Page 14

Down Goes the Cross

T andy moved through town, her elegant blue suit and gold jewelry drawing attention while her strange behavior attracted confused stares.

She reached into her purse, her fingers closing around Ronald's vial of anti-magic formula.

She needed to ensure the cross was properly sabotaged before Evangelina crossed the town square again.

One "accident," and her biggest obstacle would be eliminated.

Fortunately, the town was distracted. In the square, Marty's protest had grown, his followers waving signs proclaiming "VAMPIRES = FAKE NEWS" and "FACT-CHECK YOUR FEARS!

" Directly opposite, Gwen Lewis and her traditional faction brandished garlic bundles and chanted protection spells.

The two groups faced each other with growing animosity, the massive cross standing between them.

Tandy circled back to the cross, pretending to casually examine the crowd while edging closer to the northern support rope. When she thought no one was watching, she pulled out the vial and reached for the rope.

"Ms. Keyes," a stern voice called. "What are you doing?"

Tandy whirled to find Mrs. Wilson watching her with suspicion, the elderly witch's eyes flicking from Tandy's hand to the rope and back again.

"Mrs. Wilson!" Tandy exclaimed, quickly hiding the vial behind her back. "What a pleasant surprise! Lovely weather for a protest, isn't it? Or a counter-protest? Or just standing here admiring this impressively large religious symbol?"

"You didn't answer my question," Mrs. Wilson said, her voice cutting through Tandy's babbling. "What are you doing with that cross?"

"Cross? What cross? Oh, this cross!" Tandy laughed nervously. "Just checking the stability. Did I mention I used to work in construction? These support ropes seem concerning. Very concerning. Deeply concerning."

Mrs. Wilson's expression remained skeptical. "Is that so? Then perhaps you should inform someone rather than poking around alone."

This was an unexpected complication. Tandy needed to divert the old woman's attention before she noticed the orange liquid in the vial.

"You know, Mrs. Wilson, has anyone ever told you that you have the most discerning eye for structural integrity? You should have been an architect! Or a bridge inspector! Or a professional rope quality assessor!"

Mrs. Wilson's eyes narrowed further. "Tandy Keyes, I've known you since you were a child who couldn't light a candle without setting her own pigtails on fire. Your manipulation techniques haven't improved since then."

Tandy gasped in indignation. "Manipulation? Me? I'm just a simple real estate witch who happens to know an awful lot about structural failure points! Completely normal!"

Before Mrs. Wilson could respond, a commotion erupted at the edge of the square. Dr. Clive Wimpleton had arrived, his wispy white hair standing on end, clutching a large leather-bound book with something flattened between its pages.

"Another bat!" he announced to the gathered crowd. "Found this one trying to enter my home!"

The dead bat, far larger than Bartie and clearly belonging to a different species, stirred both factions into a frenzy. Even Marty's skeptics looked unsettled by this new evidence.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Tandy fumbled in her sleeve for a small charm---a backup plan she had purchased for unexpected interference. It released a pre-programmed pulse of confusion magic directly at Mrs. Wilson.

"Look, Dr. Wimpleton found another bat!" Tandy pointed frantically. "You should go see it, Mrs. Wilson! Very educational! Much more interesting than boring old ropes!"

Mrs. Wilson blinked rapidly. Her focus temporarily shattered by the spell. "What was I... what were we discussing?"

"You were telling me about your concerns regarding the vampire rumors," Tandy said smoothly. "And then you were going to examine that fascinating dead bat. Right over there."

While Mrs. Wilson struggled to reorient herself, Tandy quickly applied Ronald's formula to the rope. The orange liquid sizzled slightly as it made contact, the fibers briefly glowing before returning to normal.

"That should do it," she whispered, patting the rope as if giving it encouragement. "Don't fall yet!"

The new bat discovery filled the square with more townspeople. Their anxious conversations creating a steady murmur. Tandy positioned herself strategically across from the commotion, ensuring she'd have a clear view of the cross and the tainted rope, while maintaining plausible deniability.

She pulled out her pocket watch, a gift from Ronald engraved with tiny fangs around the edge. "Almost time," she murmured, then noticed a passing warlock staring at the unusual timepiece.

"Family heirloom!" she explained loudly. "The fangs represent... um... the passage of time... eating away at our lives! Very philosophical. Very normal. Not vampire-related at all!"

The warlock backed away slowly.

Evangelina emerged from the archives, moving briskly toward the center of the square with a satchel full of research materials. Her path, as Tandy had predicted, would take her directly beneath the cross.

The wind picked up suddenly, causing the enormous structure to sway slightly. Several people glanced up nervously, but the workers' assurances that it was perfectly secure had calmed most concerns.

Tandy tensed, her fingers curling around the small trigger device in her pocket. "Come on, just a few more steps," she whispered, watching Evangelina approach the cross. "Nothing personal, just business. Very lucrative eternal business with excellent commission structure. Besides you are very old."

