Witch Hearts

by Liz Long

  “May I?” Ruby said, motioning to Parker’s spellbook. Parker immediately handed it over, looking pleased Ruby would lead the magic with her family heirloom. Sitting it in front of her, she and the other girls clasped hands, completed their small circle and its boundaries.

  Ruby felt Lacy suck in a deep breath to calm her nerves; she glanced at Lacy, who nodded at her to begin, her red corkscrew curls bouncing with the motion. Ruby cleared her throat and carefully enunciated to avoid confusion, reading the spell word for word. She felt the magic crackle in the air, the spell waiting to be instructed.

  “We call upon the powers that be

  Give Lacy help so that she might lead

  Objects, people, her power will say

  Use her mind to guide the way

  Witch times four, we offer energy

  That she might grow, so mote it be.”

  Ruby didn’t move, but she could see the spell working its magic. The herbs smelled pleasant with the tang of lemon as smoke unfurled and hung in the living room around them in a fog. She snuck a peek at the room to see all the small objects on her tables floating, hanging in the air as though suspended by invisible wire. Lacy’s eyes were clenched shut as she whispered to herself to keep it together. Ruby caught Cooper’s eye and he flicked his glance to her foyer, where she saw other objects also floated. Lacy’s power was surprisingly strong as it now affected things further out of her reach. Carla and Parker were no novice witches; with them and Ruby to help, Lacy would be more powerful than ever before.

  Another minute or two passed. They waited for the smoke to clear and looked to Lacy, who shot them a nervous glance. Without a word, she closed her eyes, focusing on something beyond the room. Seconds later, Ruby’s coffeemaker floated out to them in midair. A grin broke out on Lacy’s face as she opened her eyes to see her handiwork. She settled it onto the coffee table using only her mind and turned back to the women, her chest puffed up with pride.

  “I did it!”

  “Maybe next time you pick the colander or something,” Ruby advised. “We’d be having a much different conversation if you’d dropped my most precious kitchen tool.”

  She threw a grin at Lacy to let her know she was joking and they shared a laugh, the girls congratulating Lacy on her new skill. Because all witches were different, Lacy’s improved power would put her above several others in skill, plus give her more of a say when it came to coven meetings. Michael prided himself on everyone in the coven being equal, but Ruby knew he especially valued those with talent and secretly took their opinions a little more seriously than others.

  Parker clapped her hands together. “Now what?”

  “Actually, while you’re here, I sort of have a favor to ask,” Ruby said to them.

  “Sure, what is it?” Lacy asked. Carla and Parker waited with excited looks on their faces.

  “It has to do with the murders, so if you want out, here’s your chance,” Ruby warned. The smiles faded away and the three of them exchanged a glance but no one declined. Without speaking, they turned back to Ruby and waited, so she continued.

  “I want you three to put me under a spell so that I can see the killer.” She inhaled another breath before she spoke. “I want you to put me under as one of his previous victims, so I know what he’s doing to them and why this ritual.”

  Cooper, who’d so far watched in silence from his spot on the couch, jerked so hard he stood up, disbelief on his handsome face. “You want to live Courtney’s last moments. You can’t do that.”

  “Sure I can.” Ruby swallowed hard, heard the doubt in her voice. “It’s harmless. I’ll be right here with you all sitting around me.”

  “But Ruby,” Lacy spoke up, concern in her eyes, “if you see the victim’s last moments, you’re going to feel the pain.”

  “I know, but it’s all in my head. It’s not on the physical plane. I need to see what he did to Courtney, what he does to their hearts. If I can recognize anything, get even the smallest clue to use in his capture, it’s worth it. I’ve already written a spell but can’t do it alone.” Her Book of Shadows open on the floor, she flipped to the newest page she’d included and pointed it out to Lacy.

  The women remained silent but Cooper knelt next to her, his eyes pleading. “Don’t do this. You might never sleep again if you do.”

