It Happened One Doomsday

by Laurence MacNaughton

  When she picked it up, a startling tingle ran through her fingers, as if the energy that had sparked from Greyson’s touch now traveled into the crystal in her hand. The spectrolite glowed faintly from within, releasing a breathtaking rainbow of lights. The pool of multicolored light illuminated Greyson’s rugged face and the entire front counter area.

  She’d never seen a crystal do that before.

  As she backed away from the counter, she held the glowing crystal out at arm’s length, wondering if it would burn her. But as she got farther away from Greyson, the light faded and went out. And so did the red glow in his eyes.

  Before Dru could make anything of that, a snap sounded from the breaker box in the back room, and the lights flickered to life overhead.

  “I got it,” Opal yelled from the back room. “Power’s back on.”

  “Thank you,” Dru called over her shoulder, and then she turned a wary eye on Greyson.

  His eyes were now a piercing blue, with shadows under them that spoke of sleepless nights.

  “So,” Dru said. “This sort of thing happen to you a lot?”

  “What, the power going out?” He shook his head. “Not really.”

  “No. I mean the glowy-eyes thing.”

  He seemed puzzled. “The what?”

  Dru peered over the top of her glasses at him. “Maybe we should start at the beginning. What seems to be troubling you, sir?”

  He dropped his gaze, and his broad shoulders hunched. It took him a long time to finally answer. “I keep having these . . . strange dreams.”

  Dru felt one of her eyebrows go up on its own. “What sort of dreams are we talking about, exactly?”

  He let out a slow breath, then looked around to make sure they were alone. It took him a couple of tries to start talking. “It’s always the same. In my dream, I’m turning into some kind of . . . monster. With horns. Claws. Fangs . . . You know what, never mind. This sounds crazy.” Abruptly, he shook himself and started to back away, hands up. “Forget I said anything.” He turned to go.

  “Greyson. Wait.” She started to come around the counter, but stopped when he did. “Give me five minutes. Tell me just a little more. Maybe I can make it stop.”

  He hesitated, then looked over his shoulder at her, eyes narrowed. She had the feeling he didn’t often show weakness to anyone, much less a complete stranger.

  But it sounded to her like he might have a real problem. If there was some kind of monster after him—or in him—she had to do everything she could to help. Now, before anything got worse.

  “Just five minutes,” she said again. “Then you can walk out of here, and it’ll be like we never met.”

  Greyson seemed to weigh that carefully, then nodded once and came back to the counter. She waited for him to go on.

  He glanced up at the lights, as if he expected them to go out again.

  “Don’t worry, it might be nothing,” she said. “The electrical system in this place is a little iffy. Mostly because the copper wires run around through the walls and the ceiling in a way that makes a protective circle.” She drew an imaginary circle in the air with her finger.

  His gaze went across the ceiling, then returned to her. “Wouldn’t that be a protective rectangle?”

  She wasn’t amused. “Forget about the lights for a minute. Tell me about the dream.”

  Absently, he scratched the stubble on his chin. “That’s pretty much it. In my dream, I become a monster, and I’m standing side by side with three other monsters.”

  “Do they all look like you? Horns, claws, et cetera?”

  “No. They all look different. We’re just standing shoulder to shoulder, lightning crashing down around us. The sky is on fire. And I’m so angry.” He looked down at his empty hands, and then his haunted gaze met hers. “In my dream, I’m so full of . . . rage. I just want to tear everything down. Everywhere I go, everything I touch is just destroyed.”

  “Destroyed, how?”

  “Turned to dust. Everything. Everywhere. Laid to waste, by my hands. Until there’s nothing left anywhere but scorched ashes. Doomsday. The end of the world.” The anguish in his voice filled the air between them like a palpable thing. Though he looked cool and collected on the outside, she could see the vulnerability in his eyes. “And then I wake up.”

  A sinking feeling settled inside Dru. She wanted, so badly, to help him. But she’d have to convince him first.

