The Harbinger

by Wendy Wang

  “You have to cut its head off and carve the heart out of its chest.”

  “Are you kidding me?” She leaned forward and held her head in one hand.

  “I wish I were,” Ben said.

  “Why on the goddess's green earth can't it be easy? Can’t I just stab him through the heart with a wooden stake or something? Like a vampire.”

  “Yeah, that whole stake thing doesn't really work on vampires. It’s a myth,” Ben said.

  “Great,” Charlie said. “That's just great.”

  “Listen, I gotta go. Call me if you need me. I'll do whatever I can from here to help,” Ben said.

  “Thank you,” Charlie said. “You take care of yourself and be careful.”

  “You too,” Ben said.

  Charlie tapped the Phone icon and ended the call.

  “Did you hear that?” Charlie sighed. She shifted her gaze to her cousin’s face and was met with a look of disgust.

  “I am not cutting that thing’s head off. We're just gonna have to figure out a way to banish it,” Lisa said.

  “Looks like you and I aren't gonna be enough,” Charlie said.

  “No. We’re gonna need the whole coven for this. And maybe Tom,” Lisa said.

  “So, did you know that Jen has a secret shelf?” Charlie asked.

  Lisa narrowed her eyes. “No I didn’t. I wonder what all she has on that secret shelf?”

  “Dark spell books, apparently,” Charlie said.

  Lisa frowned. “That little witch. She’s been holding out on us.”

  “Come on.” Charlie rose from the couch. “Let’s go get some lunch at the café. No time like the present to find out what books she has that will help us catch this thing.”

  Charlie kept watch over the door to the café. Her nerves buzzed with anticipation, waiting for the bell to ring, announcing someone’s entrance. The bell stayed silent. She sighed and stabbed a piece of cornmeal-encrusted okra with her fork and popped it into her mouth. The crispy coating did nothing to soothe her nerves.

  "A watched cauldron never boils," Lisa said under her breath. She loaded the tines of her fork with a cube of ham, some cheddar cheese and a piece of lettuce then dipped it into the small cup of dressing on the side of her plate.

  Charlie scowled. "I just don't know what's taking them so long."

  "I'm sure things are crazy at the store, like Dottie said. You know how people can be before a storm,” Lisa said.

  "I know, but they’re only expecting a cat one hurricane. That’s not even that bad,” Charlie said.

  "They're all bad, Charlie." Lisa rolled her eyes. "And nobody wants to run out of bread, milk and water. I don't even drink milk except on cereal, and I always stock up when there's a storm coming."

  "That does not make any sense Lisa Holloway. Especially if the power goes out. It's not like you can drink it,” Charlie said, unconvinced.

  "You can always take a carton of milk and a cooler and eat cereal for a couple of days till they get the power back on,” Lisa said.

  "I'd rather eat cold SpaghettiOs,” Charlie said. She didn't bother with her fork and grabbed the fried chicken leg. The crunchy batter broke into pieces, littering her chin and plate.

  The bell tinkled and Charlie jumped at the sound. Lisa threw a glance over her shoulder toward the door and they watched as Jen, her father Jack, and her daughter Ruby walked in to the café. Lisa turned back and gave Charlie a smug grin.

  "See, I told you. You just had to stop watching the door,” Lisa said.

  Charlie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I don't think that would have made them walk through that door any sooner."

  Ruby raced across the restaurant and hopped up on an empty stool near the cash register.

  Jack Holloway spotted Charlie and Lisa sitting in a booth along the back wall. He grinned and waved, then tapped Jen on the elbow and pointed in their direction. Charlie and Lisa both waved at the same time.

  Jen flashed a quizzical smile at them but didn’t approach the table. She gave them a quick wave and headed behind the counter. Dottie stopped Jen at the register and Charlie watched as Jen wrapped her apron around her waist and listened intently to whatever Dottie had to say. Jen nodded and reached for a coloring page and a box of crayons from the cubby beneath the register, then grabbed a carton of milk from the small refrigerator beneath the back counter. She placed the coloring page in front of Ruby along with the milk and crayons.

