by S. E. Akers
“Well now that playtime is over, shall we get down to business?” Beatrix urged as she pulled a golden topaz out of her pocket. “I carved this one out special.” She turned towards me. “Are you ready for this, my dear?”
I stepped forward and replied with a confident, “Yes.” We both turned to the little Serpentine Talisman, who swiftly shook her bracelet one more time.
“I’ve got my fire opal right here, ready and waiting,” Gallia boasted as she extended her wrist and pointed to a sparkly, blood-orange oval stone. The cut and polished gemstone in question was nothing like I’d ever seen. It had an intense, cloudless hue that seemed to be absorbing every beam of moonlight. All of a sudden, a myriad of colors exploded within the dazzling stone. My eyes felt like they were witnessing an infinite, vibrant rainbow spanning the sky on a sunny summer day. Gallia slanted her wrist towards me. The rush of energy I felt when the tip of my finger grazed its surface left me just as mesmerized as the diamond wand had that night in the cave, only this energy felt different. It was powerful, but strangely it ushered in a sense of boundlessness — perpetual hope in the shape of a stone.
“Ready to crack this egg open?” Gallia asked with a twirl of her pigtail.
“First things first, impatient one,” Beatrix insisted as she smacked Gallia’s head. “The rite of this incantation must be performed to the letter, so pay heed. Shiloh, you must heal her body’s wounds first, so her memories of you will remain untouched, safe inside the diamond around your neck. The light from my golden topaz will suspend her body in its restored state. When broken, the spark from the fire opal’s core will magically draw her soul out of the diamond and meld it back with her body. Only a full moon’s light will bind the spell. We must concentrate and focus all of our energies on the task at hand in order to achieve success. The talent is just as important as the tools, ladies. Are we clear?” We stood huddled in our three-woman circle and passed each other several diligent nods.
“Perfect,” Beatrix cooed. “Now all we need is the missing ingredient. Gallia, any day now.”
“What?” Gallia asked cluelessly.
“Must we state the obvious, dear?” Beatrix posed. In search of some backing, the little Talisman turned to me.
“I didn’t bring a shovel,” I affirmed with a grin. Gallia’s mouth fell open straightaway. She then pretended to pull an imaginary knife out of her back and shifted her stare to Beatrix.
“I’m in a dress!” Gallia protested.
“Yes. The same one you were wearing when you arrived here via your little underground railroad. Oh, come on now. You’re already dirty,” Beatrix stated without any hesitation.
“Ugh!” Gallia pouted. “You two do know there’s such a thing as child-labor laws, don’t you?”
“I don’t think they apply to supernaturals. Do they, Bea?” I teased.
“No. They don’t, and for the record, you haven’t been ‘a child’ since King Tut had his own heinie smacked after they took him from his mother’s womb.”
“So mote it be,” Gallia huffed as she approached the patch of ground above Katie’s grave. “Here, Shiloh. Hold this,” she instructed and tossed me her recently-charged-with-lightning diamond. “No pockets,” the little Serpentine Talisman announced as she whirled around in her frilly, lilac-colored frock. I caught the rough gemstone and slid it inside my pocket for safekeeping. “You two would have taken forever anyway,” Gallia proclaimed with a grin and then began spinning around wildly until she disappeared underneath the earth.
Both Beatrix and I stood there with nothing to do but “wait”. Patience wasn’t my problem. Silence however, most certainly was.
“Bea,” I called out telepathically.
“Yes, dear?” Beatrix replied, still staring down into the hole.
“I’m curious about something. About what something means, exactly,” I phrased.
“What’s that dear?” she asked, her fixed stare never faltering.
“What did Gallia mean when she said, ‘So mote it be’? You used that phrase at the Katie’s funeral. To Bethesda, remember?” I asked. That summoned the elderly Talisman’s full attention. She smiled and sauntered over to me, shaking her head.
“It’s just an old saying, Shiloh. A lot of supernaturals use it at the end of a spell, ignorantly may I add. It’s simply an old archaic way of saying that something ‘will be’. Witches use it the most. They cast their spells and then demand that their will be done. They think it serves to ensure their success,” Beatrix laughed. “But what they don’t realize is that destiny never allows something to happen that isn’t in its cards. If a spell doesn’t work, a witch will rationalize it away as they were missing something or their magical force wasn’t strong enough. Their own blind stupidity ends up sending them on a crazed quest for more power. Silly, covetous fools,” Bea scolded.
