Unliving Love

by Jason A Grimm

  Chapter 27

  Plan

  “How?” Mike asked as he leaned against the bed. “How do we do it while not sending Emily and Wes with him?”

  “Well I have been giving this some thought actually.” Tracy said. “Grant and I were discussing it the other day.”

  Jen looked over towards Grant. “Are you a Wiccan too?”

  Grant smiled. “No not really she’s been showing me stuff but I’m not officially one. I mean it hasn’t been in my family for generations like it has hers.”

  “Oh, I was just wondering.” She turned back to Tracy. “Sorry have a bad habit of blurting out questions.”

  “It’s ok.” Tracy said with a smile. “So if we try a type of banishment spell I can’t guarantee it won’t take them too.” She saw a look of disappointment begin to form on Mike’s face. “However, I did think of something. I remember reading about a spell to capture an evil spirit in a box.”

  “A box?” Mike had a tone of disbelief. “Seriously?” He paused unsure of what to say so he said the first thing that came to him. “Why a box?”

  “Well it can’t be just any box.” Tracy stood up and walked over to her bag that she brought and began to rummage through it. She pulled out a large old looking book and sat back down by Mike and Jen. She began to flip through page after page till she came to a page that had a picture of a large tree with beautiful white flowers all over it. “It has to be a box made of rowan and it needs to be lined with mirrors.”

  “Why does it need to be lined with mirrors?” Mike asked. “And why the certain type of wood?”

  “I need to etch a spell in each piece of mirror. With the spell written on the mirror they will act as a barrier trapping the spirit inside.” She spun the book around showing them the picture of the large tree. “This is the Rowan tree. Its wood acts as a barrier too.”

  “Oh.” Grant interrupted from behind. “That’s the tree you plant near an entrance to keep out evil spirits.” His face lit up in a smile. “I remember you telling me about that.” He said in a proud voice. It was obvious he wanted to show Tracy how much he had been paying attention to everything that she’s been telling him.

  “Yep.” She smiled at him showing her excitement at his attentiveness. “I figure between the mirrors and the rowan, the box should hold him.”

  “Should?” Mike asked. He was looking for a more permanent solution. The idea of them putting themselves in danger for a maybe solution just didn’t sit right. Warren had easily killed Emily and nearly Wes not to mention he began to drag Jen across the room and luckily for her, Emily had intervened and that all took seconds. “How long will this take? I mean to cast the spell or whatever? It’s too dangerous to be in there for long.”

  “I can only say should Mike. This is stuff I’ve never done before so I can’t guarantee anything I can only try.”

  “Do you think you can actually do it Trace?” He paused as he looked her in the eyes. “Honestly?” He glanced over towards Jen then back to Tracy. “Once he finds out what we are doing I have a feeling he isn’t going to be happy so it’s hard to say what he will do.”

  Tracy sat in silence looking down at her book. “I can do it.” She looked back up at him with a look of confidence on her face. “If we can get everything we need I can do it.”

  Mike smiled whether it was real or not no one knew for sure. Either way judging by the new smile and look on Tracy’s face she believed it to be real. “Ok then, what’s the plan and what are we going to need?”

  “The plan is to draw him out and get him near the box so we can trap him in it.”

  Mike smiled and let out a little laugh. “You make it sound like it is going to be that easy.”

  “Well that’s pretty much the basis of it. I haven’t really developed the entire plan yet. I was thinking though.” Tracy picked up her book and began to flip through the pages, stopped and sat it back down so Mike and Jen could see it. “That.” She pointed down at the picture.

  “The tridecagon?” Mike said quickly.

  “What?” Tracy asked in a surprised manner. “Tridecagon?”

  Mike was smiling. “Yeah a thirteen sided polygon.” He pointed at the picture in the book. “Tridecagon.”

  “Oh.” Tracy paused and looked down at the picture. “You know I never really knew the technical name for it.”

  “Well what do you call it then?”

