2 Corruption

by John O'Riley

  “It worked!” Josephine exclaimed.

  Jake’s skin regained its healthy color and he drew a sudden deep breath. He immediately choked on the breathing tubes and his eyes snapped open with alarm. Josephine rushed over and gently removed the tubes as the heart monitor beeped faster.

  “You’re going to be okay,” Josephine said.

  “I was tricked,” Jake croaked.

  “I’ll get the doctor,” Helen announced.

  “I know, sweetie. Lorcan cursed you with a contabesco letum.” Josephine held Jake’s hand tight as relief and joy warmed her heart. “You’re cured now. You’re going to be fine.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Doctor Levy said from behind her as he entered the room.

  Josephine rolled her eyes with exasperation and Jake chuckled at her with amusement.

  “That’s right. Laugh at your poor, helpless grandmother.” Josephine straightened to her full height took a step back from the bed. “I’m too old for all this adventure and danger nonsense.”

  “Excuse me? You’re probably half my age, young lady.” Levy leveled a disapproving frown at her.

  “I’m actually eighty-four,” Josephine said. Levy’s disbelieving expression elicited further explanation from her. “I’m a category six. I’m his grandmother. My name’s Josephine O’Connor.”

  “Of course, my apologies. I’ve heard of you. I just hadn’t made the connection with your name. There are a lot of O’Connors.”

  “Apology accepted.”

  Dr. Levy held his white medical scanning wand over Jake and activated it. The enchantment didn’t take a lot of power so there was no visible light phenomena but everyone could hear a faint electronic-like hum as the doctor worked. After a moment, the doctor lowered the wand to his side.

  “The curse is gone and your body is recovered enough that I can discharge you from the hospital. You’ll need at least two days of rest before you return to work,” Levy advised.

  “Thanks,” Jake said.

  “You can stay at my house where you’ll be safe,” Josephine said.

  “I’ll be okay. I have some powerful wards.”

  “Wards that the Valituras already managed to break through one time already,” Josephine pointed out. “I’ve got stronger protection at my place.”

  “I would stay with your grandmother,” Levy advised.

  Jake flashed a grateful smile at Josephine. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome, sweetie.”

  Chapter 17

  Josephine, Helen, Alice, and Jake were gathered at Josephine’s dining room table with coffee. Alice wore hot pink shorts and a blouse with matching colored tennis shoes and a purse along with mini candy cane earrings and a hot pink visor. Jake had on a black sci fi tee shirt and jeans. His hair was still damp from a recent shower but he hadn’t shaved so he had a heavy five o’clock shadow. Helen cocked a brow of bemusement at Alice.

  “You must be serious about winning this morning with that cap on,” Helen observed.

  “Of course. It’s my turn to win. Josephine’s been on a winning streak for too long.”

  Josephine took another sip of her coffee and began shuffling the cards. When she finished, she threw her grandson a questioning look.

  “Are you in?”

  “I thought we were playing rummy – not poker,” Jake said.

  “We are.”

  “All right then. I’m in.”

  Josephine passed out the cards then slapped the remaining deck at the center of the table and laid out one card face up to start the discard pile. It happened to be an ace. Josephine and Alice ogled the card as Helen slowly reached for it. Her hand hovered over the ace for several seconds then remained there. Josephine and Alice leveled horrified looks at her. Finally, Helen’s lips formed a mischievous smile then she picked up a card from the deck instead of the ace. Alice and Josephine heaved loud sighs of relief.

  “You’re cruel, Helen,” Alice admonished.

  Helen laughed. “I couldn’t resist. You two are so competitive.”

  “I have to say you girls really look good. That curse did wonders for you,” Jake commented.

  Helen’s face reddened with embarrassment while Alice laughed boisterously.

  “You flatterer!” Alice grinned at him and ran a hand through her silky red hair. “I certainly do agree though.”

  Jake chuckled and Helen discarded. They continued to play in silence for several moments until Alice picked up the entire discard pile and played three aces. Josephine squealed with outrage and thumped her fist on the table.

