by Catie Rhodes
"It’s okay, baby." I tugged at his arm. "This nice lady’s right. Josie Stephens doesn’t deserve to have a couple jerks like us piling in on her."
The nurse behind the glass smiled a little and nodded.
"But…" Tanner turned to me frowning, took one look at my face, and said, "Oh." He turned back to the woman behind the glass. "Thanks for your time, ma’am. We’re sorry to have bothered you."
"No problem." The lady sat back down and started typing. She must’ve decided we weren’t going to attack.
I took Tanner’s hand and tugged him from the building. Once we were back out in the boiling sunlight, I said, "I’m going to do a spell to make myself look like a nurse. Get in that way."
Back at my truck, I dragged my witch pack out of the backseat, unzipped it, and dug around until I found the waterproof envelope where I kept Priscilla Herrera’s grimoire. I pulled the envelope out of the pack and removed the spell book.
Soon as I touched the book, my ancestor’s strong, determined energy flowed through my fingers and woke up the black opal. Somewhere behind me, a raven cawed. The mantle opened up inside me, blossoming like an exotic flower and spreading its perfume through me.
Chilly wind came from nowhere, whipping both mine and Tanner’s hair. I focused on the spell I wanted, the one commonly called a glamour spell, and opened the book. As usual, the book went right to the spell I wanted. A puff of age and old paper tickled my nostrils. The writing in the book looked more like symbols than anything in the English language at first glance, but as I stared, the words wiggled around like snakes and took a form I could understand.
I glanced over the instructions, noting they were different from the other time I’d used this type of spell. At the bottom of the page, words formed. "Don’t forget the cost of this magic."
I nodded. The last time I’d done this spell, I’d gotten what I wanted, but I’d also enabled a murderer to take a life. The life taken was mostly unknown to me. But I’d had only the murderer’s word that the person he killed was evil. Maybe I shouldn’t do this.
Orev cawed behind me, resolute. He thought I should go for it. Priscilla Herrera’s energy thrummed through me, ordering me to do it, even if it was just to hone my skills.
Tanner glanced over my shoulder at the spell book and rubbed his eyes hard. "Gives me a headache."
The whole thing gave me a headache too. According to the instructions, I’d have to find someone to impersonate. Not really wanting to try the lady we’d already spoken to, I stared out into the parking lot.
Several vehicles arrived at the same time. Hospital employees wearing scrubs of all shades exited their vehicles and herded themselves into a building. It was either a shift change or the end of a meal break. I’d need to make up my mind quickly. The shift change, or whatever it was, would end soon. Coming into the hospital at an odd time would raise further suspicion.
Mind as made up as it was going to get, I began to walk toward a woman of my general height and age who also had a mane of long, dark hair. She’d separated from the crowd to gather it into a ponytail. I glanced back at Tanner and said, "Come on. Think of a question to ask this woman while you’re walking."
We cut across the parking lot toward her, walking fast but not running. When we got close, I nodded to Tanner and mouthed, "Go."
"Excuse me, ma’am?" Tanner tried to do a Texas accent. He sounded about as authentic as Spanish rice made with ketchup.
The woman glanced up at him and made a face, almost rolling her eyes. Dislike came off her in waves. Oh, no. We must’ve picked the bitch of the bunch. But then she glimpsed me standing behind Tanner. The irritation fell of her face.
She smiled, brushed around Tanner, and spoke to me. "Y’all need some help?"
Struck dumb, I stared. I had no idea what Tanner had planned to ask her. Think fast. Wing it. "I noticed the historical marker outside the building and was wondering if there’s tours."
As I spoke, I focused on her face, memorizing it as best as I could. The spell book had suggested a likeness. I didn’t have one of those. But I knew from experience an item belonging to the person also worked for this spell.
The nurse, whose name tag said D. Homer, pulled her lips into a pout. "No. They ought to. The facility dates back to the eighteen-forties. But we still house and treat patients on site. It’s probably a privacy concern."
That was it. There was nothing else for this woman and me to say to each other, and I still needed either a picture or a personal item.
