by Keith Keffer
"Not your face," said Bob. "It would be mine. You need to cast the spell. You'll feel the pain as it transfers from you to the recipient, but you won't be harmed. It might feel like it though. Very few mortals even attempt it. It takes a special kind of person to handle the experience, but if you are willing to try, I'll do it. Besides, I'll heal."
Morgan stopped pacing. "Will it work?"
Bob shrugged. "It should. I mean neither of us has ever tried anything like this, but the theory is sound. Let me borrow your notebook and I'll write down what we need to do."
Like most of the spells that Morgan had learned, everything seemed to be a suggestion on what to do. This one was no different. They needed to link the three of them together. Holding hands would work, but a rope would be better. A special symbol needs to be drawn on the injured person and a different one needs to be drawn on the person taking on the wound. The symbol needed to be exact, but whether it was drawn in yak blood or felt tip marker didn't make any difference. And, finally, there was a chant. More nonsense words that Morgan had to repeat while the magic flowed between them. While the sounds were important, the pacing was critical. Too fast or too slow and nothing would happen. Bob made her practice the chant for ten minutes before he gave her the thumbs up. It was time to try.
Jimmy's eyes were swollen, but open. He had been awake for the last few minutes and had remained silent, just watching Bob and Morgan work on the spell. He didn't hear everything they had talked about, but he seemed to grasp the concept. He tried to sit up and run, a decision he immediately regretted. He collapsed back on the couch with black spots swirling in front of his eyes and the contents of his stomach fighting to escape. He managed to say "Bucket" through clenched teeth, which was enough for Morgan to spring into action. She grabbed a small waste basket and pushed it in front of the officer.
When he was finished, she put it down next to him. The smell coming from it was horrible, but she didn't want to take it away in case he needed it again. Then again, she didn't want it to close either. Just the thought of what was inside made her own stomach queasy. She did her best not to look directly at it.
Henry put down what was left of his Pop Tart. He went over to the far side of the living room and sat on the recliner. As soon as he was comfortable, and out of sight of Officer Jimmy, he pulled his shirt up to cover his nose.
Morgan wished she could have done the same thing.
"Jimmy," she said. "You need to lay still and relax. Everything will be alright. You just need to trust me."
The young officer closed his eyes and mumbled through his bloodied lips. "Go away." Or at least it was something close to that. Between the broken nose and busted mouth, he wasn't the most articulate guy in the room.
Bob handed Morgan a ball of pink yarn and a black, felt-tip pen. "We should hurry."
Morgan nodded and wrapped the yarn around Jimmy's wrist. His hand was swollen and bruised from where Bob hit him. It was one more thing that Morgan would have to try to fix. "I promise, I'll make this up to you," said Morgan. "Let me take care of your wounds and then we can explain everything."
Jimmy didn't resist. Morgan thought he had fallen unconscious again, but he was awake, peering at her through half closed eyes. He didn't say anything as he watched.
She then drew the symbols. First, she did one on Jimmy's bicep and then she did one on Bob's. While she worked, Bob had twisted the yarn around his wrist, then took a seat on the floor close to the waste basket. Apparently, the smell didn't bother him as much as it bothered Henry and Morgan. He was a demon. Maybe the smell of hot vomit was like flowers to him, or maybe he had smelled so many things much worse that a little puke didn't faze him.
Morgan picked up the center of the yarn and twisted it around her own wrist. "Jimmy, Bob and I are really sorry about what happened outside. We are going to heal you right up. You'll be as good as new. Just trust me for a few minutes and I promise if you still want to arrest me, I'll go with you willingly."
"Morgan," said Henry. "No. You can't go to jail. You saved me."
"It's alright, Henry," said Morgan. "Don't worry, we'll work all of this out."
She then looked at both Officer Jimmy and Bob. They were almost side by side with one lying on the couch and the other sitting on the floor. She asked, "Are you ready?"
Both Bob and Jimmy nodded, although Jimmy's nod was accompanied by a grunt of pain. Bob had really nailed him with that shovel.
