The Legend of Silver and Gold Book Two The Old Ones
Chapter Twenty Five

“Molly…Molly.” Molly saw a large snake in front of her. It hissed as it slithered around her. “Molly.” The snake hissed before it lunged at her.

Molly screamed as she felt the ground below her collapse, causing her to fall. As she fell, she saw the snake falling after her, its mouth open, revealing four fangs. “You’re not escaping me that easily!” The snake hissed.

Molly saw her life flash before her as she fell. Some of what she saw didn’t make sense to her…

…a woman smiling at her before a man with a mask took her away…

…her mother looking at someone above her while saying something…

…herself in a vehicle looking ahead at her mother as she drove…

Molly then saw herself on the bus where she had felt such pain before passing out. She started crying because she knew what she was about to feel. “Please don’t.” She sobbed before she screamed in pain.

Molly curled up as the pain became too much for her. She screamed more before feeling someone shake her.

Molly opened her eyes and sat up on her bed. The bedside lamp was on. That was when she saw Carver sitting on the edge of her bed. He had a worried look on his face. Molly wiped her eyes. She could tell that she had been crying for real.

“You were having a nightmare.” Carver told her. “Want to talk about it?”

Molly wiped her eyes again as she crawled over to Carver. She leaned against him and shook her head as she started to cry again. She felt alone and needed someone for support.

Carver wrapped his arm around Molly, holding her in a comforting hug. “It’s okay.” He told her. “It was just a nightmare.” He wasn’t sure what Molly had been dreaming of but he knew that nightmares could be painful for people. “You’re safe Molly. Whatever you were having a nightmare about can’t hurt you.”

Molly clung to Carver as she cried. She could still feel the pain from her accident. It was like the nightmare had reawakened it.

It became quiet in Molly’s bedroom as Carver sat there and let Molly cry. Carver leaned down and gently kissed the top of Molly’s head. “You’re safe Molly.” He told her in a soft voice. “No monster is allowed in here unless Eir gives it permission to enter.”

Molly looked up at Carver. “I had a nightmare about a giant snake.” She told him in a quiet voice. She didn’t want to say it too loudly. She was afraid that if she did, the giant snake would appear in her bedroom. “It was chasing me, trying to kill me. The ground gave way and I fell down in the bus where I had my accident years ago. The snake was chasing me the entire time.”

Carver sighed and held Molly close to him. “It was just a nightmare.” He told her. “After everything that happened to you, I’m not surprised that you’re having nightmares.” He thought about the last few days. Molly had been chased after by so many nonhumans and humans. Her mother was dead and Tempest, whoever he was, was trying to get Molly.

Molly leaned against Carver and wrapped her arms around him. “Please stay here.” She whispered. She knew that Carver wasn’t her father or even her family but she didn’t want to be alone and having an adult who had magic was the closest thing to safety for her.

Carver looked at the door. Part of him wished that Eir or Tora was there. Either one of them would be more qualified to stay in the room and help Molly sleep. He felt Molly tighten her grip on him. He looked down at Molly. There must have been more to her nightmare to make her this afraid.

Carver saw that there was a couch in Molly’s bedroom. It was big enough for him to lie on and had a blanket and a few pillows. “I’ll be right over there.” He whispered to Molly. “I’ll stay awake until you fall asleep.”

Molly looked up at him. “Please don’t leave.” She whispered.

“I won’t.” Carver replied before he gently removed Molly’s arms from around him. He waited until Molly was back under her covers before he started walking around the room. His eyes glowed blue as he chanted a barrier reinforcement spell. The spell would cover the entire house and be stronger at the doors and windows. It would even enforce the barrier at the secret door in the garage.

Once he was done, Carver turned to Molly. The girl was under the covers with her eyes closed but was shivering, no doubt from her nightmare. Carver looked at the couch. It didn’t look like it could be moved so easily without scratching the floor. His eyes glowed again and the couch lifted into the air a few inches off of the ground. He slowly moved the couch over until it was a few inches away from Molly’s bed. He then lowered the couch.

Carver laid down on the couch and pulled the blanket over him. He looked at the bedside lamp. He would let the light stay on for Molly’s sake. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Thirteenth Precinct, New York City

Detective Hamilton was sitting at his desk reviewing the missing person’s case. The ex-husband of Elizabeth had checked out. She had been married to a Javier Blanca but besides the wedding certificate, there was no other sign that the guy existed. He had had Vanel Robertson, a strange first name but he wasn’t one to judge, over at City Hall’s records pull out all the files on Elizabeth Blanca and that was the only time a Javier Blanca had ever appeared.

Detective Hamilton shook his head. So Elizabeth’s disappearance was solved. She was in hiding from an ex. That still left him with two missing kids, a murdered woman who was murdered the same way a woman years before had been murdered and two, maybe three, missing adults where the scene at one of the locations looked similar to the two murder scenes. There was something he was missing.

“Still here I see.” Rivers said as he sat down at his desk. “This case is a tough one.”

“Is that why you’re still here?” Detective Hamilton asked as he looked at the case board.

“Yes.” Rivers replied as he held up a file. “Just got this from the hospital where Molly was born.”

Detective Hamilton frowned. “Why were you there?” He asked. The hospital wasn’t a part of the case.

“I was there because of something that I noticed in the autopsy report that the medical examiner gave us about Molly’s mother.” Rivers explained. “Something about her genetics didn’t add up but I didn’t realize what it was until I read this.”

Detective Hamilton looked at the file. “What does it say?” He demanded. He wasn’t about to let Rivers play a guessing game with him.

Rivers handed the file over to Detective Hamilton. “Apparently the birth certificate for Molly was a fake.” He replied. “The hospital found two birth certificates that were identical and nearly the exact same except for the names of the babies being different.”

Detective Hamilton frowned as he looked at both birth certificates. One was for Molly Miller and the other was for a Jane Matthews. “Jane Matthews?” He asked as he looked at Rivers. “Rivers, this doesn’t mean that the hospital faked a birth certificate for Molly. Do you know how many babies are born in a day at the same hospital?”

“I thought that too but that’s when the doctor I talked to showed me the next two papers, the reports for the babies.” Rivers replied.

Detective Hamilton wasn’t sure if it was worth it but he decided to look at the reports just to humor Rivers. He was glad he did after a few minutes. “They have the exact same blood type, even same genetic markers and same traits.” He paused for a moment as he thought about it.

“Basically yes, there was a lot more the doctor tried to explain which I didn’t exactly understand but it sounds like Jane Matthews and Molly Miller are the same baby.” Rivers explained before he leaned back in his seat. “You’ll never guess who Jane Matthew’s parents were.”

“Carver and Skye?” Detective Hamilton asked as a memory of the file of Carver and Skye came back to him. “It would make sense. According to what we found out about Skye, she had given birth to a baby that was stillborn but the hospital never provided a body because of a mishap with the paperwork shortly after the baby had been born.”

“Exactly what I thought.” Rivers said. “I was about to go pay the doctor who was in charge of that paperwork a visit.”

“You found out who that doctor was?” Detective Hamilton asked. He thought that whoever had messed the paperwork up would have used another name to hide their tracks. It didn’t sound like a mishap but rather a possible kidnapping or accidental switch at birth.

“Yeah. There was a Doctor Henry Miller who signed those papers and he just happens to be related to our murder victim.” Rivers replied. “He also lives down town still.”

“Definitely might help us figure things out.” Detective Hamilton said. This Henry Miller should have shown up to give a statement and yet he was the only one not to have shown up or given a statement over the phone even.