  Jack Holloway walked toward them with a grin on his face. "Afternoon ladies. Scoot over sweetie," he said and pushed his way into the seat next to his daughter. Lisa slid her plate to the right to let her father sit down. “If it isn't two of my favorite people."

  "How many favorite people do you have, Daddy?" Lisa said.

  "Six or seven tops," he said with a sly grin on his face.

  "Hey, Uncle Jack," Charlie said. "How was the store?"

  "Insane.” He scrubbed his hand across his salt and pepper beard. "I tried to tell Jen we could just drink toilet water, but she wasn't having it."

  Charlie giggled. "Now, I cannot imagine why she objected to drinking toilet water."

  "I know,” Jack said, his good humor shining in his voice. His blue eyes glittered with mischief.

  "Are you gonna take the boat out of the water?" Lisa asked.

  "I’ve got a little time. I'll probably drive the boat around to the landing in the morning,” he said.

  "If you need help, I’m free this week," Lisa said. Charlie kicked her cousin beneath the table and gave her a what-the-hell look. “Ow.”

  Jack’s gaze flitted between Charlie and his daughter. "I appreciate that, sweetie.”

  "Just let me know.” Lisa scowled at Charlie before taking another bite of her salad.

  A few minutes later Jen approached the table. She placed a fresh glass of tea in front of her father. "Hey, girls. I wasn't expecting to see you today."

  "It's Wednesday. When don't you see me on a Wednesday?" Charlie quipped.

  "I wasn't talking about you, Charlie,” Jen said, her gaze homing in on her sister.

  "What? I usually bring my lunch to work,” Lisa said.

  "Daddy, do you want something?" Jen shook off her sister’s remark and took her order pad from the front pocket of her apron.

  Jack rested his forearms on the table and folded his hands together. He looked over Charlie’s half empty plate. "Fried chicken looks good. If you don't mind."

  "Sides?" Jen asked.

  "Green beans and corn please," he said.

  "You want a slice of pie?"

  "I do," Charlie said.

  Jen grinned. "Let me guess. Lemon meringue."

  "Unless you have key lime," Charlie said.

  Jen shook her head. "You are so predictable. Key lime it is. Daddy?"

  "I'll have a slice of key lime pie too, thank you very much,” he said.

  "Coming right up." Jen turned and headed back to the kitchen.

  "When y'all are done eating can you help me unload the plywood I brought out of storage for the windows for the café and for Daphne's?" Jack asked.

  "Sure thing," Charlie said. She scooped up a bite of macaroni and cheese and savored it. "Did you get a new truck?"

  "I sure did,” Jack said. "It'll be much easier to take the boat out of the water and put it back in.” He beamed. “Plus, it's pretty."

  A few minutes later Jen appeared with a tray carrying her father's food and two slices of pie. "Can I get y'all anything else?"

  Charlie and Lisa exchanged a glance.

  "When we finish lunch we need to talk to you,” Lisa said.

  "About what?" Jen asked, wariness edging into her voice.

  Charlie's gaze shifted sideways toward her uncle, and she thought carefully about how to answer. "Just something that Ben told me."

  The smile on Jen’s lips disappeared. "You talked to Ben?"

  "I did,” Charlie said.

  Jen hugged the tray against her chest. "Is he okay?"

  "He's fine,�
�� Charlie said. "But he did mention something very interesting. Thought you might find it interesting too.”

  “What?”

  Charlie glanced at her uncle again. He was salting and peppering the scoop of buttered sweet white corn on his plate, seeming not to pay any attention to the conversation. Jen’s gaze followed her cousin’s line of sight. Charlie shrugged. “Nothing important. We can talk about it later.”

  “Oh. Okay,” Jen said. Someone called, “Waitress,” from a nearby table. “Well that’s my cue. I’ll talk to y’all later.” Jen headed toward the customer needing her attention.

  “You know you can say anything in front of me,” Jack said, looking up from his plate. He picked up his fork and slid it into the corn kernels.

  “We know, Daddy,” Lisa said.

  “You know what I think?” Jack said. “I think there are too many damn secrets you girls keep.” He brought his fork to his lips and emptied it into his mouth.

  Charlie’s stomach suddenly soured. She hated lying to her uncle, even if it was for his own good. Charlie met Jack’s gaze and pushed her plate away.

