Betty looked down at Jennifer and a faint murmur in her mind urged her to bolster Jennifer’s aura. Betty visualized wrapping white light around Jennifer body. She imagined first a white layer of light covered by a soft pink layer followed by a soft green layer of light securing the other two layers firmly around Jennifer’s body.
The white was for the Goddess’ protection, the pink for healing, and the green was for love and well-being. Betty got up and stretched. She wanted to ensure all was well and quickly checked the candles. A few had gone out and she went about relighting and replacing the two that did. On her way back to the living room, she shivered. Betty wondered at the sensation and hurried back to Lady Ariella and Jennifer.
“All are lit?”
“Yes, my Lady.”
“Good then — ”
All of a sudden a huge slamming sound could be heard reverberating throughout the apartment. Something had hit the side of the building nearest Jennifer’s bedroom.
“What the —?”
“Watch your language, Kamali!”
“Yes, High Priestess; what was that?!”
Jennifer bolted upright shocking both women speechless. In a monotone voice and no discernable expression her face, a voice completely unlike Jennifer’s answered.
“Fury Abatu has returned to try and reclaim Jennifer Holden.”
Lady Ariella and Betty genuflected immediately awed beyond words. The High Priestess said reverently, “Earth Mother, thank you for the warning. What shall we do?”
“There’s a potion that this body must bathe in daily to keep the Fury from possessing this vehicle again. Take this down.”
Betty grabbed pen and paper from her spiritual emergency bag and ran back to the couch to scribble down the herbs the Earth Mother wanted them to use.
“I tire and must take my leave of this vehicle. The memories I will not restore. It will destroy her mind. The Fury made her kill the blond man she saw in her dream and another who would have attacked her when Fury Abatu was in full possession of her vehicle. Those two are not of her doing. Jennifer Holden’s own fears made her kill two others. Jennifer Holden may be able to forgive herself for the last two; those were in self-defense, those two would have harmed her physically before ending her life.”
Lady Ariella and Betty stared at one another. Both of their expressions mirrored the other’s perfectly — rounded eyes, a perfectly rounded mouth and eyebrows that tried to hide in their hairlines.
The Earth Mother continued, “The items she is puzzling over are items of cleaning, fire accelerants and cigarettes purchased to try and cover the Fury’s tracks for the murder of the blond man. Her law enforcement persona came to her aid. When the Fury fell asleep after the large feeding, Jennifer awoke to the carnage and went into shock but her training kicked in —”
A booming, rending crash cut the Goddess off. The loud noise bounced off the walls making the women eye their surroundings as they wondered about an escape route.
“The Fury is trying to break through the protective spell. I will strengthen it but will have to leave you. This vehicle cannot be alone from this point on. Jennifer Holden is vulnerable and does not know our ways as you have said. Protect her! She is key.”
Jennifer’s body flopped back onto the couch. Lady Ariella and Betty stared at the serene face of Jennifer whose eyes were now closed. She appeared to be sleeping as if nothing had happened.
Betty was the first to recover. “What the — heck — is that thing doing here? Didn’t we bury it in Queens? And what did the Goddess mean that Jennifer is key? Key to what?”
Ignoring her first two questions, Lady Ariella replied tersely. “I don’t know, Kamali. No matter, dear. What’s important right now is that we must try and wake Jennifer up.”
“Okay. Here’s the other thing…how are we going to be able to leave the apartment to get these herbs so the Fury can’t jump back into Jennifer now that Fury Abatu is right here up our asses?!”
Lady Ariella shot Betty a look of pure fright. The pit of Betty’s stomach lurched. Fear was something that Betty had never seen in the High Priestess’ eyes. The foreign emotion left Lady Ariella’s eyes a moment later as resolve took its place.
“Child, watch your language. You are not a cop in this moment. To answer your question, one of us has to leave and procure the herbs.”
Betty’s mouth hung open. “Leave? Leave how?”
