Joab looked at the crowd then back to me. “If you only knew what I have done, you would hate me. You wouldn’t hold back from killing me now.”
We were aware of eyes watching our every move, awaiting the next blow.
Joab glanced around, conscious he needed to create the illusion of another attack. A fire began to grow from his hands.
“Do it,” he said urgently. “Call the goddess. We need help.”
I whispered a spell hastily. “I call upon the gods above, the ones of benevolence and love. Come down to me from above. Come to this place and come to me from time and space.” I repeated the phrase again and again. Nothing happened.
“Repeat it.” There was desperation in Joab’s voice.
I repeated the words again and again, and then a distant voice whispered through the rafters. Dark clouds billowed and filled the clear night sky visible through the vast barn doorway. Jagged lightning sliced through the clouds, and the angry rumbles of thunder appeared to shake the ancient barn walls. With the spectators distracted, I grew my tornado between my hands, hurled it around the room and shattered the barn roof with a flick of my wrist. The wind tore through flapping fabric, turned tables and smashed windows. I could barely comprehend the power of the force of the goddess backing me up…me of all people? I didn’t have time to ask “Why me?”
Joab tumbled and crashed into the hard stone wall. The audience was forced to crawl on their knees for shelter. Then the clouds burst open, sending heavy rain sheeting through the open roof.
I crashed onto the floor. The power surged through the ground, making the room rattle and vibrate.
“Stop!” boomed Annie. Mass panic drowned her voice.
“Enough?” I yelled at Annie’s thunderous face.
I was fizzing with power. I watched the spectators who were wading through the water, some tripping and splashing. I opened my arms. My fingers splayed. I stood firm, ready for the next blow. My hair was blowing like dancing flames. The power radiated from my skin. My eyes shone with the excitement and fear of the fight. My presence, which had always sunk into the shadows, was shimmering. I was commanding the attention of every soul in the room, and it felt good. For this moment, Cat had gone. I was Violet. I triumphantly called to my audience, “Witch or doppelganger, who dares question my power? I am Violet Gray. I am a witch, and I claim my position in the coven.”
“Enough. Stop!” Annie bellowed through the hysteria. “Who do you think you are, commanding the goddess? You will pay for this. You are now in her debt, you stupid, ignorant girl.”
“Enough,” I whispered.
Nervously, I thanked the goddess. Suddenly as it began, the roomed stilled, and the clouds cleared. Bewildered faces emerged from their refuge.
The music blasted out. The panel were drenched, some with makeup trickling down their wet skin. They were jumping on their tables waving their boards all labelled witch. The audience members were chanting, “Witch, witch, witch.” Feet stomped in puddles to accompany the demands of the crowd.
Annie glanced at the wasted figure of Joab, slumped against the stone wall with his head in his hands. She had no choice but to declare Cat the winner and openly claim Cat to be Violet, not a doppelganger.
“Congratulations. It appears you have won the fight. Welcome back, Violet Gray, original witch.”
I did it. I survived. I surveyed the damage in disbelief. I stood motionless, shivering. Then to my surprise and absolute horror, Annie put her arms around my rigid body and pulled me into a warm embrace. She released me and kissed me on both cheeks. I saw a broken Joab slope out of the door. Harriet, Juniper, Nate and the others rushed to me and threw their arms around me.
The crowd stampeded into the water. There were squeals and screams and laughter. The partying continued in the magic pool of water, splashing and stomping with the electronic beats. I looked around for a means of escape. Tom had not returned. I needed to find a way to help him. I worried that Joab was heading back to the house. I had to warn Tom before Joab intercepted the search. I made my way to the exit when suddenly the music changed to a beautiful tranquil tune with strings and a haunting melody from an elfin singer on the stage. Some of the crowd cast floating candles onto water that was receding, and the lights danced on the glistening surface.
Annie took to the stage. “Now that Violet has proved herself, it is time to welcome her back to our coven formally.”
