A Girl Beyond (War of the Witches Book 2)

by Marjorie Weismantel

  From the gray/silver light, apparently with the title of Agnee, ‘All right, all right, the good witches may also incarnate as a cat, for that is allowed. The last situation is the most troubling. They return to earth and lose their memories of being a luminar, and that is part of their soul memory. That means there are people on earth now that have no idea of their witch power. That is very sad and can be rather dangerous. It is happening to more and more luminars.’

  ‘I can understand what you are saying. I have another question. Do you know what is going on with the weather? Our part of the world is having very strange weather. I believe it is connected to the diaboles,’ from me.

  A muted light from the back emerges. There is an odd bleakness about his hole/eyes. ‘Is the weather very cold and stormy?’

  ‘Yes, exactly, and it is not yet winter,’ from me.

  The muted light continues, ‘I was a forecaster of weather in my last life on earth so I have some awareness of this. We know that diaboles, when gathered in concentrations, can have a terrible effect on weather conditions.’

  ‘How can diaboles affect the weather?’ from me. I heard about this from Mr. Kenney, but I wanted to hear what they could add.

  ‘We know that the diaboles have built up tremendous negative ions over time due to their destructive core of being. The negative ions cause the earth’s magnetic field to become thinner, which in turn, increases the number of galactic cosmic rays that reach the earth’s surface. That is a source of much precipitation and great weather instability, and depending upon the region, can result in extreme weather conditions. The low sunspot activity that is currently ongoing doesn’t help matters. That is a causation factor in cloud creation, leading to the increased precipitate activity.’

  From Agnee, the gray/silver one, ‘Enough of that weather talk, Petro. No more. We get tired of hearing you go on about the weather on earth. How about the rare alignment of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars that’s happening in this age? That alignment is an important factor known to inflict upon the population a general sense of instability. The last time an event of such magnitude occurred was several hundred years ago. There was great trouble at that time, if you remember.’

  ‘Very large numbers of the diaboles have gathered in my region of the world. They have come after me and some of the others,’ from me.

  ‘They have memories of the Karmic Apocalypse from the 14th century. That is one of the few time they were beaten down. We all know that witches will never forget,’ from the yellow/gold one.

  From the muted one, ‘How has it been? I believe that their negativity has increased with time. Have they brought terrible weather? Are they using it as a weapon against you?’

  ‘Yes, I believe their intent is to inflict great destruction on our families and our human neighbors. Many good ones have come to assist me, but I don’t think it’s enough. That’s why I’m here, to seek information,’ from me.

  As I am communicating, the soul/lights are gathering closer to me. I sense an emotional response from them, whether it be fear, excitement, concern, I can’t quite tell.

  From Agnee, ‘Tess, we can see some things from this vantage point that is not clear to the earth bound. Please give us a moment.’

  I stay where I am while the luminar souls gather nearby. It is an odd assembly because they’re interacting without making any noise. I simply feel an undertone of vibration. In fact, one odd characteristic of The Between is the noise, or rather, the total lack of it. It is utterly soundless.

  They turn around, the black hole/eyes on me. It may seem frightening to have bottomless hole/eyes staring at you, but it isn’t. I sense a myriad of emotions flowing in my direction: reassurance, caring, worry, admiration, and love of the best kind, motherly love. That motherly love, I haven’t felt it in so long. It almost does me in. Where is she? Is she here, in The Between?

  ‘I’m sorry, Tess, you will not be able to see your mother,’ from Agnee.

  ‘Is she here?’ from me.

  ‘No, she has gone through a recent incarnation and she is now back on the earth plane. That’s all I can tell you,’ from Agnee, sympathy emanating from her.

  ‘Tess, you cannot stay here much longer. We have some information which may be helpful. You know how the diaboles have accumulated negative ions over the years? Well, the opposite has happened to the luminars,’ from the muted light.

  ‘What do you mean by opposite?’ from me.

  ‘Have you ever been able to catch lightning?’ from the muted light.

  ‘Yes, I have,’ from me.

