by Dana Davis
Chapter 20
All Fall Down
Finally the day came, the day they were to meet with Wil. Daisy was up before Noah. It had taken nearly six hours to straighten and clean the house up, two witches and seven spells to get that damn ugly face out of the floor. The awful thing had embedded itself into the tile, like a footprint cast in stone, which let them know they were dealing with a very strong hitchhiker.
Her skinwalker had stayed away the last two nights. At least, she didn’t remember him showing up after using that nettle spell on him. Daylight gave her strength she didn’t have in the darkness and she released the ward around the room. They didn’t sleep without one now. She padded into the kitchen and put on coffee. That’s when she saw Bridgette on the couch. The woman looked as though she’d slept there most of the night.
“You okay?” she said.
“Yeah. Couldn’t sleep much in the guestroom so I came out here.” When Daisy gave her a worried look about not sleeping where they’d put wards, she added, “Don’t worry, I added another protection spell to enhance my charm.”
Daisy nodded, glad her cousin hadn’t been attacked. These charms were no guarantee against their enemy. “I’m making coffee.”
“Better not be that decaf shit I saw in your pantry.”
She smiled and ran a hand through her tousled hair. “Wouldn’t wake up to anything but caffeine.”
Bridgette chuckled and Noah entered from the hall. He mumbled good mornings to both women and kissed Daisy on the cheek.
“You look like shit,” Bridgette pointed out.
“Thanks,” he muttered.
“You okay?” Daisy said.
“Yeah. Just tired.”
He no doubt lost sleep worrying over her again. She was awake at one point when he awoke, sometime around two. She caressed his arm as he stepped past her. Damnit. Despite having kept the skinwalker from her loved ones, they were still suffering.
Regardless of the slow start this morning, they made it to the Superstitions before the park opened. Wil Miller was waiting, just as he said he would, ready to escort them to the mountains in a Jeep.
“Good,” Bridgette uttered. “Wheels.”
Daisy chuckled. She, Noah and Bridgette took up their backpacks containing water, energy bars, sunblock, flashlights and stuff they’d need for the spells. The Kachina jar rested in Daisy pack between thick layers of foam batting left over from one of her failed attempts at do-it-yourself home décor. Interior decorating wasn’t exactly her specialty. They slathered on sunblock, donned baseball caps, sunglasses and jackets, before joining Wil.
The ride was bumpy, especially on the unpaved roads, but Daisy didn’t complain. She’d cross a bed of cholla in nothing but a pair of sandals if it would get rid of her skinwalker. She leaned close to Noah in the back seat and watched as Bridgette studied Wil from behind dark sunglasses. The old man rattled off information as if he were taking them on a guided tour, which seemed to annoy the crap out of Daisy’s cousin.
“You really are a doddering old sonofabitch, aren’t you?” Bridgette said over the Jeep’s motor and grinding tires on rock. “Going on and on as though we were tourists. We were all born here, you know.”
Daisy wanted to thump her cousin in the head but Wil just laughed.
“I knew I liked you,” he retorted.
He remained quiet the rest of the short drive, but Daisy caught his amused expression in the mirror. Soon, the bouncing Jeep came to a halt in a clearing near the mountains.
“We have to go on foot from here,” Wil said.
“Great,” Bridgette uttered in a sarcastic tone.
“I think so,” Daisy said. “My ass is numb.”
They piled out with water bottles and backpacks. At first, Daisy worried over Wil making such a climb, but the old man seemed spry for his age as he led them along a trail that wound between stately saguaro, menacing cholla and unruly palo verde trees, all the while warning them about rattlesnakes and Gila monsters. Daisy was certainly no stranger to the poisonous creatures but she uttered a protection spell and heard Bridgette do the same. She glanced at her cousin.
“Can’t hurt to double it,” Bridgette said in a low voice.
Daisy nodded. Cold weather usually kept the creatures somewhat dormant but no sense taking chances out here. They took a trail that led up the mountain at a low grade, thankfully. Magick emanated all around, brushing Daisy’s skin like an electrified breeze. Okay, so Wil wasn’t kidding when he said this place held power.
