“We’re just worried about you, sweetie,” said the woman whom I was assuming was his mother. “Well, whatever it is, if you’re not looking better in the morning, we’re going to a doctor.”
“Mom,” Dale started to complain, but his mother cut him off quickly, suggesting that they get on their way home. I sat up straight as soon as we heard the rustling of the large party gathering their things and making their way out of the booth.
“Come on,” I said quickly, throwing my napkin on the table, and searched through my purse for money, tossing it on the table.
“What are we doing?” Steven asked as he and Jodi fished out money as well, adding it to mine on the table.
“We’re gonna follow them so we can find out where he is and what’s going on with him,” I said in a whisper as the family passed our table on their way to the front door. I slid out of the booth as the last member of their party neared the door. I waved at Steven and Jodi to hurry.
I noted which car Dale got into before rushing over to mine, unlocking the doors, and climbing in. Jodi and Steven were right behind me. I was reversing out of the parking space as Jodi was still pulling her door closed. I managed to get behind their minivan as it pulled up to the exit of the parking lot and followed it out onto Thompson Boulevard, keeping close enough to blend in with traffic and not lose the car, while staying far back enough not to be obvious that I was following it.
“What are you planning on doing?” Jodi asked as we turned into a neighborhood very near where I lived.
“No clue,” I said, driving past the house where the minivan pulled into a driveway and continuing down the block until I was able to pull over and park where a streetlight had gone out, leaving us in the dark.
“I’m so glad we always jump into these things without plans,” Steven said sarcastically from the backseat. We adjusted in our seats until I could see Dale’s front yard from where we were parked. Both Steven and Jodi were quiet for a few minutes while I continued to stare intently at the house.
“I feel like we need to keep an eye on him in case he gets worse or tries something else,” I said.
“Okay, but to what end?” Jodi asked. “I mean, we don’t know what they’ve done to him, so if he gets worse, how can we help him?”
“If he gets worse, we’ll go get him and try to get him to talk to us. If he tries to attack someone else, we’ll be the only ones who know what’s going on,” I said.
“So how are we going to keep an eye on him then?” Steven asked. “I mean, we can’t just sit out here all day and night; people will notice that.”
I sucked in my bottom lip and began chewing on it, knowing Steven was right and that we couldn’t get inside Dale’s house either. Just then it hit me; we couldn’t get inside his house, but I could get something else inside for me.
“A mirror spirit,” I said so softly I almost didn’t hear myself.
“What?” Steven and Jodi asked together.
“A mirror spirit,” I said a little louder. “We can conjure a mirror spirit to watch over him for us.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jodi nodding slowly as she considered my suggestion.
“They’re not entirely reliable, but it’s a pretty good idea,” she said, turning in her seat to look at me and Steven, who was also nodding his agreement.
“Okay,” I said, finally looking away from the house and turning in my seat as well. “We’ll need fire, Steven, to call it to the surface.”
“Right,” he said, and I could hear the nerves in his voice just as they pricked at the skin on my arms.
“You can do this, it’s very easy for you now,” I said, touching his arm lightly. We gave him the few moments he needed to steel himself. When he finally nodded, I turned to the rearview mirror, adjusting it so that none of our reflections showed in its surface, and sat back, letting Steven lean closer to it. He took a deep breath and raised his hand in front of the mirror, palm up, and blew his breath out over his hand. I felt the heat of his anticipation before the tiny orange flame burst to life in the middle of his palm, dancing just above his skin.
We watched as the flame danced wildly, the reflection casting shadows and light through the interior of the car, lighting and darkening our faces as if a breeze played with it, making it bend and flicker in every direction. I turned my attention to the mirror and concentrated on summoning a spirit within, careful to shape my thoughts around a helpful, passive spirit that would observe without comment or action. Most mirror spirits reminded me of imps who grew bored with their own existence and liked to play tricks on humans for their own amusement and that was exactly what I wasn’t looking for tonight. As I concentrated, I watched the reflection of the car fade from the mirror, showing only darkness and the dancing shape of the flame held in front of it.
Finally, after what felt like hours, a dark shadow began to take shape in the surface of the mirror until a pair of yellow-gold eyes blinked slowly at us. I reached for the mirror and adjusted it so we could see more clearly and realized we were looking into the face of a black cat.
“Thank you for answering our call,” I spoke to the spectral cat in the mirror and it turned to face me, blinking slowly. “We ask that you watch over Dale,” I explained, bringing an image of Dale to the front of my mind and projecting it to the cat. “Keep track of his movements and actions. Should he grow sicker, warn us; should he become violent, warn us; and should he try to return to the ocean, warn us.” I gave my three commands and waited, holding my breath. After a few moments, the cat bowed his head low and turned to pad out of sight. The flame in Steven’s hand flickered and died away. The smoky sheen that had formed over the glass of the mirror cleared and the interior of the car was reflected again.
“Do you think it worked?” Steven asked as he rubbed his palm against the side of his leg.
