The Last Guardian

Chapter_44: Baba Iaga

It was 10 p.m. Lisa drove as quickly as possible towards the mayor's house. The captain was already there with his sergeants and he was awaiting for his lead detective to arrive, he wanted to leave no stone unturned in finding the mayor's daughter and Lisa couldn't afford to be late. Fortunately she arrived within the hour and parked her car outside the mayor's house. She ran inside and met with the captain and the captain introduced her to the mayor. The mayor's wife- the girl's mother was weeping on the couch accompanied by her aging mother. She approached them and introduced herself and inquired about the incident as politely as possible.

"Mrs. Longhorn, I assure you we will find her within 24 hrs. but I need your help and support, Can I have a picture of your daughter?" inquired Lisa.

"Yeah, of course- here-"said the grieving woman handing her a picture of her daughter.

"Her name's Amelia, she's just ten years old, last night her tucked her in her bed and in the morning she simply disappeared- I don't understand- we looked for her everywhere, it's like she just vanished inside the house-"said Mrs. Longhorn trying to hold back her tears.

"Hmh- were there any signs of break ins? Do you suspect anybody?" asked Lisa.

"No, we lock and bolt all the doors and windows at night and check them twice- there's nobody to suspect- my husband was out of town and only mother and I were in the house... Its her birthday today...We had done so much preparation..."replied Mrs. Longhorn.

"Oh! Don't you worry dear - the police are here now, they will find her-"said the old lady who was the grandmother.

"Were there any ransom calls?" asked Lisa.

"No! I don't understand, I already went through all this questioning with the Captain, why don't you people go find her instead of sitting here and talking to me?" replied Mrs. Longhorn.

"Sorry for the inconvenience Mrs. Longhorn and thanks!" replied Lisa in a stoically and left.

She consulted with the Captain and told her about her thoughts on the case. She said that she was not quite sure that it was a k********g case and that she would have answers by the end of the next day. The Captain trusted her and assured Mr. Longhorn- the Mayor that his daughter will be found soon. Lisa collected all the necessary information about the missing girl and her family members and left. It was way past her work hours but she had this gut feeling inside her that this was not a regular case of disappearance and she wanted to talk with Billy and Johnathan and take their opinions, besides she had to ask them about the Mafia case anyway. So she turned her car around and drove to their hideout- the old church...

Inside the torture room, Dmitri was spilling out all of the information about what he knew about the witch-

"And as I reached the strange house after so many days of weary travelling, I saw the fence which surrounded the hut. It was made of human bones and skulls. The gate opened up as I approached and suddenly I saw the hut rising up into the air. It was supported by two giant legs of a bird...ah! it was the strangest thing I've ever seen...And then...the hut started spinning... faster and faster. I remembered then what I've read in the folklore...the only way to stop the house from spinning and bringing out the Witch was to chant- little house, little house, turn your back to the forest and your front to me...And so I chanted over and over until it suddenly stopped- the door flung opened and then she came out …the one they call-Baba Yaga" Dmitri explained in detail about the horrific encounter with the witch.

"What happened next?" asked Johnathan.

"To make a long story short- I asked for the book and she gave it to me in exchange for a favor-"replied Dmitri.

"What favor?" he asked.

"I can't tell you- I won't!" resisted Dmitri from speaking the truth.

"Ah! I should have fed him the entire bottle- Hold him still!" said Farid.

Johnathan held his head tight as Farid forced the entire contents of the vial into Dimitri's mouth. He choked and spit but the liquid had already taken effect.

"Okay- so answer him- what favor did she ask?" questioned Farid.

"Ah! she asked me to find ten kids, who were born on 13th, all aged ten and belonging to high class families and plant a doll in the lawn of their houses... and she said that I could keep the book as long as I wanted and when I die it would disappear and go back to her. When I landed here, I asked my men to do as she asked me to and found her ten kids- I swear that's all I know, there's nothing more!" Dmitri replied.

Farid glanced at Billy-

"See, I told you-"he said.

"What did she look like?" asked Johnathan.

"Oh! Horrible, I can't even describe her-" replied Dmitri.

"And where's she now?" Billy asked.

"She's already here-in this city, today's the 13th day of the month, she's come to take the kids-"replied Dmitri.

The three of them left Dmitri locked inside the room and went outside. Brother Farid looked anxious.

"So how do we find her?" asked Billy.

*I don't know yet but If we don't hurry we will be too late!" he replied.

"What do you mean?" asked Johnathan.

"She needs the kids to complete a blood ritual which will make her immortal- if she completes the ritual, the kids will be sacrificed and god knows what she'd do next-"replied Farid.

"Let's start with the names of the kids then- the ones in whose houses Dmitri planted the dolls" Johnathan suggested.

"I will get the names from him-"said Raven and went back inside.

It was about to be midnight and Lisa was halfway from the church. Suddenly her phone rang. It was the Captain- another child had gone missing. This time it was a ten year old boy named Josh- the son of a wealthy industrialist. It was the same type of strange disappearance- inside a locked room, no sign of forced entry, no ransom demands. The Captain asked her to come early to the precinct next day and see if she can find some relation with the present case.

"Ugh! I deserve a raise-"she said to herself cutting the call.

Suddenly her car started to break down in the middle of the road and slowed down to a complete halt!