by Steve Bevil
Immediately, Lafonda squeezed his hand while loudly clearing her throat. Lafonda relaxed her grip and then Nathan surrendered, closing his eyes. At that same moment, a jolt of what felt like electricity pulsated around the circle. Nathan tried to open his eyes, but couldn’t. It was as if he were frozen in place. Even though his eyes were tightly shut, the room seemed to grow brighter, and he could feel intense heat from the surrounding candles.
There was a long silence and the electrical feeling in his hands subsided. Nathan considered opening his eyes again, but decided to take a peek instead. In front of him, the items on the table glowed as they levitated off the table.
Madam Esmeralda, eyes still shut, grinned as the objects hovered mid-air. “Two of the objects are already enchanted,” she said, and the objects crashed to the table.
Startled, Nathan, Lafonda, and Malick opened their eyes and released their hands. “But it’s done,” explained Madam Esmeralda. “Carrying any one of those items will shield the carrier’s powers from magical detection — particularly necromancy.
Nathan had a confused look on his face and Malick leaned in and whispered. “Scarlet Priests practice necromancy, remember?”
Nathan nodded and then cast his gaze to the small and silver cylindrical object on the table. “Which object,” he said. “Which objects were already enchanted?”
Alan’s cell phone vibrated vigorously against the round table and Lafonda’s cheeks turned red. Immediately, she placed it and Angela’s phone into her pocket. She then put on the gold locket. “Here,” she said, handing Nathan his items from the table. She held up the small cylindrical object and smiled. “What is this anyway — a whistle?”
“No,” he said, keeping a watchful eye on the old woman. “Well, at least I don’t think it is … it’s a long story.” Nathan’s eyes suddenly pleaded. “Please Madam Esmeralda, which items were already enchanted?”
“Don’t start with that ‘it’s complicated stuff again’,” said Lafonda with a sigh. “I swear Nathan, I am not putting up with anymore secrets….”
“I just found out about it, like yesterday!” he groaned.
“Why is it important to you?” interrupted Madam Esmeralda, with discerning eyes.
Nathan swallowed hard before turning to look at Lafonda. “I believe this was my mother’s,” he said, taking the small object from Lafonda’s hand. He hesitated. “I found it — well a friend of mine found it — hidden in one of my mother’s picture frames.”
“Yes,” said the old woman, slowly nodding her head. “Yes, it was already bound before you came in here — and so was the locket.”
“The locket?” said Lafonda, placing a hand on it.
“It belonged to my mother,” said Nathan.
“Ah, yes,” said the old woman. “Now we get to the question on your heart.” She grinned. “If you already knew that these things belonged to your mother — and now that you know they were enchanted — why is your heart still troubled?” She continued to connect with the longing in his eyes. “Tell me, what do you want from Madam Esmeralda?” The old woman closed her eyes and silence gripped the room. “Oh, I see. Yes, yes, you want to know why?”
“What’s your name?” she mumbled.
“Nathan,” he said, nervously. He turned to look at Malick, and then at Lafonda, before continuing. They approved. “Nathan Urye.”
“Hmm, doesn’t ring a bell, but you’re in luck,” said the old woman, her eyes springing open. “I remember this one. I don’t remember all my incantations, but this one was different.” She stood up and walked around the table to Nathan. “See you can do a simple prayer or a spell to enchant an object, or you can bind it with Pneuma or spirit energy.” She took the small silver object from Nathan’s hand and held it up. “Or like in this case, you can bind it with love.”
“Love?” asked Nathan.
“Yes,” said the woman. She pointed to the locket. “Love has its own energy and the process of binding it to an object is very special. Much like the beautiful long-haired woman that came into this shop to have it bound years ago.”
“You remember my mother?” asked Nathan.
“If the woman that bought that locket in here was your mother, then yes,” said Madam Esmeralda. “She came in here same as you did today, to have that locket and this key enchanted. To cloak the abilities of anyone that was wearing it.”
“Key?” asked Malick, attempting to get a closer look at the cylinder shaped object in her hand.
