by John O'Riley
“I don’t blame you, Grandma.” Jake regarded her with understanding. “He was a real jerk and should have treated you better. He really blew it when he lost you.”
“Thanks, sweetheart.” It warmed her heart that her grandson was always so supportive.
“It smells like fresh coffee,” Jake remarked.
“Yes, I thought you’d want some after a hard day of work.”
Josephine and Jake went to the kitchen and poured themselves mugs of coffee. Josephine added half and half and sugar to hers while her grandson drank his black. They took their drinks to the living room.
“I need to make sure I remember to work out tomorrow. I skipped my routine because of that call from Detective Riley.”
“Why didn’t you go after you left the crime scene?” Jake leveled a curious gaze at her.
“I’m a creature of habit now that I’m retired. If I get called in to work, it throws my entire day off.” Josephine crossed her shapely legs and leaned back in the armchair as she took another sip of her coffee. She was wearing green cargo shorts and a tropical shirt which showed off her smooth, youthful skin and fine figure.
“I can understand that,” Jake said. “You don’t need to spend any time in the gym anyway. You look great.”
“Thank you. You’re such a flatterer.” Josephine smiled warmly at him before taking another sip of her coffee. Her thoughts turned back to the serial killer. “Did you have any luck with cracking the case from this morning?”
“The trail is cold,” Jake replied.
“Oh, fudge!” Josephine exclaimed with such feeling that one would have thought she had just cursed like a sailor. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
“You’re our best chance of finding this guy,” Jake informed her.
After enjoying some chocolate cake and playing darts with Jake, Josephine returned to her condo to find a handwritten note taped to her door. Irritation made her frown and her body tightened reflexively because only one person did this to her – Dale Wallace. Dale was a seventy-nine-year-old who lived one floor above Josephine and strongly felt that she shouldn’t be allowed to live in the retirement complex. He broke into her condo several times in the past and set booby traps for her with childish pranks by creating manifestations of bugs or spiders which would vanish after several hours. Josephine had ignored them at first but now, she retaliated with her own pranks. Dale’s attitude that she didn’t belong in the retirement community outraged her. As her fingers closed over the paper, anger rushed through her body. The unsigned note read: “Go back where you belong, slut.”
Dale knew exactly how to push her buttons. In no way, shape or form was she a slut. Josephine crushed the paper in her fist and accidentally released a torrent of cold air which gushed through the hallway. She turned around to see if Dale was watching because sometimes he waited for her to come home and gloat over her response. She thought she saw movement from the end of the hallway and suspected it was him.
“Dale! I’m going to jinx you good!” Josephine threatened.
He suddenly stepped out from exactly where she’d suspected he was hiding with a smug grin on his face. He had a shield up which she could take down pretty fast.
“You’re going to beat up a helpless old man?” he asked in a goading tone.
“You’re five years younger than me.” Josephine lashed out with a surge of power but it was out of control and branched off in three separate directions.
Dale’s shield briefly became visible as a golden sphere of light surrounding his body as one of her spells knocked into it. The other two streams of power pounded against the walls making it sound like someone was knocking on them like a crazed lunatic. Dale didn’t look alarmed at all as he lobbed a knockout spell at her. She tracked it with her second sight and easily blocked it. Josephine brought his shield down with her next attack but darkness was creeping along the edge of her vision. She abruptly realized she was using far too much magic and glanced at her topaz ring which had turned green in warning. She launched another telekinetic wave at Dale. He stumbled and fell flat on his back. Josephine wasn’t given the opportunity to savor this minor victory because she promptly lost consciousness. She woke up a short while later with Alice and Helen stooped over her.
“We heard the commotion in the hall and came out to find you unconscious. You’ll want to clean up,” Helen said.
“I will?” Josephine asked.
They helped her stand up and her legs wobbled shakily. She slowly made her way to the bathroom and saw that Dale had written “freak” on her forehead with lipstick. She glared at her reflection and grabbed a paper towel to wipe off the annoying message.
