“Interesting. Maybe we can find out when Andrea comes by,” Diana said.
“What exactly is it that Andrea will do when she gets here?” Mara asked. “If it involves releasing the vapor inside the luminaire, I want no part of it. The last thing we need is to deal with another Aphotis, raising who knows what kind of hell.”
“The séance doesn’t involve releasing Sam’s soul. Andrea can channel his thoughts by absorbing the light that emits from the luminaire. Besides, there is no danger of another Aphotis being released as long as we are in this realm. According to the oral histories, the darkling wraith—the precursor soul of the Aphotis—had to be released in a place and time where it could possess the bodies of other people. That has never happened here.”
Mara relaxed a little. “That sounds logical.”
“Nevertheless, I remain somewhat concerned,” Ping said. “It might be prudent for us to retire while you and Andrea attempt to communicate with your Sam. If there is one thing that we’ve learned over the past months, our presence may have unintended consequences.”
Diana nodded. “I understand if you don’t want to participate.”
“No way. I’m staying to watch,” Sam said.
Mara pressed her lips together, fighting the urge to argue with him. Instead, she turned to her mother. “Do you still feel the need to talk to Sam even though his counterpart is here?” she asked. “I would have thought his presence—knowing he continues to live in other realms—might give you the closure you seek.”
“That is what my Mara had hoped and why she wanted you to bring Sam with you. To be honest, I was feeling better after seeing Sam, your Sam. But now that I know my Sam wants to talk to me, I have no choice but to go forward with the séance.”
Mara glared at her brother.
He shrugged and held up his hands. “What? I can’t help it if my counterpart has something to say.”
“I would recommend that we not participate in the séance,” Ping said.
“Ping, you guys have met your counterparts in other realms before. I never have because they are always dead for one reason or another,” Sam said. “This is a chance for me to experience that.”
“I don’t understand your obsession about meeting your counterpart,” Mara said.
“A part of me doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that I’m always the one who’s dead when we go to other realms. Why me? Even I would be dead if you hadn’t stopped Diana from sacrificing me on her altar.”
Diana, gathering dishes and napkins, froze with a plate in her hand, half delivered to the serving tray. “Stopped me from doing what?” She looked horrified.
“My version of you wanted to sacrifice me to open a portal between her realm and Mara’s.” Sam nodded to his sister. “But Mara stopped her.”
“Stopped her how?” Diana asked.
Mara rolled her eyes. “Here he goes again with the tabloid headlines.”
Sam barreled ahead. “My mom possessed the body of Mara’s mom, but Mara forced her out and killed her by remerging her soul with her burned remains.”
“Oh, my goodness.” She reached out and hugged Sam to her. “You poor thing. I can’t imagine doing something so awful, no matter what realm I lived in.”
“Clearly Mom isn’t a threat to you in this realm,” Mara said.
The doorbell chimed. Diana picked up the serving tray and nodded to the front door. “That must be Andrea. Mara, why don’t you get that while I take care of the dishes?” She went into the kitchen without waiting for a response.
Mara looked at Ping. “What do you want to do? Should we participate in this séance?”
“Yes,” Sam said.
Mara ignored him as she walked to the front door. She stood there, holding the doorknob while Ping responded.
“The number of Sam’s deceased counterparts does seem to be inordinate, so I wouldn’t be too quick to dismiss his concerns. Let’s talk to Andrea and learn more about the process, then we can make an informed decision.”
“Agreed,” she said and opened the door.
Standing on the front porch was a round middle-aged woman with pink hair and the cherubic face of a much younger person. She smiled broadly and held out her hand. “You must be Mara! Ned and your mother have told me so much about you.” She held up a hand to her mouth, which went from a smile to puckered lips in a blink of the eye. “I’m so sorry. That was too much levity, considering your recent loss. My condolences on the passing of your brother.”
Mara shook her head and smiled. “No problem. Please come in.” She thinks I’m the other Mara and that Sam is dead, which he is, but he’s also standing across the room in front of the fireplace.