Desert hares, quail, cactus wren and other numerous birds seemed prolific in this protected part of the desert. Daisy enjoyed nature but wasn’t in the mood for a pleasure hike today. Despite the medium-level climb, she had to watch her feet to keep from tripping on rocks, cholla parts, and other natural debris that littered the trail.
After what seemed like an interminable climb, and several hundred feet off the marked trail, Wil stopped them. “There’s Weaver’s Needle just over there.”
Daisy squinted as she studied the protruding rock that stuck up against the sky like a striated claw. At least from her vantage point it looked that way. The sun had climbed higher, about an hour she estimated. Despite the cool air, sweat clung to her in several places and she took off her jacket, tying it around her waist, then readjusted her backpack.
“There’s an old mine in here.” Wil waved a hand toward his left and grinned as he led them again.
If he hadn’t shown the way, Daisy would’ve walked right past it. The boulders were situated at perfect angles to hide the mine entrance from view. In fact, she suspected a bit of magick had been used to help disguise it. A guardian’s trick no doubt. Since she felt magick all around her, she couldn’t tell if there was an active spell here.
“In there is the power’s epicenter,” Wil said. No wonder he kept the tunnel hidden. “You’ll need flashlights.”
The dark entrance to the mine looked anything but inviting. Reminded her of the time her mother took her to visit some distant cousins up near Jerome and she got lost snipe hunting in an old mine shaft. The place had been condemned but that didn’t stop the local kids, and Daisy had let them talk her into joining. If only she’d known about snipe hunting back then, she probably would’ve hit them all with a nasty itching spell. She could still hear their laughter when she put her shaky hand in the paper bag and pulled out a wig she thought was a small animal. And that wasn’t half as scary as the getting lost part.
She jumped when someone nudged her. “You okay, babe?” Noah said.
A snipe hunt looked inviting right about now. “Let’s get this over with.”
They stood just inside the entrance for a few seconds while their eyes adjusted to the darkness. Wil pulled a rusted miner’s hardhat with a light on top from a nearby shelf and put it on. He motioned them each to take up one. None of the others had lights. Daisy took off her sunglasses and baseball cap and tucked them in her pack. She blew dust from a yellow hardhat, held it toward the entrance in a stream of light to check for bugs, shook it, then put it on. Noah and Bridgette did the same.
Wil looked quite at home here. Daisy, on the other hand, felt intimidated. A shiver raced up her back and she rubbed at her arms as she squatted and rummaged through her backpack for the flashlight. Bridgette stood unusually close and she looked up at the tall woman.
“What is it?” she said as she took out the light and slid her pack onto her shoulders. The weight of the Kachina ashes and her spell books reassured her somewhat.
“Something’s off here.” Bridgette’s features screwed together. “Damnit. I can’t quite get at it.”
“You feel it, though. The power?”
Her cousin nodded. “I’m sensing something else too.”
Crap. If Bridgette was this uncomfortable, something might go terribly wrong with their spells up here. But what choice did they have? Daisy had no intention of letting a fucking skinwalker loose on the Valley of the Sun. And the thing probably wouldn’t stop until it had terrorized th
e entire state of Arizona. She couldn’t give it a chance to get that far. She steeled herself and prayed to the universe they’d brought at least one effective spell.
With flashlight in one hand, Daisy followed behind Wil. Despite the lights, she felt a sense of dread and an unusual fear of the dark. Double crap. Whatever power existed in these mountains may not take kindly to interfering witches.
They wound in and around the mine, over and past abandoned equipment that looked as though it belonged in an old west museum. From Wil’s earlier recantation about the violent history of this place, Daisy half-expected to see skeletal remains. As they ventured farther into the mountain, the air seemed to get thicker and smelled of musty dirt.
She cursed when a mouse scampered across their trail and felt Noah’s reassuring grip on her arm. Hopefully, they wouldn’t contract Hantaviris in here. Or step into a snake’s nest. Did snakes live in nests? Daisy’s thoughts seemed to be growing muddled. Probably had to do with the ancient power of this place. She glanced at Noah and Bridgette. Bridge gave her a worried look. Well, Wil had warned them.
The quicker they finished the spells, the faster they could get the hell out of here.