The music gently lulled a feeling of peace, and everyone in the room held hands and swayed slowly to the melody. Annie’s henchmen appeared behind me and ushered me to the centre of the circle. I glanced anxiously back to the exit. There were still a few hours before dawn and the Mabon ritual. I prayed Tom was OK. The people, who only moments ago were relishing the pain that Joab had inflicted on me, were encircling me and enfolding me in their love.
The water from the downpour which flooded the barn was now nothing more than a sparkling puddle of light. The lanterns on the ceiling and the walls glimmered.. Many voices echoed the songs, and there was a warm feeling of unity in the barn. I managed to relax my shoulders enough to realise my injuries hurt.
Annie approached me, holding a chalice and a dagger, and whispered to the goddess. I must have gasped. Perhaps she still intended to take my blood. Annie smiled reassuringly, and her words calmed me into a daze. Rhymes and promises were uttered and made. I drank wine and was made to eat ritual cake, which stuck in my throat. I relished the cheers, the well-wishers and the gifts. Couples danced, entwined, and circled me. I was officially a witch. I convinced them I was Violet. I was part of the oldest and most desirable coven of witches in England and was now privy to their secrets. Soon the work must begin.
I allowed myself a moment to breathe before I remembered Tom was at the house looking for the book and Joab was probably there too. I glanced at my watch. There were only two hours before dawn. Two hours for us to decode the spell and release Violet. I didn’t have to try to convince Annie of my exhaustion.
CHAPTER 19
I slipped out of the barn and headed to the house. I removed my shoes and reached for the hem of my skirt. After looking over my shoulder to check I was alone, I ran.
I entered the house and careered through the door. I immediately stepped into water, which spilt down the steps. The rugs and curtains were singed, and the white walls were smeared with soot.
With panic, I called for Tom. I quickly searched the library then the games room and continued until I reached the glass dining room. I gasped to see a crack zigzagging through the entire length of the window. Slumped against the wall with smudges of black over his white shirt, face and slightly frazzled hair was Tom. Next to him was Joab, soaked to the skin. His black T-shirt clung to his body, and his hair was limp and still dripping. He took a swig of whisky directly from the crystal decanter and passed it to Tom.
“Joab caught me.” He drank from the bottle. “Found the book.” He nodded to the table. “You’ll be needing this.”
He tossed me my necklace, which I caught with one hand.
“Are you OK? You’re bleeding and your hair…” I groped my hair and found a large chunk had broken off during the fireball attack.
“Yes, but what the…what happened?” I said, my eyes scanning the boys and the room hastily.
Joab uttered a sarcastic chuckle. “Tom and I had a little disagreement. He was snooping around my house looking for something that was none of his business, and we fought.”
“Yes…I can see that. So why the drinking buddies act now?”
“You could say Tom gave me a cold shower and it woke me up. Look, I have been a bit of a dick.”
“A bit of a dick?” Tom scoffed.
“OK, a massive dick.”
“This is lovely, but we now have one hour and forty minutes to crack this code and get Violet out.”
“Oh…so you are not her. I knew it.” Joab staggered up. He swiped the book off the table. “I tell you one thing…Cat, you are full of shit, just like her,”
he slurred. “How the hell did you know all that stuff about the air raid shelter and my ridiculous boyhood dreams?”
“It’s complicated. I saw it in a vision. Also Violet and I are connected telepathically. She spoke through me.” I closed my eyes and breathed. I couldn’t believe I was going to say it out loud. “Joab, I am her doppelganger.”
Joab looked broken.
“Right now we need to crack some code to find the spell to open the portal to the dimension holding her captive. I could use your help. I can’t tell you how scared I am. I have no clue what I am doing. Please. I need you. Violet needs you. Please don’t stop us. We are your friends. Whatever has happened and whatever is to come, you can trust us. I promise. Can I trust you?” I moved towards Joab hesitantly and slipped Granville’s book of shadows from his hands.
