Witch's Bell Book One Read Online Free Page A

been paying particularly close attention to her, they would
have seen her stature reduce slightly, her expression become
weaker, her stance less confident. While on familiar ground, Ebony
could be as cheeky and sassy as her red lipstick and wild hair
would permit, but when things became unfamiliar, uncertain, unsafe
even then Ebony's confidence would ebb. And as the confidence
ebbed, the knowing glimmer would fade from her eyes to be replaced
with ...
well, something more human.
    “ Rookie, I'll drop you off at
the office on the way.”
    Detective Nathan Wall took a
final look around the room, at the books in his hands, up at Ben's
open face, and finally over to Ebony. “I signed up for this job,” he said,
voice stiff but determined. “And this is my first day. I'll go with
you.”
    Ben smiled
appreciatively. “I knew you were made of strong stuff! Alright, let's stop
burning daylight; the citizens of Vale are counting on
us.”
    As the three of them walked out of the
store, Ebony quietly surveyed the strange Detective Nate.
Firecracker, live wire, pain in the butt, or knight in shining
armor?
    This one was going to be
interesting.

Chapter 2
    Ebony stared up at the imposing
apartment block, her hands resting uneasily by her sides. Even
though it should have been a bright summer's day, heavy clouds were
gathering on the horizon. The building stood stark against the sky
like a thick black line on a perfectly white wall.
    “ I hope Yates hasn't downed all
the coffee yet,” Ben stepped up on the curb beside Ebony and
proceeded to clear his throat loudly. “Even though it's a bright
and sunny day, be darned if I've gotten myself a chill.” He plucked
up the collar of his jacket, punched his hands into his pockets,
and walked up the steps to the cop waiting by the door.
    “ Hmm,” Ebony mumbled to herself,
still trying to take in the scene. A good witch never rushed in,
her mother had always told her. A good witch waited and watched.
Watching was really mostly what witching was about.
    There was certainly a sense of
something dark in the air – a residual taste of something menacing that made
the hair on the back of Ebony's neck stand up like pins forced into
her skin.
    There were no birds perching on
the windowsills, gutters, or ledges of the building. In fact, there
wasn't a chirp to be heard. There wouldn't be any rats either, or
mice, or pests of any kind. Ebony fancied there wouldn't even be an
insect left in that place – not a cockroach under the oven, not a mosquito
perched on a light, not even a fly buzzing at the
window.
    All the animals would have high-tailed
it out of there. Animals always had the proper sense of things;
humans never did.
    Ebony was sickened to see more
than a couple of gawkers peering on past the yellow police-tape.
They looked up at the building, over at the police cars, and talked
amongst themselves with excited whispers. One of them even called
over to one of the cops: “hey, what's going on here? There been a
murder?”
    The cop barely looked up from
his cup of coffee. “Use your imagination and stay behind the line.”
    Ebony finally pulled her eyes
away from the people, wondering whether the human race would ever
really grow up. What kind of a creature would be so crass in the
face of such violence? What kind of a fool would stand in a place
so dark, trying to catch a glimpse of something even darker? That's
what these people were after – a glimpse of the hardened plastic of a body bag,
or a blood soaked knife, or even a broken-faced man being led away
in handcuffs.
    Images of dread. Pictures that
could be seared into their memories, that they could go home to
tell their friends and family about. Unusual stories they could
whip out at the dinner table. “How was your day, honey? You got cut off changing
lanes? Well I saw a murder scene – body bags and all.”
    Wouldn't that make for an exciting
story?
    Ebony shook her head. Sometimes she
doubted whether ordinary humans had