Wil moved at a brisk speed, outpacing them by several feet, and Daisy wondered how many times he’d made this trip. Probably been coming here since he was a kid. His being guardian most likely fed his energy up here too, allowing him to move like a much younger person around these mountains. I really should study up on guardians.
Bridgette, who walked on Daisy’s right, stiffened and her gait slowed. “I don’t like this,” she uttered.
“Me, either,” Daisy agreed. Noah gave her an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder. “But I like that damn skinwalker even less.”
Her words seemed to give Bridgette cause to continue. Wil had disappeared around a turn, the light from his hardhat reflecting on dirt and rock. They took quick steps to catch up.
What Daisy saw when she turned that corner almost stopped her heart. The same awful face that had taken forever to remove from her kitchen floor met her gaze. Only now it was on the shaft wall and stared directly at her. That’s when she realized it wasn’t just a face. It was a person. Or part of a person. The upper half of the body was visible but the lower half seemed to exist in two worlds, the corporeal and the non-corporeal battling for control.
“Shit!” she cried. The hitchhiker. What the hell was it doing here?
The face gave a gruesome smile and she backpedaled right into her husband. She and Bridgette both threw trussing spells at it. She had no idea whether the spells worked but it didn’t advance on them. She had no doubt it wanted her, not with the look it gave her, like it ached to yank her insides out with its very large teeth and dance a jig on her rotting corpse.
Had it fed already, killed enough humans to merge with a paranormal? How long had it been here? Was it just waiting for Daisy? Or perhaps Bridgette? Had it known they would come to this place? Or maybe it was drawn here by the mountain’s power.
What was this thing again? I know this. Think, Daisy, think! Her brain kept slipping and she fought through the muddle. This thing, this face, appeared on her floor after the last séance. Hitchhiker? Yes. It gave her a hungry stare that threatened to loose her bladder. Shit.
Bridgette studied her with a troubled look and nodded. She’d caught Daisy’s thoughts. Daisy uttered a clarification spell before her mind could slip again. She hadn’t used clarifications since college, when she had trouble focusing after a long night of studying or partying, but the spell seemed to help now. Bridgette uttered her own.
“Where’s Wil?” Noah said as he held onto Daisy’s arm. Whether it was to steady her or himself, she didn’t know, but he didn’t seem affected by the power here. Perhaps because his paranormal abilities were so slight.
Wil’s hardhat lay on the ground a few feet from them, the light shining on a rock about eye level, but the old man had disappeared.
Bridgette began a string of curses. She stiffened, flashlight aimed at the hitchhiker.
“What is it? Bridge?”
“I sense him.” Her voice came out in a croak and terror filled her eyes. “That’s the bastard. Right there.”
“I know,” Daisy said. “The hitchhiker.” Was Bridgette’s mind slipping again despite her clarification spell?
“That’s Wil, Daisy! Or part of him. The hitchhiker found him.”
No. Oh, god! It had fed. Couldn’t merge with a paranormal unless it had already fed on mortals. And Wil was a guardian. His powers were tied to these mountains. What the hell did that mean for them? Would the hitchhiker be able to tap into that power?
Just a shitload of great. Will anything go right for us?
But this hitchhiker was new and had fed so fast. Too fast. Daisy hadn’t seen anything on the news. Or had she? There were frequent murders in South Phoenix and several surrounding cities, but nothing lately in Scottsdale or North Phoenix. Where had it gotten its blood power? Guilt surged through her for putting the old man in danger. Grandpa Owen had destroyed the Miller’s wealth all those years ago. Hadn’t her family done enough to Wil’s? A slimy laugh came from the gaping mouth and her stomach lurched.
She managed to keep bile down and watched in horror as two distinct beings materialized in that maniacal face. Shit! I’m so sorry, Wil.
She turned to her cousin. “What the hell do we do now? I have no idea how to free him.” Maybe an extraction spell? But that might kill him. It wasn’t meant to be used on people. Why hadn’t she learned more about hitchhikers? Because I never thought I’d be doing séances again.
“We’ll truss it again,” Bridgette said in a low voice. “Make sure it can’t do anything until we figure this out.”