“Only one way to find out,” I said and reached up and turned the mirror to face me. I concentrated on the image of the spirit we had conjured. Once I felt confident that it would answer my call, I took a deep breath in and blew it out over the mirror. The glass fogged over and then became wavy, like ripples in a puddle, until it cleared and I was left looking into an unfamiliar bedroom. It was a little untidy, but nothing too bad, and in the corner, at a skewed angle, I could see a twin size bed where Dale lay. His cheeks were sunken and there were dark circles under his closed eyes. I could hear the faint sound of his breathing; it was raspy and had an almost struggling sound to it.
“Looks like it worked,” Jodi said, looking up into the mirror. I nodded and watched Dale sleep for a few more moments before I took in a deep breath again and blew it over the mirror, banishing the charm. When I was looking myself in the eyes again, I adjusted the mirror back to its normal position, turned the car back on, and drove out of the neighborhood. There wasn’t much more I could do at this point if we didn’t know what was making Dale sick. I had a feeling we were going to have to try to talk to him and, after his behavior at the beach, I doubted he would be very open to telling us what happened to him.
Chapter Five
I dropped Jodi and Steven back at their respective houses before driving myself home. Although it was getting late at that point, I was feeling restless. I made myself a cup of green tea and settled into my desk chair with my grimoire laid out in front of me.
The television was off. I had Loreena McKennitt turned down low on my stereo and only my desk light on to illuminate my workspace, hoping this relaxing environment would induce the desire to sleep. I detailed my surf session from so long ago this morning, the subsequent mad dash down the beach after Mary, and the swim into the water looking for Toby. I drew a sketch of the creature that had pulled me under the water and scratched my leg. I realized I had nearly forgotten about my leg and was surprised to see it was nearly healed. Finally, I filled three pages about what had happened with Dale and his friends.
I had to take a break to relax my hand before I made my entry about the restaurant and took a sip of my cooling te
a. Just as the CD was ending, I finished by making notes about the successfulness of the spell we cast to summon the mirror spirit and Steven’s ability to call fire with his breath, much like the creatures of his namesake, Drake. I glanced at the clock as I closed my grimoire. It was well after midnight, and I wasn’t feeling any more tired than I had when I started.
I set my elbows on the desktop and put my face in my hands, rubbing my eyes until they watered. Blinking back the tears, I looked up and caught a yellow gold glint reflected in the surface of my computer screen off to my left. The misty image of the spectral cat drifted across the screen, blinking those large eyes at me, waiting for my attention. I rushed to my closet door mirrors.
I took a deep breath in and blew it out over my reflection, fogging over the glass, and reached out and grabbed one of the candles that decorated my room. I lit it quickly with a match and set the candle in front of me, letting the flame dance slowly in front of the mirror until I saw the form of the cat coming closer on the other side, finding her way to me by the light of the flame. The cat turned sideways just as it got close to the surface of the mirror and tiptoed past me, rubbing its side along the mirror as if begging for a scratch. I realized I was holding my breath, and when the glass finally cleared, I let it out in a gasp as I saw the image of Dale, or what was left of him at any rate.
He was even thinner than he had been just a couple of hours ago and his skin looked paper fine, as if a good breeze caught him, he would be torn to ashes and lost on the wind. He was lying on his back, glassy eyes blinking up at the ceiling. I felt my stomach knot up close to the base of my spine and I fought the urge to vomit. I was staring at a boy that was quickly starving to death.
“Do something!” I said desperately to the cat that was sitting in the corner of the mirror, idly licking one paw and running it over its head. It stopped and looked at me, blinking serenely. “Warn someone, damnit!” I pressed a hand to the mirror, surprised to feel that it was warm against my palm.
Still, the cat continued to blink at me. I balled up my hand into a fist and pounded on the glass. “Warn someone!” I caught myself from yelling in my panic. It occurred to me suddenly that the spirit had already done what it was told; it had warned me that Dale was worse, just like I had commanded when I summoned her. I leaned back away from the glass and took a breath to steady my nerves and looked back up at the cat, catching its gaze and holding it.
“You have done well,” I said, speaking low and invoking power into my voice. “Now, seek out others in the house to warn them of the passing of another spirit before it reaches the next plane.” I held my breath for a few tense moments as the cat remained still, considering me and my words. Finally, when I was just about to burst, the cat stood, stretching long and deep, then turned from me and disappeared into the mirror.
I sat, staring at my own reflection as the cat disappeared, taking with him the image of Dale’s bedroom. I was desperately trying to calm my nerves and the knot that was my stomach, as nothing seemed to be happening. I was resisting the urge to call the mirror spirit back to command it again when I finally heard the commotion on the other side of the mirror, like a distant echo. Dale’s room came back into focus just as his door burst open and his mother and father came rushing in.
“See, I told you something was wrong!” Dale’s mother cried out in agony at the sight of her dying son as she collapsed on the side of the bed, putting her hands on her son’s face. Tears were already rolling down her face and his father was standing in the middle of the room, seemingly struck dumb at the sight of Dale. “Call 911!” his mother cried, snapping her husband out of his confused state. He shook his head and reached for the cell phone that was on the bedside table and punched the numbers clumsily.
