Battle Mage Chapter 2

Law and Order meets Hogwarts as Battle Mage Jules investigates a murder where things just don't feel right.

Detective Todd was born in a small town but moved to the city when his mother got a teaching position for a greater price of living. Since then he grew up almost average. It was when he reached the age of twelve, he had an assignment from his government teacher, to do research on important news in the papers. Jacob Todd thought it was an off assignment but he worked dillegently on trying to find an article that no one had ever really touched.

To his surprise, after looking through his third newspaper, he found of a girl, found murdered, she lived in his home town. While he never met her, as he aged, he often wondered what life would have been like if they were friends and acquaintances. He knew he would never get to solve her murder but in some bizzare way, it felt close to home for him, so he decided, with the help of Law and Order, a show he was raised on, that he wanted to find the b******s of this world, and put them away.

When Todd made Detective, he often found himself on the bizzare end of strange cases, sometimes so morbid he expected that they might make an episode of the X-Files about it. The cases that appeared the most however were simply dead bodies and the same five stories told over and over again. However, when he got the news on the radio, that someone from the High Hills Cul-de-sac had gotten murdered, he found himself more interested in being able to have access to an entire area mostly seen as the nations biggest best kept secrets.

The first thing that happened was that the initial cops came and quarantined the area, after the preliminary investigation, they found that the guard had been assaulted outside of the gated community and thus, decided that the entire area was the crime scene, every house, every home.

The needy mistress of a famous rapper told the police they had better be careful and mind their business with their search. A member of the NRA lobby, some big hotshot, told them that they had no rights to search his garbage and that his property was off limits to their investigation. The chief in charge of the investigation however told them all to kiss his a*s.

The Chief, Estevez, was put into his office simply because he based his tactics on that the public opinion would grow depending on how frank, blunt, and effective the force was when it came to high profile incidents. He was not going to back down to rich lobbyists, or people with connections. The main driving force in the past year was that they needed to fight the idea that justice was soft.

The media ate this up, trying to add all sorts of spin. Detective Todd watched them swarm the Chief, it was a good thing too because he seemed to direct them away from the col-de-sac. Behind the sea of parasites, a lone car with a loud motor was approaching. Detective Todd welcomed this sound more than he would have thought so. His partner had arrived.

“Detective Lamont! Out of my way! You are impeding on a crime scene.” Jules watched as the sea of pesky reporters parted. Out of the side of his ear, he heard the media crying foul, “How come when it is a rich person who dies, you qauarentine an entire area, but when it is in the streets you never…”

Jules turned his ears off and was able to make his way of the car and approach his friend, or rather the friend of an alter ego of his. The fake Detective Lamont flashed his badge, Jules’s former lether wallet with a picture id of himself in high school, and when they looked at the bright steel shield on his chest, they never would have dreamed that it was a piece of paper not five minutes ago.

Over the years, he had been assigned to keep a pulse on police investigations into bizzare matters, this way him and the council could keep tabs of what was going on in the city, and stop the craziest of things before they were exposed to the public. His disguise, which after mastering different levels of manipulations, illusions, and conjurations, he had become a mysterious detective that came and went and no one ever thought to second guess his mystique.

“Lamont!” Detective Todd yelled. He had instantly forgotten what he was doing and came over. “It has been what? Three months? How have you been partner?”

“I been doing some things here and there. I would ask about yourself.”

Not knowing that this was rhetorical, Detective Todd tried to start a tale about his wife and his girls, but he saw the eys of his “partner” and stopped cold.

Jules, Lamont, whatever, then asked, “What do we have? How much leeway we got on investigating and has anyone touched anything?”

The two of them on cue began walking to the first incident, the downed security guard, who was no longer there.

“Witnesses heard a strange clatter, someone called the cops and when they first stopped to check on the guard, they were detained a bit, an hour later they came across the body when the cops found the knocked out guards infront of the last house on the right.

Jules looked inside, saw the window smashed. He instantly sensed something, “There was an electric magnetic pulse here. And the gate here, was it open when the police first came?”

“Yes, apparently a group of kids were coming back from a wild party, the gate opened for them and never closed. Their fingerprints however, as I have already done, have no markings anywhere. From their blood alcohol level and such, there is no way they would have been able to take out a security officer, break in, take out two personal guards then murder two people cleanly.”

