Chapter 387: Disappearance
As Laz walked back to Nora’s where he had been spending his nights, his thoughts were on Celes and her strange action.
’Was she trying to see me naked or something? I mean... it’s kind of weird... of course walking around in just tight shorts might also be a bit weird but still... I wonder if this has something to do with her obsession. Maybe I should talk to Nora? But is it that strange?’
While Laz was filled with questions, Celes had already made her way back to Laz’s room. She quickly pulled out the book and items she needed and got to work. After drawing a circle on the floor and inscribing runes in various places, she lit the ingredients on fire to fill the room with a pleasant smelling smoke. She then set Laz shorts down in the center and poured the blood on top of it. After that, she began chanting in a low voice, one that sounded a bit like her, but also a bit deeper and darker with a chill that was completely foreign to her. The runes lit up as the energy flowed from her causing the circle itself to light up. With that, both the blood and the shorts disappeared and joined with the smoke, forming into a phantom that looked exactly like Laz.
Seeing this, Celes’ dark eyes lit up as a smile covered her face. She then took the listless phantom by it’s chin and said,
"Go find him and bring him to me, now!"
And with that, the smoke phantom flew off, already knowing where it’s pray was as Celes laughed.
"I shall be ready for you when you arrive my love. And from tonight on, you shall always be a part of me..." Celes said, the sweetness of her voice completely gone as only madness and venom remained.
...
Laz had just arrived at the step to Nora’s house. He was about to make his way inside and downstairs to the basement to speak with Nora when a sudden breeze seemed to pick up. Just as he opened the door, the smoke like phantom descended from the sky and riding on the intake of his breath, entered Laz’s body, filling his lungs with itself before heading straight for his mind.
As soon as it reached there, it entered in like a wisp and set to work, clouding over Laz’s conciseness and active thought centers. Before Laz even knew that he was in trouble, the phantom had almost complete control of his mind. As such, Laz paused in place with the door half open. Seeing this, the phantom made Laz shut the door, turn around and began making his way back to where Celes was waiting for him.
In it’s haste combined with it’s lack of fine motor skills, the door slammed shut as Laz took off, alerting Nora to the presence of someone else.
"Hey babe. I’m down here. Do me a favor and bring me some booze on the way down. Don’t care what, just make sure it’s something strong," Nora said, still working away. While she made the effort to go train with the afternoon group, she rarely stayed until the end. Hence she normally was doing something after Laz finished up and arrived.
After a few minutes of typing up some results, Nora noticed the lack of response and noise coming from the ground floor and called out again.
"Babe, did you hear me?" She asked louder than before while looking at the door. While the door itself was solid lead and the entire lab was sealed, with his and her excellent hearing, this wasn’t much of a problem for them.
Not getting a response, Nora got up and went upstairs.
"Taking a shower then?" She asked, heading towards the bathroom. Laz had done this before, showering after working out. But when Nora arrived, she found the shower empty.
"That’s weird."
Nora checked the entire house, but didn’t find anyone. She then checked the front door and noticed that while it had been unlocked, it was obvious that no one had come inside.
"Only three people have a key besides me... Oh. Right. I can call him."
Nora took out her phone and dialed Laz’s number, but it just kept ringing until it went to voice mail. Nora then tried Celes’ number, but the phone had been turned off and therefore went straight to voice mail. Nora then tried calling Gretchen who answered.
"Yes dear?" Gretchen’s voice came from the other end.
"You weren’t at my house right?" Nora asked, walking outside and looking around.
"Of course not. Why? Did something happen?" Gretchen asked.
"No. Laz was going to come by after practice but he still isn’t here. I thought I heard someone but I tried calling him and no answer. Same from Celes. Since you’re the only other person with a key, I figured I’d try you too."
"Nope. Not me. You sure he isn’t just playing a joke on you?" Gretchen asked with a bit of laughter in her voice. Of course she had figured out Nora and Laz’s relationship over the past week and teased Nora to no end about it. But at the same time, she was happy for the girl. Gretchen had been one of the few people Nora had shared the secrets of her body with so knowing that Nora had found a cure delighted her.
"No. I don’t think so. I know he was at the training and normally he stays late to train with Celes but she wasn’t at the training so I didn’t think he would be gone this long."
"Hang on. Let me check her room," Gretchen said, getting up from her comfy chair and walking to her granddaughters room.
"Hmm... Empty. That’s weird. She’s normally home by now too," Gretchen said with a bit of concern.
"Grandma Gretchen, you haven’t noticed anything weird with Celes’ lately, have you?" Nora asked, her mind making connections suddenly that she hoped weren’t correct.
"Weird how?"
"I don’t know. Her being secretive or staying out later than usual or acting weird?"
