The Bringer

by Jennifer Park

  “Okay. You guys might see something I missed or maybe we can pick something out that will help us find her,” she said.

  “Good point. Why don’t you guys, come over to the coffee table and sit down. I’ll gather what we need. Be right back,” Ben added.

  Jerom and Miranda walked over and sat down on the floor around the table.

  “I told you Ben would help,” Jerom squeezed Miranda’s hand for support.

  “I hope so,” is all she said in response. She started drumming her free hand on the table top.

  Ben came back in the room carrying his casting bowl, white candles and several packets of herbs which he placed in the center of the table. He sat down a little awkwardly banging his knee on the table then he got his legs crossed properly under him and settled in. He lit the candles and measured out the herbs crushing them as he sprinkled them into the bowl.

  “I’m going to need a little blood from you Miranda. Not much.” He held his hand out to Miranda. She placed her hand palm up into his hand. He picked up his athame, his ceremonial knife, and made a small cut at the base of her thumb. He squeezed her hand gently letting several drops fall into the bowl. He looked up, muttered a few words and the lights in the house went out.

  “Clasp hands and I’ll recite the spell,” Ben instructed. He gripped Jerom’s hand to one side of him and Miranda’s to the other. His voice came out low and quiet as he began the incantation. The words then seemed to take on a depth and richness that weren’t a part of Ben’s natural voice, an indication that the spell was starting to work. Suddenly flames ignited the contents of the casting bowl illuminating their faces and the room was filled with Miranda’s vision.

  It was a dizzying sensation as the room seemed to move around them. They could still see the walls and furniture of the room but overlaying that was the vision. Suddenly, they were surrounded by trees and the back of a house came sweeping into their view.

  “That’s it, that’s her house,” Miranda said standing up and walking through her vision.

  The vision brought them through the second story window of what looked to be an old farmhouse with wood siding and a covered porch that wrapped all the way around. When the vision finally slowed down they found themselves in a bedroom. The walls were painted a pale green with a hand-painted floral border running through the center of the walls.. The tall dresser, bed and nightstand were painted a soft white and glazed to bring out the details. The only other piece in the room was an old desk covered with a few books and a computer. The wood was battered and dented and looked like an antique. Jerom glanced down and around him and then stepped more toward the center of the room so he wasn’t standing in the middle of the young woman’s bed.

  “The bed’s not really there you know,” said Miranda.

  “I know. This is just so weird though.”

  Miranda walked around looking at the books on the desk and up to the bulletin board at the pictures pinned there. Three people looked back at her from most of the snapshots. They appeared so ordinary thought Miranda. A few of the photos seemed to be from vacations spent skiing or sailing.

  “In these pictures they seem like, you know, normal. I can’t believe what I saw in my vision is actually going to happen to them,” said Miranda.

  “I’m going to start things moving in your vision now,” said Ben looking to Miranda for confirmation. She nodded at him and he waved his hand in a forward like motion.

  Even though they all knew it was coming they still jumped a bit as the door to the room slammed open and a tall, blond young woman stomped into the room swiping angrily at the tears on her cheeks.

  Chapter 2

  “You’re right, sis. No one should have to go through that,” Jerom said shakily after seeing the entire vision played out. Jerom flopped down into the chair with a sigh.

  “Now you know why I got you up and we’ve been on the road the last day and a half,” added Miranda as she shivered in front of the fireplace. Terror always left her cold.

  Ben had collapsed onto the couch trying to pull himself together. “Um, we’ve got to get you there. We need to find something in this vision to help. Any ideas.”

  “Can we rewind it and stop it so we can pick out details?” Jerom asked sitting up.

  “I can try.” Ben said a few words and motioned with his hands as if drawing backwards. The vision jumped a bit, then started to reverse itself. He closed his fist and the vision stopped moving. They were alone in the Bringer’s room again. The moment right before she entered her room.

  Jerom got up to look at the posters and flyers pinned to the walls while Miranda stepped over to the girl’s desk and looked over the papers, books and computer that covered the desktop. Ben walked over to the window and looked out onto the backyard of the property.

  “What about the electric meter?” Ben asked.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Miranda. Ben turned around waving at Jerom and Miranda.

  “Come look.” Ben motioned out the visionary window and down the wall of the house.

  Jerom walked over and stuck his head out the window. “It makes me a little nauseous. You know seeing her house and your house in the same place. I can kind of see the meter though, what about it?”

  “Well, they have serial numbers on them or some kind of tracking number that they use when they read the meter. If I can get the number off the meter I could hack into the power companie’s website and get an address,” said Ben.

  “Do it!” Miranda slapped Ben on the shoulder. “Can you do it?” asked Miranda rubbing his shoulder where she had hit him a little too hard.

  “We’ll know in a minute,” he said.

  The scene around them changed and they were back outside the house looking toward the second story window. Ben said a few more words and motioned with his hand and they were drawn in close to the electric meter on the first story of the house below the Bringer’s window.

  Ben waved his hand toward the kitchen without looking, “Get me something to write with, please, over on the kitchen table near the laptop.”

