“Hell is right. That’s where these things are from. I’d say it’s probably a Fury because of the aggression against men…men who have perpetrated evil towards women.”
Jennifer blinked three times and spun on her heel and said, “Okay, I’m outta here. You’re bonkers!”
“Bastille! Come here, now.”
Still heading toward the door, Jennifer saw a black streak pass her and the door was barred by the snarling cat that was now menacing.
The Fury came out to see what the commotion was about. It saw the pentagrams and the hissing cat and became uneasy. Abatu couldn’t afford to have the witch and her familiar throw it in jeopardy just yet. Kyma’s killer had yet to be found and the Fury was just beginning to have some fun. The demon hissed back at the cat.
Watching Jennifer hiss at Bastille spooked Betty. As she stifled a cry, the heavy book fell from her hands and thudded to the floor.
In seconds, Jennifer felt something heavy cover her from behind. It was some sort of heavy cloak but the fabric was white. She thrashed but couldn’t get free. She heard Betty saying words she didn’t understand and heard splatters hit the heavy cloak but did not feel anything. When the excruciating sound of the gong came, something deep inside of Jennifer quaked and rattled her to her teeth. With a strangled wail Jennifer fell into a crumpled heap.
***
Abatu was incensed! The host was unconscious and it was suspended in midair by the lady cop, cum witch. Snarling and snapping its claws at the witch was proving ineffectual. The Fury tried to possess the witch but when it tried to breach the woman’s spirit Fury Abatu encountered a spirit wall that completely encased the blasted witch. The demon shrieked.
“That’s right you mean little sucker. You can’t jump into me! I’m on to you and your kind.” Hands outstretched, Betty held the Fury in stasis in an impenetrable sphere. Watching the diminutive demon squirm and writhe in hopes of escaping, Betty almost laughed, but knew better.
“You’re so damned tiny! It’s hard to believe that you’ve caused Jennifer all this trouble. But unlike our world, size doesn’t matter in the spirit world, does it?”
The Fury hissed and turned to glare at its captor.
<<“What do you want from me? I did not bother you…”>>
Betty was taken aback. The voice was deep and menacing as it reverberated inside her mind. “You already know that I want you to leave my friend alone!”
<<“I cannot. Your friend has accepted me,”>> the Fury crooned using its power of persuasion.
<<“She wanted my assistance in removing the trauma from her memories…”>>
“That’s a lie! You jumped into her from the dead woman! When Jennifer hit her head!” Betty made the connection as a rusty tinderbox sound of laughter that seemed to come from all around her made her elation waver.
<<“Not quite, witch. A very good deduction but no cigar.”>>
Betty chewed on her lip wondering if the Fury was trying to mess with her mind. She increased the number of protective spiritual light layers around herself and her aura; this Fury was insidious and she couldn’t underestimate its powers. The effort of protecting herself and entrapping the Fury was taking a toll on her. Betty began to sweat. She quickly sent a telepathic prayer-message to Lady Ariella, the High Priestess of her coven. Within thirty seconds, her phone rang. Keeping her concentration trained on maintaining the protective sphere, Betty walked to the phone on the credenza near the entrance to the kitchen. She picked up her landline phone on the second ring.
“You’re never going to believe this one, Lady Ariella.”
“Try me.”
“A fellow officer got herself snared by a Fury. I’ve got it trapped in a spirit sphere and I’m fresh out of ideas on what to do next.”
“You’re home?”
“Affirmative.”
“See you in fifteen. Can you hold out that long?”
A long pregnant pause passed as the High Priestess sent a prayer-message to her eldest coven member. Betty grunted to let her know the message was received.
“I’ll try to get there faster.”
“Thank you, my Lady.”
The line went dead. Dropping the phone onto the base she leaned over and scooped up a small round object near the phone. Walking back to the spirit sphere, she inspected her magical sphere and the Fury within whose back was now turned.
“What are you up to in there?”
“Ponder well upon my likeness,
You’d do well to quote my speech.
