Audra hopped in her car and noted that the air had begun to cool as a breeze whipped around her. She drove back across town to the square and parked in front of the Daylight Candle Shop. Stepping out of the car, she once again encountered the stares of locals. She quickly opened the shop door and was greeted by soft music and the scent of lavender. The shop was small but well-lit and Audra walked through the narrow aisles, perusing the shelves for a moment before the owner, Mackenzie Knox, stepped from the back.
"Oh... hello," Mackenzie smiled brightly, warm and welcoming. "I didn't hear the door. I apologize. Were you looking for anything in particular?" Mackenzie's rich dark skin had a glow and if Audra had believed in auras, she would have associated that glow to the purity of the woman's spirit. Instead, she waved those thoughts away and shook her hand.
"Yes, I'm Special Agent Audra Wheeler of the FBI special unit charged with bringing criminal specters to justice. I'm investigating the death of Gwyneth Miller and need to ask you a few questions," Audra said, flashing her badge.
Mackenzie's body tensed and she nodded. "Yes, she was in here two days before they found her. She came in, asked for what she wanted, paid, and then left. You think a specter killed her?" she asked doubtfully.
"I do," Audra said.
Mackenzie pointed to a small reading table and took a seat, Audra following.
"Specters do not kill, Agent Wheeler," Mackenzie said flatly. "They may cause trouble, they may be mischievous, they may even be a little scary at times, but they do not kill."
"If they are insane they do," Audra said.
Mackenzie looked at Audra intently. "Specters are not like us. Once the body is dead the spirit is always at peace, one with the universe. A specter cannot kill any more than the wind or the rain."
"Have you ever heard of hurricanes?" Audra countered.
"That is nature, not murder," Mackenzie pointed out. "But, I can tell this has burdened you for a long time."
Audra raised an annoyed eyebrow. "I just need to ask you a few questions about the day Gwyneth came into your shop."
"Let me have your hands," Mackenzie said, ignoring her.
"Why?"
"This case is personal to you."
"Why do you say that?" Audra felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
"I know things," Mackenzie answered.
"Like what?"
"Something about a sister," Mackenzie said, closing her eyes. "But, it is not entirely clear."
Audra took a deep breath and figured it was worth a shot. She gave her hands to Mackenzie who turned her palms upward. Audra watched the woman's face go through several emotional changes before Mackenzie finally put her hands back down.
"It is not a specter," she repeated.
"Okay," Audra said, unconvinced. "What do you think it is?"
"A presence of some kind."
"What's the difference?"
Mackenzie walked to a bookshelf and pulled out a small booklet. "This presence is not a dead person's spirit but an energy of someone living."
"Right, energy killed them." Audra was skeptical even as she thought about the unexplained burn-marks on the victims' throats.
"What I sense is that the energy is being used as a weapon," Mackenzie continued.
Audra wondered how she had gotten all of that from her hands but prompted the woman to continue her line of thought. "By who?"
Mackenzie returned to the table with the booklet and sat back down. "If you can figure out why, then you will know who."
"Okay?" Audra was confused. "So, someone is killing these girls, with energy. Forgive me if that sounds impossible."
"So did a small town full of specters not too long ago." Mackenzie opened the booklet to a beautifully colored chart of the human body and the chakras. "This chart is a way to explain and understand the harmony and balance between the body and its energy."
Mackenzie flipped the page and pointed to a darker side of the same chart. "However, everything can be corrupted. If you can use this knowledge for clarity and transcendence, you can use the same information for evil." She pointed to the top chakra. "This is the crown chakra. It is what connects us to our spirituality. It is how we reach inner and outer beauty and peace. However, there are some who use it for external power and control. It can be linked to telepathy, hypnotism, and even telekinesis and mind control. Whoever this presence is, they have taken it even further. Their thoughts are elevated into their outer energy and give it physical form in this realm."
"How do you know this?"
"It's a gift."
"Right. If it is a person, how do I find out why they are doing this?" Audra asked. "There are no obvious connections between the victims."