Jules nodded, “Noted.”

They began to walk to the gate, still open.

“Lamont, one question.”

“I have one answer,” Jules sarcastly responded.

“An EMP pulse…how would someone do that, and why?”

What Detective Todd did not know was that Lamont/Jules was already working on sensing the signature of the energy. His mind was so focused he only hald paid attention to the small details around him. The best way to describe what Jules was doing would be akin to a great taste tester sampling a rich meal, or something so faint that only one truly trained in dissection could lay all the elements bare.

“I can’t yet determine how, I am sure there is a lot of tech on the market somewhere, we would just need to know where to look but…he either didn’t want to be seen, he wanted to stop power to the gate, or he wanted to distract the guard.”

They walked past the gate and each of them took special note of the features surrounding them. Unlike the lights and frenzy, the neighborhood itself was marked with gloom and each glowing light from the neighbors who couldn’t sleep failed to brighten the atmosphere. Coming and going, left to right, north to south, were the other cops.

As they continued their stroll Detective Todd briefly asked what were the chances of them going to the other houses. Jules however could sense the darkness going only one way, any further detour in mapping out the area and surveying the land would have been pointless. “Just don’t get your hopes up.”

“But, you know, I always kind of wondered how these people lived. Ya know?”

Jules himself realized he would have enjoying finding out all the secrets these people had on one another. In the air, he could detect a hidden sense of connection some of the houses had with another. Outside the red house to his left, an older man, no identity on him yet, was telling the story of his children. The old man pointed to the house of the murdered woman, and sure enough, standing infront of said mansion, were two teenagers looking worried, they were detained there knowing they would be interviewed first by the detective leading the case. Them.

The old man however, in his movements to the cops trying to keep him calm, was not speaking of the affair he was having with the lady to the right of them. Jules took a look, and there she was, sunbathing in her nightgown to the officers. Her very demeanor was that of a model for the cameras. It disgusted Jules, but he could sense the two aura’s on both of them, matching one another. The mischief Jules knew he could cause, if he so wanted to, and for some reason, vanity perhaps, he was tempted to stir the friction within Pleasantville, but decided not to.

As Jules began to walk onto the sidewalk, away from the giant street that had twists and turns, he could sense the presence of the beasts gazing upon him. Sure enough, the dogs began their barking as he past each and every house. He always had that effect on animals. It used to give him pause as if to think there was something unnatural about him that made the animals feel unwelcoming to him. As he got older, he realized it was as if they were trying to communicate with them. He had practiced learning or trying to understand, and all he could get in this vicinity was something wicked had come this way not that long ago.

“Tell me what you are thinking partner.”

Jules looked over at Detective Todd. The place was huge. The front yard had two giant vast flat planes of grass that made Jule’s remember of the vacant park where he would just run in circles laughing for no reason. The center was a stone or marble walking path that held the front supported by two giant pillars. The roof was made of wood and the second story was of a bigger mass than the first. On top of that, center right, was a small extra room, Jules was wondering if it was an office or what it could be.

Jules asked first, “tell me how the guards were found.”

Detective Todd, “You are going to want to know the details first.”

Jules cocked his head sideways, confused.

Detective Todd smiled, “Trust me. Lindsey Gardner, age, Late 20’s we can’t get an accurate count at the moment because her mother had her change her name as a child and due to image relations, vanity fun and all that, getting an active birth certificate has proven hard. Rumors are she is actually in her thirties, but no one wants to watch a reality show about a woman in her thirties. She spends most of her time out of town, traveling the world with her Husband, Vern Williams. They were last seen in Paris, where she wanted to have dinner. Yes, she went to Paris, to have dinner!”

Jules chuckled, “You came to tell me about dinner?”

“No, I am saying this was her first night back in three months. She just happens to be murdered the day she comes home. That does not just happen.”

“So, it was not just premeditated, this was an operation that was scoped out?”

“Methodical. So you think its Celeb Hunter?”

“Why I am here.” Jules was blunt. They both knew if “Lamont” showed up, there was a reason for it.

“The guards, they live here in the meantime, armed with guns, its not legal, but the Gardner family insist on having an armed staff. They claim its for protection.”

“Heh, so you’re saying they like acting like Mafioso’s?”

