Whispers on the Shadow Wind — Daily Flash Story: Chapter 12
Each chapter will be written by improvisation and inspired by a random InspiroBot poster until we reach a natural end. I hope you enjoy it!
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FINDING THE WEAKPOINT
Dawn waited for another call, another message, but never heard from Lillian. It occupied her mind much more than she wanted it to, making her wonder first if she’d imagined the good time they’d shared. Lillian had enjoyed herself, Dawn was certain of it.
Despite the strangeness of their encounter with Austin, the rest of their first date had felt like a romantic comedy, all filled with smiles and laughter. But there remained one glaring hole in that comedy. Craig. He’d shown much more interest in Lillian than in Dawn. Could he be responsible for her disappearance?
She began to wonder if her misgivings might be unfounded, and if she should start worrying for Lillian’s safety rather than her romantic interest. She waited for two days before she decided she’d had enough of the silence and had to find answers.
Going to Craig for answers wasn’t an option, so she knew she had to go the other direction. Austin would know something. He had to. Hadn’t Craig said he was in the hospital? If he’d been hit by a train, it likely happened locally, and that would’ve meant he’d end up in the nearest hospital.
But she had a way to confirm it all the same. He’d been in her home, and he’d left some of himself behind. A coffee mug she hadn’t gotten around to washing yet. It was almost comical, the way her bad habits of avoiding dishes would finally serve to benefit her. There were always ways to turn a disadvantage to an advantage if one looked hard enough.
She took the cup to her room, placing it on her altar in the center of the pentagram on her altar cloth. She lit candles and placed them on the corners of the pentagram, and then began an incantation.
“Oh Fates, who know the names of all those who live within this realm, and control the strings which keep us bound to it, I call upon you for guidance. Please, grant me the location of he who last drank from this cup. Let me know where he lies, that I may find him.”
She threw every ounce of will into the spell, allowing her perfect faith in the energies of the universe to fuel it. The candles roared to life, glowing vibrantly, their wicks all pulled by some unseen force toward the center of the pentagram. The mug in the center glowed with a white light, slowly increasing in brightness until it filled the whole room.
All at once the light faded, and Dawn collapsed to the floor, her energies spent. A few minutes later, she struggled to her knees and waddled the short distance to the altar to pick up the mug.
As she held it in her hands it started to glow, the light intensifying as she turned to the east. It would only glow to her eyes, but that would be enough. In no time at all, the mug would lead her to Austin.
Then she could poke a hole in Craig’s smug cosmic joke, and she would see who was laughing then.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank you for reading! I write fiction for a living, and I’m currently trying make ends meet. If you like this short story and would like to read my other work, find out more at Patreon or email me at Samuel.D.Roe@gmail.com.
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READ THE NEXT CHAPTER HERE.