The hitchhiker laughed and the mouth moved to form words. “Witches,” a gravely voice said. It sounded very much like Wil. “Think you know everything.” He focused on Daisy. “You’re wrong, bitch.”
That’s when her brain began working on full throttle. She’d been so blind! Wil didn’t give a damn about her skinwalker. And it was still out there somewhere. He only wanted revenge for what Grandpa Owen did to his family. That’s why he changed his mind about letting her use magick here in the Superstitions before she had the Kachina.
She studied the ugly face and fought a shiver. This was a channeled demon, not a hitchhiker. Wil must’ve channeled it, planned to trap her here after they spoke at Superstition Park that day. Demons, not really demons in the traditional sense, were more powerful cousins to hitchhikers, spirits bent on destruction. Hard to channel and even harder to bind. A guardian could manage it in his own territory. But what would happen once it left this place? Who would be in control?
The face on her kitchen floor—he must have put that there to make her think she’d let a hitchhiker through. Throw her off his trail. Damnit, it worked! I’ve been so stupid! She’d told him about the séance and contacting her great-great-grandfather.
She remembered the old man’s dog, Luke, and how attached they seemed to each other. Wil liked dogs. That’s why he’d left Perky unharmed when he trashed her place and put the face on her floor.
So, while I was worrying over a hitchhiker killing spree, Wil channeled a demon to get revenge on Grandpa Owen. To kill me. I should’ve figured it out. Shit. “Wil? What’ve you done?” Fuck! There weren’t enough curse words in the universe to placate her nerves just now. Of all the people Grandpa Owen could’ve recommended.... “Why, Wil?”
Bridgette grunted in collaboration and Daisy realized she was still eavesdropping. Of course she is.
A sick smile formed on the Wil-demon’s lips. “You think I’d let your family get away with ruining mine?”
Yep, just like I thought. Revenge. Stupid old man.
“I grew up in these mountains,” Wil said. “I know all the secrets. I harness the power.” He leaned forward.
Daisy stepped back, though the Wil-demon still wasn’t completely merged and had no legs with which to walk. Thank t
he universe for small favors at least! He wasn’t corporeal yet. Not fully, anyway. But that was about to change.
Great, now I have two creatures wanting to get at me. One for my powers and the other for revenge. Can this day get worse?
Daisy was speaking with a lunatic and her trussing spells had no effect on him. He could move freely from the torso up and she saw the beginnings of a pelvis start to form. He would have legs before too much longer. Yep, it can get worse.
Her mouth was dry and she swallowed and licked her lips before saying, “I’m so sorry about your fortune, Wil. But I wasn’t born when Grandpa Ow—”
“Don’t even say his name!”
She touched Bridgette and Noah on the arm and started to back out of the mine but Wil uttered something. The mountain shook and the three grabbed onto each other to keep from pitching to the ground. Shit! A crash echoed from someplace behind them, followed by a puff of dust.
Shit, shit, shit! He’d planned this. Lured them here so he could trap them. All three of them. He not only wants me dead, but he wants to destroy my family, like Grandpa Owen did to his. I probably can’t even harness the mountain’s power like he said I could. Duped, trapped and helpless. No doubt, exactly what the old fucker wants.
All they could do now was stall for time and hope Wil didn’t kill them before they could figure a way out. Daisy’s heart hammered in her chest and her ears roared with adrenaline. She fought the urge to pee all over herself.
“You don’t even know all of it, do you?” Wil said in a calmer tone.
“All of what?”
“The story. The secrets Owen hid from your family.” He said Daisy’s great-great-grandfather’s name like it burned his tongue.
“I don’t understand.”
“What secrets, you old coot?” Bridgette said. Despite her harsh tone, Daisy caught the trembling in her voice.
The Wil-demon cocked his head, which took on a more youthful appearance now, with darker features than before. And very dangerous.
“What secrets?” Daisy said in a low voice.
She forced herself to stay calm, despite the urge to run screaming like a B-rated film floozy. There was no place to go. Wil had collapsed the entrance. That much rock would take several blasting spells to get through. But they had to get away from him first. And he’d just showed them he had much more power than any witch here. More power than he’d let on. Even without legs, he could kill them before they made it out. Collapse the whole damn tunnel down on them. A demon might just survive that.