“I’ll go get it,” Everett volunteered before walking away.
The layout consisted of a large chalk circle with a pentagram and symbols drawn within the circle. Eight candles—one candle per participant—were set evenly spaced on the circle-outline. Gemstones, crystals and herbs were arranged in the circle between the symbols.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Once the layout was finished, Harris placed Sonya’s car seat on the outside of the circle and in front of one of the candles. As he stood upright, he said, “Sonya will be a part of my group. Spencer will be a part of Ellen’s group. So six of you may sit down—Indian-style—on the outside of the circle and in front of a candle.
“I’ll do it when Ellen does it,” Megan quickly said.
Ellen grinned as Everett added, “I’ll do it with Ellen also.”
“That’s fine,” Harris assured them. “As far as who are participating in this one, sit.”
Harris sat on the left side of Sonya’s car seat, and then positioned the paper that the incantation was written on to where he could read it.
Stacie put Sonya in the car seat before she sat down on the right side of the car seat. Allyson sat on Harris’s left. Paige sat on Allyson’s left. Martin sat on Paige’s left and Claire sat on Martin’s left.
“There’s an open space,” Allyson pointed out. “Does that matter?”
Before Harris could respond, Kristen said, “I’ll take it.” She then moved forward to sit between Claire and Stacie.
Once the eight spots were filled and everyone was set, Harris took hold of Sonya’s left hand while saying, “Hold hands to form a circle.”
Stacie took Sonya’s right hand first before taking Kristen’s left hand.
Sonya began her monotone sound. Harris chuckled slightly before ignoring Sonya and saying, “Let’s begin.”
“Are these candles supposed to be lit?” Stacie asked.
“If the incantation works as it should then each candle will ignite on its own,” Harris informed.
“Eerie,” Kristen said.
Harris grinned before saying, “Now I’ll need everyone’s complete silence… of course I don’t expect Sonya to currently obey. But she’s not too distracting. Anyway, when I prompt everyone to repeat after me, Allyson is the only one who will repeat. Once Allyson finishes, Paige will repeat. Once Paige finishes, Martin will repeat, and so on until the… wave reaches Sonya. And I will recite it again for her. Does everyone understand?”
“Yes,” everyone said in cadence.
“Okay. Here we go,” Harris said before he recited the words to the incantation.
The first eight lines to the incantation read as if it was a song-like poem that Harris read alone.
Ellen covered her mouth and stifled back a chuckle when Sonya hushed up and listened as if Harris was singing.
The ninth and tenth lines were what everyone was to repeat and once the wave had begun, Sonya looked towards the speaker.
When the wave reached Sonya, Harris spoke for her with a few modified words to the two lines. Once Harris spoke the final words, everyone slightly jumped when the eight candles sequentially lit within a second apart from Harris’s candle to Sonya’s candle.
Once Sonya’s candle had lit, the eight flames jumped immediately to the center of the circle, and within a blink of an eye, a ring of light exploded out horizontally. The paper that Harris was reading from had immediately turned to ash.
The ring of light disappeared once everyone seated at the circle was encompassed by the light.
Everyone seated glowed orange, and once the glow had faded and everyone appeared normal, Harris smiled while saying, “A complete success.”
“Everything that I had witnessed is normal?” Lance quickly asked.
“Yes,” Harris said. “If it didn’t, the incantation would’ve been considered a failure.”
“Our turn,” Ellen announced as the seven seated at the circle were standing.
As Allyson was taking Sonya out of the car seat, Harris told Ellen, “Since it will be only you, Lance, Everett, Megan and Spencer, I have to modify the layout for five people.”
“Alright,” Ellen said before Harris went to modify the layout.
Ellen again intensively watched Harris’s every move as Harris modified the incantation’s layout. Once the modified layout was in place, Ellen, Everett, Megan and Lance sat down respectively around the circle from right to left. It took Claire a few seconds to get Spencer to sit down on Ellen’s right.
