Nightmares Vs Magic

Enzo and Mrs. Shirley heard the gunshots soon after. Enzo stood up and told the woman to stay inside, close the blinds, and lock her door. 

There were a couple more gunshots.

As soon as he went out into the hall, he saw a young girl there. She had gone through every other office before finding room number four. Each person in the previous rooms was dead, and she was now pointing the gun at him. 

"Are you the one talking to my boyfriend's therapist?" She asked. 

Enzo raised his hands, and an eyebrow as he looked her up and down. She wore jeans and a black t-shirt; a red plaid cardigan was tied around her waist. Her hair was long and kept down, there were some fritzes here and there. There was blood on her face, and her face looked young. That was the one detail Enzo noticed first before the others.

"How old are you?"

"You answer my fucking question first!"

"Yes, I understand that, but I first need to know, are you even old enough to drink?"

"I'm old enough to kill you!" 

He looked at her with squinted eyes, lips pursed in thought. He wasn't even thinking about the gun, he just kept looking at her in genuine concern. 

"Kids today buy more guns than cigarettes." He mumbled to himself, looking away from the girl. 

"Alright, kid, ma'am- however old you are- either way, you look like you have your whole life ahead of you. You don't wanna do this."

"You don't understand. I'm doing this for love-AHAHAGHGHGHHH!"

She fell, gun still tightly in her grip, and she wouldn't be letting go of it because Joon stepped closer from behind her, his prosthetic foot still on her back as he kept tazing her. 

"Dove said this should be easy." He said with gritted teeth as he stomped on the girls back. 

"But this girl was acting, that we didn't even get halfway through her plan!"

"Joon, stop." Enzo told him, walking closer and kneeling down.

"But she still has the gun!"

The man took the girl's wrist which was still tightly holding the weapon and first took out the magazine. Then he moved her fingers just enough to pull back the slider to check the chamber, finding it empty. 

"It's okay Joon." He told the kid as he gently put the girl's wrist down. 

"No ammo. No ability to hurt people." 

Enzo looked down at the girl again as Joon took his foot off her back. Her body was twitching every now and then, her hair had even more fritzes, and some drool coming from her mouth. 

"Especially since you nearly put her in cardiac arrest." 

"She was about to shoot you simply because she was trigger happy!"

Enzo took his phone out of his pocket, passing it to Joon as he went to work on hoisting the woman up, beginning to carry her. 

"Go into my 'recents' list on my call app, tap the number that's labeled as 'Rangeley Officer', and tell him we not only have more bodies on our hands, but we also caught the killer." 

They made their way to the door, the girl's body still twitching, and they spotted Dove right through the glass door. 

She already brought the town sheriff there, so Joon out Enzo's phone down. Dove was also rather oddly disappointed, and her disappointment and bafflement only continued to grow as Enzo explained what he knew had happened. 

The woman was put in handcuffs and the gun wedged out of her fingers thanks to the sheriff's help. He maneuvered her body to sit inside the back of the cop car, and Enzo put the interns in his car as they drove to the police station. 

Zane had arrived shortly after Dove called him just a few minutes ago, and the woman was confirmed to be Isabel, his ex-girlfriend, the one who killed all those people in the farmhouse, and the creator of the nightmares in the woods. 

That last one was confirmed after she had come back to after being shocked multiple times and was interrogated in private about her plan. Jean helped with the interrogation, having a bit of history in conversing with others in ways that helped him hear just the right answers he needed.

"Apparently, her belief in those creepypasta characters were so strong, that she's actually had a prior history of killing before this incident." Jean said as he sat down in the waiting area with Enzo and the interns. 

"Zane confessed that she once told him she once sacrificed someone in middle school, in the hopes of summoning-" He cleared his throat, as if trying to suppress a laugh before continuing. 

"Slenderman. A, supposedly, folklore, creature, whom she had hoped to summon after offering her sacrifice, but her never came. Zane thought she was joking, since, as he put it, Slenderman is, fictional." Jean said with much difficulty for some reason, his mouth kept almost twitching into a smile. 

He avoided eye contact and put his hand over his mouth, crossing his legs to appear as though he was pondering. In reality, he was suppressing a smile.

