The crying boy introduced himself as Jacob Hadden, the only child of Mayor Hadden. 

“I saw you three talking with Papa in the town hall earlier today,” Jacob explained in-between heaving sobs. “You had said you were the Count’s people. I thought…maybe you could help Papa.”

Lilac gently patted the young adolescent’s back. “What troubles your father, Jacob?”

Jacob fiddled with his black suspenders nervously. “I noticed it about a month ago. Papa started acting very strange. He’d come home late at night and wouldn’t tell me where he was—oh thank you.” 

Lilac led Jacob to the sofa, where he could tell his story to everyone in the room. He sat down with his hands fidgeting behind his back and shifted awkwardly, seemingly uncomfortable with the attention of so many before building up the courage to talk again. 

“He started asking me if I missed Mama and wanted to see her again.”

“Where’s your mother?” Lilac asked.

“She died when I was two,” Jacob said. “Papa never liked talking much about her. But I didn’t think anything was really wrong until I heard these weird rumors in town. Everyone’s talking about these missing people, and the town hall, and even Papa! Papa had told me to stay away from the town hall. That it’s dangerous. What if everyone’s right, and Papa’s making people go missing?”

Lilac nodded sympathetically. “Do you have any ideas on what your father may have done with them? Anywhere he may be keeping them?”

 “Before Mama died, we used to live in the house up on the hill behind the bakery,” Jacob said thoughtfully. “It’s supposed to be abandoned now, but I noticed it looked cleaner now than before. Oh, also there’s been these really strange sounds, like wailing at night. I thought the house was just haunted, but maybe that’s where Papa is keeping the people? Please help him. He…he might even be possessed by the Reaper!”

“We’ll do everything we can,” Lilac assured him with a warm smile. 

“You were very brave to come all the way here to tell us,” Killian added.

“It was the right thing to do,” Jacob said with a shy smile.

“Where’s your father now?” Theo asked.

“He’s usually still away from home around now.” Jacob’s smile faltered. “Probably at town hall. Hopefully. Otherwise, he’s at our old house.”

“It’s getting late,” Theo said. “You should head home before your father notices. Would you like one of us to accompany you back?”

“No, I’ll be okay,” Jacob said hastily. Realizing his oddly quick denial, he hurried to explain. “It just might be worse if my father were home and saw you with me. But thank you guys for listening…have a good night.” He stood up from the couch and went to the door. 

“Thank you, you too,” Killian said, opening and closing the door behind Jacob. “It appears that our suspicions have been confirmed.” He spoke a bit louder and stiffer than usual.

“Yes, quite interesting,” Lilac agreed. “I think we should recover the victims from the house Jacob mentioned, and apprehend the mayor while in action.”

“So what’s our strategy, fellow comrades?” Hale asked, exaggerating each word at an unnatural cadence.

Caelin rolled her eyes at his poor acting skills. 

“Killian, Hale, and I will go confront his father,” Lilac said. “Theo and Caelin will go to the town hall in case there are any additional victims or key information.” She tossed something at Caelin.

Catching it, Caelin looked at the little black pouch in her hand, immediately recognizing the two objects inside. She could feel her heart beat faster as adrenaline rushed through her veins. 

“Are you sure?” Caelin looked at Lilac, and her fingers tightened around the pouch. It was hers again, and there was no way Caelin would ever return it back to Lilac. 

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Lilac said warningly. “You only get this one chance. Prove to me you learned something during these past eight years.”

Caelin grinned. “Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

“We’re going to the mayor’s current residence, not the town hall,” Theo said after they parted ways with the others. 

The town’s streets were eerily silent. There were only a few others outside, keeping their heads low  as they hurried to their destinations. There was no doubt that the threat of the Reaper haunted the forefront of everyone’s minds. Gas lamps hung outside the door of every building, as if the yellow glow would ward off any evil spirits wandering the night.

“Of course,” Caelin agreed. “I don’t know how that small town kid got his hands on such expensive equipment, but he planted a listening device in the room as soon as he sat down. You didn’t actually buy his little sob story, did you?” 

Theo looked away, refusing to make eye contact as he stared at a gas lamp on the side of the road instead.

Her eyes widened and she glared at Theo incredulously, realizing what he had actually assumed. “No, you thought that I wouldn’t know the truth. That I wasn’t smart enough.”

“You said that you had amnesia,” Theo admitted. “I wasn’t sure how much the head trauma could have affected your mental aptitude as well.” 

