Chapter 11

Ending It

The building in front of us looked like an old store. It had been abandoned, or at least it looked like it had. No matter what it looked like from the outside, we would only leave once we saw the inside. We walked to the door, and Belle knocked. Something smelled funny, and that worried me. When Belle kicked the door in, the foul odor rushed out. This was the worst one yet. Probably because it had taken us the longest to find it. At first, I thought they were all dead. Then, I noticed some of them were breathing.

Several were children. The witches rushed to them first and flew away. I imagined Ariel and Mac were about to get many people who needed intensive care. I felt useless. There was nothing I could do. If anyone had been in better shape, I could have gotten them water because I was sure they all needed it. I tried to find and mark those breathing so the witches would take them first. It would be more helpful to spend time on those that were alive. I was surprised when some strangers appeared, and then Harry and Marissa also showed up.

A few appeared dead but still had some life left in them. Harry grabbed one of them. We were done in half an hour with so many people working on transporting the victims. Someone else would come and deal with the dead. It had been a challenging start to the day, and I felt that it wouldn"t get any better because of the situation that led to lives being on the line. We immediately flashed to the next location. When we approached the barn, the door was open. I hope that meant that those inside had escaped. To be thorough, we went in to check things out and found several dead bodies. It was my assumption that they had died before the others had escaped.

The list was long, and I knew we would only get to some of the places before people died if they were in the condition of the ones we had found. We left immediately and went to the next place. This one was much like the one we had entered first. The witches began to do what they could, and more strangers arrived to take away those left alive. They instantly knew if someone was still alive or not. In their horrible shape, sometimes they were barely breathing, so I was glad the witches double-checked since I couldn"t always tell. It took longer because more people were left alive, even though only a small number of the total had been there.

"Since we"re done with this place, let"s go home and have lunch." My mate said.

It was clear that Belle was more than happy to eat, and I would be glad to go home to rest for a little while. I wasn"t physically tired, but I was emotionally stricken. That was something I would never admit because it was not a manly reaction. The other witches didn"t seem to care one way or the other. We made a circle, and we flashed back home. Home was wherever my mate was, but I felt that I would be moving in soon, and this was where we would be.

"What are we going to have?" Belle wondered.

"I vote for pizza," I spoke. Several of the other witches yelled yes.

"Okay," Belle agreed.

"I will pay this time," Lou offered.

"I will call the order in." Lou handed me her phone as I heard several suggestions for the pizzas.

One person was for a cheese pizza, and I was sure that that person was probably vegan. I preferred meat, so I put a cheese pizza on the list, then a supreme style. I added a taco pizza and a spinach feta with baked chicken pizza. I called in the order and put it on Lou's account. Belle would pick it up in about twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, we washed up, and I took the drinks out of the fridge. Most of us drank sweet tea. One of the witches drank diet cola, and Belle went for fruit juice. Regardless of the horrible situations we had run into all day, everyone seemed to be in good humor. They could look at the positive in what they had done and ignore the negative.

Goddess knew I tried, but forgetting how those people looked when we found them was hard. I was quiet as everyone else carried on the conversation. They were all wondering what we would find at the next place on our list. As for me, I didn"t even want to think about it. At one point, Belle must have left because she appeared with a huge stack of pizzas and set them on the table. She also had a sack with paper plates, condiments, and napkins. This would make things easier to clean up before we left to continue on the list.

The condition of those in the last place we found made me wonder if we were at the end of our mission. Would there be anyone alive at the other places on the list? That all depended on the order of the things on the list. Even though the people and places were mixed throughout the list, it did not determine when the last people had been brought to the hiding places we were looking for. Everyone ate and cleaned up quickly because we knew those left behind in the hiding places had little time. We circled around and flashed quickly.

Something had gone wrong because I felt myself sliding down the hill in the middle of a group of witches. One of them came to their senses, and we flashed to the top of the hill to look down at the disaster below. Whatever has sat here was now at the bottom, giving the impression of an earthquake or possibly some type of manmade situation. It was hard to say which because an explosion could have done the same thing. There were no apparent bodies, so perhaps the place had been abandoned and then destroyed.