“Yes,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It’s a key, well, a part of a key and it belongs to that locket.” She placed the object back into Nathan’s hand.
“So, are you saying that we can open the locket with this?” asked Nathan.
“Not without the missing part,” said Madam Esmeralda, sarcastically. Nathan looked confused, looking down at the short old woman. She grinned. “See the slit at the top there? There is a part that is missing, the part that goes inside the locket.” Slowly, she made her way back around the table and placed her hand on her back as she sat down. “I can’t tell you for sure why she did it, but when she came into the store that day, she carried a child….”
“A child?” asked Nathan, astonished.
“And I believe she had that locket bound to protect them from that horrid man,” explained Madam Esmeralda.
“What man?” asked Nathan.
“His grandfather!” said Madam Esmeralda with distaste. Her index finger slightly trembled as she pointed at Malick. “Shortly after she was done here, his grandfather barged in looking for them. The poor girl was terrified — dragged her right out the store.” She paused to take a deep breath, as if to calm down. “That was the last I saw of her and the locket, till today.”
“Are you sure she had a child with her?” asked Nathan.
The old woman continued to ramble and didn’t acknowledge his question. “He came sniffing around here a few days later,” she said. “Like the rabid animal he is….” The winkles around her eyes appeared to multiply as she glared at Malick. “I guess he was unable to get out of her as to why she was here, but unlike my son, he doesn’t intimidate me. That man’s a fool!”
“You’ll get no qualms from me,” said Malick, with a nervous chuckle. He ran his hand backward through his hair. “I’m quite familiar with the shenanigans of my grandfather.”
“How familiar,” asked Nathan, through scrutinizing eyes. “Familiar enough to know how your grandfather knew my mother?”
Madam Esmeralda continued to look over Malick skeptically, but then suddenly grinned. “You may be familiar with your grandfather,” she said. “But how familiar are you with the matters of the heart?”
Malick swallowed dryly and fidgeted with the zipper to his leather jacket. He caught the old woman raising an eyebrow at him and Lafonda. “He’s not the only one with a question,” said Madam Esmeralda, referring to Nathan. “You have a question too, but yours is romantic in nature.…”
She shut her eyes and immediately began to wobble back and forth in her chair. The gray cloud in the small crystal ball in front of her started to swirl. “The door is cracked!” she said loudly and her eyes sprung open. “It doesn’t take much for a little bit of love to force it open.”
Malick’s face became flushed. Lafonda had a confused look on her face as she stepped closer to the round table. “Madam Esmeralda,” she said. “You mentioned that you thought Nathan’s mother had the locket bound for protection. Would that protection also come in the form of a shield?”
“No,” said Madam Esmeralda. “Medallions, charms, amulets, and other trinkets can be bound to perform many things, including augment a user’s powers, but not a shield.”
“Well, there you have it,” whispered Nathan, cockily. He grinned as Lafonda rolled her eyes. “I told you that shield came from you. Welcome to the Pneuma Novo club.”
Suddenly, there was a series of loud crashes from the back of the store. “Just stay away from me!” yelled a male voice. Nathan and
the others cringed at the sound of breaking glass. “Keep your potions!”
“It’s okay,” they heard Zahara say. “Calm down, it was just an accident, it happens.”
“Not for months on end!” the stubby bald man yelled, storming into the room. He turned to look at Madam Esmeralda and threw his hands up in the air. “It’s hopeless! I’m going to be tormented for the rest of my life!”
The man bee-lined past the front counter. Nathan could see different colored stains on his lightweight jacket and shirt, as he headed for the door. Nathan and Malick stepped aside and, out of nowhere, appeared the Soul Collector standing between them.
“What the?” uttered Nathan and the Soul Collector forcibly shoved the passing man.
The man went head first into the nearby small table and there were several sharp clanking noises as he hit the floor. The man appeared frazzled as he sat against the toppled table, amongst the sea of charms and amulets of various colors, shapes, and sizes. “Great!” shouted Zahara, stepping from behind the counter. “As if I didn’t have enough already to do.”
The man’s chunky cheeks became a bright red as he staggered to his feet. “I’m cursed!” he yelled and bolted for the door.
