The Garden of Shadows

We were gathered once more on the fourth floor in the same room where Salamander stayed while unconscious. Having agreed to aid the Crowe family in their search for the Garden of Shadows, Salamander and I were called for a meeting to discuss the plan.

When we went inside the room together, Mr. Crowe and his two sons were already seated around a round wooden table with a pot of freshly brewed tea in the middle. I noticed a familiar face standing beside a raven perched at the window.

“Elliot? What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised.

“I’m helping Mr. Crowe in exchange for him helping me,” Elliot replied.

I wasn’t used to him getting involved in shady dealings. “You do know that what we’re doing will be borderline illegal, right?”

He nodded. “Yes. Mr. Crowe made sure I knew that. Why are you and Aidan here though?”

I looked at Salamander, giving him the choice to reveal his condition or not.

Surprisingly, Salamander didn’t hesitate to give him an explanation. “I was shot during the party. Becoming a vampire was the only way to save my life at that moment. To return back to normal, I have to gain access to the Garden of Shadows.”

“You became a vampire?” Elliot was shocked. “You can do that?”

“Yeah. Look. I even have fangs.” Salamander nonchalantly showed him.

“Woah.”

I left the two boys to interact and stood beside the window to observe them. When I first met them, I never thought they’d get along like this, especially with Elliot being extremely shy and Salamander being overly blunt. Months of school and unexpected hurdles sure did a number on their personalities.

“Now that we’re all present, let’s begin the briefing. Please have a seat,” Mr. Crowe began. “The museum’s opening will be this Friday, which means that the exhibits will be prepared at the venue by Thursday. That is when we conduct a quiet break-in. As much as possible, I want to avoid any physical confrontation. We need to make sure nobody gets injured and nobody notices us at all, understood? We only want to hold on to the book long enough for us to acquire the items we need. Then, it must be returned.”

He placed a map of the museum’s floors on the table. It was detailed, marked with routes and features. “My children will take care of the infiltration and acquisition of the book. They will temporarily switch the real book with a fake copy. While they do this, I need the three of you to create subtle distractions for the sentries. There will be around three patrolling these halls surrounding the exhibit room. The sentries are a type of enchanted armour used to detect the presence of living humans. They generally search for a medallion only museum staff are supposed to have. They will trigger the alarm if they detect any living being without one.”

“How do we distract them?” Elliot asked.

“They have one flaw in their design. Living beings might be easy for them to detect, but they cannot detect them without having direct sight of them. That is why they have a tendency to follow and investigate any suspicious sound. Lead them away from the book’s exhibition room through the use of sound while staying out of sight.”

We listened closely as Mr. Crowe showed us the rooms where we were to lead each sentry to. When he finished, he turned towards Salamander. “Mr. Blackthorn, how much does the police know about this?”

“Not much. They’ve discovered that some museum documents went missing and that there have been break-ins, but they don’t know the purpose of it. Still, it’s safe to assume that the museum’s security has been upgraded because of it.” Salamander paused. “Those were your doing, weren’t they?”

Mr. Crowe nodded. “They weren’t solely mine. We had a team back then. It was how we acquired all this information we have now.”

“Was my sister part of that team?”

“At one point, she was.”

“Then you must know who attempted to assassinate her.”

“I do have my suspicions, but I don’t have any evidence of their involvement. For all we know, it could be a completely separate dispute.”

I chimed in, “The poet Ophelia was also murdered recently. Was she among the original members?”

Mr. Crowe was surprised by my guess. “Ophelia acted as our seer for the planned heist. Much of the information we acquired was made possible with her help. Her death is a great loss to us.”

“Why did she leave the group?”

“She saw something in her vision and wanted no part in it. She never told us what she saw, but she warned us that the book is dangerous.”

“And the rest of the members?”

“They wanted to keep the book for themselves.”

Mr. Crowe then briefed us on the entrance and exit routes, including alternate routes we could take in case of emergencies. “Remember, the situation could change, so be prepared for anything. It helps to have a backup plan.”

Henry Crowe stepped forward. “I have another thing to add, if I may.”

“Go ahead, Henry.”