Instead of guiding her to the cluster of furniture in front of the fireplace, Mara offered to take her coat and slowly helped her take it off. “Mom, Andrea Lansing is here! You might want to come and introduce her to your other guests.”
Diana walked out of the kitchen, drying her hands with a dish towel. “What are you talking about—other guests?” She glanced at Ping and then Sam, and her eyes widened. “Oh, right. The other guests. Andrea, come have a seat. Would you like something to drink?”
Mara hung up the coat in the closet next to the front door and walked over with Andrea.
“No, thanks. I’m fine.” She and Mara sat on the couch next to Ping. Sam sat in the armchair to their right while Diana sat in the chair to their left.
“I hope you don’t mind if I have a few people join us for the séance,” Diana said. Andrea shook her head dismissively, and Diana continued. “This is Mr. Ping. He’s a friend of Mara’s, and this is Sam, Mara’s brother.”
Andrea’s eyebrows knitted together, and her gaze shifted quickly to the green lightbulb shining on the mantel. “Wasn’t your son named Sam?” She looked at Sam.
“Yes. It’s a little complicated to explain. This Mara, Sam and Ping are from an alternate Reality. This isn’t even the Mara who Ned told you about. She’s her counterpart, her alter ego from another realm, and this Sam is the counterpart of my dead son.”
Andrea eyed them with an expression Mara took as a mixture of doubt and confusion. “I see.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in all of a sudden, but it’s true,” Diana said. “Mara—my Mara—has had several encounters with her counterparts from other realities, this Mara being one of them.”
“Ned gave me the impression your daughter was not interested in mystical or magical concepts, to the point that he warned me that she might be antagonistic during my visit,” Andrea said.
“Mara did not seek out contact with me or her other counterparts,” Mara said. “She was resistant to interacting with people from other realms. I had to agree to bring my brother to visit her mother before she would agree to see me this time.”
Andrea faced Sam. “And so, you are Sam, another version of Diana’s son?” Her gaze shifted to the light on the mantel.
Sam nodded.
“Remarkable.”
“This Mara is the person who captured the Aphotis and returned him to the luminarium,” Diana said.
Andrea tilted her head as she turned to Mara and took in the information. “Ah. That explains a lot. That’s why you look familiar to me. I’ve seen the security video of you returning the Aphotis. Tell me, how did you bind the creature to its luminaire so strongly? We always assumed it was some form of higher-level magic.”
“He’s bound to the steam inside the luminaire, though I could see how it might look like it would be bound to the pieces of the vessel if it were shattered. The steam was altered on an elemental level to be attracted to another vapor to which Prado was exposed,” Mara said. “I do have one question though. My understanding of your oral history is that the Aphotis would be born after the merging of the darkling wraith and the progenitor. Prado, the darkling wraith, merged with my friend, not me. So why do you and the Coven think he was the Aphotis?”
“It’s the color of the light he emits from his luminaire. That blu
e-black light is unique and a sign of the Aphotis,” Andrea said. “We all assumed you had captured him and stymied the prophecies handed down in the oral histories.”
“Do you mind me asking why you joined the Coven when it first formed?” Ping asked.
“With the return of the Aphotis, I lost my faith in the oral histories and our beliefs. I guess you could say I filled the void with the tempting promises of Curate Tran. The notion of unbound magical power is quite alluring, but, after several weeks, it became clear to me that having such power in the absence of service was meaningless.”
“Absence of service? What do you mean?” Ping asked.
“As a luminary, you use your abilities to secure the departed and to bring peace to their survivors. Tran’s followers seek power for their own aggrandizement and gratification. It is pointless, wanton and evil.”
“Do you plan to return to being a luminary?” Mara asked.
Andrea shook her head. “Once you retire, you cannot return. I’m now limited to using my channeling powers to help people who seek closure with their departed loved ones. Which brings us to my reason for being here.”