  Charlie grunted and adjusted her end of the 8' x 4' long piece of plywood. Lisa backed through the entrance door holding the other end. Jen directed them into the storeroom.

  "It's not gonna fit," Lisa said.

  "Yes it is," Jen said, sounding exasperated with her sister. "You just have to trust me. This is not my first rodeo."

  "I don't know how you're gonna get it out, once we get it in," Lisa complained. “Why don’t you just board up the windows now instead of storing it, wouldn’t that be easier?”

  “No. Boarding them up now would scare off the customers,” Jen said. “Plus if I store it now for this storm, I’ll have it in case there are others later in the season. So quit fretting over it,” Jen reassured her. "I promise you it will fit, and I promise you I'll be able to get it in and out."

  Lisa made a sound in the back of her throat but didn't continue to argue. They carefully rounded the corner into the storeroom, wedging Lisa between the shelf holding sacks of rice and flour and other ingredients.

  "Now what?" Lisa said, irritation edging into her voice.

  "Put your end down," Charlie said. "I'm gonna back up a little bit so you can get out. Then I'll just slide it into the storeroom."

  Lisa glanced around as if she were trying to make sense of her cousin’s proposition. Lisa lowered her and of the long plank onto the floor, and Charlie dragged it backward at an odd angle, freeing her cousin. Lisa stepped between two ceiling-high shelves on the opposite side. Charlie squatted and lowered her end of the plywood, then carefully slid it forward. The long plank of engineered wood began to tip to one side and Lisa stepped in to keep it upright. Charlie pushed and Lisa guided the plank in front of an empty wall. When they got it into place, Charlie and Lisa stepped back to admire their handiwork.

  "See? I told you it would fit," Jen said, joining them. "Now, we’ve only got three more pieces to unload."

  Lisa folded her arms across her chest and scowled at her sister. "No."

  "What?" Jen's gaze shifted from Lisa to Charlie. "Did she just say no?"

  "I believe that's what she said," Charlie said.

  "Lisa Marie," Jen began.

  "Jennifer Elizabeth," Lisa countered. "I'm not helping anymore until you tell us about the secret spell books you have."

  Jen’s cheeks flushed pink, and she automatically shushed her sister. "Be quiet. Somebody could hear you."

  "I'm sure they've heard worse," Lisa muttered. "I'm serious. I'm not moving another inch until you tell us."

  Jen gritted her teeth and closed the storeroom door. "Is that what Ben told you?"

  "He said you have a secret shelf," Charlie said. "We just assumed that it meant spell books."

  "Ben is a blabbermouth," Jen grumbled.

  "So you do have a secret shelf?" Charlie asked. "Does it have more than spell books?"

  "Maybe," Jen said, not meeting her eyes.

  "Were you ever gonna tell us?" Lisa asked, sounding a little hurt.

  "No," Jen admitted. "I never thought we would have to use them."

  "What kind of magic do they contain that you wouldn't want to use it?" Lisa asked.

  "There’s some dark stuff in them,” Jen said. "Not anything we would ever use in our rituals or practice."

  "Why do you have them then?" Charlie asked.

  "Well I didn't set out to buy them. I found them at an estate sale and recognized the danger immediately, and I didn't want them to fall into the wrong hands.” She gave Charlie and Lisa a defiant glare. “So I bought them.”

  Charlie overlooked her cousin’s defensiveness. "Well Ben seemed to think there might be something in one of them that would help us. Me in particular."

  "Help you how?" Jen asked.

  Charlie told Jen about her dream and about the reception she received from Jason and Cameron that morning. Jen listened, never taking her eyes off of Charlie's face. When Charlie finished, she shrugged. "I'm gonna need all of y'all's help if we are gonna find this guy."

  "All right,” Jen said. "I'll be done here after three. Then we can start going through the books and see what will help."

  Charlie threw her arms around Jen shoulders and hugged her cousin close. “Thank you so much." An electric buzz started in her chest, chasing away the cold cloud of doubt. They were going to find him. They were going to find him and they were going to banish him. Charlie could feel it in her bones.

