by Lizzie Vega
“How dangerous?” Both Katie and Sam leaned toward Iris.
Iris took a deep breath, “This doesn’t leave this room. If the person is lucky, maybe they get out of a bad spell with a broken heart, nothing serious. But,” she continued, “if the intention is negative, like you want to deliberately hurt someone… Here’s the thing, intention, your reason for doing or wanting something, is either positive or negative. To cast a spell, is, to open a doorway. Good intention is a good doorway.”
“Like Michael,” interjected Sam.
“Yes, like you and Michael. But a bad intention toward someone, opens a bad doorway. And,” she lowered her voice to almost a whisper, “what comes through that doorway, doesn’t always want to go back where it came from.”
That made Sam laugh, “What, like Hellboy or something? Seriously?” The look on Iris’s face told her right away that she was, indeed, serious.
“Ok, maybe not in the true Hollywood way, but the end result is almost always a bad outcome. I know of a couple people who just disappeared from the face of the earth after meddling with stuff they had no true knowledge about. I take it seriously, Sam”
Iris looked at Katie, “Should I show her?”
Katie’s mouth dropped open, “Are you serious? That’s kinda going zero to sixty isn’t it?”
But then she grinned, “But yeah, if you’re comfortable with it, I’d like to see it too.”
Samantha felt terrible, “Iris, I’m sorry if I offended you. I didn’t mean anything bad by mu questions. You don’t need to prove anything to me.”
Iris agreed, “You’re right, Sam, I don’t need to prove anything to anybody, but I think, being you’re going into the science field, this could prove helpful in your understanding about how scientific fact is determined. I’m not offended, AT ALL.”
Her expression now, was one of kindness and humility, Samantha realized she wasn’t mad.
“Ok, good. I don’t want you to be mad at me.”
“Oh gosh, I’m not mad at all,” she jumped up and moved two dining chairs into the middle of the living room facing each other. “Here, come sit in front of me, we’ll replay part of Michael’s spell.
Samantha jumped up, “We’re going to cast it twice, as in twice as powerful?”
“No, Sam, just the last part, the part you didn’t see because you had your eyes closed at the bar.” Iris slipped her arm and shoulder out of her sweatshirt so Samantha and Katie could see her tattoo as it wrapped around her shoulder and crept across her collarbone.
Sam sat down in the chair and Iris sat opposite of her. “Ok, like last time, I will ask you to say his name, only one time though, and I will say the same words as last time.” And she reached out and took Sam’s hand. “Just keep your eyes open this time.”
Katie quickly grabbed a third chair and sat just behind Sam, “I don’t want to miss this.”
“Iris, if your head spins all the way around, I’m going to throw up,” Sam wasn’t smiling.
Iris just shook her head, “No spinning, I promise, don’t be scared. Just watch.” And she squeezed Sam’s hand, smiled and briefly closed her eyes
Iris then repeated the incantation she had spoken that night at the bar with Sam and Katie. “Moon and Earth, sun and sky, please listen when we ask you for this special gift.
A whispered phrase to place a softness, to clear the haze in Michael’s head, and when he sees you next time, it will be for the first time.”
“Say his name, Samantha,”
“Michael” was the clear reply.
There was a brief pause between Samantha’s reply and Iris’s response. Sam heard Katie let out a long slow breath. Subtle at first, one green tendril section of Iris’s tattoo began to snake slowly across her collarbone and wind up toward her neck. Another thickly rendered vine-like section appeared over her shoulder and wound itself, twisting and undulating, down her arm toward Samantha and stopped just at her wrist.
Iris could feel Samantha’s hand tighten up and begin to pull away from her just as her eyes began to smolder into an un naturally iridescent green glow. She held Sam’s hand and, as the glow from her eyes began to fade, she slowly released her grip.
Iris blinked her eyes rapidly to try to relieve the discomfort from her demonstration but to her surprise, she could see that Samantha was doing the same thing, trying to hold back tears.
