The Harbinger

by Wendy Wang

  "All of them? How? How did that happen?"

  "Well," Lauren said, drawing out the word. "They were evidently led by a less experienced team leader and the witch they encountered had aligned herself to some very dark forces."

  "This is the demon they were after, isn't it?" Ben said. "Your cleanup crew went in and they couldn't slay this demon."

  "Not exactly …" Lauren started.

  Ben cut her off. "And now you want me to go in and risk my life."

  "Would it help if I told you that it killed a young couple and snatched their baby?" Her flippant tone sent a surge of electric anger through him.

  "No, Lauren, it wouldn't." He gritted his teeth. From the corner of his eye he saw Jen’s silhouette standing in the screen door. She was everything warm and light. All Lauren offered was the odious bloody darkness that came with dealing with demons.

  "Damn you, Lauren. How many people were on your crew?"

  "Four," Lauren said. "I'll pay expenses for …" He heard her cluck her tongue. "You and two other people. I've already expended too much on the situation."

  He lowered his voice, hoping Jen wouldn’t hear him. "You are such a coldhearted bitch sometimes, you know that, Lauren?"

  "I'm going to ignore that. You need to be there by tomorrow, end of day. I will text you the address," she said sounding irritated.

  Ben pulled his phone from his ear and pressed the red icon to end the call without saying yes or no. Because when it came down to it, he didn't have a choice. The answer was always yes.

  He placed his phone on the arm of the swing and looked up at Jen’s silhouette. He couldn't see her face but he could feel her anxiety and uncertainty. His wide smile answered her uneasiness as he held up his hand, gesturing for her to come out onto the porch. She took a deep breath and pushed open the screen door. It squeaked at the hinges and she closed it carefully so it wouldn't slam this time. Because Ruby was in bed.

  She carefully sat down on the swing, keeping her hands on either side of her knees. He placed his palm flat in the center of her back with his fingers splayed.

  "So you're going," she said. It wasn't a question this time.

  "Yeah," he said. "That was my boss. She has a job for me. A witch evidently summoned a demon and now a baby is missing."

  “Will you be back?” Her voice quivered on the last word and she leaned forward, staring at her feet.

  “I…”

  Jen finally looked up at him. Her blue eyes searched his face and her lips pinched into a bow.

  "Even as a kid I traveled around with another witch from the Defenders of Light working as an apprentice. So I've never stayed in one place before," Ben said.

  "I can't imagine what that’s like," Jen said. "I mean I've lived here my whole life. With the exception of the time that I went to school and lived in San Francisco, I’ve always had a home. Roots. People who love me."

  "You're one of the lucky ones, Jen. The whole lot of you, actually. It makes me envy you."

  He felt her defenses draw up, like a flower that closed when the sun went down. She shut her eyes. "We're always here if you need us."

  "Thank you," he said. He wanted to say he’d be back as quickly as he could, but he knew he couldn’t. Lauren’s cleanup crew had died dealing with this demon. He wouldn’t get her hopes up. Or his.

  "I should go inside now,” she said. “I've got a few things to do before I get ready for bed. Four o'clock comes really early you know?"

  "Yeah, I know."

  The chains of the swing squeaked as she rose to her feet. "Be careful," she said. "Whatever it is you need to do. Just be careful." She pecked him on the cheek and was through the back door in a minute, closing it with care behind her. He watched her through the window pane until she flicked off the light in the kitchen, leaving him in the dark.

  Chapter 7

  Someone knocked on the door, just when Charlie had gotten settled on the couch and turned on channel 5. Walking wasn't excruciating, but it wasn't comfortable either. Lisa had brought her home and offered to stay for a while but Charlie could tell that her mind was elsewhere. So she shooed her cousin away and set about making dinner for herself. After she’d eaten she decided to set up on the couch and catch up on a little television. She pondered staying put, pretending she was sleeping, but it might be Tom. Slowly she rose from her sofa and hobbled across the room.

