Recognition flashed on her face. “I heard about that on the news,” she said. “I didn’t know you knew her. That is horrible.” She looked around at all of the faces in the shop. People were smiling, laughing, crying, and hugging. "So is this a kind of wake for her?”
“Kind of,” he said. “We decided to hold a gathering here for the community because a lot of people are scared right now. I thought that being in a common place might help reduce some anxieties. I'm not sure if it’s helping.”
“Why are people scared?” She remembered running in the rain to her apartment building the night she heard about the murder, and regretted the question immediately.
“I don’t know how much you have heard about her, if anything, but people like her have a reason to be afraid,” he said.
Now she was even more intrigued. What did he mean, people like her? “What do you mean exactly?”
He looked around at the crowded space, “Follow me,” he said, and led her into the back break room. He closed the door and turned around to look at her. His voice was quiet. “Look. There are a lot of folks who live a life that most people know nothing about, and everyone likes to keep it that way. What happened to June is the main reason. Crazy assholes have been killing people like her for thousands of years.”
“There you go with the people like her comment again,” she said. “What do you mean?”
“June was a witch,” he said.
“You think she was murdered because she was a witch?” she asked. “Don’t you think that is a bit paranoid?”
“Maybe. Maybe it was just a random killing. Or maybe more people like her are in danger.”
“I think maybe you’re overreacting. One woman is killed, and you’re talking like there is a serial killer on the loose,” she said.
He crossed his arms defiantly. “Maybe you should be more concerned about all of this with those dreams you’re having.”
She pulled her head back, confused. “What is that supposed to mean? And why are you telling me all this if it is all supposed to be some huge secret?”
“You’re right. I probably shouldn’t be telling you any of this. But I saw some of your dreams, and I am pretty damn sure you’re a witch too. So go ahead and say we’re all being paranoid all you want, but I think you need to be paranoid too.”
“You saw some of my dreams? What does that mean?! What are you talking about?”
“When I touched your hand, your dreams just shot into my head. You’re dreaming about my coven’s circle. And I usually have to make an effort to pick up images from people, but yours just forced yourself onto me. That has never happened to me before, and I think that had more to do with you than me,” he said.
She couldn't wrap her head around this. “What did you see, exactly?”
“I saw us dancing in circle. I know it was us because I saw my back and my tattoos.” He kept the information about seeing her with Claire to himself. Even though he didn’t mean to see it, it felt like a violation and he was ashamed to have that in his head. He didn’t want to embarrass her, and he felt like that was a secret he needed to keep.
“This is all too much. I can’t keep up with how many things don’t make any sense to me right now,” she said. She sat down in a chair, leaned over and put her head in her hands. Jeremy sat in the chair next to her.
“Have you experienced your dreams,” he paused, “coming true before?”
Emily furrowed her brows in confusion, and while she immediately thought that had never happened, she remembered one dream in particular. “I had a dream that my parent’s sat me down and told me they were getting a divorce. Two weeks later the exact thing happened.” She felt uneasy. “I didn’t think about it… I was so young.”
Jeremy nodded assuringly.
“But why would they be getting so intense right now? I have gone years without noticing any pattern, noticing any coincidences, and now my dreams are practically assaulting me.”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “I know this is all a lot. But if you want, I’d like to help you. I think you should come back to my house. There are some folks I’d like to introduce you to.”
The thought drifted into her head again, rabbit hole . “Okay, sure.”
He stood up and put his hands on his hips. “I need to get back out there. Do you want to come by my house Friday night?”
She was distracted and still trying to process everything he said in just the last five minutes. Let alone the last few months. “Yeah Friday night should work,” she said, dazed.
“Perfect.” He opened the door for her and followed her out. The store was still full of people. “Did you want to look around at all or are you going to take off?” he asked.
“I was going to look around, but I think I’ll just go. I’d like to come back another time when it’s less busy,” she said. “And I think I need to go home and think about this”
“Okay. I’ll text you details about Friday. Thanks for stopping by.” Jeremy smiled at her. “Don’t worry. I think this is going to all turn out okay.” He turned and soon disappeared into the crowd.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A BLUE OLDSMOBILE station wagon was parked across the street from the cottage.
“The brunette,” Suzan said. “You recognize her?”
“Yes.” Angel flipped through a few pages of a tattered book and pointed at a polaroid showing Emily leaving the store. “This is from last week. This is only the second time I’ve seen her here in the last two months.”
“Not exactly a regular,” she said. “Well, note her again.”
“I already did, my love,” he mumbled under his breath. He turned the pages. They were covered in polaroids and notes of each person. Each suspect had a page with their photo and any information they had gathered about that person.
“If that bitch would have told us anything we wouldn't have to keep sitting here waiting for information,” she said.
“We need to pick the right people so we can come up with the right plan,” he told her.
