章 6: Solving the Case; Calculative Bet
"This way."
A police officer guided Alicia and Sigil towards the crime scene. The whole alley was sealed away by the police. A white cloth had been placed above a certain mound and many officers were questioning the other employees of the pub.
"The death rate has increased very quickly." Sigil whispered to Alicia.
There were a total of seven deaths within one month. All the victims had their body crushed into meat patties.
Sigil walked towards the mound covered with the white cloth and peaked under the cover.
"Sigh."
Sigil could only sigh. The body was barely recognisable. Only a few strands of golden hair could be identified.
Alicia walked near the corpse and took out her EMF reader. The piece of equipment looked like a Walkie talkie, except the front was a digital screen with six red bars positioned like a network signal of mobile phones.
The reader produced strange noise as the six of the red bars produced lights.
Alicia tapped Sigil's shoulder and pointed at the reader.
"Definitely a spirit."
They both came to a similar conclusion.
"Let's go and interrogate the owner." Sigil stood up and walked towards the bald owner.
Seeing the witches approaching, the police officer interrogating the owner nodded towards them and let both of them handle the owner.
"Hey! How long have you run this pub?" Sigil flashed a smile as he asked the owner.
"For almost 23 years." The owner replied nonchalantly as he looked at Alicia.
'Witches from strong families really have a mine filled with beauties.'
It was an instinctual move from the owner. He didn't mean to offend any woman when he checked them out. It was more like a talent scouting.
"23 years, huh? Can you tell about Sarah?" He ignored the owner's disinterest and asked with a smile.
"Hmm? Sarah was a hardworking employee. Barely took any leaves and had a good reputation. She also had a healthy relationship with her co-workers and customers, except some people." The bald owner finally took his eyes off Alicia.
"Of course, she had a good relationship with most people except those who wanted a 'private show', correct?"
Alicia asked the owner this time.
Her question made the owner flinch a little.
He nodded after a moment.
"In a business like this, some conflict is inevitable. Besides, Sarah wasn't forced to do anything unethical. She did feel mentally pressured because of the fact that some of her co-workers performed privately. This not only caused her customers to decline but also boosted the advances made by certain customers for some extra entertainment services." The owner came out clean.
His meaning was simple. Sarah did not want to change her career from a stripper to a prostitute and hence, felt a lot of pressure from those who really wanted certain services from her.
"Thank you for your time." Sigil let the owner go as they both walked away from the crime scene.
"So, all the victims have similarities. All the victims are blondes that refused to become hookers." Sigil spoke out bluntly.
Alicia nodded as they soon reached their hotel.
"You check all the deaths in the past year while I find a way to reverse the spell." Sigil had already sent Alicia the ingredients by another anonymous id.
The moment they reached their rooms, they divided their tasks.
***
Knock
Knock
After three hours, Sigil knocked on Alicia's door.
Cluck
"Hmm? Did you find anything?" The door opened, revealing Alicia.
"Yup. A possible suspect." Sigil nodded as he entered the room with his laptop.
"Check this out. Grachen Collin, a stripper that died during one of her personal performance. Reason of death- the ceiling of the room fell on Grachen as well as her customer, turning both of them into meat patties."
Sigil passed the laptop to Alicia.
"Why would her spirit haunt blonde strippers then?"
Alicia read the whole article and asked with a confused expression.
"Quite simple. She wasn't supposed to be the one performing in the first place. It was the first victim that was asked to prostitute but she refused, causing Grachen to take her place."
"Hoo."
The whole image became clear to Alicia.
Since Grachen died during the activity she wasn't supposed to perform in the first place. Her spirit put all her anger on other blond strippers that refused to work overtime.
"Well, her body was cremated and she doesn't have any relative in the city. If my guess is correct, we can find her spirit at Daniel's resting place."
Sigil spoke out.
"Any methods to reverse the spell?" He asked Alicia, causing her to sigh.
"All the materials are quite high-end. Eye of the kraken, a nail of a werewolf, a heart of a vampire, these kind of materials aren't available in the market and have to be hunted on commission. I can't ask for Family's support since it is our trail of becoming a full-fledged witch."
She slumped on her couch.