  “Oh… Well, it’s a trap; each side is made of a mirror. You see if you put the same written spell on each of the sides it acts as a trap for a spirit.” Tracy began to trace the outline of the shape on the book. “We have to make one of the sides swing or slide down to close the shape.” She pointed at the bottom most side. “Let’s say this swung open.” She moved her finger a few inches below the point she was at. “We get him to go in there through this, then close it on him and he will be stuck in there.”

  “Ok how do we do that and more importantly how do we get him in the box?” Mike asked.

  “Not sure on the way to get him in there yet but I can wait in the middle and as soon as he is stuck in there with me I can trap him.”

  “No way.” Mike’s face became covered in an intense look as he began to feverishly shake his head. “No way, you trapped in there with him? He’s dangerous and if he’s cornered it’s no telling what he will end up doing.”

  “I can get him in there.” Jen said in a reluctant tone. “I mean if he’s after me then he’ll come in there after me right?”

  “That’s out of the question!” Mike was now on his feet. “You can’t be serious! After what happened to you last time we were in there no way!” Mike sat down on the bed, his hands on his legs. “No way.”

  “I have to agree with him on this Jen. That is too risky.” Tracy gave her a concerned look.

  “What about Emily?” Grant turned to face Mike. “She stopped him from getting her before so maybe she can help again.”

  “Risky.” Mike began to shake his head again. He laid back on the bed with his legs hanging off the side. “Anything we do is going to be risky, but...” He was fully prepared to put himself at risk but the idea of anyone else getting hurt made his insides feel as if a whole gym class had tied them into a knot and began to play tug of war with them.

  As he closed his eyes the image of what had happened to Emily crawled back into his mind. He saw Emily strangled as he sat there scared and helpless unable to do anything about it. He brought his hands up and began to rub his eyes and as he did the image changed. It was no longer Emily it was now Jen and he wasn’t the little boy anymore, he was himself now but still unable to do anything. “Damn it.” He sat back up with a jolt trying to wipe the image from his mind. “We can’t rely on Emily if she is near him what’s to stop her from getting caught in the spell.” He paused and began to wrack his brain trying to come up with an idea. “If only I could touch him lead him into the trap and hold him off of you Trace then you could be free and wouldn’t have to worry about him hurting you mid spell.”

  “Yeah but you can’t so we need to come up with something.” It was Jen’s turn to reject the plan. “I still say using me as bait is the best bet.”

  He began to open his mouth to shoot down her idea again but Grant spoke first. “Wait.” He began to point at the book that lay open on the floor. “Hand me that.”

  “No.” Tracy said. “I know what you’re thinking and absolutely not.”

  “What?” Mike asked his gaze switching from Grant to Tracy and back again. “What is it? He reached down and grabbed the book off the floor and handed it to Grant.

  Grant stared at Tracy debating whether or not he was going to go on with what he had started to say. He took a deep breath, decided to go with his idea, and began to flip through the pages of the book. “I remember reading something in here. I remember thinking how the idea of it was really neat and could be used for a lot of cool things and… here it is.” He stopped flipping the pages, spun the book around, and handed it to Mike. “I
don’t know all the details but what happens is you are put in a trance and it allows your spirit to move around outside your body. You won’t be able to physically move so it puts your physical form at risk. I can help keep an eye on your body and we can to keep it safe somehow. There has to be something in there about protecting your body, some kind of protection spell or something.”

  Mike began reading out loud. “Out of body…” His voice faded as he began to read silently the pages that sat in front of him. “Can this work?”

  “Let me see it?” Jen said.

  He didn’t answer and looked up from the book to Tracy. “Can it?”

  Jen, growing impatient, reached up and took the book from Mike and began to read.

  “I don’t know.” Tracy began to shake her head. “They say it can but I have never done it nor have I ever even thought about attempting it.”

  “What about your aunt and…” Mike was cut off mid-sentence as Jen spoke out.

  “Absolutely not.” She looked up at Mike. “No way, did you read it all?”