“I know.” She looked back at him, “But I didn't think it was going to keep being so easy.” She picked up the book and shook it in his face. “All of this prep work is a waste of time. I think we can just start picking people off one by one. This has been going better than we thought it would.”
“And what happens if we slip up?” he asked. “What if we get someone who is innocent?”
She scoffed. “None of these people are innocent. Guilty by association as far as I’m concerned. You saw the kinds of shit they have in that place. Nothing in there is forgivable. Nobody is going into that store by accident.”
“We went in there,” he said.
She sighed and put the book back on her lap. “You think there is another set of people around here like us, hunting these demon lovers down?”
“No.” He looked down at his hands. “I just don’t want to accidentally hurt anyone who is innocent.”
“I think we have more than enough to go after number two.” She smiled. “I say we do it tonight.”
Angel looked at the store and the people inside. He felt a deep sadness for them, and he knew he had to help her save them. “Okay. Tonight.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CLAIRE HAD FINISHED six new paintings, and was working on a seventh. The loss of her marriage had stunted her productivity, but it seemed that the loss of her mentor was fueling it. She was losing herself in her work again, and she was crying a little less each day. She was painting June. She was painting death. She was painting tarot cards. She was painting dark figures lurking in the shadows.
She had skipped the gathering at the cottage. While her grief was now coming and going and not so constant, she still didn’t feel prepared to see so many people. She didn’t think she’d be able to keep it together in that environment. She knew June would understand, and she needed to mourn her in her own way. During the gathering at the cottage while Claire had the covenstead to herself, she wrote a protection s
pell. She texted the ingredients to Jeremy and asked him to pick them up from the shop. She also pulled out all the materials needed for creating new witch bottles and wards for the coven. Not only had her motivation for her work diminished in recent months, but she knew her leadership in the coven had taken a dip as well. Jeremy was going easy on her, but she needed to step up. As the high priestess it was her responsibility to keep her coven safe. There was no way she could lose another person she loved. Tonight she was going to start to put her life back together.
The sun was nearing the horizon, and the sky was filled with a reddish orange hue. Inside the house, the coven stood surrounding the kitchen table. The table was covered in jars, bags, and piles of herbs. Red yarn, and bowls full of needles, nails, and glass sat around a large book in the middle of the table. Each person took turns flipping through the book and grabbing items. Candles were lit on the table and around the room, and incense was burning. They were making witch bottles and working on wards; following recipes that had been passed down from the witches before them. They had worked in silence since they got there. Spirits were low and they were all focused on the goal for the evening. Jeremy decided he wanted to bring Emily up to the group tonight.
“So since we’re all here, I thought I would mention an interesting interaction I had today at the shop.”
“I think we are all ready for a break from mourning right now,” Claire said. “Can we focus on this work, please and not talk about stories from today?”
“Well this is actually related to this work, in a way. Or, it could be, maybe.”
“What is it then?” Claire said.
“So the woman I told you guys about. She came into the shop today,” he said. “We had a quick talk, and she agreed to come by and meet everyone on Friday. I think her dreams are clairvoyant, and we may be able to help her hone her skills.”
“Is now really the best time to be adding someone to the coven? I know I mentioned this, but how do we know we can trust her? Olivia asked.
“It’s not like we couldn't use the help,” Tanner said. “Maybe she would be a good asset to the coven.”
“But how much time and training would it take to get her to be a contributing member?” Olivia asked. “She might end up holding us back and becoming a weakness.”
“She's right,” Claire said. “The only project we need right now is keeping ourselves safe.”
“I think she can help us stay safe,” Jeremey stressed. “Her dreams show what’s going to happen to her. If she’s part of the coven, maybe her dreams will show her what will happen to all of us,” he explained. “If anything, she could use our help. I really think she’s coming into some power that she can’t control and doesn’t understand.”
Nobody replied.
“I invited her over to meet everyone on Friday. You guys can see what you think.”
“Well you already made the plan with her so there isn’t much we can do except go along with it,” Claire said. She was trying to keep herself from getting too annoyed with him. She knew he was doing his best and had been trying to pick up her slack for months. “Maybe she’ll be a perfect fit.” Claire smiled at Jeremy, and he smiled back, relieved.
Allison hadn’t spoken much since she arrived. She looked around at the group and broke the silence by saying, “She was stabbed thirteen times.” Everyone looked at her, stunned. “And the killer wrote his name on the wall in her blood.”
“Jesus, Allison,” Jeremy said. “Can you not, right now?”
“Sorry I just… I just can’t believe it,” Allison said. “I just don’t understand how this could happen.” She started crying. “What if it were one of us?”
Claire tightened her face and clenched her jaw. “That is why we are doing all of this right now.” She started picking up the supplies off of the table. “Is everyone finished? I think we need to get this spell going.”
Olivia put her arms around Allison and led her into the living room. Tanner helped Clair clean up the kitchen.
“Jeremy can you get circle set up?” Claire asked.