“Are you ok?” they both asked simultaneously.
Sam nodded her head as a tear rolled down her cheek, “That was beautiful,” she said as she reached up and wiped her cheek, her voice shaky, “Those words really get to me, I can’t explain it.”
“Just like last time, Sam, that’s very interesting.” Iris looked at Katie, who had a worried look on her face, “She should have been terrified, but she wasn’t. She’s an empath.”
Katie repeated, “Empathy?”
“More than that.” Iris said, “Our little science nerd introvert here is very deeply in contact with her inner self.” and she grinned, “With a little adjustment here and there, Michael doesn’t stand a chance.”
Samantha sat up straight in her chair with a big smile, but it suddenly faded, “I remember when Michael’s dad was killed. The first time I saw Michael after it happened, I wanted to say something to him, but I was too scared. I thought I felt his pain and so I stayed away from him. I felt so bad about it.” She put her hand to her chest, her voice cracking as tears spilled down her cheeks, “I still do.”
Iris smiled warmly at her, “Sam, there was no way you could have known what to do. I can teach you some things to help you. This is a gift. We’ll make it work for you.”
Katie put her arm around Samantha’s shoulders, “I remember, you really withdrew after that. That’s heavy stuff to process even as an adult.” Then she broke the mood, “I think we need adult beverages but we are totally out of wine. Let’s head over to Happy Harry’s and see what they have.”
Samantha seemed relieved and smiled, “You know they have everything, right?”
Iris agreed, “Yes, they do, so we won’t be disappointed. Let’s go.”
Katie jumped up, “I have a suggestion,” and she grabbed for her party costume, “How about we do a dry run on the costumes, just for a laugh?”
“Perfect, let’s do this,” said Iris, “Sam? You in?”
“Yup,” she responded and pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose, “But let’s keep the sexy stuff until tomorrow night, ok?”
“Sure, Sam, baby steps, right?”
Chapter 20
As expected, the visit to the package store did provide some laughs. As the three of them paraded inside, it caused quite a stir. At first, the older patrons’ quick glances wrote them off as geeky college girls. Various male store clerks rushed over to help them make their selections. It appeared that the dry run was a success.
As they left the store, Iris laughed, “I don’t remember the last time I had a personal consultant help me pick out a bottle of wine.”
Katie was quick to correct her, “You mean, three personal consultants, don’t you?”
Sam seconded the correction, “Yeah, I can see why they flocked after you.”
“Me?” Iris countered, “Sam, you got three business cards in, what, three minutes? So if there’s anyone in need of a good flocking, it’s you.”
Samantha laughed so hard, she snorted, “Iris, my God,” but she spun herself around in her robes as if she was dancing a jig and relished the laughter.
Dusk had settled over the city and the last glimmer of sunlight was now only a golden sliver on the horizon. The rays briefly traced the outline of the Fargodome and the buildings that lined Nineteenth Avenue. A few scattered clouds were drifting across the city and a golden moon was making an appearance in the darkening eastern sky. They were still joking about the liquor store clerks reactions and Samantha’s little jig, but the revelry was cut short.
A glowing rail of blue light slammed into the ground just a block away from where the
y were standing. Given how close they were, the thunder that followed was almost instant. It frightened all of them. A number of car alarms in the parking lots tripped with the percussion.
Katie was the first to react, “Shit, that was close,” and she looked up into the evening sky, “is it supposed to rain?”
Samantha was shocked but enthralled at the same time, “That was so so cool. Wow, there aren’t any nimbus clouds at all, that’s really weird. Iris, wasn’t that weird?”
She didn’t answer right away, she just blinked oddly, Katie noticed, “Iris? Are you ok? You look like you saw a ghost.”
“Yeah, I’m, um, I’m ok. I saw it reflected in the windows behind you guys. Am I just seeing things, or was the lightning blue?”
