Witchy Woman - Book 2 - The Necromancer

by Pamela M. Richter

  Heather whispered to Michelle that she’d go search for more duct tape, just in case Mike and Rod would need more. She hurried into the back of the laboratory where Mike found the roll.

  Michelle noticed as she stood still, with Lucifer perched on her shoulder, that she was gradually losing strength. She was suddenly feeling weak as a newborn kitten. She struggled to keep her arm up—the one holding the diamond aimed at Omar.

  Michelle thought perhaps the diamond had reached the limits of its own energy potential. Maybe it was pulling back all the vitality it had shot into her previously, to give her strength, and was using it to hold Omar in place.

  Heather ran back. She was holding more tape, but it looked like Mike and Rod wouldn’t need it. The tape was thick, three inches wide, and it took a lot of winding to completely encase Omar. They moved up and down his body with the tape, overlapping it in places, being careful to completely cover his legs all the way down, and clamp his arms to his sides.

  Omar was all wrapped up like a stand-up, silver, mummy.

  The denouement: Rod broke off a few inches of the tape with his teeth and slapped it over Omar’s creepy eyes.

  “Now we run,” Michelle shouted.

  Chapter 30

  Once Michelle moved the focus of the diamond away from Omar, the bright beaming light went out. She was relieved when she felt a great energy surge shoot back into her body when she squeezed the gem.

  The fire alarm abruptly stopped shrieking, making Michelle’s ears ring, and she noticed that water from the sprinklers had evidently run out; they weren’t being soaked any more, but they were all dripping wet.

  Omar was struggling mightily, now that the diamond light no longer disabled him, but he had no balance without vision or the use of his legs. He fell over onto the floor with a mighty splash.

  There he thrashed around, squirming, looking like a big silver snake, or a giant, slimy, slug.

  They had to move quickly or they would be caught, Michelle thought. If so, they were in a foreign country, had been at the site of a laboratory that appeared as though it had been vandalized.

  When he was loose again, Omar would probably say they’d done the damage and tied him up with duct tape.

  “If we don’t get out of here fast, we might all land in a Mexican jail,” Rod said, almost as though he’d read her mind. “Firemen will be coming and they’ll unwrap Omar.”

  “Which way is safer? Through the hospital corridors, or over the bridge?” Mike asked.

  “We’d be too visible, running across the bridge,” Vincent said. “Everyone’s probably looking out the windows since the fire alarm sounded.”

  Rod nodded. “We’ll have to try to get through the hospital without being caught. I’m afraid we might run directly into fire-fighters, though. The way we’re all soaked, they’ll know we were here and want to detain us for questioning.”

  “Dry towels are in the garbage can that I used to hide Heather and Michelle in when we snuck over here. I’ll go get them,” Mike said. He ran to the back of the lab, by the door to the bridge, where they’d left the garbage can and scooped up an armful.

  Vincent still seemed dazed from being bashed on the head so Rod held his arm, steading him, as they sloshed through the litter and debris toward the front door of the lab.

  Michelle opened the door cautiously and peered into the corridor. “All clear.”

  Mike sprinted up to them and handed out clean white towels. They all wiped themselves as dry as they could get and threw the towels on the floor, warily moving through the doorway and out into the hallway.

  As they exited the lab, the hospital was so quiet they heard a distinct ding from the elevator.

  “Uh-oh,” Michelle said. “We have to move fast.”

  As they hurried away from the lab, Rod got on his cell phone to let Sammy know they would be leaving the hospital and to get ready to move the car and pick them up. He was still holding Vincent’s arm, who was stumbling and seemed to have trouble moving swiftly.

  Since the fire alarm was located in the hallway, the whole floor had been hosed down. The carpets were squishy as they ran. Michelle thought the sprinklers had probably gone off in this whole wing of the hospital. There might be other people who had been sprinkler soaked. Still, the five of them didn’t have a good excuse for being here, especially this late at night.

