The Witch's Ladder (35 page)

She smiled back. “Promesa?”

“
Si, Leona. Promesa.”

In that brief moment I could almost imagine what it must have been like for Leona, so scared and alone. Yet I knew Leona was a fighter, and I knew she really was going to be okay. I stood and helped her to her feet. Her knees wobbled, but she held her own, and soon she and Officer Olson were ready. I watched the two make their way to the door, but as they reached the threshold Leona turned around one last time. I drew a tight-lipped grin, one designed to help me fight back the tears pooling in my eyes. In the end, a simple wink in her direction was enough to set them free. They rolled down my cheeks in a silent parade. And then she was gone.

The ambulance took Leona to the hospital where a subsequent medical examination determined that she had not been molested. Another night, maybe, and I would have been too late. I realized that many things didn’t go my way in the course of my investigation, but for this one small miracle I was grateful.

After they took Leona away and the excitement died down, I noticed a string of beads sitting on a nightstand next to Leona’s bed. It was perhaps the only thing within her reach. I guessed they were the beads Lilith had given to Doctor Lowell, and imagined the irony of it all. Had Leona known and believed in the powers of the witch’s ladder, she might have had everything she needed to set herself free of her nightmare.

I reached down, picked up the beads and caressed them gently within my fingers. I realized then, that was exactly what Leona did. She managed to use the beads to get away every night in the only way she could, through spontaneous bilocation. For a few horrible, wicked weeks, her curse had become her gift.

In a later debriefing, Leona would tell me how, through bilocation, she had witnessed all the killings. She saw and heard everything, who did what and when. Of course by then, the only one left standing other than her was Lilith. And though I know Lilith participated in the murders of the twins and Doctor Lieberman, I can’t do anything about it. Leona’s account of what happened may have answered a lot of my questions; she is after all the unnamed witness I alluded to earlier in this narrative, but her testimony in court is completely inadmissible. It seems that for most everyone else, bilocation is only as real as a dream.

As I stood in that tiny room, I began counting the beads in my hand. Thirty-two of them remained on the strand. Assuming there were forty to begin with, I felt reasonably certain I had found the source of Carlos’ beads. I wondered if Doctor Lowell had dropped them on purpose, one at every murder to throw suspicion toward Lilith. Maybe he left them behind as a way of getting caught. Perhaps he wanted to stop his barbaric crusade but could not.

I clutched the string of beads tightly in my fist and imagined what it might be like if only someone could control the witch’s ladder and use it for the good of man. It truly is an instrument of incredible potential. I realized how fortunate it was that Doctor Lowell never figured out its full potential. If he had, his attraction of blood might not have ever ended.

I looked around the room where Leona spent those miserable weeks chained to the bed. I vowed to make sure she would never have cause to fear again. I made a solemn pledge to make it my personal crusade to fight the evil side of the paranormal and supernatural. For this, I would need courage, and I believe I have plenty of that. I would also need strength, which I possessed in numbers with Carlos Rodriguez by my side. But most of all I would need an edge, something to put me on an even keel with the supernatural powers working against me.

I held my fist against the side of my jacket and unclenched it, allowing the beads to spill freely into my pocket. As I walked the damp halls of the basement back up to the main level of the research center, I noticed the light behind me tripped off by itself. Not that I see that as an omen or anything. Light bulbs do burn out. That is to say, it may have been just a coincidence.

Author’s note: Thank you for downloading this book. Look for the rest of the Detective Marcella Witch’s series on Amazon.com. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Amazon and leave a positive feedback/review so that others may be inclined to download and enjoy it, too.

Special thanks also to Dave Chandler, whose contributions in editing helped make this book what it is.

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