"Is there a reason you can't stop laughing at this part?" Vernon asked nonchalantly.

Jean quickly put his other hand up and waved a 'no', trying to act professional again.

Zane was away, answering some questions and explaining everything he knew about Isabel since he was the victim. The usual paperwork also had to be done as well, so thankfully he didn't have to worry about coming off as insensitive.

"That first kill of hers was what caused the veil to be lifted from her senses, and she became haunted. From what Zane remembered, she told him she was sixteen at the time, so the veil must've already been thin. From then on, she'd been seeing nightmares and eventually learned how to create her own, soon learning that they needed to be fed." 

"That fits with the timeline." Said Enzo. 

"She got into a relationship with Zane around twenty years old I assume, and so at twenty-one, Zane told her that he wanted to separate and took a gap year from college. She did the same and secretly followed him around up to this town when he was attempting to hide from her. The reason for that was the coincidence and convenience of the location."

"Isabel never told Zane where she was from when they dated, and so when Zane rented a cabin here, he never realized that he only brought himself closer to her. Because she was from Phillips, a town in the same county as Rangeley, just twenty-seven minutes away. That explains why we couldn't find many traces of her here, despite her base of operations being in this town." Dove said as she walked over, holding several cups of coffee. 

"We only found out after figuring out where her car was, and realizing the license plate was registered there." 

She handed the cups out to everyone carefully. Extra sugar and cream for Annabelle, black coffee with sugar for Joon, Enzo preferred no sugar but cream, and her and Vernon had the same preferences for coffee. She had an extra cup for Jean with one sugar and one pump of cream, but he declined her offer. She put it on the table for whoever wanted an extra cup.

Unless they were feeling colder than average and wanted to feel as warm as humans, vampires didn't have much of a need for coffee. 

He continued to summarize all of Isabel's actions after Dove sat down, and Annabelle handed her the phone she was using to record Jean's voice. They would need his summary to help with their individual reports later.

"Isabel, along with checking on her secret house, would also secretly visit her former lover as soon as she realized his new location, and everything became very easy for her from there. Stealing small items such as his little notes and drawings from his studies of folklore creatures, she then copied them when creating her nightmares, likely to try and be closer to and understand him. Apparently, what Isabel interpreted is that he was becoming interested in monsters, and she was hoping Zane would be impressed with her creation and fall back in love with her."

Joon let out a low whistle and took a loud sip from his cup. 

"So, like, the country or western version of a yandere? Thank the freaking gods that she was nowhere near as smart as the girl from 'Yandere Simulator' or Nikki!" 

Dove only groaned, putting her face in her hands. All her friends looked at her, knowing she must've been very disappointed in the woman's frantic-ness and idiocy.

"I made a whole plan and everything!" She groaned and muffled her complaints into her hands. 

"I even gave Zane my backup phone and took his real one because I thought she was tracking it, and then I was gonna lure her into this trap! I thought she was a smart criminal! But no- she was just some lovesick fool and I'm a fool for having watched too many episodes of 'Criminal Minds' apparently!" 

Vernon sat next to her silently, holding his flowerpot. He grew a small one in it to show her in an attempt to cheer her up. It was another blue flower, but he looked from her to the flower soon after, and squinted his eyes, not liking this shade of blue either. 

Joon could only shrug. 

"Well, she was a bit crazy, sometimes crazy people are seen as smart."

"We didn't even get halfway through the plan before she just up and popped out of nowhere herself!" Dove replied, lifting her face and venting in a baffled tone, still staring off into space. 

"I thought up this whole process of trying to lure her out and then catch her in the act of her crimes so that she could get arrested without issue. I thought of so many complicated steps, and then she revealed that she wasn't smart, just- ,,, irrational! And shot a person right underneath the clinic's security cam! And then some!" 

The sheriff came by right as she was ranting to herself, and asked to speak with Enzo, who also needed to fill out some paperwork. He followed the man, walking past Dove and pat her shoulder.

"Reality is disappointing, but at least it was easy." He said as he passed her by. 

"Yeah, too easy. Now that I think about it, she didn't even do anything all that smart, aside from sacrifice people in a house of horrors in a different town from her hometown." Dove moped.