  Charlie and Lisa followed Jen up the steps to the attic of Jack Holloway's house. Jen shut the door tightly behind them. Charlie's eyes widened in alarm. Jen patted Charlie's arm with reassurance. "It's okay I'm not gonna lock us in. I just don't want Ruby to follow us up."

  It'd been years since Charlie had been in this attic. The last time, they must've been twelve or thirteen. Lisa had just learned a new spell and had asked Jen and Charlie if she could practice it with them. The spell had backfired when Lisa lit the wrong candle in the wrong order resulting in a sudden flash of the flame. Charlie had almost lost her eyebrows that day.

  She approached the top floor warily. The smell of musty boxes tickled her nose. The attic stretched across one half of the house and Charlie could only stand up straight in the center of the space. Even then, she had to duck to go beneath the naked lightbulb on the center beam where the eaves joined together. Shelves holding plastic containers with labels on them were tucked up under the eaves. There were boxes of decorations for most of their high holidays, Samhain, Yule and Beltane. Other boxes held books and old photographs.

  Charlie spotted a picture of their grandmother, Bunny, sticking out of an old shoe box. She picked it up and smiled, despite the pang of longing that filled her chest. Bunny's beautiful, angular face, wrinkled from years of laughter, grinned at the camera. The old woman sat on the front porch swing of her little house with a white enameled wash pot filled with green beans, yellow crookneck squash and small red potatoes that she'd grown in her garden.

  Bunny grinned from ear to ear, her arms slung around the shoulders of her granddaughters, Lisa and Charlie. Both girls wore a silly smile. Bunny had made a game of picking the beans and raced the girl’s to see who could pick the most vegetables. In the end, Bunny picked the most, but she always put a handful of her beans into the girls’ pile so that they would win.

  Lisa glanced over Charlie's shoulder and touched a hand to her back. "Bunny sure could make anything grow.”

  “She sure could. And she always made it fun,” Charlie said. A pang of nostalgia filled her chest.

  “She did.” Lisa smiled. “That was a good day."

  "Yes, it was," Charlie brushed her thumb over Bunny's smiling face and put the photo back into the box.

  At the end of the long shelf, Jen shifted boxes around until she found the one she wanted. She pulled it off the shelf and placed it on the floor. The top flaps had been locked into each other so the box was closed without having to tape it. A quarter-inch
layer of salt was spread across the top. Jen pulled on the flap closest to her and all of them lifted up and fell open. Salt scattered onto the floor.

  Charlie and Lisa knelt on either side of Jen and peered into the box.

  “Jen,” Lisa said, panic in her voice.

  “I know,” Jen said.

  “Is that a book of the dead?” Charlie asked.

  “Yes,” Jen reached into the box and removed all three books. “And someone’s book of shadows and a grimoire.”

  Charlie picked up the book of shadows and opened it. "Evangeline's been after me to start my own book of shadows."

  "Evangeline's right," Jen said.

  "Why were you scared these would fall into the wrong hands?" Charlie asked.

  "Well normally I wouldn't be. There's nothing wrong with the book of the dead as long as you respect the dead. Just like there's nothing wrong with the book of shadows or a grimoire. Both are good ways to document your own personal journey as well as magical research and spells that you may want to pass down,” Jen said.

  "I don't think we should be playing around with the dead," Lisa said.

  "I guess I don't understand,” Charlie said. "I talk to the dead all the time."

  "I know," Jen said. "But you don't try to command them. There are spells in this book that can not only conjure the dead from beyond the veil but can also make them do your bidding."

  "Oh," Charlie said. Her hand floated to her throat and her stomach flip-flopped. All she had ever wanted was to help the dead reach their destination. She sure didn't want to pull them back from that place and try to control them. Just the idea of it made her feel sick.

  "Why do you think Ben thought of these books?" Charlie asked. "I mean he's not suggesting that I . . . we, conjure the dead is he?"

  "I don't know?" Jen said. "Maybe."

  "How could that help us find the demon?" Charlie asked.

  "Well, you think he's possessing someone, right?" Lisa asked. Charlie nodded. "Then the best way to find the demon is to find the man he's inhabiting. What better way to do that than to talk to the women that he's killed?"