  ‘You are able to do that because the luminars have accumulated positive ions for the same reasons, many lifetimes of selfless actions and deeds. Those positive ions give you something to fight with,’ from the muted light.

  ‘Such as catching lightning,’ from me.

  ‘Yes, lightning is attracted to positive ions. Luminars can even inspire lightning under the right weather conditions. You can initiate it or attract it, catch it, expand it, and throw it. You can singe someone or severely burn them. You can whip up a fire. Best of all, you can use it to break up a severe weather pattern,’ from the muted one.

  ‘Do the good ones know about this power?’ from me.

  ‘Some might, but I believe that many don’t. They may feel an affinity for lightning or they may have noticed that lightning strikes close to them,’ from the muted light.

  ‘There is something else. Do you know of a place where good witches have endured public torture or execution?’ from the blue/silver light.

  ‘Yes, there’s an ancient tree in town where witches were hung in the 17th century,’ from me.

  ‘If there is to be a conflict with the diaboles, you must draw them there. By now, the spirits of the dead witches have afflicted that place. It will offer you protection,’ from the blue/silver light.

  ‘I still don’t understand why they are going after us. Even if they kill us all, the luminars will be reborn again. This feud will go on forever,’ from me.

  ‘Don’t you see? Every time the luminars endure another life of torment and persecution, they lose more of their soul memory. With each incarnation, more will be forgotten until, eventually, they will not remember who they are. The goal of the diaboles is to erase our very existence,’ from Agnee.

  ‘Maybe that’s for the best. Common man doesn’t need us for their survival. We could avoid all this trouble, ‘from me.

  ‘When we are afraid to live freely as ourselves, we shrink into nothingness. We have learned from past experience that when the diaboles take control, terrible things happen on earth. If we disappear, the power of the diaboles will be unlimited. That would be a disaster for luminars and common man alike,’ from the yellow/gold light.

  58. Return

  From Agnee, ‘It is time for you to go. We will send you back through The Between to the portal. From there you can reach the earth’s astral plane.

  ‘Before she goes, we should tell her about her step-uncle, Frank,’ from the blue/silver light.

  ‘Frank? What about him?’ from me.

  ‘Regarding Frank, we chose to interfere in his life and death sequence. That is something we seldom do for it is usually better to let things run their natural course.’

  ‘You had something to do with his death?’ from me.

  ‘Frank was an evil diabole who was intent on destroying your spirit. He didn’t want you to learn who you really were. Your instinct told you to be rid of him. We were watching and waiting to see what would happen. We eventually stepped in and helped things along,’ from Agnee.

  ‘So that was how it happened. I couldn’t understand it at the time. I started learning about myself right after he died,’ from me.

  ‘Yes, and he’s not in a very good place right now, a sort of purgatory you might say,’ from blue/silver light.

  Suddenly, I feel a strange but wonderful infusion of warmth, holiness, sweetness. One of the souls reaches out to touch me, and then the rest joined in. A kind
of electric current of feeling radiates through me. I can hear their cumulative thoughts, ‘We give you our love. Bring the light and the joy to earth and guard it from falling into eternal darkness.’

  Wham! Before I know it I am streaming down the electric highway of sparkling lights, through the brilliant mist. Then a blinding flash.

  I am shaking. Who is shaking me? “Tessie, Tessie, wake up. Are you OK?” I look up to see Will’s eyes staring down at me.

  I push myself up and look around. “Where’s Miss Cassie?”

  Will tilts his head and studies me. “Miss Cassie? What’re you talking about? Why would Miss Cassie be here during a blizzard in the middle of the night?”

  “Why she was …. ,” I stop. I know Miss Cassie was here. She must have been. She sent me to The Between.

  59. Ruby Girl

  “Tess, how about some hot tea? I can put the kettle back on and it’ll be ready in a minute.”

  “Thanks, Will. Hot tea is just what I need.”

  “Hey, you guys. What’s going on?” yawned Mercy.

  CRASH!!!!!!!

  “What the …. ???” Will got up.

  Mr. Kenney came running while tying his bathrobe. “What the heck was that? It sounded like something crashed into the house.”

