by Wendy Wang
“No. Everyone leaves me.” Daniel’s blue eyes sharpened and hardened into little blue jewels. He pulled the knife strapped to his thigh from its sheath and held it out. The blade looked dull, but it could've been just a play of light. “I can’t let you leave me, too.”
Charlie threw up her hands in surrender. Her gaze bounced from the knife to his face. The image of Evan popped into her head. “Daniel, I have an eleven-year-old son who needs me.”
“I need you, too.”
Charlie's stomach turned to an icy rock and dropped deep into her belly. “Daniel, I saw the picture in your wallet. I know you’re a father. I know you understand.”
His jaw clenched, and he spoke through gritted teeth. “You don’t know anything.”
Charlie didn’t dare break eye contact with him, not until she knew exactly what her next move would be. Her heart beat so hard in her throat she thought for sure he could hear it.
“I know that somewhere deep inside you is a nice man. A man who risked his own life to pull me from the water.”
She took a step backward.
“Stop moving.”
“Daniel, you don’t want to hurt me. I know you don’t. Because if you did, you’d be alone again.” Her foot slid back finding a rocky ledge jutting out from the hillside. Dirt and leaves landed below.
“Please stop,” Daniel begged. “I don’t want to . . . “ His hand shook.
“I know,” she whispered, putting another step back between them.
“Charlie, I mean it.”
“Daniel . . . I’m sorry. I just . . . can’t.” Charlie turned and jumped off the flat blue granite rock. She landed hard ten feet below, her knees buckling. Gravity kicked in and she lurched forward on all fours, then her legs cartwheeling over her head. She could hear Daniel scream her name. She rolled downhill for what seemed a long time. Rocks and tree roots dug into her shoulders, back and hips but finally she stopped rolling and slid for several more yards on the slick carpet of leaves covering the forest floor.
She lay there for a moment, breathing hard and staring at the canopy. Bits of gray sky peeked through the tangle of trees. Her whole body ached, and from the heaviness in her side, she was almost sure she’d cracked a rib. Somewhere up the hill, Daniel crashed through the trees after her.
“Get up,” she told herself. He called her name again. She gritted her teeth. “Get. Up.” She grunted as she got to her feet. The scent of water hit her nostrils and she could taste it, cool and clean, coating her tongue. She threw one more glance over her shoulder looking for Daniel, but there was no sign of him. “Move, dammit,” she said aloud, turning to continue down to the river.
Jen pulled up to the local funeral home and parked under a tree at the far end of the parking lot. The white clapboard and stone building looked like an old mansion that had been built in the early nineteenth century. She took a deep breath and turned to face Tom, sitting in the seat next to her.
“Are you sure about this?” Jen asked.
Tom gave her a warm and reassuring smile. “If he's masquerading as human, like we do sometimes, then he's in this mortuary.”
“And if he's not?”
“That might be a little trickier. I have no doubt that he sensed me as soon as I entered his territory.”
“Really?” Jen sat back, her expression full of incredulity. “That's very interesting. Do you sense him?”
“Yes, but not the way you're thinking. It's not like I can triangulate his position like a GPS. I can feel this isn't my territory, and that I'm really not welcome here.”
“Wait a minute, this isn't going to cause some sort of . . . I don't know . . . reaper fight, is it?”
Tom chuckled. “No, of course not. I wouldn’t let it get that far. But he could force me to leave.”
“Has that ever happened before?”
Tom glanced at the building. “Only once.” He placed his hand on top of hers and gave it a firm pat. “It's going to be all right. Whatever happens, I promise he won't hurt you.”
“I'm not really worried about me, Tom,” Jen said.
Tom met her gaze and his warm amber-colored eyes softened. “I’ll be fine. It’s probably best if you wait here.”
Jen took a deep breath and blew it out. She called up a smile. “Fine.”
Tom got out and disappeared into the old building. The Chippendale-style portico was flanked by rows of large windows with dark, heavy curtains. In the rear-view mirror, she could see the cemetery across the street. Its headstones stretched up a steep hill to a mausoleum.
Jen noticed a procession of people filing in to the mausoleum. She watched with some curiosity as the men and women walked in to the building. The mausoleum reminded her vaguely of Greek architecture with marble columns running along the sides. Something dark and shadowy caught her eye making her bolt upright. She turned and looked directly at it, but it was barely visible. A dark vapor. She didn’t have to see it to feel it, though. The flesh on her arms broke into goose bumps, and an uneasy dread bloomed inside her chest. The reaper.
She got out of the car and quickly made her way into the building. Organ music played throughout the grand foyer. She passed closed double doors on her left with a sign on an easel that read ‘McCune 2 p.m.’ under a photograph of a smiling old man in his eighties with white hair and false teeth. To her right was an open room with double doors, no easel, but several coffins of different colors and different handles. The showroom. She walked back along the wide corridor that ran down the middle of the building and found another viewing room. This one had a coffin in it as well, but the open casket was clearly occupied. A shiver ran through her and she kept moving, looking for offices.
She wanted to call out Tom's name but was afraid of making too much noise. When all she found were viewing rooms that were either in use or soon to be in use she turned around and headed back toward the front of the building.
