All Chapters of The Return of The Forgotten Son: Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
89 chapters
The Skeptic
Dr. Richard Walsh appeared on a popular podcast six months into the network's operation.I wouldn't have known except that volunteers flagged it immediately. Subject: "Supernatural Investigator Calls Ashbourne Network a Dangerous Cult."I listened to the episode with mounting dread.Dr. Walsh was a psychology professor. Credentials impressive enough to lend weight to his words. And his words were damning."What Victoria Ashbourne has created is textbook cult behavior," he said in measured, academic tones. "She's exploiting vulnerable people's fear and grief. Convincing them that supernatural threats are real. Creating dependency on her 'network' for protection. This is psychological manipulation disguised as altruism."The host pushed back mildly. "But the families she's helped claim she saved their lives.""Of course they do. That's how manipulation works. She intervenes in what are actually mental health crises, performs theatrical 'rituals,' and takes credit when people recover nat
The Breaking Point
I started having panic attacks in month eight.The first one hit during a coordination meeting. We were working on three open cases, prioritizing response, when I all of a sudden couldn't breathe. The room started spinning. My heart was going staccato against the ribs as if trying to burst through.Sarah recognized it immediately. "Everyone out. Give us the room."When we were alone, she taught me how to breathe. "Four in, seven hold, eight out. Come on, Victoria. You know this."At last my breathing leveled out. The panic dissipated. But the exhaustion that replaced it was overwhelming."How long has it been going on?" Sarah asked."This is the worst so far. But I've been having mini-ones for weeks. I thought I could manage.""You need a break. An actual one. Not a day off when you're still checking for notifications. An actual break from this mission.""I can't. The Council…""The Council committed you to stopping imitative rituals, not to work yourself into oblivion. There is a dif
The Old Enemy
The letter arrived on expensive stationary.Hand-delivered to my flat by courier. No return address, just my name written in elegant calligraphy. Inside, a single page with a message that made my blood run cold.Dear Miss Ashbourne,*We have watched your crusade with interest. Your network has interfered with our business for the last time. Cease operations immediately or face consequences. We do not make empty threats.*The Crimson CircleI showed it to Dr. Marsh immediately. Her face went pale."The Crimson Circle. I was afraid of this.""Who are they?""Practitioners. Old-school occultists who believe supernatural power should be accessible to those willing to pay the price. They've operated in the shadows for centuries. Selling rare texts, facilitating rituals, profiting from desperate people's willingness to attempt dangerous magic.""They're angry because we're preventing their customers from killing themselves?""They're angry because you've made their product worthless. The As
The Investigation
Patricia's funeral was held on a grey morning that matched our collective mood.Her family was there. Husband, two adult children, grandchildren who didn't understand why Grandma wasn't coming home. They knew she'd been volunteering with some kind of crisis prevention network. They didn't know she'd been murdered by occultists for interfering with their business.I gave a eulogy. Talked about Patricia's compassion, her dedication, the lives she'd saved through patient conversation with desperate people. Didn't mention the supernatural aspects. Her family didn't need that burden.Afterward, her husband pulled me aside. "She believed in what you were doing. Said it was the most important work of her life. Don't let whoever killed her win. Keep doing the work."The weight of that responsibility settled on my shoulders. Patricia had died for this mission. The least I could do was make her death mean something.Detective Chen assembled a task force. Herself, three London detectives, a fore
The Retaliation
They came for me three nights after the indictments.I woke to my words screaming. Not metaphorically, the protective spells Dr. Marsh had installed made actual sounds when breached. High-pitched keening that meant something powerful was breaking through.I rolled out of bed, grabbed the emergency supplies I kept nearby. Salt, iron blade, pre-written banishment scrolls. Everything a practitioner needed to defend themselves against supernatural attack.The temperature dropped. Frost spread across my windows in patterns that looked deliberate. Threatening. Three figures materialized in my bedroom. Not solid, more like condensed shadow wearing human shapes."Victoria Ashbourne," they spoke in unison. Voices layered, wrong. "You have interfered for the last time.""Get out of my home." I threw salt in a circle around myself. Activated the secondary wards I'd prepared for exactly this situation. "You have no authority here.""We are the enforcers of the Crimson Circle. We have been granted