  "Hi Charlie," Ben Sutton said. He lifted his hand and gave her a little wave. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

  "Not at all," she stepped back and opened the door, letting him in. "I'm kinda surprised to see you. I thought you were over at Jens."

  "I was. But …" he began. Charlie closed the door behind him and he shuffled his feet, toeing the edge of her welcome mat.

  "But?" Charlie prompted.

  "I got a call tonight. A job."

  "So you're leaving?" Charlie said.

  "Yeah," he said.

  "I see." Charlie hobbled back over to the couch.

  "What happened to your foot?" He followed her to the sofa and took a seat in cushy, overstuffed chair sitting catty corner to the couch. Charlie sat down on the sofa and propped her foot on the pillow she’d placed on top of the old trunk she used as a coffee table.

  "Jen didn't tell you?" she asked.

  "You weren't exactly the topic of our conversation tonight,” he said sheepishly.

  "No, I'm sure I wasn't." Charlie chuckled. She met his gaze trying to decide how much to actually tell him. Working for the Defenders of Light put Ben in a special category of witches. He knew more magic than anyone she’d ever met, including Evangeline, her aunt. He’d been generous enough to spend some time with her over the last few weeks teaching her a few things, such as how to pull her magic into her hands so she didn’t need a wand to focus her energy. He’d also taught her a couple of tricks for capturing ghosts and forcing them to move on without having to call a reaper. He had similar talents to hers and talents that she hadn't even seen yet. She was sure of it. She blew out a breath. "I had a vision while helping Jason with a case.”

  “And you …” He nodded at her foot. “What? Fell?” His blue eyes glittered with curiosity.

  “Not exactly. In the vision I connected with the victim and she was… I don’t know the best way to say this but I guess she was mutilated by her captor. He drove this spike into her heel."

  "Ouch," Ben leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Fascination lit up his face.

  "When I regained my senses it was because my foot hurt. I thought maybe I had, you know, just some sort of psychic residual pain."

  Ben nodded. There was no judgment on his face and thankfully no pity, only understanding. "But you found you had a real wound."

  "Yeah. I did." Charlie sighed and rubbed her temples with her fingers. "It's never happened before. So …"

  Ben sat back in the chair and studied her for a minute. "It's rare. But I've heard of it before. An intense psychic connection."

  "You have?"

  "There was a case that I worked in Houston. A witch seemed to be under psychic attack. She had inadvertently connected with another witch. She ended up with burns and lacerations that almost killed her."

  "Oh my gosh, that's terrible. I had no idea that such things even existed."

  "Yeah it does," Ben said. "And the doctors can’t really do anything for you."

  "They bandaged me up and sent me home with oral antibiotics." Charlie shrugged.

  "Is it still bleeding?" he asked.

  "They kept me at the ER until the bleeding stopped. But it seems to be still seeping. It stops bleeding for a little while and then starts up again. I'm just keeping gauze bandages on it and changing them," she said.

  "Do you mind if I take a look?" Ben said.

  "Be my guest. I was going to have Evangeline look at it tomorrow and see if there was something she could do," she said.

  Ben rose from his chair and knelt next to her foot propped up on the trunk. Carefully he peeled the band
age away. “I see what's going on here."

  "You do?” Charlie leaned forward.

  "You may still be linked to her," he said.

  “How is that possible? She’s dead?” Charlie said.

  "Maybe she doesn’t know she’s dead. We’ve both seen that happen,” he said.

  “Yeah, I guess, I just… I’ve never had any sort of physical thing happen before.” She sat back against the soft couch cushions and crossed her arms.

  “I can fix this. Do you trust me?" he asked.

  It was a loaded question. She'd only known Ben for a month and a half and there were moments when their relationship was not exactly cordial. But they'd worked as a team on her last case. "Yeah. I do.”

  Ben grabbed the leather satchel that he always kept with him and dug through it. A moment later he pulled out a brown bottle with a dropper, a black obsidian stone, which Charlie knew was for healing and a small bottle of herbs.

  "I need a bowl and a match. Preferably wooden," he said.

