Little Red Gem

by D L Richardson

  The wicked expression on her face should have conveyed confidence in her ability. Instead it gave me goose bumps.

  ***

  True to her word, Audrey returned the following afternoon, armed with a boxful of stuff. She did not come alone, though. Shanessa and Natalie burst into the cabin with her, wide eyed with curiosity.

  “I had to bring them with me,” Audrey said as soon as she set foot inside the cabin. “I can’t drive and four miles and back is just too far to walk.”

  Shanessa surveyed the room with a crinkled nose. “I still can’t believe ghosts have been watching us all this time.”

  Natalie ran to the wall and flicked a light switch up and down a few times. “Great. No power.”

  “That’s what these are for,” Audrey said, placing the cardboard box on the dining table. From within she removed a handful of candles plus the spell book. She handed the candles to Natalie and told her to light them.

  Natalie rolled her eyes. “I meant no power to watch TV. What am I supposed to do while you talk to the dead.”

  “We’re here for moral support,” Shanessa said opening the curtains to allow the waning afternoon light to filter into the cabin.

  “I wanna see if we made the promo for Reach For The Stars.” Natalie stopped lighting the candles and she wrapped her arms around her body. “No offense, but this cabin gives me the creeps.”

  “Hopefully I’m about to change that,” Audrey said.

  She opened the magic book to the page marked with a feather.

  “Did Ruby really come to you in a dream and tell you there were ghosts trapped here?” Shanessa asked, staring at the items on the table.

  “Yes,” Audrey said. Her stony facial expression gave away nothing of the lie. “That’s why I’ve been acting weird lately. You’d be a nutcase, too, if your dead sister haunted your dreams.”

  Shanessa’s face lit up. “So Ruby is here with us right now. Can we talk to her?”

  Audrey shrugged. “You can talk all you like, but she can’t talk back. Look, I appreciate the lift but I’m running out of time. Mom’s expecting me home by dinner.”

  “You could be like a medium?” Natalie begged. “Between Ruby and us. We miss her so much.”

  “In order for me to talk to Ruby I’ll be in a state of astral projection. You won’t be able to see me,” explained Audrey, “so no, I can’t act like a medium. Sorry. For this to work I have to put myself in a trance. You won’t see anything except me lying on the couch. I’ll appear to be sleeping. Whatever you do, don’t wake me up. I can get myself out of the trance. Hey, maybe you want to check out the hot tub on the back deck.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Natalie said, flicking a nervous glance around the room.

  They left and Audrey stretched out on the couch. The room was immersed in the soft glow of the candles and waning afternoon. She closed her eyes to put herself in a trance. Within minutes her head dropped off the cushion. And then a slightly opaque version of Audrey materialized in front of the couch.

  “I’m impressed,” I gushed. “It took me hours to get myself into a trance.”

  “I’ve had a lot of practice.” Audrey’s smile dropped. “I visit Dad once a week to see how he’s doing. I know I shouldn’t because it’s spying, but I like to see him.”

  The door blew open, revealing William standing on the patio. He bowed deeply and said, “Whether this works or not, Miss Audrey, I am grateful for your efforts.”

  “I’ll need the watch,” Audrey said.

  William reached into his pocket and withdrew it. He stared at it longingly. With a scowl, Audrey crossed the containment line and took the watch out of his hand. Next she upturned the bowl off the dining table containing fake fruit and placed the watch and a dozen items into the bowl. Some I recognized; crushed-up petals, buttons, cinnamon sticks, a tuft of hair.

  With her hand hovering over the bowl she chanted, “Inkead. Ekneid. Draklun e a dishkard.”

  She sprinkled a handful of something from her pocket I was sure wasn’t lint, and in breathless anticipation we three watched Audrey strike a match and drop it into the bowl.

  “I just asked the power to reveal itself,” she stage whispered to me.

  The flames grew taller. And then they formed a shape.

  “Thouloul ei mincaash o leond,” she chanted.