  “I knew you had my ace!” she exclaimed.

  “You bet!” Alice grinned as she finished organizing the cards in her hand.

  She slapped down a discard and the game continued. Helen peered at Alice’s shoulder and frowned with contemplation.

  “Something dripped on the left-hand side of your blouse,” Helen advised.

  “Really?” Alice gazed down at her clothing then sighed. “Damn! That’s blood. It’s probably going to stain. I’ll have to use a stain-remover spell to get rid of it.”

  “Did you get hurt?” Josephine asked.

  “No, I needed a quick bite to eat so I took a sip from Dale before I came over here this morning,” Alice said in a dismissive tone.

  “What?! You can’t feed from our neighbors!” Helen exclaimed.

  “Sure I can. I do it all the time. Dale and Marjorie are my first choices and then there are the others who were protesters against Josephine. Don’t worry, I’m not hurting anything and no one will remember a thing,” Alice said.

  “It’s not right! You don’t need to drink blood anymore. I already told you about how tapping into the vortex at least once every other day will take care of that need,” Helen admonished.

  “But it’s dangerous, remember? The Valituras and possibly others monitor the Siesta Key beach. It’s the perfect place to get ambushed.”

  “You don’t have to go directly on the beach. You can connect with it if you park your car anywhere within half a block from it. When you get stronger, you’ll be able to access it from farther and farther away,” Helen lectured her.

  “We’ve already agreed to meet her for our morning coffee three days a week which is every other day except for one day. You have my permission to access the vortex here so you won’t need to use the one at the beach,” Josephine offered.

  “I can’t tap into the one here. It’s a mini vortex and I’m a five not a six,” Alice reminded her.

  “Oh, that’s right.” Josephine’s brows furrowed in thought. “I guess you do need to go to the beach but you can still park your car from a safe distance.”

  “Half a block is still pretty close and I could still be ambushed.”

  “You can come with me,” Helen offered. “I’ll bring extra protection.”

  “That’s all right. It’s no big deal for me to take a quick drink every other day,” Alice said.

  “Let me get this straight.” Helen pinned a disbelieving and astonished look at her friend. “You’d rather drink blood from people then tap into the vortex at the beach?”

  “You’ve got it,” Alice confirmed. Her gaze shifted over to Josephine. “I noticed that you took off from your condo like your butt was on fire but you haven’t listed it for sale yet.”

  “I wanted to wait awhile to be sure that there aren’t any hidden problems with the house first that may force me to leave.”

  “Like what?”

  “For example, the huge garden in the yard has some sort of powerful enchantment on it and there’s a secret room upstairs behind the bedroom I’m using as a second office,” Josephine explained.

  “You’ve got a secret room! You need to get in there right away. To hell with this game!” Alice set her cards down on the table. “We can come back to this later.”

  “You don’t understand. I’ve already tried to get in.”

  “Are you afraid there’s a monster trapped in the garden
or the secret room? It would be dead by now so you have nothing to worry about. What’s the real reason you’re afraid to let go of your condo?” Alice asked.

  “I’m not sure exactly. I just want to keep it for awhile.”

  “You’re still making payments on it for several years or so, right?” Helen asked.

  “That’s right but I can afford it since I paid for this house with cash,” Josephine said.

  “I have an idea. You could possibly rent your condo which would help pay for your mortgage,” Helen suggested.

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” Josephine mulled this over. “It’s something to consider. I’m making way more money now that I’ve left retirement so I don’t have to worry about it but extra income would be nice, too.”

  They continued playing rummy and Josephine managed to steal Alice’s lead by playing four kings and three tens. As usual, Helen trailed far behind but Jake was still in the running. Jake played four nines and ended the game but Josephine still managed to win.

  “Damn! Why did you have to end the game when you were still going to lose?” Alice said with frustration.

  “It had to be done.” Jake’s lips formed an amused grin.

  Helen started gathering the cards to shuffle them.

