The Acolyte
Magicians of the Beyond
By Victoria Murata
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.
First paperback edition March 2021
©2021 Victoria Murata
Cover by MiblArt
Dedicated to all who recognize your power and who use it always, for good. And remember, magic is all around if you have the eyes to see it and the heart to know it.
“Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
One
The blue light of the talisman pulsed softly in Dani’s hand. It had warned her many times of danger, but now it was warm and comforting. Phil had said not to worry if it glowed like this. But she was worried.
She turned her face from the window, anxious eyes sweeping the unkempt living room in the flat light from the TV. Her father’s snores rumbled from the couch. Empty beer bottles littered the coffee table, and the television was tuned in to an 80’s sit-com. She knew he would be out for hours.
Her mother had managed to make it to her bed. Dani saw her through the opened door off the living room. She was sprawled across rumpled sheets, still wearing the clothes she had put on that morning. Dani took a few moments to make sure she was asleep. She probed her mother’s mind and saw snatches of wispy dreams that moved across a muddled subconscious. This woman had always been preoccupied with the drama of her own life and had had little time to nurture a daughter.
Turning back to the window, Dani spied the dark sedan pulling up to the curb in front of the house, the car that would take her to a new life in a place promised to be unlike any other. A place Phil called the Beyond. It sounded fascinating. So different from the run-down places she had called home for the past sixteen years. Places that had become increasingly wretched with each move. Phil said the Beyond was a community where she would live with other young people. People with special talents like her. She would be respected and loved. She would be included. It both excited and terrified her. In fact, even though she had made up her mind to go, now she was having second thoughts.
She paced back and forth in front of the window, nervously glancing out at the sedan. What if I’m making a big mistake? I can still change my mind. I can stay here where it’s safe. She sighed. Phil had told her she would have second thoughts. She knows me so well! She remembered Phil’s hands on her shoulders, looking at her with those bottle-green eyes. “Believe me, Danica, you must not waiver. People’s lives are hanging in the balance, and only you can help them.” She remembered thinking Only me? Why me? And Phil, reading her mind, had said, “That’s right. It can only be you.”
She shook her head, expelling her doubts, and resolutely exited the house, grabbing her backpack on the way out, and closing the front door behind her. In the cold dark she zipped the hoodie to her neck. A night bird called close by and the moon, full and bright, lighted her way across the yard and down the steps to the waiting sedan. She was momentarily lost in the billows of vapor the exhaust created in the frigid air. Then she found the handle of the back door, opened it, and climbed onto the seat. As she pulled the door closed, she noted that Phil was not there. The driver acknowledged her with a sideways glance. He was small and dark with a black cap pulled low over his forehead, and she was certain she had never met him before. She did a quick scan of his mind and found harmless thoughts. Without a word he put the car in gear, and they pulled away from her shabby home. She did not look back.
Dani ran her hand along the car’s upholstery. Soft, like velvet. She had the sudden urge to lie down on the bench seat and fall asleep. She rested her head on the seat back and closed her eyes; her thoughts drifted to her home. She would have liked to say that things hadn’t always been so desperate, that her life had been happy before, that at some time in the past there had maybe been a tragedy and her parents had collapsed into depression. She wanted to think that they used to be fun-loving, caring, and responsible. But that wouldn’t be the truth. They had always been neglectful and inconsistent, and Dani had never felt loved. So, she was leaving.
No note, no good-byes. She figured it might be a couple of days before they even realized she was gone. As long as there was liquor and cigarettes and the dishes were done, they left her alone. She doubted they would report her missing right away because that would mean involving the police and having to answer, to be accountable, and to be sober. She had run away from home before, so the police would be familiar with her story.
She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been left to her own devices. Even as far back as her memory would go, she had learned to fend for herself, and so she was scrappy and clever. But she always held back, missing opportunities, talking herself out of having fun because she was fearful and shy. Underneath her quiet demeanor was a pretty girl who tried her best to not draw attention to herself. She was average height, average build, and average weight-- average in every way. Just the way she wanted to be.
Even in school she was careful to keep acceptable grades, B’s, and C’s, so her teachers wouldn’t push her like they would have if she had been an “A” student, thinking her brilliance would shine brighter under their tutelage. She made sure to never teeter on the brink of failure on the chance that someone might want to come to her rescue, thinking her grades could be brought up to average.
She never caused trouble. She never asked a question. She never volunteered an answer. She participated in no extra-curricular activities. She kept to herself. She wasn’t sure her teachers knew her name. So, it had been easy to hand the school secretary the note she had forged saying: “Dani Fitzpatrick will be traveling out of state for the next week. Please excuse her absence.” And it was signed Mrs. Florence Fitzpatrick. No one questioned it.
The driver maneuvered through side streets past houses in various stages of desolation, a neighborhood that had been decent thirty years ago, but the upwardly mobile generation had moved out and now many of the homes were rentals. Then he turned out of the neighborhood and onto an on-ramp, increasing speed as he joined the few cars on the freeway. He hadn’t said a word. Neither had she. Soon she would be with Phil and everything would be better.
