The Witch and the Englishman

by J. R. Rain

  It was hard to know if the Librarian already knew what I was talking about, or if this was new information. He gave away little, and revealed even less. There was no doubt that the young man standing across the help desk was an enigma. That he was kind of cute, too, was just a bonus. That he might not be a young man at all, but a very old soul, was in question. That I might be losing my mind...nah, I’ll let Samantha worry about all that. Hell, outside of dealing with psycho killers from this world and the next, I was having a blast!

  When I was finished telling him about it, he said, “You have seen this entity, you say?”

  I nodded. “When I was at their home. It was sort of creeping down a hallway, watching us.”

  “And you saw it in the young lady’s aura, as well?”

  “Yes.”

  “Would you mind if I accessed these two memories, so that I can have a better understanding of what we’re dealing with?”

  “Access?” I asked. The word might have come out a little squeakier than I’d intended.

  “Yes, I will ask you to remember these two events again, while I briefly slip into your thoughts. It’s not dissimilar to the connection you have with Sam. But mine will be brief and only this one time.”

  “Okay,” I said. “But I’m going to warn you. It’s cluttered in there.”

  “No problem.” He smiled warmly and gestured for me to come closer to him, which I did, leaning on my hands over the counter.

  “This isn’t going to hurt,” he said.

  “Good to know.”

  He reached over and placed his palms on either side of my head, just above my ears, holding me gently.

  “I bet you do this with all the girls,” I said.

  “Only psychic witches who have seen a very rare, and very old, entity.”

  I had opened my mouth for another sassy comeback, but his words shut me right up. I closed it again, and couldn’t escape the fact that my heart was now thumping loudly just inside my eardrums.

  “Okay, Allie. I want you to think back to the first time you saw the creature. Just go back to that moment in your mind.”

  His touch was not unpleasant. The fact that I couldn’t hear him breathing was slightly unsettling. Samantha rarely, if ever, breathed, either. And if she did, it was only to appear normal...and that was only when she remembered to do it. Her touch, however, was ice cold. His was warm, gentle...and soothing. I decided I liked his touch.

  Hi, Allie.

  The words manifested just inside my ear, in the same place where I “hear” Samantha Moon talking to me.

  Fancy meeting you hear, I thought, joking around with him.

  He smiled at me. Now, think back to the first time, please...and I’m glad you like my touch.

  I felt my face heat up as I closed my eyes. I cast my thoughts back to my meeting with Billy, when I had been sitting with him on the couch, and when I had been looking down the hallway.

  As I thought this thought, my mind strayed to Archibald’s touch again, his warmth, and the way he gently cradled my head in his hands...and I lost all focus. I opened my eyes and smiled shyly at him.

  “Um, sorry,” I said.

  “No reason to be sorry,” he said softly, giving me a crooked smile.

  I closed my eyes, and decided I liked his smile, too. “Let me try again.”

  Please do, came his silent words, and I like your smile, as well.

  Uh-oh, I thought, and sensed him smile.

  I did what I was asked, and focused all my thoughts on the scene at Billy’s house. When I felt my thoughts stray, I reined them back in. I replayed the memory as best as I could, and did it over and over again.

  Good, Allison. Now, show me what you saw with the daughter.

  I nodded as he continued holding my head. I would have expected him to breathe on me. His face was, after all, just a few inches from mine. A handsome face.

  Dammit, I thought, feeling the heat spring to my face, knowing he had just picked up on my stray thought.

  I am flattered, came his gentle words.

  I took in a lot of air, and this time, replayed the events as I’d seen them at the jail, as the darkness clouded Liz’s aura, as we’d done our best to try to banish it, only to see a trailing darkness remain. I repeated the scene again, over and over, quickly, until he released my head.

  “Ah,” he said, settling back into his space behind the help desk.

  “What, exactly, does ah mean?” I asked.