But as her finger moved to activate the trigger, a firm hand clamped down on her wrist.

"I wouldn't," Mrs. Wilson said quietly, her grip surprisingly strong for her age. The confusion spell had worn off faster than expected. "Whatever you're planning, it stops now."

"Mrs. Wilson!" Tandy exclaimed with exaggerated delight. "How wonderful to see you again! Have you lost weight? Your hand looks absolutely stunning wrapped around my wrist like that!"

"Save the flattery," Mrs. Wilson replied sternly. "I don't know what game you're playing, but---"

"Game? What game? Chess? Checkers? 'Betray Your Town? Never heard of that last one! Completely made it up just now!" Tandy laughed shrilly.

Evangelina was now directly beneath the cross, clutching her satchel, pausing to speak with Colin Scott about the second vampire bat. Neither noticed the support rope beginning to fray above them, individual fibers snapping one by one.

Desperate, Tandy jerked her hand free and activated the trigger. The compromised rope snapped with a sound like a gunshot.

"Oh, my goodness, what was that?" Tandy gasped in practiced horror, already reaching for the compact mirror in her pocket to check if her "shocked" expression was convincing. "The rope broke! What a completely unexpected and totally non-suspicious accident!"

The massive cross began to tilt---slowly at first, then gaining momentum like a falling giant.

Roam O'Reilly emerged from a side street, his enhanced Shifter senses alerting him to the danger above. He shouted a warning, lunging toward Evangelina and Colin.

Evangelina looked up, her reflexes responding instantly.

She dropped her satchel and raised her hands, her fingers moving in patterns practiced over two hundred years of combating dark forces.

A shield spell formed around her, the air shimmering with a brilliant midnight blue protective magic---but something was wrong.

The shield sputtered and failed as the cross's wooden surface flickered with an orange glow upon contact with her spell.

The crowd's screams pierced the air as twenty feet of heavy timber came crashing down. Roam managed to push Colin clear, but Evangelina had no time to move.

The impact shook the cobblestones. Dust billowed across the square, momentarily obscuring the fallen structure and its victim.

As the dust settled, revealing the grim scene, Tandy quickly arranged her features into her pre-practiced expression of horror.

It was immediately clear she hadn't survived the impact.

Her leather satchel lay crushed beside her, ancient books and notes scattered across the cobblestones.

The knowledge she had gathered---knowledge that might have saved them---was now lost in the chaos.

"Oh, NO! The CROSS FELL! How TRAGIC!" she exclaimed, her voice carrying just the right note of distress while her eyes darted to her watch to confirm the timing. "Right on---I mean, what a terrible tragedy!"

She hurried forward with the crowd, positioning herself near enough to verify Evangelina's fate but far enough to avoid suspicion. The dark creatures expert lay motionless beneath the massive timber, her centuries of knowledge silenced in an instant.

"If only someone had checked those ropes more carefully," Tandy lamented loudly, dabbing at perfectly dry eyes with a monogrammed handkerchief.

"Such a terrible accident. Absolutely no one could have predicted this completely random event that just happened to eliminate our town's only vampire expert right before the blood moon! "

Mrs. Wilson pushed through the crowd, her eyes locking with Tandy's. The elderly witch's expression made it clear that she suspected the truth, but in the chaos of the moment, her accusations would be lost amidst the general panic.

As Roam organized efforts to lift the cross and retrieve Evangelina's body, Tandy slipped away from the square, allowing herself a small smile of satisfaction.

"It's not betraying the town if I'm improving property values!

" she whispered to herself. "Even if those properties will be owned by the undead!

Besides, think of all the jobs the vampire resort will create!

Vampire maids, vampire concierges, vampire tour guides.

.. and one very, very rich vampire real estate agent! "

She ducked into an alley and pulled out her phone, sending a quick message to Ronald: "Obstacle removed. Now nothing stands between you and your claim on Cauldron Falls. P.S. Do you still think Minister of Real Estate is a good title for me? How about Vampire Housing Czar? Either works!"

The response came almost immediately: "Beautiful! Tremendous! The best assassination! You're going to be so rich, Tandy. So rich. The richest real estate witch ever."

Tandy clutched the phone to her chest, already imagining her future office in Fangtasia Falls, complete with blood-red carpet and eternal clients who never haggled over her commission. Maybe Ronald would even let her try the spray tan.

As the blood moon approached, Tandy Keyes returned to her office to prepare for the final phase.

Tomorrow night, Ronald Bitterhump would arrive to claim Cauldron Falls, and Tandy would finally have everything she'd ever wanted: wealth, power, and the respect that had always been denied to the witch who couldn't even light a candle without a match.

She practiced her greeting in front of her mirror: "Welcome to Cauldron Falls, your vampireness! No, too formal. Hey there, Ronald, ready to revolutionize undead real estate? Perfect!"

Behind her on the wall, her vision board glittered with promise in the fading light, the words "Eternal Commission" seeming to pulse with anticipation of the blood moon to come.