A Witch Too Late

by Paula Lester

  Cas paused for a moment in respect for Dustin’s father. She ventured to ask the question she’d been leading up to. “Do you know if my mom is a ghost?”

  Everyone’s gaze swung to Cas. She felt herself shrink under the scrutiny. “It’s that I’ve seen some of them around town, and I wondered if all witches become ghosts.”

  Dustin shook his head. “No, they need a license for that, among other things. It’s actually quite complicated. Denzel, would you please fetch me the Undead Directory from the council chamber?”

  Denzel left in a flash and returned with a book, which he handed to Dustin. The council assistant paged through it until he got to the right section. He used his finger to trace down the page. “Ah, here she is: Oceane North. No, she isn’t a ghost. She’s buried and at rest in the Crystal Springs cemetery, though.”

  He snapped the book shut and handed it back to Denzel, who floated through the wall with it. Cas wondered if Denzel could aid the passage of any solid object through another.

  She decided that was a question for another time. She turned to Graham. “I’d like to go to the cemetery and visit my mom. I haven’t been to her grave since I was a kid.”

  “Mr. Noble,” Dustin interjected. “Sheriff Lloyd called me this morning. One of his deputies had been in his office yelling about witches and their friends early in the day. He said that he and the rest of the shifters in his department are getting increasingly irritated with being called on to handle witch business. The Founder’s Day celebration isn’t doing anything to relieve those feelings. Perhaps you could head to the sheriff’s office and help them all calm down? You’re a true friend to the witch community, and you truly have Sheriff Lloyd’s ear.”

  Graham nodded. They thanked Dustin and left. They made their way to the hover pad and descended to the main lobby, which they crossed in silence.

  Graham stopped at the courser pad. “Cas, don’t stay at the cemetery too long,” he warned. “The gates are warded to keep the unlicensed undead in, and they close at dark. The newly deceased can be somewhat unpredictable.”

  Cas glanced outside. It was still early afternoon, so she had plenty of time.

  “I can take you to the cemetery, but I’ll need to wait outside for you,” Echo said. “I’m really not comfortable in there.”

  “That’s fine, Echo. I understand.” Cas nodded, grateful that her friend would be nearby, at least. Cemeteries were creepy, but she felt an incredible drive to go see her mom.

  Chapter 13

  The cemetery was huge and beautiful. Manicured, fern-green lawns stretched so far, Cas couldn’t see where they stopped. Echo stopped and sat just outside of the majestic wrought-iron gates. The entrance was made of two halves that swung outward from each other. The sides had symmetrical intricate, scrolling designs welded into them. They were wide open, inviting visitors to enter the calm space within.

  “I’ll just be under that shrub napping,” Echo said with a yawn.

  “Thanks. I shouldn’t be long.”

  Dustin had given Cas a slip of paper listing the section of the cemetery her mom was buried in, and Cas wandered in that direction. It was the perfect day: blue sky with a few cottony clouds, a light breeze, and seventy degrees. Fall was on its way, and a few leaves were beginning to change.

  As Cas walked, she looked around at the grave sites and could tell this was an old cemetery. Some areas contained tiny headstones with names eroded away by time. In other sections, there were huge, majestic stones with poems etched in beautiful lettering, plaques placed flush with the ground, simple crosses, and even a few big mausoleums. A small creek meandered its way through the cemetery, and some areas were quite wooded while others were flat and grassy. Cas thought the place looked like it covered at least twenty acres.

  She checked her slip of paper and made a slight course adjustment, heading inward toward the creek. Movement caught her eye. An auburn-haired woman knelt by a headstone, brushing it off with a feather duster.

  No. It couldn’t be. Cas power-walked another ten feet. As she got closer, there was no doubt. It was her. The woman who’d been following her.

  This time, there was nowhere to run. Cas was going to find out why the woman was stalking her once and for all.

  Yet, unlike the other times, the mystery woman seemed unaware of Cascade. She hummed while plucking weeds from around a headstone. It was only when Cas was within five feet the woman glanced her way.

  Cas froze, ready for anything. But the mystery lady just gave a small smile and re-focused on her work. There hadn’t been an ounce of recognition in her eyes.

