by B. T. Lord
“Paul called me. Said to get down there ASAP.” Jace drew her to him and held her tightly in his arms. “You’re safe now, my love.”
For once Cammie didn’t try to pull away. The feeling of safety from his touch soothed her rattled nerves.
“Make sure she stays in bed,” Doc told Jace. “If you need a sedative for her, come get me.” He then pulled at Rick’s sleeve. “What do you say I make us a nice cup of coffee?”
“It’s almost midnight.”
“Then I’ll make you a gin and tonic.”
“Gin makes me vomit.”
Doc gave Rick a stern look. “Then how about I kick your ass out of here?”
Rick looked to Cammie and Jace clinging to each other before comprehension spread all over his face.
“Ah, I got it. A little short on the uptake.”
The two left, quietly closing the door behind them. Once they were gone, Jace took Cammie’s face in his hands and gazed down at her.
“Now that we’re alone, are you up to telling me what really happened?”
Cammie shook her head. “Not yet. I still need to…” She hesitated, then sighed. “I can’t right now.”
“I’m here when you’re ready.”
Cammie nodded. Jace started to pull away when she reached out and grabbed his sleeve. “Please,” she whispered. “I don’t think--” The words trailed off. Without a word, he climbed into the bed next to her and gathered her into his arms. They stayed that way for the rest of the night.
“Are you sure this is wise?” Jace asked.
“I need answers.”
“You think Paul’s the one to give them to you?”
“I think he’s the only one who can. If he hadn’t called you last night, I’d be dead right now.”
Cammie had awakened with the sound of Jace’s gentle breathing in her ear. His arms were still tightly wound about her, and for an unguarded moment, she felt complete. Then she remembered the events of the night before and the feeling of euphoria abruptly evaporated. She knew Doc nor Rick nor Jace would have the answers to what had happened to her. Only Paul would know.
After taking a shower and putting on her uniform, she defied both Doc’s orders to stay in bed and Jace’s concern, insisting she had to see Paul. The only concession she made was to allow Jace to drive.
The journey to Paul’s house was made in silence. She couldn’t even begin to share with Jace what had happened, even if she wanted to. Which at the moment, she didn’t. She still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the prior night’s events.
Just as they pulled into the shaman’s driveway, the door opened and he came out.
“I’ve got your tea brewing,” Paul greeted. He glanced at Jace, and a half smile played across his mouth. “And a cup of joe for you.”
The two entered the tiny cabin and sat down in the small circle of chairs he’d set up in front of the table with the crystal grid. Both Cammie and Jace glanced at the grid. Cammie turned her attention back to Paul while Jace continued to eye it with a slight frown creasing his brow.
It unnerved him. In truth, Paul unnerved him. Growing up in Twin Ponds, he’d heard all about Paul’s special abilities. He wasn’t sure he believed in them, but after last night, he was beginning to wonder. Paul had called with an urgent request he drive down Notch Road. At first he’d thought the old man had finally lost it, but there was something in the shaman’s voice that told him to do what the older man asked. Now he was thankful he hadn’t ignored Paul’s appeal.
The shaman handed Cammie a mug of chamomile tea, and Jace a cup of coffee, black, just the way he liked it. Their eyes met and Jace once more felt uneasy. Although he tried to tell himself it was silly, he felt as though the man was looking right into his very soul. He tore his eyes away and concentrated on the coffee.
“You survived your ordeal,” Paul replied calmly, as he sat down in front of the pair.
“So it really did happen,” Cammie responded wearily.
“What did you see?” he asked.
She took a long sip of the tea. “It’s too crazy for words,” she began slowly. Paul unexpectedly barked out a laugh.
“Remember who you’re talking to. I live crazy.”
Encouraged by his words, Cammie slowly and haltingly recounted everything that had happened. She felt rather than saw Jace react to her words, but she kept her focus on Paul. When she was done, she looked directly at the old shaman. His face was placid, showing no emotion. He nodded and took a long sip of tea.
