Asatru

by Ariana Kenny

  Chapter 13: Rachael

  About thirty seconds after Sam left to go back to his first day back to work, I called Sabian. I really wanted the chance to go over the information he had, given we hadn’t had much of a chance before my incident at the park. The way Sam had been hovering was wigging me out as well. I was feeling claustrophobic. Sabian took me up to his holiday place, the one he was thinking of moving into. It was wood paneled luxury by the sea. Mainly he talked and I listened. I appreciated the depth of what he was looking into, but in spite of the fact something truly profound, and not at all normal was happening, I couldn’t shake the feeling Sabian was getting carried away. Over time, and the more that happened though, I had to admit he was making a more convincing argument.

  After the tour, we ate lunch hanging our legs off a nearby pier, and I loved spending time with him in total acceptance. There were no worried looks from him, no sexual undertones – just two friends talking about the insane.

  As we drove back along the highway, he pulled up to an old farmhouse that was slowly letting time catch up with it. A large barn was the key marker from the road, but the place was deserted, and secluded. Sabian grinned and switched off the engine.

  “Want to see a scary part of my past?” The way he spoke intrigued me.

  “Absolutely.” I bantered, alighting from the car and following him over a broken fence line and into overgrown grass. I breathed in the warm breeze that swayed the grass, and felt for solid ground underneath my feet. “So what is this place?” I asked eventually.

  Sabian, who was slightly ahead of me and pointed towards the barn looked back smiling like a big kid. “I used to come here when I was younger. My aunt and uncle owned this place until they were bought out by some developer – but the area never took off for housing. At least not yet.” He explained. “But I used to love coming out here. I was brought up in the city, but my father was brought up in the country – he always tried to hit home how important peace and quiet were, natural things. We used to cut loose.”

  I snickered. “The great Sabian Pict, master of negotiations and business dealings cutting loose as a child. I can just imagine.” I caught up with him as the ground cleared around the barn. I looked up at the enormous structure.

  “I used to play in here with my two cousins. We used to scare the crap out of each other with ghost stories, hide in the barn and jump out when the other wasn’t expecting.” There was a tone of excitement in his voice.

  “Sounds like you loved it.” I said to him.

  “Every second. Evan, was my oldest cousin. He used to tell us there was a demon living here but he controlled it, and if we ever touched his stuff he would set it on us.” I made a disbelieving sound and Sabian looked back at me.

  “Sure, you laugh,” He continued on, “But when you’re eight, you don’t take chances like that.”

  “So it worked!” I exclaimed delighted and surprised. I imagined Sabian as a young child hiding under a blanket around a campfire as his older cousins played with him.

  “You kidding, he had a whole back story and everything. He even had this talisman, or something anyway. He used to take it out and brandish it, because he said when you curry the favour of a demon, evil spirit, or whatever it was that week, or if they owe you a debt, they will sometimes provide you with a token which can be used to call on them for a wish. That’s what he said it was, a wish token that he could use whenever he wanted to trade it for wealth, changing memories, fame….. the usual gambit….. or even to call them back into this world to execute an activity for you.”

  “Such as punish someone who messes with your things.” I added.

  “Exactly!” He confirmed.

  “Well this explains a lot.” I said looking him over like I had just figured it all out.

  “What do you mean?” He asked stunned.

  “Why you are so willing to take the leap of faith into the supernatural. You were brought up with it.” He smiled a quickly fading smile and stared at the ground.

  “Why are we here?” I asked, because I had a feeling Sabian was revisiting this part of him for a reason.

  “I had a dream I was here searching through the hay. I found Evan’s token.” He smiled again, but it was strained and he looked off in to the distance before he revealed why he was having so much trouble. “Natasha left me.” He said bluntly, breathing in deep and facing me once again.

  “I’m sorry.” I extended.

  “Not as sorry as I am. She thinks this sort of thing is…. Well, she doesn’t buy into it.”

  “You found the token, got her to come back to you.” I sympathised.

  “The desperate solutions of a child.” He added on.

  “You could have told me” He shrugged at my words. “I understand though. Not wanting to tell everyone everything that’s going on”. Looking at him I knew I could trust him implicitly. He helped me hide dead bodies – literally for heaven sake. “Sabian. I’ve been having dreams too.” I breathed. “The door I saw when we were with Armada. I’m seeing it, and …I think something is coming for me. I also think you are the only one clear headed enough to guide me through this. I am sorry about Natasha, but I am really glad you are who you are or I would be lost.”

  Sabian came over and hugged me. “It might surprise you.” He spoke as he held me tight. “But I really needed you to come along too.” With that he straightened up and looked brighter already, a firm determination on his face. “If you want, I can call Armada again, organise a visit tomorrow.”

  “That sounds good.” I said, but I already knew I was going to be going without him.

  We walked back to the car, and talked about lighter things all the way back to the apartment, and I left Sabian thinking I was going to be seeing him the next day to visit Armada. But the first thing I did was take out the phone I had lifted from Sabian’s car, and dial Armada’s number.