  “Um. Hi.” Cas relaxed out of her battle-stance. “I’m Cas.”

  “Oh. Okay. Hi there. I’m Violette.” She waved a hand without looking up.

  Cas almost waved back. Almost. Violette wore a sleeveless yellow sundress. She looked older than Cas would’ve guessed. Silver streaked the auburn hair and a few fine wrinkles lined her face. Maybe Violette was in her mid to late sixties.

  But Cas scolded herself to snap out of it. She attempted to look stern by rolling her shoulders back and lifting her head a little. “Why have you been following me?” She spat the words out before losing her nerve.

  “What?” The other woman stood up, feather duster in hand. Her eyebrows knitted together as she pouted a little.

  “You were at The Cat’s Cauldron last night, watching me eat with my cat. I mean, my Echo . . . my familiar.” Cas felt flustered by Violette’s confusion. It didn’t seem feigned at all.

  “I wasn’t at that diner last night, and I don’t follow people.” Violette appeared sincerely troubled. She studied Cas’ face. “Wait, what did you say your name was?”

  But Cas didn’t have the opportunity to answer.

  The other woman jumped as if she’d been stung by a wasp. Her face smoothed out, but she said, “Oh dear. You have me confused with someone else. I need to go now. Have a good evening.” Violette scooped up the feather duster and other supplies. In the next instant, she hurried off, with furtive glances over her shoulder.

  Now it was Cas who stood with eyebrows furrowed. That was strange. Violette didn’t seem to recognize her, but there was no question that had been the woman who’d been following her. Cas considered chasing her down and demanding more information. But the sun was getting lower in the sky. Graham’s admonition about not staying in the cemetery too late rang in her ears. She’d wasted more time than she’d meant to meandering her way through the gravesites enjoying the lovely weather. If she let Violette go, there would be time to visit her mother’s grave. Cas decided to learn more about the strange woman later.

  She glanced at the paper scrap and realized her mom’s gravesite was close. In fact, it was only a few yards away.

  The headstone marking her mom’s grave stood about three feet tall. It read:

  Oceane (Lovebrooke) North

  ~ Wife, Mother, Friend~

  ~ Sweetness and Spice ~

  ~Virtue and Vice ~

  Gone Too Soon: A Light Too Bright for This World

  The site was tidy, and a small pot of white and purple pansies sat near the stone. Cas dipped her finger into the soil. It was moist. Who was taking care of her mother’s gravesite?

  Cas sat down next to the stone and gazed at it for a while. She recalled the few memories she had of her mom. Oceane had always been laughing, rarely acted stern, and there had never been a time when she wasn’t ready to run, twirl, skip, and play games with Cascade. She’d been a good mom.

  Aunt Petunia’s words floated into Cas’ thoughts. It was a shame what your mother did to you. What had her aunt meant? But Petunia’s word was less than reliable. Still, could whatever she’d meant be related to Cas’ situation now? She wondered again what her mother had done. Dustin had mentioned her mother being mischievous too. Maybe she’d ask him about it again and get more specific information.

  Cas didn’t know how long she sat there. But when she came out of her thoughts with a start, the sun had d
ipped low in the sky, casting long shadows across the cemetery. The trees and greenery had the special golden glow they get just before sundown.

  Cas jumped up and retraced her steps. She paused at the gravesite that Violette had tended. The headstone read:

  Violaine Mizzle

  A Beautiful Soul with So Much to Give

  Next to Violaine’s headstone stood another identical one, but it wasn’t complete. The death year hadn’t been added yet. The plot was for someone intended to be buried next to Violaine. Cas shivered when she read the name: Violette Mizzle. It was creepy to have just met the person who would lie there someday. She reread the dates on the tombstones. The birthdate was the same. Violette and Violaine were sisters. Twins.

  A sharp clanging rang out across the cemetery, snapping Cas back to the present. She peered into the distance. Oh no! The cemetery gates were closed. She had to get out of there. She began to power-walk, dodging headstones. It wasn’t dark yet. Graham must have been wrong about when the gates closed. Well, nothing bad would happen before dark, right?

