by Wendy Wang
“What do you mean?” Charlie’s voice trembled.
“You are a ripe peach. All that magical ability just bubbling beneath the surface, waiting to be used. I’m tempted to keep you, but I think I will have to be happy with stripping it from you.”
“So you sacrifice a life and you get to keep yours.” The words tasted like ash in Charlie’s mouth.
“Yes. My name was written in her book nearly three hundred years ago, but I traded another soul and she passed me by and I will continue to do so.”
“You’re talking about a reaper.” Charlie’s stomach twisted into a tight knot.
“Yes. She lets me take whatever power I want from them as long as the soul is intact.” The witch grazed the dagger up Charlie’s throat. The cold steel barely touched her skin but she sensed its sharpness. “And you, my dear. You have so much power. I cannot believe my luck. The boundary almost broke when you endeavored to leave. If you had persisted you might have gotten away.” The witch held her cheek against Charlie’s. Hot tears stung Charlie’s eyes, blinding her. “And who knows? I may keep you yet. Trade that worthless man’s soul instead.”
Charlie closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “If you’re gonna trade me, then just go ahead and trade me.”
“In due time.” The witch pressed her lips to Charlie’s cheek. “First, I must claim your magic.”
Chapter 19
Jason stood shoulder to shoulder with Evangeline. A sharp, peppery aroma tickled his nose and he let out a quick sneeze. Evangeline reached in her purse and offered him a tissue. He sniffed deeply and waved her away. A year ago if someone had told him he’d be following a witch around looking for herbs to cast a specific spell, he would have laughed and probably punched them in the face.
Three of walls of the small storeroom were lined with floor to ceiling shelves that held jars and bottles - some clear, showing the exact content. Some brown, obscuring the light-sensitive objects inside. A small, black wooden cabinet in the center of the room was topped with a large piece of butcher block. There were several knives of varying sizes along the side of the cabinet, held in place with a strip of magnet. A small brass scale with various sized weights sat on top of the block.
Mikaela worked quickly, pulling jars from shelves, weighing the amounts listed on Evangeline’s list and putting them into small paper bags. Then she wrote on the side of each bag in a black Sharpie the contents and weight. She carefully checked off each item until she got to the last on the list. Mikaela pulled the jangling key ring from the pocket of her khaki pants, thumbed through the keys until she found the right one before unlocking the black wooden cabinet. Mikaela took a large, clear glass jar with a clear glass top and set it on top of the cabinet. Jason’s stomach flip-flopped. It was filled with something that looked like tiny blackened bones. Jason’s breath became ragged as he watched Mikaela open the jar and measure out a handful of bones with her gloved hand. Evangeline put one arm around his shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. She leaned in and whispered, “It's all right, honey. They're not human.”
“Yes, ma'am,” he said, his voice raspy.
“I hope you're not catching a cold,” she said.
“I've got something for that.” Mikaela looked up at him with her wide, green eyes.
Jason held up a hand and gave Mikaela a tight smile. “No, thanks. I'm fine.”
Mikaela shrugged one shoulder. She took the bones from the scale and slid them into the paper bag. “Okay. That should be everything you need.”
“Thank you,” Evangeline said, reaching for her coin purse. “How much do I owe you?”
“Two-hundred and thirteen dollars.”
Jason whistled. “For herbs and some bones?”
“It’s fine, honey,” Evangeline said, patting his arm. “It’s about what I expected.” She unzipped her coin purse, counted out the money, and handed it to Mikaela. “You have no idea how grateful I am for this.” She took the bags lined up on the butcher block and placed them inside her purse.
“So, are you honestly going to search for your niece in those woods?” Mikaela tidied up her workstation, putting jars back into their place and locking the bones away in their cabinet.
“We are. We could always use the help of another witch. Any chance we could get you to join us?” Evangeline asked.
“I'm not really sure what good I would do you,” Mikaela said.
“Well, just the fact that you’ve gone in and come out would be very helpful.” Evangeline pushed her purse straps up onto her shoulder.
