November 7, 2003 – 21:00
Frank jumped and went to the window facing the front yard.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, but I don't think they're looking for us. Looks like there was a shooting down the street or something like that, but there are a lot of people in the park watching what's going on and we can't find a safe spot to land. Too many police cars and people crawling on the street."
"Hmm maybe I can pick you up somewhere, but I drank quite a bit," said Frank, repeating what she said to his family.
"Can they land in the backyard? The backlight is on a motion sensor, but I can turn it off if needed," said Louis, which Frank repeated to Coralis.
"Let me check," said Coralis, flying toward Louis' house, Sebastian following her. "Yeah, it'll be fine. We'll knock on the patio door."
"Does he need to turn the light off?"
"Yes, please."
"Wait, do they fly on a broom for real?" said Natacha when Frank ended the call.
Coralis and Sebastian circled the backyard and landed next to the garden shed. Standing by its door, they removed their invisibility glamour and put on their binds. After he became officially a target, Sebastian bought the same kind of binds that Coralis got for herself, to help him blend in better.
They could see Frank and Stephanie standing near the patio door.
"Think the murder accusation made it to the news?" said Coralis.
"I don't know, but Frank probably told them. Might be why Stephanie asked me if they could tell their cousins."
"Like you said, at this point all we can do is trust our partners. Let's go in before they get worried and call us."
"Or before Hendrick calls you. Probably best if everyone in the house knows about us, will make it easier for you to take the calls you know are coming."
They didn't need to knock on the patio door: Stephanie opened it as soon as she saw them approaching. Linda collected their coat as the family tried to hug them and congratulate Coralis, with Frank standing next to her.
"We heard that you're now being framed for murder," said Louis as he handed her a glass of wine.
"Are you two hungry? I can warm you up some leftovers," said Linda.
"We ate before taking off from London," said Sebastian.
"Seems so, there seems to be always something coming up. I don't understand why they think I killed the minister."
"I guarantee you Alfredino is behind this, somehow," said Sebastian, as they headed toward the basement.
"You aren't planning on surrendering, aren't you?" said Stephanie.
"I probably won't have a choice. I need to clear my name, but I can't have them come after me if I don't, that would endanger Frank."
"We'll figure something out, luv, don't surrender to them."
Rachel, Natacha and Raymond were watching the news report on the television. The journalists were covering the murder of British Minister Luke Massina, with Blue Thunder being formally accused of it as breaking news. No clear picture of her was posted.
They looked at her, Frank was behind her and passed his arms around her.
"We all know you're dangerous, but not to us, and it doesn't look like something you would do. If you need, I'll seek out a good lawyer there for you," said Linda.
"Thank you, but I don't know anything about it, except for what Frank told me over the phone. That day, I was tasked to protect him, along with 3 others from the EBEE. He had his bodyguards, but there had been a lot of suspicious activities reported in the area, allegedly from radical groups, so they wanted us to keep an eye on him."
"You really are the Blue Thunder everyone is talking about?" said Rachel.
"Yes. I've been called like that since I was a teen."
"Frank said you weren't near it when it happened," said Linda, watching the television while talking to Coralis.
"He was killed in his hotel room and I wasn't even at the hotel. We were four who were tasked to make sure nothing happened to him. Two pairs of agents and apprentices. During the day, the apprentice of the other agent received a tip regarding a warehouse that possibly had cursed weapons. My mentor and I went there to check it out when the minister got stabbed."
"It could have been a trap," said Sebastian.
"I told them the only way you could have killed him is if he would have threatened Frank… but even if it had been the case, I don't think you would have stabbed him like a maniac," said Stephanie.
Sebastian spit out the sip of wine he had in his mouth and Coralis laughed, as Frank kissed her neck from behind her.
"Probably would have beheaded him like a vampire or given him a heart attack," said Sebastian.
"Well… you're right. I never killed a human, but had he found out about Frank and threatened him… it probably would have triggered something in me and I would have done something to send a message, but I wouldn't have done anything nasty like that, I'm no amateur."
Her phone rang.
"I need to take this," she said as she answered, but she decided to stay where she was. "Hey!"
Sebastian pulled his hologram out, looking at Coralis. She nodded to him and she pressed on the speakerphone button.
"Just so you know, you're on conference call again."
"Blue! I knew you were the person for the job. The scene you left for us was postcard-worthy, agents who were with us had a field day. You were correct, local police have been able to close a lot of cold-case murders. Thank you for the evidence you left us. I've got technicians developing what's on the disposable camera as we speak."
"Which demon was she after?" said Hendrick.
"Metanbuchus."
"Holy Hell!"
"It's probably going to be all over the news shortly. Witches like that are sadly the reasons why people are blindly going after all of you, but I'll do what I can to make sure my colleagues can't find you. Trust me, they don't know what they're doing. However, I'm also hearing rumours from the UK connecting you to Minister Messina… do they hold any truth?"
"No, I didn't kill him."
"Let me see what I can do. Stay safe."
She ended the call and looked at Sebastian.
"That was the case you were on today, right?" said Louis.
"Yes. Hendrick, the first guy you heard, is one of Veronica's brothers. CIA agent Dimitri DeMarco, the other guy on the call, is trying to help the Clear Valley citizens proving that I wasn't the one who killed the humans there, but he doesn't have jurisdiction there. The pictures published in the papers were dead vampires killed a long time before that."
Coralis's phone rang again.
"Blue, is Frank with you?" said Hendrick from the other end of the line.
"Yes," said Coralis as she pressed on the speakerphone button.
"Frank, you met my sister Veronica, but you and I haven't met yet. There is something you need to understand. There are a lot of people out there seeking to weaponize Blue, and I'm sure you know why by now. Have you heard about the Swamtons?"
"Yes, I've been told about them when Blue revealed herself to me."
"Good. Questionable families like them have sought for years to bind her to their sons, but she gave her elemental binding to you. If they can't have her this way, out of spite, they will come after you with the 'then no one will have her' logic or seek to use you as leverage against her… and that, brother, is exactly what Blue is afraid of. She will have to kill people for you, to send messages, but my family and I will help her protect you. If one of my people even looks at you the wrong way, heads will roll."
Coralis sat on the last few steps down the stairs, and Frank sat beside her. As soon as Coralis ended the call with Hendrick, her hologram vibrated and she pressed to answer it.
"Basically, the list of Most Wanted Witches posted all over the world is a big fat lie? Same for what is being said about it?" said Natacha, as Andrew's holographic image came out of the device.
"Yes. Some of the names mentioned deserve to be on it, like the one we took down today, but for the most part… names on it are elemental beings who are standing in the way of those who are on a power trip, wanting to bring over some kind of new world order. I bet that someone at the EBEE had Vladina Murita's name put on the list, and then told her to take down Blue if she wanted off of it."