D. Homer checked her watch and said, "I’m sorry not to be more help. Hyde Park’s right over there. Lots of cool eating places, and it has a lot of history."
No idea what else to do, I smiled and nodded. "Thanks for the tip."
D. Homer walked away from us and toward the building.
I skulked back to my truck and glanced at the spell book, reading the directions one last time. Maybe I could make myself look like D. Homer just from memory. I closed my eyes and tried to call up her face.
"Need this?" Tanner held up his phone. On its screen was a picture of D. Homer, smiling as she spoke with me. "I’ll let you use it. For a price."
I slitted my eyes at him and held out my hand. "If I told you to drop your pants right here, you’d do it. No deal."
Tanner blustered with mock outrage. "That’s wrong. I’d at least make you take me behind some bushes."
I took the phone and set it down next to the spell book. One more read through, and I was ready. Oddly, there was no question in my mind that I could do it. The unknown ramifications concerned me more. I held out my hand to Tanner. "Let’s share power. Might make it last longer."
Wordlessly, he put his hand in mine and closed his eyes. I closed mine and found the mantle nestled deep inside me, underneath its shroud of scar tissue. I pulled gently on the energy, teasing it out. It flowed through my body, blunted but still powerful enough to make me see the world that lay underneath ours.
A greenish haze of pollution overlaid the sky. But underneath, I saw the element of air. It rippled against the sky, rolling and somersaulting, pushing the wind. The earth, long covered by pavement, hummed beneath my feet. It could be hidden, but progress couldn’t kill it. I drew both sources of power into me, letting them fuel the mantle.
Next to me, Tanner’s body stiffened. His hand tightened on mine, and he took a deep breath and moaned as the power hit him.
Water flowed beneath the earth, endlessly recharging and renewing. I called for its cleansing magic and let it move through me and into Tanner.
The fire came last because it was inside me. It burned through my veins and called power from Tanner. The burn grew hotter, so hot that sweat popped out all over my body. It was time.
I let my eyes slide open and called up the digital picture of the nurse. I stared into her face, eyes roving over every feature, every sharp edge.
"Power of elements, I call on thee
Make it where they see her and not me."
I repeated the simple chant three times and then threw the power of the mantle into it, concentrating with all my might, on moving the energy that would make me look like the nurse.
My face began to tickle, then itch. The itch grew until it stung like ants on my face. I jerked my hand away from Tanner’s and brought it up to touch my skin. My nose was wrong. Sharper and longer. I faced Tanner, but he still had his eyes closed.
"Tanner?" I shook his arm.
He opened his eyes. His mouth dropped open, and he backpedaled away from me. He stared hard at me and then came closer. He ran his fingers over my cheeks, frowning. He slid a hand down my body. "It is you. At first, I wasn’t sure. But the body’s yours."
I used the camera on my phone to look at myself. A gasp escaped my lips, and I nearly dropped my phone. It had worked. I was D. Homer. At least for a few minutes.
I stared at the hospital with dread. The last time I’d been in a place like this, they’d wanted to lock me away. Irrational fear bolted through me,
trampling down all the confidence I’d built since that day when I was eight years old.
Tanner pulled me close. "You sure about this? There’s got to be another way."
There probably were other ways, but I didn’t have time to figure them out. Josie knew some stuff about Loretta Nell. According to Mandy Drake, Josie had at least known about Mohawk’s book. She’d demanded to be taken back to Stephens Ranch to get it. Maybe she knew where I could find it.
Tanner waited for my answer. Even if he knew going in that hospital and scaring the shit out of myself was the best bet, he was too nice a guy to kick my ass all the way in there.
I gave him a squeeze and stepped away. It felt like taking the training wheels off a bike. "I have to do this. This spell won’t last long, so I need to hurry." I marched across the parking lot and into the front door.
"Deena?" The nurse who’d told me I couldn’t see Josie frowned. "Didn’t you just come through?"
"I forgot something." The sound of my voice mixed with a little of Deena’s made me stiffen. The spell had been so simple and low energy that it hadn’t even disguised my voice. This isn’t going to work. They’ll put you in a padded room and keep you forever. My knees went watery at the thought, but I forced myself to keep walking.