Here in your world of light and darkness;
The balance has been lost!
Rains, winds and the hounds of Hell,
Hath ruined the fields of the Dell.
No need to look for clues,
All you need is to book your cruise —
To the Underworld from where I arise;
I will take you back with thunderous drums
And peel the skin right from your bones and
Grate your skin into my nose to be as petals of a rose gone old.
I feel you quake, shiver and roll as my rage grows evermore!
Stop this charade of imprisonment do! Or else you too shall rue
The day you interfered and broke the chain from host to Fury Abatu!”
The Fury’s incantation grew in pitch until the onslaught of sound brought incredible pain into Betty’s head that was impossible to ignore. Fighting with every ounce of strength, Betty bit down hard on her tongue until she tasted blood. The pain ground to a halt and the Fury watched, salivating, as a thin trail of blood leaked out of Betty’s mouth.
“Come and get me you old bitch. Come and get me if you dare,” whispered Betty.
The Fury bellowed and ran straight through the sphere bursting it into tiny glass shards that rained down on the still unconscious Jennifer wrapped in the white cloak. It zoomed straight toward Betty who was bouncing on the balls of her feet like a third baseman trying to strike out the favored runner. She smirked at the small ball of furious demon hurtling towards her. At the last second, Betty pulled the round object out and trapped the Fury inside a polished spherical paperweight made of lead crystal.
Betty immediately kneeled and prayed as the High Priestess instructed her via that last prayer-message.
“Peaceful Mother of the Earth, hear my prayer. I beseech you to triple my powers of concentration, tolerance and patience to hold captive this pugnacious visitor from the Ancient One who wishes us more harm than good. Give me the sustenance that I require to maintain this entrapment to protect the soul and life of Jennifer Holden. I ask this of you, and so shall it be!”
Little pinpricks of light began to dot the room until the room felt lighter than air; lighter than the coolest mountain breeze. As the room filled with the ephemeral beauty of the Earth Mother goddess, Betty felt her fatigue drain away as the radiant light buoyed her and made the task of keeping the Fury contained not even a slight difficulty.
Betty grinned as she saw the light envelop Jennifer’s prone body and the white of the cloak shined bright as the light slid over her friend.
Unbeknownst to Betty, the Earth Goddess was healing the damage the Fury had caused in Jennifer’s mind, body and soul.
Time crept on tiny feet as the Goddess did her work. The deity distributed Her white light into every corner, under every nook and poked Her brilliance into each crevice until no dark spaces could be found anywhere in Betty’s house or on the grounds the home rested upon.
Betty felt a caress upon her cheek and closed her eyes to take in the wondrous feeling. She allowed herself to relax into the Goddess’ healing and smiled her pleasure when the Fury was iced, then silenced, by the Goddess. The icicle-laden lead crystal sphere fell to the floor with a thud.
The light diminished slowly as if a dial was being turned down until the room returned to normal luminosity.
The doorbell rang.
Rising slowly, Betty went to let Lady Ariella in.
***
�
�You’ve done very well, my sister,” Ariella’s sliver earrings studded with turquoise, rose quartz and obsidian touched Betty’s shoulder as the mature matronly woman moved to embrace Betty. The High Priestess wiped Betty’s brow with her thumb and tasted it. “Much agony and fear; I see the Mother answered your call and made you strong again. I’m glad you called on Her.”
“Kind of had no choice and you told me to call. Besides, there was no way I was holding that thing off until you got here. It ran right through my spirit sphere!”
The High Priestess looked over at the white-cloaked bundle on the floor.
“We need to speak with her now. We must know what she remembers.”
“But — the Fury?”
“The Goddess has entrapped it.”
“For how long? What do we do with it? Is it gone? Is Jennifer safe? She murdered a man!”
Shooting Betty a stern look, the High Priestess moved over to Jennifer and pulled the cloak off of her, being mindful of the tiny glass shards.
“Haven’t you learned the ways of the Mother yet? All is as it should be. The Mother brings things back into balance. Sometimes we understand and other times…we do not. Take care and remember that.”
