by T S Paul
My Grandmother is a traditional Witch. She believes that spellwork should be done a certain way and with care. I trained under her for most of my life after I went to live with her. She taught me everything that I know how to do. The knowledge has been passed through our family for centuries. Her style is a blend of ancient, modern, and traditional. What I was about to attempt she would not approve of. Not even a little bit. So I was going to use a tiny bit of ritual magic and draw a protection circle around my workspace: I was that worried.
“Agatha! They didn’t have any candles, but I did find the wood for torches. There was a steel bucket in the shop that will work as a cauldron.”
“Great! Thanks Cat. See if you can find something to put the torches in: paint cans or something like them, filled with either sand or dirt. Then I need you to move all the cars and extra vehicles along the fence so the news crews have a hard time seeing what I’m doing. Nita approved it.”
“What are you doing?”
“Something potentially very dangerous. Don’t worry Cat, I’ll be fine. This is going to be very hard for you: whatever happens do not cross the lines and enter the circle. Very bad things could happen, both to you and to me. The way the circles work is they protect the caster from the very powerful Eldritch powers that get called up. If I pass-out or faint stay where you are. Promise?”
“Agatha if it’s that dangerous…”
“Promise me? I will be OK.”
“Fine. I promise. But you better be ok or I’ll kill you myself!”
I had to smile at that!
“This is going to take at least an hour to draw out. After you move the cars, leave one out. I’m going to need Fergus for this. Only he can walk through the wards.”
I turned away and pulled out my chalk. Very carefully I drew a large circle on the parking lot. Most would use a stick and some string. I used magic, but the result was the same. Then I drew another one a foot larger. On the inside I made one small enough for me to stand in and if I collapsed still not break the circle. Now for the fun part. The incantation and runes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cat come out of the warehouse with five paint cans. She set the them next to the wood and ran for the command center.
~~~~~
“Nita, Agatha said it was OK to move the cars?”
The SAC was standing staring at the map of the cosmetics plant. “Yes. Get with Agent Smith and he will give you a hand. Can she do what I asked for?”
“She says she can. Did she tell you what might happen?”
“She did. It’s a risk but we have to find those girls. What is she doing out there?”
“Drawing a circle. Thanks Nita!” Cat ran outside to the refreshment tent where she last saw Agent Smith.
With his help she got all the cars and other vehicles moved up against the fences. The reporters began shouting questions at the agents. Agent Smith raised an eyebrow. “You know this will attract their attention even more, don’t you?”
“I know and so does Agatha, but she can’t do this inside the warehouse. She could blow it up.”
“Oh. Should we be under cover for this?”
“She told me that she will try her damnedest to protect us.”
“You two are really good friends aren’t you?” The Agent was taking Cat to the Hotel.
“Yeah; she started as my roommate last year. I think of her as the sister I never had. She is Pack in my eyes.”
“That’s pretty cool. One of my partners was a Were. He liked to talk about Pack and dominance fights all the time.”
“What kind of Were is he?”
“Was: he took out a rogue Wizard two years ago. The wizard had us pinned down behind a fence and Charles changed into his other form. He was a Polar Bear. Charles charged the rogue and took him out.”
“How did he die?”
“Lightning strike. The Wizard called it down as he died. Took out my partner and a city block. That fence saved my life.”
“Sorry for your loss. He sounds like he cared about you as a partner. I’ve never met one of the Bear shifters but I have heard they have great heart.”
“That he did, little lady. That he did. So what are we picking up here?”
“Fergus. He’s Agatha’s Unicorn.”
“Unicorn? There was a Unicorn in that room? Where?”
Cat laughed. “You’ll see.”
They pulled up to the Hotel and went inside. The staff was used to agents coming in at all hours and barely noticed them. Cat pulled out her room key card and swiped it. The door unlocked.
“I thought this room was warded so nobody could get in?” Agent Smith looked around as they entered. The TV was on some cartoon about horses.
“It is. I can get through it. Fergus, I know you are in here. Agatha sent me to find you. She needs you for a spell.”
“Well it’s about fraking time! I’ve been sitting in here waiting for something to do. It would have been nice to have a little room service but no. Don’t bother to feed the Unicorn!”
“Fergus, I promise you if you come with us I will get you a chef salad just like they make at that place you like. Now come on.” Fergus stepped out from behind the TV.
“How did you get up there, anyway?” Cat peered at the tall TV table.
“I jumped.”
“Agent Smith, this is Fergus.” The large agent just stared at the mouse-sized Unicorn
“Is he a real Unicorn?”
“Are you a real FBI Agent? Of course I’m a real Unicorn. Great deductive reasoning there, Agent. Where did you find this guy?”
