Magic Runes

by Devyn Jayse

  “Go ahead, don’t let me interrupt your meal.” I nodded at his plate of food. He dug in with gusto and I watched him eat. We enjoyed a comfortable silence. If only it could be like this all the time.

  “It’s nice to see you again.” I told him.

  “It’s nice to see you too. I miss you, you know.”

  “I miss you too.”

  He hesitated and I knew what he was about to say. I interrupted him before he could say the words. “Please don’t.”

  He asked me anyway. “Why don’t you come back?”

  “You know I can’t.”

  “It’s not that you can’t. You won’t.”

  “You know what will happen if I come back. I can’t return. Don’t ask me to.” My anxiety flared. He raised his hands in the air as he saw the reaction his words triggered.

  “It’s okay, I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to do. You’re free. You’re free to do what you want. You’re free.”

  I took in a deep breath and let it out. Those were the words I needed to hear. I kept repeating them in my mind over and over as I took steady deep breaths. He watched me the entire time, worried.

  “Can we just eat?” He suggested to me.

  As if conjured by magic, the waitress showed up with a plate of food I hadn’t ordered. She shrugged. I turned to him and laughed. He grinned at me. “I didn’t want to share my food. And it’s strange to have you ogling at me eat.”

  I felt my lips turn upwards and we both took big bites of our food. It was good. This meet up hadn’t turned out to be so bad after all.

  “It’s really nice to see you again, Dad. I mean it.”

  “It’s nice to see you too.” He didn’t ask me to reconsider and return with him.

  We enjoyed our meal and discussed how we would spend our day. I planned to make the most of it. After all, it was the only time I saw my dad every three months.

  Six

  “He's coming your way!”

  “Don't worry about me, just get out of here and I will take care of this.”

  It was maybe the tenth time I told the client to leave. But he seemed to want to oversee every aspect of the job. I ducked as the poltergeist took another swipe at me by tossing a clock my way. Another thing the client hadn’t listened to was my instructions to remove anything that could be used as a weapon.

  “I can’t work the spells and get rid of it if I’m distracted by you being here. We agreed on this at the beginning.”

  Something had told me from the start that the client would be a problem, but I always liked to work a good exorcism and cleanse a place of a poltergeist. I enjoyed the practice. Poltergeists were notoriously difficult to get rid of and were time-consuming jobs but they earned me good money so I took the offers whenever they came my way.

  “Are you sure?” The client asked. “He is a tricky one. Maybe I should just stay…”

  “We agreed this job had to be worked with my full concentration and I wasn’t to be interrupted.” I reminded him. “Don’t worry, I can take care of myself. Just close the door behind you and put up the sign like I told you.”

  In order for me to get rid of the poltergeist I would have to focus for hours. I couldn't afford to have people continue to interrupt, not that it would be bad for me, it would only rack up more work hours, but a time-consuming job with an already tiresome poltergeist would be infinitely more draining.

  The client finally listened to me and left. He closed the door and I could hear sound of him putting up the notice informing people not to enter.

  The day trip to Andorra had been a welcome respite from customers. I spent the next two days driving around in case anyone was following me. My father said I was paranoid but I liked to be careful. I didn’t want to uproot the life I can created for myself and leave Barcelona. I had spent many years running away and living in different countries in Europe. It felt nice to finally have friends and a place where I belonged. It felt good to be part of the community. It was worth being extra cautious to maintain the life I had.

  A table was upturned in the center of the room and two of the five chairs remain standing. I looked around the empty room in front of me. This poltergeist liked to have its tantrums. I was surprised at how patient the family had been with keeping it around but it appeared that the client's family thought it was more prudent not to antagonize the poltergeist. It was only when they feared their children were in danger that they came to the store to seek help.

  My backpack was near the upturned table. I walked over, bent down, and unzipped my backpack. Everything I needed to work the spells was inside. I had a box full of fresh chalk, candle and matches, drinks and snacks for when I would get hungry, and a book to read for when I got bored. I began to draw the symbols to form the spells of protection for myself. The poltergeist would not go away easily and would act out. In order to avoid any hits I would have to sit in my circle and wait it out but before I sat in my circle I first had to draw the work that would get rid of the creature.

  I chanted under my breath, creating the wards of protection as I wrote out the spells on the ground. My hair flew in the air as the poltergeist tried to send power my way but whatever work it was trying to do could not reach me. I suspected that this poltergeist would do a heap of damage. Nobody really knew where poltergeists went but I had learned from my professors and studied the theories and learned how to execute the spells to disperse of them. I was good at them too.

  After I finished the spells I moved to sit in my circle. From this point on it was a waiting game. If the poltergeist’s resistance was strong this would last hours and I would have to strengthen myself. That's why it was important for me to be around otherwise all this work would be for nothing. I took out a candle from my backpack and put it near me with a box of matches. Poltergeists hated the smell of smoke burning from candles so it was useful to keep them away.

