Celeste

by Dale Mayer

  And opened her eyes.

  There. A tight, powerful black hole was pulling loving energy out the back of the snake. The energy was white and dark, as if it were a two-way highway. She marveled such a thing existed. Moving carefully, she stepped in front of the flow of the energy and blocked the hole.

  Like a valve that had been shut off, the energy immediately stilled. Calm once again reigned. The snake lowered slightly, his body wavering as confusion hit him. He’d adapt. As the good energy continued to pour in, and with her controlling the plug, she could release the black energy. She had to find a way to block it entirely but she had no idea how.

  Then Celeste laughed. She didn’t have to plug it. Once the snake was filled with loving, positive energy and turned into the kind of spirit animal she knew well, that darkness could never re-enter, as the snake’s energetic balance would be all one way.

  “Celeste?” Matt’s worried voice called her.

  “I’m fine,” she said calmly. “Keep pouring the energy in. He’s almost there.”

  At her words, there was a final shift and the snake lay down to rest.

  *

  Matt let his breath out slowly, as if afraid the snake was going to rise up into that damn monster again. But it lay on the ground a fraction of its original size, and from the shaking of his body, it appeared to be having difficulties. He stepped closer to Celeste.

  “Is it okay?”

  She shook her head. “I cut him off from his owner.” She held out her arms. “I didn’t have a choice. The owner was feeding him dark energy, while siphoning off the loving energy we were pouring into it.”

  “Will the good energy have an effect on that owner?”

  “No,” she lowered her arms. “Not with the bond cut.”

  “Celeste is right, it won’t.” Tori walked around them and bent over for a closer look at the snake. “Chances are the person is very adept at shifting energy to do what they did here. That means they will have a way to deal with the good energy so that won’t affect them. This person has spent a lot of time and effort to control dark energy. They want this. They don’t want healing energy.”

  Celeste reached out a hand to touch the snake. He shivered at the touch but didn’t react in any other way. Matt realized he hadn’t even tried to stop Celeste from touching it as it looked so different, a weak, limp version of the monster he’d first seen.

  “This shouldn’t be allowed,” Devon said. “If we don’t look after our spirit pets, who will?”

  Matt allowed himself a small grin. Devon only recently got a spirit pet of his own, and that lethal-looking cat seemed to have acquired a pet of its own, if his instant attachment to Twitch was anything to go by.

  “Matt?” Connor asked. “Maybe we need to look at some kind of regulation, or at least consequences, for hurting these spirit animals.”

  “We’re certainly seeing more of it now than we ever used to,” Genesis said. “Again, though, all in the last year. And that could be from the imbalance triggered by Granny’s death.”

  “Or, rather, that was triggered by our inability to step into Granny’s place,” Tori said in dry tones.

  “No one expected you to be able to do that. At least not without training,” Devon protested. “There is only so much anyone can do.”

  “People always have expectations, then they are upset when they can’t have what they want,” Matt said. “They just have this thought and it sounds like what they want, so they go for it, expecting to get it.”

  “Selfish.”

  “No,” Celeste said. “Just people.”

  “The question of regulating spirit pet ownership is something we can discuss at a later date. What are we going to do with this snake now?” He crouched down and scooped Darbo up and tucked him against his neck where he was safe. “He likely shouldn’t be alone, should he?”

  “No.” Celeste frowned. “I’m wondering if his owner will try to come and retrieve him. Try to reconnect.”

  “I hadn’t considered that.” Matt didn’t like the concept. “If he abused the snake in the first place, wouldn’t he just do so again?”

  “Most likely. Besides, if the snake did have some kind of weapon thing going on, then the owner might want it back.”

  “But we don’t know that, do we?”

  “What’s the chance that the snake was out in the woods that day and the men saw him and that’s what scared them to death?”

  “Only if it was accidental.” Celeste said. “He didn’t show us anything to indicate that’s what happened.”

  “Unless the snake was never used to kill anyone before, and this was the first time. Those men acting as the first targets. A trial, if you will.”

  “Why kill their own men?” Tori shook her head. “That seems counterproductive.”

  “Because they screwed up. Because they couldn’t do what was asked of them. Or because they’d become a liability in some other way?”

  “Depending on who we are dealing with, maybe because the owner was pitting one killer against another. Wondering who would be stronger, faster, better.” Celeste turned to look at the others. “Think about it. What if the men were sent to the woods to hunt me, and so was the snake? If the men found and killed me—great. But if they hadn’t, it was a perfect opportunity to pit the snake against them.”

  “And that would explain the cloud of darkness we saw there the same time.” Matt frowned. He didn’t like the concept of disposable employees. Good men were hard to find. Then again, useless idiots were everywhere.

  “Exactly.”

  “But we didn’t see the snake turn any weapon on us…” Genesis said slowly. “I’m not against your hypothesis, I just want to make sure that you keep your mind open to all possibilities.”

  “Understood.”

  Matt tried to cast his mind back to that day. He remembered the cloud and the look of horror on the men’s faces. “I still feel like whatever they saw had them frozen in place.” He motioned to the snake. “Was it capable of that?”

