Chapter 9

It was a very busy day at SCPD with all hands on deck carrying out different activities. Several cops were investigating the attack on the city last night and the mayor did not disappoint in giving a speech about the attack.

Clara walked into SCPD with her head held high, it was going to be a long and busy day. She was dressed in a black suit and black trousers with her ID card ticked in her breast pocket.

"I've missed you so much, Clara," Bernard said, he was busy typing something on his computer when she came in. "It's so nice to have you back," he said with a broad smile.

"Thank you, Bernard," she said, turning to her left. The smile on her face disappeared almost immediately.

"Uhmm, I gotta go now, I need to see the chief," she said leaving his desk as she moved towards Mr. McCarthy's office.

"Come in Clara, I know you're around already. The door is opened" he said just as she was about to knock.

"Good morning chief," she greeted after shutting the door.

"News is quick to spread detective. I know you're back" he said raising his head to look at her as he dropped the pen in his hand on the file he has on his table.

"Uhmm... I came for my badge" she said.

"You know, detective," he said reclining on his seat. "You're one of the best I've got here but I don't know why you don't take things seriously," he said.

"I mean..." He continued sitting up. " -That little act you pulled the other day, your partner could have died and I won't be able to protect you from the law like I did if that happened. Investigations will be done" he added. "I hope you get what I'm trying to say?"

"I understand you chief, and I promise it's never gonna happen..." She was cut short by her phone's ringtone.

She ended the call without looking at the caller's ID. Mr. McCarthy saw this and was surprised at why she wouldn't pick up the call.

"I was saying..." Her phone rang again, but she ended it.

"Why do you keep on ending your call," Mr. McCarthy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Receiving it would be a sign of disrespect, sir. I just got out of a mess"

"So you're trying to be a good person, huh?" Mr. McCarthy asked with a smile, she reciprocated with one too. The phone rang again.

"Some people are just so..."

"Is that your boyfriend?" Asked Mr. McCarthy who had a soft smile on.

"Go on, pick up," he told her.

She turned her back and looked at the caller's ID as a gasp escaped her mouth. It was Mrs. Smith. She placed the phone on her left ear as Mrs. Smith's impatient voice came online.

"What the hell, Clara! Where did you keep your phone?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, I was busy," replied Clara. She had almost forgot they had something going on.

"Have you seen Richard?" She asked.

"Ahem..." She cleared her throat, "can we talk later? I hope you understand?" She said into the phone.

"Okay, got it. Call me back in ten" she replied before ending the call.

"Here you go," Mr. McCarthy said, almost immediately after she ended the call. He handed her badge over to her with a straight look on his face. "I hope you are a changed person" he added. She collected the badge from him with a smile. Her smile was quick to fade away as she looked to her left, seeing through Mr. McCarthy's door which is made of see-through glass. There was the same man that took Matt from her yesterday night. He waved and winked at her and she finds it odd.

"Who is he?" She asked gesturing towards the dude who was discussing with another cop. He looked in her direction and their eyes locked, he flashed her a smile but she was quick to tear her gaze from him.

"Oh, him," Mr. McCarthy said rising from his seat as he moved towards her. He gestured for him to come over as he had a smile on.

The dude came in almost immediately with the flashy smile still on.

"Here, meet detective James Clark," said the chief as James offered his hand for a shake. She was contemplating whether to shake his hand or not when the chief made another statement that sank her heart.

"He's your new partner" her eyes popped out.

***

"Uncle Ben, I need to see you, it's important," Mrs. Smith said. She was discussing with him on the phone.

"What's going on?" He asked, his voice laced with worry.

"I can't tell you over the phone, we need to see" she replied. "And one more thing" she added.

"What?"

"Don't come along with your phone"

"Really? we're doing this now?" He asked surprised.

"Well, you taught me," she replied ending the call.

"Okay, that's it," she said turning to face Trey who hasn't gotten himself together after the nightmare.

"We're meeting Uncle Ben"

***

"I hate watching them every day," Empusa said while watching people move around the street from the top of a skyscraper.

She was with her mother Hecate who doesn't have her usual torch with her. The snakes on her body were also gone and all she has on was the red robe.

"Get yourself together, daughter" her mother cautioned.

"Why?, I feel like feeding on their flesh each time I see them. That's what they're meant for, to feed on" she replied as she inhaled deeply, enjoying the imaginary scent of blood.

"It's not time yet daughter, you'll do whatever you want with them when we get what we want" she replied.

"Your father needs to be..."

"Stepfather" she replied sharply cutting her off. Her face had suddenly changed with veins appearing on it. Her eyes turned to the color death was believed to carry and her fangs grew out.

"The earlier you accept Erebus as your father, the better it is for you" she replied walking off into a portal that had appeared on the roof.

****

"You know, it's my first time working with a partner, and now I'm nervous," detective James said to Clara as they both walked down the series of desks lined in the big hall.

"Of course, you are," Clara replied, mustering every ounce of sarcasm she has and putting it in that one statement.

"Ouch!" He replied feigning hurt. "We were just getting to know each other"

"Well, I'm not the get acquainted type" she replied with a smirk.

"I was..."