"Well, I just thought of a way. We don't need to enter the sealed area. According to Beth, the spell allows the spirit to move out of the sealing area and hunt around. This hunting satiates the anger of the spirit and allows most of the negative emotions held by the spirit to pass on at the treasure that is being nurtured. So, I was thinking that instead of opening the seal, why don't we lure the spirit out."
Sigil smiled as he looked at Alicia strangely. He got this idea when he saw the Bald boss checking Alicia out.
"Wait, if we put an end to the spirit and fail to control the treasure, the whole city might be in danger." Alicia frowned.
"Why should we control the treasure if we can destroy it alongside the spirit?" Sigil grinned.
This kind of treasure was extremely evil and would be a little use to Witches like Grey Family.
Alicia's eyes shined as she heard Sigil's proposal.
"We do know the recipe of the spell. Instead of reversing it, we can use the opposite of the ingredients to implode the treasure." Alicia also felt that the plan was viable.
"Alright, I will get a blonde wig while you gather the materials."
Sigil walked out of the room without waiting for Alicia's reply. Only after a short time did Alicia understand the reason for procuring a blonde wig.
She was going to be the bait for the spirit.
***
Alicia and Sigil returned to the graveyard. They both were in their casual clothes except the brunette Alicia was converted into a blonde Alicia. Her grey eyes looked at Sigil fiercely, who remained unflinching and shameless.
"You don't have to look so angry. Brunette or Blonde, you look beautiful in both versions." Sigil teased his so-called fiancé.
"Shut it." Alicia rolled her eyes as she opened the trunk of the car and took out some materials.
"Alright, I will start creating the spell. Back me up till then." Alicia spoke to Sigil.
It was already night, the sweet time when the Spirit reveals itself to create more meat patties.
Sigil nodded as he took out a can of spray paint and immediately drew a magic pattern on the cemented pathway. Alicia then proceeded to stand on the pattern as she started mixing some materials in a bowl.
Zzpt
Sigil and Alicia both heard a strange noise and immediately looked towards Daniel's tombstone.
A faceless woman could be seen. Her body was translucent, phasing between the material and spiritual plane with a 'zzpt' noise.
"Concentrate on the spell. I got this!" Sigil armed the pistol in his hand and grabbed an iron pipe that was soaked in salt water.
Salt and pure iron are one of the major weaknesses of the ghost kind.
"Hey, Grachen! You don't have to do this." Sigil also noticed the distinctive eye on the ghost's face.
"Hel…p…-"
"So… much… to… do."
Just as a woman's voice could be heard, a masculine whisper cut off female's voice.
Meanwhile, Alicia kept on crushing various materials and kept on mixing them.
Sigil and Alicia still remained in the magical circle. It was one of the spells that could ward off the spirits haunting the material world.
"Maybe, I can separate the spirit from the treasure." Sigil suddenly spoke out.
"What? Don't screw around right now. Stay put inside the circle." Alicia could barely pay attention to Sigil and immediately berated him.
Sigil's eyes flashed with various thoughts.
"How long till you complete the spell?" He asked Alicia, his thoughts unreadable.
"A minute."
She replied as her forehead was already covered in sweat.
Completing a spell demanded high mental concentration. It wasn't just the process of combination of ingredients. The process also included the expenditure of mental energy.
After hearing her reply, Sigil looked at the unfortunate spirit and shot towards her. His speed easily surpassed the fastest champions of Earth and covered the distance between him and the ghost within a mere moment.
Aaaaaaaaaaa
A miserable shriek emerged from ghost's face that did not have any features.
'What better ways to test my abilities than now?'
Sigil decided to take a calculated risk.
Even if he failed, he could still stall time for Alicia to complete the spell.
"This may feel like a pinch." Sigil's hand flashed a light-blue colour and surprisingly, he could touch the spirit.
Whoosh
A sound of wind could be heard as the time seemed to be stopped.
The featureless face of Grachen's spirit started forming her face as she looked at the surroundings in confusion.
Sigil and Grachen weren't in graveyard anymore.
They were in a strange room… a bedroom.
The whole place was neat even if the place didn't look so luxurious.
"My… room?"
Grachen could finally speak.
She looked at Sigil warily and slowly stepped backwards. Her gaze focused at the gun in Sigil's grip.
"Woah! I am not going to hurt you. Try and remember what happened to you."
Sigil immediately noticed the direction of her gaze and disarmed the gun. Even though all of this was not real, he still needed to make Grachen trust him, or at least not be wary of him.