  “Yes, but they’d also lost a lot of energy. Drained. That is definitely something he’d do. In fact, carrying that much negativity, he’d be compelled to gain more. The horror was likely as they realized he was stealing the very life force from them, and maybe the snake didn’t know what was happening, either, if he’d been given any of those rocks. We already know the rocks can steal that on their own. That they are compelled to in order to rebalance their own systems.”

  “I wonder if the owner could see through the spirit pet? Maybe use it as a weapon?”

  She shrugged. “This person is already very strong and utilized its spirit pet in ways I have never seen or understood before, so it is possible. Sure.”

  “Then why didn’t it do it here?” Matt countered, pointing to the large group standing together.

  “There were too many of us,” she countered. “And we’re all energy workers. Maybe it doesn’t work on us.”

  “I think it also couldn’t control the energy in here with all the security locks in place,” Tori said. “It might have started this as a trap that backfired. It’s one thing to practice something like this in the woods, but not behind this much steel and cement walls, not to mention all the security measures in place.”

  “And don’t forget the immediate wall of healing energy directed at it,” Genesis added.

  Matt nodded. “I think that’s the reason for siphoning off the healing energy while still trying to pour energy into the snake. It was trying to gear up for that moment but we stopped it without realizing it.”

  “If that’s true,” Connor said in a hard voice. “What is the person behind this going to do now that he or she has been thwarted, yet again?”

  Chapter 30

  Back in the main hall Celeste found the place empty except for the staff cleaning up. She’d forgotten to ask Matt for a follow-up on the server who’d tried to serve the poison to her. Right now, she didn’t care. She was hungry. That last energy drain had wiped
her out and left her needing to refuel—like all energy work did. She walked over to the buffet table that was being cleared of food, and quickly filled a plate for herself. She was exhausted and her energy stores dangerously low. She needed sustenance. She glanced up to see Matt and the others following her example. By the time they had all filled their plates, there was almost nothing left for the servers to put away.

  She walked outside with her plate and sat down on the porch. It was a stunning night. She should feel exhilarated, but instead she was depressed. The things humanity did to each other sucked. On top of that, there were the things they did to their pets…

  “Is the snake safe to leave alone?” Genesis asked, sitting in the chair beside her.

  Her mouth full, Celeste nodded, chewed, and swallowed. “It will be okay, but it will never be the same, and neither is it going to live long. Unless we can get it to the healing pools.”

  “Is that something we should do?” Connor said, leaning against one of the veranda’s support beams.

  “I think the other spirit pets could take it there. In Granny’s cottage, the snake would live longer. Might even recuperate, but I doubt he’d ever really heal from that damaged bond. I broke it, but it was the only way.” And if she kept saying that she might eventually believe it.

  “It’s not your fault,” Matt said, patiently. He’d said the same thing a half dozen times before.

  “I know, but it feels like I should do more.” She took a bite of a small pastry. “Maybe the other animals will.”

  “It tried to annihilate all the spirit animals. Why would they help it now?”

  “Because more than any of us, the spirit pets are pure energy and they know he was filled with darkness, but not of his own making. And now that he is no longer under his owner’s influence, then they’d understand. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of them haven’t already done something to hel—” She paused mid-thought, then chuckled. “Right. Minkel and Smurg have taken the snake to the cottage, where they have dumped it in the healing pool.” She shrugged. “Mother Nature taking care of itself in the best way possible.”

  “Will it survive the pool?” Matt asked. “It had a lot of darkness in it, and the pools were quite agitated over the rocks being thrown in.”

  She studied his face. “True, but they are healing pools, and they healed themselves as they also healed everything else. They’d have eventually healed the rocks if they’d had enough time, but we stepped in and removed them, making it easier on everyone. It might have taken the pools decades to have reversed that much negativity, but they’d have done it eventually.”

  “And of course they have no time constraints. It’s only us that do.”

  She nodded. “I’m wondering if we can’t entice the snake to help us trap its owner. The thing is, to do so—” she swallowed and took another bite while trying to marshal her thoughts “—to do so, means trusting that the snake has fully healed and will no longer be susceptible to the owner’s dominant energy again.”

  “That’s asking a bit much.” Connor said from across from her. “And so soon.”

  “Maybe, but the owner already knows where the cottage is, and now knows that we have the snake,” Celeste said. “If it puts those two together in the same place then it’s quite possible that it will attack the cottage again, and this time plan to use the snake from the inside out.”

  Then she froze, her voice rising in panic. “Oh, my God. If that’s the case, we’ve played directly into this person’s hands.”

  Genesis and Tori hopped to their feet, shock on their faces.

  “Whoa, what?” Devon stood at the doorway, a larger heaped plate than any of them in his hands. “What was that last bit?”

  “The snake was a trap. Not just downstairs, but now inside the cottage.” She turned to her sisters. “We have to go.”

  They took off running toward the hovercraft.

