by John O'Riley
She felt a couple of tendrils of power brush against her dampening field but she was still safe. Josephine waited for several moments for Vickie to regain control. She was relieved when this finally happened. Vickie’s topaz ring turned blue again and she opened her eyes. She nervously regarded Josephine as she waited for a response.
“This is very strange,” Josephine said slowly. “You seem to somehow be immune to your aequitas enchantment. Has it knocked you out at all when you’ve been practicing on your restoration spells?”
“No, it hasn’t knocked me out since I was in the hospital,” Vickie said.
“Interesting,” Josephine said. She mulled this over for a bit then shrugged it away. She needed to focus on the issue of what was holding Vickie back from casting the restoration enchantments. “I think I may know part of the problem.”
“Really?” Vickie looked hopeful.
“Yes, I’m almost one hundred percent certain that you’re trying too hard,” Josephine said. “You need to have a completely different mind set now that you’re a category six. The power comes without effort. You’re used to exerting a lot of effort but you’re no longer a category two.”
“I wasn’t trying hard at all,” Vickie protested.
“You weren’t trying nearly as hard as you used to try,” Josephine said. “But I think I can help you.”
She picked up the tray and pieces of the mug that had fallen to the carpet to set them back on the coffee table.
“You’re not going to use a wand for this. You’re going to use telekinesis,” Josephine said.
“Why?” Vickie asked.
“It’s the easiest spell you can do and I want you to realize what it feels like when you control the amount of power you use,” Josephine said.
“Okay.” Vickie frowned at her uncertainly.
“Concentrate on one of the pieces of the mug and cast a telekinesis spell but don’t try to tap into any power at all,” Josephine said.
“Nothing will happen,” Vickie said.
“Trust me.”
Vickie shrugged and gazed at the broken mug. After a moment, one of the pieces jiggled and lifted an inch into the air. Vickie exclaimed joyously and the piece clattered back against the tray.
“You see?” Josephine said. “Power comes without effort. Cast the spell and the power will follow. You were concentrating on the spell hard enough that you gave your chakras a gentle nudge for power.”
“That’s incredible!” Vickie said.
“Let’s see if you can do it again.”
Vickie gazed at the broken mug and furrowed her brows in concentration. One of the pieces slowly lifted into the air and hovered above the tray.
“Do you feel how much power you’re drawing now? That’s how much you’ll need to generate to work your magic,” Josephine said.
“It’s going to take a lot of practice to get this under control,” Vickie said.
Josephine crossed the room and shot her a congratulatory smile.
“After a bit of practice, you’ll be used to your new ability, I’m sure,” she said.
“Thank you so much!” Vickie said.
“My pleasure.”
A sense of accomplishment suffused Josephine’s body as she left Vickie’s house. Too bad that all of life’s problems couldn’t be solved so easily. The fact that Vickie seemed to be immune to the aequitas enchantment had her puzzled and piqued her curiosity. She wondered if there were other instances of this happening. Josephine noticed that a police car was on her tail as usual. She drove down to the beach and strolled along the shoreline. She connected with the vortex as she walked and power surged through her body. She continued to walk normally as a pleasant smile transformed her face. She became aware of all the subtle energies and thoughts surrounding her. She turned to gaze directly at the vortex and was startled to see that it was churning with an angry red energy.
Josephine swallowed nervously and wondered if she was doing anything to influence the vortex. After a moment, she could tell that she wasn’t causing this behavior. She focused on the vortex and realized the red swirling energy was slowly calming down. Only a category six could do something like this to a vortex which meant that someone had recently tapped into it. Josephine glanced nervously around her but couldn’t sense any category six wizards nearby. She realized she may look conspicuous standing here staring at the vortex so she tore her gaze away from it and continued her walk. It was a risk for her to connect with the power here but it was a calculated one. The police officer currently assigned to her may or may not be a wizard and probably couldn’t even tell she was connected if he or she used their psychometry. After all, only a category six could use psychometry very well.
Josephine picked up the pace so that she was almost jogging. She figured it would look less suspicious because anyone watching her would assume she was exercising. Josephine lost track of time as the pleasant sensations from the vortex washed over her. She abruptly realized she was standing perfectly still and decided to sit down. She was still breathing heavily so she couldn’t have been inactive for very long. She closed her eyes and wondered if she could cast a psychokinetic spell. She had never tested her abilities while being tuned into the vortex. This was a good opportunity to practice a little. She directed the power into the proper matrix with ease and directed it at her condo, concentrating on moving the armchair across the room. She pictured it lifting in the air and slowly drifting to the far end of the room. Josephine knew psychokinetic spells were extremely difficult and she probably hadn’t done a thing but it had been fun to try.
