Chapter 18

       Not knowing where I saw that pattern Dirk was following to do his killings was bothering me way too much. I felt like the more time that went by, the higher chance someone else will die and it would be in my hands. I was the only one who recognized it, but I couldn't place it.

       I really wished my memory was a lot stronger at times.

       Or all the time.

       That way I wouldn't forget everything, like my own birthday.

       Was I born on the twenty-sixth or the twenty-seventh? The world may never know.

      While I was sitting at the table in the dining room, Jerome walked out of the bedroom and noticed me sitting there so he walked over. "Okay, what's wrong?" he asked.

       "Why would you assume something's wrong?" I asked.

       "Well, for starters, you're moping," Jerome said. "And you're just staring at that blueberry muffin sitting in front of you. If I recall, that is your favourite muffin flavour and I highly doubt you wouldn't eat it if it's sitting right in front of you."

       I sighed. "I'm really struggling to remenber where I saw that pattern. I know I've seen it before and the fact that I can't remember is going to make me feel really guilty if Dirk's team strike's again."

       "Nolan, you will figure it out," Jerome said. "And in the meantime, you cannot feel guilty if it does happen. Nobody else knows what the pattern is."

       "But I've seen it," I said. "I know I've seen the pattern somewhere and if I can just remember it, then we might be able to actually stop Dirk from killing again. Or even stop him forever."

       "And I want to stop him too, but I don't want you to take any sort of blame if we're not able to," Jerome said. "What's going on is beyond anyone's control, especially yours. Look, I know you. You're smart. You'll figure it out. I know you will."

       "You're only saying that to make me feel better."

       "No, I'm saying that because you're my boyfriend. My amazingly, attractive, intelligent boyfriend. You will figure it out. Maybe you can try to think of possible places you've seen it. On a billboard, on TV, in a painting, in a book..."

       That last word stood out to me the most, so I looked over at Jerome. "A book. I've definitely seen it in a book."

       "Okay," Jerome said. "Which one?"

       "I don't know," I said. "If I knew, I would have said the title of the book, obviously."

       "You know, I'm trying to help you remember so the least you can is, I don't know, lay off the sass."

       I snorted. "Yeah, sure."

       Jerome sighed. "Okay, that's a no to laying off the sass. What about the book? You've seen the pattern in a book. Do you at least remember where you've read that book?"

       "Well, the only place I could think of that has books are libraries. There's one at the HQ but I read in there all the time and definitely would have remembered it in there. And anyone else in the HQ who goes to the library regularly would have recognized the pattern."

       "So... Where else have you read books?"

       "Uh... Here? But these are your books. You would have recognized the pattern."

       "Well... I've never really read all of these books. They were given to me by my dad and a lot of them contain spells. I just never bothered to read them because I'm more powerful than he is."

       "Spells," I repeated. "It's a spellbook I read. Some of yours have patterns you have to move your hand in order to complete the spell. It must have been one of those."

       I got up from the table and went over to the bookshelf. Jerome got up and followed me, asking, "Yeah, I have a question. Why would you read one of my spellbooks?"

       "I like reading and I've always found spells interesting," I said as I scanned the bookshelf for any book that stood out. "And I have a question for you. The pattern is a spell. You're a sorcerer. How can you not recognize the pattern?"

       "Probably because it's a spell out of my power," Jerome said.

       "Really?" I asked. "I thought you were the world's most powerful sorcerer."

       "I've never said that."

       "You say that all the time."

       "Okay, so you remember me saying that but you don't remember which book you've seen the spell?"

       I shrugged and pulled a brown leather book off of the bookshelf and began flipping through it. "My memory is a beautiful thing. That, and you say it at least once a day. So, world's most powerful sorcerer, how is a spell out of your power limits?"

       "There are spells out of everyone's limits," Jerome said. "Way too dangerous for anyone to even attempt. And since I'd rather, you know, live I haven't even attempted them, let alone study them."

       I found the pattern I was looking for, so I walked back to the table and sat down, placing the opened book in front of me. Jerome walked over as well, standing behind me. "There's no description," I said. "Just the pattern."

       Jerome leaned over so he could look at the pattern, "Wait, I know this one. My dad told me about it and to avoid it at all costs."

       "Oh, so now you recognize it and not when it was pinpointed on the map?" I asked.

       "It's more defined here," Jerome said. "On the map, it didn't have all the lines connecting. You're a genius, so you were able to see it. Anyway, this spell is one that can bring people back to life. In order to do it, you need to take someone's life. But there are high risks. The person performing the spell might die, or the person they're bringing back might not come back the way they want."

       "Why would Dirk follow this pattern then?" I asked.

       "I'll admit, he can be smart at times," Jerome said. "Protectors aren't allowed to work with supernaturals. He probably thought only a sorcerer would recognize the pattern and even if a Protector did, it would be like bragging. He likes showing off."

       "Do you think he's going to do the spell?"

       "It's possible. If the person doesn't come back the way he wants, he can still use it to his advantage. They'll be very disformed. Very demon-like."

       "Very terrifying. I'm guessing like nothing we've ever seen."

       "Exactly. Seeing something uncharted will throw Protectors off, and those demon-like things might not be able to be killed so easily."

       "But... There's still a chance Dirk can be killed trying to do the spell. Why would he attempt it?"

       "Simple. He likes to overestimate his powers. Likes to think he's more powerful than he actually is. If anyone were to try one of these powerful spells, he would be the one. He might not try it, though. Whatever the reason is of him following the pattern, it just made things a lot easier because we can find out where he's striking next."

       I nodded and pulled out my cell phone, opening a map of Miami and placing pins where all the attacks were.

       "I don't get your memory," Jerome said. "You can't remember your birthday, when you last ate, where you placed your cell phone, yet you can remember all of these locations?"

       "In my defense, if I don't remember when I last ate, it's an excuse to eat more."

       "You'd eat more anyway if you did remember."

       "...Touche. And in regards to remembering these, I tend to be more likely to remember important information for Protectors. I may not be one anymore, but these places were etched into my mind. Apart from that, if we follow the pattern, he's going to strike..." I placed a pin in the location. "Right here."

       "And what's right here? Anything standing out?"

       I zoomed in on the location, seeing one thing that did stand out. "The bowling alley."

       "The bowling alley? That's..."

       "The werewolf hangout."

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dun dun dunnnnn

i absolutely love when i try publising a chapter and the app freezes on me. :) but, i've been smart so far. i copy each chapter so i can paste it just in case.

except this time when i went to paste it, i accidentally copied what was already in here. :') at least it was already a lot so i only had to rewrite a bit.

ANYWAY jerlan is superior and the best couple out there