by John O'Riley
“You’ll pay for this,” Morgan said.
“If you let the killer get to Josephine, I will make you suffer,” Josephine’s authoritative voice echoed eerily throughout the room.
Morgan blanched but quickly hid his startled reaction. Josephine’s consciousness abruptly returned to her body and her knees crashed to the floor. She desperately grabbed the edge of the armchair to her right to keep from falling flat on her face.
“Oh my God,” she said.
She leaned against the sofa because her body felt so weak at the moment. She remained in her kneeling position clutching the armchair until her strength began to return. She slowly lifted herself into a standing position and saw Morgan scowling at her. It would probably be best if she feigned complete ignorance.
“Did you sever the connection with Gary?” Josephine asked.
“No, I didn’t,” Morgan said frostily.
“What happened?” Josephine asked.
“I changed my mind,” Morgan said abruptly. “I decided after some careful thought that it may be in our best interest to keep your connection with Gary in place.”
“Really?” Josephine asked.
She glanced at Jennifer and could see that she looked surprised by this revelation as well. Jennifer quickly hid her surprise and looked stoically at Josephine with her intense, blue eyes.
“Yes,” Morgan said. “Your subconscious can lend extra help during our investigation. Yours seems to be more stable than most people’s and it can perform magic a lot better than anyone I’ve met. We may need the help if the serial killer catches us off guard.”
“Okay,” Josephine said.
“You may go to the gym with your friends now, if you wish,” Morgan said.
Josephine bit back a scathing remark that would probably make him even more obnoxious than he was currently behaving. It was almost like being under house arrest. She had no privacy and couldn’t run her life the way she wanted to. He reminded her of a pesky mosquito that flew too quickly to swat unless you let it sting you. She would be so glad once she was rid of Morgan. Josephine called her friends and she drove them down to the gym with Morgan positioned in the front passenger seat. She had wanted him to sit in the back but he’d insisted that he couldn’t protect her as well and had refused to comply with her wishes. Jennifer had left without saying a word. Josephine walked over to the ab cruncher machine and began her workout routine. Alice and Helen chose the two machines on either side of her. Alice half-heartedly pushed on the weights but Helen wasn’t even pretending. Helen was lounging in the leg extension chair watching the other gym members exercise.
“Oh my God!” Alice exclaimed.
Josephine hadn’t realized how stressed she was until she jumped at her friend’s unexpected show of surprise and she almost lost her grip on the handles of the weight machine. Josephine brought herself back to the beginning position and slid her gaze over to her friend.
“What is it?” Josephine asked.
“Spot’s working out across the room,” Alice said.
“Robert and I have an understanding. We’ve decided not to antagonize each other anymore,” Josephine said.
“Really?” Alice said. “I’m surprised to hear that. You sounded like you weren’t going to take him up on his offer of a truce the last time you talked about him.”
“My life is too complicated without making new enemies. I have a serial killer to catch and an enforcer breathing down my neck,” Josephine said. “I’d like to kick Morgan’s ass and shove him down a flight of stairs.”
“You’re awful violent today,” Alice teased. “I think you need to drink less coffee.”
“Coffee is what keeps me sane in this crazy world.”
“Yes, coffee is known for its calming effect,” Alice quipped.
Robert caught sight of them and waved. Josephine smiled and waved back. She resumed her work on the ab cruncher even as she mulled over how strange it felt to make such a civil gesture to Robert. It felt counteractive to her instincts to be friendly to him although she only had a small desire to toss a jinx at him. She was definitely making good progress in regard to her feelings for him. Josephine finished the set and began her resting period. She liked to do three sets on each machine because that required less moving around. She glanced behind her and saw Morgan talking on his cell phone across the room. His gaze was fixed in her general direction but he looked to be engrossed in a conversation. Josephine wondered what was being discussed.
“How long do you think it will take for the enforcers to find the serial killer?” Josephine asked.
“I don’t think it will take long at all. Enforcers have a vast array of magical tools at their disposal,” Helen said.
“That doesn’t mean they’ll be able to track down a serial killer,” Alice said derisively. “Look at how Morgan’s doing. We’ve already seen him screw up a claro mentis.”
“You said it takes years of psychiatric practice to perfect that enchantment,” Helen said.
“Enforcers have to go through a two year training course and continue their practice for five additional years. If Morgan is the best that the MEA has to offer then I don’t have too much confidence in their competency,” Alice said.
“Me neither,” Josephine said. “The Magical Enforcement Agency is supposed to train their field agents for the highest caliber of work and provide the best equipment. I’m certainly starting to have doubts about them.”
Morgan ended his conversation and pocketed his phone. His gaze honed in on Josephine and she stiffened reflexively. She never felt comfortable being the object of his attention even if he was here to protect her. He’d already noticed that her aequitas enchantment had failed. She fervently hoped she could hide the fact that she knew how to disarm the aequitas enchantment intentionally because if she couldn’t, he would force her to enroll in the OC enforcement program. It sounded like a nightmare. If she became an OC enforcer, she’d never be able to retire. Sometimes, it really sucked to be a category six wizard.
