by Rose Pressey
When we reached my house, exhaustion swept over me. Having ghosts with that much emotion took almost every bit of my energy. The only way to replenish my verve was sleep. Plus, forty winks would help clear my mind, and then tomorrow, I’d figure out the solution to my latest mess. I needed to save my best friend and Callahan before it was too late. There was no telling what Cooper would do to them next. This was Brianna’s way of getting revenge.
I locked the front door and placed a kitchen chair under the knob. At least that was a little more protection against whoever may want to break in. I settled into bed with a book, trying to take my mind off the terrible situation Mindy and Callahan were trapped in.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“Larue, I think you have a problem.” Mae stood by the front door, peeking out.
“What's wrong now?” I asked.
“Over here. I thought I saw someone watching you in the window.”
My heart thumped. I knew I should have left the shades down. I’d thought the sunshine would help my depression.
I threw my book down and made a dash for the lamp, flicking it off. The idea of some crazed lunatic watching me made chills run down my spine. Then again, hadn’t I been spying on Cooper just as someone was doing to me? That should teach me a lesson to never do something like that again. It was just wrong. What if this was the shadow figure again? Was it appearing more and more now?
I slid next to the wall, inching my way toward the window. As if my slow movements would keep the weirdo at bay. What was I thinking? I eased the curtain back just a smidgen. Sure enough, a black figure sprinted away from the house. He was dressed all in black. At least, I thought the person was a male.
My heart raced. Was this the same person who'd broken in to Book Nook and my house? Had they come back for more? For me this time? I wouldn't take any chances on finding out the answer to that question the hard way.
With a few giant steps, I dashed for the phone, and yet again dialed nine-one-one. Lucky for me, the police were faster this time. Anthony had floated out, giving chase to the shadow, vanishing around the side of the house. I wasn't sure how he would find the person...or the demon. It was probably long gone. He had no way of knowing where this thing had gone. No doubt, he just wanted to be my knight in shining armor. It was a sweet gesture, but unnecessary. He really was a great guy…too bad he’d been taken away so young.
I was waiting by the front door when the police pulled up.
“What's seems to be the problem?” the officer asked.
I thought he might frown at my words this time, but he didn't. “Someone was peeping in the window and I caught them. Well, sort of caught them in the act. The person was running away.”
“So you saw this person?”
“Yeah, I felt eyes on me. You know, when you can feel someone is staring at you. Then I looked out the window and caught them running away.” I couldn’t tell him that Mae West had spotted the person and not me.
“Can you give a description?”
“Well, not really. He was dressed in black.”
“Black what? Dress? Pants?”
“Pants and a jacket.”
“Male or female?”
“It's hard to say. All I saw was the back of him of her. It could have been either one.”
“How tall?”
He was spewing out the questions in rapid succession.
“Average.”
“So a male or female of average height? Well, that narrows it down a lot.”
“What do you want me to say? It's dark. That's all I could see.” I folded my arms in front of my chest.
“I understand, Ms. Donavan. We’ll patrol the area. See if we find anyone who fits the description. If you need us again, call.”
I nodded. “Yes, I will.”
Although, unless someone was murdering me, I wasn't sure if I would call. I didn't like the look I was getting, as if I was somehow bringing this on myself. If only I could catch this person myself and beat the crap out of them. One thing for sure, I wasn't going to take being harassed any longer. When he pulled away, I locked the door, placing the chair back.
Anthony reappeared.
“Well, tough guy, did you find him?” Seth asked.
“No.” He shook his head.
“Thanks for trying, anyway,” I said.
“You're welcome. You know I'd do anything for you.” He looked like a lovesick puppy.
“I know.” I gave a half attempt at a smile. Did I ever know he’d do anything for me, and that was a huge problem, as far as I was concerned. I wished I had a living, breathing man to do the same.
Sleep didn’t come easily. I tossed and turned. In one of my dreams, Cooper and Brianna broke into my house and attacked me. Brianna looked like the Wicked Witch of the West. I imagined that was what she really looked like on the inside. Instead of being pretty and blonde, she was green and ugly.
***
I woke up with Anthony sitting on the floor beside the bed staring at me.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“You scared me.” I clutched my chest.
“I'm sorry. I just like to watch you sleep.” He flashed his bright smile.
“Anthony, you need to stop that.”
“I don't want to stop.”
“I can't talk about this right now. I need to shower and dress for work.” I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Get your mind out of the gutter. Now, leave the room so I can dress.” I pointed toward the door.
He smiled, then disappeared. I worried he'd pop up again, although I hoped he was more of a gentleman than that. Or was he secretly still there and I didn’t know it. That didn’t seem quite fair. I guess if he got an eyeful there was nothing I could do about it. After showering, I dressed in my jeans and a gray turtleneck sweater. I pulled on my black boots and grabbed my purse.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
After a long day and a steady flow of customers, I was anxious to make a few phone calls. I didn't bother ringing Mindy again because I knew she wouldn't answer. I remembered I had the phone number of another coven member. Becky wasn’t much help so maybe this woman would be, and if Karyn couldn't help, maybe she could.