As with Harris’s group, Ellen’s group began by holding hands. Once Ellen saw that everyone was holding hands, she began the incantation.
Ellen repeated the incantation as identically as she could to Harris’s incantation.
When the wave came around to Spencer, Ellen spoke the final two modified lines for him.
As before with the eight candles, the five candles sequentially lit within a second apart from Ellen’s candle to Spencer’s candle. Also as before, the flames jumped immediately to the center of the circle, and within a blink of an eye, a ring of light exploded out horizontally. The paper that Ellen was reading from had immediately turned to ash.
The ring of light disappeared once everyone seated at the circle was encompassed by the light.
Everyone seated glowed orange, and once the glow had faded and everyone appeared normal, Ellen uttered delightfully, “I did it! I did it! I did my first spell!”
“You did,” Harris agreed in an amused tone. “And you did it well.”
“Thanks,” Ellen said as she and the others went to stand up.
“So what now?” Everett asked.
“Now we have to talk to Jessica and fill her in on what’s going on,” Ellen informed.
“Telling Jessica is as good as telling Leon Stone himself,” Everett retorted. “And that’s not good.”
“I believe that Leon Stone is using Karla and not Jessica,” Ellen began. “I’m not sure why though… why Leon is using Karla and not Jessica is what I’m not sure about. I’m sure of my belief.”
Lance amusingly grinned before asking, “Why do you believe that?”
“Karla’s always doing things for him at all hours of the night and she comes to school dead on her feet,” Ellen explained.
“And a spiritual possession is easier for the spirit when the person who it wants to possess is exhausted,” Harris added. “In fact, during a normal spiritual possession, the spirit will frighten the victim to prevent the victim from sleeping prior to the actual possession.”
“We have to talk to Jessica,” Ellen repeated with more certainty in her voice.
“Before you go off while thinking that you’re protected from spiritual possession, Ellen, you should know the duration of the spell,” Harris rattled out.
“There’s a duration to the spell?” Ellen quickly asked while giving him her full attention.
“You’ve never imagined that, did you?” Harris questioned in a tone as if to make a point.
Ellen rolled her eyes before asking, “So how long are we protected for?”
“For adults—eighteen years old and older—it’s around ten years,” Harris began. “Seven years for young teenagers and three to five years for anyone younger. And the reason why that this spell degrades over time is because people change over time. Take Sonya for example. In only three years from now, she will no longer be an infant, but a toddler.”
Ellen gave Harris the thumbs-up sign while saying, “Okay, I have seven years before I have to worry about Leon Stone’s astral projecting spirit possessing me. Now is it okay for me to go and talk to Jess?”
“I think talking to Jess is a mistake,” Everett announced.
“Yeah, well, unfortunately I don’t know of any other wizards or sorceresses in the area who are old enough and powerful enough to handle Leon Stone,” Ellen retorted. “So it’s either talk to Jess and hope for the best or turn a blind eye to what is happening. And I’m not turning a blind eye.”
“We
ll, walking into Leon Stone’s house would be like walking into the lion’s den,” Everett pointed out. “So you can’t go there.”
Ellen thought for a second before saying, “I’ll go to Stone Hall and have Simon to get Jess to go there.”
Everett slightly shrugged as if to say, ‘It might work.’
“How are you going to get to Stone Hall?” Allyson asked.
“I’m sure that I can find the correct buses to get from here to there,” Ellen said.
“Taking buses won’t be necessary,” Lance said. “I’ll take you.”
“Okay, thanks,” Ellen said. “Thanks for doing this for me.”
“I had dropped the ball when Bridget had asked me to get involve,” Lance began. “I thought I knew better. I do know better now though, and I will help where I can.”
Ellen gave an understanding nod before saying, “I would like to go now… if it’s okay with you.”
“Alright,” Lance said with a nod.
“Can I come?” Megan requested.
“I don’t want you anywhere near this,” Lance quickly told Megan.
Megan crossed her arms before grumbling, “Fine.”