“Well, that’s just the thing. I remember going in, but I have no idea how I got out,” Mikaela said.
“What do you mean?” Evangeline asked.
“I went camping with a few of my friends at the state park, which is adjacent to those woods, and we went hiking early one morning. Somehow I got separated from them. I ended up having to spend the night, cold and hungry and scared out of my wits in those woods.”
“So what happened?” Jason asked.
“I fell asleep at the base of a tree. Next thing I knew I was waking up in my car,” Mikaela said. “It was really weird, but everything about those woods is weird.”
“Can you tell us why?” Evangeline prompted.
“Well, I knew the legend about the place and knew the land had belonged to my family once upon a time. According to family lore my ancestor, Abigail Heard, was accused of being a witch. Which isn't surprising because, honestly, my family has been practicing witchcraft since the early 1500s.”
Evangeline’s hand floated to her throat, and she spoke in a soft, strained voice. “They tortured her, didn’t they?”
Mikaela’s expression became grim and she nodded. “Yes. The history books all say she was found guilty of witchcraft and hung but —”
Jason leaned in closer to Evangeline. “But what?”
“We have a grimoire going back nearly five hundred years and it . . . well it says some crazy stuff about her,” Mikaela said.
“What's a grimoire?” Jason asked.
“It's a book of spells and family history that magical folks keep,” Evangeline said. “I'm sorry, Mikaela, go ahead.”
“According to the grimoire she didn't die. But that's ridiculous,” Mikaela scoffed, then folded her arms across her chest.
“I’ve never heard of a witch living that long but I've known witches that have lived almost two hundred years,” Evangeline said. “It may not be as crazy as you think, especially if her longevity is tied to dark magic.”
“Wait. Two hundred years?” Jason’s said, his voice strident. “How is that even possible? I mean that would mean she was alive around the time of the revolution, right?”
“More like the war of 1812,” Evangeline said patiently. “It just all depends on the witch. Most witches will have a long life. My grandmother lived to be a hundred and seventeen and died quite unexpectedly.”
Jason shook his head in disbelief. “That’s amazing. Why was it unexpected?”
“She went flying without her glasses and flew right into a building. Unfortunately, we’re not impervious to gravity or blunt objects.” Evangeline said matter-of-factly.
“Oh.” Jason’s eye twitched. He would tuck that information away for some other time. Right now, it was all he could handle knowing that Miss Evangeline was carrying a bag of bones around in her purse.
“Mikaela, I’ll be honest. We need another witch for our circle. Wouldn’t you like to know for sure if your family history is true? I’m sensing that it’s something you’ll always wonder about.”
Mikaela bit her lip and looked at her watch. She took a deep breath. “I don’t know. It’s just a story.”
“What if I told you there’s a boundary spell around those woods? Maybe on this whole town,” Evangeline said.
“How do you know that?”
“We have a friend with us, a reaper. He couldn’t penetrate it. Only a living, powerful witch could possibly pull that off.”
Mikaela’s fac
e blanched. “A reaper? Are you serious?”
“Yes. He’s, well he’s special,” Evangeline smiled.
“He’s something,” Jason muttered under his breath. Evangeline elbowed him in the ribs and he let out a soft oof.
“Can I meet him?”
Evangeline brightened. “Of course.”
“All right, then I’m definitely in,” Mikaela said.
Jen spread a thin layer of mayonnaise across the slice of bread in her hand, added four thin pieces of ham, a slice of Swiss and topped it with another piece of bread. She placed the sandwich on the platter in front of her. She walked over to the stove and gave the pot of tomato soup a quick stir before she started making the next sandwich.
“You need some help with that?” Tom offered.
“No,” Jen said. “I'm good. You just keep doing what you're doing.”
Tom went back to wrapping yarn around a homemade cross of sticks that he and Jen had gathered from the yard. Several skeins of yarn were spread out on the table in front of him, and Jen had shown him how to wrap the yarn around the four branches to make across the God’s eye cross.
“I wish Daphne and Lisa would get back,” Jen said, putting another sandwich on the platter. “They've been gone for hours now.”