Nathan felt a burning feeling in the pit of his stomach as his eyes met with the sunken red eyes of the man underneath the purple hood. Nathan was surprised that, aside from his dry pale skin and depressed features, the man looked quite human. It was far different from the black, faceless visages of the Shadow Guard, and the greenish, depleted faces of the Scarlet Priests.
The Soul Collector displayed a huge grin and immediately took off after the traumatized man. “Hey!” yelled Nathan and the burning feeling continued to build inside of him. “Why don’t you pick on someone that can actually see you?”
The Soul Collector froze and his red and irritated eyes glared at Nathan from beneath his hood. The Soul Collector titled his head as if he was staring at an anomaly. That stare caused Nathan to shiver. “Umm, Nathan,” said Lafonda, looking aimlessly around. “I can’t see who you are talking to, remember? So, let’s not push it.”
Nathan and the Soul Collector were locked in a bizarre staring contest. It broke when the man started to back away.
Why do I keep getting this nagging feeling that I’ve seen him somewhere else before? He thought to himself.
Nathan stepped forward and Lafonda reached out to grab his arm. Before he knew it, the Soul Collector took off running. “Hey!” yelled Nathan, and he took off after him.
15
DEJA VU
A soft jingling sound filled the air as the storefront door to Madam Esmeralda’s shop closed jarringly behind them. “Let go of me,” said Nathan, while looking back at Malick. “We have to stop him. We can’t just sit here and let him keep torturing the man!”
“And what do you expect us to do?” asked Malick as he stared down the vacant and foggy street. “Throw a fireball at him? He’s practically invisible — Soul Collectors exist somewhere between the Earth and Spirit Realm.”
“There has to be something we can do,” panted Nathan.
The awkward brown door to the shop suddenly latched shut as a We are Closed sign appeared in the blackened, storefront window. “Sorry, Nathan, but it doesn’t sound like there is much that we can do,” added Lafonda. “And besides, he’s gone.”
Nathan looked up and down the narrow and foggy street. It was much darker now that the fog had completely rolled in. The streets were just as reminiscent of a ghost town as they were before. “Come on,” said Lafonda, taking him by the hand. Above, the three-pronged lamppost on the street flared to life. “It’s getting late and we got what we came here for. Let’s get back to the others.”
Nathan nodded and reluctantly followed behind them. He couldn’t help but think about the short, balding man. He had a bad attitude and was rude as heck, but under the circumstances, who wouldn’t? He thought. He truly was being haunted.
“Leah said my mom just took them to this fancy shoe store and Angela just found a pair of platform stilettos that are to die for,” said Lafonda. She picked up her pace. “It’s a little bit off the beaten path, but according to the GPS on my phone, it isn’t far from here.”
Malick rolled his eyes and Nathan nodded; he was too busy processing what just happened. My mom was here, in London? He thought to himself. He obviously knew that his mom had an entire life before he and his dad appeared, but he was still taken aback by all the recent things he learned about her. Being a part of the Order is one thing, but she also knew Malick’s grandfather? What did he want from her and who was the child?
Nathan picked up his pace. “Do you know anything about what Madam Esmeralda was talking about back there? Like, why was your grandfather after my mother?”
“I haven’t a clue,” said Malick, surprised.
Nathan grunted. “Could it have anything to do with the Order?” he asked.
“The Order?” blurted Lafonda, but she quickly became distracted again by her cell phone.
“Madam Esmeralda said a lot of things,” said Malick. “So I don’t know how you’re connecting this to the Order.”
“Well isn’t just about everything?” asked Nathan. “Our powers, our families, this prophecy?” He looked firmly at him. “They’re not trying to keep the Legend of the Firewalker secret for nothing.”
“Well, she also said there was a child with her,” responded Malick, swiftly. “So what does that have to do with anything?”
Nathan paused. They were now on a crowded street and he scrambled to keep up with Lafonda. “I don’t know,” said Nathan finally, weaving behind Lafonda through the crowd. “But it definitely wasn’t me that was with my mom that day, because my mom died giving birth to me.…”
“Well, that’s according to your grandfather,” remarked Malick.