  They wanted to avoid any hospital personnel so they hurried toward a faraway exit sign, making several turns in the long corridors, moving away from the elevators, and finally found a stairwell door at the end of a long hallway. They slipped through the door, panting with exertion. There they stopped to catch their breath.

  Michelle sank down on the cement steps. “I think we’re safe for the moment.” She was shivering. Hospitals are always cold, and now they were soaking wet. She pulled off the wet sheet that covered her head and tried to squeeze the water from her long hair.

  Rod sat down beside her, gave her a one armed hug and kissed her cheek. “I’m away from you for two days, and look what happens. You get in big trouble...again.”

  “Now you know—I’d do anything to see you,” Michelle said, smiling back at him. It was so wonderful to see the face she loved. “Thank you for coming to the rescue!”

  “Thank Heather. She arranged for us all to get here and tracked down the pilot Omar hired so we could find you.”

  “I certainly will.”

  “Did you really marry Omar?”

  Michelle nodded. “He ambushed me in the parking garage at work and used some kind of drugs. I can’t even remember most of the ceremony, or how I got to Mexico. But yes, we’re legally married. I have wedding pictures. And a document; a marriage license signed by both of us.”

  “You’ll have to get it annulled,” Rod said.

  “I will. As soon as we get home.”

  Rod whispered in her ear. “I think Vincent’s hurt. He was conked on the head pretty hard. Can you do your magic? Help him out?”

  Michelle swiveled around and looked at Vincent, who was almost collapsed a couple of steps above them. His head was bent down, he was panting hard, and looked like he was in pain.

  She turned back to Rod and whispered, “I don’t know how to turn the healing stuff on. I’ll try.”

  Michelle got up and went over to Vincent. She sat down on the step beside him. “I was so surprised to see you here. I’m grateful you came to help.”

  “Couldn’t pass up a chance to see my favorite witch in action,” Vincent said.

  Michelle just laughed and shook her head. “How’re you doing?”

  “Okay. I’ll just rest here for a while. You all go on ahead. You don’t want to be in the vicinity when they let Omar loose,” Vincent said, his shaggy eyebrows pulled together in a frown. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Since that tape is stuck to Omar’s clothes, they might have to strip him naked to get it unstuck and off of him. Freeing him will take a while.”

  “Don’t underestimate him,” Vincent said urgently. “You need to get away from here asap.”

  “We’re not going anywhere without you. And I need your help. You told me I have healing abilities, and you got whacked pretty hard. I don’t know what to do, how to make it better.” As she spoke, she could see that Vincent had a big egg-shaped bump on the left side of his head. She touched it gently.

  “Ahhh,” Vincent said.

  Michelle pulled her hand away like it was on fire. “Did I hurt you?”

  Vincent shook his head. “No, it actually feels better.”

  “But I’m not doing anything,” Michelle said as she replaced her hand over the injury. “I wish I knew how to use the diamond. It has demonstrated some magical properties. It might help.”

  “I felt better as soon as you put your hand on my head. The pain really has receded.”

  Vincent was a professor. Michelle could tell he was going into teaching mode when he straightened up, looking at her intently with piercing blue eyes. “You mig
ht think of that diamond as something that potentiates your abilities. It focuses your own psychic power. Think of it as a tiny, energy engine. It will help you, but you have the gift, the magic is inside you. So just close your eyes and let it happen. You’re healing me right now.”

  As Michelle closed her eyes she she could feel her fingers tingling. A sensation like when a part of the body has been numb from being in one position for too long, and then blood flow wakes it up.

  “Omar told me the diamond is dangerous for anyone else.” Michelle said. As they sat there, she told Vincent about the dream she’d had of Abigail’s life in Salem Massachusetts; that she believed the spirit inside the diamond was like a ghost soul from long ago, somehow caught inside the gem.

  “There are all kinds of stories of haunted objects.”

  “But do you think it’s dangerous? Should I dispose of it somehow?”

  Vincent laughed, “Reminds me of one of the stupidest movie scenes. From James Cameron’s Titanic, when that old woman dropped the priceless blue diamond into the ocean.”