Cat picked Fergus up and put him in her backpack. “Hey it’s dark in here! Damn sneaky cat! I just knew this was a trap.”
Agent Smith just stared at her. Cat chuckled. “Agatha carries him around in her shirt pocket all the time. You’ll get used to him. He’s a bit outspoken.”
“A bit? Why does she need him, anyway?”
“I’m not sure. He is her familiar, so it has to be a magic thing. You can ask her when we get back if you like.”
“I will pass, I think. I don’t want to be turned into some sort of animal for asking the wrong question.”
“She won’t do that. It’s against the Council’s rules. Transmogrification is against magical law unless it can be shown to be a true accident.”
“Huh. I didn’t know that. What I heard was she gave a really good lecture on the paranormal history of the Purge.”
“She did, and someone tried to kill her because of it. She is supposed to do a second one on what Witches can and can’t do. She is very powerful and the first of her kind to join the FBI. From what I’ve seen you really need her.”
“I can agree with that one. I’ve been in four firefights that I thought I was going to die in. Magic on our side would be a blessing.” We were almost back to the warehouse but traffic was getting worse.
“Damn. Unless you want to be on the News, you might want to duck.” The news media presence around the warehouse had tripled in size. Cat ducked down in her seat as they entered the parking lot. Agent Smith moved the car to where it blocked the last part of the fence. I could see Agatha was still drawing in the parking lot.
~~~~~
The outer rim of the circle was almost complete. I had been drawing runes and writing out incantations for over an hour. Once activated, the circle should hold all the energy and magic inside. Should. Magic had a funny way of escaping when it wanted to. I would need to be very careful. All five of the torches were placed and drawn into the spell. I left a doorway between the elements of Fire and Water. I would fill it in when I was ready to enter. I could only draw the inner circle once I was inside it.
I saw Cat drive up and smiled. She must have gotten Fergus. I would need him in his role as a familiar today.
“Hey, Cat! Did you get him?” I stood up from the ground. My legs were starting to cramp up.
Cat unzipped her backpack and looked inside. A voice could be heard from inside. “Did you leave dirty socks in here on pu
rpose? God, the smell is awful!”
“Fergus, quit your griping. Cat was just trying to help. Come out of there, I need you.” I reached down and picked him up.
I held him up to eye level. “I need you as a familiar today, Fergus. The extra energy you supply will help.”
“What are you trying to do? Since when do you need more power?”
I walked him over to the circle and let him see.
“I need to try to boost my foresight to try to find those girls, Fergus. I created a spell for it...”
“Did you call your Grandmother and ask her for help?”
“No. I’m gonna wing it.”
“Try not to change those nice FBI guys into squirrels before they feed me. I’m looking forward to my salad.” I smiled. Ever the optimist was my Unicorn. Carefully I stepped away from the circle and over to the command center. Nita was standing against the truck watching me.
“Is everything OK?”
“Yeah. Now that I have Fergus, I need to eat something and then I will be ready. I have everything I need. This might get a bit crazy so be warned.”
“We trust you Agatha, just don’t turn us all into Jackasses.”
Laughing I told her I wouldn’t. The cantina truck was parked at a funny angle to block off the news media people. I stepped up to the window and ordered a salad and a sandwich. I wasn’t all that hungry but I soon would be. Magic took a lot out of you.
Fergus got to eat his salad, much to the delight of the other FBI agents. Few of them had seen him before. I finished my sandwich and stretched really thoroughly. This would either work or it wouldn’t. I had to try. Waving at Cat I called her over.
“Cat, remember: do not cross the lines. If anything happens to me, call my grandmother but I should be OK.” She gave me a big hug. I kissed the top of her head and squeezed back.
Then I stepped into the circle and squatted to fill in the incantation words. This was going to be hard. The smaller circle was about ten feet in diameter. The larger almost fifty feet in diameter. It would need all of that to hold the power of who I was calling. Hekate was not a minor player.
On my knees I began closing the inner circle with runes of my own devising. Grandmother gave me a good grounding in ceremonial magic and the Kabbalah. Protection circles I could do. I pushed everything into the exact center of the circle. I needed to be sure nothing broke the circle.
Raising my arms I let out the breath I was holding. Sinking into myself I felt my connection to the Earth and all the other elements. Now it was time to begin. Calling the elements, I welcomed them into my circle and asked them to bless me in my endeavor. I had done this a thousand times in the past. Never had I actually felt the elements join the circle. I felt the circle join and power begin to fill the outer circle. I was going to raise power and use it. There were many Goddesses that would be appropriate for finding lost children. None of them were both a patron of my race and my personal Goddess.
Concentrating on the element of Fire I lit the five torches at the perimeter of the circle. It was time.
