“It was Sarah. She came to me. She showed me what happened to her. I was her. I became her…” My words came out stilted, “I died.”
“You relived her death?”
“I did. Men chased her down, hunted her and threw her in the lake.”
His hand reached for mine. “Did you see the men? Did you see or hear anything that would help us identify them? Help us track them down?”
“Luke, I saw everything.”
Chapter Eleven
Meeting Freddy
I woke alone. Light was streaming in through the weathered boards of the old barn. I sat up and pushed off the hay covering my body. It was cold out, and I shivered hard in the chilly morning air. My clothes lay in a pile on the loft floor a few feet away. They were still wet and cold, and I couldn’t bring myself to put them back on. I carefully made my way down the ladder and stood in the middle of the barn not sure what to do next.
I rubbed my hands up and down my arms for warmth. Where was Luke? Better yet, where was I? I didn’t know the area--the last thing I wanted to do was start wandering around in the light of day in my underwear.
Were the men still around looking for us?
The barn doors gave a loud creak as they swung open. I spun around not sure what I was about to face and found Luke standing in the entrance. His arms were full--he was now wearing an oversized blue and black flannel shirt and a pair of faded jeans.
He gave me a wide smile. “I have supplies.” He walked over and laid his bounty on the floor in front of me.
I crouched down on the floor next to him.
“I found some clothes,” he rifled through a couple of plastic bags, pulled out a white t-shirt and handed it to me.
I quickly pulled it over my head, and when I stood up, the shirt came all the way down to my knees.
Luke handed me a blue flannel shirt. I put the flannel on over the t-shirt. It felt good to be warm again.
“How…”
“I broke into a house not far from here. I took what I needed. Desperate times call for desperate measures.” He handed me an orange.
I was starving. I quickly peeled the orange and shoved a piece of it in my mouth. It was sweet and delicious. I quickly ate half of the orange and handed Luke the other half. “You stole all this?”
He nodded his head, making short work of the rest of the orange.
“Was the house empty?” I asked.
He pulled out half a loaf of French bread from one of the bags. “No, but I got in and got what I needed without anyone spotting me. It was early, the family was still sleeping.” He tore a large piece of bread off and started eating it. “I’ll go back later and leave money with the family to pay for all this. It’s just some clothes and a bit of food. They won’t miss what I took.”
I gasped. “You could’ve been shot.”
He handed me a piece of bread. “Not really. When guns first came they seemed a magic on par with ours, where any non magical person could take down a wizard. So all powerful wizards who do combat magic learned to block bullets early on. It’s one of the first spells we’re taught. I’m not quite good enough to bounce them back ‘return to sender’ but I’m not in any danger from guns. There’s no time for you to learn the spell, so when guns start blazing be sure to stay behind me.” He pulled me into his arms. “I shouldn’t have left without telling you, but you were sleeping. I figured I’d scout around.”
He stepped back with a half grin, and his hand came up to caress my cheek. “Now eat the bread before I try to talk you into giving me your piece. I’m still starving.”
I returned his smile and broke off a piece of my bread and handed it to him before shoving the other piece in my mouth.
My upper body was nice and toasty thanks to the flannel I was wearing like a jacket, but a breeze was making its way around my legs and up under the t-shirt. I looked down at my bare knees. “Any chance you found a pair of jeans for me?”
He shook his head. “I just grabbed what I could and got out of there before someone woke up.”
“You didn’t see the men from last night?”
“No, but they might still be around.”
“Do you think it’s safe to go back to Pagan’s?” I licked my fingers. My stomach grumbled. Half an orange and some bread barely made a dent in my current level of hunger. I sorely regretted not eating more yesterday.
“No use risking it. But the question is, how did they find us? First they tracked us down at the magic shop and now out here.” Luke pulled out a half gallon plastic jug of milk from the bag. He took a swig and gestured it in my direction.
I took it from him and gulped down a couple swigs of cold milk before passing it back to him. “They have to be using magic to track us. It’s the only thing that makes sense. No one followed me when I came to the magic shop. I was careful.”
He took a swig of milk and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “If it’s magic it’s not a spell I’m familiar with.”
“So where do we go?” If Pagan’s house was now off limits, where did that leave us?
“I know this area. I spent a lot of time here as a kid. There’s someone I know about two miles from here. If we can get to his house, he can help us. He’s not one of us--not from the guild. He’s a friend I grew up with. Not mage born, but he can lend me some money, maybe loan me his car.” Luke watched me, his expression turning serious. “You said last night that you know where Darla is. Are you sure you can recognize the place?”
I nodded. “Sarah showed me, in my dream.” Had it been a dream or a vision? I still wasn’t sure. I did know I didn’t want to go through anything like that again. Re-enacting someone’s death. Forget re-enacting, more like reliving their death. I felt everything Sarah had--her terror, fear and pain as she was first hunted and then killed. A chill went down my spine remembering the horror I felt as I was drowning. No, as she was drowning. It was a terror I hoped never to feel again. I glanced at Luke. He was watching me, concern in his eyes.