"Alright then." She sat on the edge of the couch, leaning back so that she stretched the string taut between the three of them, she began to chant the words. She matched her breathing to the rhythm. She felt a stirring of power in her stomach. Warmth spread up her arm, away from the string. It pulsed like a heartbeat. The spell was working.
And then she screamed. Her face exploded in pain. She couldn't see. She gasped for air. Her hands flailed in front of her face, trying to make the pain go away. She slipped and fell on the floor, snapping the strand of yarn that connected her to Jimmy and Bob.
The pain stopped, but she still rolled away and curled into a ball when she stopped. Her breathing was harsh and ragged between tears. God, that had hurt. How did Jimmy deal with that much pain?
"Morgan," Jimmy sat up and reached for her, but the sudden movement confused his head and stomach and he leaned over, barely grabbing the bucket in time. Bob wasn't as hindered. He reached her and wrapped his arms around her as best he could, letting her rock back and forth as Jimmy made dry retching sounds behind them. Henry was immediately on her other side. He was crying and holding her tight.
"Oh my God, Bob," sobbed Morgan. "That hurt so much. How could anything hurt that much?"
"I'm sorry," said Bob. "The pain isn't real. It's all in your head. Your body doesn't detect it so there isn't any adrenaline rush to keep it at bay. There's no physical reaction to protect you from it. There's nothing to deaden the pain. You must resist it with your mind. It's all about willpower and determination. I wouldn't have suggested this if I didn't think you could do it."
"Morgan," cried Henry. "Don't do it. He'll be alright. Don't do it again."
Even Jimmy was trying his best to make his voice heard. Somehow, he had found the strength to sit up with the waste basket held tight to his chest. "Don't be crazy," he mumbled. "I'll be fine."
Morgan closed her eyes and leaned back against the couch. The pain was gone. Well, except for the pain in her butt. She had landed pretty hard on it. She squeezed Bob and Henry then gave Jimmy a smile. "It's okay," she said. "It just caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting that. Not at all."
Bob nodded his head. "The pain ended as soon as you stopped the spell. It won't last, and it won't take long. You just have to hold on until I tell you to stop."
"No way," mumbled Jimmy. "I won't arrest you. You don't need to do this."
"Yes," said Morgan. "Yes, I do." She took Henry's face in her hand and lifted his head up until they were looking each other in the eyes. Tears flowed freely down his face, and he shook his head back and forth.
"Henry," she said. "Look at me. I'm fine. It just scared me. Like when you jumped out of the closet and screamed boo. Jimmy is my friend and he's hurt. Shouldn't I try to help him if I can?"
"No," said Henry. "You can't let yourself get hurt."
"I won't, " said Morgan. "You heard Bob. It's all imaginary. I'll be fine when it's all over." She glanced over at the little demon. "And Bob will be alright too. Won't you, Bob?"
"Yeah," he said. "Remember what happened in the backyard. I'll bounce back pretty quickly."
Morgan nodded. "Henry," she said. "I want you to go have a seat back on your chair."
"No way," said Henry. "If you're staying, so am I."
She looked at Bob who nodded his head. "He'll be safe."
"I don't like this," said Jimmy. "Don't I get a say?"
"Nope," said Bob.
"Not really," said Morgan.
Henry grinned at the police officer and wiped away his own tears. "My mom always
says that once Morgan's made up her mind, it's best to just let her do it."
Jimmy groaned, and Morgan thought he was going to throw up again. Instead, he held out his left arm, the one with the bring string wrapped around it. "Alright," he said. "Let's get this over with."
CH 14 - Time for Introductions
Jimmy looked much better. The swelling was gone. The bruises had faded. Even his front tooth had grown back. Bob looked rough, but not as bad as Jimmy had. Thanks to his demonic nature, he was already healing. Henry was chatting up a storm to both Bob and Jimmy. The boy had watched as Jimmy's face healed, and he couldn't believe what he saw.