“Ms. Ravenfire has revealed that she discovered a spy within the hotel, her roommate Leslie Willows. I looked into the matter. It seems that she works for Clementine.”

Mr. Crowe was disturbed by the name.

“Clementine?” Salamander repeated.

“She was… our mother,” Finley explained briefly.

“Our relationship regrettably fell apart after several disagreements. She eventually left the household.” Mr. Crowe sighed. “I had hoped that she wouldn’t work against me, but it appears to be the case.”

“That has nothing to do with my sister, right?” Salamander clarified.

“Your sister had nothing to do with their breakup, but they could be working together against us right now for all we know,” replied Henry.

Finley peeked outside the window, catching a glimpse of a police car parking in front of the hotel. Several officers disembarked the vehicle, some of them questioning the people outside. “Father, there’s a commotion happening downstairs.”

Mr. Crowe looked at his son and moved beside him to check. His expression turned serious.

“Do you think they found out about the plan?” Henry asked, worried.

“That’s impossible.” Mr. Crowe excused himself and hurried downstairs.

“We should go see what it’s about,” Salamander said, immediately following Mr. Crowe.

Elliot and I were also curious to see what was happening, so we left the room with him. When we arrived downstairs, Mr. Crowe was already talking to the group of policemen in the lobby. All eyes were on them.

“May I help you, gentlemen?” asked the hotel owner.

“One of your hotel guests is suspected for the murder of a young girl. We are here to take her custody,” replied one of the policemen.

It was unexpected news to Mr. Crowe, judging by how his eyes widened a little. “I beg your pardon? My current hotel guests are students and instructors. Surely there must be some misunderstanding.”

“We have sufficient evidence to make an arrest, Mr. Crowe.” Detective Dufort entered the lobby and showed him the arrest warrant. His appearance made Salamander flinch. Of course, most people didn’t want to suddenly run into their boss.

“Detective Dufort, what is the meaning of this?” Even Headmaster Scheep was caught by surprise. He had been in the café enjoying a relaxing cup of tea when it happened and decided he couldn’t sit still any longer upon hearing that a student was being accused of murder.

“Emma Sweetblossom is under arrest for the murder of Leonore Sweetblossom,” the Detective clarified, maintaining a serious expression.

Scheep was aghast. “Ms. Sweetblossom? Our kindest student? I cannot imagine her doing such a heinous crime!”

“Sometimes kindness is just a façade, Mr. Scheep.” Detective Dufort gave the signal to his men, who walked past us and went upstairs to search for Emma. We could do nothing but stay out of their way.

Scheep was still finding it hard to comprehend the situation. “But Mr. Dufort, why would she kill a relative in the middle of a school excursion?”

“I’m sure you have plenty of questions, Mr. Scheep. If you come to the station with us, we’ll gladly explain the situation to you. She is, after all, under your supervision.”

The headmaster agreed. Soon, Emma was seen being led down the stairs by the police. She avoided eye contact with everyone, mortified by the stares and whispers as she was escorted out of the hotel. I truly felt sorry for her.

“A pleasant morning to you, Mr. Salamander and Ms. Ravenfire,” Detective Dufort greeted with a polite nod when he noticed me standing beside Salamander.

“What will happen to Emma?” I asked.

“She will be put on trial. If she’s found guilty, I’m afraid our laws in the city aren’t very lenient on homicide.”

“What happens to murderers?” Although Salamander already answered this question for me, I wanted to hear the Detective’s answer.

“Most of them get executed.” There was no emotion in his voice. His words gave me a bitter feeling. “If you have evidence of her innocence, bring it to the station before the trial on Friday.”

Once they finally left, the tension in the room lifted and chatter quickly filled the café. Among those left deeply shocked by the scene was Elliot, who knew absolutely nothing about Emma’s past and just genuinely believed her to be a kind girl.

“Remina, did you know about this?” Elliot asked me, looking visibly disturbed.

“I might have seen something.” I couldn’t lie to Elliot.

“Did she really do it?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I didn’t see her do it.”

“It’s probably a misunderstanding, right? Emma isn’t like that. She’s the nicest person I know… Apart from you, of course.”