Lou and Linda held hands and seemed to be doing some kind of searching. A spirit rose up and looked angry that he had been disturbed.

"My rest was peaceful, so you"d best have a good reason for disturbing me," he grumbled.

Lou quickly explained the situation to him. "Do you know why your resting place was listed as a place of interest for a slaver?" She asked.

"No, not my place. Look behind you." He pointed, and when we turned to look, there was a large building that looked like a hunting lodge.

"Is there anything we can do for you, like let your family know where you are?" Lou wondered.

"Just leave me be because I am happy where I am. I had no family. I was close to only a friend, and I"m afraid he is the one who did this," the spirit said before he disappeared.

"Let"s go," Lou directed.

Everyone turned and headed toward the new building. It was not what I would have expected as a place for holding slaves. Looking closely, I realized there was a good chance that there was a large basement under it, and that was where I would expect to find them. It didn"t look abandoned, yet when we knocked, there was no answer. That did not mean no one was there. Belle kicked in the door, and I felt she enjoyed doing that. As she stepped inside, someone jumped on her. They weren"t on her for long before they flew an excellent distance and slammed into a fireplace. When they hit the ground, they did not get up. Magical restraints appeared.

"We need to see if anyone needs help, and then I will come back and handle this one," Belle instructed.

Everyone knows more than happy to let her deal with the mess on the floor. The guy exuded evil, and I knew that Belle would see him dealt with properly. Our group split up since this place was so huge. A couple of the witches headed to the attic, a known hiding place for slaves. Lou, Belle, and I headed for the basement. The second the door was opened. A horrible smell hit, and we rushed down the stairs to see if anyone was still alive. To my surprise, they were not only alive, but none were in bad shape. The witches started the transport immediately.

I went back up the stairs to get the other witches but found some in the attic. Those had all been children. The two witches up there said they could handle it and to get the others and send them to the basement. After notifying the others, I went to the kitchen and found a bucket that I cleaned and then filled with water. I took it downstairs since there were only a few children, and I figured they would be gone before I could get up to the attic. Everyone downstairs in the basement appreciated getting some water. After talking to them, I found they"d only been here a week and had not gotten any food or water since yesterday.

"I hope your council catches hell over this," Belle observed.

"I wish they did, but things rarely work that way. I"m in no position to cause them any grief." I replied.

"Don"t worry about that. I know someone who can organize this and get the pack alphas all over them," Belle explained.

Of course, she did. I"d forgotten that Ariel had a newsletter for pack alphas that many of them received. If they had been informed of this and how this investigation was run, I was sure none would have been pleased. With such a broad range of people captured and held captive, many packs would have an individual that had either died or been in bad shape and needed a lot of care. Some of those who died hadn"t needed to. How could anyone be happy with that?

We worked late, and I could tell that my mate was struggling. After this last place where we had found a couple dozen people, we would go home, eat, and I would take care of her needs. With the extra help we had gotten, we were done in 10 minutes. Everyone made a circle, and we flashed back home. Once we were there, everyone but Lou, Belle, and I went their separate ways. While the ladies went to clean up, I called in fish and chips and had them delivered magically. Since the new place had started the magical delivery, many other places had also started doing it.

I went upstairs to one of the bedrooms close to the one Lou and I used, and I took a shower. When I was done, I wrapped myself in a huge towel and walked to the bedroom I shared with my mate. It was a good thing that I hadn"t run into Belle. Next time, I would remember to take my clothes to the other bathroom with me. As I finished dressing, Lou came out of the bathroom, already dressed and looking needy.

"I think the food will be waiting, and we can eat. Then, come back upstairs and spend some time together," I suggested.

That was exactly how it worked out. The meal was as good as it had been the last time we"d ordered it, and both ladies seemed pleased.