"There is a connection," Mackenzie assured her.
"What?" Audra asked.
"I don't know," Mackenzie said. "What is one thing that is the same about all of them?"
"They all look alike," Audra said.
"A lot alike?" Mackenzie asked and stood again. "Nearly identical?"
"Yes," Audra said.
"Like doppelgangers?"
"Maybe?"
"Your sister is connected to all of this. Am I right?" Mackenzie asked.
"Yes, my sister was attacked in much the same way."
Mackenzie closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.
"But your sister has not passed on," Mackenzie stated, nodding as if she finally put a finger on something that puzzled her.
"No. She's in a coma."
"Do you look like your sister?" Mackenzie opened her eyes and looked at Audra intently.
"No, we don't look anything alike. My parents adopted her because they thought they couldn't have children. Then they had me in their later years, completely by surprise. I'm half black and my sister is completely white so we are like night and day in appearance," Audra sighed.
Mackenzie nodded. "May I ask how the victims were killed?" she probed.
"Crushed windpipes."
Mackenzie turned back to the dark chakra chart. She pointed to the throat. "This is the throat chakra. It is linked to our ability to communicate, expressing our feelings, and telling the truth. I would guess that the killer is trying to silence them and keep something quiet or secret," Mackenzie reasoned.
"Before she died, Gwyneth purchased a candle from you, the Dry Spell Reliever," Audra began.
Mackenzie smiled. "Would you like to try it?"
"No, thank you. How does it work?"
Mackenzie exhaled. "The candle calls a romantic specter," she said. "When it is purchased the specter knows where to go and makes love to the person who lights it."
"They can do that?" Audra asked.
"It takes time for them to master it but, yes."
"Do you know this particular specter?"
"I do. He's my grandfather." She smiled. "He has nothing for you, but I know someone who does."
"Who?"
Mackenzie looked around and then nodded to an empty space. Audra watched as the air took shape and an opaque specter manifested right in front of her. She reached for her specter shield and activated it. When she saw that the specter coming forward was none other than Gwyneth Miller she felt her entire body turn cold.
"Hello." Gwyneth's other worldly voice was light, hollow, and seemed somewhat amused.
"Hello, Gwyneth." Audra paused before asking how she was doing.
"Agent Wheeler," Gwyneth said and came towards her.
Mackenzie pushed out a chair for her and she took a seat.
"How long have you been here?" Audra asked.
"Since yesterday, I think." She turned to Mackenzie for confirmation.
"You've been in this shop the entire time?" Audra asked, unnerved.
"Yes, I have." Her voice fluctuated in clarity and volume. "You want to solve my murder?"
Audra took note of the humor in her voice.
"Do you want me to solve your murder?" Audra asked.
Gwyneth shrugged. "It won't do me any good now will it? But, I suppose you could save another young lady. I wasn't going to speak to you at first, but then I heard you say that your sister was adopted."
"That's right," Audra said.
"The Sheriff adopted me also." Gwyneth took a deep breath out of habit, Audra was sure. "I didn't find out until I graduated from college. That's when I found out that my birth mother was murdered too. That case was never solved."
"Oh?" Audra felt an icy chill race up her spine. "When was this?"
"The day that I was born. She was strangled to death in the hospital. Very few people really knew what happened to her and I'd never heard anything of it before or since."
"Oh," Audra breathed. "What was her name?"
The specter seemed to sigh again. "Abigail Stevens."
"What can you tell me about your attack?" Audra asked.
"I was asleep. The most blissful sleep after the specter came and…" Gwyneth giggled. "Then I felt these fingers, but it wasn't like fleshy fingers. They felt more like skeletal fingers, bones, and they burned. I remember gasping. The air was different."
"Different how?" Audra pressed her.
"It was cooler than usual, but dryer as well, and hard to breathe," Gwyn said. "I felt myself lose consciousness and then I was rising from my body. No one was there. I didn't know where else to go, so I came here."
Audra nodded. "I see."