The woman answered after the first ring. “Yeah,” she said breathlessly.
Had I dialed the wrong number? “Is this Dixie?”
“Yes.”
“This is Larue Donavan from Book Nook.”
“I guess you heard about Karyn,” she said around a sigh.
“I did. I went to visit her. She didn't look good.”
“It’s just awful. We're all having a hard time dealing with it. I sense an edge to your voice, is something wrong with you? If it’s the coven leader stuff, please don’t worry about that now. We’ll find someone else,” she said.
“Of course the coven leader thing is on my mind, but that’s not all. I have other problems.”
Seth, Mae, and Anthony paced in front of me, listening to my side of the conversation.
“Does it have to do with Brianna's cousin?” she asked.
“How'd you know?” My anxiety increased at the mere mention of Cooper.
“We've been watching him. A few things have happened that made us suspicious.”
“So, I guess Becky told you about him?”
“Well, no, she didn’t mention him.”
“That’s odd. Becky told me she’d spoken with the coven members.” Why would Becky lie to me? “Anyway, back to the point, surely, Mr. Garret knew the coven would keep a close eye on him. Why would he come to town and try funny business?”
“Why don’t you tell me exactly what has happened,” Dixie said.
“It's my friend Mindy. She connected with Cooper right away, and it didn't take long until she wasn’t herself. She's shut me out and, quite frankly, said a lot of nasty things that I know just aren't her true feelings. I confronted Cooper about it but, of course, he denies it. Becky mentioned
that performing witchcraft can attract demonic spirits and that maybe I’d brought one back to Mindy. Something tells me it’s Cooper though.”
“I’m not sure where to start to figure this out. I’m not going to lie, Larue, since Karyn’s been gone, we’ve been lost. Her guidance was invaluable to us. Things have been a mess without her.”
“And yet, she wanted me to be the leader?”
“Don’t underestimate yourself. If Karyn had faith in you, then I believe you’d be wonderful for the job.”
“I do trust Karyn but, with her in the hospital, me being the leader isn’t even an option.”
“I have faith that she’ll get better.” Her voice trailed off.
“So can you help me? I suspect Cooper's placed a spell on Mindy. My fear is that he’s going after Callahan Weiss now.”
“I'm afraid without Karyn's help, I don't know what to do, but I can give it a try. I can't guarantee that it’ll work.”
“It's an emergency, you know. I don't know what he'll try next. I have to try anything. Can we meet to cast a spell?”
“I'll call everyone and see if they can meet tonight. If not, I'll call you back, but plan on meeting us in the same spot in the woods around midnight. Remember, without Karyn's guidance, it’ll be hard. You'll have to focus and use all of your energy.”
Could I focus anymore than I had last time? I wasn’t sure I was cut out for witchcraft. I needed to stick with talking to ghosts.
“I do my best, and thank you, Dixie. I'll see you tonight.”
The weight on my shoulders felt heavier than ever. Use all of my energy, she said. That wouldn't be easy. All my energy was going toward the ghosts—there was only so much energy I had to spare.
“Guys, you have to back off tonight. I need my energy to help Mindy. It's important.”
They nodded, but somehow I didn't think they could help but drain my energy, not as long as they hung around. They didn't realize how much get-up-and-go they took from me. What I really wanted was for them to cross over, but until I got to the bottom of why they were hanging around in the first place, I didn't think that would happen. So it looked as if I was stuck with these outlandish characters for heaven knew how much longer. I needed to train them to do my work for me while they were around. Maybe then they would get sick of working and move on.
Tonight, I’d meet the coven in the woods just outside of town. A scary place, but I prayed I wouldn't be as spooked this time. It wouldn’t be the same without Karyn.
A greasy burger and fries was the only comfort I’d find tonight. I missed burrito and margarita night with Mindy. Would we ever get that again? On my way out of town, I grabbed some comfort food and headed home. You could have heard a pin drop on the inside of my car as we traveled down the back roads toward my house. Could the ghosts feel my anxiety? It had to have an effect on them.
In spite of the extra cheese on my fries, most of the food remained untouched.
“What I wouldn’t do to eat those,” Mae said as she looked longingly at the food. “You shouldn’t waste it.”
“I don’t have much of an appetite.” I yawned and stood from my comfy spot on the sofa. “I’m off to bed.”
With a few hours to spare before the big meeting, I decided to nap. As was my usual ritual of late, I placed the chair under the knob of the front door, then collapsed onto my cozy bed. Not taking any chances, I set the alarm. I didn't want to be late for the activities. Eleven p.m. would give me plenty of time to sleep, then get ready for the big event. Luckily, it was only a five-minute drive.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
In spite of what waited for me, I slept surprisingly easy. I tossed and turned a little, worrying about the outcome, but eventually dozed off. At eleven, I reached over and turned off the alarm.
“I wouldn't have let you oversleep,” Anthony said.
I forced my eyelids open. Anthony stood in front of the bed. His form was clear, as if he were living and breathing. His chest and arm muscles bulged beneath his T-Shirt and his white smile gleamed.
