Spirits and Spells

by Bruce Coville

  20

  SPELLS

  The hallway erupted in chaos as ten spirits fought for control of five bodies, a desperate struggle that was sometimes silent, sometimes grotesquely punctuated by strangled screams and gurgling cries of terror. Charity stood in the doorway of the library, wringing her hands and crying. Arthur was at her side, puffing and swelling as if by anger alone he could turn the course of the battle.

  “Erik, let me in!” cried Gwynhafra. “I want to help.”

  Matt grabbed her shoulder and wrenched her away from the door. “Oh, no, you don’t, Gwynhafra!” he roared. “You can’t—”

  He was unable to finish his sentence. Wathek was making a full-scale attack. His face twisted with effort, Matt staggered down the hall, trying to drive the intruder from his brain.

  Jenny/Gwynhafra grabbed Denise by the arm. “Niana?” she asked hopefully.

  “It’s Denise!” snarled Denise, slapping her across the face. “Denise!”

  For an instant Jenny’s expression cleared, as if the blow had expelled Gwynhafra. Then her eyes changed, taking on an expression of rage that could only be Gwynhafra’s. But Denise no longer cared. Niana was thrusting at her mind again, tearing the fabric of her sanity with icy fingers.

  Tansy watched with horror as Denise began to convulse, and realized that the harder she fought, the worse it was. Soon Denise was rolling on the floor, shrieking and tearing at her hair.

  Tansy was trying to wipe away the tears streaming down her own face when Theoni returned. Taking advantage of Tansy’s distraction, Theoni took over. Tansy felt as if she had been grabbed by the neck and dragged into a waiting car.

  “Let go of me!” she tried to scream. But the scream was silent, because her voice was no longer her own. The lungs and throat that would have produced the sound now belonged to Theoni. Tansy writhed in horror as she raced to the door, felt her fists begin to pound on it, heard her own voice cry, “Erik! Erik, let me in. I’m ready to help!”

  She struggled desperately to wrestle control of her body from Theoni. It was like trying to fight with water. She had nowhere to put her efforts. She didn’t even know how to try to break away.

  Though Derek was standing next to her, he was Derek no longer. He was Diaz.

  “Stand aside, Theoni,” he said gruffly. “I can get in.”

  Tansy remembered that one of the powers given to Diaz was that of remarkable strength. He drew back a fist, ready to slam it against the door.

  “Stop!” bellowed Arthur. He lashed out with a tentacle and wrapped it around Derek’s arm. Eyes blazing, Derek turned and grabbed the tentacle with both hands. The muscles in his shoulders bunched as he gave it a ferocious yank.

  With a horrible sucking sound the tentacle separated from Arthur’s body. His scream was stomach-turning. Derek flung the tentacle away from him. It thrashed around on the floor like an eel out of water, spattering yellowish ooze in all directions. Arthur crouched beside Charity, whimpering and massaging the stump with tips of several other tentacles.

  “What did you do that for?” cried Tansy furiously, momentarily wrenching control of her body from Theoni. “He was our friend!” Then her head spun, and she felt as if she had been slapped. Theoni was back in command.

  Derek pulled back his fist again. This time he did slam it against the door. The wood shattered, flying in all directions. He stepped through the opening.

  “Welcome, Diaz,” said Karno. “You have done well.”

  Inside his body, Travis began to fight again. The words burned on his tongue. He wanted to scream out his anger. But it was trapped inside.

  Jenny’s body stepped up beside Derek. But it was Gwynhafra who said, “I’m ready, Erik.”

  Travis/Karno smiled at her.

  Derek felt a surge of jealous rage at the deep bond he could sense between Karno and Gwynhafra. Knowing it was not really Jenny who was speaking did nothing to abate his fury. But being under the control of Diaz made it impossible for him to express it.

  Matt entered the room. “The boy was strong,” he said in a deep voice. “But I have him under control. I’m ready to work, Erik.”

  “Good,” said Karno. “You have done well, Wathek.”

  Tansy and Denise came in together. “All of them were stronger than we expected,” said Tansy/Theoni. “They are not as weak-willed as we thought. We will have to work fast.”