She got up and headed back the way she had come. By the time she reached her car, her connection with the vortex began to waver. She took another look at it and could see that the angry red tendrils had receded to be replaced by the typical blue and green. She wondered why anyone would tamper with the vortex. She and Gary were the only category six wizards in the county so it was probably Gary. She wondered if his subconscious had taken over and cast a spell at the vortex for some unknown reason. She couldn’t fathom what would compel him to tamper with something so powerful. Of course, there was the possibility that there was an unregistered category six in the city. Sometimes, people managed to hide their abilities until they lost control of their ability in public.
When Josephine returned to her condo, she was amazed to find that the armchair she’d imagined had moved about twelve feet across the room towards the corner and that it now rested on its side. She righted the armchair and moved it back to its original position. She chuckled as she finished working and straightened to her full height. She couldn’t believe it had worked! She had successfully cast a psychokinetic spell from miles away! She was absolutely thrilled and astounded by her accomplishment. Josephine wished there was someone she could share this victory with but no one would understand. Alice had expressed disapproval when she’d discovered Josephine had tapped into the vortex and would certainly not be pleased to find out she hadn’t followed her advice.
The doorbell rang and Josephine headed for the door. She checked the peephole to discover Robert waiting outside. Josephine frowned with irritation and created a deflection shield as she opened the door. Robert held his hands up defensively.
“I’m just here to talk!” Robert exclaimed with wide-eyed panic.
“What do you want, Spot?” Josephine snarled.
“I wanted to apologize for letting David bark his head off so much and wanted to reassure you that it won’t happen again,” Robert said. “I’m tired of fighting. Do you think we can just call a truce?”
“I’m not about to kiss and make up with you,” Josephine said coolly.
“I don’t expect us to. Can’t we just be neutral with each other?” Robert asked. “I was young and stupid back then. I’m sorry for hurting you. Can you forgive me?”
Josephine wanted to shout no and slam the door in his face. Or better yet, to hurl a jinx at him. Unfortunately, his words stirred a modicum of sympathy and she r
ealized how old he’d gotten. She was lucky enough to still have her youth but he had lost it. Maybe she should give him a chance.
“I’ll think about it,” Josephine finally said. “I suppose it may not make sense to hold onto a grudge for so long.”
“Thank you,” Robert said cautiously.
“We can talk more later,” Josephine said slowly.
“Okay.”
Josephine gently closed the door and locked it. She wasn’t sure what she should do. She wasn’t sure she was ready to forgive him just yet. On the other hand, it had been practically another life when they’d divorced. He was an elderly man now and not really capable of posing much of a threat anymore. Perhaps it was time to forgive and forget. Josephine reminded herself that she had more pressing issues such as the link between her subconscious mind and Gary’s. She also didn’t like the idea of the serial killer running loose in Sarasota. She suspected that she was a target along with Gary but didn’t know why. Maybe the police had figured something out. She dialed Alex’s cell number.
“Detective Riley,” he said tersely.
“Hi, it’s me,” Josephine said casually. “I was calling to see if you’d made any headway regarding the serial killer.”
“No, I haven’t and it’s not your job to solve the crimes.”
“What in the hell are you talking about? I solve every crime I come in contact with,” Josephine said haughtily.
“It’s your job to use psychometry to read the crime scenes and if it ends up helping me to solve the case then that’s a good thing but you’re not a detective.”
“You’re splitting hairs. I usually know the name and address of the killer,” Josephine said.
“You have a very unique gift but you’re not a detective.”
“So you haven’t discovered anything new about the serial killer. That’s strange. I would have thought after all this time you could have come up with some sort of clue,” Josephine said with disappointment.
The dial tone sounded in her ear so she hung up the receiver with a frown of displeasure. Detective Riley was a very trying individual at times. Josephine made several protective enchantments anchored to different pendants since she had nothing better to do. The rest of the day passed by slowly as she worried about how many sessions it would take to sever the link between her subconscious mind and Gary’s and how long it would take to track down the serial killer. Late in the evening, Josephine lay on her bed struggling to sleep. It was so difficult to relax when she had so many problems plaguing her mind. When she awakened, she found herself lying in the middle of the bathroom floor. Josephine abruptly sat up and took stock of her surroundings. Various odds and ends lay scattered around her such as lipstick, makeup, a hand mirror, wash cloths, and towels. She slowly picked herself up off the floor and saw more hand towels in the bathtub.
The mirror over her sink had a message scrawled with her bright red lipstick: “Find the killer before it’s too late. You are not safe.”
Josephine grabbed some paper towels and some glass cleaner and wiped the mirror clean. She was disturbed to find this mess here. Obviously, she had walked in her sleep. She warily stepped out into the hallway where she could see into her bedroom. All of the sheets had been ripped off the mattress and tossed carelessly on the floor. Josephine gasped in dismay as she entered the room to find clothes strewn everywhere. All of the dresser drawers were open and emptied of their contents which was why the floor was such a mess.
“I don’t think I like my subconscious very much,” Josephine said irritably.