"Can we just skip all these talks and get to work?" She asked turning to face him.

"Sure"

"Good" she replied

"Okay,"

"Okay!"

"Alright" he teased again.

"All is not right with you, what the fuck!" She walking away as detective James smirked, watching her stomp angrily into their office.

***

Mr. Ben could be seen standing at the bus stop with a briefcase in his hand. He was putting on a long brown coat with black trousers to match his brown Italian shoes that reflected the rays of the sun.

He was putting on a dark sunshade as he waited patiently, clutching his briefcase tightly.

Mrs. Smith's SUV pulled up beside him and without any audible conversation, he got inside the car and she drove off.

"Hey," he said immediately after she hit the highway.

"I need you to check something out for me, and It has to be a secret," she said.

"What's wrong with you Lucy, you didn't call or send a message ever since you left the base yesterday, and now, you're talking about keeping a secret" accused Mr. Ben.

"Look, I know what's right for me, and that is not what I want" she replied.

"But the stone chose you"

"And I don't care!" She snapped. Mr. Ben was surprised. She had never seen her like that before.

"Okay, fine. Tell me, what's going on?" He asked.

"I want to tell you this as fast as possible, cause I still need to take Trey to school," she said.

"Okay," he replied in anticipation.

"It's about him actually," she said gesturing at Trey who was seated in the backseat.

"What's up with him?"

"Okay Trey, show him," she said taking a left turn.

Trey dipped his hand in his pocket and the pendant from his pocket as the stone glowed.

"Oh my God! It's real" he said stretching out his hand as Trey carefully placed it on his palm.

"It's real, he repeated" stating at it.

"I was also surprised" she chirped in, "I thought it was a myth"

"The stone of fear," he said opening his briefcase and providing a very old book from it. There is the hexagram emblem on the back cover.

"Here, " he said flipping through pages of the book, before stopping at a particular point where the picture of the pendant was drawn with bold black ink. "The stone was said to have disappeared with the very first guardian hundreds of years ago after defeating her Cerberus at hell's gate. No one ever found it since then,"

"You mean it was lost?" Asked Trey surprised.

"That's what the myth said" he replied.

"Then how does it end up with me, 'cause it was just a nightmare I had," he asked confused.

"No, whatever dream you thought you had wasn't just a nightmare, it was real and it found you" he replied.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Smith asked.

"I didn't finish the story," he said turning to face Mrs. Smith.

"The stone is what had helped your great, great, great, great, great grandfather, by instilling fear in the heart of any supernatural he meets. Its powers cannot be explained and it was told that no one had fully explored the capacity of what it can do" he replied.

"If it possesses such power, then why hasn't anyone looked for it since then?" Trey asked.

"It disappeared with your great, great, great..."

"Can we just skip the great grandfather part, 'cause I'm finding it difficult to keep up " Mrs. Smith said as Trey sighed.

"Okay, got it" Mr. Ben replied. "Your... Ancestor disappeared with the stone, cause his body was never found after the fight," Mr. Ben said, "the stone found you" he said turning to face Trey.

"And why is that?" He asked

"Well, the answer to that is what I don't have"

"Phew... It's a hell of a history class" Mrs. Smith sighed.

"The woman in my dream..." Trey started, "what does she want with the pendant?" Trey asked.

"I don't know for now, but one thing I know for sure is that any supernatural that's after it is planning something big, something harmful to humanity," he said, "Only if they can find the key" he added.

"There is a key?" Mrs. Smith asked surprised

"Of course there is," he said flipping through the book again. "Here," he said pointing at the drawing of the pendant and a ring beside it. "That ring right here is the key" he replied.

"How does it work?" Mrs. Smith asked curiously.

"Take a look at this," he said showing them the pendant in his hand, "you see this circular shape right here?" He said pointing at a circular shape around the stone in the middle of the pendant, "that's where the ring fits in. Once they're combined, the full power can be accessed, either for evil or good" he replied as Mrs. Smith gasped.

****

Mrs. Smith had dropped Trey off at school after dropping Mr. Ben back at the bus stop. He was pretty shaken up by all he heard Mr. Ben say and he was still finding it difficult to process the whole information.

He entered the classroom to find Mr. George the geography teacher rounding up his lecture.

"You're late, Mr. Sydney," he said as Trey hurried into the classroom. The lecture ended and the class soon returned to its usual rowdy section when a lady walked into the class.

She was putting on a black suit with a black tight fitting skirt to match. She wore red lipstick on her lips and her legs were adorned with red hills with her black hair neatly packed backward. She was so pretty that the students all stopped what they were doing immediately after she got inside the classroom. She has this heart-warming smile that made the students love her already.

"Hi everyone," she said with a smile, "I'm Miss Brentwood," she said as Trey's heart kept pounding hard against its rib cage, he felt like he would have a panic attack at any moment.

"I'm your new history teacher," she said with a smile.

"Oh no!" Trey said almost in a whisper, it was the lady from his dream.

Lots of complications and trouble. It's better not to know about the supernatural world at all, because you'll get stuck in it.

Things are going... Should I say south already? What do you guys think, drop your full comment in the box below. I really wanna hear from you guys, like, I can't wait to.