Chapter 19

Ilane stopped in front of me, “It’s Violet, I think someone has taken her.”

Shock hit me, as her words sunk in and I felt myself becoming agitated at the thought of Violet in trouble.

“She stopped by the clinic earlier tonight in a bit of a huff, muttering somethings under her breath as she burst her way into waiting area. She continued to as she darted into the back room and started clamoring away louder about whatever had been upsetting her. Lillian came in a little while after Violet and made her way into the back room as well, saying that she had to get a few things. Once she made it into the back room, they had a heated argument about something that I could not make out over all the yelling. It had to have gone on for at least ten minutes, before Lillian burst out of the back room and then left in tears. Once Lillian was gone, Violet began screaming and cursing something fierce, the sounds of items smashing. It has been a long time since I had seen her have a tantrum like that and my back room paid the price. It had to have been at least ten minutes of smashing and screaming, before it finally quieted down.

“When Violet gets like this, she tends to get all her frustrations out physically, thought the area around her pays the price. Once she has worked through the anger and rage, she starts getting tired from all the energy she used and then takes a nap. Thought I did not wish to leave her, I knew she would be okay, so I went out to do a quick house call. When I returned from the house call, I went into the back room to check on her, only she was not there. Given that she had thrown a fit, the room was a mess of broken glass and tipped over furniture. I wondered how long it would take to clean it all up and I realized that she was no longer in the room. I searched to be sure and then I noticed that the back door was open. I had thought maybe Violet had used the doo to leave, but she never does that. I was curious, so I went over and checked the door, surprised that it looked to be still locked. The frame of the door was splintered and the bracket the door latch sat in was gone.”

Dread filled me as my mind flashed to the note, I had found - the pawn that was waiting in Cartha. I had thought that I might have had some time before the pawn would be put into play, giving me enough time to prepare. I could not waste any time, as every second would count and we had no idea the head start this person had. I ran back to the house and up to my room, I needed to get my sword. I wished that I could have been able to use my bow, but that was a no go until the curse had been lifted and I regained the use of my arm. As I bustled around my room, I attracted the attention of some of my house mates from all the noise I was making. Trent came into the room as I was belting my sword, with a look of concern crossing his face.

“Davik, what in the seven hells is going on? You have not even been back in town an hour and you look like you are suiting up for battle.”

I turned to Trent, “Violet is missing Trent. Ilane just ran up to the house, as I was heading to the workshop and told me what had happened when Violet showed up at the clinic. Then Lillian and Violet argued for a bit before she left, then Violet had a temper tantrum and then fell asleep. Ilane told me that she went to check on Violet in the back of the clinic, but she was not there, and the back door seemed to have been forced open.”

“Give me a minute to get my stuff and I will join you in searching for her. You cannot go out to do this alone, Davik, you do not know where she is or how many people could be involved in this. With your injury, the wrong set of circumstances could leave you immobilized and in the middle of a fit”

He was not wrong, and I had to reluctantly agree with his explanation, because I could not do this alone. As he went to gather what he would need to help me, Celka and Lillian came out of her room to find me.

“Davik, I think we may have figured out the proper mixture to effectively cure you of the curse. We should be able to have it ready by tomorrow morning, if we get the necessary ingredients from the clinic and work through the night.”

“That is wonderful Lillian,” I replied with a smile, “but we have more pressing matters to attend to. Violet is missing, it happened sometime after you left the clinic, to return here. Was the room a mess when you got there?”

Lillian paled, “Violet is missing?! Um, yeah, she had been a bit mad at me and was venting her frustration on the back room. When I got there, she began to yell at me, calling me every name that came to mind. She said that I was trying to kill you to have her to myself and began to throw things about the room. She threatened that if you did die, she would kill me slowly, and painfully. I knew that she was just angry, but it hurt for her to say that after all we had been through. I called her a heartless bitch, grabbed what I came for and left to come back here. I heard her tossing things about the room as I was leaving.”

“Thank you, Lillian, that helps me know what to look for when I get there. I want you and everyone else to stay inside, I do not know who is responsible, or how many of them there could be. I want to be sure that all those I care about are here and safe as I go to find Violet.”

