by Wendy Wang
“Same,” he said. “Looks like we finally have something in common.”
“Sure,” Charlie said, rolling her eyes.
“You don't like me,” he said.
“I like you fine,” she said. “You're just different than my old partner. I'm sorry if I seem a little distant, I guess.”
“Right,” he said. “Ben said that you were working for the police before.”
“I was. I still am. When time allows.”
“Sure,” Will said. “What do you do for them?”
“Mainly I help with cold cases and missing people. Every once in a while, a murder,” she said, downplaying her role.
“Oh, I see. How long have you been a witch?” he asked.
“Well, I was born a witch. Although I didn't start seriously practicing until almost two years ago. It's in my family.”
“So, you're what they call a natural-born witch then?” he asked.
“Something like that, yeah,” she said. “How about you? How did you become a vampire hunter?”
“When I was a kid, my best friend was turned into a vampire. My friends and I hunted down his maker and killed her. That's how I got the scar.” He pointed to the long scraggly white line running along his jaw.
“I'm so sorry. That's terrible. How old were you?”
“Thirteen.”
Charlie’s stomach churned. Evan was thirteen. She could not even conceive of her little boy hunting down a vampire and killing it. A thirteen-year-old was just a child.
“You look surprised,” he said.
“My son is thirteen. I can't even fathom him having the maturity to go on a vampire hunt. What happened to your friend? The one that was turned?”
“Okay, so here's what's going happen,” Ben said, approaching them again. “Lauren’s going to send some backup, and we’re gonna take that book out, put it in a lead box, and take it back to the headquarters. We’ll examine it in one of the clean rooms.”
Ben's gaze shifted from Charlie to Will and back to Charlie. “Everything okay?”
“Everything's just dandy, boss,” Will said. “I saw a diner down the street. Since y'all have your lunch, I'm gonna head down there and get a late breakfast before the backup gets here.”
“Sure. I'll join you,” Ben said. “I’ll save the sandwich for a snack or something later. It may just end up being dinner. Charlie, you want to join us?”
“Sure,” she said. “I'm not very hungry, but I can have a cup of coffee.”
“Cool.” Will headed toward the sidewalk. Charlie and Ben exchanged looks and began to follow.
Charlie paced the bus terminal for over an hour until the reinforcements arrived. She and Ben took turns speculating about the nature of the book, and Will scouted the street out front until Athena, Sabine, and Marigold poured out of their SUV with a lead-lined box covered with symbols.
“We’re going to look very conspicuous if we all walk in there together,” Charlie remarked, tilting her head to decipher the inscriptions. “Especially if we’re carrying that box.”
Will put one hand on his hip and scrubbed the scruff on this chin with the other. “She’s right about that.”
“What do you suggest?” Ben asked.
“Have you checked into your hotel yet?” Charlie asked.
“I have,” Ben said. “Why? What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that nobody will even look twice if you walk into that bus station with a suitcase in your hand.”
“Good thinking,” Ben said. “I think I have something that will work.”
He went around to the back of the FJ50 and opened the door. He retrieved a large duffle bag from beneath one of the jump seats and quickly emptied the contents. “Will, can you bring me the box?”
“Sure thing, boss,” Will said. He squatted down and picked up the metal box, grunting against the weight of the heavy lead. Ben opened the duffle and guided the box from Will’s arms into his bag. With a yank, he closed the zipper and grabbed the two handles with his palm. The box itself weighed at least fifty pounds, if not more, and Charlie watched him struggle with the weight of it. Then he mumbled a spell, and the bag no longer strained against his hands.
“Charlie, you’re with me,” Ben said. “Athena, I need you, Marigold, and Sabine to cast an obfuscation spell, to ensure no one notices us.”
“Sure thing,” Athena said.
Ben and Charlie started toward their destination.
“Wait,” Athena called. She pulled a pair of black leather gloves from the front seat of the SUV. “You’ll need these to handle it.” She placed the gloves in Charlie’s hand. “Put them on. They’ve been blessed with a protection spell to keep the book from affecting you. Lauren told us you don’t know what kind of book it is, could be dangerous.”
“Thanks.” Charlie relished the feel of the buttery leather gloves in her hand and hoped they really would protect her. As she followed Ben into the bus station, she couldn’t shake the feeling that no amount of protection was enough.
Once inside, Ben unzipped the duffle bag and opened the door of the locker. The people inside the station who cast a glance their way, seemed to glaze over if they looked too long. The obfuscation spell was working. Charlie quickly donned the gloves. A thin layer of rust coated the interior wall of the locker and Charlie ran one finger over it and rubbed her fingers together to clear it off.
“Weird,” she said. Ben nodded.
Charlie wiped the rest of the rust from her gloves on her jeans, then focused her attention on the thick leather bound volume. She grabbed hold of it with both hands and carefully lifted the heavy book from the small locker. For a moment her head filled with whispering voices, saying things she couldn’t quite make out. Her breath caught in her throat, and her fingertips tingled, despite the gloves. Images she didn’t understand flashed through her head. An old man shuffled along the top landing of his home using a walker, the toe of his slipper caught on a corner of the carpet, and his walker fell over. His hands grasped at air just before he lost his balance and toppled down a flight of stairs breaking his neck. A lineman maneuvered a bucket truck and over shot the height he needed. The electrical line sparked when it touched the lineman and his body convulsed when 10,000 volts shot through him and didn’t stop until he finally slumped over and sank into the bucket. A young woman wept while she downed a bottle of pills and climbed inside a hot bath and waited for death to come.