  Miranda ran to the kitchen and grabbed the pad and pen lying there. Ben scribbled down several numbers on the pad and then with a flick of his fingers dismissed the spell. They all ran over to Ben’s laptop on the kitchen table.

  Ben sat down and pulled up the power company’s website. “Now let’s see if I can still remember how to do this. It’s been a while since I’ve hacked into anything. I’m a good boy now.”

  It didn’t take long for Ben to find what they needed. They watched as he quickly flipped through page after page of the website entering what seemed to Jerom and Miranda like random letters and numbers.

  “There you go. That’s the address,” Ben leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “I’m still good.”

  “Um hmmm, you’re good. Yeah, right,” said Jerom pulling up his phone app.

  Miranda smacked Jerom on the back. “That was real convincing you jerk. Ben, thank you. You are awesome and we do really appreciate all your help.” She bent down to give Ben a hug.

  “What, oh yeah, sorry, I’m a little distracted. We do really appreciate it,” added Jerom as he entered the information into the app.

  “Happy to help you guys,” Ben said standing up and pushing the chair back under the table. “So where does she live?”

  “It looks like just south of here a couple of hours. Not too far, Miranda. We’re almost there,” said Jerom.

  Miranda looked at the map then grabbed Jerom’s arm, “Great, let’s go,” then she pulled him toward the door and out to the car.

  Chapter 3

  The door to the bedroom slammed open and a tall, blond young woman stomped into the room. Brynn threw her bedroom door hard against the jam to make sure her parents heard how angry she was. They fought during dinner again. It was the same fight they had been having for months now. She was tired of being taught at home, it was going to be her senior year and she had never once been to a real school. She wa
nted a life. A normal life with friends and boys.

  Her parents were great, but really, she was seventeen and she’d never been kissed. That couldn’t possibly be normal. She was sick of being told she was special and she needed to be protected. Protected from what? Or who? They never told her that. All they would ever say to her was never remove the necklace from around her neck.

  If they were going to treat her like a child she would act like one, so she stomped back over to her door, opened it and slammed it even harder. Picking up her latest library book, she threw herself onto her bed with a very satisfying thud and smiled when she heard her mother’s voice float up the stairs in that warning tone, “Brynn…”

  It had been a very long, hot summer. Unable to concentrate on her book because of her anger and the heat, Brynn tossed it on the floor by her bed. Her hand went unthinking to the necklace she was never supposed to remove. Tonight it felt like a chocker. It became the focus of her anger.

  Anger over living in the middle of nowhere. Anger over being home-schooled. Anger over not having a life or friends. Not even the Amish lived like this! She tugged at her necklace, then made a decision. She walked over to her open window and knocked the screen out, which felt very violent and rebellious. Slowly she felt around to the back of the necklace and found the clasp. She let her arms drop to her sides. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t take off the necklace. She couldn’t remember a time when it hadn’t been around her neck. Don’t ever take off the necklace. The one phrase that echoed in her mind from…well, forever.

  Then without another thought, she reached up and yanked hard, snapping the chain and tossed the necklace out.

  Chapter 4

  The moment the necklace left her hand it felt like her world shifted. The floor under her feet seemed to slant upwards and she fell to her knees. She turned and looked toward the window. Maybe, her parents were right. Maybe she shouldn’t have taken off the necklace. She stood up and walked over to her window. She might be able to see her necklace and put it back on before anyone knew. She looked out and there they were standing at the edge of the property.

  A guy and a girl staring up in her direction and pointing. She was so shocked to see people outside her house that she just stared back at them forgetting about the necklace for a second. Without turning away from the window she opened her mouth to call out to her parents when her bedroom door crashed open.

  “What have you done?” shouted her father running into her room.

  “Did you take off the necklace?” her mother screamed as she ran up to Brynn. She ran her hand around Brynn’s neck, moving her hair out of the way. Hoping she would find what she knew she wouldn’t. “It’s not here, what have you done with it?”

  Her father ran to the window and slammed it shut. “We have only minutes. If that.” “Where is it, Brynn? Where’s the necklace?” her mom asked.

  “I, I threw it out the window. I’m so sorry, Mom. I really am. I was just so mad,” Brynn said while pointing at the window.

  “They’re already here. I can feel them,” Brynn’s dad said quiet and low. He turned to look at her mother and they both started to whisper under their breath. Brynn’s dad made a pushing motion with his hand and the bedroom door crashed shut. Their chanting became louder and more urgent. They moved to stand in front of Brynn, her mother pushing her back against the wall.

  “Stay behind us, we’ll try to protect you. If you see any kind of opening take it and run. Run as fast as you can. Go someplace with lots and lots of people,” her mom said then starting chanting again.

  “I don’t understand! What’s going on?” Brynn was shaking and running her hands through her hair.

  Before her mom could answer, the door slammed back open. The doorway was filled by a black cloak and a hood. With a shout, Brynn’s parents released their spell. The dark figure rocked back slightly, then it made a sharp gesture and Brynn’s parents were thrown aside. Her dad collided with the desk, hitting his head, stunning himself. Her mom was tossed backwards across the floor and landed up against the opposite wall.

