Justine easily saw the woman. She was thin but well muscled and she seemed to be humming an intriguing tune. Her dark skin glistened in the bright sun as her body worked efficiently.
It amazed Justine to get such a clear image of the woman, and she stopped to consider whether it just might be her imagination tricking her.
"No, it's not Justine." Oddly enough, Sheria's words hadn't been spoken vocally but had sent straight into Justine's mind again.
"Now Justine, in the cabin to the right of the woman, there is something happening in there, can you tell me what it is?" Again, the question was not spoken orally.
Justine doubled her efforts and was ready to give up when her body startled to tremble with the mental exertion, when finally Justine saw the walls of the cabin starting to fade and almost as if with x-ray vision she could see through them. There was a couple inside the cabin, they were coiled in bed with one another, making love.
Justine squealed with excitement instantly losing the vision. Sheria laughed at Justine's reaction.
"Good, you're wide open now, which will make this next exercise even easier. Now I want to warn you, I am going to send you a phantom image which will be frightening. This is called shadowing. It was a common practice used among ancient Pagans against their enemies. It's very hard to be able to distinguish whether or not the image is real or imagined. In this case Justine, it is not real, however, I want you to consider it as a genuine threat and push it away. I'm not going to make it easy for you though." Sheria shifted her body and softly cleared her throat.
"Before we begin I want you to imagine an iron helmet, one fit perfectly for your head. Imagine that this silver helmet has a visor that slides up and down over the eyes like a traditional jousting helmet. Try to feel the heavy weight of it, the cold of the metal touching your skin. Relax into the way it feels. Pull down the visor covering your eyes, pause for a moment getting used to the sudden darkness before pulling it back up. Take your time, let me know when you feel comfortable with your helmet."
Justine easily slipped into the idea of the helmet, convincing her mind psychologically of it. She enjoyed the obviously absurd, but none the less protective feeling it provided her with.
"Okay, I'm ready."
"Good, now take off the helmet."
Justine both felt and saw a mental picture of herself removing the helmet and suddenly found herself feeling vulnerable and wide open. She shivered against her excited fear and waited silently for Sheria to proceed.
With no warning from Sheria, there was a sinister face moving ever closer towards Justine's face. The cheeks were gaunt, sunken and thin. If there was any hair on the creature's head it was too black to see in the shadows surrounding the figure. Eyes flashed menacingly at Justine, they were the darkest of coal black and empty of any light. The face picked up speed, rushing even faster at her. A thin, crimson slash of a mouth opened up onto pointy white teeth that looked sharp enough to tear through tough leather. It was smiling at her, a disgusting, violent smile.
Justine gasped, jumping back.
"Put the helmet on Justine, now, quickly," Sheria's voice cut directly into Justine's thoughts.
Justine couldn't let him out of her sight, to loose eye contact would surely be her doom. Her hands fumbled nervously for the helmet which she finally found with shaking hands.
"Put it on now! FAST! Pull the visor down Justine, block him!"
Her heart was beating too fast, her hands moving too slowly. Justine scrambled finally placing the heavy helmet on her head, smacking it down too hardly and it bounced roughly against her skull. Her hand searched nervously for the lever that would lower the visor covering the eyes. The teeth, gnashing vicious teeth moved in closer to her face as the mouth yawned open widely, growing larger by the second, large enough to take her entire head into his gruesome mouth. Justine barely, briefly pushed away the panic and quickly snapped the visor into place, instantly blocking out the cruel image. She blinked her eyes several times before the appearance of Sheria and the bright, sunny afternoon came back into focus. For something that hadn't been real, it sure had jumped started her heart and left her trembling.
"Justine that was very good, once you get your breath back, will try it once more to see if you could do it a bit faster."
"Okay, okay, one second," Justine responded between quick breaths.
"No, Justine there is no rush, take your time, come back down and relax." Sheria's voice was professional, yet gentle and encouraging.