  The shape shifted from a ball into the silhouette of a full grown man. It grew as tall as the ceiling and moved toward Audrey.

  She raised both hands out wide, as if she was holding an invisible beach ball. “Thouloul ei mincaash o leond.”

  She turned the palms of her hands outward and aimed them at the front door. The shape elongated until it no longer resembled a man. It looked more like a wolf. Audrey guided the wolf shape toward the front door. Even I could tell the thing was fighting to stay in the room.

  Audrey’s face was red and terse, and her hair lifted up in billowing strands as the magic caused a whirlpool of wind inside the cabin. Her voice grew louder as she guided the smoke out of the cabin and into the bright sunlight.

  “Thouloul ei mincaash o leond.”

  Wind whipped around the cabin. The candles fluttered but held their flame.

  “I vanquish you and your curse,” she shouted.

  The shape exploded into millions of fragments, as if someone had thrown a handful of black pepper into an invisible wall. And then—

  Nothing. Magic contained far less theatrics than I’d been led to believe.

  Audrey was hunched over sucking up air when Anne asked, “Did it work?”

  “We’ll soon find out,” said William.

  He took a breath and stepped into the room.

  “I can’t bear to look,” squealed Anne.

  William took a second step into the cabin, and then another without getting zapped by the invisible force. Anne, still squealing though this time with joy, rushed into his arms. They stayed locked in each other’s embrace, kissing and caressing each other, and I turned away with a warm face like I was spying on a couple of horny teens.

  “You okay?” I asked Audrey.

  She was fully recovered now and wearing a satisfied smile. “Yeah. Peace of cake.” She nodded at Anne and William. “Those two seem happy to see each other.”

  I giggled. “They look like they need a room.”

  The afternoon sun dipped further in the sky, only I realized that it wasn’t the sun disappearing, it was Anne’s and William’s ghostly auras fading. Their images grew weaker and weaker until they were almost invisible. They mouthed the words, “thank you” and then disappeared entirely.

  “Obviously that worked,” Audrey said matter-of-factly. She stuck her head over the bowl. “The watch is still here, though badly charred. Not sure if it’s of use to anyone now. Okay, let’s see if there’s a spell that can help you.”

  She consulted the spell book and I stared at the spot where Anne and William had last stood. Yes they’d been cursed, but at least they’d had each other for company. If Audrey couldn’t unlock my curse, I’d be alone and forever out of Leo’s grasp.

  We were flipping through the pages when we were spooked by the sound of heavy footsteps on the patio. It had slipped my mind that Natalie and Shanessa were out on the deck, and with the cool change that had slipped in they probably wanted to come back inside. We both looked up, but it wasn’t Natalie or Shanessa standing in the doorway.

  It was Leo.

  His eyes quickly scanned the room and widened in alarm when he spied Audrey lying on the couch. He rushed over and shook the motionless body.

  “Audrey. Wake up.” He pressed his fingers against her throat. He shook her again. “Wake up.”

  Natalie and Shanessa ran into the room. “No, Leo. Don’t wake her up,” they shouted simultaneously.

  Beside me, Audrey groaned. “Oh, no. I can’t fight it. Ruby, I forgive you for what you did. We’re sisters forever. I’ll find a way to come back and help you. I promise.”

  Her app
arition vanished and moments later the body on the couch stirred.

  Leo’s voice was filled with concern when he helped her sit up. “Audrey, what are you doing here?”

  While she stretched her neck and arms, she shot a warning look in the direction of Natalie and Shanessa. “We came up to the cabin to study. I guess I fell asleep. What are you doing here?”

  Natalie’s tone was urgent, pleading. “I can’t take any more of this. Leo deserves to know the truth.”

  Shanessa pushed past Natalie. “Audrey had dreams about Ruby being trapped in this cabin. She was using magic to release her.”

  Leo looked from Natalie to Shanessa and finally his eyes rested of Audrey’s. She blushed and looked away. I felt sorry for her.

