“It’s a big part of what we Arcanists do, when we are allowed,” she answered. “We’ve been at war with the demons for thousands of years. I’ll need to do some research and call in some help, but I think with a little luck we can send that demon inside of you right back where it came from.”
Jack’s smile brightened his face. “I would really like that.”
“Good,” she said. “Drink your coffee while I get dressed, then we’ll stop by your place on our way to the library.”
His eyes brightened. “The library?”
No cell imprisons better than the ones we create around ourselves. – New Perspectives by Tony McGillicuddy, 1997
Chapter 5
Anna’s old VW bug sputtered as she pulled into the driveway of Jack’s house. It was only a few miles from her place to his. These past years she’d lived so close to him, and never known it. The old red brick structure stood hidden deep within a forested area. The front door was damaged and hung wide open, attached by only its lower hinge.
“I vaguely remember the beast having some difficulty with the door lock,” Jack said, as he examined the wreckage of his front doorway. “I don’t think the creature is very smart.”
“Probably not. Whargan, as a rule, are more instinct driven. Unfortunately, their most driving instinct is killing.” Anna was always happy to talk demons, but now she wanted a little more information about Jack.
“Is this where you moved after you left school? I remember your old place was put up for sale right after you were pulled out.”
That had been devastating for Anna. Jack had been her closest friend. Really, her only friend. She’d been shy and reclusive. It had been Jack who’d approached her, when he saw her reading The White Dragon in study hall. Jack hadn’t been shy at all back then.
“Yeah, Mom & Dad bought this place because it was way out of town, away from people, just in case. It also had a really solidly built basement.”
“Basement?” Anna asked. Her cabin didn’t have a basement. That would have been nice for storage and herb drying.
Jack paused for a moment to survey the damage to the front door. He found it would still close if he lifted it and swung it on the one working hinge. The upper hinge would be a quick fix. After opening it again, he ushered Anna into his home.
“I’ll show you the basement in a minute,” Jack answered. “Let me get dressed first, so I can give you back your robe.”
The living room was sparsely furnished. Just a couch, one easy chair, a small end table and an old television set. The house had a clean but lived in feel to it.
“Make yourself at home,” Jack said, picking up a pair of jeans that had been lying on the kitchen floor. “I’ll be right back.”
Anna sat down on the couch, looking around the room. The place was tidy for the most part. There was a pile of books and magazines next to the chair. Anna noted that he was still reading science fiction and fantasy. Half a cup of cold coffee sat on a small end table. The furniture was comfortable, if a bit threadbare.
Jack didn’t leave her alone for long. He returned wearing jeans and a graphic T-shirt with a picture of a dragon on the front.
“I don’t know what that stuff was that you put in my orange juice this morning, but it really works. I’m usually conked out for hours, the morning after I change into that thing.” He was smiling at her as he handed her back her robe. “I’ve never felt this good the day after.”
He did look much improved. Jack’s smile was bright, but his aura was still dark…disturbingly dark.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better Jack.”
He beckoned her to follow him, and she rose up from the couch.
Leading her into the kitchen, he pulled open the basement door. “So, you ready to see the dungeon?”
His smile was gone. A haunted look crossed his eyes. Downstairs was certainly not Jack’s happy place.
A plain, unfinished wooden staircase took them down to the dusty cement cellar. Two small windows, high on the wall had been boarded up. A single bare light bulb was all that illuminated the stark chamber. An old washer and dryer were against one of the basement walls. A water heater was tucked into a corner, and a big oil furnace took a prominent position in the center of the room. There was also a large contraption, that appeared to be an old generator, standing next to the furnace.
Anna took it all in quickly, as her eyes were drawn to the north wall. Thick steel bars enclosed two empty cells. Their doors were swung wide open. An old, rusty chain lay by the doorway of one of the cells. It looked like something you would see at the back of the sheriff’s office in an old western movie
“Two cells?” Anna asked. There was clearly more to Jack’s story than she’d suspected.
“That one was Dad’s,” Jack answered, pointing to the far cell. He picked up the chain from the floor. “This one is mine.”
There was so much pain. His was a shattered and lost soul. Anna could feel it and see it in his aura.
“Tell me Jack. Tell me all of it.”
Anna leaned against the washer, waiting for Jack to start. Had he ever told anyone about this?
Jack took a deep breath, then dove in. “For as long as I could remember Mom would lock Dad in the basement of our old house every full moon. I snuck down there one day and found some heavy shackles bolted to the wall. He started changing long before I did. When I hit puberty in eighth grade, I started changing too. That’s when they pulled me out of school.”
Ah, now the second cell made sense. Anna tried to remember Jack’s mother and father. She remembered something about them dying tragically a few years ago. “So, your Dad was possessed as well.”
It appeared his family had faced years of tragedy. So sad. Certainly, there were Arcanists in the past generation that should have known about this. She’d have to remember to ask her old friend, Nathan Gray.
“We always thought it was a hereditary thing.” Jack hung the old rusty chain over one of the crossbars on the cell.