  She cleared her throat. “When did this first start happening?”

  “A few months ago. Look, I know this must sound pretty weird.”

  She smiled a little. “Believe me when I tell you that around here, this isn’t even in the ballpark of weird.”

  A slight nod on his part indicated that he accepted that.

  From the back room, a distant pop echoed. Apparently, Rane had started trying on new rings.

  Greyson seemed concerned, but Dru dismissed it with a wave. “You notice anything odd at home lately?”

  “Odd?”

  “Strange noises outside your window? Things misplaced? Night sweats?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  She leaned on the counter. “Hissing cats? Whispering voices? Crowds staring at you for no reason?”

  “No . . .”

  “A craving for raw meat? Aversion to crosses? Messages written in blood?”

  “Would’ve noticed that. No.”

  “Hmm.” Dru ran through a list of possibilities in her head. “Do you have any enemies? Is there anyone who wants you dead?”

  “Not really.”

  “Not really?” She peered over the top of her glasses again. “Care to elaborate?”

  He gave her an unreadable look. “No.”

  After drumming her fingers on the counter for a moment, she decided to let that go for now. “Cursed family history? Any ancestors who swore to get their revenge from beyond the grave?”

  He cocked his head to the side. “I thought maybe you’d give me some kind of homeopathic incense or something.”

  “First, I have to figure out what’s bothering you,” she said. “Is there anything else you can think of, anything at all, that happened before all of this started? It could be something as subtle as a chalk mark on your door. Or somebody whispering Latin in your ear.”

  He gave her a long, silent look. “You’re really serious about this supernatural thing.”

  While Dru struggled to respond with an inoffensive answer, Opal came up to the front counter, heels clacking. “Um, Dru?” She pointed meaningfully toward the storage room.

  Another distant pop echoed through the store. And another. They kept coming, faster now.

  Dru gave her best customer-service smile to Greyson. “Bear with me one moment.”

  She darted back to the storage room. Just as she opened the door, a flash lit the room, and the ring on Rane’s finger exploded into skittering fragments.

  Rane sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by open boxes. Charred bits of rings littered the floor. Her face was mottled red with frustration. “Dude, this is total crap. None of these are working.”

  “Can I help?” Dru stepped in through the doorway. Her shoes made gravel-crunching noises on the mess.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll pay for those,” Rane said, in a tone of voice that indicated she didn’t think she should.

  Dru tried not to think about the cost of the destroyed inventory or the amount of her almost-overdue rent. “Look, let’s just slow down a minute. Maybe there’s a way I can help you stop exploding things.”

  Rane held up a hand. “D. Seriously. Back off and let me do this.” Her eyes glinted dangerously.

  There was no way to win. After a moment, Dru forced a smile. “All righty. I’ll be back.” She shut the door behind her and leaned against it. Inside, another ring popped. Dru sighed in resignation.

  Back up front, Dru sidled behind the counter again. “Okeydoke. One last thing. Have you tried any religious intervention? Church, priest, communion, anything
like that?”

  “Look, I’ve been to doctors. Tried a shrink, even. None of them helped. I was on my way to the liquor store next door. That’s the best I’ve got.”

  “Well, I’ve got a better idea. Let’s try something new.” She went down the aisles in the front of the store. One by one, she pulled out cardboard drawers and sorted through various crystals and chunks of rock. She could feel the intensity of his gaze following her every step.

  Blushing, though she didn’t know why, she came back to the counter and spread out an assortment of crystals.

  He picked up a softball-sized gray-and-tan lump of rock and turned it over.

  “Careful. That’s hollow.” She snatched the geode out of his hand and set it down on the counter. After considering her options, she chose a shiny chunk of galena. Like most galena crystals, it looked like it had been formed from a half-dozen different little cubes all fused together, and it had a dark-mirrored sheen, like a highway patrolman’s sunglasses.

  She took a moment to weigh the crystal in her hand, until she could feel the faint whispers of its energy synchronizing with hers. “Here. Let’s start easy, with a little lead-sulfide galena crystal. Let me have your hand.”