“So it’s really a wish…for luck?” I surmised.
“For most of them it is. There are only a handful of witches who have been blessed with true, formidable powers, and they should be avoided at all cost. They can’t be trusted, and they are well aware of Talismans and how powerful we are. Then there are the ones like your friend’s cousin. She practices witchcraft and can channel some magic from various tools like spells, potions, enchanted artifacts, and even our stones. Always keep your guard up around them. They may not be as great of a threat, but they sure can become a thorn in your side. Remember, Shiloh, everything rests with fate, whether we acknowledge it officially with a phrase or not.”
“What’s going on, Shi? Why aren’t you talking?” Katie rattled off. I smiled at Beatrix as I pointed to my diamond pendant.
“Nothing, Katie. Bea and I were just having a private chat,” I insisted.
“Is it about me? Is it bad?” Katie blurted.
“No. Nothing like that,” I laughed as I turned away from Bea. “It’s about witches,” I whispered quickly and turned to give Beatrix a smile in a deceptive attempt not to rouse her suspicions.
“Aaah,” Katie mumbled, sounding calmer.
“I can’t talk about it now,” I insisted curtly.
“Okay, but what’s the hold up?” Katie asked. “How long does it take a tunnel-digging nit-wit to dig up a body?” I had to admit I was starting to wonder that myself, and by the look on Bea’s face, not to mention the way she was pacing, she seemed curious as well.
“Let me go see,” I assured Katie as I headed over to ask Bea.
“Bea, what’s taking so—”
“I don’t know,” Beatrix interrupted swiftly as the speed of her steps quickened.
“Should we poke our heads in and check?” I posed, puzzled. Without delay, Beatrix knelt beside the hole.
“Gallia, hurry up! If you take any longer it will be the next full moon!” Beatrix yelled down. Strangely, Beatrix paused for a moment. She appeared to be listening curiously.
“What’s wrong? Do you hear her?” I asked anxiously.
“No,” Beatrix muttered strangely.
“What are you listening to?” I asked, confused by her alert posture.
“My own voice… There’s an echo,” Beatrix confirmed, seeming baffled.
“How far down did she have to go? I thought they stopped at six-feet?” I questioned mentally, equally stumped.
“What’s going on?” Katie asked.
We started to peek into the dark hole when we heard something about to surface. Gallia soon crawled out, winded and wordless.
While we waited patiently for the little Serpentine Talisman to catch her breath, we absorbed the uneasiness of her demeanor, not to mention the fact that she came up empty-handed. “Where’s the corpse?” was on both our minds, but I didn’t know who was going to be the first to ask. I finally decided to take the reigns.
“Where’s Ka—”
Swiftly, Gallia made a forceful, shushing gesture. The look in her eyes sent my frazzled nerves soaring through the roof.
“Gallia… Where is Katie’s body?” I mouthed slowly and
as calmly as I could. She still didn’t answer. Gallia looked up at Bea directly and shook her head. She scanned the ground around her and quickly wrote a message in the dirt.
NOT THERE !
My eyes flared as I stared at the letters scribbled on the ground. OH NO, rang through my head. No! No! No! No! No!
“SHI! WHAT IS IT?” Katie squealed.
“Katie…just um, give me a second,” I ordered as I fumbled to unfasten my necklace.
“NO! Tell me wha—” was the last thing I heard from Katie before I shoved her in my pocket.
“What do you mean she’s ‘NOT THERE’?” both Beatrix and I whispered anxiously.
“Here’s her headstone. This is her grave. Wasn’t her casket down there?” Beatrix demanded.
“I didn’t say her casket wasn’t there… It was, but she wasn’t in it!” Gallia huffed.
“NO! NO! NO! That’s impossible!” I insisted as I stormed around in a circle. “We made sure she was in it before they lowered her into the ground!”
