They agreed to drive there the next Saturday and try to find anything they could about the girl. She had been dead for more than nine years, so it might be hard to find out anything, but they were going to try. They talked with each other every day that week, laying a well thought out plan, and the next Saturday morning they headed to Southampton.
The drive was an easy one, and the more they talked about it, the more optimistic they were. However, as they got closer to their destination, Arielle could feel anxiety taking over, and she could see that Gabrielle and Eva felt the same way.
They parked in front of the address they had found on the computer. It was a huge house in a very beautiful neighborhood. They were completely startled to hear a young voice speaking, right next to the car. They looked over and a young girl around fifteen or sixteen stood there with a wide smile on her face, books clutched in her arms, asking them if they were looking for someone in particular.
“Do you know who lives in this house?” Eva asked, pointing.
“Who are you looking for?” asked the young girl. Arielle was shocked to hear Eva’s next statement, which didn’t fit well at all with the very well thought out plan they had laid out during the week.
“My sister has asked me to try and locate a couple of her best friends from secondary school. She moved to Germany to attend university a few years back and now she’s getting married.”
“Who are you looking for?” the girl asked again, a beautiful smile on her face.
“Juliet Garner.” Eva’s voice was a little shaky, but her nervousness wasn’t too obvious.
The girl immediately lost her smile as a sad look took over her face. “She’s not here any longer,” she said, in a barely audible voice.
“Oh… Do you know where she is?” Eva persisted.
The girl’s look of grief deepened. “She’s dead. She died ten years ago.” Her eyes welled up as she turned away from the car and started to walk toward the house.
“Wait! Wait!” Eva yelled. The girl stopped and waited without turning back to look at them.
“Who are you?” Eva asked. The girl slowly turned halfway toward them and they could clearly see tears rolling down her face.
“I’m her sister, Rachel,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Rachel, can we talk to you, please?” Eva pleaded.
“Come on in the house,” Rachel said. “I’m sure my mum would love to see you.”
They got out of the car and followed her inside, not knowing how far they planned or would be able to carry the lie Eva had created. Rachel called for her mother and a short, attractive woman appeared at the door to the foyer.
“Mother, these girls are looking for Juliet.”
The woman’s jaw fell open and her face showed clear emotional suffering at the sound of her daughter’s name. Arielle could clearly read her mind and she could feel the immediate change of the mother’s emotions, like a roller coaster, full of highs and lows but mostly lows that were deep and long.
“Were you friends of Juliet?” she asked. Her voice was soft, filled with profound sadness.
“My name is Eva, and these are my friends Gabrielle and Arielle. We live in Brighton and my sister Briana, who was a friend of Juliet’s, is getting married in Germany. She wanted me to locate a couple of her friends for her. That is what brought us here.”
“Please come and sit down. I’m very happy for your sister,” Juliet’s mother said. There was sadness in her eyes, as if she were thinking about how she had once wished the same for Juliet.
Arielle was consumed by guilty feelings over their lie, and she knew that Eva and Gabrielle felt exactly the same way. But they couldn’t change their story now. They had to move on and find out all they could about Juliet.
“Can we ask what happened to Juliet?” Eva asked. “I mean, if you don’t want to talk about it…”
“She was getting ready to go to university and she was shot by accident during a party at a friend’s house,” Juliet’s mother murmured, her eyes fixed somewhere in the distance.
Eva looked shocked, and then asked, “what happened?”
“It seems that the girl’s younger brother, only six years old, got ahold of his father’s gun – his father is a sergeant with the Southampton police department – and it went off. Juliet was shot in the mouth, and she died instantly.” Tears rolled down the side of her face, making the girls’ hearts break.
“Oh, Mrs. Garner, we are so sorry!” Arielle said. But the mother continued speaking with an empty look in her eyes as if she hadn’t heard a word.
“We lost our beautiful daughter just a month before she was to be married to her sweetheart,” the mother continued. She was weeping softly and had taken out a handkerchief from her pocket. “We buried her in her wedding gown because I knew how much she loved it and how she was looking forward to walking down the aisle to be with Jasper forever.” Her voice broke and she fell apart into a heartbreaking sob. Rachel put her arms around her mother and held her tight.
At the sound of Jasper’s name Arielle felt a strong jolt go through her body and, looking at Gabrielle and Eva, she knew they felt exactly the same way.
“I love you, mother,” Rachel whispered as she looked at her mother lovingly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Arielle had tears in her eyes and her heart was breaking just listening to the mother, feeling her pain and sorrow. She looked over at Gabrielle and Eva, who were both looking down, clearly disturbed by the mother’s words.
The fact that Juliet had been shot in the mouth reminded them that when they had seen her in Arielle’s room that night, there had been blood coming out of her mouth and dripping onto her beautiful wedding gown.
“What happened to the boy she was going to marry?” Arielle asked.