“They held Sarah in a mansion for a few days before they killed her. A big place above the lake, surrounded by trees.” I tried to focus in on the images of the house still echoing in my mind from last night.
Luke moved away from me and started to pace, lost in thought. I stood quietly by, watching him.
Seconds dragged into minutes. And then he spun around and said, “There’s an old hotel, a resort that was popular in the twenties. The Freemont. It’s big, very old school money. It’s the only place I can think of that would pass for a mansion up there.” His words came out in an excited rush. “It’s surrounded by ten acres of private woods. You could do anything up there without people knowing about it. The closest neighbor is miles away. It has to be the place.”
Finally, we had a destination. Now all we needed was a plan of action. “So we go there and save Darla.”
“We need to regroup. Need to get supplies.” He looked down at my legs. “And we definitely need to get some decent clothes for you.”
“All of which your friend can help with?” A friend who wasn’t mage-born, Luke had said. “Can your friend help us go after Darla?”
“No. It’ll just be the two of us.”
“The two of us going against how many?”
Luke didn’t answer.
“When those men attacked, I had no way to help you.” I had watched him make a stand against the men and my only recourse had been to run. I didn’t want that to happen again. The next time we were in danger I wanted to be by his side. “Can you teach me some of your spells?”
He shook his head. “Spells take time. You have to learn proper Latin, learn how to build up your power slowly so you can wield it.” He reached out and grabbed my hand. “Even if I started teaching you some spells today, it would be months before you could properly perform them.”
“Then I don’t understand what I can do to help when we go after Darla.”
His fingers tightened around mine. “You can learn to wield banshee magic. To con
trol banshees, get them to do your bidding.”
Banshees. I took a step away from him. “You want me to force someone’s spirit to follow my orders?”
“To do your bidding, yes.” Luke’s voice was low. “It’s a powerful magic, controlling the dead. If you had banshee magic, it might be enough, it could be the tipping point to help us save my sister. You’ll be able to control banshees after the last ritual.”
The time had finally arrived--the last ritual. First I’d had to die, then I had to be possessed. What did I have to do in this last one?
“Tonight we do the last ritual.” Luke wouldn’t meet my eyes.
I didn’t want to know, I really didn’t, but I couldn’t help myself. “What do I have to do this time?” I whispered.
His expression was grim when he answered, “You have to take a life.”
* * * *
We left the barn and walked down the country road in silence. Take a life. I had heard the words, but my mind refused to fully comprehend what he’d said. As a healer my path had always been one of helping others. Luke said that his kind no longer did human sacrifices, those kinds of things were no longer allowed and hadn’t been for centuries, so I knew deep down he couldn’t really be saying that he wanted me to kill someone. Could he? I gave myself a mental shake. It wasn’t possible.
We left the dirt road, crossed a pasture and then went over a small hill. On the other side of the hill sat a white farmhouse.
Luke pointed toward the house. “There. It’s just a bit further. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. About what you said… the last ritual.”
“What about it?”
“You said I have to…to take a life.” I forced the words out. “You aren’t saying you want me to kill someone, are you?”
“I want you to help someone pass over to the other side. Someone who’s sick and in pain.”
I froze at his words. “But I’m a healer.”
He stood and watched me for a few moments. “You were a healer. Now you’re a death dealer.”
I shook my head and took a step away from him. “I can’t do it.”
“You have to,” he said quietly.
“I can’t kill someone.”
He reached out and grabbed my arm. His fingers pressed hard into my skin. “It has to be done. You aren’t killing them. You’re helping them move from this plane into the next.”
Taking a life. I’d spent my whole life trying to save lives. I couldn’t do this--I couldn’t help someone die, not when everything in me would be screaming for them to live.
“Who… who…” I couldn’t get the rest of the words out.
“I found someone that needs our services. Last night they called.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “When we were at Pagan’s someone called and asked you to kill them?”
“There aren’t a lot of us. Those who know about us, find us if they need help to end the suffering of a family member who’s sick and in pain.” His grip on me relaxed, and his voice turned persuasive. “They ask for help for those who no longer have hope, those whose existence is filled with suffering.”
I tried to get my mind around what he was saying. This was something his guild did on a regular basis? “Have you ever done it, helped someone to the other side?”
His expression was solemn. “I have in the past. A couple times, but this time I’m not doing the transition, you are.”
“You can’t ask me to do this!” my voice this time was louder, a bit more hysterical.
“Colina, you’re stronger than you know. You’ve gone through the first two trials and survived. This is the last one. The last bridge that has to be crossed for you to be initiated as a death dealer.”
Maybe there was another way. “But I can communicate with the dead. I can talk to them now whether I want to or not.”
“Yes, you can communicate with the spirits, but you can’t control them. Not in the way you need to in order to-”
I interrupted him. “Bind them to me!”
“Yes, bind them.”
