63: Trial and Error – Pt. 1

It had been a day since her confrontation with Rowan and Victoria was doing her best to get passed the night in the park. Her grief borne of loss held a palpable weight. The weight of her mistake settled in slow and deep, pushing everything else from view. And that heaviness was making it hard to breathe. Diving into her work helped her find a way to forget, at least for a moment. She and Mike spent the night going over everything they had on the serial killer stalking the streets of Avondale. On top of everything else, having the man’s threat looming over her was beginning to get the better of her.

Between Derrick and Mike, Victoria barely had a moment alone. The men in her life feared what this stranger was capable of and refused to give him the chance to get close. It was comforting but, also afforded little time for what she was really hoping to do: get to the bottom of her grandmother’s disappearance and the hunt for the mystic talismans. At times, the questions seemed endless and oppressive. She slept and awoke with questions on her mind, stretching out into the horizon as far as she could see. 

Mike had made her a deal, he’d back off for a few hours and let her get in a little research as long as she checked in regularly. Yet, even with that freedom, her search was coming up fruitless. And after a while, she gave up on the hunt and started back to the office. “Any luck?” Mike asked, opening the door to allow Victoria inside.

“Ugh. No. I’ve been running around from one place to the next trying to decipher these riddles but, found nothing. I just wish that my Mom or my Grams would tell me. Anything to help me just a little,” she growled, dropping her keys and a handful of manila folders to the table.

“Is there anything I can get you?”

“How about a bottle of wine and a straw,” she joked, slumping into the chair beside him.

“I think I can do you one better.” Mike motioned for her to follow and led Victoria to the front hall. She watched as the familiar figure stepped inside, her mouth dropping in awe.

“Mom! What are you doing here?”

“Victoria, we…we need to talk.”

“Oh yeah? About what?”

“Everything,” she sighed and slowly moved forward.

“I called her,” Mike said. “I thought it was time you got some answers.”

Victoria smiled at him and he moved around the table to sit beside her. “If it’s ok with you, I think my daughter and I should speak in private.”

“Tough, I’m not going anywhere,” Mike said as he got comfortable beside his partner. “Whatever you have to say to her you can say with me here.”

“He knows,” Victoria added, seeing her mother’s hesitation. “And he’s right, whatever you came to say you can say in front of Mike.”

Delores sighed before finally conceding and dropping into the chair in front of Victoria. “Where do I start?”

“The beginning would be nice,” Mike replied.

“Right,” Delores dropped her head as she began. “Magic has been a part of our family dating well before the Salem witch trials but, it didn’t affect me until you were born. I knew what it meant having a child born of magic. My mother, your grandmother, had raised me to learn and understand everything about our craft from the day I learned to talk but, for you, I couldn’t see myself forcing you into that life. I didn’t want you living in the constant fear as I had. And yet, I found despite my best efforts, I couldn’t keep you from it. You were six when the trouble started.”

“Trouble?” Victoria asked with growing interest.

“Your powers were growing immensely, there was nothing I could do to stop it. Powers that often manifested in your dreams; nightmares you made reality. It made living with you…you don’t remember, Victoria, because I made you forget. But the things you did to your siblings, completely unaware, it was frightening.”

“Do they know? About the magic?”

“No. I erased their memories of it as well. There was no reason for them to know since I was taking care of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“One summer when we went to see your grandmother, I asked that she bind your powers. She refused. She said that if we did, it would be hard on you to ever learn your craft and she didn’t want our line to end with me. I told her that was not her decision to make. You are my child. And the safety of my family was at stake. Of course, she argued that if I taught you how to use your magic, things would get better but, what came with that…all of the evils in the world would have found you before you even hit puberty and trust me, it’s no way to enjoy childhood.”

“And so, since your grandmother refused to help, I found someone who would. Mom and I had a huge disagreement about what I’d done and…”

“I never saw her again…until I was 30.”