  "The match or the bowl?" Charlie asked halfway teasing him. He raised his eyebrows in irritation and got to his feet.

  "Check the third cabinet from the right of the stove,” she said quickly to smooth over the moment. “I've got some ritual implements in there. There are matches in the drawer next to the stove."

  He disappeared into the tiny kitchen at the back of the cottage and Charlie listened to him pilfer around. A few moments later he returned, carrying the things he needed. He sat down on the edge of the chair again, placing the small, carved bowl in front of him. The cork made a popping sound as he opened the bottle of herbs and then sprinkled some into the bowl.

  "What is that?" she asked.

  "It's a mix of calendula flowers and marshmallow root," Ben said. He gave her a wry smile and looked up at her through his long lashes. "I'm surprised Evangeline hasn't taught you this."

  Charlie’s cheeks heated. "She's taught me a little about herbs and stuff like that but I haven't had a whole lot of time to spend with her lately."

  "Well, you definitely want to have these in your arsenal. They can be used for a lot of things, healing being one of them," he said as he grabbed his satchel again and retrieved a small vial of a clear liquid.

  "What is that?" she asked.

  "It's castor oil." He unscrewed the little metal cap and poured a few drops over the herbal mixture.

  "You wouldn't happen to have a cotton ball would you?" he asked.

  "I do. Actually if you look on the floor on the other side of the trunk, there's a first-aid kit. There's some cotton balls in there,” she said.

  Ben found the kit and opened the blue and white plastic box. He rummaged through the contents and took out three sealed gauze pads, a few cotton balls, and the roll of waterproof first-aid tape. He ripped open one of the gauze pads and put it in the bowl of herbs, soaking it with more castor oil. When it was good and soaked, he sandwiched it, along with as much of the herbal mix as he could scoop onto it, between the other two gauze pads. With a gentle touch, he pressed the three pads against the heel of her foot. Charlie winced.

  "Sorry about that," he said. "I know it hurts."

  "You can say that again," Charlie said.

  “Psychic wounds are the worst," he said.

  "Psychic wounds?"

  "Yeah, psychic wounds. From what I know about you and about this phenomenon, it happens when you make a strong psychic connection with someone. It’s usually not a spirit. Usually it’s another person. But because of your history with spirits, it doesn’t surprise me that you’d connect with one. I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t happened before," Ben said as he taped the gauze to Charlie's foot.

  "How do you break the bond?" Charlie asked.

  "Well, first we have to figure out who you’re linked to and then it's a matter of a spell."

  "Oh," Charlie said suddenly wishing he wasn't leaving town. "You think it's something you could help me with?"

  "I'd be happy to help you Charlie, but I have to leave tonight,” he said, with a rueful expression. “My boss is expecting me there by the morning.”

  "Right," Charlie said. "Are you coming back?"

  His lips pressed together and a deep line formed between his brows. He didn’t look at her. "I don't know.”

  "Do you want to come back?" she asked.

  Ben sat back on his heels. His eyes blinked and his gaze shifted, meeting her eyes. "I don't know. Not sure Jen would want me to come back."

  "Well that's ridiculous," Charlie said. "Jen’s crazy about you."

  "I know," he said. "I'm crazy about her too."

  "So what's the problem?" Charlie asked.

  "I don't stay in one place, Charlie. I can't. Not with my job."

  "I am sorry but I'm gonna call BS on that," Charlie said. "If you want to be together. Then you find a way to be together. Even if it means that this is your home base and you travel all the time. There are people who do that every day and have wonderful, happy, healthy relationships."

  "Really?" Ben said sounding unconvinced. "Name one."

  Charlie sat back, aggravated at him questioning her. " I can't think of anybody off the top of my head right this second but I know it exists. Where there's a will there's a way."

  His lips curved into a half smile. "I guess we'll just have to see what happens. I'm not holding my breath right now. I’ve got bigger fish to fry."

  “The job,” she said, curious now.

  He nodded as an answer. “Let's get you healed up all right. And then maybe we can talk about why I actually came here."

  "Sure. What do we need to do?"