“Quick! Strengthen the circle! Add more salt to the outer ring. You were right, Kamali! I am very happy that I listened to you. Your spirit knew.”
Jumping up from the couch, Betty rushed to her bag and pulled out the box of salt. She went into the bedroom to thicken the layer around the perimeter of the circle. As Betty did so, she intoned the protective spell as she poured additional salt.
“I’m bringing her in!” shouted Lady Ariella.
Another loud smash was heard. This time, the Fury was attempting to get in through the living room window. The high-pitched shrieking sounds the demon made almost burst the witches’ eardrums.
Betty heard her dear friend and mentor dragging Jennifer into the bedroom. Betty hurried over and helped get the still unconscious woman into the center of the large circle without disturbing the thick ring of salt or smearing the chalk. They put Jennifer in a slumped over kneel and took positions on opposite sides of the outer circle but still within the salt ring. They both mentally began the process of layering the entire circle in white, pink and green bands of light for further protection.
“Kamali! The center needs a candle!”
“Damnit!” She raced into the living room to her bag once more. In her haste, the slight wind she kicked up blew out the candle on the windowsill in the living room.
The Fury’s eyes gleamed brightly as its evil grin grew broad.
Betty screamed and grabbed the box of candles and the light and raced into the bedroom shouting, “It’s coming in through the living room window!” Betty kicked the bedroom door closed and rushed carefully into the circle fumbling with the box trying to get a single candle out without dropping them all.
The Fury smashed through the window a second after Betty’s pronouncement and streaked into the living room. Hearing the bedroom door slam, Abatu swerved and headed towards it but was slowed by all the powerful spells and charms permeating the room. To the Fury, moving through the spells felt like swimming through a vat of molasses. It wore the Fury down and it took three times as long to get to the bedroom door. By the time the Fury was in front of it, the life essence it had just consumed was practically a memory. Roaring with frustration, Abatu willed the door open but it only jerked.
Inside the women had gotten the candle lit and Jennifer was beginning to awaken.
Betty looked at Lady Ariella with wide glassy eyes. “So now what, my Lady?”
Unnerved by Betty’s demeanor, Lady Ariella took some deep cleansing breaths and closed her eyes to center herself. Calling on the Goddess, the High Priestess prayed for clarity, light and direction. Moments passed and there was no sound. The Goddess had not sent Lady Ariella any images, and she did not know what to do next.
Pulling on her intuition, the High Priestess got up and went into the en suite bathroom and looked around. Nothing popped for her. Heading back into the bedroom, she saw a largish oval gilt edged mirror that did make an impression upon her. Grabbing it, Lady Ariella walked into the center of the circle and placed it in front of Jennifer who was groggy but awake.
“Hold this,” the High Priestess said shoving the mirror into Jennifer’s sleepy hands. “When the Fury comes in, you hide behind it and under no circumstance do you leave the center of this circle unless Betty or I tell you to. Do you understand me?”
The High Priestess’ commanding tone made Jennifer wake up faster and take notice of her surroundings — the candles, the salt ring, the hand drawn symbols and her oval mirror — all normal parts of her life individually, but together in this grouping were entirely unnerving and out of her comfort zone. Jennifer had
no idea what had happened and why she was in the center of it all. Then she heard the unearthly shriek that came from just beyond the closed bedroom door. She jumped but did not move from the center of the circle. With fear shining through her eyes, Jennifer ventured a question that she already knew the answer to. “What the world was that?”
Neither witch answered her.
Jennifer gulped and swung her gaze back to the door. All three of them were focused on the white particle board door hoping — each in their own way —that the door would continue to hold.
***
Monday, November 12th, 1:47 A.M.
“Yearwood, take a look at this.” The veteran detective was hunched over and peering at his monitor.
The younger detective took a break from his monitor and wheeled his chair over.
“Doesn’t that look like Holden?” Clift jabbed a beefy finger at the monitor.
