† The Crime at the 13th Stone Pt. 3 †

Untold mysteries from under the 13th stone

† The Crime at the 13th Stone †

Part III





After a sleepless night, during which I starred at the ceiling and all existing thoughts about the mysterious crime running through my head, I got out of bed and went out of my room. I wanted to talk with the inn keeper. He was an old man and he should know something about the dark history of the town. I just had to convince him to tell me what he knew.

He was in the kitchen reading the newspaper, but when he saw me he said:

- I know nothing. You are wasting precious time. I have no memories and neither do the rest of villagers. You should look for the thing that did this to us. Please help us, and two tears appeared on the corners of his eyes.

He turned away his face and I understood that I had to leave. I went out in the cold morning and started walking and trying to put together all the pieces of the puzzle. It was like a sun ray that shined on me when I realized what I should do to solve this strange situation.

The woman that disappeared was on my side, the good side. The unknown man that owned the town was no other than the priest (the one who made the pact with Aka Manah) that vanished years ago. He came back and took the memories of the villagers because she started to ask questions and they were answering them. The papers found in the room at The Inn had been stolen by that good witch because she really wanted to lift the curse and now I had to help her, help them all..

I started to run to the 13 stones. Maybe it was all in my head, or maybe I just figured it all out. There was a circle of stones and in the middle, I remembered now, I found that finger with the onyx ring. This was a sacrifice that I didn’t think of at the beginning. When I removed the finger I was sure I triggered something, it was sure that the demon felt it. That’s why my helpers, the two men from the local police, vanished. The demon was angry, now I knew too much and he was coming after me. The only thing that I knew for sure is that under that circle in the middle of the stones should be the home of Aka Manah and I started to shout:

- Aka Manah, in The Name of the Rose, show yourself! I don’t know what came to me to scream like that and why I have said those words, but I felt his presence, his arise.

In the next second a 50 years old man with a black snake shaped cane appeared. He was grey-haired and he was wearing a white silk costume with a red tie. He smiled at me and his white teeth shined in the sun.

- Why have you summoned me? he asked. Aren’t you afraid of me or the dark magic that I represent? Do you think you know the truth? You have no idea of the real facts. I..

- NO! YOU DON’T REALISE THE TRUTH! YOU DON’T REMEMBER ANYTHING FROM THE BEGINNING! I shouted. I saw his smile fade out and his eyes narrowed, but I went on with my speech. You made a pact with the devil and took everyone else with you in Hell without them knowing.. That’s the truth. But you can undo the evil deeds by giving them their memories back and their souls. I don’t expect you to understand or feel remorse, but I am really curious what did you gain by doing this??

- I gained my freedom! You are an idiot if you think I can feel pity for these miserable human beings that did nothing to deserve their souls back. They have to be grateful that they have a home and someone to keep them alive for so many years! In life all comes with a sacrifice!

He was so angry that his eyes turned red and the cane started to grow bigger till it was a real enormous cobra hissing dangerously.

- Where did you take the woman that found out your secret? I asked the man. Did you kill her or did you make her your toy like the others?

- She is gone, Aka Manah was hungry and she had to die because she knew too much. She was a mistake that was not supposed to happen. And so are you! The demon is still starving and you seem like a good meal. He started to laugh so loud that the rocks started to vibrate.

Then I realized what was with the stones. When he stole all the souls from the first villagers he needed to keep them somewhere safe and unknown. That’s why he created this circle of stones. Each one had one soul in it and they had to be destroyed to set the people free. I looked at the snake that was prepared to attack and I saw how it should go. I remembered what the old lady has told me about the woman that disappeared, she was a great white witch and she could not be dead. She was sure under the stone circle in a dungeon. Suddenly a voice in my head told me her name:

- Victoria!! You have the strength, come save the souls!!

The next second an earthquake started and I couldn’t stay on my feet. I fell on the ground in the exact time in which the ground was cracking. She came out flying, with her blond hair in the wind, dressed in a long white dress, her blue eyes staring at the snake.

- I waited so many years for this!! she said. Aka Manah, your minutes on Earth are numbered! You have harmed and fooled enough humans for one century! Now I have the strength to destroy you forever.

She looked to the sky and started mumbling something incomprehensible while the snake tried to bite her and hit her with its enormous tail. She landed on the ground and starred into the snakes eyes still mumbling incantations. The demon started to shrink and became a cane again. Victoria took it into her hand and with a sparkle it became white. She looked at me and nodded her head meaning she knew what to do next.

The old man looked really surprised and also very frightened. He knew that now he wasn’t anymore under the protection of Aka Manah and the powerful Haakai demon could come and take him. Victoria went straight to the circle of 13 soul stones and, one by one, she stabbed the stones with the white crane. From each one there was blood flowing down on the middle of the circle forming a strange cobra head figure. The stones started to descend under the ground and a dense black smoke was rising in the sky. The unnamed old man tried to run away screaming, but the smoke caught and swallowed him forever.

When we returned into town, the villagers were all gathered in the city square and smiling to each other while talking about what happened. I knew for sure that they had all their memories back and they wondered who made it happen. Victoria wanted to get back to her home town as soon as possible because she had already another case to solve and asked me if I would want to join her.

In all my years of being a detective for the special agency I never solved a case like this one and I never believed that there were demons and sorcerers. Now I just know that my place is in this supernatural agency that we build together, because I am married with Victoria and we have solved no less than 100 strange cases since we met.



The end..