“It isn’t, but it still makes sense. The presence of one possessed person would make possession of those around him easier, especially family. Were you close to your father?”
“Yeah, pretty close, but I don’t think the two demons got along at all. One time I got out of my shackles. Thank goodness Mom used to lock the basement door. But the next morning Dad and I were both pretty bloody. I think the two demons fought. In any case, they worried the neighbors would find out. I guess we did a lot of howling. So, they bought this place and moved us out of the city.”
Anna tried to picture Jack and his parents, struggling with this tragedy. Her own parents had all but disowned her after she’d been recruited into the Arcanists and started practicing magic rituals and studying demonology.
She ran a finger down one of the cold steel bars. “Did the house already have these cells?”
Jack shook his head. “Not when we bought it. But Dad was working construction when they remodeled the old police station on Fourth Street. He got himself put in charge of hauling the loads to the dump and, well, he’d swing by here on his way. Between me, him and Mom, we were able to wrestle the bars down here and build these, without anyone knowing.”
“We used to just chain the bars shut and Mom would lock the door at the top of the steps, just in case. After Mom & Dad died, I had to make sure I didn’t get out, so I added the electronic locking system and the generator.”
Anna looked around the stark basement and tried to imagine what it had to be like for a young man to be locked in a cage down here. “It must have been hard to accept,” she said, more to herself, but Jack heard her.
“At first, yeah,” he answered. “I think I was around five when Dad started changing every full moon. I never expected it to happen to me. I just wanted to be a normal kid, you know?”
He was flipping switches, pulling and plugging wires. “Damn, I think it’s fried. I don’t know where I’m going to get the money to buy another one. These things are expen
sive.”
“Jack. I am pretty sure there’s a cure for your condition. It’s just another form of demon possession. We should be able to exorcise it.”
Jack stopped fiddling with the generator and looked at her. “You can really rid me of this thing?”
Anna had read all about it, but she’d never actually done it or even seen the ritual performed. Still, she had some resources she could call in. “I’d sure like to give it a try.”
Jack stopped fiddling with the generator and walked over to Anna. The pain she saw reflected in his eyes, and swirling around him in his aura, made her want to cry.
“Well, I’m in,” he said. “I really don’t have anything to lose…do I?”
Anna forced a smile. Magic often had a downside. And something like this was probably not easy. But she didn’t want him to see her apprehensions. “Only that demon inside of you, Jack.”
He smiled and nodded. “Okay, let’s do this.”
Seek knowledge in all things. – Ancient Arcanist saying (Author unknown.)
Chapter 6
The forest thinned and more houses came into view as Anna drove with Jack toward Sheboygan. The city, also known as the Malibu of the Midwest, offered a beautiful beach on Lake Michigan that she’d often made use of during the summer months. And it was only a few blocks away from the Sheboygan Public Library, today’s destination. Too bad there wouldn’t be time for any sunbathing.
She sighed as she turned onto highway 23 and merged into traffic. Her mind whirled with all the things she needed to get done. She’d need to talk to Kelly and get the details of the ritual. Then she had to contact JJ and round up some of the other Arcanists in the area to help. She wasn’t about to risk Jack by trying this on her own.
The others would want to be involved. Still, there was a lot to do, and she needed to get it all together in time for tomorrow—the third night of the full moon. That would be the last night this month that Jack would be affected.
He sat silently next to her as she pondered. Was he giving her space or struggling with something? He let out one long, exasperated breath, which gave her the opening she needed.
“Something wrong?”
He’d been staring out the window with only occasional glances her way. “Yeah, we need to talk about something important.”
Something more important than getting rid of his possession? His aura displayed intense worry or agitation. What could he be agonizing about?
“Okay.”
“Look…I…um,” he was hesitating, not a good sign. “Last night when we…when I…”
“When we made love?” Was he really worried about that?
His sigh felt like a release of tension. A tinge of humor colored his tone. “I was going to say when I attacked you, but yeah, made love sounds a lot better.”
Yes, he had attacked her. But if he hadn’t, she would’ve gone after him. Magic was pulsing in the air. The attraction had been undeniable. “Look, Jack, I told you. I enjoyed it. Yeah, it was a little intense, but we were both caught up in the moment.”
A little intense? It was awesomely intense.
But he obviously still had some worries. “Really, Jack, you have nothing to apologize for.”
Absolutely nothing to apologize for.
“Well, thanks for that, but that’s not exactly it. There’s something about me that I think you need to know. Are you…on the pill or anything?”
Ah, now it made sense. Anna got a warm feeling in her heart. He was worried about her. “Is that what you’re worried about? Pregnancy?”
“Well, we didn’t use any protection. God, I’ve never done it without protection. See, I made a pledge to myself, years ago, that I wouldn’t have any kids. I would never want to put my son or daughter through what I was going through. I want the curse, or whatever it is, to end with me.”
Selfless, caring, and willing to sacrifice his own future. The sad part was, he’d probably make an amazing father. Anna was glad she could reassure him.