  Cas really didn’t want to find out. She sped up and finally made it to the edge of the property, where there was a straight line of unimpeded grass. The sun had dropped below the tree line now. One side of the cemetery was plunged into dusk. The western side still retained the last dregs of the day’s light.

  Okay, the gate wasn’t far now. It didn’t look too high to climb. Graham’s warning looped in her head. Cas scolded herself for dilly-dallying and kicked her speed up another notch.

  Something wet, cold, and clammy brushed past her arm. She screeched and dove away from it. But the move made her stumble. Cas braced the fall with her hands and scrambled to turn over.

  Above her hovered a creature of nightmares.

  It possessed a grotesque likeness to a human but more resembled a skeleton covered in muscle, without fat or skin. Pallid strips of grey flesh hung from its face like morbid jowls. And its mouth was a gaping maw of the deepest pitch—an abyss so craven—it seemed as if it could suck up the colors from the world around it. The legs and feet protruded from tattered colorless trousers.

  Cas inched away. But the thing responded by opening its hideous mouth and cackling. The sound was enough to slap Cas back to herself. She lurched to her feet and ran. The thing gave chase. Cas could feel the bitter coldness of its fingers straining for her neck.

  It lunged. Cas stopped short, letting it sail by. The creature slammed with a bone-crushing smack against an upright headstone.

  Not that it mattered. The horror sprung back up as if nothing had happened. Two more skeletal shapes joined the first, and one by one, they took turns snapping cavernous jaws and reaching for Cas with desiccated, boney fingers.

  Cas dodged, weaved, and bobbed. She sucked in painful gasps of air, but about a hundred yards from the gate, a cramp almost bowed her over. The beasts had their opening. They attacked. Cas stumbled and fell to her knees.

  A blow to the back of the head sent her down the rest of the way. Cas flipped over and flung an arm up. She felt the strike, but an ice-cold agony exploded in her arm seconds later.

  They towered over her, cackling. One croaked in an unearthly voice, “When do we get to eat her?”

  Cas cradled her injured arm and scooted backward until she was against a headstone. A white slash puckered the skin along her arm. Frozen beads of blood decorated the wound. The sheriff’s leash still hung around her wrist but dangled by a thread. Cas snapped it and tossed the thing at her pursuers’ feet.

  “I don’t see why we have to wait. Let’s eat her now,” a second creature answered.

  No, you’re not. After all this, Cas wasn’t gonna let herself get eaten. She used the headstone to push to her feet.

  “Cascade!” It was Echo. He perched on a fence to her left. “You have to run. NOW!”

  One of the things jabbed a skeletal finger in his direction. “Shut your mouth, cat, or you’re next!”

  It was only a second of distraction, but Cas took it. She edged past the closest one. The creature made a wide, wild swing but only managed to clip her upper arm.

  The pain was more immediate this time. Cas ran, but she didn’t know where to go. The gate loomed ahead, but she could hear the cackles of the creatures behind her.

  Echo hissed and leaped from the top of fence. He angled toward Cas at a sprint. “Protect yourself!”

  Cas heard the warning. But how? Her legs pumped. Up ahead, she could see a thick chain connecting the two halves of the cemetery’s gate. It was massive, and, in an instant, a picture of it sprang to her mind. She could feel it, taste the metal in her mouth.

  Behind her, she heard a hiss and a screech as Echo threw himself at the beasts. He leapt from one to another, scratching and biting as the things screamed.

  “Okay, okay. Help Echo, Cas. Help him.” She stopped about five feet from the fence line. She took the image of chains in her mind and pushed at it. Kind of like what she’d done with the iris. She opened her eyes and nothing had changed. Echo battled with the monsters, leaping and twisting around their legs as they gave chase. But one had figured out the ruse. It swiveled sunken sockets toward Cas.

  Cas closed her eyes again and willed the chains into being. She had no idea what she was doing. And somehow, no matter how hard she pushed, something pushed back. That wasn’t quite right. Something was holding her back, like a straight-jacket pulled tight.

  She strained until her head ached while ignoring the sounds of her friend fighting for their lives. “Oh please, work. Work!” she begged.