  The tall form pulled the hood back to reveal a stunningly beautiful female face. The woman seeing Brynn near the window smiled at her in such a way it sent shivers down Brynn’s spine. She sauntered into the room, “Well, well, the Bringer. So nice to meet you. I’ve been looking for you for a very long time now.”

  The dark woman lifted her perfectly manicured hands from inside her robe and spit out a foul sounding phrase. The space between Brynn and the cloaked woman shimmered like the air rising off a beach on a hot summer day and Brynn was picked up and thrown against the window. She felt pinned by some force she couldn’t see.

  “Brynn!” her father yelled while struggling to his feet. She tried to scream, but the pressure pushing against her was so intense that even her breath felt trapped.

  She strained against her captivity but couldn’t break free. Brynn’s father threw himself onto the woman and they both went down, breaking the woman’s concentration. Brynn hit the floor as the restrictive energy holding her hostage evaporated. Fighting for consciousness she shook her head trying to clear the buzzing from her ears. Brynn felt as if everything had shifted into slow motion.

  Looking up, she saw her father struggling on the floor with the woman. She heard the woman chanting in a low, grating voice, words that sounded inhuman. Brynn strained to get to her feet and saw her mother stand up also. Her mom started muttering under her breath and weaving her hands in and out of a complex pattern.

  The cloaked woman’s chanting suddenly cut off and seemingly out of the very walls of the bedroom materialized two more cloaked and hooded figures. One reached out, grasping her mother with twisted, bestial claws. Sharp, jagged nails embedded themselves into her mother’s flesh, as she was drawn back against it. The red crackling ball of energy her mother was forming disintegrated as she screamed out in anguish.

  Time snapped back into focus as Brynn screamed, “Mom!” and scrambled up to her feet. She grabbed randomly at the objects on her dresser and started throwing things at her mother’s attacker. A perfume bottle, her brush, a porcelain box she used for earrings. Not wanting to look away from her mother, but hoping her father could do something…anything, she turned in his direction for help. He was kicking and fighting as the other clawed apparition reached out and dragged him off the woman. It wrapped him in a perverse embrace as it raked it’s claws across his chest. Her father was bloody and torn, struggling to break free, trying to reach Brynn, not realizing that his life had already fled him.

  The cloaked woman, seeing that her way was clear, focused again on Brynn and the air between them shimmered. A surge of power lifted and slammed Brynn up against the window again. The old farmhouse glass shattered as Brynn crashed through the window and began to fall the two stories down to the backyard.

  Chapter 5

  Jerom’s gaze followed his sister’s pointing finger to the second story window of the South Carolina farmhouse.

  “There, that’s the window I saw her falling from in my vision,” Miranda said to him.

  He could smell the ocean from where he was kneeling in the shadows at the edge of the backyard. Why do these things always have to happen at night? But then he knew the answer to that. Dark magic and those that used it were always more powerful after sundown. He saw a figure move into the window. “Do you think that’s her?” he asked his sister.

  “It could be. Maybe we got here in time. Maybe we got here before the cultist and her constructs,” Miranda said.

  The window shook from the force of an impact.

  “Maybe not,” Jerom grunted.

  “We'd better hurry, that can’t be good.”

  “You’re right,” he said, moving toward the house with the grace of a varsity football player. He extended his senses to try to discern the threat inside the house, or if there was anything waiting in the shadows surrounding the grounds.

  “What are you getting, Jerom?” whispered Miranda, “Anythi
ng?”

  “I can feel the cultist upstairs inside the house. She’s got constructs, I can’t tell how many, maybe two or three. Soldiers, I think. It feels just like your vision.”

  “We can’t fight soldiers by ourselves. Their claws will rip us to shreds. The best we can do is to try to get her away from them. If my vision is accurate, she should be coming through that window any second now.”

  “Soldiers move fast. We won’t have much time.”

  They stopped directly below the window.

  “You catch her, and I’ll try to keep them inside the house,” she said.

  He hmmed an agreement as he prepared himself to take the unknown girl’s weight. By his side, he could feel his sister start to gather her power to her. He was always surprised by how much force was concealed within her tiny frame.

  He concentrated on the area around him, feeling the wind on his back. The earth called to him with its deep vibrant energy. The plants, the water, the grass, all the living things around him vibrated with that same energy. Drawing all these forces into himself he held this power like a reservoir, waiting.

  Brynn started to scream as she felt the glass of the window behind her give way. She threw her arms up to cover her face as shards of glass enveloped her on her way out the window. How long does it take to fall two stories? Probably not long she thought. Her scream cut off abruptly when she felt what seemed to be the same force that threw her against the window in her bedroom wrap around her again. She’d rather fall straight down than be faced with that woman and those things in her room again. But, then this energy that was wrapped around her felt different somehow. Her descent was slowing and the glass falling on her bounced off without cutting her. This energy felt somehow protective in a way she couldn’t understand.

  “That’s it, I’ve got you,” she heard someone say below her. A human voice, but one of her attackers was human, so the fact that the voice was human wasn’t terribly comforting. She threw her arms around against the force binding her. She tried to push herself around to see who the voice belonged to but maneuvering around was impossible. Her descent slowed almost to a stop.