Zane came by afterwards, awkwardly rubbing his arm. He noticed Dove was upset, and Annabelle explained the great disappointment that was expecting Isabel to be competent, but she was just some twenty-one-year-old with a brain filled with nothing but messed up gore, killer fantasies, and romance.

"I mean, if it helps, you were pretty smart in figuring out how to find me and warn me about her." He tried to offer something good to lift the girl's great disappointment in reality. 

"Yeah, only because she for some reason just gave your address to my teammate. I guess to try and see if anyone was going to become romantically interested in you, so that she can kill them? But most of her of her other victims didn't seem to fit that description."

"Well, she was pretty irrational, as you gently put it. I would say she was stupid, creepy, and dedicated, but we're being polite so," Joon shrugged as he cut in, reaching for the coffee cup on the table. 

He offered it to Zane and continued. 

"She probably just killed whoever wouldn't be noticed at first, because like Jean explained before, the human sacrifices were for her creepy pets, and then she just started killing random people that she thought were getting close to him because she's creepy and possessive in a bad way!" 

He turned and asked Zane, "Did you ever have a brisk meeting or chat with a guy who was planning to move out of this town, or an old man about to leave for the hospital, or a girl named Alana?"

Zane thought to himself and shrugged. 

"I remember chatting with a good-looking guy at a grocery store, but he didn't say anything about moving. As for an old man, I think I remember helping a guy learn how to schedule a doctor's appointment? But it was only for a little hospital here. I don't know much about a girl named Alana. Is she ok?"

Annabelle hummed.

"Just some unlucky victims then. As for Alana, worry not, she only got a sprained ankle, I'm sure it's fine!"

Soon after, they were all given the clear to leave the police station after each person the sheriff asked for was questioned.

It was very dark by the time everything was over. Joon and the others were upset and thinking about whether they'll get enough sleep before having to drive back to the city tomorrow. Dove was silent, and her friends could tell she was still upset about thinking up a big plan with steps, only for the criminal to be too dumb to even act how she predicted the criminal would.

"Chin up, dear." Jean said as he took his phone out of his pocket, checking for a message from Dimitri. 

"Trust me when I say, you'll meet plenty of other freaks that are actually intelligent, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to use your brain on them. But for now, how about you children and Enzo use another day to try and enjoy this town?"

The interns all suddenly lifted their heads and looked up at him, all paying attention now. 

"Like, what should we do?"

He smiled, shrugged, and waved a hand over to Zane who looked up at him confused, before turning to look at the interns. 

"I mean, I have been exploring a lot of hiking trails here lately. I could help show you guys around tomorrow. As a way of saying thanks for catching my crazy ex?"

Joon and Annabelle happily agreed, talking and planning about which places to check out tomorrow, Vernon was thinking about exploring as many hiking trails as possible, revealing he had been searching for some sort of plant. 

Dove stayed silent but she began searching on her phone for what to do in Rangeley. Most activities in this town were mostly for people who enjoyed the outdoors, and the sun, and apparently sweating. Jean could see her searching up libraries and craft stores on her phone. 

Either way, Enzo called Adan back at Macabre House, telling him that they'd be staying in Rangeley for another day and would either come back that same night or on the next day. 

"Are Jean and Dimitri there with you? Will they be coming back to Macabre House at the same time as you? Because Bence's apprentice recently came upon a supposedly holy item, and I'd like to see if they can help me test it. Leon would normally help me test, but he's become unavailable." The alchemist said from the other end of the call.

"Oh, really? What happened?"

"He's busy restocking supplies. As you know, October is next month."

Enzo nodded, already understanding. He confirmed that Jean and Dimitri would indeed be returning to the agency with them and hung up soon after. He then told Joon not to test him when the boy gave a wide grin and ushered everyone to the cars. He noticed the sky was especially dark and guessed there were clouds.

They all went back to the inn. The hour was late into early morning hours again by the time they were all able to sleep, but everyone was tired, and thanks to the rain that came soon after, it was easy to fall into REM sleep. 

Because of that, Dove had no idea why her friends were able to wake up so early and not be knocked out until noon. The air still smelled incredibly nice from the petrichor.

