“This... this is the kind of thing...” he stammered as the body bobbed and swooped. The sheet flew up again and wrapped itself around the naked form and then it settled on a table.
Aloysius went over to the body and arranged the sheet nicely around it.
“Poor Mrs. Parker. I don’t think she intended to spend her after death flying around a funeral home. And yet, she does,” he said.
“Does she do that often? I mean, how long does a body stay here?”
“It’s not just her. She’ll be properly buried by tomorrow night but there will be more. Sometimes all of them come flying out of the fridge to dance. And they don’t always stay down here.”
Dorothy stared at the body, and up at the ceiling. The shadow creatures laughed and jeered.
“I think we need to bring some of the others to really put this to bed.” Dorothy said.
“What about that room, the one upstairs with the artifacts?” Madeline asked. “I know there’s something.”
“I know there’s lots here,” Dorothy said. “If we can bring most of the coven back, I’m sure we can get this fixed.”
“I agree,” Madeline said, rubbing her arms. Her breath came out in bursts of fog. The temperature was dropping with every passing second.
“You don’t think we could do something now?” Maggie asked.
“I think that now that we see a bit of what we’re dealing with, we should come back with more tools, and a couple more witches.” Dorothy said.
“I will be paying all of you whatever your price is, of course,” Aloysius said.
The body flew up again and spun across the ceiling. All the fridge doors opened and slammed shut. Tubes floated around, trying to wrap around the witches, but they pushed them back. The shadows laughed silently.
“Let’s go,” Dorothy said. “It’s been a long day and we need to do some research.”
“Very well,” Maggie said.
“We’ll be back soon, Aloysius,” Dorothy promised.
* * *
Lucy sat in her big overstuffed red velvet chair in one of her most private upstairs rooms. Only the innermost members of the coven were invited inside this chamber. Natasha, Ellie, Gwen, and Ursula sat in smaller chairs, forming a circle with Lucy. They wore their everyday clothes and held lacy handkerchiefs that smelled of sweet perfume. A small fire burned in the fireplace.
In the centre of the ring of witches, on a small wooden table covered with a black velvet cloth, lay the mermaid scalp. It was carefully splayed out and arranged, the length of the hair running the width of the table and spilling off to the sides. The scalp lay on an ancient piece of rare waterproof cloth. The material was thought to be neutral to magical properties that an element that was wrapped in it might carry. Small bits of flesh still clung to the hair. Even though the hair was now dry, there was an undersmell of rot that the incense burning in the corner couldn’t mask.
“I took her to the island to collect the plants,” Natasha said.
“I see,” Lucy nodded, staring at the mermaid hair.
“It was her time to learn,” Natasha said, her gaze drawn to the fireplace.
“You said yourself we need to rotate the shifts more frequently, so we don’t use up all our energies battling the mermaids,” Ellie said.
“If only there was a way for us to cultivate the plants on our own. Then we wouldn’t have to go through this,” said Gwen.
“We haven’t talked about this for decades, and now we’re supposed to figure out in one night how to cultivate those plants and be rid of the mermaids?” Ursula said impatiently.
“We don’t have the means for growing plants... nor for battling the mermaids for any length of time. Their power is strong as well.”
“So what are we going to do... also... with this?” Ellie said pointing at the mermaid hair.
“Natasha, you know you’re not supposed to hurt them as much as we want to kill them all.”
“It happened so fast. You can see there are no magic markings on it,” Natasha said as they all looked at the mermaid scalp on the coffee table before them,
Natasha pressed a handkerchief under her nose. “Why can’t we use it for spells, cook it in a cauldron.”
“No,” Lucy said. “We have to do something creative and respectful with her hair.”
“How do you know it’s a she?” Ellie asked. “All we have here is hair and some skin.”
“You’re right, we don’t know if that is a he or she or something else. It’s a mermaid, merman, merpeople, merthings.”
“What beautiful hair,” Lucy held a perfumed handkerchief to her own nose as she leaned forward and touched the long strands with her fingers. Even though it emitted a terrible odor, the texture of the hair itself was soft and enticing between her fingers.
“That feels so good,” Lucy said. “The pain in my hand is dissipating.”
“Mermaid hair, all mermaid parts are used in so many spells. Mermaid hand for eternal life and so on,” Ellie said.
“Oh, I can’t think about harvesting mermaids to carry out our most evil deeds but my goodness I can’t believe how nice my hand feels.” Lucy wrapped the hair further around her hand and halfway up her arm. The scalp hung off the end of her arm as the foot and a half long hair made a cast around one hand and forearm.
“Lucy, have you been enchanted by the mermaids?” Natasha asked as she held Lucy’s hand and attempted to unwrap the mermaid hair from her.
“Oh, Natasha, my child, I’m not mad. This it is so soothing. The relief of this beautiful fine hair. I’ve not felt such relief with any drug or any ointment, no salve, no CBDs... nothing has removed the pain like this hair has now.” Lucy sighed dreamily. Natasha looked sharply at the others. “We must get more of this so that you all can feel this wondrous sensation.”
“Lucy, stop it.” Natasha said.