  “I’ll never sleep again if I don’t do everything I can to stop him, to avenge Courtney. You were willing to dive back into your past to get information. I can handle a little magical reenactment.” She put her hand over his on his knee and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine.”

  Ten minutes later, Ruby lay flat on her back on the carpeted floor. More herbs and crushed petals burned in a bowl on the coffee table, the perfumed smoke settling into another haze around them. She glanced around to see Lacy on her right, Carla on her left, and Parker at her feet, all of them solemn and sitting on their knees as they prepared to chant over her. Cooper positioned her head comfortably in his lap; he brushed the hair off her face and looked down at her.

  “You still sure about this?”

  Ruby sucked in a deep breath and nodded, closing her eyes. “Do it.” Paper crinkled as Lacy examined the spell again and cleared her throat to begin.

  “Goddess hear, I call upon a memory

  Of my most dangerous enemy

  Spirits take her to the sight

  Keep her safe in blessed light

  Bring the truth to surface place

  And show mine enemy’s wicked face.”

  Ruby felt herself slip out of her body. Her eyes snapped open but instead of her friends and living room, she saw only one bright desk lamp to her right. Darkness buried the rest of the room with no hint as to where she was in the city. When she tried to move, she found herself tied down to a table. Jerking her head left and right, she saw her blonde hair - Courtney’s hair. Lacy and company had succeeded. Ruby was about to experience Courtney’s last moments.

  ***********************************************

  Ruby - or Courtney, rather - jumped as a metal tool hit the table with a clatter. A large figure, bigger than any football player, loomed over her, not coming forward to the light.

  Ruby realized she was only a passenger in Courtney’s head; she could see and hear everything happening, but she couldn’t hear Courtney’s thoughts or control her movements. Disappointment flared through her as she’d hoped to hear Courtney think about where the money was hidden or how the women were taken. She felt a pain in her chest and looked down to see blood everywhere, coating her half-naked tan skin. Some sort of silver symbol sat on her chest. Fear coursed through her as she realized what was happening; the killer had already begun to work on Courtney’s heart.

  A voice came from the darkness, seemed to surround her at full volume. “Where’s the money, love? It’s a simple question. Just answer it and we’ll let you go.”

  “That’s a big fat lie and we both know it,” Courtney replied in a thick, pained voice. Pride dashed through Ruby at her friend’s tough attitude.

  From the direction of the giant standing by her head came a hoarse laugh at her response. The pride in his voice gave Ruby a chill. “My girl is too smart. She knows what she’s here for.”

  Courtney narrowed her eyes, jerked at her rope enough to shake the table she lay on. It rumbled beneath her, its wheels squeaking until it threatened to tip over. A man leapt forward to stop her from crashing over. A scruffy beard and crooked teeth flashed by her and Ruby struggled to get a look. Her captor - one of them anyways - had a medium build, thinning dark hair, and close-set dark eyes that screamed danger to her.

  “She’s not going to tell you and I need to get started before the sun breaks,” the second voice, the one that really scared her, called out from his perch behind her head. Courtney knew he brought death and her heart picked up its pounding pace.

  She closed her eyes, whispered her self-protection spell over and over as footsteps crept closer. Ruby tried as hard as she could
to project Courtney’s eyes to open, but Courtney had already been through too much. She knew she was going to die and chose to keep her eyes closed. Ruby couldn’t blame her there. Pure terror overcame her as a large, calloused hand came down through her magic bubble and began to cut her open even more. Courtney’s screams pierced the air and Ruby felt herself fading away out of Courtney’s mind.

  Cooper’s voice came to her first. “Ruby, wake up! Please, before your neighbors call the cops!”

  Ruby jolted upright to a sitting position, her hands grasping at her heart. Her breath went ragged as she struggled to get back to the present. Lacy and the cousins peered down at her with concerned faces.

  “I’m okay,” she assured them, getting her breathing under control. “What happened?”

  “You were screaming bloody murder,” Lacy said, twitching as though to reach forward and touch Ruby’s hand. “You started thrashing around so we had to wake you before someone got worried. Took a full twenty seconds before you even started to come back.”

