by Kat Bostick
Mari had no reason to believe that Henrick would be hanging out around Gran’s apartment but if his coven was led by the witch that cursed Jasper, she would be taking him right to them. Yet, if she left him here, he was a sitting duck.
“Shit, shit, shit.” Mari chanted. “I’ll come back for. I have to go get Gran, then I’ll come right back here and we’ll all leave.”
Jasper snarled unhappily and refused to budge.
“Jasper, please. Gran is in trouble and I can’t take you with me. Someone might see you.” She knelt in front of the wolf and took his head in her hands. “I’ll come back for you. I promise.”
Hesitantly, he stepped away from the door. Mari flung it open, barely pausing to shut it behind her before rushing to the car. She fumbled with the lock on the door and then again getting the key into the ignition. Her hands were trembling and her heart was thundering when she peeled out of the driveway. It took all of her self-control to drive the speed limit. Getting pulled over would only slow her down.
Gran lived twelve minutes away but those twelve minutes of agitated anxiety were the longest of Mari’s life. As she drove her brain whizzed through scenario after scenario, trying to decide how to handle it if she got there and found the source of Gran’s pain was a person. Mari could throw a good punch but what if someone was using magic to harm her? She was totally outclassed in that arena. Could she call the police on a witch? Why hadn’t she called the police already?
Mari leaned over to her backpack and scrabbled for the zipper. She looked up just in time to see the car swerving towards the wrong lane.
“Dammit!” She slammed the heel of her palm on the wheel.
What would she have told the police, anyway? “I dreamed my grandmother was in pain and I’m afraid a witch is cursing her, please send officers immediately.” That would go over well. She could at least call Gran and warn her. Damn, she was too adrenalized for this. Mari needed to get her head screwed on straight if she was going to protect Gran and Jasper from whatever was happening.
Mari reached for her backpack again but the bag tipped over, sending the side with the zipper even further from her. Fine, no making phone calls. She would just have to run like hell when she got there.
“No, no, no. Oh no.” A sickening weight dropped into her stomach when she pulled into the parking lot of Gran’s complex.
A firetruck blocked the entrance to the lobby. Situated beside it was a police car and an ambulance without lights. Lights off was bad. If they weren’t in a hurry then no one needed saving. Mari kicked her door open and ran to the lobby. A middle aged woman who worked the reception desk overnight was standing by the automatic doors with her arms wrapped around her torso. A police officer stood beside her and nodded sympathetically.
The officer attempted to intercept Mari as she charged to the double doors. He put his hands up and said something that she couldn’t understand over the roaring in her ears. Blood pumped to her head so fast it sounded the same as the horrible wind from her dream. Mari shrugged the man away when he put a hand on her shoulder and pivoted slowly when two EMTs appeared in the doorway. Between them was a gurney with a foreboding black bag stretched across it.
This was a retirement facility. Old people died all the time. It wasn’t Gran. It couldn’t be Gran because Mari had the dream and that meant what she saw was in the future. It hadn’t happened yet. That was what Gran said. Her dreams were prophetic. Prophecies were things that hadn’t come to pass.
“Let me see.” Mari demanded quietly.
“Miss, step aside with me, please. I can assist you if you’ll explain to me what the problem is.” The officer returned his hand to her shoulder.
“Let me see!” she shrieked and ran for the gurney. The EMTs were too startled to react. With a sharp tug Mari yanked the zipper on the black bag down to reveal a greying, dead face. Two coffee colored eyes gazed blankly up at the sky.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” The receptionist said meekly.
Mari didn’t hear the words because her entire body had gone numb. She wasn’t even sure if her heart was still beating inside of her. Icy dread crept through her veins until tremors shook her violently. More words were thrown at her but they were fuzzy and distant.
Gran was dead. Just days ago she was sitting in Mari’s living room and now she was gone.
What cruel gods would give her a divine gift that showed her future events if she would be too late to change them? Why show her grandmother suffering if there was nothing for Mari to do about it?
“Jasper,” Mari hissed.
There was no protecting Gran now but Jasper was still in danger. She’d seen someone cage him. She had no way of telling if the events she saw were in any kind of order. All of it could be happening at once. All of it could have already happened.
But Jasper was safe when she left and her house wasn’t up in flames. She had to get him and they had to leave immediately. Mari didn’t know where they were going to go or what they were going to do but she wouldn’t let anyone take him.
Should she call Dad and warn him? Was he at risk? Mari had no idea if Gran’s death was coincidence or heinous. The old witch’s health wasn’t at it’s peak but in the dream she seemed so tormented. And there was visible magic, though it came from Gran rather than the other way around.
The officer pulled her back from the gurney, demanding an explanation.
“That’s my grandmother.” She mumbled, hoping that would somehow explain her panicked arrival. “I need to tell my Dad.”
The officer continued asking her questions but she ignored them, walking as calmly as she could to her car. Unless he detained her, there was no reason she couldn’t leave. He didn’t follow when she got to the Corolla, only raised his voice so that she could hear him from the building entrance. Mari nodded at him as if she was listening then climbed into the driver’s seat. Before she got the key in the ignition her phone chirped.