She remembered the first time she had met Phil. She had stopped at the park after school like she did most days. Spending time at the park was better than being at home. The park was bright and open and fresh. Even in winter, barring frigid weather, she would hang out at the park until dark, reading a book or watching people.
On this day she was engrossed in her book, so she didn’t notice Phil sit next to her on the bench. When Dani looked up from the pages, she startled, embarrassed that she’d been unaware of someone sitting down close to her. Her green eyes were the first thing Dani noticed. They were penetrating, and as Dani stared, they lightened until they were the color of sun on a leaf. Then her voice.
“Hello Danica, or do you prefer Dani?”
The sound of these words seemed to suck the air from around her, and she found herself holding her breath, almost afraid there might not be another.
“Do I know you?” She knew they had never met. She would have remembered.
“Not formally. I’m Phil”.
After a brief hesitation, Dani took the proffered hand, and at the touch, she felt a wave course through her, like the sea crashi
ng over rocks.
“How do you know my name?” She probed Phil’s mind and found no threats. Nothing to cause alarm.
Dani had always had an uncanny ability to know a person even before he or she spoke, to know if there was a reason to fear for her safety. She could perceive intent—almost see it even before she used her power. It came naturally to her, and when she was young, she had assumed others had this ability.
“I know a great deal about you, Danica. I’ve been watching you for years.”
“Watching me?” and she saw Phil’s eyes darken to the deepest, mossiest velvety green. “And why are you calling me Danica? My name is Dani.”
Phil’s gravelly voice said, “Your name is Danica. It means Morning Star. You took on Dani when you were just a toddler, and someone called you that. But your given name is Danica.”
Dani knew this. In truth, she had never liked ‘Dani’. It seemed boyish and unsuited to herself. Danica was much more interesting.
Phil smiled. “You’ll be seventeen soon. It’s time for you to step into your future.”
In retrospect, Dani was amazed she hadn’t run from the park as fast as she could to get away from this crazy person. But inside Phil’s mind she found comfort and warmth. There was something about Phil that engendered trust, relaxing her, and drawing her in. She had never been guileless, so she couldn’t blame this feeling of familiarity on naiveté. But she felt easy with Phil in a way she didn’t with other people.
“Step into my future? What are you talking about?” Dani asked.
Phil reached into a deep pocket of the long black coat and drew out a card. “You and I share a past and a future. We have a destiny together, Danica. There is much to do and little time. I’ll be in touch.” Phil handed Dani the card and left, one moment present, the next, gone.
Poof, Dani thought. She squinted into the space where Phil had been, but there was nothing but fog. Phil had vanished, and if Dani hadn’t been holding the card, she may have talked herself into believing that she had dreamed or imagined the encounter. Shadows lengthened, tendrils of fog drifted around trees and shrubs, and Dani realized it was later than she thought. She scrutinized the card then, and despite the gloom it was easy to read what was printed on its black face. In the center in glowing silver script was simply:
Philomena
Magician
Two
Her name had been Danica after that first meeting, and she and Phil had had many meetings since then. In the dark of the sedan, Danica smiled at the memory as the car sped along the freeway. She had discovered more about this enigmatic woman. Not as much as she wanted to know, and not as much as she would learn. ‘Magician’ was almost a misnomer. Phil was so much more than ‘Magician’. And yes, as Phil told her on their first meeting, their destinies were intertwined like vines on a trellis interlacing at random intervals. This pleased Danica. For the first time in her life, she felt what belonging must feel like, and it was a warm glow within her.
As the car hurried on its route, she had an inkling that her life was about to change. She felt the familiar fluttering in her stomach, and she wiped her damp palms on her jeans. Her life up to this point had been predictable and boring. She had never fit in, and she never would. She had always felt conflicted, wanting to be a part of a normal family, resenting her parents for their lack of order and structure, and at the same time needing the complete freedom that she had always been afforded.
Sometime later she felt the car slow as it left the freeway. It could have been hours because Danica thought she might have drifted off to the rhythm of the tires rolling over the tarmac lulling her to sleep. The driver had turned on to a deserted, wintry road with thick forest bordering either side. She squinted into the darkness, trying to make out anything that might look familiar. Everything became even more foreign as waves of fog rolled in, obscuring the towering pines bordering the road.
Minutes later they exited the paved road onto a narrow dirt lane that twisted and turned. Just as Danica began to feel queasy, the car slowed and then came to a stop. As she peered out the window into the fog, it parted like huge gates opening, revealing the brick façade of what looked like an old hotel. Just then an erratic buzzing heralded the coming to life of the neon sign above the door. In bold red letters surrounded by a green outline and small yellow light bulbs it proclaimed:
Mystic Hotel
As she stared at the double doors they opened, and a boy dressed in a white tuxedo stepped into the night. He was backlit by the dim light emanating from within before he closed the doors behind him. The neon lights reflected off his tuxedo giving him a freakish glow. He descended the stairs and approached the car. When he opened her door, an angelic face framed by soft, light curls looked in. Eyes twinkled behind long eyelashes.