  He pulled at his small goatee on his narrow chin. He did this while I waited, and while I waited, I saw something curious from the back of the Occult Reading Room, where thousands upon thousands of books crowded the bookshelves. I saw a slow darkness appear from one of the books. The darkness swirled briefly, took the vague form of a human shape, and then returned to the book. What, exactly, that was, I didn’t know, but the Librarian didn’t seem concerned. Now, as I waited for Archibald Maximus to mull over what he had seen in my head, I realized that almost all of the books in this collection emitted a dark energy. I couldn’t always see the energy, not like the swirling dark mist, but I felt it, and, if I listened hard enough, I could almost seem to hear it. Whispering, rattling, chanting...

  So weird, I thought.

  When Archibald was done pulling his sparse chin hair, he looked sideways at me. I was slightly dismayed to see that the twinkle in his eye was gone. It had been replaced with a look of deadly seriousness.

  “Yes, I know what you’re dealing with.”

  “Do I even want to know?”

  “Probably not, but do not fear it,” said Maximus. “It thrives off of fear...and blood.”

  “Sounds like a vampire. Well, at least some vampires.”

  “In a way, it is,” said Archibald. “But it’s not.”

  “What is it?” I asked. “I’m ready. Lay it on me. Wait. Hold on. Okay, now I’m ready.”

  “It’s a demon,” said Archibald. “Perhaps one of the oldest I’ve seen.”

  I opened my mouth to speak. I’d fully intended for some words to come out, but none came to mind, and so I just stood there with my mouth hanging open.

  “Unlike the highly evolved dark masters—one of which presently lives within Samantha Moon—this creature is far older and far more powerful.”

  “How old? And how powerful?” I asked.

  “It was never human, so its age would be hard to determine, but it has the ability to control others, to get them to do its bidding.”

  “Like kill for it?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m afraid so. But there is another factor.”

  I nodded. I knew of this other factor. I had sensed it for a few days now, and suddenly, with just this small prompting from Maximus, I knew where he was going with this “other factor.”

  “The souls who have died there are trapped there, aren’t they?”

  “Yes,” said Maximus, seemingly impressed. “And not just those who have died there.”

  I nodded again, knowing where this was going. “And other victims related to those in the house.”

  “Of which there are many, Allison. Many who have not been reported. There is much death surrounding this house. And it is full of lost spirits.”

  “Lord help me.”

  The Librarian tapped his long fingers on the help desk counter. His tapping fingers made all of this seem very real, that he wasn’t, say, a figment of my imagination. Or, perhaps, a ghost who haunted the library. Tapping fingers created physicality. At least, I hoped it did. More interesting was all the bright gold I saw him wearing: rings and bracelets. I asked him about the gold.

  He said, “Gold has very, very special qualities. Humans do not use it correctly. They use it for flash, to display wealth. In reality, gold provides great healing and protection. If more people wore pure gold against their skin, there would be far less sickness and disease in the world.”

  “Good thoughts,” I said, “except that pure gold costs a lot of money.”

  “True,” he said. �
�Except if you’re an alchemist.”

  “What, exactly, does that mean?”

  He motioned to a sterling silver ring I was wearing. “Would you mind?” he asked.

  “No, of course not.” I slipped it off and handed it to him.

  I had purchased the ring from a street vendor in Cabo two years ago. I doubted it was even pure silver, but it made me smile every time I looked at it. Good times.

  The Librarian placed the ring in the center of his right palm. His hands, I noted were beyond smooth. Almost freakishly smooth. He then placed his left hand over his right and closed his eyes. I waited for a flash or for him to mumble an ancient incantation. But he mumbled nothing and there were no pyrotechnics. Instead, a moment later, he lifted his left hand, and there, sitting in his palm, was my same ring, complete with the same white stone.

  But now, the tarnished silver was shining bright gold.

  “Pure gold,” he said. “99.999 percent gold. You would be well advised to wear it always.”