  I grabbed my book and prepared myself for the wait. Meanwhile the poltergeist was already acting out tossing paintings from the walls. I rolled my eyes at the dramatics. Again, I had told the client to empty the room as much as possible but clients never listen.

  Halfway through my book, I heard a sound at the door I sighed and put my book down preparing myself to tell off the client for returning. To my surprise, when the door opened, it wasn't the client who stood there.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked Agent Adrian.

  He ignored my question. A frown was on his face as he surveyed the room. I wondered if that frown ever left his face. “I went to your store and it was closed.”

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “A friend of yours directed me.”

  Before I could ask the next question, he added, “The jewelry designer.”

  That had to be Dina. She must have come by to drop off the necklaces I had commissioned from her. Dina was a witch who designed jewelry for a living. I had a collection collaboration with her based on runes. She would create them and I would sell them in the store to the various supernaturals that wanted to wear runes of protection in an ornamental manner. I wondered how he had found out she was a jewelry designer. Knowing Dina, she probably tried to sell him something. She was a savvy marketer and never passed up an opportunity to sell her jewelry.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask again.

  “You need to come with me.”

  “I can’t, I’m busy. Can’t you see I’m in the middle of a job?” It would be hours yet before I could leave, otherwise all the work I did so far would be wasted.

  “You said you’d help out the investigation into the rune marks. You need to come with me now.” He said brusquely.

  “Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way,” I bristled at his tone. “You can’t just order me to join you. I volunteered to help.”

  “Then help.”

  I gestured at the room. “I am in the middle of a job. What about that can’t you understand?”

  As if to make my point a painting
flew through the air toward him. Adrian ducked, showing off his quick reflexes. The painting would have definitely hit me if I had been standing there. I wasn’t that fast.

  “If you don’t come with me, a girl will die,” Adrian said.

  He would say anything to get me to leave the job. I crossed my arms. “I have to be here for the next few hours. I’ll be at the headquarters tomorrow and we can talk then.”

  “You’re going to regret this,” he warned me.

  His attitude was really getting under my skin. I chanted under my breath and a gust of wind blew him out the door and the door slammed in his face.

  “And put the sign back up!” I yelled through the door. I couldn’t afford any more distractions.

  “A girl’s going to die and it will be your fault.” I could hear him yelling on the other side of the door.

  A twinge of doubt surfaced but I quickly suppressed it. If I walked away from this job, it would hurt my reputation. My place was here. I settled back down and picked up my book preparing myself of the wait. Before long, I tossed the book aside.

  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get Adrian’s parting words out of my head.

  Seven

  By morning, I was so tired I barely had the energy to get to my feet. Despite how I felt, the job wasn’t as bad as I had expected. I managed to get a little sleep but my initial assessment had been correct. The poltergeist had desperately wanted to stay and had a strong will. Any time I fell asleep the creature caused a racket waking me back up. The neighbors would have definitely called the police had I not soundproofed the apartment in advance. Unfortunately I couldn’t create a soundproof bubble around myself. I had to stay aware of what the poltergeist was doing, just in case.

  As I made my way to my apartment, I called the client and let him know that the job was done. I assured him that the poltergeist wouldn’t be back to cause trouble. He was effusive in his praise and told me he would recommend my services to his friends. I thanked him and hung up.

  I opened the door of my apartment and walked in. I wished that I could take the day off and stay here but my work wasn’t over for the day. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and then dragged a comb through my hair. The face that looked back at me in the mirror looked tired. Light shadows were under my hazel eyes, evidence of my sleepless night.

  I changed my outfit from the night before and grabbed a granola bar as I left my apartment to go visit the Supernatural Bureau of Investigation’s headquarters.

  The security guard gave me a cheery wave as I walked through and toward the elevators. Again, no one looked at me as I made my way past the desks and cubicles to Joe’s office.

  A tall man had his back to me. He turned his head to glance at me. It was Adrian. “What are you doing here?”

  “You told me you needed my help with the rune marks.” I was tired and in no mood for games.

  “You’re too late.” He faced Joe.

  My heart sank. “What do you mean?”

  “She's dead.”

  “Dead?” I stared at his back in disbelief. My legs wobbled.

  Joe jumped up from behind his desk and walked around it, reaching me quickly. He held me by the elbow and helped me to a chair. He frowned at Adrian, “Can’t you see she’s exhausted?” He asked me, “What have you been doing?”

  “Trying to get rid of a poltergeist,” I muttered. My head felt woozy. I should have listened and gone with him when he had asked. Instead I had been too worried about my job reputation.

  Adrian’s mouth was set in a grim line. “Because of her a girl is dead.”

  “No, it’s not because of her. It’s because of the murderer that keeps marking the girls,” Joe replied.

  “She had the ability to help and she didn’t.”

  I flinched at the anger in his voice. He was right. I knew how to unravel the rune marks and I could have helped save a life. I thought he had been exaggerating the night before simply to get me to do as he asked. I didn’t ask why he hadn’t brought the girl to me if it was that serious.

