Grumpy Old Wizards

by John O'Riley

  “How long was I out?” Josephine asked.

  “If you mean how long were you all weird and creepy, I’d say about five minutes,” Alex said.

  “What happened? Was I able to keep the dampening field up?” Josephine asked.

  “The knives fell to the floor and nothing seemed to happen. You were just staring off into space,” Alex said.

  “You brought up a powerful dampening field that seemed to protect the entire condo rather than just this one room,” Dustin said. “I’ve never seen such a big dampening field before. Of course, in my line of work I haven’t had to use them much.”

  He was still pointing his clear, quartz wand at Morgan with the tip radiating a bright, glowing spark of luminescence. Two more medics arrived and carefully removed the knives from Morgan’s body before carrying him to the ambulance. This left Josephine alone with Alex.

  “My God. There’s no stopping the killer,” Josephine said fearfully. “He’s too powerful. Not even an enforcer was able to protect himself.”

  “You’ll be okay. We should go to the police station and wait for another enforcer to be assigned to you,” Alex said.

  Someone knocked at the door just as they were getting ready to leave. Josephine checked the peephole to discover Jake. She opened the door and gave him a fierce hug.

  “Grandma, what happened?” Jake asked.

  Alex filled him in on what had transpired. Jake had heard about the attack from the dispatcher at the station but hadn’t known the details. Alex cleaned Josephine’s arm and bandaged it. Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped all on its own and it was a very minor cut. Josephine knew she had been extremely lucky and that her time was running out.

  Chapter 17

  Morgan stood over the three elderly women like a dark, sulking cloud waiting to pour rain over unsuspecting victims. His knife wounds had completely healed last night thanks to the proficiency of magic performed by the wizards at the hospital. Not even a trace of a scar had been left despite the seriousness of the injuries. Josephine took a sip of her chocolate-mint flavored coffee as she struggled unsuccessfully to block all thoughts of the surly enforcer from her mind. Alice and Helen were trying to ignore Morgan as well but kept glancing nervously at him. It was easier for Josephine because she had her back to him.

  “Half of the people in Sarasota blacked out because of the knockout spell that the serial killer cast from Siesta Key beach yesterday. It’s horrifying to think any individual has that much power,” Helen said.

  “I know,” Josephine said. “No one should have that kind of power – not even someone in law enforcement.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Morgan asked in a surly tone.

  “I’m just stating a fact,” Josephine said coolly. “If you take any offense to my remark, it’s only because you internalized it.”

  “It sounded like you were talking about me.”

  “I was being completely hypothetical. I didn’t name anyone specifically. Are you saying that you could do what the serial killer did with the knockout spell?” Josephine said challengingly.

  “As a matter of fact, I could do more than what he did,” Morgan said crisply. “I could probably take out the entire city if I wanted and maybe even extend the spell farther. I could possibly take out parts of Venice and Bradenton.”

  “Whatever,” Josephine said before taking another drink of her coffee.

  Helen blanched at the enforcer’s bragging and exchanged a concerned look with Alice. Josephine hoped Morgan was just blustering because no individual should have that kind of power. She hated having him in her personal life like this. She couldn’t even enjoy a simple chat with her friends in the morning without him intruding on her privacy.

  “That knockout spell caused a lot of injuries,” Helen said. “People who were driving on the freeway had major accidents. There were some fatalities too.”

  “Were we going to the gym this morning?” Alice asked.

  “Yes,” Josephine said. “I don’t see any reason to change our plans.”

  “We need to go to the police station to look at evidence from the crime scenes,” Morgan said.

  “We can do that after we go to the gym,” Josephine said firmly.

  “That’s fine but you can’t spend all day goofing around,” Morgan said.

  “In case you didn’t notice, I’m retired. I’ve worked my entire life and I’m old now. Retired people are supposed to be able to enjoy themselves,” Josephine said.

  “You’re a category six. You could be working another sixty or eighty years before you need to retire,” Morgan said coolly.

  Josephine frowned over her coffee and wished she could hurl a jinx at him without needing to worry about consequences. He was such a slime ball. A pressure began to build in her temples and the room seemed to slowly shift from side to side. Josephine shivered as chills danced along her skin.

  “Josephine,” Helen said in a choked, anxious tone.

  “What is it?” Josephine asked.

  She screamed as pain suddenly tore through her head. She passed out and awakened abruptly sitting up. A thin layer of snow covered the living room floor and she was shivering uncontrollably. Morgan, Alice and Helen were standing a safe distance away from her. Josephine’s mug of coffee was hovering in the air to her right. She grasped it and cringed at the cold. The remaining coffee had frozen inside the mug.

  “It’s about time you woke up,” Morgan said.