"I mean, she’s not even a teen anymore so I’m not exactly treating her like a kid anymore. As for those types of things, well.. she’s always been a bit different."
"So nothing out of the ordinary?" Nora pushed.
"Well... maybe... someone went into the old storehouse today. And since the door was unlocked, I asked the ladies on the council but none of them had been there. The only reason we know someone was there was because I had some motion detecting cameras put in, but when we checked out the tapes, there was nothing on it. Still though, you can clearly see the door open and close so there had to be someone. You don’t think that Celes would have done that, do you?"
"What kinds of things are stored there?" Nora asked, her mind still working at a fast pace.
"Eh, old coven stuff. Relicts from ages past, our history and things like the old spell books and stuff. You know, things that are pretty useless nowadays."
Something about that suddenly clicked with Nora, but she couldn’t be sure what. Like it was there... but not in any recognizable form.
"I think there is something wrong with Celes. She has been... I don’t know. Obsessing over Laz lately. I’m just worried she might be breaking down and losing herself over it," Nora finally said what was on her mind.
In return, she was greeted with only silence... Until...
"How bad?" Gretchen finally asked.
"She’s been watching us have sex while masturbating. And I can guarantee she isn’t watching me."
"Oh... fuck!"
"What?" Nora asked, as though hearing something in Gretchen’s voice that sound like understanding.
"Nothing I am sure of yet. But we need to find him and probably her as well. And fast."
"Where would they be?" Nora asked, right before her nose seemed to tingle.
"Wait. He was here... I can... smell his scent...." Nora said.
"Find him and let me know when you do. I need to go check with Wilma and the other members really fast on something. Call me when you locate them," Gretchen said and hung up without saying another word.
"Fuck. Ok. Settle down. Think girl, think." Nora closed her eyes and focused on his pleasant yet musky scent that still lingered in the air. She had no idea what she was or what her blood was making her be, but she did know that she could trust her sense of smell.
"Hmm... Ok... This way," Nora said as she took off. She could tell the smell had grown thin, very thin. But after a week of smelling everything Laz had to offer, she could pick it up with only the slight hint.
...
As Nora took off on her search, Gretchen and Wilma along with the other members of the council arrived at the storage house and typing in the password that only those present and one other knew about, they went inside.
"What are we looking for exactly," one of the middle ages women asked of Gretchen and Wilma.
"I don’t know. Something that’s been disturbed I guess," Wilma responded back while she started scanning the area.
The storage house itself was kind of like a large barn. There were no rooms as nothing inside of it needed that much space to itself. There were several boxes that contained some of the most dangerous pieces of their history, but only Wilma and Gretchen had keys to those. Those keys would only be passed down once one of the women died and not before.
As for the rest of the room, there were many things piled around pretty neatly. While no one ever visited the place, once a month a member of the council would do her duty and go clean up and dust while also checking for any signs of damage or wear and tear on the building. Other than that, the camera’s were connected to the main security office and that was all anyone really cared about it.
Most of the rituals performed had been drafted into newer books and bindings along with being made digital. While some might argue as to how something digital could actually be magical, the fact was that the magic came from the person, not the thing they were holding or reading. If that was the case, what use would a person be?
After a while of fruitless searching and seeing nothing having been disturbed or removed, the youngest member of the council, a woman in her early thirties called out.
"Everyone. Come check this out," she said, pointing to one of the bookcases.
"What is it?" Wilma asked, having arrived first.
"I’m not sure... after all, there are so many but... I think a book is missing..." she said, pointing to a shelf around eye level.
Looking at the spot closely, no one else saw what she saw and started going back to looking. It was only Wilma and Gretchen who kept observing.
"What do you think?" Gretchen asked.
Wilma got closer and moved some books, a few to the left and a few to the right. When she was done straightening everything up, there was clearly a spot where a book would fit.
"Yeah. Must be."
"Any idea what book she took?" Gretchen asked.
"Let me think..." Wilma had always been a neat freak, almost to the point of being obsessive compulsive. Add to that her almost photographic like memory and it was like she was a filing system all her own.
"And old book, written shortly before the crossing. It contained a set of the most generalized spells along with some of the most powerful, but only ones that could be shared with all covens... These were the spells they thought they needed to survive getting here, to the new world and keeping the sisters safe."
"Survival spells? So... what would she need those for," Gretchen asked, thinking about having read the book herself in her youth for fun, back when this stuff was new and exciting for her.
"I don’t know. I mean, unless she plans on going on a trip or wants to control some people to sail a boat across the sea.... then...." Wilma’s voice trailed off as she looked at Gretchen. On the way over, Gretchen had shared Nora’s concerns with her so both women had the same understanding.
Looking into each other’s eyes, a feeling of dread settled upon both of them.