Once Justine's breathing had steadied out to a normal rate, she smiled at Sheria's between quick sips of her soda that was already growing warm in the afternoon sun.
"Wow! Sheria, what was that thing? It sure looked real enough to me."
Sheria laughed,
"That's because you're so susceptible to the heightened senses and sight. Although, he is pretty frightening," she paused long enough to giggle. "But I assure you, I am not here to harm you, only to teach you skills that you may need in the future."
"I know, I trust you Sheria," and even as little sense as it made at the moment, she genuinely meant it.
"I know you're tired Justine, but lets give it one more try."
Justine nodded her agreement and found herself physically reaching for a helmet that existed only in her mind. Feeling foolish she jerked her hands back onto her lap quickly, but Sheria had been too busy doing relaxation techniques with her eyes sealed tightly shut to notice.
"Ready?"
"Yes." The foreboding face flashed into her minds eye again terrifying her. "No."
"Justine, if you need to take more time, you can."
"No, I'm ready," she said forcefully pushing aside the face and clearing her mind until it was completely empty.
"Okay sweetie, this one is coming hard and fast."
And she wasn't kidding, when once again the gnashing teeth were bearing down on her vulnerable face at an accelerated pace. But then just as suddenly as the face appeared it disappeared, dropping away so quickly it was like watching a television being turned off. Justine stared apprehensively at the solid blackness that lingered in her vision. There was a small blur, a mere spot really that was ever so slowly rising forth. Justine found herself too busy being curious, that she forgot to fear it, until she heard a slow, scathing laugh, that was all too familiar and something that she had never wanted to hear again. The laugh soon accompanied the face revealing who Justine instinctively knew it would. The skin, pale as parchment, hair blacker than a moonless night, and eyes so vibrantly, evilly green that they almost glowed with venom.
"Hello my love, didn't expect to see me, did you?"
"Justine, Justine, Just…" Sheria's worried, but muted voice could be heard at the edges of Justine's consciousness.
"Ignore her, she can't help you," again the scathing chuckle. "I've come to bid you fair warning. Soon Justine soon, I'll be coming for you. I hope you didn't think I had left you alone for good." He blew a kiss at her and slowly disappeared into a black smoke that dwindled slowly into gray, until again all Justine could see was black darkness. Justine quickly snapped opened her eyes and stood up so quickly that she was dizzy from it. She noticed that Sheria's face was frozen in an expression of pure terror.
Kneeling down in front of her, Justine shouted,
"Sheria! Sheria!" She shook her shoulders roughly.
Justine waited a moment as the entire world seemed to pause when Sheria's eyes slowly opened looking glazed with exhaustion. Just as Justine had done, she stood up too quickly, her hands brushing over her body as if attempting to remove an invisible violator.
"Sheria?" Justine's voice was nearly pleading with concern.
"I'm okay," she met Justine's eyes, the
seriousness flooded in them instantly drawling Justine in. "Who the hell was that?"
"Devin."
"Who's Devin, and what does he want from you?"
"I'll explain it to you while we walk back to camp."
After Justine
had told Sheria about her many terrifying encounters with Devin, Sheria looked at her, her own eyes reflecting demanding seriousness.
"Justine, make sure you practice shielding as often as you can, you're going to need it."
"Honestly, I think that at this point in time, he's more talk than action. Patrick put a pretty good scare into him." She giggled nervously wondering whom she was trying to convince more, Sheria or herself.
"Well I'm not so sure of that. I've rarely felt that kind of hate in anything in either the physical world or the spirit world."
As the two of them approached the large crowd back at camp, Justine caught a side glimpse of a face. It stunned her heart instantly and ran fingers of chills down her spine. The face quickly turned away from her, the hair was black, darker than Patrick's, the build familiar to Devin's. He disappeared and she tried to recapture the illusive man walking through the lunch crowd, but was unable to and finally half heartedly convinced herself that it was just her over active imagination playing tricks on her.