“Yes, I need an ambulance immediately, there’s something wrong with my son.” I managed to hear the father speak into the phone just as the image in the mirror began to fade to black and clear again until I was staring at my own frightened reflection.
I scrambled for my phone and woke Jodi, telling her to call Steven and to get over to my house immediately before I threw the phone on my bed and went back to the mirror, calling the spirit back to me. When she came, I bid her to show me the progress Dale was making to the hospital.
The image in the mirror blurred, and when a new vision came through, it wasn’t as clear as I expected it to be. The entire space was contorted like I was looking through a fishbowl, and I realized I was seeing the inside of the ambulance where Dale was laid out on a stretcher. The mirror spirit was using any reflective surface inside the ambulance to answer my call. There were tubes already running out of Dale as one paramedic worked over him. The wail of the siren was so distant, I felt like I was listening to it while underwater. I was so caught up in what was going on in the mirror that I almost didn’t hear my phone vibrate under the pillows from where I threw it.
I dug it out and answered, “Yeah?”
“So how do you want us to come in?” Jodi asked in a hushed whisper.
“Oh, come through the side yard to the backyard, and I’ll pop off the screen on my window,” I said quickly and was already working the screen off the window before I finished the sentence. Less than a minute later, I was helping Jodi through before Steven slipped in behind her. I closed my window and lowered the blinds, letting the screen rest against the house on the ground, not wanting to waste the few minutes it would take to put it back in place.
“What’s going on?” Steven asked. I turned to the mirror to wave my hand in its direction and saw that the image had changed and we were watching Dale being rushed down a sterile white hallway on a gurney; the image kept flashing to dark every other second like a movie reel running to the end. “Why is it blinking like that?”
“I think the spirit is using any reflective surface she can that’s near Dale, and it looks like now she’s showing us through the windows in the hospital, so that’ll be the walls in between the windows as they move down the hallway,” I said, walking back over to the dresser to watch. Finally, after they wheeled Dale through the Intensive Care Unit doors, the image remained steady and five different people were working to hook Dale up to various machines and fluids. The slow, but steady beep of Dale’s heart rate faded in the distance as I stood back. I wiped a trickle of sweat that rolled down my cheek and took a deep breath to steady my nerves.
“I don’t get it,” Jodi said, still staring into the mirror. “Is he infected with something?”
“It looks like he’s starving to death,” Steven said, standing next to her.
“That’s what I thought,” I said as I sat down in my desk chair.
“Do you think they’ve done something to him?” Jodi asked, turning away from the mirror to look at me. “Like, they’re draining the life force out of him or something? I mean, we saw that he ate at the restaurant.”
“You know, that’s a very good possibility,” I said, looking up at her, glad I had called them over.
“Yeah, that would explain why he looks like he’s starving to death,” Steven agreed, taking a seat on the edge of my bed.
“So maybe we need to cast and see if we can find the metaphysical connection they’ve made with him and sever it before they kill him,” I said.
“No problem,” Jodi said.
“Of course, you up to it right now?” Steven asked at the same time.
“Doesn’t really matter if I am or not,” I said, waving a hand at the fading image in the mirror. “I don’t think he’s got more than a couple of hours at this point.”
***
We all crawled back out my window and hurried up to the tree house that my dad had built for me when I was a small child. It was a good fifteen feet high with a trap door that led up into it, providing ultimate privacy from the ground below. Usually we would throw open the two large windows my dad had installed and let the air swirl inside with us, but being as it was somewhere around one o’clock in the morning and my parents didn’t know my friends were o
ver, on the off chance one of them would wake up, I didn’t want them finding us. Luckily, my dad had installed electricity after a couple of years of us spending late evenings up here and I was able to illuminate the inside of the tree house with the small lamp I had brought up here so many years ago.
Now that we were all fully grown, it was much more cramped in here than it had been when Jodi and I were younger, but my dad had grandiose ideas and very rarely made anything half-assed (his words, not mine). So, after a month of building, it was large enough for three adults to sit comfortably and four or five adults if you didn’t mind being cramped. I picked up the lamp and set it in the bend of the large tree branch that snaked in and out of a corner; I had insisted that my dad work around the tree rather than damage it to make the tree house fit.
With the lamp out of my way, I was able to open the small trunk it usually sat on and pulled out the supplies we would need. I handed four black candles to Jodi and pulled out a large amethyst crystal before shutting the trunk. Steven was carefully rolling up the small area rug we had put up here to hide the permanent pentagram we had carved into the floor with the angelic script written into the various spaces in and around the star. Jodi set the four candles in the four spaces around the sides of the star for North, South, East, and West, and I carefully laid on my back over the star with my head positioned in the top point and laid the crystal on my chest, just over my heart chakra.
Jodi and Steven took up their places on either side of me. I felt the power humming around us immediately; we had set our strongest shields around this tree and never took them down. Each time we performed magic in it, we added strength and power to those shields, and it was as if our magic was stored in the tree, always waiting for us to call upon it.
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