  Cas sensed the thing that bound her was designed to resist brute force. Instead of pushing, she decided to pull. She envisioned it just like a straight-jacket, pinching, binding, and cinched in place with locks. In her mind’s eye, she took one of those and leaned every ounce of her being on it.

  The lock buckled. Not much—it only opened a crack. But it was enough. Cas envisioned thick, bulky chains and flung them out at the monsters.

  Cas opened her eyes. One of the monsters stood only a foot away. Arm outstretched, its claws were only inches away from her face. But it didn’t move. The spell worked! Only the eyes shifted to fix a death-like glare on her.

  She sidestepped around that one to look beyond. The other creatures were frozen in place too. Echo swatted at a monster’s ankle. “And take that.”

  A finger on the outstretched hand closest to Cas twitched. She saw it and knew whatever she had done was wearing off already.

  “Echo! Come on!” she hollered and made a final dash for the gates. Cas crashed into them and clawed at the padlock and chains. Echo skidded to a stop next to her. But it was no good. There was no give. She pushed at the gates, but the space that opened was too small to squeeze through.

  “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast!”

  Cas whirled around. What now? She didn’t think and just ran along the fence line with Echo.

  Without warning, the creatures all seemed to break the spell in unison. They roared. Cas refused to look but sensed movement behind her and to the right.

  The things jeered as the gap between them and Cas shortened. Fifteen feet away, they cackled. “Where ya going, sweetheart?”

  Then, at ten feet, they sang and cackled, “No place to go.”

  In her mind, she threw the chains out again. But Cas didn’t have to look to know it didn’t work. She could feel it. And somehow, the monsters did too. They looked at each other and began to laugh. Suddenly, they all dove at once, blocking out her view of the twilight sky behind them.

  Cascade dove toward the metal gate. She shoved, pushed, and forced her body through the bars. Somehow, she found a spot just big enough to squeeze through. Skeletal fingertips grasped at her sneaker just as she fell to the sidewalk. Echo, more nimble, made his escape almost simultaneously. He landed next to Cas.

  She collapsed on the ground outside the gate. The skeletal creatures screamed in fury. They clawed at the bars and shrieked in frustration until it se
emed they lost interest and drifted away.

  Echo rubbed his head against Cas’ cheek. “You did it, Cas. You’re safe,” he purred.

  “What were those?” she panted.

  Echo flopped on his side. “Ghouls.”

  Cas nodded. Another supernatural term that had meant nothing a few days ago. “You okay?”

  “Nothing a plate of tuna wouldn’t fix.”

  “Echo, I’m you’re woman for tuna for the rest of your life.” Cas rolled over and focused on breathing in and out. Her heart still beat a wicked staccato. Cas was so relieved to see an unfettered sky, she almost wept.

  After collecting herself, Cas got up and sat on the curb outside the cemetery gate. Echo rose up on his haunches, and they were both silent. A bunch of questions about ghouls, bindings, and spells bubbled to her mind, but she didn’t have the energy to form the words. Plus, she had the hiccups.

  Firecracker sounds erupted just to the left of them. They weren’t as powerful as when she had caused the car pile-up but still plenty loud. Cas felt a surge of annoyance. She pushed at the magical restraint. It was still there. And so was the small crack she had created. Without ghouls on the chase, she could sense it now. Cas dropped her head into her hands. This nonsense was just baffling.

  Her magic could make all kinds of irritating things happen, but she couldn’t even use it to keep ghouls from eating her. If she had to have magical powers, shouldn’t she at least be able to use them to avoid being devoured by cemetery dwelling nightmare creatures?

  “Don’t like ghouls much, eh?”

  Afraid the ghouls had gotten out of the cemetery, Cas jumped up from the curb and spun around. But it wasn’t a monster just inside the cemetery side of the gate. It looked like a person, but Cas deduced it was a ghost.

  It didn’t hover like Denzel but stood on two feet like Violaine. Cas now knew that’s who must have been following her around lately—Violette’s dead twin sister.

  This ghost was male, about eighteen years old, and bore a giant smirk on his face. He sported a white t-shirt and a ripped-up pair of jeans. “If you don’t like the undead, you shouldn’t go visiting certain graves around here at twilight. You’re only asking for trouble if you do.” He turned and sprinted away, fading into the darkness.