  He put his arm on the counter, and she pushed back the sleeve of his leather jacket. When she touched the galena to his wrist, the crystal popped with a cold blue flare of light, like an old-fashioned photo flash, accompanied by a sinister sizzling sound. Greyson yanked his arm off the counter and sucked his breath in through his teeth.

  “Wow,” Dru said, with a little thrill of triumph mixed with a tinge of surprised fear. She’d never seen galena react so spectacularly before. “Bingo. Looks like we have a demon.”

  “Huh.” Greyson shook his hand out. If he felt any pain, which Dru seriously suspected, he did a remarkable job of hiding it. “Demon, huh?” He shook his head and turned toward the door. “Time for me to go.”

  “Greyson, wait. I know it sounds bad. But chances are it’s nothing. There are countless garden-variety demons out there trying to raise hell, so what you’ve caught is probably pretty minor.”

  After a couple of steps, he paused and faced her again. “Look, I don’t believe in demons, or ghosts, or any of that.” He glanced around at the cluttered shelves. “No offense.”

  Dru shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if you believe in the demon or not. It still wants your soul.”

  A faint smile of disbelief, almost amusement, crooked up one corner of his mouth. He shook his head once, then turned to go.

  But something held him back.

  Dru waited. She’d seen people express this kind of disbelief in the supernatural plenty of times before. Even her boyfriend didn’t believe, no matter how much he saw. She knew from experience that if she tried too hard to convince Greyson, she would push him away, and his problem would only get worse. As much as it pained her to stay silent, she bit her lip.

  He let out a deep breath, then nodded his chin at the galena crystal she still held. “All right. I’ll bite. First, tell me what makes the rock light up like that. Got an LED bulb in there, or . . . ?”

  “Just an ordinary crystal. What lights it up is the thing inside you.” She held up the galena for his inspection.

  Greyson made no move to touch it again. The muscles in his neck tightened. “So according to your theory, I’m . . . what, possessed?”

  “Pfft, no.” She waved it off. “Well, maybe a little.”

  “A little?”

  “Look. Let me try a few more crystals. If I’m wrong, you’re no worse off. But if I’m right?” She let that thought hang between them for a moment, watching his face carefully. “If I’m right, you get a good night’s sleep from now on. And your soul, even if you don’t believe in it, stays safe and sound. Isn’t that worth a shot?”

  After another long, hard look around the shop, Greyson walked back up to the counter. Without another word, he tugged back his other sleeve and planted his arm on the counter. The expression on his face made it clear that he was only going to give her one more chance.

  Inwardly, Dru sighed in relief. She knew she could do this.

  Or at least, she hoped so.

  “Okay, so, let’s get you all fixed up. No more shocks, I promise.” Dru tried a swirled green blade of agate against his skin. No reaction. She moved on to a heavily grained chunk of fossilized wood, then a wrinkly gleaming lump of natural copper. Nothing.

  When she got to a finger-length wand of ice-clear petalite, she felt a subtle healing vibration flow through it. Much stronger than anything she’d ever felt before. Either she was a hundred percent on her game or Greyson’s presence somehow made her crystals more powerful than usual.

  Excited, she ran the petalite crystal up and down his arm and watched for any sign of discomfort. “Feel anything funny?”

  “No.” His tone explicitly indicated that he didn’t expect to, either.

  “That’s fine. It’s very rare for people to feel healing vibrations, but that’s what I’m here for. It’s what I do.”

  A loud bang echoed from the back room, and Dru cringed. She folded Greyson’s hand shut over the crystal and noticed a gray metal ring on his index finger. Strange place for a wedding ring. “So, um, are you . . . married?”

  “No.” His gaze followed hers to the ring, then rose to meet her eyes with an irrepressible intensity. “Why?”

  Despite her efforts to stay professional, she felt herself blushing. “No reason. I just had kind of a crazy idea, that’s all. About your ring, not you. I mean, not about your problem. In particular.”