“I'm sure they're fine. They’re together.”
“I know. It's just I don't have a good feeling about this.” Jen stirred the soup again. She pulled a clean spoon from the drawer and tasted for seasoning.
“I know,” Tom said softly. “But really there’s –”
“Listen,” Jen interrupted. She held her breath and stood still. The heavy footsteps on the stairs leading to the front porch were too heavy to be Lisa or Daphne.
Through the wavy glass panes, Jen saw the outline of a woman. A woman she didn't know. She heard Jason's voice. The door handle turned.
“Come on in.” He stomped his boots on the heavy rubber mat before stepping over the threshold. He swung the door open and gestured for the woman to enter before him. Jen and Tom traded puzzled looks.
“This here is Jen, Charlie’s cousin, and that’s Tom. He’s . . .” Jason frowned. “He’s nosy.”
Tom rolled his eyes and scowled. Evangeline swept into the room carrying a bag of supplies.
“I'd like you to meet my niece Jen Holloway and this is a good friend of our family, Tom Sharon,” Evangeline said. She put her bag of stones on the granite countertop of the breakfast bar and began to pull the small bags from her purse.
Jen put the half-made sandwich down on the platter, wiped her hands on her jeans and walked across the room to shake the young woman’s hand. “This is Mikaela Heard. She's agreed to help us.”
Jen shook her hand. “Wonderful. Will your coven be joining us?”
“No,” Mikaela said. “Just me.”
“Mikaela's been in the woods before and lived to tell the tale. She has some very interesting things to share,” Evangeline said.
“That’s great.” Jen beamed. “
“Are Lisa and Daphne not back yet?” Jason looked around the living room.
“No, not yet,” Jen said, her voice shifting to fretful.
“Should we go look for them?” Jason jerked his thumb at the front door.
Footsteps on the stairs and the sound of Daphne's voice sent a shard of relief through Jen. “Oh, thank God.” She walked over to the door and opened it as they stepped up onto the porch. Daphne's lips were blue and she was shivering. “Oh my God, what happened?” Jen ushered Daphne into the living room.
“She's fine. She went into the river and she just got a little chilled. That’s all,” Lisa said.
“That’s all? Why did she go into the river?” Jen asked.
Daphne stripped off her jacket, sweater and jeans before Jason and Tom could look away. Evangeline grabbed the blanket folded over the leather armchair and wrapped it around her daughter’s shoulders. Evangeline walked her over to the fireplace, snapped her fingers and a roaring fire came to life, heating the space. “You stand right here. I’m going to run upstairs and get you some clean clothes.” Evangeline scrutinized Daphne from head to toe. “Take off those socks. They look like they're soaked.”
“They are,” Daphne said through chattering teeth.
Jen went into the kitchen and put a kettle of water on to make some hot tea. Lisa stripped off her jacket and laid Charlie's pendant on the table next to the two finished God's eye crosses that Tom had made. Jen moved into the living room, sidling up next to Tom. She stared down at the pendant and crossed her arms across her chest. “Where did you get that?”
“The river,” Lisa said.
“That's Charlie's,” Jen said, picking it up and studying it. “I gave this to her.”
“May I look at it?” Mikaela asked, stepping up to the table. Jen gave her a halfhearted smile and put the pendant into her outstretched hand.
“Not to be rude but who are you?” Lisa asked.
“I’m Mikaela Heard.”
“She's a witch,” Tom said. “She's evidently going to help us.”
Lisa gave Jen a worried look.
“What?” Jen said.
“There are only five of us. Seven would be more effective.”
“So we don't count?” Jason sounded a little hurt.
Lisa sighed and put her hand on Jason's shoulder. “Of course you count. It's just you're not going to be wielding a wand.”
Jason put his hand on the side-arm strapped to his hip. “This is all the wand I need.”
Lisa gave him an amused eye roll and shook her head. She moved beside Daphne and put her arm around her shoulders, rubbing up and down her arm. “How you doing?”