Charlie quickly put the book into the lock-box and pressed her hand to her heart.
“Charlie? You okay?” Ben asked.
She tried to move, tried to look away from the simplistic tree etched into the leather cover of the book, tried not to see the images flashing through her mind or hear the words now becoming clearer in her head.
20191213011432 Angela Inman. 20191213060214 Robert Kilpatrick. 20191213140436 Alexander Lohman, the voice whispered.
“Charlie,” Ben’s stern tone pierced the haze. She blinked and rushed to get the book inside the lead box.
“Close it quick.” Her heart beat hard against her ribs and she couldn’t catch her breath. She bent over and put her hands on her knees, gulping in air like she’d just sprinted for a mile. “Please.”
Ben nodded and slammed the top of the box shut. He fastened a padlock in place and zipped up the duffle bag. Once the book was safely tucked away, he touched Charlie’s arm. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Charlie straightened up and blew out one last shuddery breath. “I just…I didn’t expect it to affect me.”
“Yeah, that’s why we do this in pairs,” he said.
“Smart,” she said.
“What do you think’s in the book?” Will asked.
“No telling. Could be anything really. An ancient grimoire? A witch’s diary? That’s what we’re about to find out.” Ben lowered his voice to redo the spell that made the box lighter than air.
“Come on,” he said, lifting the duffle easily once again. “Let’s get this back to
headquarters so it can’t hurt anyone else.”
“Good thinking,” Charlie said.
Chapter 6
Charlie gathered with Ben, Will, and three others from her team in a small windowless room with white walls and a wooden table in the center. Ben called it a clean room. But Charlie wasn't sure why. From what she knew of clean rooms, they were sterile places, free of dust and contaminants. While this room was certainly clean, it didn't seem very special.
Ben had removed the lead-lined box from the duffle bag and had carried it into the clean room and set it on the table.
"Athena, Sabine. Will you please mark the walls?" Ben asked.
"Of course," Athena said. There was a drawer in the center of the table, and Athena opened it, withdrawing two pieces of gray chalk. She handed one to Sabine, and they carried out Ben's orders.
"Charlie, can you help me?" Ben asked.
"Of course," she said, moving closer to him. "What can I do?"
"Look in the drawer. There should be six crystals inside. Can you take them out and set them around the box?"
"Absolutely," Charlie said.
"Will, why don't you come with me," Ben said.
"You got it, boss," Will said. The two of them left the room.
Charlie opened the door and found a small ceramic dish holding crystals of various shades and sizes. She puzzled over them for a moment. There were more than six. Which ones should she choose? She looked around for help, but Sabine and Athena were busy scribbling symbols on the walls. She could ask. Should ask. Right? Still, she hated to be wrong.
Something Jen had said rang through her head.
I don't know what you're so worried about. You are a natural-born witch if there ever was one, her cousin had said.
Charlie wasn't sure there was such a thing. Although she did believe her abilities ran in the family, but spells and potions and charms? Those things were all learned. Practiced. And in some ways almost an art form. Anybody could be a witch with enough faith, study, and practice.
Charlie picked through the stones and selected several that she knew. Four black tourmalines, a clear quartz crystal, and a shiny black stone she thought might be Jet, but she wasn’t quite sure. She placed the black tourmalines in the corners of the table, the crystal quartz on the front side of the lead-lined box, and the Jet on the rear.
Ben and Will returned a few moments later. Ben carried a small bottle of greenish liquid, and Will placed six small paper cups on the table, then stepped back with his arms crossed and looked at the witches’ handiwork on the walls.
Ben appeared to scan Charlie’s arrangement on the table and a line formed between his eyebrows. He quietly reached inside the drawer and replaced the two rear tourmalines with two matching black crystals with red spots.
Charlie frowned. “What are those?”
“Black tourmaline with red jasper. To keep things protected and grounded,” Ben said.
“Doesn’t the Jet do that?” Charlie asked.
“Sure, this is just for a little extra, that’s all. Your choices were sound.” He smiled in a reassuring way before moving on to more vital matters. "Come on y'all, I need you to drink this down. Charlie, I think you'll need a double dose."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because the book seemed to affect you the most. Even with your protective gloves on," he said.
"What is that?" she asked.
"It's a resistance potion. It helps to make us more resistant to suggestion, especially from forces outside of ourselves. It's just a precaution. The crystals will help a lot by absorbing the dark energy of the book," he said.
Ben carefully poured the concoction into the paper cups, stopping at the halfway point on all of them but one. The last cup he filled almost to the brim and handed it to Charlie.
She sniffed it. Her stomach turned, and she fought the urge to gag at the rotten egg aroma.
"Pee-yew that stinks.” She wrinkled her nose and held the cup away from her face.