Chapter 18
Josephine quickly took in her surroundings as she abruptly found herself standing at Siesta Key beach facing the gently lapping waves. It was early in the evening and the sun had set. The night was rapidly approaching and she’d somehow ended up here. She knew that she must have slipped into a fugue state and her subconscious had taken over. It had brought her here for some inexplicable reason. Hardly anyone occupied the beach at this point. Josephine weaved as dizziness crashed into her body like a physical force that threatened to knock her off her feet. She stumbled and abruptly left her body so that she was floating about a dozen feet behind herself. She tried to get back but had no control of her etheric body at this point except the ability to turn her gaze.
She watched helplessly as her body slowly stepped towards the edge of the water. Her body stopped walking as soon as her feet reached the ocean waves. Josephine’s arms raised and her subconscious connected with the vortex. She watched in astonishment as unimaginable power flooded through her body. It was disheartening to experience this lack of control. The vortex turned an angry shade of red and a violent wind whipped through the beach.
“What are you doing?” Morgan stepped into view wearing black pants and a black silk collared shirt.
“Leave me alone,” Josephine’s voice drifted from many directions and echoed eerily.
“You need to tell me what you’re doing,” Morgan said forcefully. “This is what the serial killer does. Are you the serial killer?”
Josephine’s head turned and she was shocked to see that her face was transformed to look like Brenda Kirkland. Spittle dribbled from the corner of her mouth and her eyes conveyed madness.
“You will be healed once I have accomplished my mission. You will learn to repent,” Brenda said.
“Why have you changed your face? You look and sound like Brenda,” Morgan said.
“You may be left behind when the rapture comes but you will learn from Jesus and you will be healed,” Brenda said.
“Do you think you’re Brenda?”
“I am Josephine,” Brenda said.
She turned back to face the vortex and began creating an enchantment within its massive depths.
“You’re performing similar magic to the serial killer. Why?” Morgan said forcefully. He regarded her intently and waited for an answer. When none was forthcoming, he took a couple of steps back and snapped, “You will answer my questions or I will stop you from doing whatever it is you’re doing.”
A powerful dampening field popped into existence around Josephine’s body. She had never seen one created so quickly. Morgan immediately began to work on dissipating it.
“You must be the serial killer. You must be stopped,” Morgan said.
“I am not a killer!” Brenda screamed and whirled to confront him. Her crazed eyes glowed with an eerie red light. “You will be cleansed!”
She brought her arm up and shot out a powerful telekinetic wave at Morgan which he managed to deflect. He immediately connected with the power vortex and began to create his own dampening field.
“You will be cleansed!” Brenda screamed.
Josephine’s mind whirled with confusion and terror as she watched Brenda fire another telekinetic wave of energy at Morgan. He brought up a shield but it collapsed under the attack. He was no match for Brenda. Josephine wondered why her subconscious had cast an illusion of Brenda onto her body. It was strange. She could see now why Morgan had wanted to disconnect her link with Gary. The subconscious was something that couldn’t be predicted. It was a wild card and it was powerful. Morgan brought up another shield but it didn’t completely protect him from the next blast. He was thrown backward and fell to the sandy ground. Brenda took several steps toward him and fired another bolt of telekinetic energy. He deflected the attack but he really looked exhausted. He wouldn’t be able to fend her off for much longer.
“Stop what you’re doing!” Josephine shouted.
Brenda flinched and threw her a troubled look.
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Brenda said with confusion.
“I am you!”
“No, we are separate from each other. I take control when you are weak and in danger,” Brenda said.
“Why do you look like Brenda?” Morgan asked.
Brenda’s attention snapped back to him and her crazed eyes narrowed into angry slits.
“You will be cleansed!” she screeched.
She launched another volley of telekinetic power which Morgan partially fended off.
“I’ve had enough!” he said icily.
A blinding white light erupted all around them and Josephine opened her eyes to discover it was early in the morning and she was laying in her bed. She abruptly sat up and checked the time. It was only shortly after six in the morning. What had just happened to her? She sighed with relief when she realized she’d only had a nightmare. Unfortunately, she had the disturbing sense of Morgan’s presence as though he occupied the room with her. Josephine shoved the sheets aside and slipped out of bed. Her door opened unexpectedly and Morgan stood there in his black outfit.
“You had an interesting dream,” Morgan said.
“What?” Josephine froze and fear took hold of her.
He’d somehow been snooping in her dreams. It must have been a somnium inviso enchantment. That was a spell used in psychiatric therapy and sometimes criminal investigations if a warrant was issued.
“I hope you got a warrant before you decided to invade my dreams,” Josephine said tightly.
“Of course I’ve got a warrant,” Morgan said and reached into his pocket to pull out a neatly folded document. “This is just a copy so you can have it.”
“Thank you for your generosity,” Josephine said snidely.
She snatched it from his hand and glanced over the legal document. Unfortunately, she could tell it was probably legitimate.
“Why was it necessary to intrude on my privacy like that?” Josephine asked after a lengthy silence.