The Financial Trail
The forensic accountant's name was Margaret Lin. She arrived at our Oxford headquarters three days after Detective Chen made the request. Mid-forties, sharp eyes behind designer glasses, carrying a laptop that apparently contained enough investigative software to dismantle criminal empires."I've taken down drug cartels and human trafficking rings," she said without preamble. "If this Crimson Circle is hiding money, I'll find it."Dr. Marsh set her up in a private office. Provided access to everything we'd gathered—sales records, customer lists, property holdings, any financial information connected to the Circle's operation.Margaret worked with focused intensity. Barely spoke for three days except to request additional documents or clarification on details. When she finally emerged, she looked satisfied."They're good," she said. "Very good. Multiple shell corporations, offshore accounts, money moving through so many channels it's nearly untraceable. Nearly. But not quite."She spr
The Trial Begins
The trial started on a cold November morning.Old Bailey, London's Central Criminal Court. Historic building where some of Britain's most notorious criminals had been judged. Now it would judge the Crimson Circle.I attended every day. Sat in the gallery with Dr. Marsh, Sarah, and Marcus. Detective Chen sat with the prosecution team. Margaret Lin was on standby as an expert witness.The courtroom was filled with journalists. This case had attracted significant media attention. Not because of supernatural elements, those were carefully excluded from public proceedings, but because of the defendants' wealth and the scope of their financial crimes.Edmund Price looked diminished in the dock. Without his elegant bookshop and cultivated mystique, he was just a man in his sixties facing serious criminal charges. His six associates sat beside him, equally reduced.The prosecution's opening statement was methodical. Laid out the money laundering scheme, the tax evasion, the decades of crimina
Sentencing Day
Two weeks later, we returned to the courthouse.Sentencing day. When the judge would decide how many years Edmund Price and his associates would spend in prison. The courtroom was even more crowded than during the trial. Victims' families, media, curious observers.I sat with Detective Chen and Dr. Marsh. Sarah and Marcus had traveled down from their regions. We were united, presenting a strong front for what we hoped would be significant sentences.The prosecution had filed sentencing memorandums arguing for maximum penalties. Twenty-five years for the most serious money laundering charges. Additional time for tax evasion and fraud. Essentially life sentences for men in their sixties and seventies.The defense filed their own memorandums. Begged for leniency. Argued the defendants were first-time offenders, pillars of the community, elderly men who posed no threat to society.Before sentencing, victims could give impact statements. Several families of people who'd died after purchasi
The Successor
The warning came from a very unexpected source.Thomas Wright, the ex-Circle member who'd testified against Price, asked to see me in private. Detective Chen arranged it at a secure location, a conference room at a police station with officers nearby.Wright looked haunted. Prison had been kind to him under his immunity agreement, but guilt had clearly taken its toll."Thank you for seeing me," he said. "I know you have no reason to trust me.""You helped convict them. That earns some consideration. What did you need to tell me?""Price going to prison won't end the Circle. The organization is older and deeper than most people realize. Price was just the current leader. There are others."My stomach tightened. "We investigated thoroughly. Found all the key members.""You found the public faces. The people who ran the bookshop and handled transactions. But the real power behind the Circle, the ones who've maintained it for centuries—you never touched them.""Who are they?""I don't kno
The Academic
Dr. Emily Santos called three months after the sentencing of the Circle.The trauma specialist who'd defended our methods during the Dr. Walsh controversy. I remembered her as fair-minded, someone who approached supernatural claims with skepticism but also genuine curiosity."I've been following your work," she said. "The prevention network, the Circle prosecution, all of it. I'm impressed. I'd like to collaborate.""Collaborate how?""Research. Academic study of supernatural trauma and intervention methods. Your network has data nobody else has. Hundreds of intervention cases, outcome tracking, method effectiveness. That's valuable research material.""Our work isn't an academic exercise. These are real people in crisis.""I know. That's why it needs proper study. Victoria, you've built something unprecedented. But it's based largely on instinct and trial-and-error. Imagine what you could do with the rigorous methodology behind it."She had a point. We'd been operating on practitione