  Michelle smiled. “I thought it was stupid, too.”

  “And no, I don’t think you should get rid of it. But guard it carefully and don’t let anyone else touch it. You might find it valuable in the future, as long as Omar’s on the loose, especially.”

  “I’m kind of relieved, Vincent. I like having it, even if it is dangerous.”

  “That cute little cat in your purse, looking at me with owl eyes, is dangerous. Omar is extremely dangerous. And you, Michelle, are equally dangerous.”

  Michelle shook her head in denial.

  “Omar is just more experienced,” Vincent said. “You have witchy powers that could be very frightening, Michelle. The thing that separates the two of you is that you have empathy and compassion; personality assets Omar doesn’t possess. He will kill without compunction, without mercy, thought, or care.”

  “I wanted to kill him tonight,” Michelle confessed. “When he threw you all on the floor and squeezed.”

  The professor shook his head. “No. You wanted to stop him; you’re not a killer. And the diamond helped you do precisely that. Magical spells are all about intent.”

  Michelle smiled and winked at Vincent, nodding down at Heather and Mike, a couple of steps below them. They both became quiet, listening to Heather and Mike talking in whispers.

  Mike was saying, “I feel like Alice.”

  “Alice?” Heather said. “Oh yeah, down the rabbit hole.”

  “I slid down into a whole new world, with a strange bend in scientific principles I had no idea about.”

  “Kind of messes up all your logical beliefs, I’d imagine,” Heather said, smiling. “Like stairwell banisters melting, diamonds shooting out bright light, eyes that dramatically change color, small tornadoes with no wind, and spells that zap the energy right out of you?”

  “Yeah, kind of like that,” Mike said. “It defies logic and our precious scientific beliefs. Einstein’s laws, the laws of gravity—I’m not throwing them out, but I have to admit there are forces that seem to influence those laws. Forces I don’t understand.”

  Heather laughed. “Don’t tell anyone, though, they’ll think you’re crazy.”

  “I’m taking a new look at all the old myths and legends when I get home. I thought they were all fiction stories. Now I have to consider witches, demons, and psychic phenomena as something worthy of study. I never would’ve thunk it. But there is a Paralogical Association that studies psychic manifestations. And it’s associated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.”

  “Just talk to Vincent,” Heather said. “He’s like Mulder.”

  “The X-Files Mulder?”

  “Yeah. But he’s the real deal. I don’t think he does aliens, but when it comes to the psychic investigative stuff, there’s no one better.”

  Rod stood up and went over to them. “We better get moving. I think it’d be safer for us to take the stairs all the way down. Getting on the elevator will dump us into the main hospital lobby, and we can’t be roaming the corridors. We’re too noticeable now, since it’s late and we’re all wet.”

  “I’m good to go,” Vincent said.

  “You sure?” Michelle said, tentatively taking her hand off Vincent’s injury.

  Vincent nodded. “We need to get the hell out of here.”

  Michelle and Rod led the way and the others followed them down, floor after floor. They’d taken so many turns, running through the hospital hallways, none of them had any sense of direction left. The hospital was so big they didn’t know which side of the building they’d be on when they exited.

  As they descended, Michelle thought of all the grueling physical work she’d done to become strong after she’d been raped in Las Vegas. She’d spent years practicing karate so she would never be physically vulnerable again. Now she could break boards with her hands, or her feet. She knew she was strong enough to kill almost any attacker. That thought had been a lifeline when she’d been so afraid of being badly hurt again by some sadistic, brainless maniac. And now the professor told her she had magic. She was actually dangerous. She almost laughed, it was such a funny thought. It was quite empowering.

  Rod’s phone was pinging so he answered it as they rushed down the stairs.

  Sammy: “Rod, something’s going on. There’s a fire engine and about five police cars pulled up at the entrance to the hospital.” There was a pause. “Now they’re getting out of their cars and running inside. This have anything to do with trying to get your girlfriend out of there?”