  “Take your places,” said Travis/Karno. “It is time to begin.”

  Moving surely, as if they had practiced this for years, the players took their places around the pentacle. Karno stood at its peak, the candles behind him, the sword between his feet. To his right was Gwynhafra, her blond hair shimmering like hammered gold in the soft light. To Karno’s left stood Niana, her dark eyes wide and eager. At the feet of the pentacle, facing their leader, stood Wathek and Diaz, their arms folded over their chests, their faces solemn.

  Theoni stood in the center. Karno handed her the golden ring. She slipped it onto her arm, then lifted her hands above her head and cried, “Let the conjuration begin!”

  Travis/Karno held a thick book in his hands. It was an old, leather-bound volume, worn from many readings. Tansy understood instinctively that it was, somehow, the same thin game book Travis had read from at the beginning of the evening.

  “Let the powers that guard the gates take heed,” he intoned. “Coven Karoo is here to make the journey between worlds. Let the road from Quarmix be opened.”

  Lightning flashed above the house, followed almost immediately by an enormous bolt of thunder. The storm raged with new fury. Lightning continued to streak through the sky, one bolt coming almost on top of another, so that the room was lit almost constantly. Eerie shadows flickered over the faces of the six teenagers who had been drawn into a story begun hundreds of years before they were born.

  Trapped in her own body, watching through eyes that now belonged to Theoni, Tansy succumbed to pure terror. She had learned two things from the mingling that took place when Theoni was in her body.

  The first was how awful Quarmix was.

  The second was that when the spell was finished, she and her friends would be trapped in Quarmix forever.

  Suddenly she realized that the world was opening beneath her feet. Her cry of horror was heard by no one but Theoni, who did not care at all.

  They were standing on the edge of a precipice. Tansy knew that if she fell it would be a fall unlike any other; she would fall clear out of Earth, into the smoking, twisted ruins of Quarmix.

  She was silently grateful to Theoni when she stepped back three paces from the edge.

  The gratitude quickly turned to renewed terror.

  Coven Karno was rising from the center of the pentacle. Their empty bodies stood in a circle, facing outward. Their arms were linked, their eyes cold and dead. And their faces were ravaged by centuries on Quarmix.

  Suddenly Tansy understood that when the spell was completed, she and her friends would be free of the spirits. But in that freedom would be their doom. For the coven, once it no longer needed their bodies, intended to compel Tansy and her friends into the center of the pentacle, and from there banish them to Quarmix.

  You’d better do something fast, miss!

  It was Charity’s voice. She was inside Tansy’s head!

  How did you get in here? thought Tansy in astonishment.

  I pushed my way in. I had to talk to you, miss. You’re in awful trouble!

  Tansy could feel Theoni being distracted by the serving girl’s presence. It was all she needed—just an instant’s break in the witch’s concentration. Bursting through, like a swimmer coming to the surface from a deep dive, she took control of her body and screamed, “Travis! Stop them!”

  Travis/Karno turned in her direction. The expression of cold fury that twisted his face was more terrifying than anything else that had happened on this insane night. Quickly it gave way to a look of shock. For Travis, deep within, had been touched by Tansy’s voice. Taking strength from it, h
e gained an instant’s control over his body and slammed the book shut.

  As soon as he did, a tentacle lashed through the air and curled around the book. Wrenching it from Travis’s fingers, Arthur held it high in the air.

  Travis felt himself submerged again as Karno recovered from his surprise. The wizard’s voice was deep and angry. “Arthur Grimsby, if you value what is left of your miserable life, return that book!”

  The creature laughed. “You’ve lost, Karno! Admit it!”

  “And if I have, where does that leave you?” Karno replied, his voice smooth, caressing. “You betrayed us long ago, Arthur, and you paid a price. But now our exile is over, and yours can be, too. I have it in me to forgive. You cannot know as much as I do, feel as much as I feel, and not have that ability. Give me back the book, Arthur, and all will be forgiven. Give me the book … and I will give you back your shape.”

  The creature quivered, and Tansy could see the indecision in his eyes. She wanted to cry out to him, to urge him to ignore the wizard’s honeyed pleading. But her mouth was not her own, and her lips would not form the words.