  “I’ve had enough cards for now. I want to see that secret room,” Alice said.

  “I haven’t been able to break through the wards that protect it,” Josephine responded.

  “Let’s take a look anyway.”

  “All right.”

  Josephine, Alice, Helen, and Jake went upstairs to Josephine’s second office. Josephine pointed to the wall where she could perceive an opening with her second sight. The others frowned at the invisible doorway as they concentrated on it.

  “I can barely tell it’s there. I never would have noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out,” Jake commented.

  Helen stepped closer and reached out with her hand. Her fingertips grazed the wall in front of her before she rested her arm at her side.

  “I didn’t think there was a ward you couldn’t take down,” she finally said.

  “Neither did I. Until now.” Josephine frowned at the invisible doorway with frustration.

  “Maybe the two of us can work together to deactivate it,” Helen suggested.

  “I’ve worked on this thing for hours so don’t expect immediate results.”

  “Maybe I could help, too,” Alice said.

  “I appreciate that.” Josephine directed a grateful look at her.

  “On the other hand, maybe we should leave well enough alone.” Helen’s expression was concerned now. “What if there’s something trapped in there? We can’t see past this wall.”

  “Maybe you’re right.” Josephine scowled with displeasure. “I don’t need to release any more new weirdness, creatures, mayhem, or secrets into my life. In fact, I’m sick and tired of change. I’d like everything to go back to normal or at least to stay the same for awhile. Is that too much to ask?”

  “I think it is,” Alice said.

  The doorbell rang and Josephine went downstairs to answer it. Jake and Helen followed her to the front door. Two women dressed completely in loose-fitting white garments were revealed on Josephine’s doorstep. They both looked to be in their early twenties. One had long black hair and blue eyes while the other had long blond hair and aquamarine colored eyes that made Josephine wonder if she wore contacts.

  “Hi, I’m Ellasbeth,” the blonde introduced herself. “And this is Samantha. I have some important information you may want to hear.”

  “I seriously doubt that.” Josephine directed a stony look at the woman.

  “We’re Puritans and we’ve come a long way to see you. We know that the Phoenix Community approached you but we feel that isolating ourselves and living in secret isn’t the way to go.”

  “It’s interesting to hear you say that when that’s exactly what YOU’RE doing,” Josephine pointed out.

  “That’s true but our goal is to shape this entire world into perfection. We’ve been working on a variety of enchantments and have one of them just about perfected. We beta tested it several times over the last six months.” Ellasbeth’s face lit with enthusiasm.

  “I’m so sick of buzz words and the pretentious people who use them. Telling me you’ve ‘beta tested’ it just tells me you’re as bad as a used car salesman or a telephone solicitor.”

  “I’m sorry about the unfortunate terminology I used but we’re doing very important work. May we come inside and tell you more about it?”

  “I’m not taking the wards down. You could be the Valituras for all I know.”

  Ellasbeth blinked with surprise. “I assure you we’re not them.”

  “Of course that’s what you’d say if you were trying to trick me,” Josephine said.

  Ellasbeth and Samantha exchanged cautious looks. Ellasbeth turned and leveled a sad smile at Josephine.

  “I’m sorry to hear you’ve had some negative experiences lately. That just underscores the need to make this world a place of perfection and healing. You can help make it happen. In case you change you’re mind and want to contact us, I’ll leave you a messaging crystal. It’s a spell that will just let us know you want to talk to us.” Ellasbeth knelt down and placed a small quartz crystal on the concrete doorstep in front of Josephine. “Thank you for your time.”

  Ellasbeth and Samantha turned and strode away. After half a dozen steps, they vanished without warning. Josephine gasped with surprise. She scanned the crystal to make sure it didn’t harbor any dark magic or traps before she picked it up. She closed the door and rolled her eyes with exasperation.

  “Yet another secret group is paying me unwanted visits,” Josephine grumbled. “What’ll be next? A league of vampires or something?”

  “That’s an interesting thought,” Jake said. “But I doubt that there are enough of them to form any kind of organization.”