  Celeste called out from behind them. “We don’t have time for that.”

  She snagged Genesis’ arm. “We have to go now.” She turned to see Tori still sprinting for the hovercraft. “Tori, come here!”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Matt almost reach out for her. She threw up an energy block. “No. You can’t come this way.”

  Tori grabbed her hand. “What are we doing?”

  “What we have to do,” Celeste cried out. “There’s no choice.” And she raised her sister’s arms in the air, and let the ancient song run through her body. “Use the cloud dresses.”

  “What?”

  She heard their shock but could feel the dresses power up, energy racing through her feet and her legs, connecting one place on her body to another, flowing through with the same message of the ancients. It twisted and bent and rolled right through the three of them. Creating a pulsing vortex of power.

  Just when she couldn’t control the maelstrom inside anymore, Celeste cried out, “Now.”

  There was a weird popping sound. Then silence reigned.

  She opened her eyes.

  To see Granny smiling at her.

  “Granny?” She gasped in joy, glancing sideways at her sisters. They, too, stared at the mirage in front of them. “Why are you here?”

  “You might need help child. All of our help.”

  And behind Granny, faces peered out of the fog. The one behind her, standing out in particular.

  “Mom?” Celeste cried out, tears in her eyes.

  “Oh, my!” Genesis burst out crying.

  Tori reached for her mother. But the energy was faint, distant. Behind their mother were a long line of women fading into the distance. Their ancestors. They had to be. Celeste stared in awe at the beautiful loving features of the woman that had gone before them. Her granny, who’d died while raising them, and the long line of stargazers who’s done the same for their daughters.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “We are all one.”

  “We are all one,” Granny confirmed with a stunning smile on her face, in her eyes and yes, in her voice. “We are all connected and we always will be.”

  “Do we need you now?” Tori said in a small voice. “What are we up against?”

  “Evil, child. Negative energy. It’s always there. Always around. But this time it knows you are weak. Knows you are young. And thinks to destroy that what cannot be destroyed.” She smiled. “But if you know we are here, and that we can help if you need us…then you are stronger than you know.”

  She hated to ask, but Celeste had to know. “If the cottage can’t be destroyed,” she whispered, “Why are you all here?”

  “Because you can be. And then there would no longer be a stargazer here to keep Glory safe.”

  The blood drained out of her face, taking the warmth with it. Inside, she was so cold. She knew they could die through this fight, but it hadn’t been brought home to her until she’d heard Granny say it out loud.

  “We came to support you,” Granny said, her voice a whisper. “To keep you safe and to help vanquish this evil once again in our midst. We have all faced it before, at least once in our lifetimes. We have all seen it, felt it, been damaged by it. And still it rises once again.”

  “Why can’t we stop it forever?” Genesis cried. “That we can all live happily and safely in peace.”

  “Because Mother Nature is a balance of two sides. For all the positive energy in the world, there is negative energy as well, but as soon as things go out of balance, then the negative is given an opening to rise again.”

  Celeste nodded, and turned her attention just a little bit farther down the line. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the beautiful woman standing behind Granny. Standing behind because she had gone before.

  “Mom, if I don’t get another chance…” She had to gulp back the tears clogging her throat. “I love you and missed you every day of my life. But Granny…” She shook her head. “She did a wonderful job and kept you alive in our hearts all the time.”

  “I missed you so much,�
� Tori cried.

  Genesis could hardly speak for the quiet sobs in her voice.

  Their mother smiled, warmth and caring and love radiating from her gaze. She moved her mouth, and the words, “I love you all.” echoed around them. Celeste felt nearly full to bursting with joy.

  What a moment.

  Celeste knew they were heading into danger. Knew that one of them could join their ancestors on the other side after today, but Lord, she hoped not.

  “It won’t happen today, child.” Granny beamed at her. “But you needed to know we are here for you.”

  And she started to fade slightly, as if taking a step back.

  “Wait,” Tori cried. “We need you.”

  “We’re here, and not going anywhere, ever. But until you need us to step in, we’ll wait and see how you handle this. So far you are doing very well.”

  “Thanks for the dresses, Granny,” Celeste rushed to say. “They are the best.”

  “And you’ll need them now, too.” And with that, she took a farther step back. Celeste choked back a sob, as her beloved mother’s face disappeared into the clouds.

  What a blessing, and one she realized was part of that heritage she’d hated growing up with. She hadn’t been able to see anything special about it—until now. Lord, she’d been away far too long. But she was home now, and their lives had been enriched in more ways than she could ever begin to count.

  The girls looked at each other, sniffling and wiping away the tears, but smiling.

  “Did that just happen?” Tori asked softly.

  “It did.” Celeste shook her head. “I’m not sure how or why, but it did.”

  “Oh, my God, that was too freaking touching,” a snide voice broke in. “Now, if only I could restrain myself from breaking up this emotional scene.”

  The sarcastic voice was female.

  And one they all recognized. After all, she’d been at the Center earlier that night.

  Chelsea.

  *

  Matt shouted, “No, don’t.”