The apartment complex had exploded with life...or unlife. Paige didn’t really know what to call it. She did know it downright terrified her. The possessed poured from the surrounding buildings like a horde of angry ants. They crawled over each other in a rabid frenzy, creating a tidal wave of pale flesh and gnashing teeth.
We’re fucked.
“Close your eyes!” Miranda yelled. She spread her arms in a wide arch, trailing some kind of silvery dust from each hand. As the sparkling cloud began to fall, she bellowed, “Fulgur!”
Paige clamped her eyes shut just before the spell went off. She could still see and feel the light as if she looked up at the sun on a warm, cloudless day. She threw her arm in front of her face for more protection, though the spell ended as fast as it began.
“To the vans!” Miranda commanded.
Paige blinked her eyes open. No sound had accompanied Miranda’s spell, other than the possessed people’s screams. The damage wrought however, looked as if a thousand thunderous mortar shells had rained down on the lawn. Scattered about the area lay burnt bodies and torn limbs, paving a bloody path to the vehicles. The stench of charred flesh filled her nostrils, and she gagged. “My God, that’s horrid.”
Levi grabbed her arm and pulled her forward as he ran. “C’mon!”
The mobs of possessed continued to close in, despite the carnage the matriarch had unleashed on them.
“Keep moving!” Miranda yelled, charging ahead.
Alix threw runes on the ground to either side of the group as they ran. The glowing symbols erupted into towering gouts of flame. The creatures nearby screeched in agony as the fire engulfed them.
Many of the gaunt, black-eyed creatures swarmed ahead of the flames. The swarm cut off their escape. Cassie bolted past Paige, Alix, and Levi to join Miranda at the front, colliding with the wall of possessed. The pair might as well have been two bowling balls, knocking down pins. Bodies flew through the air, others straight-up trampled. Still, the possessed gave pursuit.
Paige felt next to useless, and half crazed with fear. She glanced over her shoulder to look for Rhea and wished she hadn’t. Rhea, the woman, no longer ran with them, replaced by a giant grizzly bear. The beast trotted close behind, swatting away the possessed that had the misfortune of getting in her way.
“Is it just me,” Levi said between breaths, “or did we step into an Avenger’s movie!”
Paige started laughing for all her fear. “Yeah, but I’m just one of the civilians about to get eaten!”
“Then run faster!”
Troy and Caleb laid on their horns. The sound created a beacon of hope in the sea of terror.
“We’re almost there!” Miranda bellowed. “Keep going!”
Something grabbed Paige’s ankle, and she went down, sliding across the dry grass. Within seconds, bodies piled on top of her, clawing and tearing. Teeth sank into her shoulder, and she cried out. More of them tore at her arms and legs. She couldn’t move under the immense weight, or escape the building agony. All she could do was scream.
A deafening roar drowned out her cries of pain. The crushing weight of writhing bodies suddenly lifted. Levi took hold of her arms and yanked her to her feet, while the bear that was Rhea tore creatures limb from limb.
A mixture of fear and rage was evident on Levi’s strained features, as he picked her up and ran. Alix wasn’t far ahead, casting her runes all around them. The place felt like an oven, there was so much fire.
Miranda and Cassie kept the path clear with magic and brute force.
Levi finally rushed into the van, followed by Alix and Cassie. Miranda stood outside, tossing lightning and fire as if she were some sort of ancient demigoddess. Rhea galloped toward them, the possessed hanging all over her.
“Vis!” Miranda yelled, punching her arms forward. A rippling wave of force washed over the bear and her attackers.
The possessed flew from Rhea, tearing out handfuls of fur as they tumbled away. The bear roared, but continued running until she neared Miranda. She leaped at the open van doors, transforming into her human form as she sailed through the air. She rolled to a stop inside the vehicle, then Miranda hopped in after her.
A dozen or more of the sprinting creatures made for the opened door. Caleb crushed the rabid attackers with the other van as he drove up beside them.
“That’s my man!” Cassie bellowed, slamming the door shut.
Troy peeled out of the parking lot, headed for the exit.
“Are you hurt?” Levi asked, frantically checking Paige for wounds.
She looked down at her shoulder, just knowing a chunk of it must be missing. To her surprise, her skin remained intact. Bruised, but intact. “How in the hell?”