  "Well.” He settled in front of her again, down on the floor on his knees, gently placing his hands on either side of her foot. "I want you to think about a light burning at the center of your chest."

  "Okay. A light," Charlie said.

  "Yes. Close your eyes. Picture it. It starts as a pinprick at first, barely visible like a star you can barely see on a foggy night.”

  Charlie imagined the light as he spoke about it and felt herself lulled by the gentle tone of his voice. It was almost meditative. Listening to him speak in measured instructions

  "Do you see the light?" he asked.

  "Yes," Charlie said, her voice sounding distant to her own ears.

  "Good. That's very good, Charlie. Now I want you to picture that light growing brighter, burning away the fog, becoming so bright it's almost blinding."

  "Do you see that?"

  "Yes," she said.

  "Wonderful. Now I want you to imagine that light traveling from your heart into the floor of your pelvis, down your leg, all the way to your foot, burning a straight white-hot line through your body. Can you see that?" His voice was soft and encouraging.

  "Yes," Charlie whispered.

  "That's great, Charlie, you're doing just great.”

  She heard him strike the match across the rough paper on the side of the box.

  "Keep concentrating on that light, Charlie, burning a line from your heart to your heel.”

  "I am," she said softly.

  "Great," he said. She felt him press the flat, oblong piece of obsidian against her arch. Just above the wound.

  "Keep thinking about that light, Charlie, okay?"

  "Okay," she said.

  "Mother Goddess hear my prayer, heal this wound for this witch fair. Draw the wound closed indeed. So it will not continue to bleed.”

  Ben whispered the prayer over and over again.

  The stone pulsed against the bottom of her foot and the acrid smell of the match tip burning stung her nose. The stone warmed to an uncomfortable level against the bare skin of her arch and she had to force herself not to pull her foot away.

  Ben said his prayer one last time and finished with, “So mote it be.”

  The light in Charlie’s mind dissipated, spreading like an explosion. Ben pulled the stone away from the center of her foot. "You can open your eyes now.”

  Charlie took a deep breath and o
pened her eyes to find him still sitting by her foot.

  "How do you feel?" he asked.

  "Okay, I guess? A little light headed maybe," she said, unsure what he meant.

  "No, I meant how does your foot feel?" he said, pressing her to be more specific.

  Charlie wiggled her toes at first and then pointed her toe. No pain. She pulled her toe back and flexed her foot. Still no pain. She laughed. "It doesn’t hurt anymore,” she said incredulous. “How did you do that?"

  "I healed it. Well, with some help, of course. Now, I want you to put this on the bottom of your heel every day, three times a day until you run out." He placed the small vial of castor oil on the top of the trunk next to the pillow propping up her foot.

  Charlie yanked her foot toward her and propped it on the knee of her other leg so she could inspect the heel. She started to peel the bandage tape at the edges.

  "Don’t,” Ben rose to his feet. “Not yet please. Just leave them on for tonight, okay? You can take them off in the morning and then start using the castor oil. In a few days, it will be almost like you never even had a wound."

  "That is amazing, Ben. I am constantly in awe of your magical abilities."

  "Well I'm constantly in awe of yours, too, so we’re even." He smiled and rocked on his feet. "Which leads me to why I'm really here."

  "Okay. What is it?" Charlie asked.

  “I need your help.” He scrubbed his chin and began to clean up the small mess he’d made, picking up the herbs, stone and bottles and placing them back into his bag.

  “What can I do?” Charlie asked.

  Ben took a seat on the chair again. "Like I said I've got a job and it’s more dangerous that I’ve taken in a while. Normally I wouldn’t care but …”

  “You have Jen now,” Charlie said.

  Ben leaned forward and put his elbows on the tops of his thighs. He looked at her from beneath his long dark eyelashes. Charlie could see why Jen was so attracted to him. Those gorgeous eyes.

  “So I was wondering if maybe you'd be interested in helping me."

  "Me?" Charlie asked. “Why me?”

  "Because you’ve shown a lot of growth since I started training you.”