“Every society and culture, there is a power system, same with the famous and idol culture. Now not a single one of these individuals let out a shot.”

“Where are they now?”

“Hospital, amnesia. They don’t even know their names.”

Jules let his knowledge slip, “Their brains were reset.”

Detective Todd looked back at him, not sure what to make of that. Jules, realizing he said something bizarre, just smiled and nodded it off, as if to feign the very notion was silly.

The two teenagers were now more sober than they were earlier in the evening and they were very tired of sitting on the police car waiting for the two detectives to finish talking to one another. Jules caught their impatience at the corner of his eye and figured now was the best time to move on to the next topic at hand. He was not ready to simply put the solution that an enemy warlock was at work. Mostly this was because he did not want to believe it.

“Cop dude, what bring’s you here?” The slightly drunk one, and the one headed towards having a hang over when tomorrow arrived was named Jack Merchant. His father was head of the Merchant family, a noble lineage of a company that started in the 1800’s but this is of no consequence. The friend next to him is Mercedes Iron, tragicly a son of a car enthusiast and himself, a person who was meant for nothing better but mooching off his rich friend.

Detective Todd addressed first, “Okay, we are going to ask you a few questions.”

“Actually, would you mind asking the questions, I need to make a call.” Jules smiled and nodded. His partner took the bait and let him go.

Jules walked around the grass as he could hear Detective Todd struggle to get answers out of them. He was sure though that the detective would get the exact same statement he was briefed on. The pitifiul behavior of two drunk teenagers wasn’t what interested him and it wouldn’t lead him any closer into finding out what malevolent force came to this city, and killed in this neighborhood.

Around the corner, into the back yard, he made sure there were no cops around, he could sense two things looming in the air; one the dark energy, and the other, that there was no sentient person within a brief skip and a jump away from him. Jules took off his badge and looked at it as it briefly changed back into that horrifically cut star paper he made. He chuckled at it as his own personal reflection was revealed by the pool.

He watched the calm waves dance and he sat down on his knees. He took in a deep breath, inhailing the comfort of this small safe corner and let that enter into his soul. Then, he let his soul leave his body.

Ten futile minutes passed and finally Detective Todd had enough. As he watched them go away he instantly began sorting for where his partner could have gone.

Meanwhile at the pool side, Jules was giving his report to the council when his body seemed to sense an incoming presence. The figures that had surrounded his spirit instantly vanished an Jules’s soul was thrust back into his body. Jules did a final look at his paper star and he put on his badge as Detective Todd turned the corner.

“There you are?”

“I am going to guess it was a useless interrogation?” Jules asked.

“They told me everything from breakfast to their bowel movements but nothing that had anything to do with the victims. They weren’t even aware that the couple even lived on this block. Said Mr. Merchant, ‘Had I known, I would have spied on them with a camera.’”

“I want to say we are looking at a team of perpetrators, but a group of people, moving down the street, some level of suspicion would have been aroused. I am thinking one or two people at most.”

“Trained?” Detective Todd asked.

“Very, or skilled with some level of stealth.”

“Let’s look at the crime scene first.”

It was as if both of them had been putting this off for along time. In Jule’s carear as a battle mage, he saw all sorts of things he wished he could forget. He came in thinking he would be okay with whatever the scene would look like, but as he spent his moment on such a nice calm, and peaceful stroll, the looming dark cloud above the house just repulsed him by its very existence.

He nodded.

The house felt vacant from the moment they came in. Jules made an extra scan and sense no looming presence, mostly residue of what once was here. They stood in a house that felt like something from Hitchcock, all the rooms seemed to lead into dark depths of pure endless void except the room they were standing in.

“How do you think he broke in? There was no signs of forced entry.” Detective Todd himself thought it odd, he then elaborated, “Do you think someone with acess…”

However, with each clue that came in Jules realized the conclusion was becoming more and more focused and real. “No, singular, came in through the attic.”

Jules instantly began a ran up the stairs. He took a right when he got to the top. He traveled down a hallway of photos when he stopped. He looked, all he saw was vanity, disgusting and cruel…but there was a picture here that was different…but it wasn’t here. He looked up to the attic.