Alix cleared her throat loudly, and tapped the purple flower tattoo on her arm. “Takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin.’”
“Amazing,” Paige said in awe. Her tattoo had disappeared, as Alix had said it would. “I can’t believe it.” She rubbed her shoulder.
“Believe it,” Alix replied, with an ear-to-ear grin. “I got skills.”
“You do,” Paige agreed, nodding. “All of you do. I did my best Snackable impression while you guys saved the day.”
“Hang on!” Troy yelled.
Paige couldn’t see what was happening, but they hit something, or somethings, and then started bouncing all over the place. She cringed at the thought of what they’d run over, lamenting the fact that so many had died. “Those poor people...”
“Were already dead,” Rhea finished, taking the clothing Cassie handed her. “They can’t come back from what has been done to them.”
Paige had kind of figured that, even though she couldn’t bring herself to admit it. Once corrupted by The Headless Man, you were gone forever. She’d felt more sick to her stomach in the past three days than over the past three years. This just added another layer to the nausea. At least she still had the ability to feel. At least she still lived.
She glanced over at Rhea as the woman dressed. She’d saved Paige’s life, twice-over actually. The first time by bringing her to the coven. The gracious act had instilled hope in Paige that she might actually live through this. That had provided salvation in her mind. “Thank you for saving me back there, and for everything else you’ve done.”
Rhea gave her a nod. “You’re welcome.”
Levi gave her a crooked smile and looked away. Paige avoided watching him, well aware what that smirk meant. She hadn’t completely gotten over her little envy party in regards to the Native American woman. Even so, she could sure as hell acknowledge when someone did her a solid.
“Looks like we’re in the clear,” Cassie said, looking out the back window.
“Caleb?” Miranda asked.
“He’s giving us the bird, so yeah, he’s fine.”
Alix snorted. “Glad I’m not the only one who has to put up with that juvenile garbage.”
“Hey,” Troy said. “It’s not garbage!”
The purple-haired girl rolled her eyes and climbed into the front seat.
Miranda moved over to the boxes holding the spell components. “Where is your great-grandmother buried, Levi?”
“Konawa,” he answered. “There’s a small plot of land out there. I’ve been a few times, so I know where to go.”
“Good. Troy, head us in that direction.” The matriarch finished her inspection, and then took a seat next to Paige. “Do you mind if I have a look at that book?”
During the excitement and terror, she’d forgotten all about the book. “Yeah, of course.” She pulled it out of her back pocket and handed it over.
Miranda studied the cover and binding. “This definitely belonged to Belladonna,” she said, nodding slightly. “It’s almost identical to the others I have.”
“Do you think it can help us?” Paige asked.
“I do.” Miranda opened the book, and flipped through the pages. She frowned. “As I suspected.”
“What’s wrong?” Paige looked from Miranda to the diary with concern.
“The book attuned itself to you. Not uncommon for a relic such as this.”
Paige didn’t understand. “Well, what does that mean?”
“Only you can read its contents,” the matriarch stated. “These pages appear blank to me.”
Cassie leaned over the seat to peer into the book. “Whoa, that’s kinda cool.”
“Can’t you undo it?” Paige asked, starting to panic. “Don’t we need information about raising spirits or something?”
“It would take me months to undo the bond,” Miranda replied. “You will have to find the secrets it holds, if any.”
Oh, shit. It wasn’t that Paige didn’t want to help. She did, but her confidence had been dragged through the mud these past few days. Her spells had misfired in some spectacular ways. After being around these women, she truly understood just how little she knew about magic. “I’ll do what I can.”
“You’ll have to do the best you can,” the matriarch corrected. “Or the both of you, and possibly some of us, may die.”
The words hit home. Everyone here meant to help her and Levi, and they had no reason to do so. She had no time for self-pity or doubt and had to face this head on, not screw-up or run away. She took the book and nodded. “I understand.”
Paige began searching for every scrap of information concerning spirit banishment. She read through page after page of history and magic. It felt good to have the yellowed parchment under her probing fingers again. The familiar, smooth sheets glided to the information she needed, as if the pages themselves knew what she looked for. The book revealed to her the incantations, symbols, and even the components required to complete a working spell.
She glanced out the window and realized they weren’t in the city any more. “Where are we?”
