Enchant Me

by Anne Violet

  “Don’t worry about that right now honey,” she said calmly, taking a quick glance at me as she pulled out of the driveway.

  The drive was going to be miserable, I already knew that. I was getting motion sickness from laying down in the back and to top that off with whatever else I was experiencing, was hell. I wish someone would just knock me out and I could wake up and it would all be over. Most likely my head would still hurt from being punched out, but at least the worst would be over. Out of nowhere I heard Cody’s plaintive meow. I wondered if I was truly losing it. “Why do I hear Cody’s meow?”

  “I brought him with us,” she answered.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “He should be there,” was all she said.

  “What’s wrong with him?” I groaned, massaging my temples against the pain. His forlorn meow seemed to echo in the confines of the car.

  “Nothing, he wants to be near you,” my grandmother replied.

  Charles looked back at me, his brows raised in concern. “You sure you can handle him back there? He’s kind of restless.”

  “Yes,” I said, lifting up my arms to receive him.

  He stopped meowing and seemed to calm when I placed him on my chest. I petted him a couple times until he settled there, tucking his front paws underneath him. He looked deep into my eyes in a way that I had never seen any animal do, and I let the rhythmic sound of his purr relax me. After a time I started to match my breathing to the cadence of his purr and my headache eased a little, but in its place visions bloomed inside my brain.

  “Grandmother, I’m starting to see things,” I said, alarmed. I could tell she wanted to glance back at me but couldn’t since she was driving.

  “That’s ok, that’s your gift remember. What are you seeing?”

  I felt myself edging towards panic again, and so tuned back into the soothing rhythm of Cody’s purr. I tried to concentrate on the pictures being thrust in front of my eyes. “I don’t know, it’s just flashes, bits and pieces of images.”

  “Try to stay relaxed, don’t fight it,” she said soothingly.

  “I think my intuition is part of my psychic visions, not a sign of what my gift was to be.”

  “Why do you say that?” she asked, understanding that I was trying to distract myself from the pain.

  “I don’t always understand what I am seeing, so I think that extra intuition is to fill in the gaps,” and that was one of the last sensible things I said.

  The relief was incredible as I felt us slow and turn onto her property. I started to feel like I was going to throw up if I didn’t get out of this small, dark space any minute now. I tried to concentrate on the sense of calm Cody was emanating. When we pulled next to her house I noticed that none of the lights were on which seemed odd. Charles opened my door and I started to try to sit upright to aid him in helping me out, but I felt so weak and pain-ridden. I groaned in distress. My grandmother picked Cody off my chest while another man from our grove, Keith, lifted me up into his arms. It was then that I looked around me and I saw the nine other members of our grove, all holding candlelit lanterns.

  “Keith, can you carry her all the way to the circle?” My grandmother asked him.

  I tried to look over at her but my vision was doing strange things. I would see her in front of us, then behind us, older, then younger than she was now. I saw the future and the past. Sometimes the images were only a couple minutes ahead or behind, but some were obviously years apart. The walk to the fire pit where we had our circle, was almost as bad as the drive here. Keith did his best to hold me away from his body, trying to reduce the amount of joggling, but it wasn’t really helping much. I wanted to apologize for not being able to walk myself, but the pain in my head was starting to come in sharp little bursts that made me gasp. Finally we reached the circle; a small fire had already been lit. A long rug on the ground next to it. It was here that Keith gently deposited me and stepped back. I lay down on my back on the rug, barely noticing when my grandmother kneeled next to me. Softly she let Cody down on the rug. He sat alongside me, curling his tail around his legs, absorbed with the flickering fire behind me. Carefully I turned my head to glance at my grandmother.

  “Why here?”

  I was comforted by the fact her eyes reflected expectation and not worry as she brushed my hair back from my face.

  “I wanted you in the protection of the oak trees,” she said, looking around at the large oaks surrounding us. “I have a tea I want you to drink, it will help relax you.”