"Morgan," he said. "You are awesome. Do you think you can do that for mom's leg? Then she'd be back home right away. That would be awesome." Morgan had filled him in on everything that had happened when he was held prisoner, including what happened to his mother. Henry wanted to go see her right away, but Morgan convinced him to wait until morning. He agreed, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying to see her sooner.
Morgan stopped listening to the three of them. She moved off, into the corner, and was sitting by herself. Bob had been right. The pain didn't last long, and there was no permanent damage to her. It pain ended as soon as the spell did, but the memory of the pain still lingered. Her hands were shaking, and her legs felt weak. She didn't recall walking away from the others, but she was fairly certain that she lacked the strength to walk back over to them. Right now, she wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for two or three days.
It turned out that Morgan didn't need to move. Jimmy walked over to her and sat down on the floor. His shirt was bloodstained, but otherwise he looked fine. He had retrieved his sidearm, and it was holstered at his waist. That was one good thing. He wasn't waving it in the air threatening to arrest anyone.
"So," he said after a very long pause. "You're a witch. Bob is.... Hell, I have no idea what Bob is, but he sure isn't an ugly kid. And together, you two rescued Henry from... another witch. Does that about cover it?"
Morgan nodded. He must not have been as out of it as she had thought. She looked up from the floor and started talking. Henry and Bob came over and sat down at her feet, and together with Jimmy they listened to her tell her story. She started with coming into the house that night Jimmy dropped her off and finding the book and ended with the five guys in the parking light.
"After that," she said. "We came home and ran into you. You know what happened next."
No one had said a word as she spoke, and she wasn't sure how long she had talked. It was long enough for Bob's face to almost completely heal. By the time she finished, Henry was leaning against the little demon. His eyes were droopy from lack of sleep.
Morgan's probably were too.
"That's no good," said Jimmy. "No one is going to believe that Henry was snatched up by the wicked witch of the west and held captive in her gingerbread house. If we tell them that, they'll lock us all up."
"You believe me?" asked Morgan.
Jimmy pointed to his face. "Well, you did kind of beat it into me."
"I'm real sorry about that," said Bob. "I couldn't let you hurt Moda."
"I wasn't going to hurt her."
"You had a gun pointed at her."
"I was arresting her."
"Exactly," said Bob, crossing his arms and nodding his head. "Don't try that again."
"Bob," said Morgan. "Stop that. If Jimmy has to arrest me, he has to arrest me. We're not smacking innocent people upside the head with shovels."
Bob squinted at Jimmy. "You know," he said. "He doesn't look that innocent."
"Bob," she said.
The little demon winked at her. "As you wish, Moda."
"Why do you call her Moda," asked Jimmy.
"That is her title, Mistress of the Dark Arts," said Bob. "She has not shared her name with me, so it is the name that I have given her."
"But Bob," said Morgan. "You've heard my name over and over again. Why do you still call me that?"
Bob Shrugged. "Out of respect for your wishes. You believe there is power in a name, and I would not wish to alarm you by using your name without your permission. If you would like, I can call you Morgan or Miss Star."
"Morgan, Bob. Just call me Morgan."
"As you wish, Morgan."
"That's great," interrupted Jim. "But that doesn't solve our problems. The police and the reporters are going to want to know what happened to Henry, and if we can't explain where he's been for the last week, they are going to start asking all sorts of embarrassing questions. Just because I'm not going to arrest you doesn't mean someone else won't. Hell, they'll probably arrest me too for aiding and abetting."
"I have an idea," said Bob. He grabbed the burn phone that Morgan had given him and checked the number of times that he had used it. Too many. "First, we need another burn phone."
It took a few hours to get everything in place with the bulk of the time spent coaching Henry. Jimmy left to get changed into civilian clothes and pick up the things they would need while Henry curled up on the loveseat and fell asleep.
"Don't worry," said Morgan to Bob. She kept her voice low to avoid waking Henry. "Jimmy will be back soon. He won't let us down."
"For someone you have only known for a little over a week, you have a lot of faith in him."
Actually, Morgan hadn't talked to him until the night he drove her home, and every time they had been together it had been awkward or worse. Pointing that out to Bob didn't seem like a good idea. For the first time since she summoned him, he looked nervous.