On the edge of the as of yet, unlit fire circle, Justine turned to Sheria and hugged her warmly which seemed to surprise Sheria just as much as it did Justine herself.
"Thank you so much Sheria. For the lesson, patience, the kind words, just for sharing your time with me and trying to help."
Sheria hugged her tighter,
"Just to let you know Justine, I'm as impressed of you as you are of me. Don't sell yourself short. And it was my pleasure to be able to help you."
The two women stepped back sharing a fast kinship that was rare to find in adult relationships, but one that would not be ignored.
"Will you be at the bonfire tonight?" Justine asked invitingly.
"No, I'm sorry; I won't be able to attend. Me and large, concentrated crowds don't mix so well. You know, I'd have a major headache and be too tired after trying to shield from a bunch of folks who study the paranormal and are more psychic than they realize." She giggled warmly,
"I'll be heading back up to Savannah shortly, but it's been a pleasure Justine, I mean that. Keep yourself safe. And promise me to call if you have any questions or concerns, Conroy has my number and I have instructed him to give it to you if you shall ever inquire."
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Again, thank you and have a safe trip back."
"Will do," Sheria gave her a half aborted version of a salute before turning away to head for the parking lot after she said good bye to Conroy and shook his hand politely. Justine was still watching her depart when she turned abruptly, a somber look flooding her face,
"Justine," she called back toward her. "Take care of your man, he's going to need you to take care of him, more than you need him to take care of you, sometime in the very near future." Giving Justine an abrupt but warm smile, she turned and continued onto her car without another word.
Justine mulled over her dire prediction and hoped against hope that their meaning would not be something that would come to pass. She had a hard time however, completely dismissing the warning.
*****
The bonfire was a comfortable assortment of roasted marshmallows, jokes and good humor along with ice cold beer or an individual's drink of choice. Everyone was relaxed in lawn chairs and talking shop. Shop talk for parapsychologists is of course about ghost stories and other frightening encounters. Who better to tell a ghost story, than someone who has dealt with the mysteries of the unknown on a daily basis? Yet still, even though they were a group of professional people dealing in the field of parapsychology, there was an edge of excited fear to each story that was told. Maybe it was the reality of the difference between fact and fiction that made their shop talk more frightening than traditional ghost stories and folklore.
Justine sat as close to Patrick as possible without making their affections obvious to anyone else. But as the night grew later and the mood more casual, Patrick found himself running a light caress over her thigh, kissing her hair, putting his arm tightly around her, all of the little gestures the two of them normally shared with one another while off the clock.
As the night grew later, Justine found herself daydreaming, staring as if hypnotized into the vibrant flames of the fire. The way they swayed and danced gracefully was mesmerizing. Justine tiredly laid her head against Patrick's shoulder while the flames lulled her into a sort of dazed twilight, the spot between being awake and sleeping.
Justine wasn't sure if she had actually gone to sleep or merely closed her eyes for a few minutes when she felt Patrick firmly tugging on her shoulder.
"Get up, Justine; we have to move back, the fire is spreading a bit."
She drowsily stood up and looked around as every one was yanking their chairs back from the fire. A strong wind was rolling in from the north, but once everyone was settled back down, the wind seemed to lessen a bit.
Justine was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed, but Patrick seemed wide awake, enjoying himself and content to stay by the fire, so she settled herself down and tried to keep up with the flow of the conversation.
A stray wind ruffled Justine's hair lightly; oddly enough, it wasn't a pleasant feeling, like that of a summer breeze. Justine reached back to rub at the spot that had been ruffled. She forced herself to ignore the unpleasant feeling, albeit irrationally so, and took a sip of her beer. Patrick was laughing at the story currently being told by a loud, gregarious man whom definitely had had his share of beer.