“It’s not a curse, not something you can pass on. If we can exorcise the demon, you’ll be normal again. You have nothing to worry about.”
But he still seemed upset, his aura was glowing orange. “Anna, my life is a mess right now. I can barely hold a job. I’ve got nothing to offer a woman, much less a kid. And even if I got all that under control, if what you say is true, the kid could still end up a target for some demon because of me—like I was, because of Dad. I just don’t think I could face that.
“I mean, if something does happen because of last night, I’ll be there for you. I’m not the kind of guy that walks away from his responsibility. I just don’t know how much help I’d be able to be.”
Anna smiled, “I guess I understand. Maybe later, when all this is over, you’ll feel differently about it. In the meantime, you can put it out of your mind. I’m not on any birth control but, as an herbalist, I know of ways to take care of that situation, should it arise, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
Jack sighed then. “Thanks.”
* * *
The library was a large building with a wonderful fountain out front, taking up a whole city block in the downtown district. Shelf after shelf of books, movies, and so much more waited inside for his discovery. It was probably his favorite place in the whole world.
Jack had been a regular for as long as he could remember. He’d spent countless hours here with his parents back when they’d home-schooled him. They’d never had a lot of money and that hadn’t changed for him after they died. The library gave Jack a free source of information and entertainment.
Having his condition meant finding jobs that allowed him to take three days off every month on demand. That really didn’t leave much room for any type of career, and almost required frequent job changes just to keep suspicion down. Jack’s dad had struggled but with the help of Jack’s mom, they’d been able to bring in a subsistence income. After they’d died, all they’d left him was the house, the old truck, and a couple hundred dollars in the bank. Jack had struggled on from there the past three years. Getting by, but usually just getting by.
“Good morning, Jack,” a familiar voice greeted him as he entered the library.
“Hello Miss Grant.”
Kelly Grant was only a few years older than Jack, but she’d been at the library for quite a while. She was his favorite librarian. She’d suggested many of his favorite authors over the years. She was also very attractive, which didn’t hurt a bit. They were just friends and Jack had never wanted to put his friendship with her in jeopardy by trying to move anything past that. With his problems he didn’t have many friends, but he counted Kelly Grant as one of them.
“Hi Kelly,” Anna said. “You’re just who we were looking for.”
Jack wondered why Anna stopped here at the library.
“Anna.” Kelly’s smile was genuine. “I haven’t seen you in a while. Still using that book you borrowed last month?”
Anna nodded. “That book is kind of why I’m here.”
What kind of books was Anna checking out? Did the public library have magic ritual books? In all his time roaming the stacks, he’d never discovered any.
“Then you know that Jack—”
Anna nodded again. “Yup.”
What?
“And that his Dad was also—”
“Yup.”
No way!
Tingles crept up Jack’s spine. “You mean Miss Grant is a—”
“Yup.”
Jack’s head was whirling. This just kept getting stranger by the minute.
Miss Grant narrowed her gaze. “We’d better take this downstairs.”
She led them toward one of the back rooms, where there was a service elevator that Jack hadn’t been aware of. No buttons were visible inside, just an access card slot.
“We have a secure book vault on a basement level. It’s climate-controlled to help preserve old, historical manuscripts and the like,” she explained as she slid her acces
s card down the slot.
They all entered and the door slid shut.
Miss Grant sighed as the car descended. “So, you’re thinking exorcism?”
“Yes,” Anna answered. “Do we have a ritual for the Whargan?”
The two women seemed to be in tune with each other, but Jack felt out of the loop. Rituals and magic? What had he gotten himself into?
The elevator door slid open and they entered a small workroom—windowless but brightly lit by fluorescent lighting. There were two worktables and some comfortable looking chairs, a computer terminal and row upon row of bookshelves.
“I should have just what you need,” Miss Grant said. “Wait here, I’ll go find it.”
She slid her security card and entered a code into a keypad by a closed doorway, to enter an obviously even more secure area. While he waited, Jack watched Anna as she ran her hand across the spines of books on one of the shelves.
Jack looked at the books on the shelf in front of him. There must have been thousands of old tomes down here. He could see even more books through the doorway where Miss Grant had disappeared. The air was fresh and dry, as opposed to the warm, humid air outside. Miss Grant had said something about this room being climate controlled.
Did they really have a book down here with a ritual to exorcise a demon?
Anna wandered through the stacks, occasionally pulling out a book and leafing through it. A smile came to his face just watching her. He’d known back in seventh grade, when they’d held that séance and fooled around on her Ouija board, that she was into this kind of stuff. But if she and Miss Grant were witches…or Arcanists…whatever they called themselves, he had to wonder how many other people he knew were also. He never would have suspected.
The elevator bell dinged and the door slid open to reveal a gaunt old man. Rail-thin and wearing a black suit and crisp white shirt, he tottered out of the elevator. Jack recognized the man instantly, and chills ran up his spine.
Awakening Page 4