“I don’t know how dangerous this is going to get,” Lance added.
“I’m going,” Everett announced. When Lance shot him a disturbed look, he continued with, “Jessica and Karla already know my belief of them, so I’m a part of this regardless.”
Lance sighed before saying, “Fine. Let’s go.”
Ellen nodded before she, Everett and Lance left the basement. Everyone followed them upstairs.
A short time later, Ellen, Everett and Lance stepped up to the third house of Stone Hall. Ellen was the one to knock.
The housemother answered the door and when she saw who were at the door, she questioned, “Ellen… and Everett, right?”
“Right,” Ellen and Everett said.
“This is my dad, Detective Delaney,” Everett added.
“Detective?!” the housemother uttered worriedly.
“I’m just here as Everett’s dad,” Lance quickly assured her.
“Okay,” the housemother skeptically said. “So how can I help you three?”
“We need to speak with Simon,” Everett was the one to say.
The housemother backed up while saying, “Come in. And follow me.”
“Thanks,” Ellen said as she, Everett and Lance were entering the house.
The housemother nodded before walking away. Lance was the last one into the house and he had shut the front door behind him before he followed Ellen, Everett and the housemother into the computer room.
“Hi, Ellen. Hi, Everett,” the students all said.
“And friend,” one of the students added when Lance stepped in.
“Hi, all,” Ellen said while overlapping the single student.
Everett and Lance waved before the housemother said, “Simon. These three would like to talk to you.”
“Okay,” Simon said before getting up from his workstation.
Ellen gestured around the room while saying, “This was the view I saw yesterday. Don’t you folks do anything else? Do things for fun?”
“With the curriculum that the university has us on, we can’t really afford too many distractions from our school work,” one of the students said.
“And we don’t mind,” another student added. “We find working through our lessons enjoyable.”
“Okay then,” Ellen said skeptically.
As Simon stepped up, he asked, “Should we talk in private or can we do it here?”
“Well, actually, we need to talk to Jessica and we want her to come here,” Ellen supplied. “Can you arrange it?”
“You want me to call Jessica and have her to come here?” Simon questioned.
“Please?” Ellen requested.
“Why?” Simon asked.
“We need to speak with her away from Karla and her grandpa,” Ellen replied. “And it’s important.”
“Well… she doesn’t want people to know this, but she works the weekends and a few evenings during the week,” Simon said.
“Where does she work?” Ellen asked.
“At the Savannah Square Retirement Home,” Simon said.
“Isn’t she a little young to be working there?” Lance asked.
“She’s sixteen. My dad had gotten her a job there, working in the kitchen,” Simon told him.
“Does your dad work there?” Ellen asked.
Simon shook his head before saying, “My dad’s a doctor… a physician. In fact, he treats a lot of the seniors at the retirement home.”
“Your dad wouldn’t be Jessica’s grandfather’s doctor by chance, would he?” Ellen asked.
“He is actually,” Simon confirmed.
“Figures,” Ellen mumbled barely coherently.
“Why?” Simon asked.
Ellen shook her head before saying, “I was just curious.” Simon gave Ellen a confused look before Ellen gestured towards the front door. “We should get going.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help,” Simon said.
“You did help actually,” Ellen said before waving. “I’ll see you around.”
“See you,” Simon said.
“Bye,” Everett and Lance said.
“Thanks for your cooperation,” Lance told the housemother. The housemother nodded.
Ellen, Everett and Lance turned and walked towards the front door. Simon went back to his workstation.
After the three stepped outside, Lance said, “I’m guessing, Ellen, that you want to go to the retirement home.”
“I do,” Ellen confirmed.
“Alright,” Lance agreed.
Minutes later, Ellen, Everett and Lance were stepping up to the receptionist of the retirement home.
“How can I help you folks?” the receptionist asked.
“We would like to talk to Jessica Harman,” Ellen was the one to say.
“Her shift ends at eight,” the receptionist told them. “You three can come back then.”