  “It’s gotta be a tree. I noticed all the trees sagging on the power lines when we were driving here. They’re really weighed down with the snow,” exclaimed Will.

  Mr. Kenney went to the back of the kitchen and opened the door. CRACK…. CRACK….

  ”What was THAT?” asked Mercy, her eyes wide.

  “It’s the trees. They’re cracking and breaking all over the place from the heavy snow on the leaves. I’m a pretty old guy and I’ve never seen anything like it. We’ve just never had a snowfall this early,” answered Mr. Kenney.

  Will was pulling on his boots. “Let’s go check if anything happened to your house.”

  A few minutes later, Will and Mr. Kenney emerged from the back door, stomping their feet. Mr. Kenney looked shell-shocked. “My God, that tree came right into the front window upstairs and left a gaping hole. Cold air and snow are blowing right in. We planted that maple tree the year we moved in. I can’t believe it.” He was shaking his head. “The trunk of that old tree split right in half from the weight of all that snow.”

  “Mr. Kenney, there’s no way we can stay here. You saw the tree in the back hanging over the kitchen. It’s pulling all the house lines down with it,” exclaimed Will.

  “Where can we go?” asked Mercy frowning.

  Will glanced at his watch, “It’s only 2:00 am, but something should be open. Let me check the radio in the jeep to hear what the town’s doing about any emergency shelter.”

  Mr. Kenney asked, “Wouldn’t it be at the high school?”

  “I bet they’ve established it at the old armory. In fact, I’ve worked that shelter during the flooding two springs ago. I’ll go find out,” Will remarked while getting out his keys.

  A few minutes later, Will emerged from the dark abyss. “Yeah, it’s at the armory. Let’s gather our stuff and get out of here. I heard a snowplow go by a few minutes ago so this would be a good time to leave. Just give me a few minutes to put the chains on my tires.”

  We managed to pack our stuff in the back with Mercy and Mr. Kenney while I sat in the front with Will. The ride ended up being a total nightmare. We were driving through a tunnel of snow, streaming at us in the headlights, heavier than ever. At the same time, there were no street lights so we were entombed in an eerie blackness. The sound of the constant howling wind was only broken by the thunderous cracks of breaking branches all around us. We saw flashes of whole trees that had been snapped in half, falling over parts of the road. On two occasions, we had to get out and move branches out of the way. Loose power lines were dangling all over the place. I breathed a sigh of relief when we, finally, pulled up to the armory.

  It was a shock to walk into its brightly lit interior. We hauled our stuff in and piled it onto cots in the corner of a large open room. The heavenly smell of fresh coffee drifted in. I walked over to get myself a cup when an unfamiliar girl with pale skin and limp blond hair approached me. Her eyes were cast down and her arms were crossed over her chest as if she were trying to hold something in. I automatically searched for any sign of her aura but there was nothing.

  She grabbed my arm. I wanted to pull it away, but I hesitated. She looked at me with guarded eyes as she asked, “Are you Tessie Littleton?”

  “Yes, who are you?” I asked.

  “My name is Ruby. I wanted to let you know that I passed your aunt and your cousins on the way to the armory. They were trying to get to here and their car got stuck over on Capen Street.”

  I pulled my arm away. “How do you know they were my aunt and cousins? Was there anyone else with them?”

  She stared back, eyes like a blank. Maybe she was just tired. “I think there was an older lady in the back seat but it was hard to see. We stopped to try to give them a push. We couldn’t get them out of the snow, so your aunt asked me to look for you here.”

  “She did?” Would my aunt think I was here?

  Ruby’s eyes turned cold and seemed to drill right into my conscience. “You better go and pick them up right away or they’ll freeze to death.”

  Freeze to death! Could they freeze to death out there? My heart dropped, thinking about my family surrounded by darkness and snow. “Thank you for finding me. Did you say they’re on Capen Street?”

  “Yes, it’s definitely Capen Street,” she stated, while staring at me with her flat eyes.

  I immediately looked for Will and found him talking to some guys in the kitchen. “Will, my family was trying to get here and they got stuck on Capen Street. Do you mind helping me out? I have to find them!”