Puzzled, Betty looked at the High Priestess and prayed that one day she would become as calm and wise as the woman before her. She went to help the High Priestess assist Jennifer onto the couch.
“She’s coming to. Should I get her some water?”
“No, she will be refreshed from the Mother’s healing. She’ll be fine. Name?”
“Jennifer Holden…Detective Holden…uhm, also called Holy Holden — atheist.”
“Right, your colleague. So, no practicing religion of any kind? Not even as a child?”
“Not that she’s ever said to me. This is not a regular topic among cops, Lady Ariella.” “Hmm. Family practices?”
“Ah, no real family structure to speak of; not even sure if her mother’s still in the picture. Raped by her uncle. She just divulged those deets this afternoon.”
“Oh dear…” Lady Ariella looked down at the slim woman now settled on the couch and frowned. More to herself than to Betty she muttered, “I wonder what our Divine Mother has in store for you.”
Lady Ariella took Jennifer’s hand and patted it three times. Within moments, Jennifer’s eyes fluttered open and she stretched as if she was surfacing from a restful night’s sleep.
When she focused on who was touching her, she drew her hands back and exclaimed, “Oh! Who are you?!”
“Jennifer? This is my Aunt Cora! She was in the neighborhood and stopped by to pay me a visit and you…fell asleep after lunch so I didn’t want to disturb you and — say hi! Cora? Jennifer. Jennifer…Cora. Anybody want some tea? Water? Something stronger?”
Betty stumbled through the introductions and stood up ready to flee into the safety of the kitchen as she saw thunder clouds of accusation brewing in her friend’s eyes.
“Jennifer, what do you remember of today?” Lady Ariella questioned.
“Bad dreams. Coming here to talk to Feinster about…a problem I’m experiencing…with work. And, eating, then coming into the living room and feeling this heavy thing cover me and then — nothing.”
“Let me clear up some things for you now. Kamali, please make us all some tea.” Lady Ariella waited until Betty left the living room before speaking.
“My name is Cora Wadsworth. I am also known as Lady Ariella, the High Priestess of the East Raven coven that Betty – Kamali – is the eldest member of, and she’s been a member for the better part of 5 years and is an initiated First Degree witch. She’s a good and dedicated priestess but high-strung, not quite as trusting in the Mother as I’d like her to be at this stage. I’m sure being an officer of the law has something to do with her skepticism. Getting back to you, she clearly has a strong bond with you and that is what may have saved your life.”
Jennifer jerked as if she had been electrocuted. Kamali? Feinster has another name? And she’s a witch?! Ignoring her confusion she focused on what was important.
“Saved my life? But I wasn’t in any danger.”
“On the contrary, yes, you were and still may be. I can’t explain it all since you are not familiar with anything of a spiritual nature but you had a demon that was living within you. That demon may have killed a man and that murder may well be pinned on you as, in essence, you did the crime. In reality, you are as innocent as a young babe. But, in the eyes of the law that you uphold, you already know how what I have just said will sound to a judge or a jury.”
Jennifer nodded her head slowly. She knew that she had to move with caution and great care around this Cora-Lady Ariella person because while Betty’s friend appeared rational she was actually stark raving mad. As soon as she could, she would escape to the kitchen and have a word or two with Betty about choosing better friends.
But, if this woman is right?? Then everything would make so much sense!
“While you’re planning on having a talk with Kamali about my sweet eccentricity, I suggest you listen to me for a little longer. These bad dreams, can you share them with me?”
Jennifer stilled. How did she know? Is she really a witch? Jennifer shook off the thought. Telling this sweet batty woman who looked like someone’s well-toned New Age youthful grandmother about her wild dreams would make even this crazy nut think Jennifer needed help.
“It’s just probably some street meat I ate. I’m sure it’s nothing for you to concern yourself with,” Jennifer looked over at the clock above the gong. “Would you look at the time? I need to get going and catch the train back home. Would you excuse me?”