  “Let’s go back to the office and have a go at the secret room,” Alice suggested. “It’s killing me knowing you may have a treasure trove upstairs when you don’t have any access.”

  Anxiety stirred in Josephine at her friend’s words.

  “Yet another secret to uncover. I’m so sick of nasty surprises. It feels like my world has been turned upside down and that everything’s falling apart,” Josephine said.

  Helen cast a reassuring look at her. “It’s all right. I think the worst is over. It started when you got in the habit of tapping into the vortex every day. This is probably what made you get noticed by the Valituras and the Phoenix Community. Those were the big ones. I don’t think there are any more huge surprises waiting anymore.”

  “The Puritans possess strong and ancient magic, I’m sure. They were former members of the Phoenix Community,” Alice pointed out. “And now that you’re featured on the news, it’ll bring out the screwballs and nuts.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Josephine remarked.

  “It’s okay, Grandma. I’m sure Helen’s right. The worst is behind us now,” Jake said.

  Josephine’s cell phone rang and she immediately answered.

  “Josephine, there’s a situation with the Valituras,” Ben said without preamble. Her chest tightened with anxiety as the chief of police continued speaking. “We’ve kept this information hidden from the press because we didn’t want the Valituras to know how effective their plan for capture was. There’s emergency legislation being considered and the media is starting to speculate over the closed door session so there will be a press release first thing in the morning. We managed to capture twenty-three Valituras on the east coast but the others eluded us. The problem is that all members have a type of memory suppression enchantment built into them that kicks in when they’re captured. It takes an hour or two to take effect and it gives them amnesia. We’re no longer making any headway with the Valituras.”

  “Does that mean Lorcan doesn’t know who he is anymore?” Josephine asked.

  “T
hat’s exactly what’s happened. Him and Melodie both. I already gave you the week off but I’m asking that you resume your duties tomorrow and help me with the memory suppression spell. We’ve had experts come in and use advanced antidotes without any success.”

  “Of course, sir, you can count on me. I’m wondering about the OC enforcers in the area. They’re all sixes. Have they already tried to break the spell yet?”

  “Unfortunately, they couldn’t do it either,” Ben confirmed. “But you’re different. OC enforcers that go through the training have special enchantments on their minds that place limits on their abilities. It was a closely guarded secret that’s leaked out recently and part of the emergency legislation is removing these spells from the OC enforcers.”

  “Is that why OC enforcers can’t link with vortexes? They have some kind of mind control spell preventing it?”

  “I’m afraid so. And most OC enforcers were given their promotions against their will so there is a lot of resentment.”

  “I’ll be at the station first thing in the morning, Ben.”

  “Thank you, Josephine.”

  Ben abruptly ended the call. Jake was watching his grandmother with admiration.

  “You’re on a first name basis with the chief of police?” he asked.

  “It’s always been that way with us.”

  “He must really like you. He doesn’t let anyone else call him Ben,” Jake observed.

  Josephine’s lips curved in a pleased smile. “That’s good to know.”

  She explained what the two of them had talked about.

  “This is a calamity!” Alice exclaimed. “You see what I mean? The threat of the Valituras isn’t over. Not by a long shot!”

  “I don’t think they’re much of a threat anymore,” Helen argued.

  Josephine feared Alice was correct. The Valituras had amassed power through accumulation of potent enchantments and curses as well as infiltrating government agencies. It was doubtful they were crippled and wouldn’t retaliate in some way.

  Chapter 18

  Ben was driving a police cruiser down the freeway with Josephine seated beside him. It was about an hour drive to the Clearwater Corrections Facility where Lorcan and Melodie were being held prisoner. Josephine wore sleek black pants and a cobalt-blue silk shirt. She had a wand satchel secured to the right-hand side of her belt which detracted from her stylish outfit but it was either that or have the wands showing beneath the material of her pants. Being an enforcer was already becoming a nuisance. Of course, she had government grade enchantments now which was a major perk.