Katie nodded her head, “Yeah, I thoug…” Her answer was cut short by a second flash near the high school a couple of blocks from where they stood. This time it was only a split second before the accompanying thunder closed the gap from the strike point to them. “Jesus, are we under attack or something?”
Iris looked suddenly calm, “Hmm, that one was blue as well. No, we’re not under attack, but we need to go now.” They hopped into her Jeep. Samantha seemed a little disappointed, “Ah, I’d like to stay and watch, this is like fireworks to me.” Sam and Katie’s jaw dropped simultaneously.
Iris turned to Sam, “Oh, I think there will be more lightning to watch, and soon.” She put the Jeep in drive and swung the SUV out onto University Drive. A third, far more distant crack of thunder was heard. “See, there you go, more fireworks.”
Sam was inquisitive, “Lucky you, how did you know?”
Iris took a deep breath, “Well, unless I am completely off my rocker right now, someone is making that lightning happen. No clouds to speak of, and blue lightning means magic, plain and simple, someone is conducting a summoning ritual.”
“What? Summoning who?”
“No idea, but whoever it is, they are powerful, given the relative violence of the response. They’re after something big.” Iris brows furrowed slightly, “They should be more careful. Probably no big deal, really unsubtle though, attracts attention.”
Iris laughed at that and pointed to her costume and then Sam and Katie’s, “Cuz, like, we’re not into attracting attention or anything.”
She pulled into the apartment parking lot to drop the girls off. “I’ll drive tomorrow night. What time should I pick you up?”
“Awesome,” said Katie, “I’d say swing by about 6, we can have a glass of wine, fine tune our costumes and then head over to the party.”
“That sounds like a plan, ladies. Call me later if you have any brainstorms for our get-ups”
“Night, Iris, see ya tomorrow.”
Chapter 21
At the first crack of thunder, both Michaels and Parkers’ phone alarms went off. Parker grabbed his phone to call Mac, it rang as he picked it up.
“Yep, we’re on our way….Really, We only heard three.” Michael give him instructions to get to the warehouse.
“Mac and Allie were out by West Acres, there were two strikes out there, really close together. They will meet us there.”
Parker blurted, “It’s like an announcement, I can’t help but think it’s related in a bigger way to the pieces and parts at the warehouse.”
Michael agreed, “Let’s review the camera files right away when we get there, maybe there is something we are missing.”
Mac pulled up just as Parker turned off his engine, “Nice timing, guys.” Allie grinned, “Red lights? What red lights?”
Mac looked a little embarrassed, “Yeah, I might have broken a few minor traffic laws getting here, but, hey, excited.”
Parker opened the door to the warehouse and they cautiously approached the table. They gathered around it being careful not to block any of the camera angles.
“Let’s see what’s new tonight, shall we?”
The newest additions to the pieces continued to follow a now predictable pattern. The overall diameter had again increased as well as two new pieces appeared in the radius of the circle. In theory, there were only 3 pieces remaining to complete the circle.
They played back the camera files. Like before, the blue light came from above and with each phase, small details were added. The deep lines on the original large pieces now appeared on every part of the still incomplete radius. The bumps in the center of the directional pieces had grown to be far more distinct than before.
The most obvious change was that the projections from the exterior ring were extending themselves. It looked like they would meet in the center.
As before, the final phase of the light showed the same series of holes, in the same pattern as before, only there were 4 more of them. The same as the number of lightning strikes that evening.
Mac played the loop over and over, “This has to be significant, it’s the same growing pattern every time.”
But Parker was skeptical, “Except,” he said, “it’s not a pattern. It looks like a shotgun blast, all over the place.”
Allie had a thought, “Maybe we just don’t see it. As the pieces are building, maybe a pattern in the holes is building? We just don’t see it. Mac, bring up the last light phase again and freeze frame it.
Mac rolled his mouse over the video loop and stopped it just as the blue flash arced over the top of the metal pieces. “There you go, Hun.”
Parker couldn’t resist a little tease, “Awe,” he said, “Isn’t that cute, such a nice couple.”