Mari fumbled through her backpack in search of her cell. Once she located it, she tilted the screen up and saw a notification for a missed call. From Gran. The call came at 4:57 AM. The current time was 5:34 AM. Damn her! If she hadn’t left her phone in the bag Mari might have heard it. What if Gran was calling for help? What if Mari could have saved her?
Shaking fingers tapped the code into the phone and pulled up the voicemail application. Her heart seized when the familiar, comforting voice of her grandmother came through the speaker. This was the last time she would ever hear that voice and it was thick with fear.
“Mariella, listen to me. There is darkness coming. My coven will not stop it. Take the wolf and seek out his pack immediately. Tell them what you are and ask for their protection. Your bond as his ma…” A static sound cut out a few of her words. “…keep you safe.” Trust your ancestors, trust yourself. You are stronger than you know. I love you, Mari.”
Tears clouded her vision and a painful lump blocked her throat, making each breath brief and uncomfortable. “I love you too, Gran.”
Find the pack. Tell them what I am.
And what was she? Gran never told her anything specific. She was a witch. That was all Mari knew about herself. She could ask Dad, beg him to finally give her the information she needed, but he wasn’t likely to help. Would that change if she told him that she was in danger?
No, Dad was a ninny and no help from him would be useful. All Mari could do now was get Jasper and get the hell out of Klein. They would take her research and follow each of his potential routes. Maybe he would see something familiar and remember.
In one swift motion Mari twisted the key in the ignition, jerked the Corolla out of park, and accelerated backwards out of her spot. The police officer shouted and jogged a few steps after her but when she pulled out of the lot he didn’t pursue further. Hopefully they wouldn’t come looking for her. At least not yet. Dad was Gran’s emergency contact so they would inform him. He could handle the rest.
How could she reduce her grandmother to “the
rest?”
Time for grief will come later. Now it was time to compartmentalize. With well-practiced efficiency, Mari tucked her emotions into a mental box and sealed it. She completed the drive home in a perfunctory manner but her focused demeanor stuttered when a devastating sight greeted her at the end of the cul-de-sac.
Mari slammed on the breaks and kicked the car into park in the middle of the road. She dashed down the street to where a firetruck was positioned in front of her house. Two firemen wielded a massive hose as they sprayed down the blazing structure. She approached two police officers standing beside a squad car and waved her arms to get their attention.
“That’s my house!” One of the officers jogged over and raised his eyebrows at her. Before he could speak she begged “please tell me they got my dog out!”
“What kind of dog?”
“Um, a malamute. He’s big, really big. You couldn’t miss him!” Mari knew she sounded hysterical but she couldn’t calm herself. She left him there. She left him in that house knowing it was going to burn. How could she leave him? She failed Gran and she failed Jasper. They might both be dead because of her.
“I’m sorry, miss. The fire was already out of control when someone called emergency services. There was no way for the fire department to sweep the house.”
Mari carefully turned away from the officer and proceeded to vomit on the ground. Yellow bile spilled from her throat and soured her tongue. Then as if her body was acting without her instruction, she was running back to the car. It wasn’t until she was driving into the lot at Klein Park that Mari even knew what she was doing. She stumbled from the Corolla with her backpack slung over one shoulder and slipped through the gate.
She didn’t stop running when she made it to the small collection of trees. There was a familiar tug in her chest guiding her deeper into the woods. The sun was high now and the forest was golden with morning light. Dew shimmered in patches of grass and made wet leaves stick to her feet. At one point one of her flip flops came off but Mari didn’t stop to put it back on. The pull inside of her was the same one that protected her from Henrick’s magic. Whatever the cause, she had to follow it.
When her legs stopped moving, Mari blinked out of her trance. In front of her were the remains of a fallen maple. The roots ripped the soil when they were unearthed, leaving a deep indentation in the ground. Scattered around it were damp clumps of red fur. A sob rocked Mari’s body and she collapsed to her knees. With gentle care she plucked one tuft and cupped it in her palm.
“I’m so sorry, Jas. I’m sorry I left you.”
A zing of magic burst in her hands like sparks spraying from an open flame. Jasper was alive. Mari knew it with absolute certainty. Deep in her chest she could feel it, almost as if the echo of his heart was reverberating inside of her. She slid down into the makeshift den and closed her fist around his fur.
An idea struck her then and Mari reached for the backpack. Thank the divine she brought the family legacy with her and it hadn’t been burned with the house. She carefully flipped it open, turning pages until she found the spell she was looking for.
“See through the eyes of the heart.” She read aloud. When Mari first saw this spell it didn’t seem to have a clear use. Understanding illuminated her mind as she read the description again. This was exactly what she needed.
Chapter 20
Mari
The heart sees what the mind cannot. With tender eyes it looks lucidly upon the world. Use this spell in a time of need to help thy heart find what it truly seeks.
To begin, light a candle of beeswax then speak these words and open thy bosom to the divine:
Earth Mother, Goddess of Flesh and Blood,
I call on thy strength and pray thee answer,
My heart seeks to see that for which it yearns,
With eyes that know the shape of the world,
Thrice I will repay thee with worship,
With seeds from my garden,
With life from my loins,
And in death, with my flesh.