  Joe shook his head. “No, even if you had been here, you wouldn’t have been able to help her.”

  “What do you mean?” I was sure he was trying to make me feel better.

  “I have a working theory that you can only unravel the spell at a certain stage.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Well, from what we’ve seen and what you’ve shared it appears that the purpose of the spell is to feed on dormant magic.”

  “Dormant magic?” I repeated. I was tired or I would have told him I already said that.

  “Yes, something that the girls seem to share in common is that they all have some magical ability but untapped. It’s likely that none of them knew they had magic in their blood. I’ve studied dormant magic in the past and the ways it can manifest itself into power. Imagine those girls as batteries for the magician leeching off them.”

  I grimaced at the imagery.

  “In each case we’ve seen, the pool of dormant power the girls had inside them was depleted. It sucked them dry, taking their essence with them or soul. Studies are still being conducted on how closely magic and souls are tied together but for brevity let’s say soul.”

  “The magician is stealing their souls?”

  “In a way, yes.”

  “That’s horrible!”

  Both Joe and Adrian looked grim. “Yes, that’s why we have to stop him.”

  “Why is he doing this?” I looked between the two of them. “There must be a reason he’s leeching all this power.”

  “That’s another problem. We don’t know what he’s amassing this power for. Of course we’re referring to the perpetrator as a he but it could very well be a woman too. We just don’t know.”

  “What do the girls have in common?” I asked them.

  “The victims fall between the ages of twenty-two to twenty-five years of age. Nearly all of them have been single females and have common physical traits.”

  “Which are?”

  “Blond and blue eyed, seemingly of Scandinavian decent.”

  “Not all Scandinavians are blond and blue-eyed,” I said. I would know. I had changed my name when I moved to Barcelona but didn’t dye my dark hair. And my eyes were hazel, not blue.

  “Yes, but so far we’ve only had one girl with brown hair. He seems to target blonds.”

  “What do you think he plans to do with the magic he’s syphoning?”

  “We don’t know,” Adrian replied. I could hear the frustration in his voice.

  I bit my lip. I had a suspicion I knew what the murderer was after. I hoped I was wrong. Maybe it had nothing to do with what I imagined. Maybe I didn’t have to share what I knew. But what if more girls died?

  “Do you have an idea?” Adrian asked, his eyes focused on me.

  “No,” I lied.

  Eight

  “I told you not to go.”

  I returned to the store after my meeting with the SBI agents. I would have preferred heading back to my apartment and getting some sleep but I knew if I did it would only mess up my sleep pattern. I had to power through my day with a lot of coffee instead.

  I glared at Mateu. “I have to report any magical enchantments.” And I had to stick around for the poltergeist I just didn't know that Adrian was serious about needing me.

  “Well they're probably going to keep coming back. I hope you’re ready for that. The SBI can be a nosy bunch. They’ll go through your store.”

  “Everything in this store is legal.”

  “Even the items in the hidden drawer?”

  I started. “How did you…never mind, there’s no hidden drawer.”

  Mateu smirked. “Whatever you say.”

  “Anyway, I was too late. I don’t think they’ll be in a hurry to call back again. I should focus on getting ready for the event I’ve put together.” I tried my best to ignore the gnawing feeling of guilt in my gut. Maybe I could have saved a life if I had listened to A
drian and seen the girl. The poltergeist wouldn’t have gone anywhere.

  “It’s never that easy with the SBI,” he muttered.

  Before I could open my mouth to argue with him further, the bell over the door jingled. I looked up and felt a smile spread across my face. “Natalie! What are you doing here?”

  Natalie walk towards me with a usual skip to her step. She gave me a cheeky grin. “I thought you needed some cheering up.”

  I chuckled as I shook my head. “What else did you see?”

  “You should know by now that I'm not going to tell you more that.”

  Natalie was a psychic, a real one, and she was pretty good as what she did. While she regularly saw visions she rarely told us anything that would happen. I won’t lie, it could be frustrating at times especially when something would happen and she would gaze at me with that knowing look on her face. But she had learned long ago not to share visions with people because of bad incidents that had happened.

  As I recalled the reason Natalie never shared her visions, I felt the smile slide off my face. “Well, how can you cheer me up? A girl is dead because of me.”

  “She would have died whether you were there or not.”

  I looked at her questioningly. “You're sure about that?”

  “Yes,” Natalie nodded.

  Despite myself, I felt a little better. It felt like a weight had lifted from my shoulders. That simple word had managed to remove the sense of guilt and responsibility I had harbored since I visited the SBI headquarters.

  “You'll be helping out, so don't feel too bad.” Natalie lounged in the armchair. She looked around. “Do you have any tea?”

  “I’ll make you some.” I went to the inner room to boil some water. I popped my head back out. “What do you mean I'm going to be of help? What's going to happen?”

  Mateu spoke up from his corner. “You know better than to ask her. She’s not going to share anything.”

  Natalie glanced over at him. “Hello Mateu, I thought you were pretending to be asleep.”