I slammed the book on the table and glanced at the time. One hour thirty-seven minutes to go. I lay the necklace on the surprisingly ordinary pages. “Tom, Joab, you are the ancient, knowledgeable, original witches. Now crack the code and do the spell.”
Tom looked at the necklace and tried to interpret the symbols. “The symbol in the middle represents eternity so I guess that refers to the dimension which holds Violet. Where time stays still. So all the symbols around it should tell us the spell. Violet said we need the book of shadows and the necklace, so, Cat, look through the book until you find something that looks like it,” Tom said while tracing the symbols with his fingers.
“I know what they say,” Joab said reluctantly. “I photographed it on my phone and sent it to Annie. She translated them and texted me back with an explanation.” Joab was searching his pockets. “I must have dropped it at the party. Fuck.”
I flushed red. “I kind of borrowed it. I thought there might be a clue or…”
“How? When did you? Oh.” Joab looked sheepish, clearly remembering my seduction routine.
I slid the phone across the table to Joab averting my eyes from him.
Defeated and deflated, Joab continued. “The first symbols represent the two halves of Gemini, the next represents the position of the sun. This means sunrise, so the ritual must take place at dawn. The next symbols are the feminine and the elements of air and fire joining, then the sword and the cup. I think the symbols are a recipe to do the spell, hence why Annie was so keen to harvest your blood. She thinks that to open the portal, you and I must ‘get it on,’ then we would have to kill you, drain the blood from you, drink it at sunrise, and the door will pop open,” Joab slurred darkly.
I stared at Joab aghast.
“There is more on the necklace. Show me. I used to be pretty good at codes. Back in the war I was anyway.” Joab peered at the necklace. “The symbols represent a book of shadows, then the pagan year. See the symbols show the calendar as a wheel. Next is the symbol for Gemini, which I assume is you.” Joab held eye contact with me for the first time since the fight. “This one represents the three sides to the goddess—maiden, mother and crone—and the last symbol is the pentagram.”
I waited expectantly for an explanation. “So…what does that mean?” I spat out.
“I think this is why Annie needed the book of shadows. I think the spell we need to perform is in the book, and this is some cryptic clue to where
it is.”
“Could it mean that once you have the book, we have to wait twelve months to release Violet?” Tom suggested nervously.
Joab shook his head. “No, it’s nothing obvious.”
I looked at my watch. “We have an hour and twenty. Each of these symbols can be represented by a number. Look,” I said, grasping at straws.
“You are right…there are twelve months in a year. Gemini could be two to represent the two halves of the zodiac sign. The goddess is three, representing the three ages of the maiden, the mother and the crone, and the pentacle is five for the five points of the star. Twelve, two, three and five. The numbers are the code. Now we have to decipher those.” Joab looked at us triumphantly.
I opened the book. “Are they page numbers? References or something?” I scoured the pages, my heart racing. If Annie came back now, she would see the truth. I was dead. I breathed slowly, forcing my eyes on the pages. I opened the book to page twelve. I skimmed the page. I began to panic. “I don’t know what I am looking for.”
“Let me look.” Tom took the page. “It is a description of a ritual. Granville’s initiation ritual I think. There are no spells here.” Tom flicked through the pages to page number two. “Summoning of the goddess ritual.”
“Try going to page twelve and look for the second paragraph.”
“Got it.”
“Line three and word five, what does it say?”
“Now the people stand together in a circle…together. Word five is together.”
“Oh god,” I almost squeaked. “What the hell does that mean?”
Joab was calculating something. “Add the numbers together…twenty-two.”
The number twenty-two seemed familiar somehow, then Tom spoke.
“Twenty-two, nineteen twenty-two was the year Violet was born, her birthday.”
“Where could we use a sequence of four numbers? A combination code for something? Door codes, cases, think. Is there a safe or a secret door?” I demanded.