“That’s correct,” Beatrix chimed in. “I turned invisible and snuck inside the hearse before the pallbearers carried her to the grave. Shiloh and I stayed until her coffin was completely covered with earth.”
“Her casket couldn’t have been empty!” I protested.
“I didn’t say it was ‘empty’,” Gallia replied with a foreboding sigh as she extended her hand. She flipped it over quickly and then hesitated as she closed her eyes, her hand still hovering mysteriously. After a deep breath, her eyes opened, followed by her hand. Beatrix and I gasped so hard we almost lost our breath. To our dismal disbelief, a small black stone lay in her palm — an onyx — the last thing I ever imagined or wanted to see.
I dropped to my knees, keeping pace with my crestfallen heart. This was no random body-napping. Somehow the Onyx knew about Katie’s soul being trapped inside the diamond. Tanner had warned me that the Onyx’s attacks would be less frequent but more calculated. No wonder I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him in a month. He’d been too busy putting the finishing touches on his latest plan to get me to relinquish the diamond and all its powers to him — Katie, a loved-one, used as leverage.
“That wasn’t the only thing down there,” Gallia added nervously.
“What do you mean?” Beatrix questioned as she snatched the ill-fated black rock out of Gallia’s hand for a closer look.
“I think you’d better go see for yourself. But be careful. It’s a lot farther down than six-feet,” Gallia added warily.
Beating Bea to the punch, I darted towards the hole like I was headed for home and quickly slid down inside. Gallia wasn’t kidding. It took almost ten seconds before I finally smacked the ground. I reached into my back pocket and with a wave of my hand, summoned the diamond wand to emerge from its hilt. No sooner than the small cave-like room had illuminated into shades of gray, down came Beatrix like a whirlwind through the bored hole. She landed on her feet, unlike me, who was unable to fly or see.
“Good. You’ve turned on the lights,” Beatrix remarked as she dusted herself off. The next thing I knew, the sweet little old lady gave my head a swift smack. “What were you thinking, Shiloh! You don’t know what dangers lurk down here. Honestly, child!”
“I figured you two would follow. Where’s Gallia?” I asked.
“I told her to stay topside. She’s keeping watch,” Beatrix revealed. “I have a very bad feeling about tonight.”
“Ya think?” I cracked as I brushed past her, headed towards Katie’s coffin. Beatrix followed and together we lifted its lid. Gallia was right. There was nothing there. The Onyx had taken my bosom friend’s body and left his calling card in its place. Twisted son-of-a-bitch.
As soon as we closed the coffin’s lid, its echo captured our eyes attention. We commenced with a meticulous 360° degree sweep. The circular, earthy room we were standing in was about the size of a garage. However, there were four small passageways that had been dug and each of them led off in a different direction.
“Her body has to be down one of these tunnels,” I announced anxiously. I didn’t even make it over to the one closest when Beatrix threw herself in front of me.
“And precisely where do you think you’re going?” Beatrix demanded.
“Where do you think? To get her body back!” I snapped as I tried to push past her.
“Not down any of these passages you aren’t. Not tonight…or any other night!” Beatrix commanded gruffly. “They’re obviously traps.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I assured her. “But what am I supposed to do? There’s a full moon. We have everything we need except for her body! I can’t not go look for it. I can’t do that to Katie.”
“I assure you that he hasn’t left her body just lying around in one of these holes for you to stumble upon. He’s probably hidden it somewhere. The Onyx is taunting you, Shiloh…like a cat toying with its prey. You must realize that,” Beatrix implored.
“Bea, I have to see for myself. I can’t give up so easily. It wouldn’t be right. Katie risked so much when she distracted Lazarus and Ferrol. I owe her this,” I pleaded.
“Fine,” Beatrix consented with a grunt. She bent down and scooped up a rock from off the ground. After tossing it in the air a few times, she hurled it down the tunnel I was about to enter. No sooner than the rock had crossed its threshold, a horrible rumble rolled through the earthy passageway. Both of us jumped away from its mouth. Within an instant, its walls started to collapse, causing a cave-in when a rush of shiny metallic grey rocks poured into the tunnel from all sides. It was now sealed to its brim. Beatrix strutted over to the heaping mound of rocks that had spilled into the cave. She picked up one of the familiar metallic stones and tossed it to me.