  “I...I will.”

  I slipped it on my right ring finger. It felt...warm to the touch.

  “Okay,” I said. “Now, what do we do about this demon?”

  The Librarian grinned and said, “I thought you would never ask.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I was in my Spirit Chair.

  But not really. My body was certainly sitting comfortably, breathing easily, but in my mind, I was on a desert dune, sitting cross-legged with the beautiful woman who I knew to be Mother Earth. She was a woman who wasn’t a woman at all but the spirit of the very Earth we all lived on.

  “Good evening, Allison,” she said.

  Except, of course, where we were looked like bright day. Still, it was evening back in Beverly Hills, which seemed as remote and distant as the moon and stars, at this point.

  A hot wind blasted over us, kicking up sand. Sand that felt real to me. Gaia smiled warmly at me—she was a true mother in every sense of the word.

  “Good evening, Mother,” I said. “Is it okay if I address you as ‘Mother’?”

  “Of course, child.”

  I nearly made a joke about her addressing me as ‘child,’ but her address, much like Millicent’s, was so natural, so warm, so loving, that I treasured it...and needed it, too.

  I basked briefly in her presence, in her love for me, for all things on Earth, and, a moment or two later, I started my questions along that line of thinking:

  “Is it true that you love all things upon Earth?”

  “More than you know.”

  “Even those who do evil upon your surface?”

  “Are you asking if I love less because one of you has made a poor choice?”

  “Maybe.”

  The wind whipped her long, red hair, and ruffled the white gown she was wearing. She looked, to me, like an Atlantean princess.

  “I feel great sadness, yes, but I do not always have access to the reasons behind such choices. I only feel the effects, the blood spilled, the fear, the anger, the horror that is forever imprinted on my surface.”

  As she spoke, I had a mild epiphany. “You only have access to the minds of those who call on you.”

  “This is true. I am not the Creator, child. I am a creation, much like you. Only the Creator has access to all thoughts, desires and motivations.”

  I thought about that as the wind picked up. I was surprised to see that I was wearing a similar white robe. Back home, in the Spirit Chair, I was wearing jean shorts and a UCLA sweatshirt. Overhead, flashing across the sun-filled sky, was a soaring eagle. I heard its cry. I could also feel its need for nourishment. Mostly, I sensed its connection to the woman sitting across from me. It was at ease, content, free, hungry, yes, but never worried about finding food. I sensed its great trust in her...and in itself.

  “It is often a relief to slip into the minds of the animals,” said Gaia, following my own train of thought, no doubt. “There is a beautiful simplicity and contentment...and life. So much life. It is a pleasure to fly with them, run with them, hunt with them, howl with them, swim with them, and connect with them.”

  “And with humans?” I asked.

  She smiled at me. “Humans are a whole different animal, child. Humans are often full of angst and self-doubt and worry and fear and hate.”

  “You prefer communing with animals?” I asked.

  “It is a nice change of pace, certainly. But they are generally as evolved as they always will be.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Their growth is limited. Whereas, humans...well, humans’ growth is limitless.”

  “Why is that?”

  “It is the way of the Creator, child. I did not make the rules, as you humans say.”

  “Were you ever human?” I asked.

  “No.”

  She gave me an image of her purpose...and it was to give life, a soul to this planet. It was a great honor for her. She had, after all, been doing this for a very long time.

  “You have truly seen it all,” I said. “Kingdoms rising and falling. You know all mysteries and all secrets.”

  She smiled at that. “A fair assessment.”

  I nearly asked her who had killed Kennedy, or if Bigfoot was real. As the thoughts flitted through my mind, I waved them off with a small smile.

  “Some mysteries should remain a mystery,” said Gaia gently. “And with some mysteries, you already know the answers.”

  I nodded and felt the heat on my neck and wondered if where I was sitting was a real place, or, somehow, a dream state. I wondered if the eagle was real, too. I also realized it didn’t matter if it was real or not. It felt real, and that was good enough for me.