“What am I going to do with you?” I mumbled.
His smile faded and he lowered his gaze. “I don't know.”
He turned, walked across the room, then sat in the chair by the fireplace. I shuffled over to the chair. I wanted to reach out and wrap my arms around him, but that was impossible. All I could do was offer words. I’d spent so much time with my problems that I’d ignored Anthony, Mae, and Seth.
“There’s more for you on the other side, you know? I know there are things you wish you'd done while on this earth, but it's too late.” I lowered my tone to just above a whisper. This was always the hardest part. “There's nothing you can do to change the outcome now. Heck, I bet you can play music all day long in heaven.”
He chuckled. “You think so?”
I nodded. “I think you'll be there with all the great artists of the Fifties. Heck, you can see Elvis. How great will that be?”
“I'll think about it. Okay?” He looked away.
“All right.” I nodded. “I'm getting dressed now, so scram. And I mean really scram. You’d better not hide.” I warned with a point of my finger.
“Do you need my help?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Um, no.”
He laughed and disappeared. Now I never knew for sure that they weren’t hanging around. I grabbed a thick sweater from the closet, then pulled on my favorite pair of jeans. Grabbing my coat, I headed out the door.
The wind howled and I pulled my coat closer. The cool fall air of day had turned to cold. My car puttered along as I traveled down the long driveway. Turning onto the road, my steering wheel almost pointed in the direction of the meeting on its own, as if not letting me back out. After navigating the back roads, I pulled down the dirt path that led to the secluded spot.
Other cars lined the road just like last time. Only this time, Karyn was missing, and I didn't know how we would do this without her. But I was thankful that these people were willing to give it a try. Apparently, they wanted to stop Cooper from performing black magic as much as I did.
Dixie stood beside her truck when I pulled up. She was younger than I’d expected. We were about the same age. Her auburn-colored hair came down on her neck in big waves. She was dressed for the occasion with jeans and a thick black jacket.
When I climbed out from behind the wheel, she said, “Are you ready? The others are waiting. You look a little sick.”
I nodded.
“Don’t worry, we'll tell you what to do.” She patted me on the back.
“I'll follow your lead,” I said.
The last time I was out there, I hadn't known what to think of the situation and the people. At least now, I felt as though I could rely on them. If Karyn said they were okay, then I knew I could trust her word.
Dixie walked in front, and I trailed along behind her down the narrow path. I couldn't believe that in such a short time I was back where all this magic had started…this time without Karyn. I prayed she would be well soon. What kind of black magic were we dealing with, anyway? Did Cooper possess powers stronger than Brianna? He had to if he had two people under his spell.
Leaves floated to the ground around us, crunching under my feet as we moved along. The wind whistled between the branches. The moon was out, but half as full as it had been the first time I’d tried magic. The moon had to be full for the spell to work back then. Would that be the case this time, too? Would it not work? I had no choice but to give it a try.
The night air was crisp so I pulled my coat closer, but it did little to fend off the chill. I held the flashlight in front of me. My hand shook, making the light bounce up and down. Uneasiness crept over me, as if it trailed behind me, waiting to pounce. I glanced over my shoulder. The gang followed along. Never mind that I’d told them to stay behind.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered.
They didn’t answer. Now they decided to be quiet? Of all times. There was nothing I could do about them
at that moment. Telling them to get lost wasn’t an option. I'd have to focus and try my best with them around. I prayed they didn’t steal any of my energy.
We neared the spot where the magic would be performed. The sound of the other coven members grew louder, as they chatted while waiting for us. My flashlight flickered.
“The batteries must be low,” Dixie whispered.
Thank goodness, Dixie had a powerful one to help lead the way. My ghost friends must have drained my batteries. As I took a few more steps, my flashlight went out. Damn.
“Don't worry about it. My light is extra duty. It could light up a football game.”
I placed my useless light in my coat pocket. The others stood in a circle, waiting for me, the guest of honor. Another coven member held a bag. More than likely it was filled with the contents for me to perform the spell. The woman began removing them when she saw me approach. Candles, a small bowl, and a few other things that were too small for me to make out. I stood back from the circle, not quite making it all the way to where they stood. I’d wait until they told me what to do. I'd only done this once, so I didn't want to assume I knew what I was doing. And Karyn thought I could lead the coven? If they needed a book, I could get it. If they wanted to get rid of a ghost, I could do it. Well, most of the time, I could, but magic? No way.
As I stood there waiting, a glimpse of something moved out of the corner of my eye. A shadow darted behind a tree. The shadow was back? My breath caught in my throat for a second, but I tried to remain calm. Maybe it was someone in our group. I looked around the circle. It was full except for where I was supposed to be standing. Dixie turned and motioned for me to join the circle, and then turned back to focus on the others.
As I moved one foot forward, arms reached from behind me. One hand covered my mouth. I lost my footing, stumbling to the ground. Someone was dragging me away from the group, and no one even noticed. No one heard my struggle; my scream silenced by the hand over my mouth. I thrashed about, trying to free myself from the tight grasp. The person was too strong.