“Sure thing,” he said.
They were quiet as they prepared and thought about the goal for the evening. They all pushed their sadness, anger, and fear down into a dark place inside themselves, and let it simmer. They would use it all in circle that night, forcing all of the fire inside their bodies into the spell that they were going to send out into the universe with all the power they could muster.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SHEFF SQUINTED TO see through the rain as he drove. The highway was wet, and the headlights of his old pickup were dimmer than they should be. He was on his way to his cabin and looking forward to a weekend away from the shop. No customers, no curious teenagers, just relaxation and real magic. He built the cabin on land he had purchased fifteen years ago. Ten acres of woods with a small clearing. He spent a year building the cabin, and the summer after that creating a walkway to a large clearing a short distance from the building. He tended to it each season, creating a secluded enchanted place in the woods. He had made plans for a large gazebo type roof for the circle. Nine posts surrounding the circle, connected by planks overhead. A hole in the middle would be left for the altar fire, and the roof around the circle would be removable on clear nights. He loved practicing out in the natural world. He loathed the thought of witches hiding in basements and houses behind closed curtains. Witches needed to practice in the nature they revered. He thought about his project and his happiness was met with trepidation. It was getting harder for him to get around, and a project of that size was too much for him to complete alone. The younger folks he knew in the city were often too busy to come up to his property to help with anything, so he hadn’t bothered asking. He might start asking around next spring to see if anyone could help out. He knew that people loved the space so far, and if he got over his nervousness of asking for help, he was sure it was a project people would love to have something to do with. But he wouldn’t be working on it anytime soon. This weekend was for relaxing. For getting a break from the public mourning of June, and the ability to grieve in peace. There was no magic on the schedule, just a fire and a book. He couldn’t wait. One of his favorite things about the cabin was the drive there. The time driving out of the city let him transition into a different state of mind. It was a good way to slow down and shift between the speed of the city and the calm of the woods.
He saw hazard lights flashing up ahead. The road wasn’t busy, and being about an hour out of town he decided to pull over and make sure the people were okay. He wouldn’t be much help if there was anything wrong with the car, but maybe they would need to use his phone. He put on his blinker and pulled up behind the car. He put the car in park, and turned the hazards on in his truck as well.
“Hi there,” he said. He saw a woman sitting in the driver’s seat and approached the car slowly. “Do you need any help? Are you okay?” He got to the side of the car and looked in the windows. The backseat was full of blankets, and the woman was looking out the window at him. She was rubbing her hands together to keep them warm. “Do you need any help?” he yelled at her. He didn’t want to scare her, but he wasn’t sure how well she could hear him from outside the car. She rolled the window down a few inches and peered up at him. “Hi, do you need any help?” he repeated.
“Oh, um. I don’t know,” she said. “My car just stopped. Do you know anything about cars?”
“Unfortunately, no.” he said. “My name is Sheff. Do you need to use my phone to call anyone?”
“I know your name,” she said. She smiled and rolled her window back up. Sheff heard a footstep next to him and turned to look, only seeing a man’s foot before he was struck. His vision went black. Sheff collapsed onto the pavement and a pool of blood grew around his head. The man hit him again seven times.
Suzan stepped out of the car and over Sheff’s body. “Let's get him in the car quickly,” she said. “We can’t let anyone see us.”
They struggled to
move him around to the other side of the car. They saw headlights and waited to hoist him into the car until the car sped by. The car passed and they pulled him up into the backseat. “Get his feet!” she yelled at Angel. “Another car is coming.” She reached to the car’s dash and turned off the hazard lights. She looked back and saw the truck behind them, it’s hazards still flashing as well. “Go turn his truck’s flashers off!” she yelled.
“Do you want me to get his feet in, or turn off his flashers?” he asked.
“Both! Now!” she yelled.
Angel pushed his feet in the car and closed the door. He ran to the truck and another car was approaching behind them.
A man stuck his head out the window. “Do you all need some help?” he asked.
“No, we are all good now! All sorted out. Thank you!” He smiled and waved at the car. He wanted the driver to keep looking at him so he wouldn’t notice the blood on the side of the road next to their car.
“Okay, I just had to make sure,” the driver said. “We gotta look out for each other, you know!”
“We sure do!” Angel said. The driver put his blinker back on and pulled back onto the freeway. He sped off and into the darkness, and the man let out a long sigh. He turned the hazard lights off and realized he didn’t get Sheff’s car keys. “Fuck,” he said. He ran back to the car where Suzan was waiting for him impatiently. She shoved the keys in his hand without looking at him.
“You forgot these,” she said. She placed her hands on the steering wheel and looked at the road. “Did that guy see anything?”
“No. No I don’t think so,” he said.
“Okay. Let's go get rid of this. Are you going to be behind me?” she said.
“Yes,” he said. He ran back to the truck and started it. They pulled off the shoulder, back onto the road, and drove into the darkness.
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