A door she hadn’t noticed before had a simple brass placard on it that read “Employees Only.” She looked from right to left and turned the worn brass handle, pulling it open slightly. She found a staircase leading down into the bowels of the building. The chemical smell stung her nose, and an icy chill wrapped around her heart and gave it a squeeze. This was where the mortician did his work. Where bodies were drained of their blood and prepared for the viewing by their family members.
Quickly, she closed the door and stepped back from it and headed out of the building. She’d had just about enough adventure here. It would be better just to wait for Tom outside. When he came back she would tell him what she saw. But her eyes were drawn to the mausoleum. The service must've started because no more people entered. But the shadowy figure continued to circle the building. Then, without warning, it stopped and turned and looked at her. She could feel its glowing red eyes, even from across the street and up the hill. Watching her. Her heart thudded in her throat. She cast her eyes down, not wanting to see the creature anymore. She had no idea of its intentions or if it was friendly the way Tom was.
She felt hands on her shoulders and a little choking sound came from her throat.
“It's all right,” Tom said softly in her ear. “I see him, too.”
Relief flooded through her as she realized the reaper wasn't looking at her. It was looking at Tom because it would sense him.
“You should go talk to him,” she said.
“Why don't you go with me?” he said, moving around to her side. They stood facing the wall. Neither one of them wanting to turn their back on the creature.
“Why do you want me to go?” she asked.
“You may have questions I won't think to ask.”
She turned her head and looked at his profile. “Will it come after me?”
“No,” he said. “Protocols, remember?” He didn't offer up a reassuring smile. “However, it will not hesitate to frighten you. It's one of the small pleasures, actually.”
Jen frowned and crossed her arms. “Well, that’s just great.”
/> “Yes, my brother William is quite fond of it,” he said.
“Remind me of that next time your brother orders food from my café.”
“He likes your food, and he knows how fond I am of you and your family. He wouldn’t dare scare any of you.”
She feigned a smile but let sarcasm edge into her voice. “How awesome for us.”
“If you’re worried, you can stay here if you wish,” he said. “I do understand.” He began to walk away.
A chill settled around her shoulders. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. “Hey, Tom,” she shouted. “Wait up!”
Chapter 15
Lisa emerged from the trail with Daphne following close behind. A gray mist clung to the trees, obscuring their tops in some places. It was as if the sky was falling, and she couldn't tell where the mist ended and the clouds began. A cold pang filled her chest.
“Holy shit,” Daphne said behind her. “You think Charlie's in there?”
Lisa turned to her cousin. She found Daphne pointing across the river to the woods.
“I don't know, honey.” Lisa shrugged. “It's a theory. I mean we're pretty sure she fell into the river. My hope is that if she didn't get out on this side, she at least got out on the other side.”
“I don't know if that would be a good thing.” Daphne wrapped her arms around her waist and hugged herself.
“Why?” Lisa said. “At least she would be out and alive.”
“You really don't see it?” Daphne shifted her gaze from the trees to Lisa. Her expression morphed into incredulity.
“See what?” Lisa looked to the woods. She squinted her eyes trying to see whatever it was Daphne was seeing.
“You know how Tom told you all that there was some sort of border keeping him out?”
“Yeah.” Lisa turned her head slowly.
“Well, I can see it. Plain as day. I'm surprised you can't feel it at least. It's giving off an awful chill.”
Lisa's gaze bounced from her cousin to the woods. She scanned right and left trying to see something.
“I don't see anything, honey. What does it look like?”
“It’s black. But not completely solid. Sort of like the aura I saw around the police chief and his sergeant.”
Lisa’s eyes widened and her heart sped up. “Do you think it's evil?”
Daphne closed her eyes and held out her hands, palms forward, facing the river. “I feel darkness. But not true evil, just all those things that go along with darkness. Fear, anger, longing for something you can't have. It's almost like a heartbeat made up of those things.”
“Well, that's not terrifying at all.” Sarcasm edged into Lisa voice. “Do you think Charlie's in there?”
Daphne opened her eyes and let her arms drift to her side. “I don't know. Maybe.”
“I guess the only way to know is if we try a locator spell.”
Daphne nodded. “Let's do it.”
The two of them walked along the riverbank until they found the place where Lisa believed Charlie fell. Lisa and Daphne carried their wands in their dominant hands. Lisa unzipped her jacket and pulled a small silver bag from her inner pocket. She loosened the drawstring and placed the bag on the ground in front of them. When opened fully, it flattened into a circle. A pentacle, a star inside a circle was silk-screened on the lining. Daphne unzipped her black leather jacket and pulled five votive candles out. She knelt and placed one on each tip of the star. Then she pulled a green plastic lighter from her pocket and flicked it until the flame appeared. She lit each candle. Then slipped the lighter back into her pocket. Quickly she rose to her feet.
“Okay,” Daphne said. “Do your thing.”
Lisa pointed her wand at the center of the star and began to make a circle with the tip. Softly, she whispered, “Goddess of light, show me through sight, my sister, lost in the night.” The flames from the candles grew larger and formed a ring of fire that stretched into a spinning tube of heat and flames. Instead of opening like a fiery tornado, the point closed, becoming finger-like. It expanded over the river, waving back and forth, before shooting off to the left.