Yearwood moved the man’s chunky index finger and peered for himself. The image was blurry, for that matter, so were his eyes. After staring without coming to a conclusion Yearwood nudged Clift and took over his keyboard. Yearwood began tapping away and the sector of the screen in question was isolated and enlarged. With a few more clicks, Yearwood had the woman’s face covering almost the entire center of the monitor. He blinked in surprise.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Clift said in disbelief. “It is her.” He peered over Yearwood’s shoulder. “Zoom out. I want to see who she’s with, if anybody.”
Yearwood clicked a few buttons and the screen obeyed. They took in the flowing full pants and the green and red sequined form fitting blouse topped off with the studded leather jacket and boots. They both whistled.
“She’s a real looker when she puts her mind to it. No one next to her. But here’s the question that’s begging to be asked…” The older cop looked at the younger one.
“…why didn’t she tell us she was there late Friday night,” finished Yearwood.
“Bingo.”
Yearwood chewed his lip while staring at the woman who had rebuffed his advances for well over a year. Holden was full of surprises and Yearwood was suddenly not liking it anymore. He decided in that moment to turn the tables so that he was winning for a change. “You don’t really think she had anything to do with the Rennkler thing, do you?”
Clift took his time in answering. “I’m not saying she did, but it’s mighty funny she didn’t offer this information. It’s as if she didn’t want us to know. But, she must have known we would have spotted her on the discs!”
“But, she and Feinster brought us the damn DVDs in the first place. She was the one who pointed us to the casino. It doesn’t make sense! If she was hiding being there all she had to do was stay silent. Who knows how long it would have taken us to get the investigation going in that direction. It didn’t seem likely that it was a starting place…at least not to me. What about you? You thought of it?”
Clift shook his head. “Nah. I was focused getting forensics back and then running any prints. My next plan of action was to focus on next of kin to try and get where he was in the last few days. You know, who he was around. But, Holden blew us past all of that with the casino bit and the DVDs. Now we know exactly where he was and we’ve got that hot number with the rock on her hand to look for.”
“So, again. Why hide you were there? If anything, she’s the luckiest damn cop around. She was the last cop to see him alive. She knew to center the investigation at Resorts World!”
The older cop looked at Yearwood and a realization suddenly hit him as he watched his befuddled colleague. “I can’t believe it. We’re dumbasses! She was meeting someone and didn’t want us to know about him! He’s…or maybe she’s on the tapes, too! Maybe that’s why you’re getting’ anywhere with her. She may not like guys.”
Clift barked out a laugh and clapped Yearwood on the back.
“I’m gonna get another coffee before finishing up with this DVD. When I get back I’ll look for Holden’s girlfriend and let you know how hot she is. Want anything?”
“No, no. I’m good. How’d you know I was into Holden?” He looked up and gave the older man a sheepish grin.
“Yearwood, half the precinct knows you’ve been chasing that piece of tail for a number of years. Just let it be and find another girl.”
Yearwood nodded at Clift and moved back to his own monitor as the older cop walked away. As soon as he was gone, Yearwood rushed back over to Clift’s monitor and began scrolling forward to check out Jennifer’s mystery date.
Several minutes later, Yearwood found the section of the disc where a tall blond man approached Holden. Yearwood watched her talk to the man and smile winningly at the perfect stranger. With rising ire, Yearwood watched the man leave and come back with two drinks and grimaced as the man handed one to Holden. Yearwood scrolled past the steamy kiss while grinding his teeth. He stopped the recording and watched Holden leave with the suave man.
Yearwood stopped the DVD and returned it back to where Clift had left it. Yearwood punched the air and threw himself back into Clift’s large overstuffed chair as he crossed his arms over his chest to keep them still. Holden had picked up a random guy at the casino! Yearwood had thought he had known the shy cop. He had thought she wasn’t the type for one-nighters. He had assumed — thought — she was more wholesome than what he saw in full multi-hued pixilation on the monitor.
