Beacon's Hope (Potomac Shadows Book 2)

by Jim Johnson

I nodded, remembering that Charity had the ability to see and sense her immediate surroundings, for as long as the book cover was opened. I brought her up to speed on everything that had happened since the last time I had spoken to her.

  I see I have missed much. What do you wish to accomplish today?

  “I’d like for us to seek out a lost soul and then lead them to the Veil. Maybe take another step into the Holding and explore a bit? I have to admit I was very intrigued about what you said about storing things in the Holding for safe-keeping.”

  Charity smiled. I thought you had some trepidation about returning to the Holding.

  “I do.” I sighed. “But after talking to Miss Chin, and thinking about what you had talked about before, I realize that being afraid of going into the Holding is something that’s just going to hold me back. I have to get over that fear if I’m going to have any hope of being a more effective Beacon.”

  That’s a very wise thing to say, Rachel. Was your mentor pleased to hear it?

  I shrugged. “I didn’t tell her in so many words, but I think she’d be pleased at my decision.” I bit my lip, then asked. “So does that sound good to you? Find a lost soul and then get them to the Veil?”

  Her lips extended into a smile again. That is essentially our mandate as Beacons. I would be happy to assist. I’d encourage you to somehow leave me propped open while you scan for a lost soul. I’d like to monitor your use of the threads and understand where you are in your training and how I can best assist.

  I chuckled. “Gonna check up on me and keep score?”

  Charity’s lips moved into a frown. I wouldn’t presume to…

  I shook my head. “I’m just kidding, Charity. I know what you’re doing, and I’m fine with it. I’d do the same thing too. The best way you can help me is to watch what I’m doing and show me how to do it better.”

  Yes. That is my intention.

  “Great.” I nodded. “We’re on the same page, then.” I rummaged around in my satchel for a pen and wedged that into the book, and then closed the book around it. Suddenly uncertain, I asked, “Does that, you know, hurt? To have a pen stuck in there?”

  Charity snorted, a rather odd sound to hear from a book. I can’t feel anything, Rachel. Though I suppose I could adjust the ley threads to do so, but no. I feel no discomfort. And the pen is sufficient—the pages are open enough for me to be able to sense our surroundings. I don’t have the range that you do, so be aware if circumstances warrant.

  “What do you mean?”

  Just that if something occurs, I may not be able to warn you in a timely fashion, as the range of my abilities is rather limited.

  “Oh, right.” I nodded. “Got it.”

  I tucked the book into the crook of my arm and then reached out for another ley thread, and plugged it into my Sight. I balanced the energies between that one and the one I was using to generate a modest warding shield, and brought both with me as I stood up and then started walking along the sidewalk.

  I had no specific destination in mind just yet. I opened up my senses to the fullest and cast out, seeking any sign of a lost soul in need of direction.

  After about fifteen minutes of walking and fruitless scanning, Charity offered some gentle suggestions and I tweaked the energies I was using to scan, and reached out and added a second ley thread’s energy to the first, augmenting the raw power available to me.

  “Sort of like a booster, right?”

  I imagined her blue lips smiling. Something like that, yes. As you continue to grow more confident in your abilities, you’ll be able to add the energy from more and more threads to your workings. Generally, the more threads and the more power, the more effective and efficient you are.

  I nodded as I walked and scanned. “I’m guessing there has to be a balance point, though. A point where I’m using too much power and losing efficiency?”

  Exactly right. And you will find that balance point changes from working to working, depending on what you are attempting to accomplish. Simple tasks require less power, but major efforts may require much energy. You may well end up creating more ley ropes, as you stated you had your friend Malcolm attempt yesterday.

  “Got it. I have to admit it’s an exercise I didn’t practice much either. I guess I was kinda hard on him.”

  You are likely new to teaching, yes?

  I chuckled. “Malcolm’s my first-ever student. I guess if I screw it up, he’ll be my last too.”