Delores nodded as Victoria completed her sentence. “And I suppose, you’ve figured out the rest,” Delores concluded, folding her arms in front of her on the table.

“Has she?” Mike exclaimed, angrily pacing back and forth behind his partner. “Has she really figured out the rest, Lois? Or is she supposed to just—wait around for you to reveal the next major piece of the puzzle that’s become her life?”

“Mike, don’t…”

“No. You know what? I’m sick of this, Vik. I’m sick and tired of all of these people like her and Derrick and your grandmother who claim to be protecting you, who SHOULD be protecting you but are only looking out for their own interests,” he yelled as she tried to quiet him. Mike leaned over on the table, staring Delores in the face as he started in on her again. “You constantly lie to her and play mind games and treat her like some child when she’s in danger. Danger you all seem to know about and knew before she even uttered her first spell and yet said NOTHING!”

“Mike, this isn’t helping,” Victoria tried again.

“And even after all of that, she still tries. She still walks into the darkness and into danger at the risk of her own life because she knows it’s the only way to look after those she cares about. You ever want an example, a real example of how to protect someone, just take a look at your daughter. She has done more good and saved more lives than anyone I know. She cares, Lois, and she wants to understand, but every time she opens herself up, it’s just another stab through the heart. She deserves more respect than what her so-called family gives her and your total honesty.”

“He’s right,” Delores sighed, drawing her hand across her face before redirecting her attention to Victoria. “There is more that I need to tell you. It’s about where our bloodline began.”

“The dragons?” Victoria asked.

Delores nodded as she continued. “Another reason I chose to bind you. You were on the verge of opening a door that would bring back something the magic world fought hard to keep away.”

“The Destroyer?”

Again Delores nodded. “He visited you in the form of a dragon.”

“I still dream about him.”

“He’s very dangerous, Victoria. He will try to manipulate you to get what he wants but, you can’t listen to him. He’s evil in the purest form. It was our blood that put him to rest and it’s through the youngest, you, he has the chance to return.”

“By witch’s blood he will be taken, to witch’s voice he will awaken,” Victoria repeated the last line of the poem from Loretta’s spellbook.

“Now do you understand why I was so worried seeing you with that vampire? If he gets what he wants, Victoria, what all of his kind want, there are endless possibilities to what he can do.”

“Like I told you before, Mom, Derrick is not the person you think he is. He has been trying to help me fight back the Cult trying to resurrect the Destroyer.”

The doorbell rang at the front of the office. Mike and Victoria had closed up shop for the night and hadn’t expected any late night clients. Mike started to answer and Victoria gently touched his arm. “I’ll get it,” she said, excusing herself from the room and rushing for the door. Derrick stood on her front stoop with a somber expression and she smiled, inviting him in.

He glanced behind her and noticed Delores seated at the dining table and refused the invitation and Victoria stepped outside with him. “What’s up?”

“I’m working on a way to get Rowan out of town and I need your help. I have a plan and if everything works accordingly you and I can get in front of this thing without the others catching wind. You game?”

“Of course. I want him gone just as bad as you.”

“Good. We may also need Mike’s help. Let him know to be ready then meet me at my place around 9.” Derrick took Victoria against him. Leaning in, he pressed his mouth to hers, marveling at how velvety soft her lips felt. His tongue pushed inside her mouth in a searing kiss that left her gasping for air as he quickly tore himself away. “We’ll get through this together,” he said once their mouths parted. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Victoria watched him hop on his bike and zoom out of the parking lot before heading back inside. The conversation with her mother had reached its end a little around 8. She’d revealed a few things Victoria hadn’t known but, for the most part, it wasn’t anything useful. Having renounced her magic, she wasn’t able to give Victoria the answers she sought. There was only one person for that and she wasn’t being forthcoming. Ever since she’d returned from her trip, she was…different. 

Briefly, Victoria considered sicking Mike on her grandmother as well but dismissed the thought as she headed home. With Loretta, she had to be careful. She was, after all, the living matriarch of their magic line. Victoria made the necessary arrangements and watched the clock until it was time to head to Derrick’s.