Diana interjected. “Mr. Ping and Mara have some concerns about participating in the séance, though—considering some of the adventures they’ve told me about, with dragons and human sacrifices and such—I can’t imagine why they would think a séance might be dangerous.”
“Dragons and human sacrifices?” Andrea asked.
Sam waved a dismissive hand in the air. “The dragon was my daughter from another realm, and my mother tried to sacrifice me on an altar to some serpent gods.”
Andrea laughed nervously. “I see.”
“Ignore him,” Mara said. “He likes to get attention by freaking people out.”
“You have concerns about the ceremony?” she asked.
Mara nodded to Ping, and he asked, “Could you describe the process you go through to make contact with a departed person?”
Andrea shrugged. “It’s a simple ceremony in which I stare into the luminaire and meditate until the spirit within makes contact. A spark of its light will reflect itself in my eyes—that is how you know when I have made contact. Then, for several moments, you will be able to talk to Sam. When we are done, the spark will fade, and that will be the end of the ceremony.”
“His spirit stays inside the luminaire? There’s no physical contact?” Ping asked.
“None whatsoever,” she said. “I simply become a reflection of his thoughts. He remains in his rightful place the entire time.”
CHAPTER 10
Following Andrea’s instructions, Ping and Sam moved the end tables and the couch back from the fireplace, leaving more room around the circular rug centered before the hearth. They then positioned a coffee table over the rug. Diana placed cushions on the floor around the low table and invited everyone to take a seat.
“What is the purpose of having us sit on the floor for the ceremony?” Ping asked.
“It’s not a formal part of the ceremony, but I find there are fewer distractions when you are closer to the ground. It helps me to focus,” Andrea said.
Andrea positioned herself at one end of the table, sitting sideways to the fireplace. Sam sat at the opposite end while Mara and Ping sat on the long side facing the low-burning logs. Diana remained standing on the other side of the table.
“You can lower the lights and bring Sam’s spirit to the table now,” Andrea instructed. Diana nodded and walked to the light dimmer mounted on the wall near the entranceway to the room. She darkened the room enough to make it difficult to read anyone’s expression. The green bulb on the mantel cast an eerie sheen over the room. As Diana approached it, the light backlit her head, giving her a radiant halo.
Holding the base of the luminaire’s small pedestal, she turned and bent, placing it in front of Andrea. Diana then took her seat across from Mara and Ping, with her back to the fireplace.
“Are we ready to begin?” Andrea asked. Everyone nodded, and she leaned forward, placing her hands flat on the table on each side of the luminaire. Her face glowed green as she stared into the emerald light. “It will take me a moment to make contact, so sit silently until Sam is ready to communicate with us.” Her eyes widened, and her features tightened as she focused on the light.
Mara glanced at her brother sitting up on his knees, leaning over the opposite end of the table, his eyes shining with anticipation. She glanced at Ping sitting closer to Sam and caught his attention with a dip of her chin. He intuited Mara’s concern and patted Sam on the shoulder, encouraging him to sit back. The boy relaxed his posture but not his intense expression.
“I’m sensing his thoughts,” Andrea said.
The luminaire brightened. Singular rays of light refracted and extended through the glass, seemingly reaching for the medium’s eyes. As the brilliance touched her face, she let out a little gasp, and her face went slack. “He’s coming,” she whispered.
“I can feel it,” Sam said, leaning forward again.
A tiny jag of lightning arced from the surface of the luminaire and snapped like a whip, releasing two green sparks that shot into Andrea’s eyes with such force that her head jerked backward. Still looking toward the ceiling, she mumbled something incomprehensible in a voice that sounded odd, different from hers.
“What did you say?” Diana asked. “We couldn’t understand.”
“This is not the one I wish to inhabit,” Andrea said. However, it was Sam’s voice, coming from Andrea’s mouth.