A vise grip restrained Jennifer from fleeing.
“There are other ways for me to get the dream out of your mind. I’d prefer if you told me. And, yes. I am a good witch.”
Spooked by the age-old look in Lady Ariella’s eyes, Jennifer settled down on the couch again and after taking a deep breath re-told her dreams.
“Then, when Betty saw the news story on Derrick Palmer in the burnt out motel room in deep Brooklyn that clinched it. The blond guy from my dream? I swear that was him!”
“Now that you’ve told me your story, what do you think of my story?” asked the High Priestess.
Just then, Betty came back in with a tray of mugs and a bowl with a number of different teabags in it, a small jar of honey and a white and gold sugar bowl with the sweetest little ornate silver sugar spoon sticking out of it. Betty set the tray down on the coffee table and took a seat on the other side of Jennifer so that she was now flanked on both sides.
Jennifer looked at Betty who gave her a winning smile and looked back at Lady Ariella who tilted her head and awaited a response. Taking a deep breath Jennifer realized she had to find the truth and she had a limited number of people to go to for the trouble that was coming her way if things were as they seemed. Trust was something she had never given away freely; it was too easily abused by those she had loved in the past. But what choice did she have today? Her life seemed just about over even though in the last few weeks it seemed as if her life had been about to take off. But to where? With the memory lapses and strange behavior where could any of it lead? With a sinking feeling, her gut told her the High Priestess would be able to tell her.
“Your story may have some merit…possibly. What kind of demon?”
“A Fury. It’s an avenging demonic spirit that comes to right the wrongs done and kill the wrong-doer. It has a fondness for protecting women.”
Scrunching up her face, Jennifer said, “That doesn’t sound so bad. Sounds like this thing wanted to help me find Kyma’s killer, right Betty? ‘Cause after I banged my head is when things began to get clearer about the case and then when I started OD’ing on the caffeine and Red Bull, I had the stamina to keep up with all of the energy I felt streaming through me.”
“Oh, yes. The Fury would have assisted in unblocking some…obstacles in your particular mind/body pattern to allow you to be a more e
ffective tool for it to work through. So yes, initially the Fury was a boon to you. But in time, the Fury would avenge the murdered woman, take your soul and use your body until it was no longer useful. Oh, and in the meantime, to keep the Fury in tip-top shape, it would have made you kill men on the side and…consume their life-force.”
Jennifer looked green around the gills again. “Oh.”
Betty looked at Lady Ariella who had an apologetic look on her face.
“So, how often does this thing need to feed?” asked Jennifer.
“Each one is different in their needs. It depends upon the Fury’s age and its propensities. When was the original murder — when the Fury possessed Jennifer?”
“Early morning on Halloween,” Betty blurted.
“Hmm, not quite two weeks ago. And you recall only this one blond man?”
“Yeah,”
“Don’t keep anything from me. What else is there, my dear?”
“There are three rounds missing from my gun but I’m pretty sure that I would have only needed one shot to kill the blond guy since it was…close range.” Jennifer dropped her eyes and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
Lady Ariella understood immediately. “I see. So, where do you think the other two bullets went? Maybe shot into the room?”
“If I set a fire, there did not need to be any other shots. The one shot was risky enough as that may have been heard…”
“So, Lady Ariella. Do you think that maybe…?” Betty trailed off as the High Priestess gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. They both looked at Jennifer.
“There’s only one way to find out for sure…” Lady Ariella said.
“…you have to go in and see,” finished Betty.
“Yes.”
“Ah…Ladies? Go in where?”
“Inside your spirit,” the witches said in unison.
***
Jennifer looked back and forth between the two women who were both trying to outtalk one another. Betty jumped up and kicked the lead crystal ball that enclosed the Fury. Then, she picked it up and held it towards the High Priestess.
“So what do we do with it?”
“The Earth Mother did it so it should be buried in the earth. Bury it in your garden. It will keep there. The Goddess’ natural magic will keep the demon in check.”
Fury From Hell Page 15