“You’re such a prick,” Caelin scoffed. “For your information, Doc said that my amnesia is psychological and not due to any physical trauma. So my mental aptitude is perfectly fine, thank you very much.”

“Maybe you were born naturally slow-witted then.” 

“And you just naturally act like a barbhorn.” 

Theo shrugged, not denying the insult but, instead, changed the subject. “What did Lilac give you back there?”

Caelin stopped walking and reached into her pocket, taking out the black pouch. Opening the drawstring, she shook out the two objects inside. They clinked together in the center of her palm, and she held them out for Theo to see. 

There were two rings. One a matte black, like a moonless night. The other a bright vermillion with a glossy surface that swirled like hues of fresh blood. 

“They’re my Imperiums,” Caelin said, seeing the spark of recognition in Theo’s eyes. She slipped the red ring onto her right index finger and the black ring onto her left middle finger. Just as she had once before. Caelin flexed her fingers and sighed contently at the weights she had missed. 

“You have two Imperiums?” Theo’s voice faltered as he, staring at her hands in shock. “How…” 

“How is it possible for a person to be compatible with two Imperiums?” Caelin offered. “How do I use two Imperiums without being instantly drained of all energy and dying? How do I not overexert myself and carefully balance the recoil from both Imperiums? How did I even come to be in possession of two Imperiums when they’re so rare and valuable?” 

“Yes, all of that.”

Caelin smiled and reached forward, patting Theo gently on his cheek. “That’s a secret. Come on, we’re almost there.”

Mayor Hadden’s house was a dark, looming, two-story structure shadowed by the large oak trees lining the neglected front yard. Dancing silhouettes from the tree limbs painted the walls of the house with ominous specters. Compared to the surrounding homes, the house could easily be spotted from the opposite end of the street. 

Caelin and Theo observed the Mayor’s house from the stone wall surrounding the property. A lone figure stood guard at the front stoop. They wore a dark green cloak, concealing all traces of their identity as they  hunched stiffly on the front steps.

“He’s probably a guard,” Theo said. “There should be a lot more inside. We could sneak in from the side to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention. Or we could–”

Before Theo had a chance to present his other option, Caelin rushed forward, aiming a roundhouse kick at the guard’s head. As her right foot made contact, an unnatural crack echoed through the air.

“…Or we could do that,” Theo said aloud to himself and joined Caelin at the steps, gazing down at the body on the ground. He kicked the guard with his foot, turning them onto their back and revealing their face. A man—his skin had an unnatural, wooden texture, and lifeless black eyes. 

“Did I kill him?” Caelin prodded the man with the tip of her boot, causing the cloak to unravel. She gagged. “Son of Indunna, why’s he not wearing any clothes? Please tell me we’re not dealing with some sort of nudist cult here.”  

Theo observed the crack on the side of the man’s face. The tan paint had chipped away, revealing wooden splinters underneath his cheek.  He turned away from the body and headed up the steps towards the front door. “Not a nudist cult, but a puppet. Let’s head in before reinforcements arrive.”

Caelin nodded in agreement and watched Theo reach for the door handle. Before he could turn it, she saw the right eye of the puppet suddenly spin around, gaze landing on Theo’s figure. A silver dagger appeared in place of its right hand, and it wrenched its body around to stab the blade towards the back of Theo’s head at a terrifying speed. 

“Theo!” Caelin shouted.

Without even turning, Theo moved to the side and slammed his right elbow into the face of the puppet. The impact instantly shattered the puppet’s head into a pile of wooden splinters. Back on the ground, the body continued to twitch violently. Theo raised a foot and kicked in the chest. A green powder emerged underneath his foot before the puppet finally crumbled and stilled. 

“Wow I didn’t know you were actually good,” Caelin remarked, mentally reassessing Theo’s combat abilities. 

Expecting him to deliver a witty comeback, Caelin frowned when there was no response from him. Instead, an unnatural smirk formed on his face as he stared upon the broken body of the puppet. The hairs on the back of Caelin’s neck rose as her instincts warned her of a change in the man before her. 

He was dangerous. 

She warily took a step back, bracing herself for hostility as she tentatively tried to regain his attention. “Um…Theo? Are you okay?”

Theo turned to look at her. And though she couldn’t explain it, Caelin felt as if she was suddenly facing a different person instead of who she’d just been talking to earlier. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing his dark bangs back to reveal his forehead. The smirk instantly turned into a scowl as he caught sight of her heterochromatic eyes. 

“What do you want, Ugly?”