clouds, weighed with promises of more snow to fall overnight. After finishing her shift at Blissful Bites, she dropped by their local emporium. It was only a block away from her bakery.
The moment Seraphina stepped into the emporium, a delightful aroma of incense and cardamom embraced her. Smoke coiled around the shelves of spellcraft supplies and potions.
"Welcome, Seraphina." Mrs. Vale greeted her at the door with a warm, licorice-lipped smile.
"Hi, Mrs. Vale." Seraphina stepped further into her shop, passing a display of enchanted wool hats and gloves imbued with heating magic to keep them warm during the wintry months.
"Anything I can help you find?" Mrs. Vale asked.
"Maybe." Seraphina gazed around. "Where are your protection charms? Specifically ones that could ward off something wicked like a devil."
Mrs. Vale's eyes widened like saucers, but she nodded as she stepped out from behind the register. "Follow me. We keep such charms in the back for emergency cases. They're created with a blood charm, which many folks are frightened of but to combat wickedness, you can't rely only on pure magic."
Seraphina trailed behind the taller woman, brushing against racks of wizardry apparel and robes. Candles centered all throughout the shop flickered with flames cast by Mrs. Vale's own magic. Her family was one of the few left with fire magic, but many from their town looked down upon them, deeming it just as wicked as black magic.
Upon opening a door in the back of the shop, she revealed a small room brimming with shelves of shimmery vials, trinkets, and spellbooks. Mrs. Vale gestured for her to step over to the oval-shaped table with intricate summoning carvings Seraphina didn't even recognize.
"The perfect protection charm against devils in the night is a dreamcatcher. But I don't mean the decorative ones." Mrs. Vale reached for a box stowed on one of the top shelves of her spellbooks. She brought it down to let Seraphina glimpse inside at the many multicolored designs. "I can enchant these to protect against any evil from entering the room it's in. You just need to keep it near your bed."
Seraphina nodded. "I can do that. But is there anything that I could also keep with me?"
"Of course." She stepped over to her cabinet of potions, then crouched down to open a bottom drawer. "Now, these aren't as strong as the dreamcatcher but they will certainly ward off any devils." Mrs. Vale placed a box of jewels on the oval table. "I can make it into a necklace or bracelet if you'd like."
"A necklace would be perfect," Seraphina said.
"Alright, just choose any of them from the box and I'll prepare the protective spell on both it and the dreamcatcher of your choosing."
"These can be used to protect someone else too though, right?" Seraphina asked. "They're not just made for me."
"Of course. You can choose to use them to protect whoever you please," Mrs. Vale said, lips curving into a frown. "Do you not feel safe, Seraphina? Has something... happened?"
"You could say that." Seraphina nervously fiddled with her hands in front of her after choosing a dazzling blue gem. "But I promise everything is alright. No need to worry. These are just a precaution, that's all."
"If you're sure." Mrs. Vale cast her a weary glance as she laid the sapphire gem and dreamcatcher on the table.
Intricate willow hoops spiderwebbed the inside of the dreamcatcher, allegedly used to trap any wicked spirits or devils that tried to cross through. Many wizard families kept them near their infants' cradles and young childrens' rooms for extra protection. Even if they weren't imbued with strong magic.
However, the one Seraphina gazed upon pulsed with power unimaginable to her. Mrs. Vale sprinkled her own salt around both items then closed the circle with her own blood and magic. Flames flickered from both the dreamcatcher and the gem, but it burned neither of them.
Once Mrs. Vale was finished, she snuffed out her flames and waited a moment before picking them up to hand over to her. Seraphina felt her potent magic vibrate against her own fingertips, as if daring anything wicked to come near them.
"You can also bless your own magic into them to create another layer of protection," Mrs. Vale said. "It's not necessary, of course, but something I thought you'd like to consider. If it's only for you, then it doesn't do much. For someone else, it makes it damned difficult for anything wicked to hurt them."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you so much." Seraphina smiled, feeling a tiny weight lift off her shoulders.
When they stepped back out into the main shop, Seraphina returned to the register to pay for her items. At least they offered some protection. Seraphina wasn't sure what dangers awaited her out there, but she sensed something was terribly wrong. Someone wanted to spill her blood and Silas's.
Back out in the icy winds, Seraphina tugged her hood over her head and rushed to her car. Once inside, she retrieved her key to start the ignition, allowing heat to furnish through her shivering body. The weather only worsened with each passing day.
She placed her bag of protection charms in the passenger seat, then reached into her glove box for a small, portable crystal ball she kept in there at all times. With a few shakes, she channeled her magic into the crystal and called out Silas's name, waiting as a hazy mist of dark blue filled the opaque ball.
Moments passed as she wondered if he was busy or fell asleep. Just when she almost ended the globe call, Silas's face emerged in the mist, smiling back at her.
"Hey, I wanted to see if you were busy," Seraphina said.
"Not really. I just got home from Nevermourn not long ago," Silas replied. "Why? What's up?"
"Wait, you were in Nevermourn?"
"I just had a question for that vampire doctor." Silas shrugged. "Nothing to worry about though."
"Are you sure?" Seraphina frowned.
"Yeah. So, why'd you want to know if I was busy? Did you want to go somewhere?"
"I was going to stop by your place. Maybe grab supper too if you haven't eaten yet," Seraphina offered.
"Actually, I was about to make a beef pot pie. I'd planned to make a small one, but I have enough ingredients for a full sized one and I'd love the company," Silas replied.
Seraphina nodded. "Sounds delicious to me. I'll be there in a bit."
Once she ended the globe call, Seraphina pulled out of the lot and onto the snowy street. She barely made it to Silas's neighborhood when a familiar, gory figure emerged from behind a thick oak tree of a house across the street.
The remains of Mr. Snowberry staggered through the snow, face sunken in and lips covered in crimson slime. In an instant, his corpse sprung from the sidewalk and pounded on the hood of her car. Seraphina shrieked and hit the gas before stomping on the brake promptly after to fling the corpse down the road.
Blood smeared her windshield. With a shaky hand, she shifted the gear into reverse only to be halted by Mr. Snowberry again when he pushed himself off the road with ease and clawed desperately at her window with bloodied nails.
Suddenly, he stopped. Relief fluttered through Seraphina for a brief moment when the corpse shuffled away from her car, but it was short-lived. One glance at the Rosewood residence told her why he'd abandoned her.
Silas had walked outside to check on her.