“Oh… Jasper went through extreme mental agony and hurt. He seemed to do everything he could to move on and get back on his feet but he kept falling into deep depression and nobody could help him. He committed suicide a year later, leaving behind a letter with just one line: “She’s waiting for me.”
Arielle stopped breathing as her mind went back to the pentagon and the words they had seen on it: “Wait for me. I love you, Jasper.”
The silence in the room felt like a cold blanket on her skin, and the air got so thick that it was suffocating. They were all looking down with broken hearts and eyes full of tears.
Mrs. Garner stood up and looked at them with a soft smile. “I wish Briana all the happiness in the world,” she said.
They thanked her and left the house in complete bewilderment. They got into the car and sat without moving, without saying a single word. Then Arielle stepped on the gas while wiping the tears away from her eyes. She felt such a deep sadness and she wanted to do something, but she had no idea what to do. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she was startled when Eva spoke again.
“So, what do we do with all that information?”
“I think you need to find a spell and try to reunite them,” Gabby said authoritatively. Eva didn’t seem to even notice what Gabby had said, she was so deep in thought.
“Somehow she must have remained earthbound due to the emotional trauma she went through, and she hasn’t been able to move on in her life-journey. She must be waiting for Jasper and refusing to head toward the light until he comes to her. She needs your help, Eva. They need to find each other and I think you can do it. And I think she knows you can do it, that’s why she keeps coming to you.” Gabrielle was out of breath from excitement. She wanted so badly to bring the two separated lovers together that Arielle could feel her eagerness and willingness to do her part to help.
Eva finally smiled and agreed that Gabrielle’s plan was a good one, and they all decided to give Eva time to find the right spell, then get together and try to help Juliet before they went away on their holidays.
For the next week they left Eva alone and waited for her to let them know when she was ready. Their thoughts were full of Juliet and the upcoming event. Ariell
e was sure it was going to be the biggest thing they had ever experienced in their lives thus far.
Finally on Thursday, Eva called them to say that they needed to get together and talk. They agreed to meet at Arielle’s house that same evening at seven o’clock.
“Did you find the right spell?” Gabrielle asked.
“Yes,” Eva said. “But there are several things that you both need to understand if we are going to do this the right way.”
“What do we need to do?” Arielle asked, full of curiosity.
“First we have to find a natural location free from outside disturbances such as noise, other people, phones, and any other outside interference. Preferably a place that is commonly used by spirits and that has a symbolic connection to our purpose. The perfect choice would be the house of the deceased person, but we can’t do that. So the next best place, in my opinion, would be the cemetery.”
“Oh, I don’t like that at all,” Gabrielle said, in a voice so low it was almost a whisper.
“Well, if we are going to do this we can’t have any grasping and groping during the connection. We absolutely have to have our feelings in check, our hearts free of any other problems, and we have to stay neutral about what we are doing. If we can’t do that, we can’t do the spell.”
There was quiet in the room and nobody said a word for a long time. Finally Arielle asked, “What else do we need to know?”
“During the summons we have to bring a lot of love and support for the difficulties that surround Juliet in order to help her find Jasper. Love is the pulsation of contact in the spirit world, and that is what will also enable Jasper to find his way to Juliet’s path. It’s like giving him a soft push in her direction. Also, we need to bring candles. The cult books say that spirits are attracted to sources of heat and light.”
“Is there anything else we need to bring?” Arielle asked.
“I’ll bring vervain, saffron, and prepared incense to burn during the summons within the safety of a magic circle that we will draw, and that circle will also hold a symbolic item – the pentagon that was handled by Jasper and Juliet. That will be the connection between them,” Eva said. Then she looked at both of them very seriously and asked, “Do you think you can do it? If not, then let’s not waste any more time on this, and let’s just move on.”
“No…we have to do this,” Gabrielle said in a firm voice, and Arielle agreed.
“I think the best time to do it is on Saturday night around midnight. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes,” they both said. They were nervous about this decision, but also sure that it was the right thing to do.
“I’ll pick you up first, Eva, and then Gabby,” Arielle said. “And I’ll bring the candles. What color do they have to be and how many?”
“There are different colored candles to be used for each day of the week. We need a black one because we are doing the summons on Saturday, and we also need three violet ones and three white ones.”
They all agreed to be prepared and calm. They truly wanted to help Juliet move on to her final destination. Then they went home feeling full of the secret they had and wondering about how it would all unravel.
Chapter 4
ON FRIDAY, Eva and Arielle decided to spend the afternoon together, going to the mall to do a little shopping. They needed to purchase all the items that Eva said they needed to gather for the cemetery.
Arielle spent a little time thinking of the upcoming holiday. Her parents loved the ocean just as much as she did, and they had purchased another home in a small town in France, St. Jean de Luz, that would satisfy their love for the water. Going there gave the family a chance to spend quality time together while away from home, school, work, and daily commitments. Eva and Gabrielle’s families did the same, though in different places.
So as soon as school was out each year, the three of them went their separate ways for the summer months, looking to make new holiday friends, new memories – and some juicy secrets they could share with each other when they got back home.
