Annamarie headed upstairs to shower and get ready for her day. She felt safe in the house. She knew Daniel’s spirit couldn’t enter. Leaving gave her a moment of pause, but she wasn’t going to hide. She’d face whatever he would try and do.
Driving to the market eased her fears. It was a beautiful day, and the roads weren’t busy. The parking lot wasn’t crowded and she found a spot fairly close to the door. She grabbed her purse and the list Elaine gave her and began shopping.
Annamarie was nearly finished with her grocery shopping when she stopped at the deli counter to purchase Sam’s very favorite sandwich filling—salami. She smiled to herself remembering the night she found him watching a movie after the late news. He had consumed the entire pound of salami she had purchased. She gave her order to the young lady behind the counter and was looking at what else she might need when an elderly gentleman walked up beside her. She glanced at him and looked back at the counter. His reflection in the glass caused her spine to tingle and her skin felt cold. Annamarie looked at the man. His white hair and stooped shoulders made him appear to be in his mid to late eighties. She raised her eyes to meet his and saw Daniel’s beautiful blue eyes staring back at her. Stunned, she couldn’t look away. He smirked at her and said, “You should go back to wearing the Wisteria perfume I bought you. It was much nicer than what you’re wearing now.” His eyes grew black. He turned and strode away from her at a pace she would expect of a twenty year old. Her hands began to shake as her eyes rapidly scanned the entire area. Annamarie couldn’t see the old man anywhere. She managed to check out and get her groceries in her car. She raced to Sam’s garage. It was closer than home.
The two hour time difference between Timmus Woods and California worked out perfectly for Sam’s call to his parents. He had come up with a story before he called. “No, honestly things are okay. I know long distance is expensive, but this is important. There have been some rumors floating around town about a possible kidnapping ring. Annamarie is worried Michael could be in danger. If we send you money, could you stay there for an extra week? Also, if needed, could you take another week or two and travel up the coast? Make it a real vacation for you and mom, too. Okay Dad, I’ll call you later this afternoon to let you know when to expect the money. If I miss you, call us at Paula and Theo’s this evening. We’re having dinner with them. Thanks, Dad. Love to mom and Michael.” Sam hated to lie to his dad, but how could he tell him that a couple of deranged spirits were after Michael? He sighed and called to see how to transfer the money.
Sam hung up the phone after speaking to the bank about transferring money to his parents. He heard Annamarie’s car pull into the garage’s parking area. She rarely drove that fast and he ran out to see if there was a problem. Annamarie practically fell into his arms after getting out of the car.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she said, “Daniel’s back, alive, walking and talking. God help us.”
“What do you mean back?” His face twisted in confusion. “You saw him?”
“No, I saw an elderly man who spoke to me and mentioned the perfume I used to wear. I threw it out the day Daniel died and never bought it again. Then the old man hurried away like a teenager. It was Daniel, he possessed a body. He had Daniels’ blue eyes. Sam, we have trouble, bad trouble coming.” The fear in her eyes was unmistakable. Her lip twitched and she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking.
He pulled her close. “It could be Daniel. If they’re able to possess someone’s body, we have to be leery of everyone. My uncle and cousin can watch over the shop, we need to go home and tell Lena and Elaine. Then we warn your parents tonight when we go to dinner. I’m so relieved Michael is out of state.”
He followed her home and helped her unload the groceries. After they were put away, they asked Lena and Elaine to sit at the table for a talk.
Lena said, “Its Daniel isn’t it? He’s walking around as if he’s alive, right?”
Elaine’s eyes opened wide and her lip quivered, “What? Mr. Daniel is dead. He fell off the bluff years ago. Didn’t he?”
“Yes, but his spirit survived and he’s come back for revenge,” Annamarie said taking Elaine’s hand. “I want you to be safe. As of this minute you’re on an unlimited, paid vacation. Please go visit your sister. I’ll pay you a month in advance before you go and mail another check in a couple of weeks. Being out of town is the safest place for you right now.”
“Okay, I’ll go home and pack now. I’ll leave immediately.”