  Ruby’s face broke out in sweat as the spell’s memories came back to her. Nausea filled her stomach and she raced to the bathroom. She slammed the door shut behind her, retching for the next few minutes, tears streaming down her face. Courtney had died in a way that was worse than nightmares.

  Her sobs calmed as she slowed her breathing. Considering her options, she chose to get mad; it was time to find these bastards who hurt her family. She stepped out and apologized for her behavior, explaining the traumatic incident didn’t reveal anything except Courtney’s last terrifying seconds. Lacy, Carla, and Parker nodded, understood her reaction and even though she could see they burned to know everything, none of them pushed. Instead, they each gave her a hug, thanked her for the evening and promised to get together in another week or two.

  Ruby actually looked forward to seeing them again, provided she was still alive that long. She hated lying to them after they helped her, but she didn’t want them getting any deeper than they were now; she didn’t want to be responsible for helping kill one of them. They needed to get away from her as fast as possible and stay away to avoid being the next victim.

  After she locked the front door behind them, Ruby pulled Cooper back to the couch and proceeded to tell him every last detail. His hands tightened on his knees when she mentioned the money but his face showed nothing but anger at Courtney’s pain.

  “I don’t know about the hulk impersonator,” Cooper said after she finished, “but I might know the other guy. Sounds like him from your description anyway. That’s all you saw?”

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” Ruby replied, “but I didn’t go back far enough, I guess. This guy though, this serial killer or whatever, he sounded…I don’t know, I got the impression he liked Courtney. Liked liked her, ya know?”

  Cooper looked at her with a puzzled face before understanding dawned on him. “He talks to you like he loves you. Maybe he “loved” Courtney, too.”

  She nodded. “I don’t know what that means exactly, but it’s not good.”

  “He’s not getting in here.”

  “I know, but I don’t want him taking anyone else while he waits around, either.”

  Later that night, she had a nightmare. As suddenly as she’d been sucked into Courtney’s mind, Ruby found herself opening her eyes as another person.

  “What the…?”

  She stood in the doorway of a dark room. A fire crackled in the weathered fireplace to her left. This house was old and although relatively clean, it didn’t appear in great shape. Ruby looked down at her hands; they were much smaller than normal and she frowned at these childish hands. Who was she in this dream?

  A shuffling noise caught her attention and her eyes fell upon two men struggling on the floor. A shriek left her host’s mouth, screams for her father who, Ruby quickly noted, was the one lying on the floor. Blood gushed out of a head wound and the other figure stood up over the old man. She could feel the little girl’s fear surge as the person turned to her, blood covering his hands and clothes. Then Ruby felt the little girl make a choice to get mad and defend herself.

  The attacker turned out to be an older teenager, and Ruby could tell he was the girl’s brother, a large mass of a boy whose eyes flashed nothing but anger at her. Scars covered his arms and blood gushed from a fresh wound across the side of his face. The girl threw her fists out, beat them against her brother’s large, solid chest, her furious shouts and blows doing nothing to him. The boy hit her and Ruby felt her body drop to the ground in a heap. The girl’s eyelids fluttered and Ruby prayed she didn’t pass out. The girl stayed conscious, however, and she watched as the brother tied her down to a chair, her body too tired and weak to fight back anymore. A sharp, metallic tang coated her mouth, the blood trickling in from a split lip. The images were flashing too fast for Ruby now: she heard the brother muttering an incantation, felt a splicing of metal against skin, and finally, fading away as her brother’s laugh sounded in her ears.

  Ruby woke up with a start, feeling shock coming over her. Breathing deep, she stifled her nausea at the violent crime. She knew without question that what she’d seen was actually a memory. The magical residue from Lacy’s earlier spell must’ve stuck with her and sparked the dream, but she knew she was seeing the killer from the eyes of another victim. Given his age, maybe even one of his first victims. Ruby shuddered, the wave of the young girl’s fear subsiding after a few minutes. Ruby felt exhausted and woozy, as though she hadn’t slept in days. Sleep threatened to take her and she forced herself to sit up.