  He came over, eyes very serious. “Are you sure it’s your aunt and cousins, Tess? Who told you that?”

  “It was some girl.” I pointed toward the open room. “She’s right in there. But it doesn’t matter because she knew all about them. Can you take me to get them?”

  He looked really uneasy. I didn’t like asking him, but who else? He’s the fixer. “I’ll take you, Tess, but I’m uncomfortable. Can you trust this girl?”

  “What’re you talking about, Will? Why would someone lie to me about my family? I’ve been worried sick about them, and now I know how to help them,” I answered, wringing my hands. I deliberately crossed my arms to stop myself.

  Will was really fidgety, like he was nervous. “Tess, I certainly don’t mind helping out your family, but you know there’s been all this weird stuff going on around you. You have to be extra careful.”

  “I know, Will, but I don’t care. This is the only family I’ve got and all I can think about is how awful they must feel out there in that blizzard,” I choked. To my horror, I could feel myself tear up. I quickly brushed my eyes with the back of my sleeve.

  Will stepped up and put his arms around me. “OK, OK, let’s go check it out. Before we go I just want to set up a backup plan in case something happens. Just give me a few minutes.”

  “That’s OK. I have to tell Mercy what’s going on.”

  Five minutes later, Will and I were heading out to his jeep. Mercy was pretty freaked out when I told her she couldn’t come, but there just wouldn’t be enough room once I squeezed my family in. She hugged me hard and said she was sure that she’d be seeing me soon. What does she mean by that? Of course, I’ll be seeing her soon.

  When we pulled away from the armory, that Ruby girl was standing in the doorway, staring intently at me. I noticed an odd black/gray mist around her head. Was that her shadow? For a minute, I had that feeling you get when a spider is creeping up your arm. Suddenly, I had to stifle a scream, cause then I knew. That wasn’t her shadow. It was the foul nature of her aural essence.

  60. Icy Fear

  I knew I couldn’t trust that girl, but she managed to instill this picture in my head of Auntie, Annie, Eve and Gran
dma shivering to death in Grandma’s station wagon. Until I saw them alive and well I had to continue looking. Will glanced over at me and patted my hand. “Tess, you look freaked out. Don’t worry. With a little luck we’ll have them all squeezed in here soon.”

  After leaving the generated lights of the armory, we were back in the eerie snow tunnel, heading toward Capen Street. With the downed trees, and the heavy snow, it was hard to make out where we really were.

  Will glanced over and saw my anxious look. “Don’t worry. I’m relying on the GPS this time. I didn’t want to tell you guys before, but between the lack of visibility and all the fallen trees, I almost got lost driving to the armory. I mean, I grew UP here and I’ve driven down these roads hundreds of time.

  “I had no idea you almost got lost. How come you didn’t say anything?”

  “And make everyone freak out? Anyway, it worked out fine.”

  “By the way, when we were in the armory, you said something about special arrangements?” I asked.

  “Oh, yeah, I bumped into Sam and Doug right after we got there. They’ve got a four wheel drive so I asked them to head over to Capen if we didn’t get back within the hour.”

  “I’m glad you’re so careful, Will, but I think we’ll be fine. Hey, isn’t that Capen Street up ahead?”

  “Yeah, and the GPS agrees,” Will said while leaning forward and peering through the windshield. “The snow is so thick I can’t see if there are any cars around here. I know it’s cold but we’ll have to open up front windows just to see.”

  My heart was pounding as we traveled up the street. There wasn’t one car in sight, never mind Grandma’s station wagon. “Will, let’s just go around the block. Maybe they managed to get out of the snow, or maybe that Ruby girl didn’t get the right street name.”

  Will looked over at me and touched my arm. “Tess, I’ve been thinking about it. I have a strong suspicion that your family’s all back at Grandma’s house, sitting in front of a roaring fire in her gigantic fireplace. In fact, I don’t picture your grandma ever going to a shelter. She’s very independent. She’s the type that could survive a blizzard if she was in the woods by herself for a week.”