Grumpy Old Wizards

by John O'Riley

  “Maybe your brother could help you,” Josephine suggested.

  “I tried calling him before but he won’t return my calls. He told me if I moved here, he wouldn’t help me anymore.”

  “That’s terrible!” Josephine exclaimed. “But why did you move if you knew he wouldn’t make trace energy protection enchantments for you anymore?”

  “I was tired of depending on him. I’ve been roommates with him ever since I moved away from my parents and I’ve been very dependent on his magic for practically my entire life and I needed to be on my own for a change,” Gary said.

  “Good for you,” Josephine said encouragingly.

  “Except that I’m starting to depend on you now. I didn’t feel safe by myself so I spent the night here. After tonight, I’m returning back home.”

  “If you’re sure that’s what you want. Of course, you’re welcome to stay here.”

  “I appreciate that but I need to do this,” Gary said. He took a deep breath, sat down on the couch, and squeezed his eyes shut. “Maybe the meditation CD that I listen to everyday will help. My brother gave it to me to help relax. It’s supposed to give me more resistance to trace energy impressions so I can control what I receive better.”

  “That’s probably a good idea,” Josephine said.

  “I think I’m going to go to bed now,” Gary said.

  “Really? It’s only a little after eight.”

  “I’m hoping the extra sleep will help me recover from the stress of the trace energies,” Gary said.

  “Goodnight,” Josephine said.

  “Goodnight.”

  Chapter 11

  “Josephine!” a panicked, male voice cried out.

  She opened her eyes in the pitch black and struggled with the sheets as she sat up in her bed. Her eyes honed in on the alarm clock which indicated it was shortly after one in the morning. Josephine wondered if she’d been awakened by a bad dream.

  “Josephine! Help!” Gary’s terrified voice drifted from three different directions.

  She realized now that it was a magical projection. Her heart hammered in her chest as she wondered if the serial killer had somehow broke into her house. She brought up a shield as she grabbed two telekinetic wands she kept under her mattress for emergencies.

  “Josephine, help!” Gary’s panic-stricken voice echoed all around her.

  She fumbled with the handle of her door and tried to open it quietly. She stepped over to the guest room door and threw it open. A hot wind slammed into her and an almost complete darkness greeted her. She flicked on the light to find that Gary was alone in the room hovering half a foot above the bed in the grip of a nightmare. His sweat dampened tee shirt and boxers clung to his skin as hot air blasted around him.

  “Josephine!” his voice cried out from several directions around them. “Help me, please!”

  Josephine sighed with relief and brought her personal shield back down.

  “He’s going to kill me,” Gary’s terrified voice drifted to her.

  “Gary! Wake up!” Josephine said.

  She wasn’t surprised that the sound of her voice failed to elicit any sort of reaction from him since the lights hadn’t woken him up. Sweat broke out on her forehead and arms as the hot air continued to blast over her. She approached Gary and gently pushed him down to the bed so he wouldn’t drop and hurt himself when waking up. He started to lift again but she pressed firmly and began to nudge him with her other hand.

  “Josephine!” his voice cried out from directly behind her.

  “Gary, wake up!” Josephine said.

  “He’s going to kill me!”

  Josephine gently shook him and his eyes popped open. She backed up a step and smiled reassuringly at him.

  “You were sleeping,” she said by way of explanation.

  “Josephine!” his terrified voice drifted at her from different angles and his lips didn’t move.

  His eyes stared up vacantly up at the ceiling.

  “Gary! Wake up!” Josephine said loudly.

  Gary gasped and his eyes centered on her. The hot air in the room abruptly died away and he sat up.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “You were having a bad dream,” Josephine explained.

  “I was talking in my sleep?” Gary asked.

  Josephine hesitated for a moment. “Yes. You were calling for help.”

  Gary’s face flushed with embarrassment and his gaze shifted away from her for a moment.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

  “It’s okay.” Josephine reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “I was just worried about you.”

  “Thanks,” Gary said.

  Josephine straightened to her full height and took a step back. “Time to get back to sleep.”

  “Yep.”

  Josephine didn’t sleep well and she doubted that her guest did. She knew he was seriously frightened in order to have an episode like that. She woke up earlier than usual feeling disturbed and anxious. She couldn’t help but feel that Gary shouldn’t move back into his apartment so soon. She had taken her shower and was cradling her first cup of coffee in the living room when Gary stepped into the room in his work uniform. He clutched his suitcase in his right hand. It looked like he was packed and ready to go. His eyes were guarded and anxious as he smiled at her.

  “Sorry about last night,” he said.

  “That’s okay. It wasn’t your fault,” Josephine said reassuringly. “Would you like some coffee?”

  “No, thanks. I want to get my stuff back to my apartment,” he said.

  “You’re welcome to stay here a few more nights or as long as you need,” Josephine said. “I can understand it if you don’t feel safe returning just yet.”

  “I’ll be all right. There’s a police officer that’s been tailing me. It’s why I haven’t been able to go to the beach and get my trace energy shield back up.”

  “It’s a shame your brother won’t help.”

