*****
Colbie sat at the edge of his bed. “Brenda and I are going shopping this weekend. I need to buy a crib and a stroller.”
“I thought you’d have boxes full of blue things.”
“I can’t believe I’m having a boy. Will it be harder or easier raising a boy?”
“That’s where the dad is supposed to come in.”
“I’m not doing it all alone, I can tell you. I wouldn’t make it.”
“It’s just one baby. How hard can it be?”
“Everyone makes it sound like taking care of a baby is the hardest job they’ve ever had. All of these stories of spitting up and green poop.”
“Green?” Joshua asked.
“Some babies, even after they’re born, have premature digestive systems. They have colic, so they throw up a lot. And their poop doesn’t look right.”
“I don’t know if I had colic.”
“Neither do I. Grandma never said anything about it. Or my dad.”
“Do you ever visit your mom?”
“For a while, but the drive to the prison was too long. I talk to her on the phone sometimes.”
“What about your dad?”
“No. He chose...the bitch.”
“Colbie, there’s something your Grandma said that I think you should know...”
Joshua told her about Ruth’s conversation with his dad, that Ruth said Colbie had no talent.
“No talent? What kind of talent?”
“Talent for the kind of spell that injured Nick.”
“Spells? Well, that’s more Grandma’s thing. Your mother’s thing...”
“And why Marilyn was killed. Why Leo is missing.”
“Some sick bastard killed Marilyn. He probably sneaked in during the power outage.”
“What about Leo?”
“I hate to say it, but Grandpa probably had a heart attack in the woods. Maybe while checking out a hunting spot. It makes me sad; I love my grandparents, but they sort of resent Max and Brenda. They don’t have anything of their own. None of them do...”
“Did I ever tell you anything about my witch box?”
“What’s a witch box?”
“Ruth said I need to find it, that I showed it to her before I got sick.”
“I know nothing about it.”
“Would you feel offended if I said I don’t believe you?”
“Josh, I know you don’t remember much, and you might be feeling paranoid, but I mean you no harm.”
Her bottom lip was starting to tremble and she lowered her head. He knew he had hurt her feelings, but he was determined to know the truth. “Colbie, if you want us to be close, I need to be able to trust you.”
Colbie rose from the bed. “Just because you deserve the truth, doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. If you have a witch box, you should never have been using it. Grandma said people our age shouldn’t have that much power. We might hurt someone.”
“Enough people have been hurt, and if we’re not careful, we could be next.”
“I’m not afraid. Whoever killed poor Marilyn doesn’t want me dead.”
“What about me?”
“I wouldn’t think so.”
“Why not? Do you know something I don’t?”
“I don’t know anything. I’m the one with no talent.”
“Anna has talent.”
“She likes to think so. She has her agenda, too.”
“What agenda?”
She turned away. “Never mind. I’m going back to bed.”
“I think Ruth was wrong.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know why you won’t help me, but I’m going to find out the truth.”
“I know, I know. Goodnight, Josh.”
Bonnie prepared her altar.
She placed the four tall white candles on a stand to represent the four winds, along with two others to represent male and female energies, putting these in a circular pattern. She placed the ceramic plate with the pentagram etched inside at the base of the altar, underneath the candles. She surrounded herself with the stones she had collected, including onyx and crystals. She wanted to create a spell Joshua could use to protect himself.
I wonder if I lost my memory, I would lose my talent, she thought. I didn’t know I had power until Elizabeth showed me.
She placed a black candle at the top of her altar, in case of any energy that might show up. She did not light the black candle, only the white ones.
She knelt at the altar, which she set up in her bedroom, the light dim. She relaxed and meditated for a while before beginning her prayer.
“Harvester, good master, show your presence to me...”
Bonnie, her eyes closed in prayer, did not notice the black candlewick becoming aflame. However, she felt a presence; heavy, cold, and smelling of earth. The altar began to tremble. Bonnie’s head started to hurt. When she opened her eyes, all of the white candle flames were out, but the black remained lit.
Harvester had returned.
His will could crush us all...
The Witch Box Page 12