  Rod said, “Possibly. We’re taking the stairs and will probably end up somewhere at the side or back of the place. I’ll call you when we figure out where we are. We have Michelle. But we need to avoid the police. There was some damage to the hospital and we might be suspects.”

  “Wonderful,” Sammy muttered as he gunned the engine and hung up.

  When they got to the bottom of the stairwell there were two long corridors going in opposite directions. At the end of one they could see a glass door with a noticeable, prominent red bar across it. It led outside the building, but it was obvious the door was a service entrance. People had to be buzzed in or out. Above the door was a red round metal object. Possibly an alarm.

  Michelle and Rod reached the door and peered outside. There was a sidewalk, and a long grassy area which led to trees bordering a street. They figured they were at the back side of the hospital. They could see a service bay where the hospital received supplies.

  Rod called Sammy and said, “We’re at the back of the hospital. Pull around near the service entrance. When we exit, an alarm will go off, so we’ll wait till we see you. Then we’ll make a run for it.”

  “I’m already at the back of the hospital. Wait! There are a couple of police cars stopping near me. You better hide till they get inside. I’ll call when the coast is clear.”

  “Police are coming,” Rod said urgently to the others. “We gotta hide.”

  They turned around and started jogging back down the hallway away from the door where the police would be entering. They had to rush because the door was glass and they could be seen from the outside.

  “I saw restrooms,” Michelle said, panting. “Just a little further and around the bend in the corridor.”

  Rod automatically went for Caballeros, but Michelle shook her head and pulled him into the Senoras. “Stalls,” she said.

  Rod nodded and they went inside. Luckily there were three stalls. The professor went inside one. Heather and Mike in another. Rod and Michelle took the last one.

  It was cramped inside when they closed the stall doors. Michelle and Rod each climbed up on one side of the toilet, so their feet wouldn’t show. Since they were both tall, their heads popped up over the top of the door. They would have to bend their knees if someone came inside.

  “Isn’t this romantic? I get my girlfriend back and we’re balancing on the edge of a toilet,” Rod said.

  Michel
le laughed at the remark, then said. “I’m wondering why all the police activity. No one was hurt. The fire truck would come automatically with the alarm. But Sammy said there were five police cars at the front of the building, and some police in the back as well.”

  “It is strange. Vandalism isn’t that big a deal.”

  They stopped whispering when they heard the sound of several pairs of heavy boots moving down the corridor where they were hiding. Someone opened the door and it slammed back against the wall with an echoing crash. Michelle ducked and held her breath. Luckily, no one came inside and they all exited the stalls after a couple of minutes.

  They used paper towels to blot more of the water from their clothing.

  “Just in case, I’m going to fix it so no one can see your hair,” Heather said to Michelle. She took some time adjusting the sheet over Michelle’s head, then stood back and said, “Perfect. In the dark I think you could pass for a nun.”

  “Except for the hospital slippers,” Michelle said. She looked in the bathroom mirror. Heather had done an excellent job.

  Rod called Sammy to see if it would be safe to leave the building.

  “Yeah,” Sammy said. “The police are all inside now. I can see the door where you’ll come out. I’ll blink my lights when I see you, so you’ll know where I am.”

  They walked warily back the way they’d come. When they were in front of the door, Rod said, “Walk casually, but move fast.” He saw Sammy’s blinking headlights. He threw the door open.

  It sounded like an ambulance siren blast had gone off.

  Chapter 31

  They moved quickly across the wide grassy space toward the street. To their relief, as soon as the door closed behind them, the alarm stopped blasting.

  They could see Sammy was out of the car, holding the doors open for them. They were almost free.

  Then a huge spotlight caught them in blinding white light. A loud male voice shouted, “Alto. Stop.” It sounded like he was shouting through a megaphone.

  They all skidded to a stop. Michelle felt like a deer in the headlights. She squinted, holding her hand up to shade her eyes so she could see beyond the glaring, dazzling light.