His bike was sitting out front and there was a light on in his front window. An uneasiness washed over her and Victoria shook it off. She had hesitations about what Derrick may have planned. Rowan was not to be tested. And someone as old as him would be on the lookout for anything remotely resembling a trap. But if it meant they would be rid of the mouthy Englishman, she was game. Taking a deep breath, Victoria started inside the house. “Derrick?” she called.

“Kitchen,” he replied. She found him standing beside the sink, having a drink. The lights were dimmer here than in the front of the home and she had to squint to make him out.

“Why are you standing in the dark?” she asked with a laugh, causing him to flip the switch beside him. “So…what’s this plan?”

“Well, I don’t really know if you’ll be ok with it.”

“You said it’ll help us be rid of Rowan and I trust you, Derrick. If you think it’ll work, it’s worth a try,” she said wrapping her arms around his neck. Derrick squeezed her sides and smiled stiffly at her.

“That’s just it, Victoria, you shouldn’t trust me,” Derrick responded pulling away. His hand lingered a moment around her waist as if it would be the last time he would touch her before he backed completely towards the counter leaving her standing confused near the island.

“What are you talking about?” she giggled and took a step forward that was mimicked by Derrick’s step back. The look on his face was grim and left a sheer feeling of dread that took the form of a lump in Victoria’s throat.

“There’s something I need to tell you and it’s something I should have mentioned earlier.” Instantly Victoria’s heart fell to her stomach and she held her breath waiting for him to continue. A large gust of wind blew against the windows, banging the shutters against the walls of the house and she jumped as the back door flew open.

The lights flickered in the kitchen as a dark figure entered through the door and stood beside Derrick. As the lights came on again Victoria gasped seeing Rowan standing in front of her. He looked at her with a wide grin as he took a step but, was halted in place by Derrick’s hand on his arm. The two exchanged a look before Rowan apparently conceded and remained where he was. He glanced again in Victoria’s direction and bowed courteously, “It is nice to see you again, my Dear,” Rowan greeted the detective in his rich British accent.

“Derrick, what’s going on?” she demanded; the tone of her voice hard and unyielding. Her hands balled into fists at the smirk on Rowan’s face and her gaze flitted between the two vampires, her anger growing the longer Derrick remained silent.

“I know you are close to her, Derrick, and it makes it harder for you to do what needs to be done. With that said, would you like me to handle this?” Rowan asked, his eyes never leaving Victoria and the defensive stance she’d placed herself in. He knew she was very capable of casting a spell to knock them both on their asses and was doing his best to remain aloof so as not to anger her any more than she already was. He also knew she was on neutral ground just as he and Derrick had planned; unable to run inside of her protection shell at home where he and the other vampires in his company could not enter.

“Derrick?” Victoria called for him, her voice shaking a little as her nerves got the better of her. He continued avoiding her gaze, afraid of seeing the fear in them he knew had taken over. She took a breath, raising her hands in preparation for what she worried was coming and Rowan immediately called for Marcel.

“Don’t hurt her!” Derrick yelled as the bodyguard rushed into the kitchen and began manhandling Victoria. She struggled against him, clawing and biting at his hands but to no avail. Angry eyes caught Derrick as he opened his mouth again to speak but, he quietly backed behind Rowan as Marcel hauled Victoria out of his home towards a nondescript black van waiting on the curb. 

The moment she was pushed inside she felt herself grow weaker. A quick look around revealed the source of her sudden wooziness. Three large arcane crystals were placed in strategic points around the vehicle keeping Victoria’s magic contained. She tried to rush through the doors in an attempt to escape and Rowan grinned as he threw her back inside before slipping into the passenger seat. Derrick slowly stepped inside the van and sat across from her, again avoiding the daggers he felt her shooting towards him. “Sit back, Victoria,” Rowan spoke as the driver started up the engine. “This is sort of a long trip.”

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