“So?’ she finally asked. “Are you trying to tell me I was actually attacked by the Giwakwas?”
“Everyone has a fear that is lodged deep within their hearts. Sometimes they have no idea what that fear is until for whatever reason, it’s brought to the surface. For example, I hate rats. Probably left over from a past life where I saw my body chewed up by a swarm of the nasty critters. You’ve been afraid of Giwakwas ever since you were ten and I shared their story with you.”
“Whoa, wait a minute here,” Jace replied. “Are you saying Giwakwas actually exist?”
“The fear of them does.”
“But Cammie says she saw them.”
Cammie shook her head, trying to take it all in. “Why last night?” she asked. “What was so special about last night?”
He furrowed his brow as he thought about it. “The energy was disrupted.”
“Huh?”
“The energy has been different for a few months now. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s an element that I haven’t experienced in a very long time.”
He stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Be careful, Cammie. There’s a darkness about. Don’t get swallowed up in it.”
“Like Todd and Marcy did?”
Paul met her gaze, but remained silent.
“I don’t suppose any of those visions you get could tell us what’s going on?”
“I’ve tried. Believe me, I have. But nothing is making itself clear.” He shrugged. “It happens sometimes. The information will find me when it’s ready to be found. Just as it found me to tell me you were in trouble.”
“You saved my life, you know.”
Paul shrugged. “Just listening. I’m good at that.”
As they headed out, Paul followed them to the door. Once there, he again placed his hand on Cammie’s shoulder. “I’m happy to see you’ve started to allow a pinprick of light into your heart. Allow that pinprick to grow. There’s an old saying my grandmother used to say. Out of bad comes good.”
She didn’t respond. She didn’t need to.
They were settled in the Explorer and on their way back to Doc’s, when Cammie clicked her tongue in disgust. “Well, that was as clear as mud.”
“When you put your mind to it, you are pretty good at pissing people off.” Cammie looked at Jace and saw the smile tugging at his lips.
“Cute,” she muttered.
“Who have you ticked off lately?”
“Nobody that I know of. Unless you consider Torri and Clarisse.”
“Torri and Clarisse?”
She quickly filled him in on her conversations with the sisters.
“Do you think that’s the disruption Paul was referring to?”
“They’re the only two people I can think of that I may have disrupted the energy, or whatever it was Paul said.” She threw her hands up in the air. “This is so frustrating! I know what I saw and I –“
Her sleeve knocked against the thermos, knocking it to the floor. She swiftly scooped it up and started to put it back in the cupholder when she stopped.
“And I what?” Jace asked. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her staring at the thermos. He watched as a look of comprehension spread over her face.
“Holy shit!” she said.
“What’s the matter? Are you alright?”
She looked at Jace. “Get me back to Doc’s as soon as you can. It’s urgent.”
“How long is this going to take?”
Cammie was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, while Jace sat on the couch opposite Doc. “It’s up to the computer,” Doc responded. “Your impatience isn’t going to make the program run any faster, so you best try to relax.”
Rushing back to Doc’s, she’d insisted Doc run a test on the contents of the thermos. Now it was in the computer, awaiting results.
“What do you think is going on?” Jace asked, his eyes bouncing back and forth as he watched her restless pace.
“Remember when I asked Paul what was so different about last night that would make me think I saw the Giwakwas?”
“What is a Giwakwas?” Doc asked.
Cammie took a deep breath before answering. “They’re mythical creatures from the Abenaki and Penobscot traditions. It’s said the Giwakwas were once human. By committing a horrible crime against their tribe, or becoming possessed by an evil spirit, their hearts turned to ice.” She turned her hazel eyes to Doc. “They became Giwakwas, creatures of the land, and of the air, who feed on the bodies and souls of anyone who is unwise to walk the forests alone. When the night is dark and the wind is high, you will hear their howling as they run along the forests near Crow Mountain, seeking out another victim to devour. The woods around Mkazawi Pond are supposedly infested with them.”