“I'm okay,” Daphne said, her teeth still chattering. Evangeline descended the stairs carrying a fresh pair of jeans, socks and a fuzzy sweater. She lifted the throw from Daphne’s shoulders and held it up as a makeshift privacy screen. Daphne quickly shimmied her slim hips into the jeans and dove into the sweater. Once she finished putting on clean, warm socks, she grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders again.
“So,” Jason said. “What's the plan?”
“Lunch. Then plan,” Jen said. “Lisa will you get some soup bowls and that box of crackers out of the cabinet?”
“Sure thing,” Lisa said.
Chapter 20
Jason pulled open one side of his Kevlar vest, stuck his arm through the hole, slipped it over his head and fastened the open side. He adjusted the straps for a snug fit.
“You know that's not going to protect you,” Tom said. “She won't be coming at you with bullets.”
“Maybe not,” Jason said, patting his chest. “But I consider this to be one of my talismans. If my gun can be a talisman, so can my vest.”
“Absolutely, honey,” Evangeline said. She dried the last of the lunch dishes and put it back into the cabinet.
“Evangeline's right,” Jen said. She looked up from the dining table as she finished making the last of the God’s eye crosses. “In fact, before we leave, I'll say a blessing over it. Give you a little extra protection.” She picked up her scissors and snipped the yarn then tied it into a knot. Daphne, Lisa and Mikaela all stood around the end of the breakfast bar finishing up the protection bags.
“You know what we really need,” Lisa said. “is a way to weaken her. So that we can capture her.”
“And what do you propose we do with her once we've captured her?” Tom asked.
“There are things we can do in the witch community,” Evangeline said. We can call a Regional Council together. They could handle any sort of justice.”
“Why couldn't we just hand her over to the authorities?” Jason asked. “I mean, she's killed people, right?”
“Yeah, and exactly how would that go?” Lisa said, her voice edged with sarcasm. “Here, why don't you take this 300-year-old witch who's killed a couple hundred people over the last three hundred years. Yeah, I'm sure they’d totally buy it.” Jason scowled but didn’t say anything
more. Lisa continued, “Weakening her is our best chance at capturing her, and Evangeline's right, let a witch’s council handle it.”
“Well how do we weaken her?” Mikaela asked.
“There are certainly spells we can use. The most effective would include some part of her body, though,” Jen explained.
“Wait. What?” Jason asked, a little horrified at the thought of them needing body parts for a spell. Weren’t the bones of animals bad enough?
“Oh, don't look at me like that,” Jen said. “It means a piece of her hair or a fingernail clipping. Blood is really the best in this sort of spell, though. But I don't know how we would get that.”
“What about my blood?” Mikaela asked. Daphne, Lisa, and Evangeline all shifted their eyes to her. “She’s my ancestor so according to blood lore, my blood is her blood.”
Jen immediately looked to her aunt for confirmation. Evangeline nodded. “Mikaela’s right.”
“Are you sure about this?” Jen said.
“How much blood do you need?” Jason asked not afraid to show his disgust.
“Just a couple of drops should do it,” Evangeline said.
Mikaela nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure.”
“All righty then,” Evangeline said. “I need a vile and a bone from one of those protection bags.”
“How long will this take?” Jason glanced at the window. “It’ll be dark before you know it.”
“Not long. I don't want to wait another day. By then it could be too late. We’ll do this one last spell and then head over to the state park.” The heavy feeling of dread spread throughout the room with Evangeline's words. “Let's get your hand washed Mikaela. We don't want you to get an infection from a pinprick.”
Charlie tasted blood. The sticky liquid ran down her forehead, blinded her in her right eye, trailed over her lip and down her chin. It was then she knew for certain that she wasn't dead. Ghosts didn't bleed.
Some part of her was thrilled to be alive but another part of her just wanted the pain to stop. Extracting her magic turned out to be much more difficult than she thought it would be. The witch’s frustrations grew with every stripe of blood, every blister and every bruise that did not lead to Charlie releasing just a little bit of magic to her.