  “What happened?” Josephine asked.

  “You were in a fugue state. You were completely unresponsive.”

  “So I made it snow in here?” Josephine asked.

  “Yes,” Morgan said. “You also made some things float and some things you dropped and broke on the floor.”

  Josephine gazed down and saw that there were several broken mugs which had previously been safely stowed away in the cupboard.

  “What’s happening to me?” she asked.

  “Your subconscious is being strained by the link to Gary. It needs to be severed,” Morgan said.

  “You tried before but you couldn’t do it,” Josephine pointed out.

  “I intend to do it with help this time,” Morgan said. “Jennifer will be coming over shortly to assist me.”

  “When are you going to do it?” Josephine asked.

  “As soon as she gets here. It should be in another few minutes or so. I called her while you were doing your whammy on the room.”

  “That wouldn’t be a good idea,” Alice said authoritatively. “You should wait at least several hours for her mind to recuperate.”

  “If we do that, she’ll be able to resist us better. We have to link with her while her energy is low,” Morgan said.

  “A category six wizard never has low energy. I would think that someone of your abilities and experience would realize that,” Alice said.

  “I realize that,” Morgan said with a trace of annoyance. “But we are severing her link to Gary. It’s too unstable and makes her vulnerable to the serial killer’s attacks.”

  “So far, the link has helped to save her from the serial killer’s attacks,” Alice said in a reasonable tone. “Maybe it would be best to leave it for now.”

  “The unconscious mind is completely unpredictable. Just because she was lucky enough to be protected in one or two instances, doesn’t mean that her subconscious will continue to behave in the same manner.”

  Alice cocked a bemused brow at him but let the matter rest.

  “I’m afraid I need to ask you all to leave,” Morgan said to her and Helen.

  “We’re going to the gym as soon as you perform the claro mentis enchantment,” Josephine said. “I’d like for them to stay.”

  “I must insist that they leave now. You can call them when we’re finished and you want to go to your little gym,” Morgan said frostily.

  Josephine rolled her eyes with annoyance but a sense of foreboding took root in her mind.

  “We’ll see you soon,” Helen said.<
br />
  “Talk to you later. Nice cup of coffee,” Alice said in a strained voice.

  When Josephine’s friends left, Morgan activated the security enchantments on the door and turned to face her.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  “About what?” Josephine asked nervously.

  “Your aequitas enchantment is no longer active,” Morgan said with a grave frown. “This means either your subconscious deactivated it while you were in the fugue state or your body has adapted to the enchantment. We need to find out for sure before a decision can be made. Of course, you must reveal none of this or you’ll be sent to jail for treason.”

  “Of course,” Josephine said quietly.

  “If your body has adapted to the aequitas enchantment which does occasionally occur among category six wizards, you’ll need to go to training camp to become an OC enforcer,” Morgan said.

  “What’s that?” Josephine asked.

  “Basically, it means you learn to control your abilities and agree to take assignments across the United States when needed. You’ll be completely undercover so no one will be able to know what you’re doing – including the local police. When you do your assignments, you’ll need a disguise and false identification so you’re not discovered.”

  “Why do you have such a program?” Josephine asked.

  “It’s an option to keep you useful and to keep your powers under control. If you fail your training, you’ll need to wear a constrixi enchantment which will bind your powers. The constrixi is tied to a topaz ring and will keep your power under wraps. If you ever take it off then you’ll be knocked out and the enforcers will be immediately notified.”

  “I think you’re jumping the gun a little bit,” Josephine said shakily. “Probably what deactivated the aequitas enchantment was my subconscious mind when I was trapped in the fugue state.”

  “I believe that is the case but I wanted to let you know what would happen if I found out otherwise,” Morgan said crisply.

  “That’s why you want to sever my connection with Gary as soon as possible,” Josephine said.

  “Yes. That and the reason that I mentioned in front of your friends regarding the unpredictability of your subconscious mind.”

  Josephine’s mind swirled with possibilities. She wondered if she would end up being forced to become an OC enforcer or if she could hide her ability to neutralize aequitas enchantments from Morgan. The doorbell rang and Morgan went to answer it. A thin woman in her early thirties stepped into the living room. She had frizzy red hair, intense blue eyes, and barely restrained power hummed from her body as if ready to explode at any moment.

  “This is Jennifer,” Morgan said. “Jennifer, this is Josephine.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Jennifer said.

  “You’re a category six,” Josephine said.

  Jennifer turned to fix Morgan with a questioning look. “She knows?”

  “Yes.”

  “You are correct. I’m an OC enforcer,” Jennifer’s disquieting, blue gaze focused on Josephine.