"Guess I missed you going out," the nurse said to my back, but she didn’t sound too sure.
I hurried up the same stairs I’d seen the other nurse use and acted like I knew where I was going. Soon, I knew I’d overplayed my hand. The hospital was huge, and I had no idea how to find Josie. Asking another nurse would blow my cover.
I wandered the halls, drawing curious glances from Deena Homer’s co-workers, but nobody called me out for not being wherever Deena was supposed to be. A TV blared nearby, and I peeked into a room full of chairs and realized, as I glanced over the patients’ faces, that I didn’t even know what Josie looked like.
My spirits sank. In my hurry to get this done, I had made every possible mistake. I had no idea what Josie looked like, didn’t know where to find her.
"Deena?" The voice came from right behind me.
My stomach jumped. Sweat popped out all over my body. If this person wanted to converse, it could go so very, very badly. I slowly turned to face whoever’d caught me.
A middle-aged woman wearing a starched white nurse’s uniform glared at me. Her name tag read Fitch, which I first mistook for Bitch. "Why are you in the women’s wing, Deena? I thought we talked about this."
"Uhhh…I forgot something in my car." The sound of my own voice jolted me. The glamour was already wearing off. Fear spread through my body. It would make the spell wear off even faster, but I didn’t have the self-control to stop it.
Fitch frowned. "You don’t have to come through the women’s wing to get to the children’s wing." She pulled a spiral bound notepad from her pocket. "I’m going to make a note of seeing you up here. Two more times, and I’ll make a formal complaint. I’m tired of you young nurses playing more than you work."
Shit. I’d gotten Deena, who seemed perfectly nice, into trouble. Another glamour spell, another batch of trouble. At least nobody was dead yet.
Fitch stopped writing in her notepad. "Come on. I’ll walk you out." She did just that, leaving me outside a locked door.
"Fuck," I muttered and stomped off, no clue where I was going. If Josie was anywhere, she was behind that door with Fitch the Bitch and now off limits to me. I passed a row of windows looking out on a courtyard. My reflection showed regular old Peri Jean Mace starting back at me with scared eyes.
Perfect. Footsteps approached. I turned down a hallway, ducked behind an open door, and watched through the crack between the doorjamb and the door. Fitch the Bitch passed by, craning her neck, probably trying to catch the errant Deena Homer doing shit she wasn’t supposed to be doing. The only bright side was that I now looked like me. Deena Homer wouldn’t get into further trouble for my shenanigans.
Fitch approached. I stood as still as I could. She went into one of the patient rooms and came out, leaving the door open. She stared right at the door I was hiding behind. I held my breath, heart thudding so loud in my ears it was hard to believe Fitch couldn’t hear it. But she didn’t seem to. She passed by, rubbing at chill bumps that had risen on her sun-spotted arms.
I came out from behind the door and crept in the direction I’d seen Fitch come from. This wing was being renovated. Scaffolds lined the walls. An unopened box of tile sat next to a neatly folded drop cloth. This would be the perfect place to hide out while I figured out what to do next. I ducked into an empty patient room and took out my phone, ready to hit the web for all my research needs. My phone’s blank screen stared at me. I let out a disgusted grunt.
Since getting one of the fancy full-featured smartphones, I had trained myself to think the phone held all the answers just because I could access the internet. But there wouldn’t be a recent picture of Josie online. Nor would her room number here at the hospital be posted. I rolled my eyes.
Behind me, a small voice said, "You looking for me?"
My whole body jerked, and I nearly dropped my phone on the hard tile, which surely would have busted it into a million useless pieces. I juggled the glass and plastic albatross before finally getting control of it and tucking it into my pocket. Heart hammering, I turned to see who’d spoken.
The girl sat lotus position in the corner of the empty room, a hand of solitaire laid spread at her knees. At first, I thought Loretta Nell’s ghost had somehow found me here at the asylum. But a closer look revealed fuller lips, a broader nose, and darker blond hair.
"Josie Stephens?" I stared at the slight woman with thin red scars all over her face, her hair long and unkempt but clean.