“Now,” Lisa said, and continued to circle her wand. Daphne took off after it, jogging along the riverbank where she could.
Lisa kept watch over the fire, stealing glances at her cousin’s progress to see its destination.
After a few moments, the fire stopped and hovered over the center of the water. The closed point opened, forming a hand that charged into the forest. It hit the boundary and was forced into the water. The flaming arm dissipated with a loud hiss and the votive candles blew out. Lisa’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach. Fifty yards away, Daphne let out a strangled cry.
“What do we do?” Daphne called to her, choking back tears.
“Come back. We’ll do it again. There has to be a way to make it cross that barrier.”
Daphne ignored her cousin and edged closer to the water. Lisa watched as she stepped into the river, stopping before the water hit her halfway up her calf. Daphne bent over and stuck her arm in, apparently digging for something.
“What are you doing?”
Daphne stood up straight, holding something Lisa couldn’t quite make out in her hand. A few minutes later, Daphne walked toward her, breathless and shivering.
“Look,” Daphne said, holding out a necklace with a silver circular pendant. “It’s Charlie’s.”
“We don’t know that.” Lisa took the pendant and brushed her thumb over the engraved pentacle.
“Yes, we do,” Daphne argued. “She was wearing it when we came up on Saturday. I remember seeing it.”
Lisa sniffed, refusing to give into the tears that hovered just beneath the surface. “She’s not protected.”
Daphne put her arms around Lisa and hugged her tight. “We will find her. Even if we have to cross this river and go get her ourselves.”
Charlie held on to small trees and saplings as she descended the steep hill. She ignored the pain in her hips and back. The fall had done a number on her body, and even though adrenaline had kept the pain at bay at first, the closer she got to the river, the more she hurt. She could see flashes of water peeking through the trees, and her chest lightened, filling with hope. How far had she wandered away from the trail leading to the cabin? It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting across that river and out of these woods.
Finally, she reached the riverbank and faced the other side. Immediately, she noticed how the trees across the river had buds and new green leaves. As the season progressed the leaves would fill in and form a thick canopy. The trees on her side were gray, and though some of them had new leaves, most didn’t. Most looked nearly dead.
From where she stood though, the water was wide and deep. The current swirled toward the center of the river. She pulled the map and compass from her pocket. She didn't know whether to go right or left. It wasn't like there was a little red marker pointing to the cabin. What she wouldn't give for her phone. She shoved the compass and map back into her pocket, her fingers grazing over the quartz. She took the stone in her palm and worried her thumb across the top, closing her eyes. She could hear Evangeline's voice in her head, “Tune into the world around you, Charlie. Listen for a heartbeat. And trust your intuition.”
Hearing the heartbeat of the world was not always easy but she'd been listening to her intuition her entire life and it rarely steered her wrong. She took the rock and held it in the center of her flattened palm.
“I am a witch,” she whispered to herself. “I am in awe of the glory of mother Goddess and father God. I am a conduit.” It was an affirmation that Evangeline had given her to remind her who she was and what she was capable of. “I am a witch.”
She took a deep breath and concentrated her energy on the rock in her hand. Show me the way home. Show me the way home. Mother goddess, I beseech you.
The rock began to tremble, a tiny quake at first. Charlie held her breath, watching as the
stone flipped over. Finally it leapt off her hand and landed near her left boot. Charlie scanned the bank heading in that direction. It looked clear. No sign of the spirit or Daniel. She scooped up her quartz and slipped it back inside her pocket and started to walk, ignoring the eyes she felt on the back of her head.
Chapter 16
Tom led the way across the street and up the hill with Jen following close behind. She grabbed onto his shirt when they drew closer to the mausoleum. He gave her a look over his shoulder, his face full of calm reassurance, his dark golden eyes said I will protect you. Do not fear.
She wanted more than anything to believe him. She understood what it was that drew Charlie to him. His calm assurance. His curiosity. And, of course, those eyes. But something would never let her forget exactly who he was beneath that skin, and she also understood why Charlie had not forgiven him; maybe she never would.
“Tom, I don't know about this. Maybe I should just go sit in the car.”
He reached for her hand, taking it in his, pulling her forward so that she was by his side. “I need you here and Charlie needs you here.”
They headed for the crypt, but it looked more like a house made of stone carved into the hillside. The black painted door was heavy with a large brass knocker that had probably gleamed at one time but now took on shades of green and brown from years of exposure to the elements.
“Wait,” she said, stopping on the bottom step that lead up to the door of the crypt. “You want to go in there?”
“Yes,” he said. “That's where we'll find the reaper.”
“What if he doesn't want to talk to us? What if he's angry that you’re in his territory and that you brought me?”
“She,” Tom corrected. “And she is very angry that I'm in her territory. But she's also very curious. Let's go in and appease her curiosity. Shall we?” He squeezed her hand and started up the steps. And somehow, she was following him. He gave two quick knocks, glanced around to make sure no one else was watching and then pushed the door open.