Annabelle whispered and breathed loudly next to her, sitting at the edge of her bed, her face right next to hers on the pillow. The girl woke up and slapped her across the face, having woken up in fight-or-flight-mode. She fell off the bed, Dove looked over the edge to check if she was okay, and the smiling girl stood back up just fine despite the big red mark on her face.

"What the hell Annabelle?!" She shrieked. 

"No time to explain! They serve breakfast here!" Annabelle exclaimed, running around her bed. 

She picked out some clothes, and tossed a shirt to Dove before beginning to change into some outdoor clothes.

"We didn't get to see what breakfast they serve here because of work, but now we can! Wear that top I gave you! It's gym wear so you can sweat comfortably in it! We'll go shopping later to get you some proper hiking clothes!"

Dove slowly got out of bed, a little sluggish, slipping the gym shirt on. 

"Hiking?" She repeated in a confused tone, already not liking the idea and would rather stay in bed, even though she would not be able to go back to sleep. 

She looked out the window, and although it was sunny, there were still remnants of rain that finished just a couple hours ago.

"That's gonna be an awfully muddy hike."

"Yeah! I bet you must really be regretting not packing any outdoor clothes!"

Annabelle and Dove left their room, both dressed and ready. Annabelle had to tell Dove repeatedly that she didn't need her briefcase today and to just grab her usual things along with the room key. Joon was apparently doing the same to Enzo as they left their room, but apparently Enzo was planning to go back to the old farmhouse to check for any nightmares leftover. After that, he was also pondering on what to do for the families of the victims. 

Plus the clerk, there were other workers in the offices at the clinic that Isabel shot and killed. Add to that, they also had to wonder what to do with families of the victims who died at the farmhouse.

Dove suggested that the only polite thing they can do is make sure each corpse is gathered in one piece so that the families can see them one final time, and then ask if they can do anything to help for their funeral arrangements afterwards. It could not be done for most corpses that have been mangled and torn up beyond repair, but it could for the rest at least. Isabel has already been arrested and will likely face jail time thanks to the camera footage and evidence she left behind. 

It was a rather somber conversation as they walked down the hall, but it was an important subject that they could not simply gloss over.

"I could ask Bence to come over and give them some blessings, if any of them were religious." Enzo thought to himself. 

"What do you mean Bence can give blessings?" Joon asked. 

"Oh- ah, don't worry about it. It might not be good anyway, just a reminder that they are dead." The man quickly waved off that idea.  

"How about sending a fruit basket as an apology or condolences? My garden has been growing a lot of produce, and I have a ton of flowers too. I could even send some saplings." Vernon suggested. 

"I've been meaning to make room for a certain new plant, if I can find it."

Enzo thought and considered it, looking up, and nodded in agreement soon after. 

"That would seem like the best options. Some of the families can cremate the remains of their loved ones, regardless of how much of the loved one is left and bury them with a sapling. If the corpse is in one piece, a sapling, plant or fruit can still be good."

They arrived at the dining area where breakfast was served. 

Enzo advised them to eat first and postpone the condolence gifts for later. He noticed Joon's face was nearly becoming nauseous again, Jean had explained to him what the boys saw earlier, and he saw the photos himself. He distinctly remembered the reactions of the police when they investigated the house and shook his head of that memory, changing the subject.

Annabelle got mostly sugary stuff, and Joon tried that as well before Enzo advised them both at least try one of the oatmeal packets or get some fruit. Dove grabbed a bunch of napkins as soon as she saw either of them grab yogurt and toast.

She already needed to give some to Vernon so that he could discreetly spit out a bite of a muffin. 

Turns out the muffins were baked with blueberries, like not a blueberry mixture, but raw blueberries were put into the mixed batter before baking. The texture made him gag and he just couldn't swallow it. Since he had only taken a small bite, it was passed to Annabelle. 

"Son, do you not like blueberries?" Enzo asked out of concern, thinking it strange that a witch who has grown tons of berries, can't stomach a pastry with berries.

