The Magic Shop

by Justin Swapp

  They had no sooner placed a foot on the first step than the door swung open. ”Get in, quickly,” Tofu said gruffly. He must have been watching through the window.

  Marcus entered the shop and froze as soon as he heard the crunch of broken glass under his feet. The paintings still rocked back and forth on the wall. The bookshelf had been knocked over, and its contents were scattered along the floor.

  “What happened?” Marcus asked. “Is grandma—”

  “You happened,” his grandma said, flying at him from out of nowhere. She pinned him up against the wall and whacked him on the arm.

  “First I lose my husband,” she spat, “all kinds of crazy thoughts running through my head about where he was, or what could be happening to him. And what did I have left?” She stopped her foot on the ground, nearly stepping on Marcus’s foot. “I had you children. So what am I to think when I go to look for you and find you gone?”

  “I’m sorry, Grandma,” he said, “I just—”

  “You won’t know the true meaning of sorry until I’ve figured out a punishment suited for—”

  “Now, now, Charlotte,” Winston said, holding his back as he entered the shop behind Marcus, “they were busy saving me.”

  Charlotte’s attention quickly diverted to her husband, and she ran to him and embraced him, tears running down her cheeks.

  Marcus squeezed Ellie playfully on the arm. “I’ve never been so grateful to see Grandpa,” he said. She slapped him in the arm.

  Suddenly, Charlotte pushed her husband into another wall. “And you,” she said angrily, “I thought you were supposed to be a magic wielder.” Now she was pointing a finger. “How could you go and let yourself get caught by a couple of kids?”

  “We need to get ahold of Elba,” Winston said, “and summon the Kabbahl immediately. The situation is far worse than either of us thought.”

  “Are you mad?” a calm, female voice said. Marcus watched Elba glide into the room, her familiar red dress and dark black hair flowing with her as if she didn’t have a care in the world. She smoked a thin cigarette attached to a long crystal cigarette holder.

  “Marcus,” Elba said, “I left you clear instructions, did I not?”

  “I—”

  “I’m glad you’re okay, Winston,” she said, sliding a broken picture frame out of her way as she sat down on a chair and crossed her legs, “but you are obviously not well. We can handle Sol and Mirella ourselves.”

  “No, you can’t,” Winston said. “If what the children tell me is true, those two have broken the most serious of rules that even the Kabbahl has laid down before them.”

  “We’ve known of their rebellion for ages, Winston,” Elba said. “That’s why neither group will claim them any longer.”

  “No, Elba. It’s worse. They randomly gave Ellie a vial that contained pure magic.”

  Elba stood quickly, but managed to maintain her composure. ”What are you saying?” she asked. “That they are trafficking magic?” Marcus noticed her eyes gravitate to Ellie as if she had smelled something rotting just behind his sister. So curious was this behavior that Marcus even looked behind her, but saw nothing but Ellie. He turned back just in time to see Elba placing a cube of black licorice into her mouth.

  “Okay,” Ellie said, raising a hand and looking for someone to relate to, “I’ll admit that I’m totally lost. What’s a Kabbahl?”

  Elba sighed. “Have you told them nothing, Winston?” she said in her chocolate-smooth voice. Her eyes were fixed on Ellie still, like she saw something she didn’t quite like. “The Kabbahl is a council of magic users, Ellie, comprised of both Dun-Bhar and Shar-Din. They have been alive for many decades, and, aside from their other responsibilities, they set the rules on magic usage among our kind,” Elba said. She shifted her eyes to Winston, considering him. “It’s been a very long time since The Kabbahl has been summoned. You can imagine the kind of reunion that might take place when the Dun-Bhar and Shar-Din cross paths again.”

  “I don’t understand anything you are saying,” Ellie said, flopping her arms at her side. “Could someone explain this, please?”

  Amidst the rising commotion, Marcus considered the idea of the Kabbahl for a moment, and quickly concluded that it would be a death wish. He remembered Elba’s counsel in the catacombs about the temptation that magic would present, and he had indeed felt its strong pull. He knew how hard it was to resist, and could only imagine what would happen with that many powerful magic wielders in one place. The pull would be incredible.