“This is the hour of my choosing, my hour of need. I call upon the dark Goddess, she who rules the moon and all Witches. I call upon Hekate to attend and bless this location with her spirit.” I stood in the center of my circle with my eyes closed and called out my prayer to the dark Goddess of Witchcraft.
~~~~
“What is she doing?”
“I’ve seen her do this before. She’s calling the quarters. The elements are called the quarters: Earth, Air, Water, Air, and Spirit. Once they join the circle, she can raise power. She will then call upon the Gods and use some of that power.”
Cat and Nita stood inside the Command center in the doorway. They watched the sky grow dark and the wind begin to howl. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The wind was quickly screaming through the fences.
“Agent Lowrey! We just received a tornado warning from the weather service! They say they have never seen anything like this before!”
The sky tuned night black and dogs could be heard howling in the distance. Wind began to swirl around the circle. Bits of paper and other debris were sucked into the maelstrom that was forming in the parking lot. The effects of the storm began to lessen, but the sky remained dark as night. Agatha could be seen standing with her arms to the sky in the center of what looked like a tornado trapped inside the circle.
As the day turned to night, Cat continued to keep her eyes on Agatha. For just a split second she thought there was two figures standing in the center of the circle. A large gust of wind almost made her lose her balance. When she recovered Agatha stood there alone. The winds began to dissipate, but the Sky continued its darkness. Agatha was no longer standing. She lay in the center of the circle.
“Cat, she’s down! She could be hurt!” Cat grabbed Nita by her arm and would not allow her to go over.
“No! I promised her that we would not break the circle. I gave my word. We will stand here and watch. She told me that bad things would happen if the circle broke. We will stay right freaking here!”
SAC Lowrey tried to pull her arm away, but the small woman’s grip was rock hard. Small she might be but Catherine Moore was an Alpha and she could be as strong as she needed to be. The sky slowly began to lighten, and the winds dissipated. Agatha was still not moving. Cat gritted her teeth and gripped Nita harder. She’d promised. Finally Cat could see Agatha move her arm and sit up.
Chapter 17
I woke up to Fergus standing on my face kicking me in the nose. “Quit faking and wake up. Agatha, you need to wake up!”
“What the hell, Fergus? Get off me!” I sat up and rubbed my head. Ouch that hurt. The last thing I remembered was talking to Hekate. It had to have been a dream, but I would almost swear that the Goddess herself answered my plea. Wearily I stood up. I could see Cat and Nita waving at me from across the lot. I rubbed out a section of the chalk circle just to be sure before stepping across it. The torches were all out but I also carefully rubbed a door into the second circle. Trust your instincts and not your eyes is one of Gram’s sayings. It was just a variation of better safe than sorry.
“Are you alright?” Cat came over and gave me a big hug.
“I’m fine, I think. My head is killing me! Let’s get inside before I forget. I think I might know where they are.” We ran to the command center; well, I walked fast.
All I could see were the looks of shock and awe on the faces of my fellow FBI agents and techs. Many of them had seen what I had not. The tornado and darkness of the sky. Otherworldly forces had been called, and I was the herald. I think it had finally hit home to many of them just what a real Witch could do.
Nita was all business, which was good. “Did you get anything?”
I nodded my head. I thought back to the vision or dream that I’d had.
“The room was dark and a musty scent filled the room. Small sharp flashes of light shone into the room from broken pipes in the overhead. Ice cold water dripped from the ceiling and ran down the metal walls. Parts of pipes and electrical tubes ran across the walls and into the floor. I could hear what sounded like fans or propellers running at top speeds. Ear deafening machinery would roar to life on either side of the metal box every few minutes. I could scream but the sound would not be heard over the roar. Looking through the gloom I could see a tiny girl in each corner of the room. We were each crammed into the corner, embracing what security we could find. I no longer heard the cries of ‘grandma save me’ coming from the others. I knew she wouldn’t come. She’s the one that put me here. Closing my eyes I said another prayer for grandpa to save me. He was the only one that loved me.”
“That’s horrifying! Could you tell where they were?”
“No. But I could hear the roaring. It was like the sound a wind tunnel would make. They are alive that’s all that matters.” I played the vision back in my head. I was missing something, I just knew it.
“We just need to find them and to prove the women did it. Making it stic
k to Catherine Emery will be the hardest part.”
“No. It won’t. She has betrayed the love and trust of a child. A family member who she was supposed to protect and care for. Demons aren’t known for rewarding those who fail them. Add to that a vengeful Goddess and she will receive what she deserves. Hekate will make sure of it.” Those listening took a step back from my sepulchre tone. Cat told me later a chill ran through the place as I spoke. I only knew that the Goddess was not amused.