"I like blueberries, and all sorts of berries, but I don't like when they are taken raw and put inside batter or bread before baking. The texture is too different and weird. These muffins were cold too, and that makes it more difficult to eat for me." Vernon said, his mouth still behind the napkin Dove gave him. 

Annabelle squinted her eyes and rested her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands as she said something to test the waters.

"Dove also can't stand raspberries if that's also something to be concerned about."

Dove shot her a glare, her face feeling hot when Enzo then turned to look at her. Annabelle was not easily deterred, rather watching as she continued to eat her yogurt smeared on toast.

"It's just a preference." Said Dove, blankly, instinctively. 

Enzo stayed quiet, his eyes reading her, but thankfully for Dove, he just nodded and didn't ask further.

Joon was texting on his phone when they all finished and began to spend a day out on the town. He said that Zane would be meeting them at a specific store. 

He took a picture and sent it, showing the store's sign and address. Dove noticed the after-rain whether and was thinking of going to the library instead of whatever outdoor activity that might involve mud. 

As she attempted to step back and away from the group, a cold hand landed on her back, gently pushing her back to her group. Annabelle noticed their presence and noticed Dove trying to escape, quickly linking her arm with hers to prevent her from getting away again.

"Don't even think about it." Said Jean. 

It was like they appeared out of nowhere, nearly scaring all but Enzo.

"Is that just your shtick!? Do you like scaring us?!" Joon huffed and asked, clearly upset.

"We told you kids to go try and enjoy a final day here before we leave, and you're going to listen. My husband and I will go meet with Miss Hillary, and we'll also go inspect the farmhouse afterwards. Though I doubt Jean could've possibly missed any nightmare residue." Dimitri told the group as Jean smiled beside him, arms crossed and nodding. 

Dove's eyes were frowning slightly, she hid it to not let her thoughts be obvious, but she couldn't help but be surprised.

I already had a feeling that they must've been old and powerful, so they wouldn't care about what anyone thought of them, nor did they need to worry about any hateful attacks against them. I was happy to learn this new information, but I also couldn't help but feel surprised and concerned that they would just say it so casually like that. 

I could tell they were married, I saw the rings, Dimitri is most definitely Leon's brother-in-law while Jean is the blood related one, but, I just felt the same as I did when Celadon up and told us their pronouns. I was happy they did, but weren't they scared to? They barely knew us, but I guess Leon made them feel safe? But.... I envy them. 

They ushered for the kids to go meet with Zane and have fun, and they kept an eye on Enzo to also enjoy his day as well and not worry about the kids. He needed some 'Me' time. 

He bid good luck to Dove and waved to the interns as they headed out. Enzo said he would be driving somewhere he had been thinking of visiting now that he has a day off technically, but he wouldn't let the interns know what it was.

Joon was about to ask Dove to secretly follow him after she started her own car, until she reminded him about their meeting with Zane.

"Don't be rude and flake on him."

"Right, sorry." 

The two vampires watched them drive off, before turning to each other as Dimitri out his phone away, not needing to check the schedule. 

"They almost remind me of Laurence and the others when they used to be interns." 

Jean chuckled and leaned closer to Dimitri, whispering affectionately. 

"If we ever get a chance, we should tell the kids some stories about them! I've been waiting to tell someone about Bence and Adan."

"Do you think they still argue in each other's languages?"

"Probably when they fight about topics they don't want others to hear. I can't wait for one of the new interns to catch them doing that."

Dove drove to the store after Joon typed in the address into the maps for her and parked the car there in the parking lot. It had been a while, and they all wanted to have a nice walk while exploring. 

Zane waved over at them as he stood by the entrance, his phone out as he waited for them. Joon and Annabelle excitedly ran up and greeted him, asking him how he was doing after last night's fiasco. He could only sheepishly rub his neck and say that he was still processing it. 

He showed them around, first guiding them as they walked through the building where all the stores were. 

Annabelle cheekily pointed out how they needed to find hiking outfits for Dove, and they pulled her inside random clothing stores.

"Why did you only pack business casual clothes for a trip to a place that has outdoor activities? Not meaning to judge, I mean, I'm not much of a hiker either but, you really look like you're here more for like a business meeting at a classy hotel, than a case that requires being on foot." Zane commented. 