  “You allow great evil to walk on your surface,” I said, finally speaking that which was troubling me the most.

  “And also great good,” said Gaia. “At this time, both must be here. I am merely acting as host to a greater experiment.”

  “Experiment?”

  “Yes, child. You have been given free will to see what you will do with it. It is a great and noble experiment.”

  “I can’t imagine that you’re very pleased with the results.”

  “Humankind has fallen far, true, and there is the potential for total collapse. But there is also the potential for massive leaps in evolution. Positive leaps.”

  “You do not know which direction we will take?”

  “I have seen the potentialities, child. That is all. I am ever hopeful that humankind will choose the noble path.”

  “And, if not?”

  “Then the experiment will have failed. And it will start again.”

  “How many times has it failed in the past?”

  She shook her head. “This information is not important to you now, child. But it has happened in the past. Often.”

  “Is there any hope for us now?”

  “Oh, yes. The future could be bright.”

  I took in a lot of hot air and slipped my fingers into the soft sand. I let the grains fall away through my fingers.

  I said, “I need to remove a great evil from the Earth. From you. Is that possible?”

  “All things are possible.”

  “But you just said that evil is, well, necessary.”

  “Indeed, child. That is, until it is decided not to be necessary.”

  “Well, I am deciding that this evil is not necessary. I am deciding that it is a great blight on your surface, and should be removed.”

  “Then so be it, child.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  The knock was confident, urgent.

  I opened the front door, knowing full well who would be there, since I had just buzzed her in.

  “Are you okay, Allie?” Ivy Tanner asked, as she swept into my small apartment. I had spent the past fifteen minutes straightening it up. I wanted to make a good impression on her, although maybe it was silly to worry about the condition of the apartment.

  “Yes, everything’s okay.”

  “You said yo
u wanted to talk,” she said. “It sounded so urgent.” She shivered at that, and I saw her skin prickle. She was getting a psychic hit. “Something is up, something important.”

  “Yeah, you could say that.”

  “Does it involve our special talents?”

  “It could, yeah.”

  Ivy was, of course, more than aware of what I could do. But she wasn’t aware of much more than that. I thought about how to tell her, and then decided to tell her everything I knew. If she was going to be part of our triad, well, there were no secrets in the triad. At least, I didn’t think there should be.

  So, I sat her on the couch. She had wanted some wine, but I suggested water instead. So, we sat with two glasses of ice water, as I told her my tale. I told her about my vampire companion years ago, who was killed in his sleep, and who had first awakened my psychic gifts. Then I told her about Samantha Moon. I reminded her that Samantha Moon was still very much alive and wouldn’t like it much if Ivy gave away her secret. And, if she did, she should expect a visit from Samantha herself. She agreed to keep her story quiet. That is, if she really believed me. Mostly, she just stared at me with a look of growing excitement in her eyes.

  Then I told her about Millicent, and about the triad, and about how we were short one witch, now that Samantha Moon had, well, switched teams. At that point, Ivy suggested that we were, in fact, short two witches, as Millicent was presently dead. I reminded her that dead witches were just as powerful, perhaps even more so. I explained that Millicent had access to me and others instantly, which was never a bad thing, unless she scared the shit out of me in the shower, which she had done once.

  “Why are you telling me all of this?” asked Ivy.

  “I think you know why,” I said.

  She looked down at her glass of water. The rim was smudged with her lipstick. She swirled the ice. Her fingers were long and thin and her nails were perfectly manicured. Her hair looked as if she had just had a Brazilian blowout. She was the quintessential rising Hollywood actor.

  “Are you asking me to join you and Millicent? As a witch? In a triad?”

  “Is that something you might be interested in?” I asked.

  “Oh, yes! But...” She paused for dramatic effect, and I suspected this was a common ploy of hers; perhaps one could never take the actor out of her.