Feeling out of sorts, Justine looked around the large circle of people. There were about fifty people, varying in age. Some of the faces were familiar, many of them were not. Everyone seemed so relaxed, almost too relaxed for people who barely knew one another. The group had the atmosphere of a family reunion, instead of a group of professionals on a workshop retreat. The thought instantly struck Justine as odd. Smiling faces, contagious laughter, friends and co-workers sitting closely to one another, many of them almost too closely. It was almost too perfect of a scene.
Justine sat up straighter, trying to force the fatigue away that seemed to be compounding and weighing her down more and more as each minute passed. She shifted nervously in her position, and closed her eyes. With the deepest tug on her gut, she sent out searching fingers. Something was in the air, she sensed it. Something was there, watching them, uninvited and listening to them, with them. It's silent intrusion, instantly alerted Justine's senses that something vile was amiss.
"Justine." This whisper was said directly behind her, the speaker seemed close enough to be touching her. She quickly snapped her head back, looking for whoever had spoken it. The night behind her was empty of anything other than the distant tents and crops. Justine looked at Patrick to see if he had heard it as well. He was smiling and taking a sip of his beer as he continued to listen to the animated story.
"Justine." Again, the whisper, no closer, no louder, still lingering just behind her. The voice genderless in the quiet volume of it, expressionless as if it floated in with the winds.
Feelings the chills instantly run over her body, Justine grasped Patrick's hand.
"Patrick," her own whisper sounded chilling to her in the dark, "did you hear that?"
He looked at her in confusion,
"Hear what?"
Feeling over tired and dim witted, Justine simply shook her head, but continued fearfully listening to the sounds of the wind.
The north wind rolled in again, strong and brisk, causing the fire to rise and jump. The night air was suddenly chilly with the invading wind. Justine rubbed the goose bumps on her arms and tried to shrug away from the cold.
The flaming tips of the fire burned brighter as if welcoming fuel of the wind. Their orange tips jumping up high and then blending and disappearing into the black of the night sky. Only as Justine stared, she noticed that they weren't quite disappearing, they were forming, solidifying into a shape. A black shape, possibly the hem of a cloak.
Justine quickly snapped her eyes to Patrick, sure she was not imagining this strange illusion. He looked i
nto her eyes, concern clearly written on his face.
"Do you want to go to bed now Justine, you don't look so well."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm just so tired Patrick." She could have told him to stay, that she would go on to bed without him, but she was too frightened and too nervous to admit that to him, and feeling both foolish and selfish.
As if reading her emotions perfectly, Patrick said,
"It's okay baby."
Before Patrick could stand up and offer Justine a hand up, a short, shrill scream broke through the quiet night. The crowd seemed to be moving as one, standing up, backing away from the fire, and haphazardly abandoning their chairs.
It seemed as if the fire was hissing into a life of it's own, vital, violent, and menacing. It rose, shooting up high into the night sky for an instant before lowering down, almost snuffing itself out completely, barely leaping off the logs that had been laid for it. From the fire rose a form. The cloak was so black, that the white skin of the face was a startling contrast against the dark depth of the night. It was the same face Justine had seen in her shielding exercises earlier in the day. It was Devin.
His eyes instantly seeking her out, he smiled at her deliciously, his eyes taunting her with promised passion. The crowd amongst him, stopped and stared, awe struck and amazed, too stunned to run in fear.
Devin stepped down and slowly walked out of the flames, but stopped short holding command in front of the fire.
"I've been waiting a long time for this." He laughed, glorying in the attention, his gaze settling in on Patrick and Justine. His laughter boomed out happily, and then died as quickly as it had started. His glowing eyes turned hatefully to Patrick, a look of pure hatred, who was struggling to put Justine behind him and act as her human shield. She fidgeted between him and unwrenched his hand from her arm, stepping out next to him, determined to protect him as much as he wanted to protect her as Sheria's words came to mind.
Anger burned in her gut. It surprised Justine that for once, concerning Devin, it wasn't tempered with fear.
Journey of Souls (The Mortality Series) Page 25