"I know," Ben said. "I'm afraid I can't help that. If you hold your nose, that'll help."
Charlie grimaced but didn't argue. "Bottoms up, I guess." She held up her cup in a toast, then pinched her nose shut and swallowed the disgusting green liquid. She managed to get it down, then crushed the paper cup in her hand, shook her head, and wagged her tongue, trying to rid herself of the taste.
"There's a water fountain right outside the door if anyone wants to clear their palate," Ben said, looking directly at Charlie.
She took a moment, stepped outside of the room and found the fountain. It was unlike any water fountain she'd ever seen, though. It looked more like a water feature installation for a fancy garden, like in the architecture magazines her ex-mother-in-law liked. The water flowed from a long, flat lip in the wall to a stone bowl with a small drain in the bottom. Various symbols were carved into the stone. That must have been what made the water special. The problem was, she had no idea how to drink from it. She couldn’t see a dispenser for paper cones or cups anywhere. Should she just put her hand into the stream? She frowned at that idea. It didn’t seem very sanitary.
“Everything okay?” Ben said, coming up behind her.
“Other than me feeling stupid, everything’s great,” she said.
“Sorry. I should’ve explained the fountains.”
“There’s more than one?”
“Yeah, two on every floor,” he explained. “They’re elemental fountains, and they offer healing, protection, and cleansing.”
“That’s a big job,” Charlie quipped.
“Yeah, I suppose it is.” he grinned.
“How do you use it without spoiling it for everybody else?”
Ben stepped up to the fountain and bowed his head. “Thank you, goddess, for the protection from those who would wish me harm.”
He held his hand under the stream of water flowing from the wall and formed a cup with his fingers and thumb, brought the water to his mouth and drank it down.
“You offer thanks to the goddess and ask for your intention of healing, protection, or cleansing. Don’t worry. The water goes through an extensive filtration after you put your hands under the stream. Your turn.” He stepped back and gestured for Charlie to take his place.
“Okay,” Charlie said, putting herself right in front of the fountain. She bowed her head slightly.
“Thank you, goddess, for protection from the spells of others that may do me harm.” She extended her hand into the fountain, letting the cool water flow over the skin of her palm for a second. A feeling of euphoria spread through her body, and she shivered.
Ben chuckled. “Feels great, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” Charlie said. “It’s like I don’t want it to end.”
“I know. If you drink from it though, it’ll help extend that feeling for a little while.”
Charlie nodded and cupped her hand and gathered enough water for a sip. She drew her hand to her mouth and drank. The water tasted cool and sweet on her tongue, and the aftertaste of the potion evaporated. Strangely, it felt like more water than what she’d managed to get into her palm. When she was done, she started to put her hand in the stream again.
“Don’t,” Ben said, touching the top of her arm, gently pressing it away. “Just one drink from this fountain,” he said. “More than one sip, and it can counteract the protection you just asked for.”
“Even if I’m thankful for it again?” she asked.
“Yeah, ‘fraid so,” he said.
“Okay.” Charlie drew her hand back. “I’m still a little thirsty though.”
“Come on. There’s a vending machine in the break room at the end of the hall. I’ll buy you a water,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said.
A few minutes later, they rejoined the group and began the arduous task of dealing with the book.
To work with the book, Charlie, Ben, and Athena all put on long, linen aprons and then linen smocks to cover their clothing. Ben and Athena put on glove
s, and Charlie slipped her hands into the leather gloves Athena had given her earlier. She hoped the water she’d drunk would give her the added protection she needed.
Ben carefully opened the box and lifted the book from the shield of the lead lining. He placed it on the butcher block table and moved the box to the shelf below. Charlie noted protection was within easy reach if they needed to put it away quickly for some reason. It made her feel less anxious about dealing with the hand-written volume’s contents, but she couldn’t shake the fluttery feeling in her stomach, or the memory of those words echoing through her head when she’d first touched the book.
Ben opened the cover to the first page and the air in the room changed, shifting to heaviness. Charlie had to push the air out of her lungs and work to draw breath in.
“Do you feel that?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah,” Ben said.
“Dark books sometimes do this. If they have illegal spells and recipes for deadly potions, they can affect their environment. They can even cause decay of their surroundings,” Athena explained.
“Is that what we have here do you think? A dark book?” Charlie asked. Ben shook his head, noncommittal. She turned to Athena. “Is that why the locker was rusting on the inside?”
“Probably,” Athena said.
“Imagine what it must do to a person,” Charlie mused.
“I would think with enough exposure, a dark book could drive someone insane,” Athena said.
“Or allow them to accept their most base instincts,” Ben said.
“You’re thinking murder,” Charlie said.
“Yes, I am,” he said. “The question is, who did the murdering? The mother or the father?”
“Maybe it was both,” Athena said.
“Charlie? Any insight?” Ben asked.
Charlie considered her vision of the little girl and her father in the hall. Could that man have killed his daughter? Maybe even his whole family? A demon had most definitely passed through that house. Had the evil creature possessed one of the parents and done the killing? If only the little girl’s ghost hadn’t run away. Maybe she could’ve questioned the child.