Sam insisted he go with Elaine to keep her safe until she was out of the town limits. Annamarie had her check written before Elaine could gather her purse and jacket. Sam was back in a little over an hour. “Elaine will be fine. I followed her to the county line. She promised to call from her sister’s when she arrives.”
“I’m glad. She’ll be safe and we can live without a housekeeper. What worries me is telling my parents, Bonnie, and Carl. Who knows who Daniel will go after? We sent Michael out of town. Bonnie and Carl have the twins. How will we keep those girls safe?”
Lena, who had been sitting quietly and listening, finally spoke. “I’ll keep the girls safe. I can teach them how to use sparkles like I did when I was little. They’re young enough to believe in magic. They also have Magdalena’s blood flowing through their veins. Daniel will not hurt my cousins,” Lena hit the table with her hand.
Annamarie went into the study to call her mom and see if she would also invite Carl, Bonnie, and the girls to dinner. She convinced her mom it was important, but they were fine. They needed a family meeting. Paula hesitated, but finally agreed. “I’ll call you back when I know if they can come.”
Chapter Three
Annamarie rang her mom’s doorbell and Carl answered. “Hey, there, baby sister. C’mon in. Mom’s making all of our favorites for this meeting you’ve called. What’s up?”
“We’ll talk after dinner.” Annamarie walked into her mom’s kitchen. “Hi, Mom. Need any help?”
“No, but I would like answers. You haven’t been this secretive since before Michael was born. Lena’s home so she’s safe. Something else is going on.”
“Yes, but can we have dinner first?”
Her mom glanced at her as she stirred the gravy, “Why, are you afraid we’ll lose our appetite?”
“Please, Mom,” Annamarie’s voice implored.
“Okay, set the table for me.”
Paula filled the table with bowls and plates of Sauerbraten, gravy, potato dumplings, red cabbage, and warm rolls with soft butter. Her hungry family sat and devoured in record time a meal that took her hours to make. It didn’t bother her, it made her happy. “Eat your fill, there’s more in the kitchen and I made a chocolate cake.”
Carl, filling his plate for the second time, was salivating over the idea of cake. Theo laughed at his son. Looking at Bonnie he asked, “How do you afford to feed him and the twins?”
“The twins are girls that helps, and they pay me well at the hospital,” she laughed.
Carl scowled at her as he lifted another forkful of dinner to his lips.
Annamarie and Bonnie helped Paula clear the table and fill the dishwasher. They chatted about the kids and their husbands, while Lena played with the twins. The twins, Emily and Elizabeth, were two year’s younger than Lena’s brother, Michael. Lena told them a story about a magic land full of magical things. Explaining about magic sparkles kept the twins’ attention from straying.
Lena leaned forward and whispered, “If you’re a lucky person who has magic hidden in them, you’ll dream about it. You’ll be told how to use it and become magic, too.”
Emily and Elizabeth, known informally as Emmy and Lizzy, were excited about the possibility of being magic. Lena knew their great-great-grandmother, Magdalena, would visit their dreams and teach them the way she had taught her thirteen years earlier when she was only two.
Daniel and Garret were unaware of the powers that would be passed and taught to the twins. They were not aware the twins existed.
Josef had carried their spirits off to Krystaqua before the girls were born. Magdalena counted on this fact. Emmy and Lizzy were connected since birth because they’re twins. Their magic would connect them and double their powers. They would be taught to keep their parents safe.
Daniel and Garret felt safe enough to enter the log cabin owned by the Logan family. Their spirits had grown stronger. Daniel felt a sense of pride in his ability to possess the body of the elderly man when he followed Annamarie. She had no idea he attached himself to her car. He laughed when he remembered entering the elderly man’s body and speaking to her at the store. He would always remember the look on her face. The elderly man had no idea he played a part in Daniel’s game. Daniel quickly attached himself to Annamarie’s car again and felt power in the fact that she raced to get away from him, and he was clinging to her car.