She stalked into the kitchen which was spotless and orderly. It was such a relief to have at least one room untouched. Josephine started the pot of coffee then ventured into the living room which was also fine. She cleaned up the bathroom, took a quick shower, and heard the doorbell ring just as she was drying off. Josephine hastily threw on a pair of shorts and a blouse so she was presentable. She opened the door and let Alice inside.
“Did you sleep in this morning? It took you awhile to answer the door,” Alice said.
“I did sleep in a bit because of my stupid subconscious,” Josephine said irritably. “I must have walked in my sleep because my bathroom and bedroom are a mess. And of course my subconscious left a message for me.”
“What was the message?”
Josephine told her and Alice nodded with understanding as if this made perfect sense.
“I was expecting something like this. You’ll suffer from a similar affliction that Gary does because you’re linked now,” Alice said. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll be safe.”
“But my bedroom is a mess! What if my subconscious decides to trash my place the next time I go to bed and it actually does some damage this time?” Josephine said. “I don’t know if I dare go to sleep.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Your subconscious isn’t going to harm you. It’s a part of you. It’s just reflecting Gary’s symptoms as a way of communicating the stress it’s feeling.”
“It’s too early to listen to this psycho babble,” Josephine said moodily.
Helen chose that moment to arrive which saved Josephine the torment of listening to any further weirdness from her friend. The three of them gathered in the living room where Josephine filled Helen in on what she’d missed.
“I can start our first session tomorrow morning,” Alice said. “I’ll be able to determine how quickly the link between your subconscious and Gary’s can be severed once I’ve worked with you.”
“Good,” Josephine said.
“You’ll need to help me create a claro mentis enchantment sometime today.”
“We can do it right after we’re finished with our coffee,” Josephine said.
“Okay.”
“I had the strangest conversation with Robert yesterday,” Josephine said.
“Tell me about it.” Alice’s eyes shone eagerly and she leaned forward a bit.
Josephine filled her in on what had happened and her indecision to forgive Robert.
“That scumbag doesn’t deserve a reprieve,” Alice said. “You shouldn’t give him a truce. If anything, I’d be even more relentless until that bastard is driven out of this complex.”
“I think you should let bygones be bygones,” Helen said. “It takes a lot of energy to have enemies. Why not just be at peace with him? Dale is obnoxious enough without having your next door neighbor as an enemy too. Especially when your next door neighbor happens to be your ex-husband.”
“You’ve got a point there,” Josephine said thoughtfully.
“So you’re going to forgive Robert?” Helen asked hopefully.
“Don’t do it!” Alice said. “You can’t trust Spot! He’ll stab you in the back when you’re least expecting it!”
Helen threw her a reproving look. “Don’t be ridiculous. Robert is tired of this rivalry. It’s time to put it to rest.”
“Yes, I think you’re right,” Josephine said slowly. “I’ll call a truce with Robert and see how it goes.”
Chapter 15
Josephine was reclined in her armchair with Alice seated on the large sofa facing her. Alice wore sky blue pants and a blouse and the gold bracelet on her right wrist which contained the claro mentis enchantment. She was patiently guiding Josephine through the relaxation process that she’d performed with Gary but Josephine was a more difficult patient.
“I’m just not buying this,” Josephine said.
“There’s nothing to buy. You need to relax,” Alice said calmly and patiently.
Josephine frowned at her friend and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Can’t you just go ahead and do the spell? It’s taking too long. I’m getting nervous,” Josephine said.
“This is why psychiatrists need to maintain a professional distance from their patients,” Alice said in reprisal. “I really need your cooperation for this procedure to work. I’m doing you a favor.”
“I’m sorry,” Josephine apologized. “It’s just that this relaxation process
that you do seems phony to me.”
“It’s what all psychiatrists use,” Alice said. “But since it’s not working, I’ll just have you relax on your own and tell me when you’re ready. How’s that?”
“Sounds good.”
Josephine closed her eyes again and relaxed. After several moments, she indicated she was ready to proceed. Alice activated the claro mentis enchantment and the bracelet began to shimmer with a beautiful golden glow.
“Your subconscious is blocking me. I can’t make the connection,” Alice said.
“I don’t feel like I’m blocking you,” Josephine said.
“Have open thoughts. Open your mind.”
“I am.”
“No, you’re not. You’re not even trying,” Alice said with annoyance.
“Okay. Just a second.”
Josephine concentrated on feeling more open and instructed herself to allow Alice access to her mind. It sounded corny but maybe it would work. Josephine felt a strange sense of disorientation and fast movement as though she were falling. Her eyes opened and she found herself lying on the floor on the other side of the room. Alice stood over her with a concerned expression dominating her face.
“Are you okay?” Alice demanded.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Josephine said weakly. “What happened?”
“You entered a fugue state like Gary and were telling me that I needed to leave the connection between the two of you alone,” Alice said.