He watched as she stood there, resigned while her other friends searched the clothing racks for whatever would suit her, them, Zane, or simply just for fun. He looked down and noticed her oxford shoes, and how they would not be at all ideal if they ever decided to just go explore a hiking trail.

"I like business casual. I feel in control and proper with those types of clothes. Everything else always felt too sloppy or out of place on me. I put on a button-up blouse when I was fifteen, realized it looked better than all my old shirts, and then everything escalated from there." She shrugged. 

Annabelle walked over with some clothes on hangers, hanging from her arm. Grinning widely. 

She showed Dove a pair of shorts, it was a hard no. Same with the colorful sweatshirts, especially anything that wasn't monochrome. Joon showed her a fanny pack, she gave him a blank stare, and neither did she like the cargo shorts of vests with pockets that Vernon found. 

There were some leggings and that was also a hard no. 

"I don't wear leggings." She told Annabelle blankly. "Ever."

The girl just shrugged and decided to consider the pants for herself. 

It wasn't until Zane sheepishly suggested a pair of baggy forest green pants. They were high waisted and had lots of pockets. They almost looked like sweatpants were it not for the pockets and the feel of the material. 

"Yeah! Join the cargo pants crew!" Joon joked as soon as he saw the pockets.

"You're more likely to be pickpocketed because of those pockets." Annabelle argued. 

They still kept walking through the store anyway, Zane kept holding the pants and watching this strange group of interns interact with each other as they made their way over to the shelves with shoes. 

"You can also just put thumbtacks or needles in some pockets to avoid that!" Joon retorted with a shrug. 

He reached into one pocket, pulled out a glove, put the glove on, and reached into another pocket of his cargo shorts, pulling out a handful of thumbtacks as an example. 

"How long did you have those in there?" Zane asked in surprise.

"Ever since I first almost got pickpocketed. Put these in random pockets, the next one tried it, yelped and bled, I swung at him hard, and it's my most favorite social experiment with the best results!" He said with a proud smile as he described his favorite strategy to avoid pick pocketers. 

Zane's face paled. 

They eventually got Dove to, reluctantly, agree to wear a more comfortable outfit, comprised of the forest green, baggy cargo pants Zane found, a long sleeve, half zip up, black shirt, and some running shoes. 

"I hope this is the last time you guys make me go clothes shopping." The girl said as she walked out of the store with them, wearing the new outfit. 

Now, she actually blended in finally, even though it was the last day, and her outfit finally fit with the environment. 

"Shut up. You just don't want to admit that you packed the wrong clothes and was worried earlier. At least now, you don't have to worry about dirtying your office outfits." Joon told her.

He then turned to Zane. 

"Alright! Now that we finally fixed a friend's fashion issue, what's first on the list?"

Zane gave him a funny look, in a good way, starting to get comfortable and grinning. He reached into his bag that was kept at his side, pulling out a thick, hand-sized notepad.

"Well, I know you guys only have today before you need to head back to Portland, so I tried to squeeze in a bunch of things that you wouldn't be able to do in the city. But we don't have to do all of them if you don't-"

"SWEET!" Joon exclaimed as he threw an arm around the guy and looking at the list of places and activities on the page of his notepad.

"We're doing everything!" Annabelle joined in, hopping excitedly on her toes after reading one of the activities on the list. 

Boat riding, wildlife viewing, visiting waterfalls, and also exploring trails that Zane was planning to visit. His bag had other items, such as a sketchbook, lead pencils, sharpeners, erasers, and binoculars. 

While they chatted and pestered Zane with questions and talks about what he's been doing in Rangeley, Vernon stood beside her. He called out to her quietly, she turns to see him pointing to her new pants and then comparing it to his. His pants were of the same style but with sturdier fabric. 

He gave me a thumbs up and a cute smile. I decided then that maybe I could be comfortable in this outdoor outfit. It doesn't make me feel sloppy and it's actually kinda nice. Doesn't make me feel all that exposed and less people stared at me after I came out in this outfit. Plus, I do have to admit, it did make the hikes more comfortable. I'm not used to the outdoors like this, which I guess sounds weird for someone born and raised in a small town.