  Karno reached out with Travis’s hand. “The book, Arthur,” he said, his voice soft, sweet. “Give me the book.”

  Arthur Grimsby turned to look at Jenny/Gwynhafra. Longing filled his eyes.

  She spoke to him, and to everyone’s astonishment, it was with Jenny’s voice. With clear strength she whispered, “Do the right thing, Arthur.”

  Then her body spasmed as Gwynhafra seized control once more.

  But Arthur Grimsby had made up his mind. Cracking his tentacle like a whip, he thrust the book into the candle’s flames, crying, “You’ve lost, Karno. Now go back to Quarmix!”

  An explosion rocked the room as magic clashed with magic and the book erupted in a supernatural blaze. Arthur screamed in agony. Dropping the book, he curled his tentacle back to his mouth.

  When the book struck the floor it burst into pieces, spewing flames in all directions. The drapes caught fire. Almost instantly they became two columns of flame blazing behind Travis’s head.

  The six members of the coven cried out in rage and sorrow as their plans, their centuries of waiting and plotting, vanished into smoke.

  Tansy felt a sudden wrenching inside. For an instant, she thought she had been kicked in the stomach. Then she realized that Theoni was gone!

  She looked at the others. Their faces were clearing. They were dazed, but free.

  They heard a last angry scream, echoing above them, below them, from all sides—an emanation of hate and fury that would haunt their dreams for years to come. Then, with a roar like a collapsing dam, the coven was gone, and the road to Quarmix was sealed.

  Tansy turned toward the door to flee.

  It was blocked by leaping flames.

  21

  INFERNO

  The flames spread with supernatural speed, the room quickly becoming an inferno.

  Thick smoke curled from the center of the pentacle. After a moment it formed into a column.

  In the column loomed a black-robed figure.

  “Wathek!” cried Matt.

  The figure glanced about the room, briefly locking eyes with each player, then moving on. His voice whispered in their minds: You must pay for defying the coven. So stay. Stay and burn!

  They felt their bodies grow stiff as their arms and legs fell useless under Wathek’s spell.

  Suddenly Travis’s voice rang out. “Karno, I know you! I’ve seen inside you. This isn’t you. This isn’t your way! Do something. DO SOMETHING!”

  For a moment time seemed to stop, the tongues of flame freezing in place. Then a second form appeared in the center of the pentacle. Like Wathek, he wore a black robe. Reaching up, Erik Karno pulled back his hood. His face was at once ancient and young. His dark eyes were pools of bitterness—until he smiled, when they suddenly seemed to hold a secret older than time, deeper than thought, stranger than life itself.

  “I release you,” he said.

  Then, wrapping an arm around Wathek, he disappeared.

  Karno had released them from Wathek’s spell but not from the chamber of fire.

  With a roar the flames came back to life, licking at the walls. Fumes filled the room, making everyone cough and gag.

  Tansy felt herself choking on poisonous gases. Sweat poured down her face and arms. The floor beneath her became unbearably hot as tongues of flame leaped between the boards.

  Certain that death was near, she began to weep. “Travis!” she cried, “Travis, I—”

  Her words were cut off as a tentacle grasped her about the waist, squeezing out her breath. She felt herself lifted from the floor. For a horrible moment she dangled above the flames, felt them licking at her arms, her legs, her face. Then she was sailing through the air.

  She struck the wall on the far side of the hallway and slid to the floor, choking and sobbing, gasping for air. Denise was beside her. An instant later Jenny hurtled from the room, followed shortly by Derek, and then Matt.

  Tansy waited for Arthur to throw Travis clear of the flames.

  Nothing happened.

  “Arthur!” cried Tansy, struggling to her feet. “Arthur, where’s Travis?”

  “I can’t find him!” yelled the monster. His voice was desperate—and weak. “The smoke is too thick. I can’t see anything!”

  “Get out!” cried Jenny. “You have to get out of there now!”

  “No!” screamed Tansy.

  Denise grabbed her arm. “He has to,” she whispered fiercely. “If he doesn’t, he’ll die, too!”

  Tansy began to sob. Denise put her arms around her and held her close.