Follow thy words with a swift cut to the second finger from the index. Let thy blood flow freely onto the flesh of Earth Mother.
Select a token that calls forth the clearest image of that which thine heart pines for and feed it to the flames.
Repeat the words twice more, smother the candle, and face thy heart due south.
“This isn’t so bad.” Mari reread the spell instructions, biting her lip nervously. “Except for the blood part. Isn’t that evil? Blood magic is always evil in the movies.”
It was entirely possible that this spell wasn’t on the up and up in the magical world. Gran hadn’t performed any of the spells in the legacy because according to her, she didn’t possess enough power to make them work. Did Mari?
She would try regardless. There were no other options. She couldn’t call the police, she couldn’t involve Dad, and she couldn’t bet on Jasper getting away from whoever took him. If the whirlwind of events that she dreamed last night were all happening, Mari expected that wherever Jasper was, he was caged. They hadn’t necessarily been in chronological order but it was safe to assume he wasn’t currently roaming the streets with a pack of demonic werewolves.
“Okay, Mari. Focus. It’s casting time.”
Wait, she couldn’t cast this. Not until she had the necessary supplies. Thankfully the thing didn’t call for rare herbs with names she couldn’t pronounce because no herb store was going to be open this early on a Tuesday morning. Mari checked the time on her cell. It was barely past six. No craft store was going to be open either. In fact, the only thing that was guaranteed to be open right now was a twenty four hour superstore. Did Wal-Mart sell witchcraft supplies?
Maybe but there was another place she could get everything she needed and not just for spellcasting; Dad’s garage. At some point during her time in college Mari tucked away several boxes with her keepsakes, old clothes, and many of the books, crystals, herbs, and other items that she purchased for her practice. With any luck there would be a beeswax candle among that junk.
And considering that her house burned down with all of her stuff in it, the old clothes would be useful too. Dread clawed at her gut at the thought of her house. Her home. The place she grew up, the only thing of value that really mattered to her. And the plants! Oh God, those poor little plants were burnt to a crisp.
Focus. There will be time for grief later.
Mari dropped the tiny clump of hair that she was still clutching and stood. With the same urgency she’d marched into the park, she raced back to the car and set her mind on Dad’s house.
✽✽✽
The jeep wasn’t in the driveway when Mari arrived at her father’s home which probably meant he’d already been called about Gran. She swallowed and pushed that thought aside. It was better this way. She could get in and out without being disturbed. The garage door jerked to life and slowly ascended when Mari punched in the four digit code on the security panel.
More than a year had passed since Mari had last set foot in this garage and it looked like Veronica had reorganized. Along one wall was an immaculate work table and a very expensive looking assortment of tools hanging above it. She suspected that Vee created the work station and purchased the tools so that Dad would finally get on the do-it-yourself renovations she’d been demanding for years.
The once cluttered collection of boxes and plastic totes were neatly arranged on two big metal shelves. Praying that her stuff hadn’t been discarded, Mari began searching. She skimmed over each shelf twice and was about to curse Veronica when she noticed one of the totes was labeled “Mari’s junk.”
With a renewed sense of hope, she jerked the tote to the ground, and popped the lid off. Sloppily folded t-shirts, jeans, and what looked to be an old Halloween costume sat on top. Mari quickly tossed those aside to reveal two shoeboxes. Her heart pounded nervously when she selected the box with permanent marker pentagrams sketched on top.
She breathed an exh
ale of relief when she saw the contents. Surrounded by jam jars of mixed herbs, scrap paper with handwritten spells, jewelry, and several boxes of incense were three yellow candles. Mari picked one up and sniffed it. The overpowering smell of Nag Champa was all she could detect but based on the texture, this was almost certainly a beeswax candle.
Mari shoved the rest of her belongings back into the tote and clicked the plastic lid back shut. She refocused her attention on the shelf, hunting for a label she’d noticed in her initial search. The container marked “camping gear” was much smaller and probably hadn’t been used since she was a little girl. The gust of stale air that puffed out of the tote when she opened it confirmed that.
It only took a moment to find Dad’s copper compass. It would be much easier to face due south if she actually knew which direction that was. Before closing the storage container she grabbed an old map of Minnesota.
Candle in one hand, tote handle in the other, she started back to the car. Mari was about to leave the garage when a tool hanging on the farthest corner of the wall caught her eye. Why did Dad have bolt cutters? Hopefully he didn’t need them for something urgent because Mari was about to borrow them indefinitely. They would come in handy if Jasper was caged and chained.
The plastic tote made a horrible scraping sound as she dragged it down the driveway, which was probably why Veronica came bounding off the porch as Mari was unlocking the trunk. Her bottle blonde hair was twisted up in a messy bun and her slim figure was wrapped in a ridiculous fluffy pink bathrobe.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Vee’s voice grated.
“Taking my stuff out of your garage. You’re welcome.”
“Do you have any idea what happened this morning? Mari, I saw your house on the news! On fire! Your father was worried sick. He’s probably going to lose another inch on his hair line because of you. What is wrong with you?” Veronica snapped.