He stood up and in a daze walked back over to his desk with his head reeling. The blond guy seemed to have it all — the looks, the clothes and he had an air of refinement about him that made Yearwood even more green-eyed. Yearwood couldn’t help himself. The blond man’s image would be forever burned into his mind’s eye. The guy’s very existence accosted Yearwood’s manhood and Holden’s rejection of his longstanding interest.
Red with shame and anger, Yearwood wondered how he had let Holden’s innocent façade fool him all this time. If she wasn’t into him, why didn’t she just say so? Why give him false hope then go for a guy like this buff blond? Clearly, the woman had a taste that was far different from anything he could offer her. All the charitable goodwill and camaraderie that Yearwood had ever felt for Holden withered in the heat of his wolfish jealousy.
Hearing Clift coming back, he refocused his attention, sat up straight and began peering once more at his own monitor. He mechanically scanned his security disc checking for the high-class woman who had left with Rennkler.
***
The door rattled on its hinges with each shriek from the Fury. The women continued to stare mutely at it.
Jennifer took heed and put the mirror squarely in front of her and balled herself up as much as she could while holding her head down behind the mirror which was facing the door.
With a resounding shriek that could be heard for blocks, the door blew open splintering as it hit the wall right behind it. The demon advanced into the room slowly. Its baleful red eyes took the scene in as it hissed and spat. Calculating its odds of getting back into the host, the Fury realized the odds were currently slim. In fact, the Fury didn’t even see the host anywhere in the room. Looking past the two troublemakers, the Fury saw a shimmering bubble. Looking carefully, the Fury understood. A magical circle! The host must be in the center of it. The spells were wearing down the Fury but it persevered and trudged further into the bedroom an inch at a time. There was something glinting at the Fury. As Abatu got closer to the shiny opaque bubble a shape began to emerge. Smiling vengefully, the Fury prepared to dive into the host steeling itself against the shock that would surely go through its body once it sailed through the protective spells surrounding the host.
Picking up speed the Fury lumbered towards the circle and the glinting got worse. At the last possible moment, the Fury understood the witches’ trick — a mirror! The Fury averted its own gaze and protected itself from the majority of the damage but it could feel fissures around its face where the mirror’s rays had shined on its countenance and miniscule ephemeral body. Covering its face with its cl
aws, the Fury backed away from the mirror and backed out of the room shrieking its displeasure.
The Fury sent its rage-filled thought projection hurtling into the room, “Dean Mother Witch, you’re time is coming soon! You should not have gotten in my way. It’s your blood I will seek out as well as that of your junior witch!!”
Lady Ariella’s eyes went wide as she heard the telepathic message and quickly glanced at the other two women to see if they had received the same message. They were staring at the door and straining their necks to see if the demon was coming back. Lady Ariella surmised the message was for her ears only. She tucked the threat away to be ruminated upon at a later time.
With one last shriek, the women heard the Fury leaving the apartment the same way it had come in.
For many long minutes, the three women did not move a muscle. They just held their collective breath and listened for any sounds of movement signaling the return of the demon. They heard nothing except the normal street sounds of a pre-dawn Monday morning in Brooklyn.
“I think it’s gone…for now,” the High Priestess whispered. She sent her thanks up to the Earth Goddess for directing her to the mirror and their subsequent reprieve. “But ladies, this is not over. The Fury has slated me for death because I have interfered with its plans. Jennifer, are you all right?”
Peeking out from behind the mirror, they only saw one of her eyes blinking incessantly.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Jennifer, you stay put. We’re going to inspect the apartment and see if it is truly gone. We’ll come back shortly. Remember, stay behind the mirror!” Lady Ariella commanded.
Jennifer ducked back behind it without a word.
Lady Ariella stood up and tip-toed out into the living room. She peered around and saw that many of the candles had blown out. Renewing the protective spells as she walked, the High Priestess stepped into the living room and headed towards the kitchen. She came back into the living room satisfied that the Fury had left. “Kamali! Come.”
Within seconds, Betty was by her side with her firearm cocked.
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