“Just past Asher,” Troy answered.
Okay, that was a bad question. She had no clue when it came to Oklahoma geography. “How long have we been on the road?”
“You’ve been bookworming it for almost an hour,” Levi said.
Holy crap. She could have sworn it hadn’t been more than fifteen or twenty minutes. Time flies, and we’re running out of it.
“Alix, do you think you can replicate this symbol?” she asked, pointing to one of the pages.
The purple-haired girl turned in her seat, and raised a questioning brow. “Considering that’s a blank piece of paper, I don’t think so.”
Paige shook her head. “Sorry, forgot you can’t see what’s in here.”
“If you draw it out, I could give it a try.”
Cassie handed her a pen and a little notebook from the back seat.
“Thanks.” Paige took the pad and pen, and sketched out the symbol, adding as much detail as she could. A triangle enclosed within a circle created the core of the symbol. Intersecting lines and characters filled each of the geometric shapes.
“Something like this.” She handed the drawing over to Alix.
The nimble young woman studied the etchings. “Good drawing, you should try your hand at tats.”
“I’d be too afraid to create a permanent regret on someone. Namely, my artwork.”
Alix scoffed. “Everyone thinks that at first, and then they try it—and discover it’s awesome!”
“Alix,” Miranda interrupted. “The symbol?”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I can do it.”
Miranda took the drawing and examined it. “What else did you find in the book?”
“The components needed, and the incantation,” Paige answered, thumbing through the pages again. “Also how the remains should be laid out… but according to this, anything belonging to the summoner will work as a focus. We don’t have to use the body.”
“Interesting,” Miranda said. She glanced at Levi. “Do you have anything that belonged to your great-grandmother we could use?”
He shook his head. “No. My earring’s the closest thing, but grandma gave that to me.” He reached up to his ear. “Oh, shit.” A look of dread came over him. “It’s gone!”
“What?” Paige scrambled over to him. Sure enough, no diamond; must’ve been torn from his ear in the fight. Scratches and blood covered the side of his face and neck. No one could mistake what the possessed had been after. Given its protective nature, the earring had been as much a target as Levi himself. The logic made sense. If they couldn’t kill him, they could at least reveal him to their master. Paige shivered at the thought of such control.
“What does that mean, exactly?” Cassie asked. Her dark brows furrowed, and she tensed up, ready for a fight.
“It means The Headless Man can find him,” Paige replied in shock.
“Troy!” Miranda barked. “Haul ass!”
He hit the gas, but too late. The horn from the other van sounded from behind. They all looked back, only to find the windows covered in dark, curling smoke.
“It’s here!” Paige screamed.
Tendrils of black mist seeped in from the rear doors. They coiled around every edge, and snaked across the floor. The sound of metal warping drowned out Caleb’s honking. Then the back doors ripped off their hinges and flew away, revealing a cloud of the darkest pitch.
Levi grabbed hold of Cassie and pulled her over the seat. “Don’t let it touch you!”
The Headless Man’s familiar, bloody stump for a neck emerged from the roiling cloud as it entered the van. Clawed hands, black with frostbite, reached out for Levi.
“Holy shit!” Alix yelled. “You fought that thing?!”
Paige couldn’t respond, stricken dumb with fear. Every terrifying encounter with the specter came back. The hotel, the car, Levi’s apartment, everything. The horrific images in her mind paralyzed her.
The wraith’s vibrating form made the vehicle shake, causing Troy to swerve recklessly. Levi first tumbled away from the specter, and then back toward it. He dodged a swiping claw, only to crash into the shelving and land on the floor in front of the vengeful spirit. Within the blink of an eye, The Headless Man drove his ghostly fist into Levi’s chest.
Levi bellowed in agony.
Paige knew what would happen next. His soul would be devoured.
A fluttering sound drew her attention away from the horrid scene. The pages of the book flipped back and forth, stopping on a spot she’d brushed by several times in the past. The passage was about slipping over to the other side. A sentence stood out in bold, that hadn’t been that way before.
“Crossing over is a matter of focus and faith. Whether that focus originates from practiced meditation or intense emotion, a witch can slide into the realm of the dead. As long as she believes it possible.”
How is that supposed to help?