  “I’ll try calling him again.” Gary shrugged and headed for the front door. “Thank you for letting me stay here. I appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome. Stay in touch.” Josephine followed him to the door and opened it for him.

  She couldn’t help but feel he was making a big mistake. A short while later, Alice and Helen arrived for their morning coffee. Once they were seated in the dining room, she informed her friends of what had happened last night.

  “Wow!” Alice exclaimed.

  “That’s terrible!” Helen said passionately. “Gary needs to stay with you. The killer is obviously targeting him.”

  “There’s more to it than that, I’m afraid,” Alice said dourly.

  “What?” Josephine was surprised by this reaction.

  “This shows that his subconscious mind has suffered a major trauma. Nothing else would cause an episode like that.”

  “I assumed that since he was a category six that sometimes nightmares could cause that kind of thing to happen,” Josephine said.

  “Obviously, he’s been traumatized earlier in his life and his subconscious has adapted to try and protect him from further dangers,” Alice said. “He needs to see a psychiatrist.”

  Josephine mulled this over as she took a drink from her mug. She hadn’t considered that Gary had more problems besides the killer targeting him.

  “Are you sure it wasn’t just a nightmare?” Josephine asked.

  “No, I think his subconscious picked up clues from the crime scenes he’s read and realized he would be in danger,” Alice said.

  “He was attacked at his apartment with psychokinesis,” Josephine said.

  “Psychokinesis is an erratic talent. You can’t control it very well,” Alice said. “It’s unlikely the killer would use that type of enchantment to murder someone. Now that you’ve told me about this episode Gary had last night, I believe it’s much more likely that Gary’s subconscious mind manufactured the attack to give him an excuse to stay with you.”

&nb
sp; “That’s ridiculous!” Helen argued. “Psychokinesis is very complicated magic.”

  “Yes, it is but the subconscious mind is capable of doing a lot more than our conscious minds,” Alice said. “Trust me. After a lifetime of being a psychiatrist, I’ve seen enough cases to know what I’m talking about.”

  Josephine choked on her coffee as a brilliant idea struck her. She coughed and set her mug down on the table.

  “Are you all right?” Helen asked.

  “I’m fine,” Josephine said weakly and coughed a bit more. “Alice, you can help Gary. You’re good at sensing injuries to the subconscious and helping to facilitate healing.”

  “Oh, no! I’m retired! I’m not good at that kind of stuff anymore!”

  “Sure you are! You’ve done it a lot,” Josephine said.

  “I can’t just sit down with someone and heal their mind with a snap of my fingers! It requires numerous sessions and the patient’s complete cooperation.”

  “Will you at least try to help if I can talk Gary into coming over here?” Josephine asked. “Please?”

  Alice sighed wearily. “All right. But don’t expect any miracles.”

  “Thank you!” Josephine smiled gratefully at her.

  Alice grunted and took a large swallow of her coffee.

  “Why do you want to help Gary so badly?” Alice asked.

  “I feel sorry for him. Besides, the killer will go after me once he’s finished with Gary. We’re both a threat to exposing his identity with our psychometry,” Josephine said.

  “It’s a shame you have to work for the police,” Helen said.

  “Yes, it is,” Josephine said. She gazed thoughtfully at Alice. “What sorts of mental trauma can cause the kind of episode Gary had last night?”

  “Childhood trauma is a major cause. Any number of things can happen to us when we’re young to cause an adaptive response in our subconscious.”

  “But something unusual must have happened for Gary to be susceptible.”

  “Probably,” Alice said.

  “I guess there’s no way to guess, is there?” Josephine asked.

  “No. That would be a waste of time.” Alice finished her coffee and stood up. “I think I’ll be going. I’ll see you later.”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  Helen sipped some more of her coffee. “It’s really nice that you want to help Gary.”

  “I just feel a kinship with him,” Josephine said.

  “Maybe it’s the fact that he’s a category six.”

  “That’s a big part of it,” Josephine admitted.

  “There’s nothing wrong with that,” Helen said.

  A short while after Helen left, the phone rang.

  “Hello?” Josephine said.

  “Hey, it’s me,” Jake said cheerfully. “How’re you doing?”

  “I’m fine, thanks. What are you up to?”

  “Vickie just woke up from her coma. She wanted me to tell you thanks. She knows she wouldn’t have survived if you hadn’t discovered she was still alive,” Jake said.

  Josephine smiled and a surge of gratification coursed through her.

  “I’m so glad that she’s going to be okay,” she said.

  “The enforcers have placed a topaz ring with an aequitas enchantment on her hand,” Jake said. “She’s going to have a rough ride learning to discipline her powers.”

  “Probably. I can imagine it will be difficult not to summon explosive energy when her entire life she’s had to really work to use magic. Now, it will be a piece of cake. In fact, it will be too easy,” Josephine said. “Do you think the police will be able to protect Gary from the killer?”

  “I don’t know. He’s pretty powerful to use psychokinesis. Maybe that was his only psychokinetic enchantment though. There’s a police officer assigned to you as well, by the way.”