“And what exactly do you mean by that?” demanded Nathan. They had just turned a corner and Nathan noticed they were no longer walking along a street, but in an alley. “Are you saying my grandfather’s a liar?”
Nathan attempted to confront Malick by standing in his path, but Malick just proceeded around him. “No, that’s not what I am saying,” said Malick. “But you can’t be 100 percent certain now, can you?” He paused. He had finally caught up to Lafonda and caught the door as she entered what appeared to be a women’s shoe shop. “Look, you were just a baby then, so how would you know?”
Nathan frowned as he trailed Malick into the little, but well-lit store. “Well, you have to know something,” he said.
“Like what?” said Malick.
Nathan sighed. “Like, why does it sound like Madam Esmeralda is well-acquainted with your grandfather?” he asked. “She did know you were his grandson.” Malick began to fidget with the zipper to his black leather jacket and Nathan continued to hammer him. “And why was she so adamant that she didn’t care who he was? Is your grandfather someone important?”
Malick ran his fingers backward through his hair. “Maybe she was just doing her thing,” he said with a nervous laugh, “you know, fortune-telling.”
“I don’t think you can call going on a rant fortune-telling,” said Nathan.
“Okay then,” said Malick, with a wink. “How about spirit reading?”
“Whatever, Malick,” said Nathan, continuing to frown.
“I love the apricot color,” said Lafonda. She carefully stepped over several boxes of opened shoes to sit in the open-cushioned chair next to Angela. “Is that suede?”
“Yes,” said Angela, excitedly. “And I just love the rhinestones.” Her bright blue eyes had an extra oomph to them as she held out a pair of high heel boots. “But I need a smaller size. Can you?”
“Yes,” said the red-haired sales clerk, forcing a smile. She paused, taking a moment to glare at the piles of boxes that surrounded Angela’s feet. “Which size will it be this time? A seven? Or a six?”
“A six!” said Angela, enthusiastically.
The redheaded sales clerk
briskly nodded, and then sluggishly took one of the shoes. “And you, madam?” she asked, with a deep sigh.
“I have what I’m going to buy today,” said Mrs. Devaro, patting the navy blue shoebox in her lap. “But thank you.”
The red-haired sales clerk forced a smile again and then trotted off behind the front glass counter, disappearing through the open doorway to the back. “When she returns, I’ll take a picture of you in them using my cell phone,” said Alan. He hinted at Lafonda and then eagerly motioned for her to give him his cell phone with his hand. “You can then post a foot selfie — noting it’s from London of course.”
“I don’t think it ever stopped vibrating — not once!” said Lafonda and she happily gave Alan his cell phone. “Here is yours, Angela.”
“So, were you successful in helping Nathan?” asked Mrs. Devaro. She was seated across the way, and smiled playfully at Nathan. “Please tell me you were able to find him some more shirts.”
Lafonda looked down at her empty hands. “Well, you know Nathan,” she chuckled nervously. “He’s so hard to shop for.…”
“And just so darn picky,” add Malick, with a grin. He peered out the large storefront window. “I guess ‘Operation: Dress Nathan’ will just have to wait until were back in the States.”
“I guess so,” said Mrs. Devaro, skeptically.
Nathan frowned. “Such an odd location for a shoe store,” he grumbled, heading toward the back of the store. He carefully looked around and then back at Malick. “Probably explains why we’re the only ones here.”
“What did you think about the shoes?” asked Angela, getting up to sit next to Jonathan. He was steadily writing something into his black and green spiral notebook.
“Oh, they are nice,” said Jonathan, finally taking a look at the high heel shoe. “You should definitely get them.”
Angela smiled. “So, what are you working on?”
“Well,” said Jonathan. He looked around and then toward the back of the store. “I’ve been working on figuring out the prophecy.” He paused, gazing at the purple cell phone with gold stars in Angela’s hand. “I left my cell phone with my dad so that he and the others can work on deciphering the rest of the symbols in my pictures, but I still have a few of my sketches to work from.”