  She opened a silver flask, and lifting my head, slowly poured a minty-herbal concoction down my throat. It didn’t taste too bad and the water felt so good on my parched throat. “Alexis, it’s not something we would normally do, but I want to create a circle of protection with Labradorite and Moonstone. They are both supposed to protect and enhance intuition and psychic perception.”

  Personally, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to enhance my gifts anymore but I didn’t seem to have a choice anyways. I watched lethargically as they started to place the stones in a circle just inside of the large boulder seats. I also noticed Marie, one of the oldest in our grove, sprinkling salt along the border of stones, another sort of protection I assumed. I could hear my grandmother calling to the elements, imploring them for aid. Then I remembered; as my powers reached their peak, I could be vulnerable to negative energies or spirits. As if I needed anything else to worry about. Eventually they seemed to be done and took their places on the boulder seats, closing their eyes in meditation or prayer. I couldn’t really tell.

  I groaned and turned to look up at the starlit sky as the pain started to come in deep waves, first just in my mind, then it started sweeping my body. I tossed and turned on the rug, but no position brought relief. The visions started to hit me hard now. One after the other, it was almost like now that I had stopped fighting it, the ones that I was supposed to see before, I was seeing now. They were still coming so fast that I couldn’t make sense of any of it. I could only recognize a couple of events that had already happened. The constant roar in my ears was changing to actual sounds and voices for the visions, but it was still garbled and indistinct. It was frustrating. My heart beat so fast I found myself fighting to catch my breath. I felt like if only I could see and understand the visions then I would burst free of this pain. After what seemed like hours I realized I was becoming weaker, losing track of time.

  How many hours had I endured already? I wasn’t sure if my grandmother’s tea had some sedative in it, or that I was starting to pass out, but I had the feeling as I looked at the faces around me that something was wrong. Even Grandma Anne looked worried. I could hear her speaking in low tones to Charles.

  “She’s becoming weaker; it shouldn’t be taking this long. I don’t know how much more she can physically take.”

  I watched helplessly as Charles patted her knee but said nothing. She was right; I no longer had the strength to even move in discomfort. I felt like a rag doll that had been thrown upon the ground, no longer moving, not even blinking my eyes. I became conscious of the fact that I may die here tonight…

  My mind started to drift-- Christian…I would never see him again. At least I had told him that I loved him. I would never know all the things he wanted to tell me, but I knew he loved me. I brought to mind everything about him and us. How we met, kissed, talked, laughed and loved. I thought about that bond between us and called to him in my mind, praying somehow he would hear me. Christian, I love you… goodbye.

  As if even that effort cost me, I shuddered and felt myself start to fade, just as a last vision developed within my mind. It was that same vision of Christian in the forest, except the voices rang clear now, but I ignored them as I really looked at Christian this time. The way he was clutched his head, the pain he seemed to be in. Just like… me. A thousand questions filled my mind, but the vision hadn’t ended. Weakly I concentrated as hard as I could to swing it around so I could see his parents. Finally they came into view, screaming
profanities and clutching their own heads like they were going mad. As I watched helpless and horrified, they attacked each other and I forced the vision away. I didn’t need to see the rest to know how they died now. If it was true that Christian had some type of mental powers like me, what were they? I remembered reading that Druids were once thought to be able to cause madness. It had been a great gift to use during a battle to render your enemy paralyzed and ineffective. When Christian had come into his powers they must have been so powerful that they had affected anyone nearby. This was why he blamed himself; this was the darkness that he fought. There was no way he could have controlled it. I wished I would live to tell him that it wasn’t his fault.

  I tried to signal and call my grandmother over but my voice wouldn’t come and my body wouldn’t move. I heard a loud rustling going through the trees around us and the frightened murmurs of the grove. Cody stood up and paced in front of me; all his hair standing on end, hissing at the darkness. In keeping with my luck, especially on my death bed, I knew something dark was here, something evil. Opening my eyes, I glanced up and saw a dark, murky haze rush between the trees’ limbs, then stop to coil about the leaves only to wind around our circle again. Almost beyond caring if the damn thing got me, I looked over at my grandmother. Her face was defiant-- and worried. She looked down at me and shuddered, tears tracked down her face.