Arielle would be leaving with her parents for France the following Wednesday. Eva and her mom were leaving on Monday for Alnmouth, in the northern part of England. Gabrielle and her parents would be flying to San Marco Island in Italy on Tuesday.
The friendship between Gabrielle, Eva, and Arielle was something very special. They shared all of their most intimate secrets and they discussed every little thing with each other, whether it was important or not. Arielle knew Gabrielle’s intimate thoughts and most of Eva’s, and she told them most of her secrets, except for the secret of her dreadful gift. She knew she would tell them someday, but she was afraid they might not want to be her friend anymore if she told them. And she knew she couldn’t live without them in her life.
They had plenty to talk about each time they got back home from their holidays, but so far there had been nothing earthshaking happening in any of their lives. But they wanted to believe that one of these days one of them would come back with something great to talk about.
Gabrielle loved horses and every time she returned from her holiday, she would talk about how exuberant she felt each time she got on a horse and galloped through the beautiful green fields of San Marco. Arielle wanted to experience that feeling too, but she had just one problem: she was completely petrified of horses. She and Eva were more the beach or pool-relaxing type. She didn’t like too much excitement. She was happiest just reading, listening to music, walking on the beach, and lying by the pool. She guessed that the most exciting thing she and Eva would ever like to be involved in was waterskiing.
Spending time in the sun was pretty important to all of them. They always wanted to come back with a dark brown healthy color showing they had been on holiday.
When it came to books, even though Arielle and Eva both loved reading, Eva’s tastes had changed since her father’s passing. Arielle loved to find new gothic romantic stories and classic books like Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca, or Wuthering Heights. Eva had once loved the exact same type of books, but now she was more interested in books about shadows, witchcraft, Celtic mysteries, and books of spells. It wasn’t Arielle’s thing at all. Still, she and Eva had the same taste in music, so they were able to share that.
Of the three of them, Gabrielle was the athlete, the horseback rider, the swimmer, the skater, the biker – the list went on and on. Just thinking about Gabrielle and what she would be doing on her holiday made Arielle tired.
That night she decided to read for a little while before she went to sleep. She stood up, picked up one of her favorite books, Persuasion by Jane Austen, and slipped in a leisurely way under the covers. She started to read and as usual she got lost in the world of Anne Elliot and her love for the handsome and dashing Captain Frederick Wentworth.
This is the kind of love I’m looking for, she thought, and why is it that I only seem to find it in Jane Austen’s books? Especially in Pride and Prejudice. She sighed. She was glad they were leaving soon on holiday, and that she would have a little break from all these witchcraft and summons sessions; however she also knew that they had to get through this one last session on Saturday night.
Somewhere in the middle of reading her book she drifted off to sleep and the next thing she knew, her mother was calling her for breakfast. She gazed at the clock and saw it was already nine-thirty. She spent the day getting ready for her holiday, deciding which books to take, what music to listen to, and what clothes she would need. She laughed out loud thinking about how she had done this same activity over and over again, but somehow each time it seemed as if she had never gone on a holiday before in her life.
Around four o’clock the next afternoon Gabrielle called her, full of excitement and enthusiasm.
“I can hardly wait for tonight!” she said. “I’ve been thinking about this for two days straight, and I haven’t been able to sleep.” She sighed a deep sigh.
“Just remember, you have to stay calm, with no outbursts,” Arielle reminded her,
“if you want the summons to be successful.” All Arielle wanted to do was to get it over with and move on with their lives. “We’ll pick you up around eleven-thirty, okay?” she asked.
“Arielle, please let me come over to your house. I’m going out of my mind being alone. All I can do is think about tonight.”
“Well, all right,” Arielle said, chuckling at her friend’s eagerness. “Come on over. Maybe you can help me pack.”
“I’ll be right there!” Gabrielle said, and the phone went dead. Just a few minutes later, she was startled to see Gabby walking through her bedroom door, all worked up, but smiling.
“Good Lord, did you fly here?”
“Arielle, I swear that if midnight doesn’t come soon I will just burst!”
Arielle had to laugh just looking at Gabby’s face. She hugged her warmly and they laughed together even though they knew what they were going to do that night was no laughing matter.
Finally eleven o’clock came, and then eleven-thirty. As the hour approached Arielle grew even more nervous, and Gabrielle seemed to be a little bit less excited and a little more apprehensive herself.
Arielle called Eva just before they left the house. They picked her up and soon they were on their way to the cemetery. The iron gate was not locked, so they drove along the long winding lanes and covered pathways, blatant cues of the solemnity of death, and found their way to where Eva’s father was buried.
The burial plots were small but the spaces between the lots were large, with plantings and created landscapes unbroken by hedges. There were no stars in the sky, and the cloud-obscured moon made the night charcoal black. It was extremely quiet and very tranquil. Arielle knew that all three of them were contemplating the mystery of death.
Arielle Immortal Awakening (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 1) Page 4