Mac just looked at him, “Thanks, Parker, you sound like my mom.” Parker, who had grabbed his sketch pad and taken up a spot on one of the sofa, smirked.
Allie was looking back through the police logs of the last few days. If anyone had called the cops regarding the lightning, it would be recorded in the public log
She looked at the computer screen, “Can you print this so it’s flat?” she asked. Mac looked at it, “Sure, I can send a screenshot to my printer at work, what are you thinking?”
“If we find the locations in the city where the lightning came down, I can plot it on a city map.”
“That might take forever, but you never know, might be fun. Like a scavenger hunt.”
She grabbed a piece of paper and began to do a rough approximation of the strike locations.
Michael had remained quiet during the discussion, he just stood and looked at the pieces on the table. He was sorting ideas in his head and he walked over to Parker, “Are you drawing what it is? Or what you think it might become?”
Parker spun his sketch around so Michael could see it. “Pretty much what we have so far. I tried to draw it in the order it’s showing up. Those are all the pieces, so far. What are you thinking?”
Michael just looked at him blankly, “I’m not, I’m stuck. We don’t have to solve the mystery, it’s apparently going to happen whether we do anything or not. I just keep thinking that we need to be prepared when it’s complete. I think something big is going to happen.”
Parker got a serious look on his face, “Big, like what?” Mac looked up from his laptop, “Yeah, Like what?”
He related the story of when he and Parker had returned to the antique shop after the first episode with the metal pieces. “Mr. Goodmund said there was nothing else he could do to help us, that we were on our own. I tried to show him a sketch of what I thought it would look like. He said he couldn’t look at it, that it would influence what would happen. I don’t think he looked worried for us though. He is a good guy. Right?”
Michael paused, he knew his story sounded sketchy at best, maybe even dangerous. Had Parker been the one telling it, he would have questioned his sanity. But there was something in the old man’s words, in his demeanor, that suggested something much deeper was going to make itself available to Michael.
Allie inadvertently diffused the situation, “Remember, I said this is like a big scavenger hunt? Check this out.”
She’d put up a map of the Fargo Moorhead area on her screen. T
he police logs call out 7 weather related incidents in the last few days. I will plug in the addresses for the calls onto the map when Mac gets it printed. I don’t know if it means anything, but it’s more information we can use to make decisions. I’m sure they will add tonight’s activity to the log shortly.”
“You would think that a lightning strike would leave a mark where it hits right?” Michael was just guessing, but it made sense.
Allie knew the easiest location, “The biggest strike the other night hit by a dumpster at the high-rise dorms on campus. Easy to find, if it did.”
Parker stretched his tall frame and yawned, “I suggest we call it a night. We could casually search around the dumpster in the morning if anyone’s game. The party is tomorrow night. I’d like to be on top of my game and see which Wonder Woman I can take home with me.”
Allie just laughed at him, “Jeez, Parker, player in the house. So subtle.”
Parker’s attempt at an apology was a weak shrug of his shoulders and a smile.
Michael picked up the sketch pad off the table and then took a picture of the project with his phone, “Do you mind if I add my thoughts to your masterpiece?”
“Knock yourself out, Mike. It’s not like I’m going to frame it.”
Parker herded everyone out and snapped off the lights, the laptops sat glowing in the darkened warehouse and the moon shone through the skylights. He jumped in the car and started it up and turned to Michael, “You seem a little off tonight, everything ok?”
Michael was surprised at the question. Parker was usually the last person to show any concern for anyone but himself. “Thanks,” he answered, “I am ok. I’ve been thinking about Sam on and off all night, seems like she’s been on my mind more than usual lately.”
“No wonder Mike, her new haircut and that new friend of hers’, Iris? She’s getting ready to branch out in her world. If you ask me, you’d better step up before it’s too late. She won’t be around forever. And tomorrow night, she’s going to be surrounded by a few hundred guys in super hero costumes. What could possibly go wrong?”