“Dale is such a troll. I’m going to teach him a lesson.”
“Let’s break into his apartment and give him some jinxes that he’ll never forget.” Alice’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
“I think we should just leave him alone,” Helen suggested.
“No, we’re going to get even,” Josephine said.
“I’ve got a perfect one! Let’s forget the bathroom and booby trap his kitchen again,” Alice said with excitement. “We can create a manifestation of cockroaches. They’re really big and we can put the spell inside his cereal box. He always has cheerios for breakfast.”
“Good one!” Josephine grinned with approval.
“We’ll have to be careful because he’s probably put extra traps on his locks,” Helen cautioned them.
“We can get through them,” Alice said confidently.
“Are you sure he didn’t booby trap your condo?” Helen asked fretfully. “He had enough time to write on your forehead. Maybe he put a couple of jinxes in here?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Josephine slowly stepped into the living room and opened her awareness to the subtle energies flowing around her.
She honed in on something underneath the couch. She began to reach out with her mind but this triggered the spell Dale had left for her. A dozen huge, black spiders the size of dinner plates stormed out from their hiding space under the couch. Helen and Alice squealed with alarm. Josephine was too distracted to continue focusing on her second sight. One of the spiders tried to crawl up on right leg but she kicked it off and smashed it. Luckily, the three of them still wore their shoes. It appeared that Dale had left some manifestations behind.
“I hate spiders!” Helen climbed up on one of the other couches.
Alice and Josephine took shelter on the couch with her friends and the spiders swarmed around them in a circle.
“They’re so ugly,” Alice said with displeasure. “I’m going to try and dispel them.”
She eyed the spiders and seemed to become hypnotized so Josephine tapped her shoulder. Alice flinched and squealed in alarm.
“Are you alright?” Josephine asked.
“Just give me a second,” Alice said.
She took a deep breath and held out her hands. Josephine sensed her friend gathering energy. Without warning, two of the spiders spit a viscous black liquid at them. The vile substance splattered against Alice’s stomach and hands. She screamed and almost lost her balance. She flailed her arms and grabbed Josephine. More of the spiders spat out the mysterious black substance which hit all three of them. Josephine cringed at the disgusting goo dripping down her blouse and legs.
“Get rid of the damn things! Please!” Josephine exclaimed.
She couldn’t focus her energy enough at the moment or she would have done it herself. This was one instance where she had to rely on her friends. Helen’s arms shook as she joined in with her own efforts to get rid of the spiders. More black goo splattered on her and she flinched but continued to gather energy. When she released the spell, a small spark of white light flashed out and caused two of the spiders to vanish but the goo and the other ten spiders remained. Josephine gagged when a whiff of the odor from the black spider spit reached her nostrils. It reminded her of a backed up sewer.
Alice held out her hands once again
and earned herself several splatters of spider spit. A flash of white light exploded from her hands and eliminated six of the spiders and most of the goo that had latched onto the three women. Josephine was relieved that the noxious odor had suddenly dissipated due to Alice’s spell.
“Good work!” Josephine patted her friend on the back.
Helen furrowed her brows in concentration. She flinched when two of the spiders spit more of the black viscous liquid on her. Unfortunately, she lost her balance and fell off the couch. The spiders immediately crawled over her and spat more of the liquid on her. She brushed a couple of them off but they kept crawling on her. Josephine crushed one of the spiders with her foot then quickly raised her leg back onto the couch.
“Get them off!” Helen cried out.
Alice reached her hands out and dispelled more of the spiders so that only one remained. Josephine crushed the last one with her foot, grimacing with revulsion. Helen slowly sat up and wiped some of the black goo which was dripping from her face.
Alice leveled a smug gaze at Helen. “Do you still think we should let Dale get away with this?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Helen frowned at her with annoyance. “If we keep retaliating, things will just get out of hand.”