Cassie roared and charged forward. She launched a barrage of punches at the spectral monster. Her hardened fists passed right through the ghost, making not a scratch. The writhing darkness shot out in response, wrapping the woman in bands of black smoke. She gagged, as the shifting coils squeezed tightly around her neck.
“Lucem Sanctam!” Miranda shouted, throwing a handful of golden dust into the air.
Light as bright as the sun filled the van and burned the dark smoke that held Cassie fast. The witch fell to the floor alongside Levi and lay motionless. The Headless Man bucked in soundless rage and pain, tearing the back end of the vehicle apart. The enraged wraith folded in upon itself and disappeared, taking every ounce of tainted smoke with it.
Levi gasped and rolled over, clutching his chest.
Paige climbed over the seats to him, half-blinded by the spell, and held him close. “Oh, my God. Are you okay?”
He nodded, but the strained smile he gave her said otherwise.
Miranda made her way over to Cassie, and whispered, “Curare.”
The bruiser jolted awake with a coughing fit. She looked around questioningly, rubbing her throat. “Is it dead?”
Miranda shook her head. “No. I haven’t the means to kill it.”
Cassie crawled into one of the mangled seats. “Well, that’s a damn shame.”
“You guys okay back there?” Alix asked from the front.
“We’ll survive,” Miranda answered.
“Good,” Alix replied, and then under her breath, but still loud enough to hear, “Scared the shit out of me.”
“We’re almost to Konawa,” Troy announced. “Where are we going?”
Levi struggled to a sitting position. “You need to turn south on N3500 Rd. It’s before you get into town. Just keep heading south until you get to the Canadian River. The road will get a bit twisty the closer you get to the water.”
“Will do.”
Paige helped Levi further into the van. The back end was totalled, and not safe for sitting. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I will be,” he said, honestly. “I just need a minute to pull myself together.”
Better than dead.
Although mid-afternoon, the heavy cloud cover made it feel as if dusk approached. Caleb’s headlights shone brightly through the interior now that the back doors were gone. Cassie flipped him the bird, signaling that she was okay.
“How much time before that thing comes back?” Alix asked.
Miranda shrugged as she went through her belt pouches. “I have no idea.”
Alix gave the matriarch a flat look. “I’d hoped for an indefinitely.”
“Weren’t we all?” Cassie snarked. “I’m gonna be as useless as a newborn, trying to fight that Casper-lookin’ motherfucker.”
“Okay, that was not Casper,” Alix corrected. “That was freakin’ Poltergeist. You’ve got your references way off.”
“Ladies,” Miranda said. “We have more important issues to worry about.” Her stern gaze went to Cassie. “And as far as useless, you’re far from it. Spells will be your ally tonight.” She eased over to the broken cabinets toward the back, and pulled out some more bags. She handed one to each witch. “If it comes at you, use the gold powder and recite the Holy Light incantation, Lucem Sanctam.”
The three of them nodded like good little students. Rhea just pocketed the pouch without further acknowledgement.
She must already know what to do, Paige thought. How long has she been with Miranda? The question had come to mind a few times since they’d met. There hadn’t been reason enough or the right circumstance to bring it up. Now wasn’t the right time either. She needed to focus on what came next.
Belladonna’s diary had remained in her hand during the attack. She opened it to the page it had flipped to on its own, when the Headless Man had been trying to take Levi’s soul.
Why had it wanted me to cross over? The thought made her feel sick. The Headless Man was terrifying enough in the real world, what would he be like in the spirit one? She found she didn’t want to know.
Regardless, she read the passage, as Troy drove them to the river. The pages spoke of faith. Faith in the fact that a place waited for us once this life ended. Paige had no doubts about the afterlife. Though her experience with the spirit world made her doubt how good of a place it might be. Heaven, Hell, or someplace in between? She couldn’t say with absolute certainty what awaited on the other side. She supposed no one could. Having seen and spoken with many spirits over the years, she probably had more insight than most.
“The grave-site is over there,” Levi said, interrupting her contemplation. He pointed west. “Right next to the treeline.”
Troy pulled off the dirt road onto a trail that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. They jostled along for a couple hundred yards, and then came to a stop at a short, rickety fence. Several headstones sat in the tall grass beyond.