"I'm sure if he was going to screw us over, the police would already be at the door. Nope," she said. "He's with us on this"
Bob nodded. "You're right. The kid has a hero complex. He's the dashing young knight, and you are the maiden in distress. Doing something like this is probably why he became a cop in the first place."
"Then why do you look so nervous," asked Morgan. "You haven't sat down since he left, and I've actually seen you chewing on your fingernails. What's going on?"
"You need to release me," he said. "Henry's safe, and you don't need me to help track him anymore. I've ticked off some higher powers, and it's not good for you if I stick around."
Morgan nodded. "That was our deal."
"It was," agreed Bob.
"Do you want to go back," she asked.
"Nobody wants to go back. You just do. It's best this way. There will be Hell to pay if I stick around longer than I should."
"That didn't matter when you hijacked my spell and appeared in the middle of my bedroom."
"It's different now. Back then if anything bad happened, it would have been on my head. Now... Now, it could hurt people I care about." Bob paused and took a deep sigh. "Listen. I would do pretty much anything to get away, to get my shot at redemption, but I'm not going to risk you or Henry or even that cop to make it happen. It's not your problem, and besides, I'm a smart guy. I'll figure out something else."
Morgan nodded. Bob was right. His presence put Henry at risk. If it was just her, she'd ask him to stay, but she couldn't put Henry or Aunt Helen in danger. As much as she hated the idea of banishing Bob back to Hell, she knew she had to do it. She knelt on the floor in front of the little demon and gave him a hug. She'd known him for less time than she had known Jimmy, but it felt like a lifetime.
She finally managed to find her voice. "When," she asked.
"Might as well do it now," said Bob, pulling out of her embrace. "It won't get any easier the more we talk about it."
Morgan nodded. Releasing the demon was easy. There were no magic circle or strange symbols. She just needed to tell him to go. Well, not exactly go. There were three words in the book that she had to say, and like every other word used in a spell, she had no idea what they meant. All she needed to do was to repeat them, and the summoning spell would come to an end. Bob would be returned to whatever part of Hell he had come from.
She took a step back and cleared her throat. "Thank you, Bob,"
she said.
The little demon bowed deeply at the waist. "It has been my greatest honor to serve you Morgan Star of Whitebridge." He smiled and nodded his head. "I'm ready."
Morgan wasn't, not really, but she knew it needed to be done. She took a deep breath and then slowly repeated the three words exactly like she remembered them from her book. A blue haze formed in a circle around Bob. It grew thicker, like smoke filling a glass. Morgan could barely see him through the mist. Then, the blue haze was gone. It didn't fade away. It just vanished like it had never been there.
"What happened," said Bob. He was still there, standing in the center of a scorched mark in the middle of the carpet. Aunt Helen was going to have a fit.
"I'm sorry, Bob," said Morgan. "I must have done it wrong. Let me try again."
Bob swallowed and nodded. "This makes no sense," he said. "Yeah. Try it again."
Morgan repeated the words and this time nothing happened. No blue haze. Nothing. She and Bob just stood there staring at each other.
They both jumped when the home phone rang. It was an unknown number. Morgan snatched it up and said, "Hello."
"Hi," said Jimmy on the other end. "This is the call where Henry says he got away and wants you to pick him up."
"Got it. I'll see you when I get to Joe's" said Morgan. They both said goodbye, and she hung up the phone.
"He's ready?" asked Bob.
"Yep," she said. "I'm really sorry Bob, but we'll have to figure out what happened after I get back. Will you be alright staying here by yourself?"
"Yeah, sure," said Bob. "I promise, I'll do my best to stay out of trouble. I'll watch TV or something until you return."
She hugged the little demon one more time, then went over and woke up Henry. He was groggy and tried to pull the covers over his head at first, but eventually she got him up and out the door with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
The staff was still wedged between the back seats. She had forgotten about that. Grabbing it, she tossed it through the open door of the shed. It was just one more thing she'd have to take care of once everything settled down.