Lucy began to hum, while her body undulated in a dance to music only she could hear. Natasha and Ursula held her as Lucy’s flesh began to turn pale green, her grey hair spinning like it had a mind of its own. Lucy’s eyes rolled up in their sockets and she began to drool, spittle dripping from her lips. Weird noises came from her mouth.
“She’s trying to talk,” Gwen said.
“Maybe she’s having a stroke or a heart attack!”
“No, it’s the mermaid hair,” Natasha said. “It’s enchanting her. We have to get it off her.”
The witches worked at trying to unwrap the hair from Lucy’s arms but to no avail. The mermaid hair stuck tight like slippery seaweed that was impossible to grab on to and eluded their fingers as it wrapped around Lucy. More sounds came from Lucy. Sounds like wailing and screeching.
“Is she singing a siren song?”
“We have to stop it.”
“What can we do?”
“Calm down, everyone. Let’s just keep our intelligence, please,” Natasha scolded.
Natasha turned from the women. As she picked up the bell and rang for the maids, Sophie and two other ladies appeared immediately.
“We heard the commotion,” Sophie said. “We’re here to help. We don’t know what’s wrong but we’re at your service.”
“Can you calm Miss Lucy down? There’s something attacking her.”
“We’re not sure how to remove this... thing,” Natasha said. “If you could maybe hold her down while we figure out a spell or other way to release her.”
“I don’t know what to do?” Ursula said.
“I’ll go check the library,” Natasha said. “I’ll be back.”
Natasha left the room and headed towards the library. She heard a thump. And then another thump. Something sounded as if it was sliding, or maybe slithering. She heard hissing noises behind her. She turned around in time to see a mermaid pulling itself up the stairs. It slithered and flopped, pulling with its hands and flapping its huge tail. The stanch of low tide filled the air.
It was the mermaid who had no hair. Her face was bloody, and her skull poked through where the
hair had been ripped from her. She reached towards Natasha and hissed. Natasha hissed back, baring her own fangs.
She ran from the mermaid and entered the library. She quickly scanned the books on the mammoth cases. She pulled out a spell book and quickly flipped the pages until she found the entry she was looking for. She returned to the hallway where the mermaid was slithering along the next level of stairs, towards the room where Lucy and the others were still trapped.
Natasha pointed her finger at the mermaid and read aloud a few words from the big, ancient book.
The mermaid flopped and twisted and then rose in the air. Natasha flicked her fingers and the mermaid disappeared out the window.
“Oh, I wish I could kill that thing... but I can’t.” Natasha grimaced. She hurried up the stairs with the book and returned to the room.
“Okay, ladies, I have something here.”
She opened the book and set it on one of the chairs.
Lucy was moaning with delight as the hair wrapped around her, moving from her arm to her torso. The hair moved with a life of its own. The maids held her in a chair.
The witches all looked at each other.
“Here, read this spell,” Natasha instructed Ursula.
As Ursula read, the other witches repeated after her, holding their hands over Lucy.
Smoke rose up from the hair as Ursula spoke. The hair fell from Lucy and then hit the ground in a shower of sparks. Within a second, it turned to dust.
Lucy groaned as she was released from her trance. She stood up with the help of the witches and they brushed her off.
“Oh, my,” Lucy said. “Oh, my.”
Gwen held her arm as Lucy returned to her chair.
“I guess we don’t really need to decide what to do with that hair now.”
The others nodded.
Natasha wiped her hands on a cloth that one of the maids held out to her.
“Thank you.” She returned the cloth to the maid.
“Would you like us to bring you anything, Lucy?” Sophie asked. “A cup of tea or perhaps a piece of cake.”
“No. I think I’m ready for my bed tonight,” Lucy said. “Just let me have five more minutes with my ladies and then I will have my bath.
The maids fussed over Lucy for a moment, one pouring her a glass of water from the jug that was on one of the tables.
Lucy drank it quickly and handed the glass back.
“Thank you. And yes, ladies, you may go now. I should be fine.”
The maids left the room. Natasha waited until she heard the maids going down the stairs. She shut the door.
“When I went to find the book in the library, there was a mermaid, the mermaid, in the hall, looking for her hair. I whisked her away. To where, I don’t know. Hopefully out to sea. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t come alone so we must all be alert and aware.”
Ellie went to the door and opened it. She looked around and even went out to the staircase.
“I don’t see anything out there now. I hope they’re gone.”
“They are... for now. Maybe forever since the hair doesn’t exist anymore.”
Lucy’s pallor had returned to her normal color. She raised her hand to her forehead which glistened with sweat. Ellie dabbed her with a handkerchief.
“I don’t what happened,” Lucy said. “All I know is that for the first time in a very long time, decades even, I didn’t feel pain. For a brief moment, my body had no pain. Then all hell broke loose, of course. I would give anything to find that pain-free moment again.”
Lucy sank back in her chair and closed her eyes.
“Ah... be careful what we wish for... We thwarted whatever happened this time with the mermaids, but we can’t let that happen again,” Lucy said sternly. “We need to be more prepared and we need to be rougher. If we need to start killing them then that’s what we will do.”