“Okay, everybody out,” Miranda ordered, sliding the door open. “Get what’s left of the components out of the back. Levi, take me to your great-grandmother’s plot.”
Everyone scattered into action. Caleb had pulled up next to their van, and raced over to Cassie to make sure she was okay. She pushed him away after they kissed, and then started unloading the van.
Paige followed Levi and Miranda, not sure what else to do.
“Here she is.” Levi stopped at a knee-high stone. It was worn with age, but the name, Bly Walker, stood out clearly despite the cracks and mold.
“Why is she out here, in the middle of nowhere?” Paige couldn’t help but ask. She looked at the other headstones, all of which had the last name, Walker.
“It’s all that’s left of the land that had been gifted to Great-grandfather Jalen,” he replied. “It was unheard of for an Indian to own land back then, but some of these fields had actually been his.”
That was a rarity, and oddly so. “Who gave him the land?”
“The same man who’d given him the goblets for saving his daughter’s life.”
“Ah, I understand now,” Paige replied. A debt owed and paid.
Miranda motioned for the others to join them. “Quickly!”
They gathered around, opening the various boxes Miranda had requested. Each container held some sort of dried or powdered material. Gold, silver, jade, ivory, and a host of other colored substances sat, waiting for use.
“We have to exhume the body,” Paige said, as the others got organized. She looked at Levi, not sure if digging up one of his ancestors would be a problem.
His response was, “Do we have any shovels?”
“Here.” Caleb threw him one, and he started digging.
So much for worrying.
“Let me help,” Rhea said, stripping out of her clothes. She then transformed into the grizzly, and lumbered over to the headstone. Her massive paws shoveled huge chunks of earth. Levi had to step aside, or get buried by the steady stream of dirt.
Paige shook her head in awe. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing that.
Within minutes the coffin came into view. Rhea climbed out of the giant hole, and Cassie jumped in. The dark-haired witch lifted the coffin with ease, and handed it up to Troy, Caleb and Levi.
Paige started looking for a place to set up the summoning circle. She found a flatish area that might suit their needs. Near the plot and not on top of any other graves, it would have to do. She had no idea when The Headless Man would attack again, but she knew he was here, watching. The cold, oily residue of his presence oozed across her supernatural sense of the spirit world. They had to hurry.
“Alix, I need that symbol placed over here.”
“How big?” the purple-haired girl asked, as she skipped over.
Paige marked off an area that was about seven feet in diameter. “That should work. Do you need to see the drawing again?”
“No, I’m good.” Alix studied the area, and then knelt, touching her hand to the ground. The grass shimmered, as a dark imprint of Paige’s drawing appeared. “How’s that?”
“That’s amazing!” Paige couldn’t believe the accuracy with which the symbol had been replicated. She just hoped her own drawing was close enough to the original in the book.
Alix grinned. “Skills.”
“What components do we need?” Miranda asked. She stood near the containers ready to proceed.
Paige called out the list she’d gotten from the book, and pointed to where each element should go. By the time they finished placing Bly Walker’s remains, the sky had gone dark. Troy, Caleb and Levi had been busy placing lanterns all around the graveyard. Despite their efforts, they couldn’t banish the eeriness that haunted the darkness around them.
Miranda placed a thin dagger in Paige’s hand.
She looked at it questioningly. “How did you know I’d need this?”
The matriarch smiled. “Most spells of this nature require blood. You’ll need a good cut to work the magic.”
Paige nodded, not liking the sound of that. “Thank you.”
Everything appeared to be in order, reciting the incantation the only thing left to do.
“Time to get this over with,” she said, getting everyone’s attention. “Levi, come stand next to me. Everyone else, just behind us.”
Levi and the others took their places, while Paige went over the incantation. The words were in Latin, but as long as the meaning stayed the same, Belladonna had said that any language would do. She had also mentioned that more witches would give the spell and its meaning more power. Paige had marginal skill at speaking Latin. How well everyone else spoke the language she couldn’t say, except for perhaps Miranda. Better to just use English.
Levi squeezed her hand. “You ready?”
She nodded, and then looked over her shoulder. “You girls are welcome to join in, once you’ve gotten the words down.”
“We will, most certainly,” Miranda replied.
Paige faced the summoning circle, and took a deep breath. Here goes everything.