“A somnium inviso enchantment allows peripheral access to the subconscious. If I perform the spell several more times, it will be a lot easier to do the claro mentis enchantment which will allow me to sever your link with Gary.”
“Why did you lie about changing your mind and deciding to keep the link when you had no intention of doing so?”
“Your subconscious may have noticed the somnium inviso enchantment if it was aware that I still intended on severing its link to Gary. It’s imperative that you regain full control. You’re a liability with your subconscious running loose like it’s doing,” Morgan said.
“Its goal is to protect me from the serial killer. I think that’s a benefit.”
“It’s not natural for the subconscious to be fractured enough to control your conscious mind and put you in those fugue states. It’s creating a pressure on your mind and body that isn’t healthy.”
“I seriously doubt you’re concerned over my wellbeing,” Josephine said haughtily.
“I’m more concerned about catching the serial killer and making sure you don’t screw up this investigation with uncontrollable behavior,” Morgan said impatiently. “Is that what you want to hear?”
“I want you to leave me alone and get the hell out of my home!” Josephine shouted.
“That’s not going to happen,” Morgan said coolly.
Josephine sighed with frustration and turned her back on him. She wished her subconscious would take over and slap him around a little. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t help her situation. She didn’t need any more complications in her life. Josephine turned around and discovered Morgan was quietly watching her. She walked briskly past him and out of the room. She made her way into the kitchen and quickly set up the coffee maker. After finishing this task, she took a quick shower and waited for her friends to arrive. When they all settled at the living room table with their cups of coffee, Josephine launched into the unsettling experience she’d had regarding Morgan invading her dream. Helen kept shifting her gaze nervously to take in Morgan’s reaction but he stood impassively with a mug of coffee in his hand as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
Alice leveled him a dirty look. “You should be ashamed of yourself. That’s an invasive spell.”
“It’s the only way I’ll be able to successfully cast the claro mentis spell on Josephine and free her of the link to Gary’s subconscious,” Morgan said.
Alice rolled her eyes with exasperation but let the subject drop. Josephine wished the police or the enforcers would catch the serial killer so her life could return to normal. She hated feeling trapped and watched like this. It felt like everything she did was under scrutiny.
“I must warn you that he’ll be able to pick up some of your stray thoughts. It’s one of the side effects of the somnium inviso enchantment,” Alice said regretfully.
“He can read my mind?” Josephine asked.
“He’ll pick up some stray thoughts but not really read you,” Alice explained.
“Do you have something to hide?” Morgan said with what appeared to be a forced casual air.
“Of course not!” Josephine said indignantly.
She tried to squash the rise of panic that threatened to consume her mind as she drank some more coffee. She couldn’t let him know about her ability to deactivate the aequitas enchantment. If he found out, her life would be ruined. She’d be forced to go through an intense training camp for enforcers which would be extremely arduous and stressful. If she didn’t pass, she’d probably be sent to prison. Once she did pass the training, she would be like a secret agent. She would never be able to relax without worrying about when her next mission would be foisted upon her. She couldn’t stand the thought of living like that. Josephine took another swallow of coffee and tried burying her thoughts. The more upset she was, the stronger she broadcasted telepathically. She needed to control her thoughts and keep herself as calm as possible.
Morgan’s gaze locked onto hers and a hint of a cold s
mile curved his lips. She wondered if he’d already found out what she could do and was just biding his time before he reported her to the MEA. She dragged her attention back to her friends and forced an awkward monologue from her lips. Helen was only too happy to pretend everything was fine and talk about mundane topics. Alice played along but occasionally threw disapproving glares at Morgan. The enforcer’s cell rang and he answered it. His eyes widened in surprise at whatever was being said and he swiftly stepped out of the room.
“I wonder what’s going on,” Alice said with obvious amusement. “I’ve never seen him react like that before.”
“Must be something serious,” Helen said dourly. “Whatever the news is, it can’t be good.”
“Not for him anyway,” Alice said snidely.
When Morgan returned to the kitchen, his face taut with tension.
“You two will have to leave now. Josephine and I are needed at the police station,” Morgan said brusquely.
“I haven’t finished my coffee!” Alice said indignantly.
“The serial killer just murdered someone in Seattle, Washington,” Morgan said.
“How can that be?” Alice asked.
“Obviously, he must have taken a plane. That’s the only way he could have gotten there fast enough after the last time he connected with the power vortex at Siesta Key,” Morgan said.
“Why do you and I need to go to the police station?” Josephine asked.
“You and Gary will look over the evidence together,” Morgan said. “Gary’s subconscious mind should be able to pick up things that his conscious mind hasn’t.”
“Why do you need me there?” Josephine asked.
“Since you’re linked, it’s more likely that his subconscious will act if you’re there working with him,” Morgan said impatiently. “Do I have to explain everything to you?”
“It was just a question.”
“You two need to get moving.” Morgan shot Alice and Helen severe looks and they quickly excused themselves.
“I hope you’re happy,” Josephine snapped. “You’re alienating my friends.”
“We’re on important police business.”