Our esteemed colleague, Psychic Julia Hathaway, was out jogging in the Mystical Forest Monday morning before work, when she hears a man screaming in agony. She finds a blond haired man in his early 40’s lying in a gully. He identified himself as Landon Oliver. He’d apparently fell off the edge of the crushed stone trail, and twisted his ankle. Julia scurried down into the deep ditch to help the injured man. She examined his leg, and at that point acquired a vision of the man faking it along with having a specter of evil hanging about him. She quickly turned to climb out, and away from Landon but he stuck a needle in her neck.
Julia began to loose consciousness as she collapsed on the ground. Landon knelt over her with a sinister smile as he said,”Yes dear just let the medicine cure what ails you. Soon we will be home. You’ll need to get ready for our party guests sweetheart” Julia black out at that point, and awakened hours later lying on a couch within Landon’s living room. He was nowhere to be seen so she got up slowly and then sat down again due to the dizziness caused by the drugs she had been injected with. She finally got up again, and staggered for the front door. She struggled with the multiple locks but her fingers were too numb to function properly. She finally said,”To hell with this!” She waved her arm as she does when using her telekinetic powers. Although it was much slower since her arm felt like it was being held down by a sack of bricks. Unfortunately nothing happened. Apparently the drugs were interfering with her powers. She then focused all her psychic energies on the chain lock, and it began to slide slowly. It came free, and then she concentrated on the dead bolt lock. It began to turn just as Landon grabbed her shoulder while laughing maniacally. He then exclaimed,”Oh honey you can’t leave now! The parties just getting started!”
Landon directed her into the bedroom, and sat her down in front of table with a mirror in front of it complete with spherical lights on the edges. He began styling her hair, and went on about what a wonderful party they were going to have. She hoped he really as nutty enough to kidnap someone, and then throw a party. Although with her luck it was a party of crazy cultists. As he applied her make-up Julia got a vision of Landon killing several people. She realized she was being held hostage by a serial killer.
Meanwhile at Mystic Investigations we were all wondering why Julia had not come into work or at least called in with an excuse. Minutes later the roar of an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish speeding into the back of the building into a protective canopy. Drake Alexander rushed out from the silver tinted windowed sport car with a look of urgency on his face. He told us that he had a bad feeling that Julia was in trouble, and we believed him because he shared a psychic bond of sorts with Julia. Vampires have a tendency to know when friends are in trouble, and Drake was no exception. Rebecca Abernathy, our expert in Witchcraft, cast a magical locater spell on a map of Woodland Springs. She then used a violet colored Amethyst crystal, attached to a pure silver chain, to scry for Julia’s current location. The crystal landed hard on Sassafras Street which was a supposedly run of the mill suburban neighborhood. Regrettably the map didn’t have exact street addresses. So Drake hopped into his car with special windows to filter out the suns rays which are deadly to vampire while me, and Rebecca slid into my Lamborghini. The rest of the gang got into the Mystic Van, and we all sped away to the street in question. However I stopped at Woodland Springs High School to excuse Zack Powers from his classes so he could join us in out quest for Julia Hathaway.
Back at Landon’s house Julia was starting to feel better as she stood in a walk in closet full of dresses. Landon told her to pick her favorite one out for the party. She played along with him, and touched his shoulder as she smiled so she could get a vision. He liked the simple pink dress, and saw that he had killed a woman right on the spot for choosing the red frilly dress. She chose the right dress, and he was beyond pleased. He then sat Julia on the bed, and showed her an album full of womens photos. He then flipped through the pages, and said,”These are my ladies. All had great potential to be fine hostesses but they all disappointed me. I regret that they never made it through the party. However they deserved what they got when they embarrassed me in front of my friends.” He then turned the album upside down, and flipped through it again revealing the same women who were bloodied, and clearly dead in the photos. Julia stayed calm at the horror she was witnessing, and happily replied,”Well let us hope I fare better than these undeserving women. I love engaging in the art of entertaining!” Landon smiled at her, and answered,”Yes I have a good feeling about you. Maybe you’ll finally be the one to host a successful party.”