It’s an angel! Have I died? Am I in heaven?
“Danica,” he said, “welcome to the Mystic Hotel.” Now that he was close, she guessed his age at eleven or twelve. His voice was the sweet tenor of pre-adolescence, and his warm crooked smile was charming.
She grabbed her backpack and awkwardly accepted his proffered hand. As she stepped out of the sedan and closed the door, the car glided noiselessly away.
“I am Liam. It’s good to finally meet you. Please, follow me.”
Finally?
She hoisted her backpack onto one shoulder and walked the short distance across the driveway to the steps leading to the hotel doors. She followed Liam up the steps where he turned on the landing to face her. Gone was the smiling care-free look of a twelve-year-old. In its place was an intensity that belied his age.
“Danica, once you pass through this portal, your life will never be the same. You can never go back.”
She felt the all too familiar clutch of fear. Portal? It looks like a door to me.
Liam must have noticed her apprehension.
“I can’t tell you your life will be happy here in the Beyond. All I can promise is it will be significant.”
Significant? What does that mean? She felt a rivulet of sweat travel down her spine.
She looked at him and sensed he was speaking the truth, but when she nudged his mind, she couldn’t get in. His eyes were steady, betraying no emotion. He waited.
Danica chewed her lip. Her eyes flitted from the door to Liam and back. She had the clear knowledge that this was a tipping point for her. ‘Back’ was everything familiar. ‘Forward’ was everything unknown. And yet there was a current humming inside her. Something was nudging her to take a chance.
“Phil?” she asked hopefully.
“Phil can’t help you, Danica. This is your decision.”
She thought of her life up to now, the incessant carelessness of it, all the disappointments that had numbed her until she had learned to not expect anything. There was nothing to go back to.
But what is beyond the door—the portal? What is this “significance”? What is the “destiny” Phil talked about?
She wished she had more time to deliberate, although Liam seemed in no hurry. She drew in a shaky breath and looked squarely at him.
“I’m ready”.
Liam smiled, grasped the doorknob, and turned it, pushing the door open. He stepped aside, and with great formality he bent from the waist and swept his arm toward the opening, inviting her inside.
As she stepped through the portal and across the threshold, the air shimmered visibly. She had the distinct awareness that it was a pass-through of some sort, a way of getting from a familiar place to an unknown otherworldly place. The cold of the night disappeared, replaced with a soft comfort. Danica gasped as hundreds of candles flared, lighting up the interior. The air she breathed smelled fresh and clean, like the air after a prolonged downpour. She stood in a grand entry hall paneled in glowing dark wood. Numerous doors flanked the foyer. A wide expanse of pink marbled floor led to a broad staircase that split to the right and left half-way up. All was quiet. Not ‘quiet’, she thought. Soundless. Now that she could see Liam in full light, he
was brilliant. Luminous. Light seemed to shimmer around him and reflect off the white tuxedo.
Why so formal? She wondered absently. “Are you an angel?”
Oh god, did I just say that out loud?
He smiled indulgently. “My grandmother used to think so.”
She became aware of a small reception desk to the left of the staircase. A prim young woman sat on a straight-backed chair watching them from behind large glasses. As Danica and Liam approached the desk, she smiled. “Miss Danica? We’ve been expecting you. Please sign the register.” She slid a large ledger toward Danica. The page was numbered, but there was no date. On the first line on the empty page, Danica signed her name, Dani. To her amazement, her careful script lengthened, and Danica took its place.
“Thank you, Miss Danica. Jekub will show you to your room. You’ll be in room seventeen, just upstairs.” She handed a key to a young man who had appeared from nowhere. He took Danica’s backpack and led the way up the stairs. Liam followed Danica.
They took the left stairs at the landing. At the top, a long corridor stretched to the right. They walked down the hallway until they came to a door with the number seventeen on it, across from number twelve. Jekub used the key to unlock the door, and he went inside and placed her backpack on a bench at the end of a large bed. Then he handed her the key, bowed slightly, and left.
“Here you are, Danica,” Liam said. “Will this be suitable?”
Danica nodded dumbly, surveying the cavernous space.
“I’m right here,” he said, indicating room number twelve across the hall. “Let me know if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll collect you at seven for breakfast.” Then he bowed and exited her room.
“Thank you,” she said as he left.
She leaned against the door and closed her eyes. She inhaled deeply and let her breath out in a long exhale. Then she opened her eyes and explored her room. A small fire from a fireplace illumined the expansive interior space. To her left in the center of the room was a four-poster canopied bed. It was so high there was a small stool with two steps available for getting into it.
The Acolyte: Magicians of the Beyond Page 1