  She leaned over to get her journal and snapped on her small lamp. Her usually neat handwriting forgotten, she scribbled everything as fast as she could remember, hoping to rewrite her notes later. For now, she needed to recall all the details, down to the clothing and house decor. When she’d finished, she reread it, occasionally wiping away a stray tear that trickled down her cheeks.

  “What did you see?” Cooper asked. He’d been awake for a while, Ruby knew, but he’d waited until she finished so as not to distract her attention.

  “If you can read the chicken scratch,” she said, setting the journal next to him. He sat up and read, his lips moving silently with each sentence. When he finished, he put his arm around her, where she nestled her head in his collarbone.

  “What you saw was real.” Cooper said it in a flat way. Ruby nodded, hardly surprised anymore by how Cooper put it all together.

  “I’m okay. Just need to go back to sleep,” she mumbled into his chest.

  They stayed like that until dawn, Ruby’s head in the crook of his shoulder, every so often rehashing the dream and its meaning. She drifted off a few times but sleep didn’t return to her, nor to Cooper.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Ruby and Cooper ran a few errands the next day. After they returned home, she realized she forgot her hair care products. She’d been safe so far in broad daylight and after a firm promise to Cooper she’d be quick, she ran back to her car. En route to the store, she thought she saw Ben Marshall tailing her in a black car. On the way back, her phone buzzed with two missed calls from Michael.

  She chewed her bottom lip, debated on calling him back. The last time she blew him off, someone had died. Perhaps she should return his call.

  He answered on the first ring. “Hello?”

  “Hi. What’s up?”

  “Can you come by? I made a protection spell for you.”

  “I can make my own, thanks very much.”

  “Ruby. C’mon. There’s no such thing as too many protection spells. Besides, the coven helped me do this one for you so it’s got some extra punch behind it,” he said.

  She heard his exasperation and sighed. “Rebecca didn’t help, did she? I don’t want it to set me on fire or anything.”

  Michael chuckled. “She wouldn’t do that to you. And she’s not here now, so come over.”

  “Fine, but just for a minute and only in the first floor lobby. That or you can toss it to me as I
drive by.”

  “Geez, Ruby.” His accent sounded clipped with annoyance.

  “See you in five.”

  When she pulled up behind his SUV at the curb, she saw him waiting in the front lobby as she’d requested. He opened the door for her, greeted her with a big smile. He leaned in for a moment as though he wanted to hug her, but her stiff posture made him think otherwise.

  “Here,” he said, handing her a small pouch. “The vial in there, carry that in your bag. Sprinkle the powder in your car and around your front door. It’ll keep the bad guys away.”

  “Thanks. I’m sure you guys went to a lot of trouble to do that for me.”

  He shrugged. “We were happy to do it.”

  She looked down at her shoes. “I hope they all made extra for themselves.”

  “They did. We did yours first though, when the energy is strongest. Seeing as how you’re a target and all.”

  “They’re targets too now, considering what happened to Denise. How did they take the news?”

  He sighed. “Not well, as you can imagine. She was such a sweet young woman. If this man isn’t captured soon, people may begin to leave the coven. I suggested we take a break until this is over.”

  “Good idea. Okay, well, thanks for the spell. See you around.” Ruby turned to go and Michael touched her arm.

  “You don’t have to leave. I was thinking of making dinner. You could join me.”

  She couldn’t help but scowl at him. “I don’t think so. Maybe you ask Rebecca to come over for a romantic candlelit dinner.”

  He blew out his breath, frustrated. “You know, it doesn’t have to always be this hard.”

  “You started it.”

  “I know, but I’m trying and you’re not making it easy.” His arms went up and back down to his sides with a large slap. He shook his head. “I should’ve spoken to you about bringing her in after we broke up. I slept with her once and it was a huge mistake. When you left, I guess I thought if you got jealous enough, you’d want me back. I thought you’d fight for me.”