“I hope so, but I don’t plan to give up on her just yet. There has to be something we can do.”

Salamander spoke to me softly, “There’s not much you can do, Remina. They’ll see everything through her memories. They have winter mages on the team who can dig it out better than I can. Unless there’s some evidence that she was being manipulated to commit the act, she will be deemed guilty.” He placed a hand on my shoulder for comfort. “Emma made her choice. She has to live with the consequences.”

“The best I can do for her is to help her get a lighter sentence.”

“You’re going to have to investigate and there isn’t a lot of time left for that.”

I heaved a deep sigh. He was right.

My hotel room was empty when I entered to brainstorm a plan. Someone had left the window open, so a raven was perched there, observing me with its sharp eyes as I paced the room impatiently. I couldn’t think of anything. How could I help Emma when she didn’t even want to show me what happened?

Finally, I broke. “I have no idea what to do! Emma is in deep trouble with the law and could get executed, but I don’t even know what evidence to look for that would help her! There’s only a few days left before Friday. The museum opening and the trial are on the same day, too. And I’m here pacing the room talking to a raven!”

The raven morphed and turned into Mr. Crowe’s daughter. Standing close to her, I noticed how short she actually was. She had a strong, piercing gaze that I could compare to a judging house cat.

I was in complete shock, but still managed to say, “You really had to choose this moment while I’m in a mental panic to reveal yourself, huh?”

“Sorry. I just wanted to let you know you’re not going mad.” Her voice was soft and apologetic.

“You’re the raven that has been visiting the antique shop,” I guessed.

“Charlotte Crowe. My brothers call me Lottie,” she introduced herself.

“Remina Ravenfire,” I awkwardly returned her introduction. “Did Mr. Crowe send you to spy on me?”

She shook her head. “No, I was just curious. I’ve only been homeschooled, so I wanted to see what it was like to be part of a real school. It seems exciting.”

“I assure you that almost none of the things you’ve witnessed are even common student things. Like murder, for instance. And taking cover from bullets under a buffet table.”

“I saw a student filling her room with jars of pickled vegetables and cooking pea soup. Is that normal?”

“That’s probably Prof. Alice and she isn’t a student.”

“Is that normal for teachers?”

I shook my head. “No, she is a special case.”

“I’ve also seen a boy singing and dancing in his room with a bottle of clear liquid.”

I sighed. “That’s… probably Toad. That’s normal for him, I suppose.” I paused then met her gaze. “You’ve seen a lot.”

“Perhaps I did.” Her expression was hard to read.

“Lottie, you witnessed the incident with Emma, right?”

“Yes. I saw everything.”

“Could you show me what happened?”

She offered her hands without hesitation.

I found myself back at the alley where I saw Emma and her dead half-sister. In this memory, they were still in the middle of a confrontation. Emma was attacked by her half-sister with a knife. Out of fear and self-defence, she summoned vines to restrain her attacker. The knife dropped to the ground.

“You’ll never be loved. You’re ugly inside. That’s why Father left you.” Upon hearing these words escape from her sister’s lips, Emma lost it. The vines grew thorns of hatred, choking her half-sister as she threw punches on her face and abdomen until her fists were red and bloody. Merciless. Unforgiving. A dark and twisted side. No wonder Emma didn’t want me to see it.

When her half-sister finally died from asphyxiation, Emma dropped the body on the ground and looked upon it with horror. She stared at her bloodied hands and struggled to get it clean.

That was the end of the memory. Lottie probably rushed to find me right after.

“What do you think of Emma, Lottie?” I asked after a brief pause.

“She is dangerous, but she also needs help,” Lottie replied.

“You’re right. She does need help.”

“Why are you helping her?” she asked out of curiosity.

Why am I helping her? I never stopped to answer that question. She was guilty of a crime, but something in me felt compelled to help her.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve never had a friend like her before?”

“Is that what friendship is?” Her question sounded innocent.

“Perhaps it is.”

The outlook was bad for Emma, but I was still hopeful. Maybe, just maybe there was something out there that could lighten the sentence. All I needed to do was find it.