Lillian nodded, “Okay, Davik, but you should stay here, let the soldiers deal with it. You need to be here to take the cure, if we hurry we might have what we need to make it now, if we hurry it should only take an hour to prepare. Could you wait until then, please? I worry that something bad will happen to you if you go.”

“I am sorry Lillian,” I uttered, shaking my head, “but I have to go. This was done because of me, and I must fix this. Too many have been hurt or killed because of me, and I will not let it happen again. Talk to Liza, she will tell you what happened to her and what almost happened to me when we were in Dru’Tirk.”

Celka stood in the doorway to her room, looking at me with both concern and fascination. I was surprised at the concern that Lillian was showing, as in the past she had been cold to me, but perhaps her feelings had changed as she got to know me. It was of course, better than how she treated me before, but this was a more fundamental change. I would have to talk to her about it later, as my first concern was Violet. Trent came out of the room a few moments later and we made our way downstairs.

“Trina, Liza, do not leave the house for any reason. If it is not me or Trent approaching the house, treat them like they are the enemy. Violet has been taken, we do not know by whom, nor do we know if it was more than one person. As such, we must be careful until we know more. I will make sure Ilane and the others come inside, and I want this place fortified.”

The girls nodded, both with a scared look in their eyes and set about to finish preparing dinner. We headed out the back door to find Ilane sitting near it, trying to catch her breath from the running that she had done.

“Ilane, get inside and do not leave until we return. I do not want to risk you, or the others being taken as well.”

She nodded and went inside without argument, I then headed to the workshop and told them the same. Once I saw that everyone, save for me and Trent, was safe inside we started heading towards the clinic.

The sun had not yet gone down, and its glow lit our way as we hurried deeper into town. The bustle of the busy roads, now becoming a slight trickle in comparison. Those that were on the road, saw the speed at which we were moving and our weapons, knowing something must be happening. The last time I was seen running through the town armed, was the last wolf attack. They began to hurry to their destinations as we continued to ours. Ten minutes from when we left the house, we arrived at the clinic. We went around the perimeter to the back, where the apparent kidnapping had taken place. Ilane had not bothered to close the door, but she need not have worried as there were two soldiers standing guard. They greeted me warily as I approached, which I could not blame them, given we were armed.

“Greetings, gentlemen, Ilane came to me and told me that Violet has gone missing. She has asked me to find my beloved, and Trent here as offered to assist me. I will need to see the room as well as this area to get a sense of where she was taken.”

Both soldiers looked at one another for a moment, their hands grasping their weapons, before they nodded and stepped aside. I gave them my thanks and entered the clinic, while Trent looked about outside. As I entered, I noticed the chaotic state of the room. Jars were smashed, their contents spread across the room. Vials were crushed, their liquid contents pooling around what remained of the glass. The mess that Violet had made hid the signs of the kidnapping, but I could make out vaguely what had happened. The part that worried me was that there had not been much struggle until they reached the door. That meant the person who took her was known to her, which made things worse. My guess was, there was a knock at the back door and Violet let the person in. The person had her convinced that she needed to go somewhere, but before they could leave, Violet caught on. She locked the door, but the kidnapper kicked the door out and dragged her away.

Given that Ilane was gone at the time of the person’s arrival, it meant they had been watching the clinic. Or else, they knew Ilane was going to make a house call and thus Violet would be alone. Either way, it showed that this had to have been planned, and it made me wonder how long the pawn had been operating in town. Had he been watching us, biding his time until now? If so, why had he not grabbed Violet before now? Had he been reporting back everything we had been doing, to this old one? The fact we were attacked twice meant that this was a very good possibility.

I cleared my head of these thoughts, as they would only be a distraction to what I had to do, now. I made my way outside to see what Trent was able to uncover. I found him about half a meter to the left of the door, the guards over near him. It looked like he was explaining something to them, no doubt how he was able to tell something specific about what we were looking for in all the dirt and foot traffic. I started picking up the conversation as I was getting closer.

“So, that is how you tell how long ago a foot or boot print has been made. That will help you to find what you need without being confused about what possible direction it could be?”

The guard smiled and said, “thanks Trent, this will come in handy, for sure. You should think of teaching the soldiers here, it would help us to do our jobs better.”