Garret wanted to go after Annamarie. She was responsible for scaring Nancy away. His love for Nancy was intense and he needed her. He would help Daniel do anything he wanted. Now they had learned to possess people, they could be anyone. Annamarie would never be able to trust anyone not even her own husband. She would never see her death coming. Daniel couldn’t wait. He and Garret relaxed to regain strength they had lost. Daniel’s mind raced with plans. His hatred and anger toward Annamarie grew. No longer satisfied with only killing her ancestors so she would never be born, he would take care of them after she met a death more horrible than the one she inflicted on him. Before she died, she would know the pain of losing her son. Michael would be given to the witch. Daniel will have fulfilled his blood pact and then she would die. He would have his life back. It would be a glorious life.
Garret asked, “If life is the way it was before we died, then Nancy will be here and not across the country.”
“Yes, she’ll be yours again. I’ll have my pick of women.”
“Life will be good.”
Daniel’s laugh was eerie and frightening. It scared the animals near the cabin. They all scampered for safety from the unseen enemy.
While Lena played with the girls, Annamarie sat in her mom’s living room. She readied herself for what she needed to tell the family and their reactions. Paula carried in a tray with coffee cups and the coffee. Theo followed with the chocolate cake. When everyone was served, Paula sat back, sipped her coffee, and asked, “Okay, Annamarie, what’s all this about? Why did we need a family meeting?”
Annamarie set her cup on the coffee table and took a deep breath. “First, I need to know how much you and dad told Carl about Daniel’s attack on the family, and how much he shared with Bonnie. I know that he told her some of what was going on when we went on vacation after they returned from San Diego. Does she know it all?”
Bonnie stood, walked across the room, sat next to her best friend, and took her hand, “Yes, I know everything. I never told you that Carl had confided in me. He was worried you would need someone and that person might be me. Carl told me about the spirits in the pines, the reason the huge pine tree was knocked over, the spirit battle we missed while on vacation, Lena’s powers, and why she was given the amulet. Is there more?”
“You know all the important details except one. It’s one we all must know and act upon. Daniel and Garret’s spirits are back. They made some sort of blood pact with a witch in the ninth century in a place called Krystaqua. Magdalena said the witch helped them gain enough strength to escape.”
Theo nearly dropped his cup, “Back, how can they be back? They were supposed to be destroyed forever after the battle of the spirits. Mrs. Graysbe still tells anyone who’ll listen about the night she thought the Martians were attacking. At her age, no one believes her, but still we can’t go through that again.”
“This time may be worse, Dad,” Annamarie twisted her hands in her lap. “Daniel can possess other people’s bodies. An elderly man walked up to me in the store today and said something only Daniel would know. Then his eyes turned black, and he rushed away as fast as a teenager.”
Bonnie dropped her cup. “Oh, no, they’ll be after us. Michael is away and safe, but what about our girls?”
“They’ll be safe, I promise. Lena can feel they have powers similar to hers. She’s teaching them how to keep you, Carl, and themselves safe from Daniel and Garret.”
Carl stared at his sister. “My niece is going to teach my girls how to fight spirits? Are you crazy?”
“Okay, everyone calm down,” said Paula. “There has to be something else we can do.”
At that moment Lena followed by Lizzy and Emmy ran into the living room. “Look what we can do,” said the twins at the same time. They lifted their hands and sparkles flew out of their fingertips. “Isn’t this cool,” said Lizzy. “Lena said she’ll teach us to make bad people fly away with only our sparkles. We’ll be like super heroes.” Emmy giggled.
Carl dropped his head into his hands. Bonnie gasped at her little girls giggling over being able to make sparkles. Theo drank more coffee. Paula began to clean up the cake plates.
Sam took a deep breath, “Listen everyone, I’m as freaked out as all of you. We have to stick together and fight Daniel. This added power from the witch may cause problems, but Magdalena and Josef visit Annamarie in her dreams. They occasionally visit mine. They will tell us what we need to know and they will help.”
“Help, are you crazy? We need to be safe, really safe. You sent your son away and left my girls here to be pawns in Daniel’s sick game,” Bonnie ran up and knelt in front of the twins and wrapped her arms around them.
“Bonnie, if you want to leave and take the girls, I’ll send you anywhere you want to go for as long as you want,” Annamarie said.