Lance pulled out his badge, and while showing it to the receptionist, he said, “I’m Detective Delaney. These two kids are witnesses to my investigation and I believe that Jessica is too, so we really need to speak with Jessica.”
“I’ll have her come to the lobby,” the receptionist said while picking up the phone.
“I appreciate your cooperation,” Lance told the receptionist. The receptionist nodded before making the call.
Within a short time, Jessica came out and then stopped in her tracks when she saw who were in the lobby while standing out of earshot of the receptionist. Before she continued towards Ellen, Everett and Lance she took a deep breath.
Ellen felt Jessica’s presence once she was close enough and when Ellen turned to look, she said barely above a whisper, “Jess is coming.”
Everett and Lance faced Jessica, and as Jessica was stepping up, she asked, “You three are the ones who want to see me?” Ellen just nodded. “How did you know I was even here?”
“We spoke with Simon,” Everett supplied. “He told us that you work here.”
“Okay, so what’s going on?” Jessica asked.
“Your grandfather’s condition had improved a little last night, didn’t it?” Ellen questioned.
Jessica gave Ellen a curious look before saying, “His condition had improved a lot actually. As of this morning he’s able to talk without being hooked up to the computer. How did you know?”
“Darrin Parker had ended up in the psychiatric ward early this morning,” Ellen said.
“Who’s Darrin Parker and what does he have to do with my grandfather?”
“He’s one of the geniuses at Stone Hall, and each time when your grandfather’s condition had improved, it had coincided with a genius at Stone Hall ending up in the psychiatric ward.”
Jessica looked at Everett before saying, “I see you’re listening to Everett when he tells you that I’m a witch.”
“I’ve been lying
to you, Jess,” Ellen confessed. Jessica crossed her arms and shot Ellen a curious look. “I learned about the mark of Merlin…” Jessica shot a concerned look towards Lance. “Oh, I had filled them in on everything and they’re cool with it.” Jessica looked towards Ellen in an annoyed manner. “Anyway, I learned about the mark of Merlin, the three wizard lines and the Wizard Wars on the day my brother died. And…”
“The Wizard Wars?” Jessica echoed in a confused tone.
“The wars that took place among the three wizard lines centuries ago,” Ellen told her. A baffled expression came across Jessica’s face. “You don’t read your Legacy volumes?” The baffled expression on Jessica’s face had deepened. “The diaries of your ancestors.”
“I’ve never seen any diaries of my ancestors,” Jessica claimed.
“You know about the mark of Merlin,” Ellen pointed out.
“Yeah, three years ago my grandfather told Karla and me about it and what it means to have the mark,” Jessica said. “Wizards and sorceresses can feel each other. And there are wizards or sorceresses who go around and steal other wizards’ and sorceresses’ powers.”
“Which was the main objective during the Wizard Wars,” Ellen added. “Each of the three covens had wanted to keep the mark alive and strong.” When a baffled expression came across Jessica’s face again Ellen continued with, “I’ll show you my Legacy volumes.”
Jessica gave Ellen an ‘are you serious?’ look.
Ellen ignored the look and continued with, “Anyway, your grandfather is able to astral project and take over people’s bodies at will.”
Jessica thought for a second before uttering, “Oh God! He’s been taking over Karla’s body!”
“You saw that he was and you ignored it?” Everett demanded to know.
“I didn’t ignore it,” Jessica quickly retorted. “The clues were there, but I didn’t know about my grandfather’s ability to astral project; let alone take over someone’s body. So I just shrugged off Karla’s behavior as… as her trying to copy our grandfather.”
“I need you and Karla to come to my house tonight,” Ellen said.
“Why?!” Jessica quickly asked.
“There’s an incantation that will prevent your grandfather’s astral projecting spirit from taking over yours and Karla’s bodies that you two need to do,” Ellen said. “And I’ll show you my Legacy volumes while you’re there.”
Legacy Page 39
