Page 24 of The Curse Defiers

Tom was quiet for several seconds and I realized he was waiting for me to respond. “Is this some kind of flu or Covid? I’m not sure how I can help you with that. Shouldn’t you call the health department?”

“The health department has already been notified. They were the ones who contacted us.”

“I’m still not sure why I’m here, Tom.” For once, I was genuinely confused. I had no idea how or why he was connecting this problem to me.

“The patients were all ill with some minor condition.” Tom slid the stack of files to the center of the table. “One had strep throat, another had bronchitis.” He spread out the stack as he spoke, four manila folders with a note paper-clipped to each file. “The third victim had food poisoning and the fourth an abscessed tooth. They were ill during the day, but not deathly so, at least not until the sun went down.”

A chill started at the back of my neck and crawled slowly down my spine. It didn’t escape my notice that he’d called the third patient a victim. “Then what happened?”

“Then they deteriorated quite rapidly, hallucinating and screaming and thrashing in pain. Within two hours they were dead.”

I sucked in a breath. If there was some kind of deadly virus going around, I was glad David and I were leaving town. “I’m still not sure what this has to do with me, Tom.”

“After the second patient died, the coroner became concerned and did an autopsy.” Tom leaned his forearm on the table, leveling his gaze with mine. “And what he found is the reason why you’re here.”

I resisted the urge to ask. Tom would tell me soon enough, and he seemed to be making a production out of it.

He waited for a long moment, a flicker of disappointment flashing in his eyes when he didn’t get a reaction from me. “The patients had no hearts.”

All the blood in my body instantly pooled at my feet. Could the demonic badgers be back? They had eaten out their victims’ hearts after ripping their abdomens open. Collin had assured me they were gone forever, earning us each a new title: destroyers of life. “Did they leave their houses? Were their abdomens ripped open?”

He pressed his lips together as he fingered the edge of one of the files. “No. That’s the strange part. Two of them never even left their houses. Two went to the hospital. One died on the way; the other died in the ER.” He opened one of the folders, exposing a photo of the naked body of a little boy.

I gasped, choking back a sob. “A kid?”

“Yeah, a kid.” He pushed the file closer to me. “Notice anything?”

“Are they all kids?”

“No. Just this one. One was a middle-aged woman and the other two were elderly.”

I looked away. “I don’t want to look at that, Tom.”

Tom banged the table and I jumped.

“Look at it Ellie. This kid’s heart is missing.Gone.Do you notice anything strange?”

I forced myself to look at the five-by-seven photo, trying not to focus on the boy’s face. I couldn’t stop myself. He was seven or eight at most, with dark brown hair and freckles scattered across his face. He had a tan line at his waist and his lower thighs, most likely from a swimming suit. “What am I looking for?” I started to cry. “I don’t know, Tom.”

His voice softened. “Ellie, I’m sorry. But look at the photo. His heart is gone.” He asked again: “Do you notice anything strange?”

I forced myself to look again, which is when it hit me. “There’s no wound where it was removed. Is there one on the back?”

“No.”

I shook my head, my tears drying up. “But how…?”

“Exactly.How.”

I lifted my face and stared into his eyes. “Tom, I swear to you. I have no idea what’s going on. I didn’t even know anything about it until you just told me.” But if something evil was killing children, I didn’t know what it was or how to stop it.

He closed the file. “It’s okay, Ellie. I believe you.”

The image of the little boy was burned into my brain, and I knew I was about to lose it. “Can I go now?”

“In a minute. I want to ask you a few more things.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

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