  “Arthur!” cried Derek. “Get out!”

  “I can’t! I can’t get past the flames.”

  “Reach out to us!” yelled Matt. “We’ll pull you!”

  Side by side, Matt and Derek stood in front of the door, coughing and gagging as the smoke filled their lungs. A moment later two tentacles came thrusting through the flames. Each of the boys grabbed one.

  “We’ve got trouble,” said Matt. Though Arthur’s tentacle was wrapped around his forearm, the monster’s grip was dangerously weak.

  “Just pull!” yelled Derek.

  They braced their legs and began to tug. It felt as if they were dragging a dead weight. Matt glanced at Derek. “Do you think we’ve lost him?”

  “Just pull!” repeated Derek fiercely.

  They braced their feet and drew even harder. Suddenly Derek fell backward. The tentacle he had been holding came flying through the doorway like a rubber band that has snapped after being stretched too far. Yellow ooze dripped from the severed end.

  “Arthur!” cried Derek. He leaped to his feet and rushed into the flaming room.

  “Matt, keep pulling!” screamed Denise. She stepped in beside him and hauled on the tightly stretched tentacle. Suddenly a large, lumpish form appeared in the doorway.

  “Pull!” cried Denise again.

  Arthur was halfway through the door now. Derek stood behind him, desperately trying to push him the rest of the way. Arthur’s body was holding down the flames. It made a horrible hissing sound.

  “Pull!” cried Denise a third time, and then Arthur was through the door. Derek, soot-smeared and blistered, came scrambling after him.

  “His tentacles!” yelled Tansy. “We’ve got to get his tentacles out!”

  All five players began hauling at Arthur’s outstretched tentacles. Tansy felt sick. The usually slimy skin was dry and blistered; in places it was cracking, showing the muscle underneath. She hauled out one tentacle and then another. When the third came through the door, she saw that it was clutching the golden sword.

  The hallway was starting to fill with flames.

  Tansy reached for another tentacle and found they were all free.

  She looked at Arthur. The creature’s eyes were closed, and he was gasping for breath. His whole body was charred and blistered. The stumps where he had lost tentacles were still
oozing. Jenny knelt on the floor beside him, cradling the top of his head in her lap.

  “You saved us,” she said softly. “We owe you our lives.”

  “I failed,” gasped the creature. “I couldn’t save Travis.”

  “Shhh,” whispered Jenny. “You did the best you could. The rest of us would all be dead if it weren’t for you.”

  Tears seeped from beneath the creature’s eyelids.

  Tansy knelt beside him. Inside she was screaming, aching over Travis. But she knew Arthur had done more than anyone could ask. Touching him gently, fighting to get the words past the lump in her throat, she said, “It’s all right. I understand.”

  “We’ve got to do something for him now,” said Denise. “He needs help.”

  “Quarmix,” said the creature softly. “Get me back to Quarmix. In my cave I’ll be safe. In my cave I have things that can heal me.”

  “How?” cried Tansy. “How can we get you back?”

  His eyes flickered open. “The armband,” he gasped. “Give me the armband.”

  Startled, Tansy realized she was still wearing the golden armband Theoni had put on while they stood in the center of the pentacle. She slipped it off her arm and extended it to Arthur. Feebly he wrapped the tip of a tentacle around it, then placed it on the floor in front of him.

  “This wasn’t enough for all of them,” he said. “But it will get me home.” Painfully he dragged the sword along the floor until it lay across the armband.

  Tansy watched him nervously. The flames were getting worse. They didn’t have much time.

  “Quarmix,” gasped Arthur. “Let me return to my home in Quarmix!”

  The sword began to glow with an eerie golden light. A ringing sound filled the air around them, louder even than the roar of the flames.

  The armband began to grow.

  Tansy jumped back. An opening had appeared beneath the expanding armband. Arthur’s tentacles dangled over the edge of it.

  “Quarmix!” gasped Tansy, looking into the hole.

  The five of them stood and watched the ring expand.

  “It’s the cave,” said Derek suddenly. “The cave we saw in the cellar.”

  “It’s home,” said Arthur, dragging his body toward the opening. “Help me,” he gasped.