“Mmmm, I just love the smell of iron-rich hematite in the night air. Don’t you?” she posed. My gloves were in my pocket so I felt its effects instantly, though I was pretty sure the sickening feeling in my gut was coming from her “I-told-you-so” flippant glare. Before I could say a word, Beatrix grabbed my arm and yanked me over to another opening.
“Let’s try this one next,” she insisted. This time, the cheeky Talisman sent a horizontal tornado of air blasting down the corridor. Within a flash, hundreds of barbed iron spikes shot out of the tunnel’s walls from all directions. When I raised my diamond wand for a closer look, its bright glow shed more than a little light on the situation. My mouth fell open as soon as I realized that all the prickly, sharp spikes were glistening with a thick dusting of diamonds.
“So? Do we dare venture a look behind door number three, or do you get the point?” Bea posed with a frank raise of her brow.
“But…Katie? What if he does something terrible to her body?” I blurted nervously.
“He won’t, dear,” Beatrix assured. “Why would he destroy his only bargaining chip? He’ll take great pains to keep her safe and tucked out of sight.”
“So that’s it? We give up? Abandon my best friend’s body to protect my own ass?” I challenged, barely able to form the words guiltlessly.
“Don’t look at it like that,” Beatrix insisted. “You’re not giving up. We’ll find her body, Shiloh. I promise you that.” Sensing my doubt, Beatrix gripped my shoulders firmly. “If it’s the last thing I ever do, I will help you locate Katie’s body and bring her back,” she vowed stringently. “But darling, it won’t be tonight.”
I lifted my head to witness a deep sincerity burning within her chestnut-hued eyes. Even the functional golden eye in the center of her brow was blazing. It mimicked the same unquestionable tone in her voice. Beatrix genuinely meant what she’d said. Now, all that remained was for me to come to terms with Katie’s heartbreak and the fallout from the wise Talisman’s request.
“Okay,” I yielded, crushed by having to concede defeat due to the Onyx’s devious and unforeseen blow.
“Now, let’s get out of here,” Beatrix urged as she guided my half-dazed body under the hole from which we’d arrived. “I’ll give you a
boost.” Beatrix conjured a swift gust of air that propelled me up to the hole in the cave’s ceiling and sent me soaring through the shaft. While traveling swiftly through the confined corridor, my eyes spied a fluid, gleaming green light up ahead. It was covering my exit. Instead of shooting through it, I crashed against it. My head began throbbing from the harsh blow. With all the air around me now gone, I had nowhere to go but down — back down the earthy shaft. Before I knew it, I had crashed onto the cave’s floor, luckily not hitting Bea.
“You were supposed to jump out when you reached the top, Shiloh. I hope you’re not entertaining any second-thoughts.”
“I couldn’t get out. There’s a weird green light that’s blocking the hole,” I asserted as I rubbed my head with one hand and pointed to the shaft with the other. Confused, Beatrix looked up. She extended her finger, the one that donned a beaded band of serpentines and began concentrating on the greenish-grey stones.
“I’ll ask Gallia what’s going on.” Beatrix waited patiently for a moment, then she paced, then waited some more, and then she went back to pacing until finally she stopped to stare up at the hole.
“What did she say?” I asked, assuming she had gotten a reply.
“Nothing. She’s not answering,” Beatrix murmured, appearing baffled.
“Why do think—”
“I don’t know, but I’m going up there. Try and see if you can get her on your stone. Stay here,” Bea announced slowly, still peering up at the hole. Before she attempted her ascent, the clever old lady whirled a funnel of air around the cave, sealing off all four tunnels with a thick layer of rock and dirt. “Right here,” she demanded with a stern glare as she pointed to the spot where I stood.
Beatrix soared up and into the bored hole like the wind. I reached into my pocket to grab my serpentine, but that wasn’t the stone I pulled out. Upon realizing I had Gallia’s diamond, the one she’d asked me to hold for her, the irksome buzz of a busy-tone rang in my head. I could holler for her all I wanted because I still held her serpentine, but since my diamond was no longer in her possession, answering me was out of the question. In no time, Beatrix whirled back into the cave, touching down like a tornado.