  “The Dun-Bhar are like the carnivores of magic,” Marcus said, his eyes glazed over as he heard himself express this out loud for the first time. “They feel a powerful draw to it, a pull that is nearly impossible to resist. If they can sense it, then they feel they must have it. It’s like a hunger that can’t be filled, a thirst that can’t be quenched. The Dun-Bhar give in, and the Shar-Din don’t?”

  Ellie raised her eyebrows and looked at her grandpa. “Is that what I did to Faustino?”

  “Faustino?” Elba asked, reaching a hand out to Ellie, looking disturbed. “What happened, Winston?”

  As he recounted the events of his capture and rescue in detail, an odd look washed over Elba’s face. When he described Ellie’s courage, Elba nodded. In her subtle way, she smiled for the first time since they had entered the shop.

  “So you used the Brim, eh?” Elba asked with a smirk. “Good girl. Then there is much you and I have to discuss as well.”

  “That can wait, Elba” Winston said. “First you need to summon the Kabbahl.”

  “Do you understand the risk I take in summoning them, Winston?”

  An unexpected bell rang out above them as the shop door opened. Winston, Marcus, and Ellie each armed themselves with their brim and aimed them at the beautiful, albeit distressed-looking woman that rushed into the shop.

  “Winston,” she said. “You have to come—”

  “Anabell!” Charlotte exclaimed. She tilted her head as she stared at the young woman. “Why aren’t you at the hospital?”

  “Your son,” she said, panting, “he’s taken a turn for the worse. We need that skull.”

  Charlotte clutched at her chest; and for the first time, Marcus saw his grandpa’s lip quiver uncontrollably.

  “This isn’t Anabell,” Ellie said, jerking thumb at the stranger.

  “Yeah, we’ve seen Anabell lots of times, and this isn’t her,” Marcus said. “Maybe the shock has gotten to us all.”

  “This is Anabell,” their grandpa said firmly to the children before turning back to Anabell and grabbing her by the elbows. “Honey, what’s happened?”

  “Do you have the skull?” she asked, ignoring his question.

  “No,” Winston answered. “We were held captive by Mirella and Sol, and—”

  “Wait,” Marcus cut in, holding up a finger. He brushed by Anabell, still giving her an examining look, and stepped outside. Looking past the few remaining pedestrians on the street, Marcus could see the front door to The Magic Box some distance down the way, but the skull was nowhere to be seen. Neither were Jason, Mirella, or Sol.

  Stepping back inside the shop, Marcus slammed the door behind him and shook his head. “It’s gone. I told you we should

  have—”

  “What’s happened, Anabell?” Charlotte asked, blinking rapidly. “Tell us everything.”

  Anabell nodded. “I was telling Caleb about my findings for the day,” she said, hugging herself, “and—”

  “Findings?” Marcus asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “Don’t interrupt” his grandma scolded, slapping him on the shoulder. “Go on, Anabell.”

  She swallowed hard, and started again. “Then he looked confused, like he didn’t recognize me anymore, and he couldn’t remember what we were trying to do. That’s never happened before, Charlotte.”

  “Then what happened?” Winston asked.

  “Then he started drawing pictures,” Anabell said, “and he wouldn’t stop.
”

  “That’s not so strange, Anabell,” Winston said, “you know very well that Caleb has always loved art—especially drawing. He was always good at it.”

  “Yes, sir,” Anabell said, “but they were all of the same thing, just in different ways.”

  “Well, what did he draw?” Elba asked, taking a step forward.

  “I don’t understand it,” Anabell said, “but this is—” Charlotte plucked the piece of paper from Anabell’s hand just as soon as she had pulled it from her purse.

  “Are you serious?” Charlotte said, her faced screwed up. “A tree? This is nonsense.”

  “If it’s nonsense, then you won’t mind if I take a look at it,” Elba said, snatching it from her.

  Elba stared. Her mouth gaped open, and she looked at Winston, her eyes opened wide. “Look at this,” she said, handing the paper to him.