  “Just a ring. Bought it at a motorcycle shop.”

  “So, no sentimental value?”

  He shrugged. “Not like it’s a tattoo or something.”

  “Any chance you know what it’s made of?”

  He scratched his chin stubble. “Titanium. I think. You trying to tell me this ring is part of my problem?”

  “Nah.” Then she looked over her shoulder toward the back room. “I mean, yes. Definitely part of your problem. You should absolutely give up that ring. Immediately. Here, I’ll take it.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her, but he pulled off the ring anyway.

  “Sweet.” She grabbed it from him. “Don’t go anywhere!” She ran back to the storage room.

  The floor around Rane was now littered with even more shattered rings. Her body had turned glossy reddish-brown, with light and dark stripes and swirls.

  Dru pulled up short. “Whoa.”

  “Mahogany,” Rane said, her voice rich and vibrant.

  “Well, that seems . . . useful.”

  “Not. Unless I want to spend some quality time as a human matchstick.” Rane pulled off the carved wooden ring and turned human again. Her eyes had become red and puffy from unshed tears. She wiped them. “I think I’m in trouble here, D. None of this will work. I’m so totally hosed.”

  “No, no, honey.” Dru knelt down next to her and held out Greyson’s titanium ring. “Look.”

  Rane sniffed. “I’ve tried a bunch of different metallics. None of them took. I’m going to ruin everything you have. It’s no good.”

  “Just try it. Really.”

  Rane sighed and slipped it on. She clenched one fist and waited. After a moment, a startled look passed over her face. With a sound like a gradually drawn blade, Rane’s fist turned a lustrous earthy silver color. The effect spread up her arm and across her entire body.

  She turned steely eyes toward Dru and smiled. “Nice.” Her voice echoed with a metallic twang. “Druster, you’ve been holding out on me.” She punched Dru in the arm.

  “Ouch.” Dru almost fell over. “Why do you always do that?”

  “Oh, cowgirl up.” Rane rose to her feet. She moved like liquid metal as she grasped Dru’s hands in her own and hauled Dru up off the floor.

  “Do not go outside looking like that,” Dru said. “I mean it this time.”

  “Okay, fine.” Reluctantly, Rane turned back to human, then pressed
some cash into Dru’s hand. “That’s all I’ve got, D. You’re a peach, you know? I could kiss you.”

  “Enough drama for one day. Out.” She pointed to the door.

  Rane carefully patted Dru’s shoulder with just her fingertips, then marched out, grinning.

  Dru looked down around her feet at the wreckage of Rane’s shopping spree, mentally adding up how much it would cost to replace the broken rings. Right now, she just couldn’t afford it. And she’d never get paid back, regardless of anything Rane promised. Plus, now someone had to sweep all of this up.

  For a moment, Dru thought she might pull her own hair out. And then she made a deliberate choice, as she always did with Rane, to let all the stress go.

  “Meh,” she said, with considerable effort, and left it.

  She got back to the counter just as the bell rang and Rane strutted outside in human form, admiring her shiny new ring.

  Greyson watched her go. “She wearing my ring?”

  “Different people have different problems,” Dru said. “Let’s focus on yours. Still have that petalite?”

  He opened his hand to show her.

  “Good. Hold it in your hand or keep it in your pocket at all times. Especially when you sleep.”

  “Why? What will it do?”

  “It’ll protect your soul and help you sleep. That’s a start, anyway. But I want to see you back here in twenty-four hours, no excuses.”

  He nodded.

  Just this small success, getting him to try the crystal overnight, gave her a greater feeling of triumph than she expected.

  This was the whole reason she had her shop. To help people. To solve magical problems that no one else could solve. To push back against the forces of darkness and make the world a brighter place.

  “And what about the dream?” he said, bringing her back down to earth. “The end of the world. Does it mean anything?”

  It did. Dru was certain. It meant something terrible. She just had to figure out what.