Alice rolled her eyes with disgust and turned to address Josephine. “Don’t you think Dale deserves some payback?”
Josephine cocked a bemused brow at her friend as she mulled over their situation.
“I think Helen is right. We need to let this one go,” she finally said.
Chapter 3
When Josephine entered the gym with Helen and Alice, she was the first to notice Robert. Josephine was wearing her usual workout attire consisting of pink shorts, a pink t-shirt, and a pink frilly bow in her long black hair. Helen had on black shorts and a gray t-shirt while Alice wore a white t-shirt and yellow shorts.
“Don’t look now but Spot’s here,” Josephine said with displeasure.
“Where?” Alice looked around and quickly spotted him on one of the exercise bikes.
Robert’s skin was flushed and perspiration beaded along his flabby arms, neck, and legs. He looked to be holding onto the bike for dear life.
“I wish we didn’t go to the same gym,” Josephine said.
Josephine, Helen, and Alice walked over to three of the machines. They liked to work out side-by-side. Helen always started on the leg extension while Alice started on her obliques, and Josephine went to the hammer which was a good abdominal workout. Helen carefully set her weight on the lowest setting possible. She was by far in the worst shape compared to the three of them. Josephine and Alice encouraged her to put a bit of effort into her workout but to no avail. Josephine narrowed her eyes at her ex before she began exercising. When her abs were burning and she could barely pull the weight anymore, she stopped to rest. The bottle of water she’d brought with her floated from the floor and into her outstretched hand. She took a long drink then set the bottle back down. She didn’t notice that Robert had finished exercising until he approached them. Josephine stiffened and narrowed her eyes at him.
“Trying to get in shape, Barbie?” Robert taunted.
Josephine narrowed her eyes at him but refrained from throwing back a sharp retort.
They continued their workout then finished up and returned to their condos. Josephine had a message on her answering machine from Detective Riley which stated tersely: “Call me.”
Irritation stirred in her but she immediately reached for the phone and called him back.
“Riley, this is Josephine,” she announced.
“I need to you to come into the station and use your psychometry on some of the items we have from previous crime scenes.”
“I’ll be right over,” Josephine said.
Traffic was light and it didn’t take her long to reach the police station. Alex brought her to one of the interrogation rooms and she waited there while he gathered the evidence from lockup. She crossed her arms over her chest and seated herself. It took him almost twenty minutes before he returned. He set the box of bagged evidence on the table and Josephine noted he’d gotten himself a maple Long John to munch on. He pulled the baggies out of the box and placed them in front of her.
They’d already been dusted for fingerprints but obviously nothing had been found. A whole bunch of everyday items lay on the table in front of her such as a broken picture, a cracked ashtray, various assortments of clothing, and other odds and ends. Josephine opened her awareness to the subtle energies of the room and the uncomfortable psychometric energies that floating through the room as well as the psychic impressions attached to the evidence, chairs, and table came into focus. The anger, frustration and fear of the previous occupants of the room became a background noise to her magical senses. She took several seconds to center herself then reached out with her mind to scan the items resting on the table in front of her.
Her brows furrowed with concentration because the two closest pieces of evidence had absolutely nothing on them. She allowed her attention to wander to the various pieces as she sought out psychic imprints left behind by the killer. She found broken energy fragments on the picture frame. She zeroed in on the trace energy and received a series of broken images in her mind’s eye. She hadn’t attained anything useful that she could relay to Alex at this point. She focused more of her attention on the trace energy that she’d picked up on and tried to get a better reading. A pressure began to pound at her temples and a frigid wind whipped over her. Her attention was so fixed on the trace energy that she didn’t notice Riley’s expression turn wary and that he’d retreated just a bit from her.
“This is so frustrating,” Josephine murmured.
The wind died down when she gave up on the reading. She squeezed her eyes shut and centered herself. Maybe if she tried again, she could dredge something up. Josephine realized Alex was regarding her expectantly.