  I imagine you will do just fine. You are learning from Miss Chin what makes for a good teacher and a bad teacher, and I surmise you wish to emulate the good and avoid the bad.

  I nodded. “That’s definitely the hope.”

  My scans scored a likely positive match, so I adjusted my walking and headed in that direction. “I think we have a target.”

  I like to refer to them as ‘wanderers’.

  “Nice.” I adjusted my scans to focus in on the lost soul, and then increased my pace to close in on it. I focused my Sight, and soon enough, the soul came into view. It had been a middle-aged man in life, judging from the business suit he was wearing and the professional hair cut. He stood next to an old stone fence, staring at me as I approached.

  I said, “Welcome, friend. You’ve been wandering for some time.”

  He stared at me with a look of surprise. He opened his mouth to speak, but then coughed as if he hadn’t spoken for a long time. “You…you can see me?”

  I nodded. “As clear as day.”

  “But how?”

  I shrugged. The fact that he was talking to me suggested that he hadn’t died all that long ago. The older the spirit, the less lucid they seemed to be, and the less sense of self they seemed to have. I didn’t know all the ins and outs, but I imagined Charity and Miss Chin would be able to help me understand more in time.

  “I’m Rachel. I’m here to guide you home, if you’re ready to move on.”

  “Move on?” He frowned, and then looked around. “Oh, yes. I…died, didn’t I?”

  I folded my hands together and cradled Charity in my hands. “I’m afraid so. Not too long ago, I imagine.”

  He nodded. “I vaguely remember being rushed to the hospital, and then a bright light, then darkness. And then…” He gestured to the stone fence. “Then I came around and I was standing here. I can walk up and down the sidewalk here, but haven’t felt the urge to go elsewhere.”

  He glanced up into the sunny sky, but then returned his gaze to me. “But I can feel something pulling at me. I’m tired of walking around here with no purpose. I’m not religious, but I think I’m ready to move on, I guess.”

  I thumbed a tear out of my eye. This was always the amazing part to me—when a lost soul gains that awareness that they are ready to transition.

  I reached out one hand and pulled forth a ley thread and willed a rift in the Veil to appear. A ragged electric blue cleft shimmered into the air, laced with silver threads of energy pulled from my own aura. I sensed my crystal flare into life like the beacon it was, and then I reached out a hand to him.

  “Ready to go?”

  He sighed in relief, then reached out a hand and let me lead him toward the rift and then into the Veil.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  THE TRIP THROUGH THE VEIL WAS as hard as all the others, thought at least this time I didn’t get sick once I was out on the other end. Maybe my body wanted me to set a good example for the soul I was guiding, or maybe I wanted to subconsciously show off in front of Charity.

  Either way, we arrived into the dingy gray world of the Holding hand in hand, me and the soul. I had Charity tucked under one arm.

  I led the lost soul a few steps away from the Holding and gently let go of his hand.

  He looked around, appropriately mystified, and then glanced at me. “Where are we? I thought maybe Heaven would be a little…brighter.”

  I nodded. “I thought much the same thing when I first got here. This isn’t Heaven, or Hell, or anything else like that.” I chuckle
d. “I’ve referred to it as a form of Purgatory, but that’s not even accurate either if you follow the literature.”

  The soul looked confused, and I pushed forward, realizing that this was a big step for him and that his guide cracking jokes probably wasn’t going to make his transition any easier.

  “This place is called the Holding, though other cultures and religions have different names for it. You may choose to call it something else.” I gestured around. “It’s a place intended for you to wander, to contemplate on your life, and then, when you’re ready, you’ll move on to the next phase of your existence, whatever it happens to be.”

  He stared at me and shook my head. “I don’t know where to go.”

  I nodded. “For lost…wanderers such as yourself, it can be hard to know what to do. You’re in the middle ground between life and death and awareness and whatever lies beyond.”