  I could hear Cody’s soft mews as he paced next to me. He knew too, that I couldn’t last much longer. I probably looked the definition of death warmed over. I wanted to tell them to just let me go, but the words wouldn’t come. My vision was fading, my heart slowing, I wasn’t even sweating any more. I felt the chill of the wind against my skin. In detached fascination, I watched as the haze hissed and suddenly broke through the trees, now it was within our first circle. As time went on, more dark wraiths appeared. I could feel the gush of the wind as they passed, now circling the stone ring around me. They were waiting for me to hit my weakest point physically, but strongest point psychically. At least they didn’t seem to be a danger to my friends and family, only to me… I closed my eyes for the last time.

  “Alexis!”

  I thought I heard Christian screaming my name but I was falling now, whatever vision I was supposed to have of him would go unseen.

  “Alexis! What the hell is going on here?”

  “No! Stop! You’ll only endanger her more if you open the circle!” screamed my grandmother.

  “I can help her!”

  “Wait Anne, he’s right I can sense his gift, there’s something different about him,” this from Charles.

  Not comprehending what was being said around me, I felt him kneel next to me, his scent wrap around me, warm hands on my shoulders lifting me up. Certain I was dreaming, I smiled inwardly, glad that my last thoughts were of him.

  “Alexis!”

  I murmured in irritation, I didn’t want the feeling of peace to go away. There was no more pain, no more fear.

  “Damn it Lex, wake up!” He yelled in my face. Wait—wait-- he was here, really here. I started to fight the lethargy that had me. “That’s it Lex, wake up!”

  Opening my eyes to his wonderful face was worth the pain that came rushing back in. Well… it was for the first couple of seconds. Then it was unbearable. I felt like I was being destroyed from the inside out. I tried to concentrate on his beautiful dark eyes but everything was getting blurry. He eased me back down on the rug, his hands gently grasping my head, thumbs massaging my temples.

  “Lex, I am going to help you but you need to relax as best you can and let me in.”

  “What do you mean?” I rasped.

  I started to feel faint again, my eyes having no strength to stay open. I could still hear the dark wraiths hissing outside my circle, waiting for me.

  “No time to explain, just don’t fight me,” he demanded.

  Abruptly I felt like the roof of my mind had been ripped away. I screamed from the pain and when I felt a presence in my mind that wasn’t my own, instinctively I started to struggle physically and mentally against him, but it was too late. He was doing something to my gift, attacking it, barring it. The wraiths seemed to sense the weakening of power, the blocking of my gift, and with one last hiss of anger and frustration, they dissipated into the air. Then suddenly I was set adrift…The pain was gone; I felt light and free-- normal. Bewildered I opened my eyes to look at him. He had removed his hands from my head and sat back on his heels. His head was tipped down, dark hair falling in front of his face. His hands seemed to be gripping his thighs while he shuddered. After a moment he took a deep breath, slowly exhaling, and the shuddering stopped. He was in control again. He looked up then, his chocolaty brown eyes intense.

  “How do you feel?”

  I started to tell him ‘good,’ when all the sudden my body shook and locked down. It was like I was paralyzed and I started to feel sick with fear again. There was a different sort of pain in my mind now, and there was also pain throughout my body, but it concentrated in my hands. I could hear my grandmother ask him what was going on, but he didn’t answer. Helplessly I watched as Christian leaned back over me. Although I knew what was coming I still found myself tensing, instinctively trying to put up mental barriers, but he blasted right through them. Not meaning to, I think I may have cursed him and particular parts of his anatomy, but I couldn’t be sure. He seemed to take longer than before, but I could already feel the pain ebbing away.

  “It’s a second power,” he said in a hushed, awed tone. “It’s mental and physical. I think it’s…telekinesis?” He removed his hands and looked at me in a reverential way that almost made me feel uncomfortable. Everyone looked at me like I was some fascinating alien. “How are you doing now?”