"I… I shouldn't be here. That voice said that I had to keep going." Grachen's expression was full of confusion.
"Alright, this may sound crazy but you died. You were doing your job and met with an accident. I am here to free you from the strange voice."
There were many spells to put an end on a vengeful spirit. The most 'mortal' way could be cremation of the spirit's body and also burning any other object that the spirit could be attached to.
Other methods included the use of spells to cut off the spirit's connection to the material plane, allowing the spirit to move on.
And there is an anomaly like Sigil, who could read the soul of a person.
After this little experiment, he understood that his ability isn't just limited to reading the souls of a living being, but also communicating with a vengeful spirit and affecting them.
"What do you mean?" Grachen slowly walked backwards.
'Huh? The spirits aren't in their vengeful mode in this space.'
Sigil slowly understood his ability even more.
"Sweetheart, I don't have the luxury to prepare you for what's next. I wish you luck." Sigil immediately caught Grachen's wrist.
"I hope you live a happy afterlife." Sigil smiled sincerely as a light emerged from Sigil's palm. The expression on Grachen's face changed from confusion to clarity and she nodded towards Sigil with a smile.
Her body started to disperse into small globes of light.
"Thank….. you."
Grachen could barely make out these words before she disappeared.
The whole scene changed once again and Sigil returned to the graveyard. Even though it looked like some time has passed, in reality, not even a second had passed.
The faceless spirit disappeared as a floating eye could be seen in its place.
"Alright, it's just you and us. No innocent souls." Sigil grinned at the strange eye and immediately shot back in the magic circle.
Haaaaaaaaahhhhh
An image formed around the strange eye. A middle-aged man with long black hair.
The spirit's bloodshot eyes stared at Sigil hatefully.
The spirit's left eye shined malevolently.
"You… will… pay…"
The spirit waved its hand towards one of the tombstone.
Crack
A piece of the tombstone cracked apart and shot towards Alicia and Sigil.
"Well, this is one way to deal with the warding spell." Sigil immediately swung the iron bar towards the cracked tombstone.
Thud
"Damn, how much longer?" Sigil could barely hold his own ground and it looked like the spirit still had lots of ghost juice left inside it.
"Done!"
Alicia used a knife to slice open a small wound and let her blood drop on the ingredients.
"I have to get into the contact of that eye. Back me up!"
Alicia bit her teeth as her face had already turned pale.
Hiyaaaaaaaaaaaa
The spirit shrieked again as three more tombstones flew towards them.
'Shit.'
Sigil immediately started shooting towards the tombstone.
"Not working!"
He grabbed Alicia's hand and barely evaded the attack.
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
Sigil immediately started shooting at the flickering spirit.
"What are you doing?" Alicia could only bid for time.
"Stalling for time." Sigil replied.
His heart was in a turmoil.
Even though his mental age was greater than Alicia, even he had never participated in such an intense face-off. His heart felt panic, fear and a little bit of….. excitement.
Reading souls, communication with spirits and FIGHTING spirits was too imaginative to be true.
If he did not see this for himself, he would have never believed it.
"Follow my lead."
He threw away the pistol after all the bullets were fired.
His hands gripped on the iron rod tightly and walked towards the ghost slowly.
Zzpt
The spirit suddenly flickered away.
"Behind!"
Sigil immediately turned back and swung the iron bar fiercely at the spirit with its hand reaching towards Alicia.
The moment the iron rod passed through the spirit, it became paralysed and failed to 'zap' away.
"DO IT!!!"
"Et Excoquam Ad Dissiliunt!!!"
Alicia immediately chanted the spell and threw the contents of the bowl at the stunned spirit's face.
Ssszzzz
Hyaaaaaaaaa
The whole spirit started to melt off alongside the strange eye. The spirit let out many shrieks, but could not stop its inevitable fate.
Alicia and Sigil watched on as the spirit slowly ceased to exist.
After a period of silence, Alicia finally asked Sigil.
"How did you know that it would appear behind us?"
She looked a little better now.
"I did not know. I just played another calculated bet."
Sigil replied.
That was the truth.
He did not know where the spirit was going to appear, but with its limited intelligence, the only place it should have appeared would be behind them.
クリエイターの想い 
Broughtwaorld
Broughtwaorld hope you enjoy the chapter.
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