She nodded. "Are you the lady who came earlier wanting to see me? The one Ilsa wouldn’t let come up?"
I gaped at her. "How’d you know? And what are you doing in here?"
Josie smiled, showing small, neat teeth. "Ten years in a place like this, and you learn the ropes. As for your second question, waiting on you."
Cold fingers walked up my back. "Why?"
"Loretta Nell said you’d be coming." She swept the cards into a pile and began shuffling them.
The chill spread to the rest of my body. Soon I’d be shaking. Stay calm. Pretend it’s all cool. "You’ve been in contact with Loretta Nell?"
"We talk every day." She giggled at whatever she saw on my face, putting a hand criss-crossed with thin, red scars over her mouth. Her stormy blue eyes gleamed with something that made my skin crawl. Then it was gone. "Go on and ask."
"What do you think I'm here to ask you?" I felt sorry for this woman who'd had her life cut off the day she got thrown into this place. Had it not been for Memaw, the same thing could have happened to me.
"All kinds of people come to see me. They all ask the same questions. They want to know about the night my family died, and they want to know why I said Loretta Nell Grimes did it. Why would you be any different?" She slapped some cards down on the floor.
I crouched on the floor so Josie and I could see eye to eye. Standing over someone indicated a dominant position, and I wanted her to trust me enough to talk.
"I’m different because I know Loretta Nell murdered your family."
She lowered her chin. Her chest rose and fell with her breaths. "So what do you want to know?"
I nodded. "Did you ever see Loretta Nell before the night she killed your family?"
Josie bared her teeth in another smile. It somehow reminded me of an animal waiting for a chance to bite. "Oh, I get it. You’re one of those."
A warning bell went off in my head. I let it ring. It was too late to do anything but play this out. "One of what?"
She continued playing her new game of solitaire. "Ghost hunters. Paranormal investigators. You’ve been out to Poppy’s house. Maybe heard footsteps. Or didn't you say you'd met Loretta Nell?"
I didn’t want to give Josie any more information about myself. This whole setup fe
lt wrong. More than ever, I wanted to get away from Josie, go back to Tanner.
"If you've met her, she’s going to kill you." Josie turned over a card. "See, I didn’t know to leave her alone."
"You brought her ghost back, didn’t you, Josie?" I whispered.
She ducked her head but nodded. "It started six months before the night she killed my whole family. We’d gone to visit Poppy. Nana had just died, and Poppy said I ought to go into the attic and see if I wanted some of Nana's stuff from when she was young. There was nothing I really wanted, so I started poking around."
I said nothing. Josie spoke mostly to her cards, laying them down, picking them up. She wasn’t really playing solitaire. She was just moving the cards around. She seemed to have forgotten she was talking to a real person.
"I saw the door behind a wardrobe. One of those tall ones so big a person could stand in it. Took me an hour to get enough stuff out of the wardrobe so I could move it, but I did." She stopped playing with her cards and stared through me. "I wish I had just left it alone. But I didn’t. I opened the door and found that room, that awful little room. There were pictures cut out of magazines and posters on the walls. It wasn't too much different than my dorm room at college. And I could feel her in there, maybe listening to records or reading." She raised her head, and we stared at each other. She whispered, "I'd heard about Loretta Nell and the Messengers all my life. But for the first time, I got curious about who she was. Biggest mistake of my life."
"What did you do?" My voice shook. I didn’t want to hear this story. Normal people, the ones who didn’t have to live with freaky talent like mine, never knew when to leave well enough alone. The unlucky ones ended up where Josie Stephens now sat.
"I bought an Ouija board," she told me, wide-eyed.
I held in my groan. It just got worse and worse. An Ouija board gave a powerful ghost like Loretta Nell an engraved invitation to wreak havoc. No wonder things ended the way they did.
"She visited the first time we used it…" She paused, and I thought I’d have to prod her to continue, but then she started talking. "That was when cameras in cellphones were pretty new. My roommate and I took a lot of pictures. When we looked at them, they all had her in them. If the picture was of my roommate, Loretta Nell would be next to her. Just standing there. No expression on her face." Josie lowered her chin and set her eyes on me again. "Like this."