“I didn’t see enough to give you any descriptions or any details,” Josephine said.
“Tell me what you did see. Maybe it could be useful.”
“You don’t understand. Everything I picked up was so fractured that there’s nothing to describe,” Josephine explained.
“All right. That’s fine,” Alex said with resignation.
“Let me try again,” Josephine said. “I didn’t finish.”
She reached out with her mind and tuned into the psychometric energies left by the killer. They were so fragmented that she couldn’t glean any visions. She took a deep breath and focused on the faint impressions that whispered against the edges of her mind. The serial killer was extremely patient and hungered for power. He had a burning desire to become a category six. He was fascinated by the Disaster and how it had given most of the survivors magical abilities. Josephine struggled to come up with more information but she finally had to give up. She was extremely disappointed by her inability to uncover any further clues. She wasn’t used to such difficulties.
“I’m sorry. I do know the killer is definitely a man and that he wants to gain the power of a category six,” Josephine finally said. “He is also very interested in the Disaster.”
“Anything else?” Alex asked hopefully.
“I’m afraid not.”
“All right. You’re free to go,” Alex said.
Chapter 4
Josephine nodded her head in agreement as she took another drink from her mug of coffee. She, Helen, and Alice were lounging in her living room reminiscing over the past.
“Sometimes, I wish I could go back in time knowing what I know now and change things for the better,” Helen said wistfully.
“If anyone could do that, they would probably discover that alternative actions would lead to consequences that are just as bad or even worse,” Alice remarked.
“You’re such a pessimist sometimes,” Helen said.
“I’m a realist. There’s no point in wishing you could undo the past. It just makes you frustrated.”
“Maybe if I could u
se the full potential of my abilities, I could do go back in time,” Josephine said.
“I doubt it. You don’t have any control over your wicked-ass powers,” Alice said.
Josephine cocked a bemused brow at her friend as she took another drink of coffee. “I don’t think that’s true. I’ve never had any serious issues with power control. Sometimes, I create unintentional spells but even when I was younger and didn’t have an aequitas enchantment to stifle my abilities, my powers never manifested in a truly dangerous way.”
A companionable silence descended over the room for several moments as Alice and Helen mulled this over. The three of them sat down and chatted for a while longer before leaving. Josephine decided to go to the Siesta Key beach and jog. She started by walking briskly and enjoyed the warm sun caressing her skin. A power vortex was located at this particular beach and the tempting thrum of its energy sent a thrill of longing through Josephine’s body as if tempting her to tap into its unlimited strength. She probably shouldn’t come here so often but it felt invigorating. Not very many people visited the beach. Even after so much time had passed since the Disaster, few humans or wizards felt safe in close proximity to a vortex. The United States had three of them; one in Sedona, Arizona, one in Seattle, Washington and one in Sarasota, Florida. Josephine’s body thrummed with potential as she jogged along the beach. If she ever gave into temptation, the aequitas enchantment in her ring would knock her out before she could do any damage. Josephine felt certain that she could control the power if she tapped into it but there was no way of convincing the Council or the government of that fact.
Josephine continued running along the shore until her sides burned and she was forced to rest. She breathed heavily and sank into the warm, crystalline sand. Her body craved for her to take in the power that flowed so invitingly nearby. It would be so easy to tap into it. Just a thought and it would be hers. She opened her second sight and gazed at the vortex swirling a short distance ahead of her with a quarter of it laying hidden beneath the water. It was massive and beautiful as a myriad of colors swirled in its depths. Josephine closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling but also felt the temptation to connect with it increase exponentially. She would be knocked out before anything bad could possibly happen. She should try it out. But then some of the nearby wizards may sense what she’d done or see her pass out. It was expressly forbidden for a category six to tap into the energy of a vortex for any reason. She would be doing community service for a long time if she was ever caught and furthermore, she could end up in jail. Dale and Robert would probably visit her cell every day.