“Sure, easy for you. I have to work for a living. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but if I leave, I’ll lose my job. I worked too hard to make head pediatric nurse to throw it away. They won’t give me an open ended leave of absence. What about Carl? He’d lose his job, too. What would we do?” Bonnie broke into sobs. Her girls ran their fingers through her hair.
Annamarie said, “I inherited enough from Grandpa Logan to pay for your vacation and your living expenses for a long time if you need to find another job.”
Carl jumped to his feet, “I’m not having my baby sister support me. I can do that and protect my family. You tell me what I need to do and I’ll take care of it. Daniel always was a punk. I’m not afraid of him.”
The mirror in the living room clouded up with black fog. It rolled down the wall and towards Carl’s feet.
“Daniel, stop!” Lena yelled. She stepped in front of her Uncle Carl and raised her hand. The fog recoiled and disappeared back into the mirror.
“What the hell?” Theo asked?
Lena exhaled deeply, “It was Daniel trying to scare us. I sent him back to the woods. He should have known better than pull a stupid stunt. He doesn’t know the extent of my power now. Listen to Mom. She knows we’ll be safe. That won’t stop Daniel from trying, but I refuse to let him hurt anyone I love.”
“You know what’s going on and what we have to do. I think it’s time we all go home and think about it. A good night’s sleep will help us clear our heads. If everyone still wants to come to our place for Sunday dinner, we’ll discuss more. Our house is safe. Daniel can’t enter it. C’mon, Sam and Lena. I think they need time to talk alone.”
Annamarie turned toward Carl and Bonnie, “I’m sorry about what’s happening. If you think the girls would be safe somewhere else, maybe Mom would take them. I’ll pay for it. Think about it, please.”
Annamarie hugged her parents. Her brother looked a million miles away and Bonnie, her best friend since junior high, stared at her as if she was an alien. Annamarie’s heart was breaking, she turned and her tears began to run down her cheeks before she could make it out of her parent’s house. Lena and Sam did their best to try and cheer her up on the quick drive home, but as they pulled into their drive, she looked at Sam and said, “I may have lost my best friend.”
Lena disappear
ed into her room as soon as they arrived home. Annamarie went up to take a shower. She swallowed two aspirin and lay down on her bed. She rubbed her temples to help ease her headache. Sam was watching TV in the parlor. Annamarie drifted off to sleep.
Annamarie was happy to see the firelight through the pines. It meant Magdalena and Josef were near. She needed help. Magdalena met her in the clearing.
“Come my child,” Magdalena took her by the hand and they walked to a blanket near the fire. They sat and Josef walked around from behind a parked wagon.
“You know what is going on. Daniel terrified me at the store and Bonnie is angry with me.”
Magdalena reached out to stroke her face, “My child, the witch has given Daniel powers we are not aware of. Michael is out of danger. Lena cannot be harmed. The amulet is more powerful than anything the witch can do. Daniel will not be able to harm her. She can also keep you and Sam safe.”
“What about the rest of the family? Bonnie, Carl, the twins, and my parents? Daniel was there tonight in smoke form.”
“Remember back, my child, your mother had her house blessed. All Daniel can do is enter as smoke and listen. He is no longer able to watch from the mirrors. He cannot move from room to room. Tell your mother to light a white candle and place it in front of the mirror in whatever room they are in. It will block Daniel’s spirit from listening. Also, do not worry about Bonnie, she is frightened and confused. I will visit her dreams tonight. She will speak to you tomorrow. She will understand and be calmer.”
Annamarie wrapped her arms around her chest and rocked back and forth, “I’m also worried about Carl and the twins.”
Josef smiled at her, “Have you forgotten your brother is family just as you are. He has power he is unaware of. It is why Daniel never bothers him. Have you noticed Daniel also stays away from your mother? They are all of our blood. Lena, Michael, and the twins are also of our blood. Lena is the strongest. She has the amulet and the powers of all our ancestors in her. Michael is the weakest which is why Daniel wants to take him, but he is safe. The twins are connected because they are twins. They share a special bond which makes them strong. Lena has taught them quite a bit in a short amount of time. They already have the ability to ward off evil with what they consider sparkles. Lena did not tell them yet, since she didn’t want to scare them or their parents.”
Lena (Gypsy Spirits Book 3) Page 3