  I shook my head at his bewildered expression. “Trust me, friend, I know how confusing this sounds. I’m still wrapping my head around the concept.”

  He found a facsimile of a stone wall to sit on and stared at me. “Still? Do you mean you haven’t been doing this long? I thought you were an angel.”

  I smiled but shook my head and clasped my hands around Charity. “God, no, I’m no angel. I’m a Beacon, a guide. Here to help souls like yours move from what we know as earth to here and then on to whatever awaits.”

  “Huh, okay.” He glanced around and then focused on me again. “That’s a bright crystal. Is that why you’re called a beacon?”

  I didn’t even bother glancing down at my neck. I knew my crystal was blazing away with bright silver light. “The crystal isn’t specifically part of being a Beacon, but it has its uses.”

  He nodded and then stood up again. “So what happens now, Beacon? I just…wander this place until I decide I want to move on, or is it decided for me?” He looked doubtfully at the watch on his wrist that had stopped working when his body died. “Any chance I’ll be late for my date with destiny?”

  He glanced at me with a little twinkle in his eyes and I couldn’t help but smile. “No, friend. Time is pretty much irrelevant here in the Holding. You are free to wander for as long as you want. When you decide or know you’re ready to move on, you’ll either do so, or a Beacon such as myself will come to guide you on.”

  I had to pause there because that hadn’t happened to me yet and for the life of me I had no idea what to do. I’d have to ask Charity, but didn’t want to do it now. Couldn’t break the moment with my soul wanderer.

  The man nodded again, then took an awkward step toward me. “I, ah…don’t know if I can touch you here, but…” He came in for a hug, and I accepted, wrapping my arms around his etheric form. It felt a little squishy, like hugging a bag full of modeling clay, but his soul was warm and kind.

  He stepped back, tears in his ghostly eyes. I felt the heat of my own tears on my face. He smiled, then said, “What’s your name, Beacon?”

  I returned the smile. “Rachel. Rachel Farran.”

  He nodded shyly. “I’m Andrew Harper. It’s good to know you, Rachel. Thank you for guiding me here.”

  I inclined my head. “And I’m grateful to have met you, Andrew.” I reached out for one of his hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I hope your time here is restful and productive, and I hope you find the answers you seek, or, at least the next step that you want.”

  He grinned, and with nothing more to add, gave me a little wave and then turned and wandered off. He headed down a gray grassy path, and soon was lost among the gray trees and rolling gray hills.

  I watched him walk away, and then sighed. I glanced at the book in my hands. “Does it ever get any easier, Charity?”

  There was a long pause. No. It’s always hard to see them walk away. The lost souls, they normally don’t know why they’re called to be here, or brought here.

  I let me feet propel me forward, taking no particular path, just walking for the sake of walking. “Why are some souls brought here rather than directly to…wherever?”

  I cannot say. And that is to say, I do not know the answer. My mentor and fellow Weavers puzzled over that over more than one nightcap, though we never came up with a satisfactory answer. We decided that a higher being was at work and that we foolish mortals had more productive things to do than to question Its will.

  I mused over that. “Very gender-neutral of you.”

  She chuckled. When you do this long enough, with enough different souls, you’ll find that it’s easier to find the middle ground between faiths and religions. You don’t have to stop believing in your own faith, but just be aware that not everyone shares yours.

  I nodded. “I’m a non-practicing Protestant. I don’t know which church is right for me right now.” I shrugged. “Maybe I’ll figure it out, or maybe I won’t.”

  We wandered through the Holding in silence. Unlike the last time we were here, the gray background and tinge to everything didn’t bother me quite as much as it had before. “Charity, was the Holding a brighter place when you were a practicing Beacon?”

  Absolutely. I do not know what has happened in the intervening decades, but this was a much more inviting place for souls to be brought to and for Weavers to spend some time in meditation or communion.

  I raised an eyebrow as I walked. “You’d come here to meditate?”