“And you’re telling me you think you actually saw these creatures?” he questioned incredulously.
“Yes. Or at least I thought I did. They were so real, Doc. I could actually feel them scratching at my arms and breathing down my neck.”
“So what was about last night that made you imagine you saw them?”
“The only thing I did differently last night was brew a cup of tea and put it in the thermos I gave you.”
“Tea?” both Doc and Jace asked simultaneously.
“Yes.” She looked at Jace. “You remember that bag of loose tea I gave you after the last hockey game?”
He nodded. “I have to admit, it got rid of my headache pretty quickly.”
“Exactly. Both my shoulder and head were aching last night, so I drove to HQ, grabbed the baggie of tea from Emmy’s desk and brewed myself some tea. I was drinking it on my way back to my cabin when, well, you know the rest.”
Doc raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to tell me you suspect your sweet, innocent receptionist of trying to poison you?”
“Of course I don’t. But what if the tea I drank had the same salvia whatever you call it that you found in Marcy? After what I experienced last night, Marcy seeing aliens and Todd seeing whatever it was that made his face freeze into such a horrible expression is much more plausible. You said yourself the tea is used by shamans to make someone face up to their fears. I’ve been terrified of the Giwakwas ever since I was a kid. If any fear was going to be conjured up for me to face, that would certainly be the one.”
“Couldn’t you tell by the odor of the tea that it contained salvia timor?”
Cammie frowned. “That’s the weird thing. You smelled the tea in the thermos, didn’t you? It smelled like mint, not old socks.”
“Maybe whoever made the tea has figured out a way to cut down on the old sock smell?” Jace suggested. “Seems to me that’s a pretty obvious indication the tea contains the salvia. If you smelled that when you brewed it last night, there’s no way you would have drank it.”
“Are you now trying to tell me you suspect your sweet, innocent receptionist of putting hallucinogenic in her teas?” Doc asked.
Cammie rolled her eyes in response.
“Hold on. I drank that tea and nothing happened to me,” Jace pointed out.
“It wasn’t the same bag of tea. Emmy told me to keep the baggie I gave you, explaining she could always get more.”
“If you had such a headache, why didn’t you just ask me for a painkiller instead of driving all the way into town?” Doc questioned with a tinge of disgust in his voice.
Cammie cocked an eyebrow. “You really need to ask?”
“Coward,” he muttered.
“The answer to all this lies with Emmy.”
Doc stood up. “Then I suggest you go speak to her. As soon as I get the results, I’ll call you.”
While Cammie was battling Giwakwas on Notch Road the night before, Emmy was tossing and turning in her bed, her mind running in a thousand directions. When she awoke in the morning, she was filled with a determination she hadn’t felt in a long time. It only intensified as she showered, threw on her clothes and drove to work. She knew what she was doing was risky. Heck, it was probably suicidal. But she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t do something.
She remembered a saying she’d come across on the internet that now resonated with her. Courage had nothing to do with fear. Courage was being scared to death, but doing the right thing anyway.
Well, she was certainly scared to death. But she had to do this.
She had no choice.
“I need to speak to you.”
Cammie and Emmy stared at each other as they both said the same words at the same time. The sheriff blinked a few times in surprise before responding, “Uh, sure, Em. Let’s go into my office.”
They started down the hall, when Emmy abruptly stopped. “I think Rick should be there too.”
Cammie turned and looked into Emmy’s face. She saw fear. She saw anxiety. But she also saw a fierce resolve that pushed aside the other emotions. She gave a curt nod. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
Cammie called Rick, and together the three of them went into Cammie’s office. While she perched herself on the edge of her desk, Rick and Emmy sat in the two chairs facing her.
“Sheriff, I need--” Emmy started to say, only to be interrupted by Rick.
“Sorry Em, but the sheriff needs to tell you what happened to her last night.”