  “I skimmed.”

  “Yeah I figured that and no way.” She handed the book back to Tracy. “I’m with Tracy on this no way.”

  “It’s dangerous.” Tracy closed the book. “I don’t know if my aunt has ever done it. I have only ever known her to do charms and helpful spells. I didn’t know she did anything like what she did for Wes and Emily.”

  “It’s out of the question anyway.” Jen blurted out. “So no reason to keep talking about it.”

  “Why not? It’s a solid idea.” Mike scooted back down on the floor. “Listen we use you as bait to get him into the mirror trap then we shut you two in with him.” He pointed at Jen and Tracy. “You two, stuck in a trap with something that came in unseen and started to drag you off without any of us even noticing.”

  “He’s right.” Grant stood up and finally joined them on the floor. “You two in an enclosed space with an evil, powerful, and pissed off entity? You would both be dead before Tracy got the spell off. There is no way.”

  Tracy brought her knees up to her chest and sat her chin on them. “You have no idea how advanced this is. All the things that could go wrong.”

  “What choice do we have Trace? We have to get him in there so you can do your thing and trap him in the box. We can’t use Emily; she could get caught in the box herself. You two would be killed in a matter of seconds if it’s just you two in there.”

  “Then banish him.” Jen interrupted. “Then we just banish him and be done with it.”

  “We can’t without trying something else first.” He looked into her eyes. “There is a chance they will get caught in that too. Tracy said herself there is a good chance of it. Wes didn’t want that done cause he was afraid of losing Emily. If we can get rid of him without sacrificing Wes and Emily we have to try.” He looked over to Tracy. “Tell me I’m not right. What choice do we have?”

  Tracy sat there with her chin pressed against her knees in silence as they all stared at her. “The risks though. If I did it AND IF it actually worked…” She stared at Mike. “You want to fight a non-corporeal being in the plane that he lives. You would be in his realm, on his turf, and what he does to you there happens here. If he destroys your soul he destroys you. There will be no afterlife. No heaven, hell, reincarnation, or whatever you believe in. No sticking around to be with Wes and Emily you will cease to exist… period.” She paused and shook her head. “That’s what you’re asking me to do you know. You’re asking me to separate your soul from your body for a short period of time. You will be alone fighting a being that has lived in that realm for decades.”

  Mike smiled. “I won’t be alone though will I?”

  “How won’t you be?” Jen asked.

  “I’ll only be alone while we are in the trap and that is to just keep him off you long enough to finish your spell. When I’m outside I’ll have Emily.”

  “Right.” Grant was shaking his finger towards Mike. “She just can’t be inside the mirrors when you do the spell but she can be around till then. He won’t be alone.” He let out a smile. “She has fought him off before. She’s stopped him from taking you.” He pointed towards Jen. “So between the two of them it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I won’t do it unless Jen says it’s ok.” Tracy looked over to Jen. “I wouldn’t expect someone to do something like this without my blessing so I won’t do it without yours.”

  Jen started to shake her head but before she could open her mouth to speak Mike spoke out.

  “It’s a good plan and it’s the only way to keep Tracy safe inside the trap. We have to try this.” He reached out and took her hand. “I just found out that she is my mother. She gave her life to keep me safe I owe her and I owe Wes too.”

  Jen sat there in silence taking in everything that he just said. “You doing this will keep him off Tracy but we still need to get him in the circle of mirrors so…” Mike started to shake his head and open his mouth to speak but was instantly stopped. “Shut it.” She said stopping him. “If you have to do that then I am doing this. I’m not going to just sit on the side lines like some helpless damsel and not be involved. So you want my blessing then I am helping too.”

  “That seems fair Mike.” Grant said.

  “Yeah I suppose it does.”

  “Then it’s settled.” Jen said as she gave her head a quick nod. “Tracy you better make a list of supplies.” She tapped the book that sat in the middle of them all. “Then we need to get some sleep because tomorrow is game time.”