  “I’m glad I have some protection,” Josephine said even though this would curtail her visits to the beach.

  “I’d better get back to work.”

  “Okay, honey. It was nice talking to you.”

  “It was nice talking to you, too, Grandma. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  Josephine hung up the phone and stared off into space. She wondered if she was overlooking any course of action. She was tired of allowing this serial killer to run loose. She wasn’t accustomed to having an open-ended case last this long. Josephine dialed Gary’s home number even though she knew he was working. She left a message for him asking if he would be willing to allow Alice to try and help him. If his subconscious was traumatized, it might explain his lack of control in reading trace energies. It was rare for category six wizards to suffer this affliction for their entire lives. Normally they outgrew it as teenagers. Someone knocked at the door and Josephine went to answer it. She brought up a deflection shield just as she opened the door. She flinched as the shield lit up and reflected whatever spell had been shot at her.

  Josephine turned to see Dale flinch as his magic was turned against him. His eyes widened in astonishment and he opened his mouth in surprise which allowed a loud belch to escape. Josephine giggled at this childish prank. Dale’s face flushed and he glared at her in reprisal.

  “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Skanky Toad,” Josephine said smugly. “You thought you’d cast another jinx on me.”

  Dale opened his mouth to hurl a sharp retort but whatever he’d been about to say was lost in a series of belches. A loud rip escaped from his derriere and Josephine burst into boisterous laughter. Dale started to yell something but couldn’t get past the loud belch that took over.

  “Why don’t you get lost, Mr. Skanky Toad?” Josephine quipped.

  Josephine closed her door and reactivated the security enchantments. That had been too much fun. She laughed again and shook her head with mirth. It was a good thing that she’d created that deflection shield. Maybe Dale would think twice before pulling any more pranks on her. Josephine decided to pay a visit to the Sarasota Memorial Hospital. She was allowed to see Vickie who had a police officer posted just outside her room. Josephine walked inside and introduced herself.

  “I’m glad to meet you. I’m grateful I survived the attack. I want that monster locked up,” Vickie said passionately.

  The lights above her bed flickered erratically and a frigid gust of air whipped over Josephine for several seconds.

  “Your emotions will trigger your magical abilities for awhile,” Josephine said. “You’ll find that you can draw upon power extremely well now.”

  “I can’t believe I’m a category six,” Vickie whispered fearfully. “At least I’m alive though.”

  “There are a lot of advantages to your new abilities.”

  “I guess it doesn’t matter too much since I was a category two before this attack. I won’t have to be restricted from anything that I was used to doing.”

  Josephine smiled faintly at her. “Yes, that’s a good way of looking at it. Category two wizards can’t really do much. Even though you won’t be able to do spells that are more complicated than what you could do before, you’ll find that you can create a lot more of them in a much shorter time period.”

  “That’s good,” Vickie said.

  “I’m going to see if I can read the psychometric energies. I’ve never been able to find anything new by going to the same scene but this is a public place and there were so many energy particles that I may have missed something,” Josephine said.

  She opened her second sight and began reading the room. She took her time but didn’t find any new information. After a lengthy period of time, she gave up.

  “Nope. I’m sorry,” Josephine said.

  “That’s okay. It was nice for you to come over and try again,” Vickie said.

  “I’d better be going. You need to rest,” Josephine said.

  “I’m feeling fine. The only reason they’re keeping me here is for observation. I’m glad to be out of ICU.”

  “I’m glad you’re doing better but I’m going to take off. I’ll
talk to you later.”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  Back at home, Josephine anxiously waited for Gary to call. She worked on a crossword puzzle that had come with the daily newspaper and watched the Science Fiction Network. It was still early in the evening by the time she began pacing and glancing impatiently at the clock. She knew that Gary had probably returned to his apartment by now but he’d failed to call her. She picked up the phone and dialed his number. Unfortunately, his answering machine picked up.

  “Gary, it’s me, Josephine. I’d like to talk to you about something important. I didn’t tell you something that happened last night. You were kind of sleep walking and using magic. You were asking me for help and worried that the serial killer was after you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before but I thought you might be embarrassed. Anyway, I have a friend who I think could help you. I think your subconscious might know something about the serial killer. I think you picked it up while reading one or more crime scenes. Please call me.”

  She hung up the phone and sighed. She wondered if he would be too embarrassed to return her call. She sat back down in front of the television and tried to focus on the show but her mind was too preoccupied on Gary. She dialed his number again but he still wouldn’t pick up. She sighed dismally and hung up the receiver without leaving a message this time. She should have told him about his sleep walking episode when she’d awakened him in his room. She hadn’t realized at the time that it was an indicator of something more serious. Josephine mentally chastised herself for being so short-sighted. She would never forgive herself if Gary ended up dead because of any shortcomings on her part.

  Josephine dialed his number again but wasn’t surprised when he once again failed to pick up. She went to bed late that night because she found it difficult to unwind and relax. However, just when she had finally fallen asleep she abruptly awakened to an almost complete darkness.

  “Josephine! I need your help!” Gary called out.

  She groaned dismally when she realized his subconscious was projecting again.