  Something about Jennifer was deeply disturbing and it wasn’t just the intense power. Josephine wished she knew for sure what the source of this intuitive warning came from but she had learned through her life to trust her instincts. She dreaded the claro mentis enchantment she would be forced to endure and wished there was a way to halt the process.

  “Sit down so we can get started,” Morgan said.

  “Shouldn’t we discuss things first?” Josephine said.

  “There’s nothing to discuss,” Morgan said.

  “What if you aren’t able to sever my connection with Gary?”

  “With Jennifer’s help, the claro mentis enchantment will definitely be successful,” Morgan said.

  He pulled out a wooden wand with a gold handle engraved with rune-like symbols. Jennifer wordlessly took out a similar wand.

  “Close your eyes and relax. If you don’t, this process will be more difficult for you,” Morgan said.

  Josephine reluctantly closed her eyes but knew this would not be a pleasant experience. Her head began to pound with pressure and an overwhelming dizziness tore through her. The pressure in her temples quickly escalated and she clutched the cushions of the couch as hot shards of pain rushed through her body. The temperature in the room plummeted and she could feel cold moisture pressing against her skin. She opened her eyes to find that it was gently snowing in the room. Morgan’s and Jennifer’s eyes were glowing with a bright, golden luminescence. Their brows were furrowed with concentration and the same gold light spilled from the tips of their wands which they had pointed at Josephine. She squeezed her eyes shut and instructed herself to relax but it was hopeless. The dizziness and pain were so overwhelming that she longed to pass out. Soon, she got her wish. Josephine found herself floating several feet above her body a short while later. Her consciousness felt restricted and she couldn’t control her movements. She was floating helplessly in the air watching Morgan and Jennifer continue to perform the claro mentis and snow gently falling from the ceiling. Oddly enough, Josephine’s body was sitting straight up and her eyes were open and vacant.

  “The link with Gary must remain in place,” Josephine’s authoritative voice boomed from several locations in the room.

  Josephine realized at this point that her subconscious had taken over and that she was somehow able to retain her awareness of the surroundings.

  “Stop resisting us,” Morgan said intently. “You’re only making it harder on yourself.”

  “I won’t let you into Josephine’s mind,” Josephine’s voice boomed throughout the room. “The link must remain in place until the serial killer is found and locked away.”

  “I will find the killer. You must sever your link with Gary,” Morgan said forcefully.

  “The killer must be stopped.”

  “I will stop him but you’re hindering my investigation. You must allow me to sever your connection with Gary.”

  “No, you are not powerful enough. If I let you work on your own, Josephine will end up dead. Only her connection with Gary can save her.” Josephine slowly rose from her chair and her vacant gaze remained fixed on nothing although she faced Morgan.

  He scowled at her and moved his wand so that it remained pointed at her chest.

  “Sit down,” he ordered.

  A powerful dampening field quickly formed around Josephine. The claro mentis enchantment was only partially established and would break if they didn’t strengthen the spell enough to compensate.

  “Stop resisting us or we will have to bind Josephine’s power,” Morgan ordered.

  “You can bind her power but you can’t bind mine,” Josephine’s voice boomed in a threatening tone. “I will make you very sorry if you take such a course of action.”

  Morgan’s body began to shake with exertion and the golden glow at the tip of his wand dimmed. He breathed heavily and seemed to gather more strength because the golden luminescence flared back to its former bright glow once again. Jennifer’s hand trembled as she continued her work. A tremendous flow of power streamed from her body with such potent force that Josephine was surprised it didn’t completely dissolve the dampening field that protected her body. Josephine realized that she was a lot stronger than she had ever imagined if her subconscious could ward off two enforcers like this; especially when one of them was a category six like herself.

  “I don’t think we can do this,” Jennifer murmured.

  “Don’t stop,” Morgan said intently. “We must sever their link.”

  “This is hopeless.”

  “Be quiet,” Morgan said sternly.

  Jennifer sighed loudly and her arm continued to tremble. Morgan pulled out another wand and activated a powerful telekinetic spell at Josephine which ripped a sizable tear in the dampening field. Before he could make any progress, the dampening field quickly strengthened and prevented him from deepening the connection to her mind. Morgan’s body slowly lifted into the air until he was h
overing about a foot above the floor.

  “Put me down,” Morgan snarled.

  “If you don’t stop helping the serial killer, you will be sorry,” Josephine’s voice boomed at him.

  “I’m trying to catch the killer – not help him, you idiot!”

  “If you don’t stop helping the serial killer, I will make you suffer. Stop performing the claro mentis now.”

  Morgan glared at her with fury but the glow at the tip of his wand and his eyes quickly died away. Jennifer also stopped her efforts with an expression of relief on her face. Morgan’s body slowly lowered to the floor.