“The library.” Joab raced into the library and started to pull books off the shelves eventually revealing a small safe. He dialled one, nine, twenty-two on the antique safe. It failed. “Violet was born in June,” Joab said, exhaling. He tried the combination again. It still didn’t open, then as clear as day, the date of 21 June entered my head, courtesy of telepathic brain hacking from Violet. I was surprised she was able to make contact because her communication relied on my energy levels, which were
nonexistent.
“Try twenty-one, twenty-two.”
To my amazement, the safe sprung open. Inside there was a small black silk bag, containing an ornate knife, a decorated cup and a little faded card with a number written on it. “Looks like a phone number, but there doesn’t seem to be enough digits, and the area code doesn’t seem right.”
Joab grabbed the card. “It is the code for London, or it was a long time ago. I can try it with the modern London code.”
“Will it work?” I said hesitantly. I held my breath as Joab dialled the number on his phone. I grabbed the phone from him impatiently. To my amazement, an automated message kicked in.
“Your call is important to us. You have been placed in a queue and will be answered shortly.”
Then a country music ballad began to play; I placed it on the loudspeaker. I looked at my watch—less than one hour remained. The first few melodies of the dawn chorus had begun outside. We sat in silence except for the awful jarring music.
“It’s going to be too late.” I threw the phone at Tom. “I can’t do this. I’m going. I am going back to Dinah’s.”
“They will find you there…and Dinah and Steve,” Joab reminded me.
Then a voice kicked in.
“Hello, Violet, can I have your security code?”
“I don’t know…I…urgh.”
“Would you like your security question?”
“Yes.”
“What is your pet name?”
“Pet name? I don’t have any pets. Joab, Tom, have I owned a pet?”
I watched them searching their long memories.
“No, Violet was never home,” Tom said searchingly.
“Has anyone ever given Violet a pet name?”
I suddenly remembered one of the dreams. Crawley called me something at the meeting at the hut when they announced the schedule for the ritual.
“I know Crawley had a name for me. It was something astrological, stars or moon, oh God, think,” I said sternly to myself. I closed my eyes, slowed my breathing and recalled the details of the dream. Violet was late; she stumbled in with Tom. What did Crawley call her?
“Moonbeam,” I said with triumph.
The hold music crackled throug
h the line again. “White rose,” a voice said and then hung up.
Suddenly, as if the phrase was a magic word, I was wrenched from my body and hurtled through time.
CHAPTER 20
1940
Joe waited on the platform with no idea what or who to expect. He glanced at the large clock suspended above the platform. 11.25am. He couldn’t sleep through last night’s bombing campaign. 11.30am came and went. At 11.45, Joe was ready to give up. The mysterious people he was to meet either hadn’t shown or clapped eyes on him and thought better of it.
Joe felt in his pocket for a cigarette. His fingers skimmed something. It was a train ticket to Beaulieu. Someone must have brushed past him and shoved it into his pocket. There was a name scrawled on it. Nora.
Joe darted inside and scanned the departure board. The train to Beaulieu departed at 11.47am.
The train screeched to a stop on the platform, and he jumped on. It powered out of the city, past the docks and into New Forest countryside. The window was open so that the clean air could wash the stale smoke of the carriage away. It felt like moments before it pulled up at Beaulieu station.
There was a shining black car pulled up and a woman leaning against it. Her mysterious hooded eyes were like Marlene Dietrich’s, heavily laden with black makeup. Her high cheekbones were rouged against creamy, luminous skin. Her full scarlet lips delicately exhaled a swirling ring of smoke as her gaze drifted from his face to feet, holding slightly at his crotch then back to his face. Her lips parted slightly and glistened. Joe felt blood pump through his body flushing his face as her eyes met his and the corners of her mouth briefly smiled. She dropped her cigarette and smoothed her skirt over her hips and slithered into the driver’s seat of the car. The engine started, and the passenger door opened a little. The woman loosely crossed her arms and leant them on the sill of the open car window, and her face rested on them.
“Mr Mason? Hop in.”
The Haunting of Violet Gray Page 17