Magic, doors and locks can’t keep a true user out. And this void on the wall. A familiar presence stained this spot, but it was forcibly removed. Perhaps what was ever there, offended the killer? Then he heard a noise, something was alive, and it had come for him.

Jules turned around. It was a dog, his tail tucked between his legs and his head down. It looked at him with eyes that showed pure sadness. “I understand my friend. It was a warlock, wasn’t it?” Jules closed his eyes, his worst fear come true.

Detective Todd caught up to him. The stairs had caused him to pant his way up.

Before Detective Todd could say anything, Jules grabbed him by the arm, and pointed him towards the door, the master bedroom. Without explaining, he simply said to the detective, “Come, let us see what kind of ritual was performed here, and then let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Ritual?”

“We are dealing with a killer obsessed with the occult. Whatever his motive and reason for doing what he did, we will find in the room.”

They stopped at the front door. Jules looked more unsure of the two of them. He did not want to confront his fears, he would rather be watching an Aque Teen Hunger Force Marathon, mixed with the bizzare newer episodes that he never paid attention to.

“No time like the present.” Detective Todd patted Jules on the back. Jules smiled. He may play the mysterious character, he may act cold, but the truth is, in whatever universe, even though it is false, that they co exist, they are definitely friends and Jules knew, that they would take a bullet for one another.

The door was kicked open, a level of defiance to the malevolent aura.

Dead Vern Williams was slumped on the ground, his neck snapped back from the impact of the hilt when the blade pierced his skill. The murder weapon nonexistent at this point. Jules noted that the killer must have taken it with him. It was definitely a “he.”

Next to Vernon, was an empty bed with excess blood on the sheets. Above the bed, there was Lindsey Garnder with glas shards pinning her arms and legs against the wall and a giant blade, down to the hilt, through her torso. The blood, though it was supposed to be dried up, on the floor, was glowing.

The blood was set to a drawing and despite all the knowledge Jules had pertained on spells and rituals, this one was in no book he had researched. The figure was that of a horseshoe or a U.

“Omega.” Detective Todd corrected before Jules even realized he was about to ask.

That is what it was. There were two candles  that had long since burned out and a series of strange scribble lines that hit in a bizzare formation. Jules kept trying to come up with what exactly the detail was, but it was as if, it was not able to be precisely defined, nor did it change, but rather like reading letters in ones sleep, impossible.

“What do you make of the…lines, I guess that is what you could use to describe them.” Jules was confused. Illegible encation characters was something new to him.

“What lines? I Just see the omega symbol.”

Jules realized that the lines were magical in nature, perhaps if he had time to perform a spell, work on a translator. He snapped to when his attention focused on the lines coming from the omega symbol like that of water streaming from a waterfall.

It was an illusion, this room, there was an illusion, the Omega Symbol was just part of it. Jules went one level more and instantly in his mind, he saw the entire room brightened by a light. The walls had a line separating their halfway point, followed by stange circles appearing connected with one another, finally, a full circle surrounded Lindsey Garnder’s corpse. She was the target of this strange piece of art, the centerpiece. Next to her, in ghost writing were the words;

“Through your death, I will become a god.”

Detective Todd instantly looked at Jules. Jules just acted as if he said nothing.

“You okay Lamont?”

“Yes, I think I have seen all I need to see, what time do you work tomorrow?”

“I am coming in around 1 Pm. Why?”

Jules grabbed the giant sword, closed his eyes as if he was ingesting something, and then simply said as he walked out, “ I will see you tomorrow then at your office. Update me if any new leads come.”

Detective Todd looked to his friend, “Lamont.”

Lamont stopped.

“It is nice working with you again.”

Jules smiled, “Agreed. No doubt the FBI will be sending men in soon, but let’s solve this thing while we can.”

“We are going to catch the guy right?”

“Do me a favor over the next few weeks. Watch your a*s. This guy, is extremely dangerous, and crafty. Tell the wife I said ‘hi’.”

And like that Lamont was gone. Detective Todd felt the urge to run away, to get out of this room, instead he waited for the group of police to clean up the crime scene.

In the car, at the front of the gates, Jules sat by himself, scared, unsure how to break the news, that a warlock was in town.

Author's Note

Next Chapter, we meet the cast of heroes and the main characters. feel free to leave any reviews and criticsms. I look forward to any feedback.