Ellie and Ursula gasped. Natasha smiled. Lucy continued.
“We need to explore the uses for mermaid hair a little more. We can find uses in the ancient books However, it’s clear we need the hair, to see if how it will help with pain.”
“But doesn’t that go against—” Ellie said. Natasha looked angrily at Ellie.
“Be quiet, Eleanor.” Natasha snapped.
“Yes,” Lucy nodded to herself. “Yes.” Her voice was firm. “That’s what we will do. We’ll be prepared for the next time. In the future, when we come into mermaid hair, we’ll keep it in a special glass case until we’re able to determine exactly how to use it. It’s clear this is what we need, I need. There are no coincidences.”
“As you wish,” Natasha said.
“Yes, mistress.” The others agreed.
Chapter Thirteen
Ten of Pentacles: Explore hidden knowledge.
Oscar was jogging on the elliptical at the gym, music blasting through his ear buds, his eyes looking up at the TV that was running a news channel.
He ran faster, sweat pouring down his face, his ear buds bobbing.
Dorothy stepped in front of him, startling him.
“I told you, I don’t want to see you,” Oscar said sternly as he removed his ear buds.
“I think you have it wrong,” Dorothy said.
“No, I don’t,” Oscar said as he slowed his pace to a stop. He stepped off the machine. Dorothy put her hand up. In her mind, she pushed him back towards the machine.
“You’re not finished exercising yet, please continue,” she said.
He returned to the machine, put in his ear buds, and began to run again. Dorothy tried not to stare at his gleaming, muscular arms. She climbed on to the machine beside him and walked.
“The problem that you’re having isn’t me,” Dorothy said. “You saw something when you looked at me, but it wasn’t me you saw, it was whatever it is that was already there.” Oscar continued to stare at the TV. Dorothy waved her fingers at him and one of the air buds fell out.
He looked at her and pushed the air bud back in and then returned his gaze towards the news.
Dorothy didn’t pursue it, she just kept walking beside him staring up at the news herself.
At least he was staying there. Well, he wasn’t really staying there on his own free will because every time he tried to leave the machine she would mentally push him back on to it until he had finished his five miles.
Finally, she allowed him to leave the machine and she watched him cross the gym.
She wanted to follow him, but she knew that would annoy him further, so she went over to a different side of the gym and worked on a machine to strengthen her biceps.
She was deep in thought, losing herself in the piped in music when she heard a voice beside her.
“Dorothy.”
She looked up at Oscar. His face was solemn. “You’re right, Dorothy. You were right all along.”
“Right about what?” she asked.
“About what I saw.” His voice was loud. In fact, the music had a break and people near to them turned to look.
“Oh!” he laughed as his deep voice echoed through the gym. “Sorry. It was between songs!”
Dorothy chuckled, pleased to see that his demeanor was less tense.
“I have to go, but maybe we’ll talk some time.” He hurried out of the weight room. She watched him through the glass as he headed towards the change room.
She smiled as she lifted a couple more weights. She had him back where she wanted him, and it hadn’t taken too much persuasion.
* * *
When Dorothy returned home, she headed straight for the fridge. Her stomach was rumbling with hunger, but it wasn’t time to eat yet. She needed to stick to her diet. As she pulled it open to get a glass of ice water, she heard rustling from the counter.
She looked over and was astonished to see how huge the plants had become just while she was at the gym. The little peanut pods were now the size of small round melons. The pods looked like they were going to spread open any time. The stalks were thicker than cor
n and reached up to the celling. And the smell was the most magnificent scent she’d ever smelled. She couldn’t even describe it to herself. It was like a combination of all of her favorite aromas. She stood breathing in the smells. She had a heady glow and realized that she was almost weightless. Her body was rising in the air.
I guess this is part of the magic of the plant and why we use it in potions.
It seemed like the plant was growing right before her eyes. She breathed in the scent again, revelling in the euphoria and deliciousness of it.
“Oh, boy. What am I going to do with you?”
I’m really going be in for it if those witches discover you, but I can’t keep you around anymore. I don’t know what’s going to happen.
The plant was rustling and shivering with the little melon bits splitting open, thick red juice spilling out.
I wonder if the plants look like this on the island? I don’t recall seeing anything like this there. But then again, it was so dark.
She grabbed some paper towels and went over to wipe up the thick jelly that spilled from the burst open melon. Another miniature melon popped, and then another and another. They made strange coconut noises as they popped and splattered the substance all around. It smelled so delicious. And even though she knew she shouldn’t, she touched her fingertip into one of the juices and touched it. She brought it to her mouth and lightly licked the tiniest bit from her finger.
Suddenly, she saw everything and nothing; she was all of it and none of it and all that had come before.
Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy... .
Dorothy stared at the plants as she drank her water.
I have to do something about these plants, but I can’t think about that right now. I’ll think about it later.
* * *
Dorothy walked along the path through the woods towards the lights shining from the movie set. The sun was starting a slow descent. Someone was smoking weed. She looked around as she followed the winding path and then she saw who it was.
Taurus: A Hearse of a Different Color Page 16