  At last he turned his attention on Natalie and Shanessa. “Ladies, can you do me a favor and wait in the car. I’d like to ask Audrey a few questions in private about these dreams.”

  Natalie and Shanessa left and Leo waited until he heard the car doors slam before he took a seat in the armchair by the window.

  “I’m sorry about the way I acted at the auditions,” Leo said.

  Audrey kept her face impassive. “Okay.”

  “You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”

  “I do. I just don’t want to be reminded of it.”

  “You’re not having dreams about Ruby either, are you?”

  Audrey scowled at him. “Are you calling me a liar?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I am. Do you wanna tell me what you’re really doing here? I’m kinda fed up with the lies and deception.”

  I could tell from the way Audrey’s lips quivered that she wrestled with telling the truth or telling more lies. I hoped she would opt for the truth. Somehow I felt that it would be less damaging if it came from someone else.

  Audrey sighed. “I can see ghosts, but only when I put myself in a trace. It’s called astral projection. Ruby is trapped in the afterlife, and I’m here to help her.”

  “How?”

  “Magic.” Audrey shook her head. “Who am I kidding? Magic won’t work for Ruby. She’s here because she doesn’t want to leave. She’s still connected to…well, you. No amount of magic will set her free. Not if she feels as if she died before she had the chance to finish something important.”

  “What if I said goodbye? Would that set her free? I never got that chance and maybe she can’t go until she hears it.”

  “It might work.”

  Leo leaned over until his elbows rested on his knees. “You don’t have her eyes anymore.”

  Audrey fidgeted and avoided his stare. “Excuse me?”

  Leo didn’t respond. His eyes probed hers relentlessly.

  “Please stop staring at me like you’re about to kill me.”

  Leo relaxed and smiled. “Sorry. You and Ruby really do look similar, did you know that?”

  Audrey scowled. “No.”

  “Except for the eyes. But yours seem different now. I’m curious to know how you broke your wrist.”

  Audrey’s eyes narrowed as if this sudden shift in the conversation would lead her into a trap. One thing about Audrey, she wasn’t stupid. “How can you not know? It’s all over school. I tripped over a hurdle.”

  “Which one?”

  “Excuse me?”

  I mentally projected an image of the poltergeist barreling into me at the third hurdle, but from the confused look on Audrey’s face she wasn’t capable of telepathy.

  “I stopped by your house to bring you flowers the day after you broke your wrist,” Leo told her. “Do you remember what you said?”

  If looks could have drilled holes in people’s heads, Leo would have had two holes the size of dimes in his from the deadliness of Audrey’s stare. “Why are you asking me twenty questions?”

  “Do you remember what you said?”

  “No. I’m sure I was on painkillers.”

  “You said you hoped they’d give the hurdle a few weeks off. You don’t remember anything about breaking your wrist because you weren’t there when it happened, were you? Ruby found a way to come back from the grave and she did something. It’s like she possessed your body. That’s why you don’t have her eyes anymore. That’s how I know it’s you and not her. You don’t have her eyes.”

  Audrey offered him a weak smile. “You’re right. You said no more lies, so I won’t. I know it sounds crazy, but she took over my spirit to be with you.”

  Leo reached into his jacket and pulled out a bottle. He set it down on the coffee table with a thump. Even from across the room I could read the label: BOURBON.

  Audrey screwed up her nose. “Did you come here to get drunk?”

  Leo was unmoving as he stared at the bottle. “When Ruby and I first started dating, we went to a few parties and she got mad because I got drunk. But that’s what parties are for, right? Anyway, she’d noticed how I drank even when there was no social occasion. She confronted me, asked me why. I told her I drank to get the demons out of my head. I don’t know why I have them, I just do. She promised to help me get rid of them.”

  He finally took his gaze off the bottle and turned his attention to the open front door. “We’d sit some nights and watch the stars. Not here, but down by the lake. When I was with Ruby, I didn’t feel like drinking. But the moment she’d leave my side the demons would return. If I can spend the night here without opening that bottle, at least her death won’t have been a waste. She’ll have saved me. That ought to be enough to set her free, don’t you think? If I tell her that I loved her more than anything on the planet that should be enough to set her free.”