They walked into the kitchen where food was being prepared, and he motioned for her to cut up some vegetables. Her fingers weren’t numb anymore, and she was able to cut with the large butcher knife. She thought about using it on him but she got the feeling it was a test, and she couldn’t get an exact read on what his response might be. However there was a knife on the counter in back of him, and she focused her telekinetic powers upon it. It began to rise off the counter about 5 inches before it fell back down. Landon quickly turned to look at what had made the noise as he said,’What was that?” Julia replied,”I didn’t hear anything. Clearly her powers were more effected than her body by the drugs.
Julia sat down at the kitchen table, and Landon poured her some wine. She as reluctant to drink it but he insisted so she did. The patio door nearby was slightly ajar, and she decided to make a run for it when his back was turned. He opened the stove to check on a roast, and then she bolted out the door. However she was stopped in her tracks by a large ferocious German Shepard. Landon strolled out, and said,”Ah I see you met Mr. Jowls. Settle down boy!” I then innocently replied,”I love dogs, and I just wanted to come out, and meet him. He replied,”of course you did my dear. Of course you did” Julia looked around the back yard which was a beautiful garden compete with pond, and waterfall. The whole yard was surrounded by a tall fence although the second story of nearby homes could be seen. She thought about screaming since she now knew she was in a crowed residential neighborhood. Julia decided to be smart, and play it cool.
Landon was excited that the party guests would be arriving soon, and so was Julia. The more people who knew she was there, the better. She tried her telekinetic powers again but now she couldn’t even get a pen to float. She felt light headed again, and realized that the wine must have been spiked. Landon told her to go lie down on the couch until the guests arrived. As she lie there she attempted to do something she never tried before. Direct the drug into her liver faster, and get the drug metabolized so it would wear off faster. She concentrated on that task for several minutes, and felt better as the door bell rang.
Landon grabbed Julia from the couch, and ran to the door with her. He told her to put on a smile, and he opened the door. Nobody was there but Landon was greeting someone, and having a complete conversation with them as he motioned whatever inside, and closed the door. As Landon held her arm she got a vision. This was the point when most of the women died. Julia realized that his guests were a figment of his imagination, and when his victims didn’t see them they failed as hostesses, and died. Landon asked,”Why aren’t you answering Harvey? He wants to know…” Julia replied,”Where I work? Well Harvey I’m Associate Vice-President at a company called Mystic Investigations.” Landon looked at her in utter shock.
Landon stuttered a bit as he said,”You can hear what he said?” Julia then said,”Yes of course. Harvey, and his girlfriend Becky are standing right in front of us.” Landon now awe struck said,”What color dress is she wearing?” She replied,”Blue with small yellow flowers on it.” Landon couldn’t believe she could see his imaginary friends. Friends he had since he was a disturbed child. Friends nobody had seen before. On one hand he was elated that he could finally share his life with someone but on the other hand he was denied a rightous kill. At least in his sick mind.
The door bell rang again, and Julia wondered how she had heard it the first time without touching Landon. They went to the door to greet more imaginary guests. Within minutes the house was full of character manufactured in Landon’s mind. Julia soon had enough of a connection with the serial killer so that she didn’t have to touch him to see the figments of his imagination. Landon stood smiling as she held conversations with them, and poured them drinks from an empty wine bottle into a non-existent glass. Soon it was time for dinner, and everyone sat at the dining room table.
Some time later me, and my team of investigators were scouring the neighborhood for Julia. We went door to door with various excuses in order to get a look inside people’s homes. Drake strolled about in the sun wearing only sun glasses thanks to a dose of gnomes blood he’d just taken. He only had a small amount but this was worth using it. It was a big neighborhood, and it was taking time to get through the homes. Me, and Rebecca were invited into an old couples house after we showed interest in buying the place. Drake, and Ashley pretended to Jehovah’s Witnesses preaching the good news. Although that didn’t get them far. Hunter, and Rob pretended to collect for charity. They in fact donated the money they collected. Zack, and Elizabeth pretended to be in an accident so they could use the phone. Unfortunately that didn’t work out well. At least for the guy who owned the home. He turned out to be a pedo who came on to Zack. Zack kicked him in the balls with his bionic foot, The perv will never be the same. They thought for sure they’d find Julia there but it was clearly the wrong house.
Julia appeared to enjoy her real meal with Landon as the imaginary guests ate off empty plates which were in fact full in Landon’s mind. She could tell Landon was thinking of some excuse to kill her despite his feelings of kinship with her. He truly was disturbed in the head. She caressed his hand to get a vision…
To Be Continued….