  Grandpa studied the picture a moment, and then he closed his eyes. “Elba, we need to summon the Kabbahl at once, and this is further proof. Somehow Caleb knows.”

  “A tree?” Marcus asked. “What does a tree have to do with the Kabbahl?”

  “It’s not just any tree,” his grandpa said, turning the picture over to Marcus. “Look.”

  Ellie stood next to Marcus as he inspected the paper. As they said, there was a tree drawn on the paper, but it was unlike any that he had ever seen. Marcus could tell it was a tree, but the strokes that made it up seemed to flicker on the page, like the tree was on fire. Above the tree, but forming part of it, was a flaming bird.

  “You’re looking at the tree of life, or, from the Kabbahl’s perspective, the Phoenix’s tree,” their grandpa said. “This is the symbol of the Kabbahl. Life reborn in magic.”

  “I’ve never heard that,” Anabell said.

  “It’s from before your time, Anabell,” Winston said. “It’s even before Charlotte’s time, for that matter.”

  “Flattery will get you nowhere,” his wife said, pursing her lips before adding, “old man.”

  Marcus bit his fingernail and glanced sideways at Ellie, raising his eyebrows. He didn’t want to hear where this conversation was going.

  “So what’s the hold up?” Ellie asked. “If our next move is so clear, let’s just summon the Kabbahl and be done with it.”

  “It’s not quite that simple,” her grandpa said with sigh. “As Elba said, there are risks to be considered.”

  “What risks?” Marcus asked.

  “The fact that someone could get killed,” Tofu said, pacing the room. “I can’t believe you are even suggesting this, Winston. There has to be another way.”

  “Killed?” Ellie asked, fidgeting with her hands.

  “Aside from half the Kabbahl wanting to drain your magic because they are Dun-Bhar, there are rules about summoning the Kabbahl,” Elba said, looking at Ellie and popping another licorice cube into her mouth.

  “What rules?” Ellie asked.

  “The Kabbahl has the right to judge the worth of their summoning,” Elba said. “It’s not like they get to decide when they are summoned. If they deem our reason for calling them together to be unworthy, by right they could choose to kill the summoner.”

  “They wouldn’t do that though, would they?” Marcus asked. “I mean, we have a great reason to—”

  “Oh yes they would,” his grandpa said, looking out the window and stroking his chin. “Please understand. We’re not dealing with normal people in the Kabbahl. Some of these people kill just for the sake of killing. They used to kill people just so everyone else would remember that to call them meant putting their lives at risk.”

  “If it’s so dangerous,” Marcus said, “then let’s find another way.”

  “We’re losing Caleb fast,” Anabell said. “And unless you happen to have the Phoenix’s skull lying around here still, I’m afraid we will need the Kabbahl’s help.”

  “But we don’t,” Marcus said, looking out the front door. “We could just go back to The Magic Box and take the skull they stole from us.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” his grandpa said, shaking his head and waving an arm. “Your grandmother couldn’t bear to lose you kids again.”

  “But they’re weak,” Marcus said, pointing down the street. “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you. Mirella and Sol collapsed as we left the other shop.”

  The room fell silent.

  “Collapsed?” Elba asked. “If this is true, we should consider—”

  “It’s too risky,” Winston said. “We tried that before, and I think we can all agree that it didn’t turn out quite the way we wanted. I say we summon the Kabbahl.”

  Anabell’s hands trembled. “Could we just do something, please? My husband is dying.”

  Marcus crossed his arms and looked spitefully at Winston. “We should have picked up the skull when we were still leaving.”

  “You had a chance to get the skull?” Anabell asked.

  “It was too dangerous,” Winston said. “Now Marcus, I’m sorry we didn’t go back, but you two were inundating me with questions, and I just wanted to make sure our family was safe.”

  “Let’s just do something,” Ellie said. “We can’t stay here. For all we know, Mirella and Sol could appear at any moment.”