I pulled my arm out of his grasp. “And by murdering someone I’ll gain this power?”
He was getting angry. I could see it in his eyes. “It’s not murder. I told you that kind of behavior has been condemned for centuries.”
“Tell that to the man holding your sister.”
His anger boiled over this time--his voice came out in a low growl. “Whoever’s doing this will be brought to justice for what he’s done.”
“You really believe that?”
“I do. My people won’t let him get away with the things he’s done. There’ll be a reckoning. There will be justice.”
But how many more would die before this justice came about? His people weren’t around. There was no one to stop this madman but the two of us.
“This last ritual won’t be easy, but I know you can do it. You have to remember, the family requested our help. They’re asking, begging for our help.”
I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t sure, when it came down to it that, I could actually go through with it.
Luke started walking again. What choice did I have but to follow him?
We made our way down to the farmhouse. Luke pounded on the front door. After a while, it opened. In the entrance stood a good looking guy about our age, with dark, disheveled black hair, cut short and spiky, his shirt only partially tucked in. He was a bit taller than I was, blocky and muscular, built like a football player. When he saw us, a huge grin spread across his face.
“I heard you were back.” He swung the door open wide and waved us in.
Luke stepped inside, and I followed close behind him.
“Freddy, this is Colina.”
Freddy took in my outfit and then looked over at Luke. “You show up at my house at the break of dawn wearing that? You party a little too hard last night? Have car trouble or something?”
“We’re in trouble.”
Freddy’s expression turned serious. “Okay. Fill me in, but can you do it while I make some coffee? You know how I am before I have my first cup of java.” Freddy started heading out of the room.
Luke followed him.
Freddy stopped and turned back toward me. He gestured to the couch. “Sit down, and I’ll turn up the heat. You look cold. Make yourself comfortable.”
I looked around the room. I’d never been in a farmhouse before, but it looked like I’d imagined. The furniture was mostly older, worn but clean and comfortable. There were antiques scattered around. Overstuffed cushions on the blue couch beckoned me to relax into the security and warmth of the old house. I gave in, sunk into the cushions and curled up on the couch, wondering if it was possible for me to ever feel truly safe and relaxed again.
* * * *
I don’t know how much time passed. I stared out the window, lost in my thoughts. It took me a minute to realize Freddy was standing in front of me. He handed me a cup of coffee and put a pair of gray sweats pants next to me on the couch.
“Luke filled me in.”
I wrapped my fingers around the hot cup and took a sip of coffee. The heat felt good against my cold fingers.
“Where is he?”
Freddy sat across from me. “He took the car. Said he had to get some things.”
I couldn’t believe Luke had left me alone with a complete stranger. And Luke was out there. Were the men still looking for us? What if they spotted him? The alarm I felt must have shown on my face.
“Don’t worry. He told me to tell you that he won’t be long. Do you want something to eat? I have cereal.”
I forced a smile. “Cereal sounds fantastic. Thanks.”
Freddy gestured toward the closest door. “The kitchen’s through there. Come in whenever you’re ready.”
“Thanks again.”
Freddy got up and left the room.
I took my time finishing the coffee. When I held up the sweat pants, I noticed that they were three times my size. I ste
pped into them and pulled the string as tight as it would go. They were still not tight enough, my first step forward they started to fall down. I grabbed one side of the pants with my left hand, and made my way into the kitchen.
Someone liked the color yellow. It was everywhere. From the walls, to the utensils and even a kettle on the stove.
Freddy was rummaging through the fridge.
“Cheerful kitchen.”
“Thanks.” He pulled out a jug of milk.
There was a box of cereal, a bowl and a spoon all ready set on the table. I made my way over and sat down.
“Sounds like the two of you had quite a night.” He placed the milk on the table in front of me.
“I’m just happy to have survived it.”
He sat across from me. “So you’re becoming a death dealer.”
“I am.” I poured cereal into the bowl.
I seemed to have Freddy’s full attention.
“And it’s something you’re doing by choice?”
“It is.” I chose this path, this crazy twisted path that was now heading in directions I’d never imagined. And now that I was on it, I didn’t have any choice but to follow it to the end.
He leaned back in his chair. “It’s just that you don’t hear of many people choosing to go into something like that. Usually you’re born into it.”
Freddy seemed nice enough, but I wasn’t about to pour out my soul to someone I’d just met. I wondered how many questions he had. I guess I was about to find out. He didn’t look like he planned to leave anytime soon.
I poured milk over my cereal and didn’t say anything.
My silence didn’t seem to deter him. “Luke said you used to be a healer.”
“I was.”
He leaned forward and a frown formed on his brow. “I’ve never heard of a healer becoming a death dealer.”
“Neither have I,” I answered honestly. I knew theoretically magic is magic, but healers and death dealer were on the opposite ends of the spectrum. More powerful clans could do different types of magic, I’d heard, but my clan had always been healers. In theory, I should be able to do the basics of the dark arts, even if I didn’t have the in-born talent to become a master of them.
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