  Stunned, I lifted up onto an elbow, staring at him, still not comprehending what he had done. “Good. What did you do to me?”

  I noticed Cody was sitting against his leg, staring at me, his purring, loud and happy. He didn’t answer. Instead he put his hands underneath my arms, lifted me to my knees and threw his arms around me, squeezing me so hard I almost couldn’t breathe. I wrapped my arms around his neck and showered his face with kisses.

  “I love you,” I whispered.

  “I thought I lost you,” he murmured.

  “You almost did,” I replied.

  Before I could ask what he did again, my grandmother crying rather noisily, threw her arms around both of us, strangling us more than hugging us.

  “I don’t understand,” she sniffed while Charles pulled at her trying to make sure we had room to breathe. Looking around, I saw the same thankful but confused expressions on everyone’s faces.

  “Shaman,” I heard someone whisper.

  Looking away from my grandmother, I turned to stare at him. “Christian, what did you do?”

  He sat down and pulled me onto his lap. Then Cody jumped into mine, circled into a little ball and fell quickly to sleep. I smiled, comforted and glanced back up at Christian when he spoke, “You could say I built a dam in your mind.”

  I blinked up at him in confusion. “Your powers are still here,” he said, gently tapping my head, “but they are blocked right now. We will slowly open the gates back open as you’re ready”. His grip around my body got tighter. “Why didn’t you call me?” he asked, his voice getting louder with every word.

  “How was I supposed to know you are a Shaman?” I asked, exasperated. His brows crashed down and fury sparked in his eyes.

  “You should’ve called me no matter what.”

  He had a point. If our situation had been reversed I would have expected the same. The last thing I wanted to do with him was argue so… since he was right and I was wrong, I decided my best bet was to appease and charm him. “You’re really sexy when you’re angry, you know that?”

  “Lex,” he warned.

  “I promise, in the future I will always let you know,” I said softly, sincerely.

  “Deal,” he grumbled. I could tell he still wasn’t entirely
pleased but he was willing to let it go.

  Looking up at his gorgeous face, I studied him, wanting to assure myself that he was not harmed for helping me. “Are you ok?”

  Skimming a couple kisses across my forehead, then looking deep into my eyes, he reassured me, “I’m fine, it just took me a couple seconds to--feel comfortable with it.”

  I could only imagine. Glancing around I noticed the grove had sat down on the ground around us, smiling, at ease now. As I looked at Christian and the people of my grove, I realized I could sense who had gifts and who didn’t, just like my grandmother had said. It was a weird sensation like some kind of internal alarm system. The sun was already starting to rise, the light twining through the darkness. As much as I usually hated mornings, this would be one that I would remember with happiness for the rest of my life. I felt the love and devotion radiating from Christian.

  Relaxing back into his hold, I let him support my weight. I was gradually becoming conscious of how achy and tired I was. Seeing this, my grandmother patted Christian’s shoulder.

  “Let’s get her back to the house and rest. She’s probably going to be pretty sore and weak for the next couple days.”

  No longer able to keep my eyes open, I was dimly aware that Christian had lifted me up into his arms and was carrying me back down the hill. I thought it would be a long time before I would want to go back to our circle. I slept for most of the short walk to the house, comforted by the steady beat of Christian’s heart and the warm bundle of fur still in my lap.

  I felt my grandmother kiss my cheek and whisper goodnight before Christian carried me down the hall to my room. As he laid me down on my bed a thought occurred to me and I popped open my eyes to look at him. He had that softness in his eyes and I felt myself melting, while trying to remember what it was I wanted to ask him.

  Then I recalled, “Christian, how did you know where I was and that I was in trouble?”

  He sprawled out on my bed next to me pulling me into his arms, my eyes drifted closed again. I vaguely wondered if my grandma Anne was going to have a problem with it and decided she probably wouldn’t since technically he had just saved my life and my bedroom door was wide open.