Emmy’s heart began to hammer when she saw the uncharacteristically somber expression on Rick’s face. “What happened?” she stammered.
Cammie started to answer, only to be interrupted by Rick.
“The sheriff here almost met her maker last night.”
Emmy blanched and unconsciously gripped her hands tightly in her lap. “Wha--what?”
“Yeah. She was driving out on Notch Road--”
“Rick, I think I can handle this,” Cammie interjected.
“Oh yeah. Right. Sorry.”
She took a deep breath and turned her attention back to Emmy. “Where did you get the tea you keep in your desk? Do you make it yourself?”
Emmy stared at her in confusion. “The tea?”
“Yes.”
“I -- I haven’t learned yet how to mix the right ingredients to make a good cup of tea.”
“Then where did you get it?”
“Some friends of mine made it.”
“Tell me, have you ever heard of salvia timor?”
Emmy shook her head. “Please Sheriff, why are you asking me this? What happened last night?”
Cammie recounted her experience on Notch Road. “Doc is checking to see if the salvia was in the tea I took from your desk.”
“Toxicology found salvia timor in Marcy’s blood stream. They’re now checking Todd’s samples,” Rick added. “We’re beginning to suspect that since this stuff makes you deal with your fears, it’s what made Marcy see aliens and Todd see something that scared the hell out of him. It’s also what made the sheriff see Giwakwas last night.”
Emmy’s eyes filled up. “Oh my God. I can’t believe this. I can’t believe they’d hurt you. It’s all my fault.” Tears ran down her face and she began to weep.
Cammie and Rick exchanged surprised looks. Grabbing her chair, Cammie brought it around and sat down on the other side of Emmy. She put her arm around the weeping girl’s shoulders.
“Emmy, what happened to me can’t be your fault.”
“Not unless you put that salvia in your tea,” Rick spoke up. Cammie threw him an exasperated look and he quickly backed down.
Before Cammie c
ould continue, Emmy abruptly jumped up and ran out of the office. A few moments later, she returned, holding the baggie of tea in her shaking hand. She handed it to Cammie.
“I found this on my desk yesterday.”
“Found it?”
She nodded. “It was after you and Rick got the assault call. I noticed we didn’t have any more cream for the coffee, so I ran across the street to the Grocery Emporium. I wasn’t gone more than ten minutes. When I came back, the bag was on my desk.”
“Just like that?”
“Well, I did call and ask for some more.”
“Look Em – you gotta come clean,” Rick continued. “You gotta tell us who gave you the tea.”
Emmy hesitated, then took a long, deep breath. “It was Torri.”
Cammie stared at her in astonishment. “Torri, as in Torri Jackson?” she whispered. Emmy nodded. “How do you know Torri?”
Emmy took her time answering. Cammie glanced at Rick and saw he was ready to jump up and shake the young woman in order to get an answer. Emmy slowly sank down in the chair, her voice and hands trembling.
“I can’t believe they’d want to hurt you. They’re not that kind of people. Or at least I didn’t think they were.”
“That’s the thing about people,” Rick answered. “You never know about them. I mean, who would have thought Marcy Audet would go off and shoot out the neighborhood?”
“Oh God, Marcy…” Emmy muttered.
Cammie leaned forward. “You knew Marcy?” Emmy nodded. “What about Todd?”
“Kinda. I saw him at Torri’s once or twice, but just to say hello. He never stayed long enough to have a conversation with him.”
“What is the connection between all of you?”
Emmy’s eyes watered again. The moment had come. Unconsciously wringing her hands, she looked at Rick, then Cammie. “You see, Torri is a witch. Marcy was a member of her coven. And – and so am I.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Rick sucked in his breath and stared wide-eyed at Emmy. “You’re – you’re a witch?”
Emmy visibly flinched.
“Stop looking at her that way,” Cammie reprimanded him. “There’s nothing wrong with being a witch.”