  Yes. It was the perfect place to go far away from prying eyes and curious minds. And malicious individuals who wanted to do us harm.

  I paused in my walking. “There were people who wanted to hurt Weavers?” That sounded suspiciously similar to what Miss Chin had mentioned.

  Oh yes. Weavers aren’t the only ones able to manipulate the ley threads and etheric energies. There have been fellowships and brotherhoods throughout time who were dedicated to learning the magics of the ancients. Some of those talents are very clean, very good, while others are..dark arts.

  The last two words were whispered, and they sent a shiver down my back. “Dark magic?”

  That reminded me of something Bonita had said to me recently, about how some of the things she and I did were definitely on the white side of the magic spectrum but that some things, like intentionally using magic for destructive purposes, was more gray bordering on black.

  “Any time you think I’m edging toward the dark side, Charity, pull me back, okay?”

  Without question, Rachel. I have lost more than one friend to temptation and darkness. I have no desire to lose another.

  Huh. I had no idea. “I bet you have some stories you could tell.”

  Perhaps. But for now, stop a moment and focus on that building to your left.

  I paused in my walking and glanced at the building in question. It was a block of two-level townhouses, similar to what would be found in many housing developments in Alexandria.

  “What about it?”

  It’s an older building, likely a shadow of a similar building in the mortal world.

  I nodded. “Yeah, so?” I wasn’t sure where she was going with this.

  I thought I would touch on something of a lesson. I had mentioned to you that some places in the Holding can be used to store objects from the mortal world for a time. It is exactly buildings like this, that have a sense of permanence about them, that make good candidates for storage.

  Ah, okay. It clicked into place for me. “I got it. So if I wanted to store something here away from safe-keeping, I should look for something that’s a…what did you call it, a shadow?…of something from home, and use that?”

  Precisely.

  I stared at the house for a bit, then continued walking. “Have you hidden things in the Holding, Charity?” I suspected I knew the answer, but was curious.

  She made a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh. Yes. I have a legacy hidden within the Holding. And I hope you can help me find it.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  I STARED DOWN AT CHARITY. “WHAT?”

  She giggled softly. I was a Beacon
for perhaps twenty years, Rachel. And I lived a full, interesting life in that time, in addition to fulfilling my calling.

  She paused, and the silence that ensued was pregnant like an elephant with triplets. “And? Come on, girl, don’t leave me hanging.”

  Ah…I do not think I’ve heard that particular phrase.

  I snorted. “It means don’t keep me in suspense. Come on, what kinds of things do you have hidden here in the Holding?”

  Trinkets from my youth and life, some precious keepsakes I didn’t want destroyed, some money…things of that nature. Things I did not want to lose.

  My ears perked up. “But then you…passed away and couldn’t get access to them?”

  Correct. But I came to realize that being part of the journal matrix meant that I might be able to reach out to a fellow Beacon someday, to…

  She broke off and paused. I sensed a feeling of…something, either fear or concern, emanate from her.

  “What’s the matter?”

  I sensed something…off about the etherics. Did you?

  I frowned. I had been so caught up listening to Charity talk about the Holding and the things she’d had hidden here that I had totally dropped my scanning threads and had just been wandering around the Holding. “No, I didn’t pick anything up. Hang on.” I reached out for ley threads, remembering how hard it was to do so while in the Holding.

  I found a small rift in the Veil and pushed my consciousness through it and into the mortal world, and reached out with my will and pulled a few threads in through the Veil with me back into the Holding.

  I harnessed them to sharpen my senses and to cast around. “What am I looking for?”

  Dark threads nearby. Something foul approaching. I also sense…how to say? Something like a connection point, somewhere within the Veil?

  I shook my head and continued to cast round with my senses. “I don’t sense any…wait.” I focused my energies toward the horizon ahead. A pair of dark shapes that were hard to make out appeared, moving toward us with good speed.

  I took a deep breath to stall the sense of panic starting to rise in my chest. “What are those?”