  Audrey got up and placed a hand on Leo’s. “I’ll stay and keep you company if you like. My mom always says a problem shared is a problem halved.”

  “Thanks, but I won’t ask you girls to stay here after dark. Besides, I’ve got to do this on my own.” He paused. “In a way I feel as if I kept her spirit earthbound. I didn’t want to believe she’d died so I didn’t. If I can do this one thing, she’ll be released, I’m sure of it.”

  Audrey nodded. “I hope so.”

  Leo’s voice croaked. “It’s just that I don’t know if I can do anything on my own anymore. How will I go on without her? She was everything to me. But I never told her. Not as often as I should have.”

  When Leo rested his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes, Audrey stood up and headed over to the dining table to grab the spell book.

  After she left, it was just me and Leo in the cabin. I occupied the spot Audrey left vacant and rested my head on his shoulder. It was a position we’d spent many a night in, especially on the nights when Leo’s mood could darken even the blackest night. I had loved sitting with him. I had never realized that my presence was enough to cage the beast that lived within him. I could only hope I’d made enough of an impression on his heart that he was able to undertake the rest of this journey alone.

  While ever a heart beat with the vitality of life it could not dine with the undead patrons whose lack of senses left their meal tasteless or their arms unblemished by chills or their nostrils asleep to the aroma of flowers. The dead and the living should not coexist. I could see that now.

  ***

  We sat side by side on the couch till night fell. We were sitting side by side on the couch when morning broke. And when in the morning the bottle was still on the coffee table unopened, Leo stood up and surveyed the room. His eyes landed on mine and my stomach did a few cartwheels. I told myself he saw me even though I knew this wasn’t possible.

  “I love you Ruby. I always have. I always will. One day we’ll be together again. But until that time comes, I dunno.”

  He left the sentence unfinished, as if he’d realized that by saying something like, “Until that time comes I’ll never love another”, or “Until that time comes I’ll be a crushed, miserable man without a shred of hope left for any sort of meaningful existence” that I might become upset and therefore reluctant to leave this realm.

  He’d o
nce said that I was the rock and that without me he was a drowning man. He had that bit wrong. It seemed that I had clung to him.

  Without a backward glance Leo walked out the door and I let him go.

  Chapter Twelve

  I couldn’t believe I’d let him go.

  At the last second I changed my mind and rushed out the door, screaming at him to come back, but I was too late. Leo backed his car down the dirt drive without a glance at the cabin, where, if he had possessed the ability to see ghosts he’d have seen me clutching the railing and screaming at him.

  “We’re supposed to be soul mates, and you can’t see my soul,” I sobbed.

  When I could no longer see his car, and when I could no longer avoid the truth that the best way forward for me was to accept my fate, I turned around. Anne and William stood on the porch. They looked different – still opaque, but brighter than when I’d last seen them. Their eyes were free of the haunted look and their cheeks glowed.

  “I’m so glad to see you,” I cried and rushed to hold them both in my arms. But instead of connecting, I swept through them.

  “We only have a few seconds,” Anne said.

  “You only have a few seconds and you came back to say goodbye to me?” I was touched.

  “That’s not why we’re here.” She turned to William and glared at him. “Tell her what you told me.”

  William looked a little sheepish. He scratched his head. “I did not tell you the entire story behind our curse. Yes, it was true that I stole the watch. Yes, it was true that the witch came after me. But he didn’t curse me outright. He said the watch contained a spell. He gave me the chance to wish for anything as long as the wish related to time. The engraving on the back ‘one wish at a time’, it is only part of the spell. The entire incantation is ‘one wish at a time when you need it most’. I was embarrassed about my error so I lied to Anne and told her that the witch had become angered by my stealing his watch, thus cursing us to spend eternity together yet apart.” He bowed his head. “I am sorry and I am duly chastised.”