Her head snapped forward. Her eyes glowed green, but the light collapsed into two tiny points that flew from her pupils and shot across the room. As the sparks struck Sam’s eyes, his head snapped back, and then his torso fell back out of sight. Mara heard his body crumple onto the floor.
“Sam!” She gripped Ping’s shoulder in a move to lift herself, but Andrea grabbed her hand from the other side.
“Hold on,” she said. “Something is happening.”
“I can see that,” Mara said.
“He’s moving,” Ping said.
Sam’s hand appeared out of the dark and clutched the edge of the table. Pulling himself up, his face reappeared in the dim light of the luminaire. His eyes shone green, and he had the oddest grin on his face.
“We are here,” Sam said, with two voices, both his, speaking in a spooky chorus.
“Sam? Is that you—my Sam?” Diana asked.
“Hi, Mom,” he said in stereo.
Mara slapped her hand down on the table and turned to Andrea. “No! You said there would be no danger in doing this. He cannot stay inside my brother. Get him out!”
“Sis, calm down. We’re okay. No one will get hurt,” Sam said.
“What are you talking about? There are two voices coming out of your mouth at the same time,” she said.
Andrea shook her head, still trying to get her wits about her. “Something like this has never happened before.”
Sam chuckled. “The story of our lives. Mara, just a few hours ago, I had to deal with two of you—and I didn’t freak out. Just mellow out.”
“We weren’t inside the same body. My eyes weren’t glowing green, and I didn’t talk with a creepy echoed voice. Whatever has happened, it isn’t right.”
“We are safe. Ping, talk to her,” Sam said.
“Tell us what you are experiencing. Perhaps that will reassure your sister,” Ping said.
Sam’s glowing gaze shifted upward as he composed a description. “I don’t feel like I’m being possessed, like in one of those exorcism movies. It’s more like I can have two thoughts at the same time, but both are mine. And I have the memories of two lifetimes, but both are Sam. Weird. But I don’t feel threatened or confused or anything. There is nothing to get worked up about.”
“You, the Sam from this realm, will leave my brother’s body once this séance is over?” Mara asked.
“I am inside your brother’s thoughts, not his body. My soul remains in the luminaire. Sam can dismis
s me from his mind at any time. I pose no threat to him,” Sam said.
“If you don’t intend to threaten Sam, why didn’t you stay with Andrea?” Mara asked.
“It wasn’t a choice I made. It just happened,” Sam said.
“I believe he was drawn to a more familiar mind,” Andrea said. “Channeling the thoughts of the departed requires the medium to prepare herself in such a way as to accommodate someone else’s thought patterns. While I can open my mind to welcome Sam’s thoughts, I could not hope to match the fit of his counterpart from another Reality.”
“That seems logical,” Ping said.
Still looking doubtful, Mara relaxed and said to her mother, “Okay. It’s your séance. I’ll shut up as long as I don’t see any more hinkiness.”
Diana faced Sam, her smile widening and her eyes glistening. “Hello, son. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too,” Sam said.
“I wish your sister could be here to talk with you. She feels terrible about what happened, that you were hurt—killed—by people who were after her. She would have done anything to stop that from happening.”
“That’s not what happened. You must tell her it’s not her fault,” Sam said.
“What do you mean? Acolytes of the Coven were the people who attacked you. They were angry because they thought Mara had destroyed their faith.”
“The bowraith that killed me wasn’t after Mara. It followed me all day and attacked me at the shop when it was obvious that Mara was not there. I think she was out getting parts or something. If it wanted to kill Mara, it would have watched the shop and attacked her at the first opportunity.”
“Are you sure? Why would the Coven want you dead?” Diana asked.
“I don’t know why they wanted me dead, but there’s no doubt the bowraith came for me. I went to the shop to see if Mara could help me get it off my trail. It totally creeped me out having that plant-thing chasing after me through town. Did you know they can disguise themselves as regular plants? There were times when I wondered if I was imagining the whole thing.”
Broken Spells (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern, Book 6) Page 6