  Elba sighed. “Then it’s settled,” she said with a thin smile. She walked across The Magic Shop and through the far door to the living area. Everyone followed. Tossing back the tapestry and hooking it on the wall, Elba sighed.

  “You removed the blue room?”

  “Yes,” Charlotte said, rubbing her necklace.

  Elba nodded. “Very good then.” She reached into her purse and withdrew a stick of purple lipstick. She carefully drew an outline of a door where the blue room had once been. She removed her long crystal cigarette holder from her purse and waved it along the lines she just drew.

  A faint, purple light broke through the wall along the lipstick lines. A moment later, the space inside the lines faded, giving way to what seemed like a dark, dusty passage. The only light to be seen was a faint glow at the end of the tunnel.

  “Whoa,” Marcus said. “I never get tired of seeing that.”

  “There is magic lipstick?” Ellie asked.

  “No, darling,” Elba said, waving them through the passage. “It just helps me draw a straight line. Aiming with the brim alone is difficult. It helps to have something to trace, visually.

  “That’s your brim?” Marcus asked. “I thought it had to be a crystal ball.”

  “No, no, no,” she said, sounding for a moment like a schoolteacher. “Uribrim is just the only material that can contain magic and keep it stable. Brims can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Now let’s get a move on. We must leave here at once.”

  They followed Elba’s orders, and one by one they entered the portal she had created.

  “Go toward the light,” Marcus said in a sort of moaning tone that he usually reserved for Halloween.

  Ellie, following Marcus and the others, swung her arm to slug her brother, but Elba caught her hand just as they crossed the threshold.

  “Let him have his fun, dear,” Elba said quietly, and then she patted Ellie’s hand. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.” Then the wall slowly filled in behind them, and if pulled by some unseen hand, the tapestry fell back into place, and they were gone.

  20

  The Summoning

  Something crunched beneath Marcus’s feet. He paused, considering what it could be, but followed the others when he saw that they continued without reservation. A moment later he stepped out of the darkness and into a spacious building that looked like it belonged in an European History book. Fractured pillars lined the oblong-shaped room, supporting an ornate, but antiquated balcony that overlooked the large, empty space before them. It was clear that this place had been abandoned for some time.

  Marcus raised his hand, disturbing the dust particles floating in the random rays of light that shone through the cracks in the domed ceiling. The room
was laden with leaves, twigs, and other debris that the elements had allowed into this place. He felt like he was in an enclosed Coliseum, but guessed that he was far from Rome.

  “What is this place?” Ellie asked, taking a step up one of the two parallel staircases on either side of the room that led to the balcony.

  “An old, deserted chapel,” Elba said, taking her time to pronounce each word as she stared off into the distance. “In a faraway place.” She took a deep breath.

  “A chapel? But I don’t see any pews or pulpits,” Marcus said, taking the staircase opposite to his sister. “The room is empty.”

  “That is because no one has been here for many, many years, Marcus,” his grandpa said. “And,” he added as he patted one of the pillars, “this place has been more than abandoned; it has been hidden.”

  Marcus took a deep breath. “So Sol and Mirella can’t find us then?”

  Before anyone could answer, Anabell interjected. “Is this where we find the Kabbahl?” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Do you really think they will be able to help Caleb?”

  “It isn’t a question of their capability, darling,” Elba said as she led the group to the center of the floor and knelt down to examine something. “It’s a question of their willingness.”

  As Elba began to brush away the debris from the floor, Marcus decided to explore the balcony. Ellie did the same, running all the way up the other staircase.

  Other than a few dusty seats, Marcus thought the balcony was mostly stark, like the level below them. He weaved in and out between the first few chairs, and finally made it to the opposite end of the room, where Ellie was waiting for him with an annoying smirk on her face that only a sister could make, sitting in the largest of the seats.

  “You’re getting slow in your old age,” she said as she wiped down the armrest. “Check this out.”

  “Hey, I’m only one minute older than you, speedy pants,” he said as she stood up and wiped down the rest of the seat. “Whooaaa,” he said, taking his time to pronounce the whole word. There were jewels embedded in the golden arms and tall back of the chair. “That’s a throne.”