Chapter Twenty-three: Ridding the Monster

Nathaniel

 

 

“I know what you’re doing out here,” Star says as she appraises me with her golden gaze.

“Great. We’re both in the know then, aren’t we?”

She tilts her head to the side and has the very uncanny look of a determined woman planning her next move.

At the insistence of the security guard, with threats about the fire marshal shutting the place down for violating code, we step away from the growing number of fans who have gathered around Star and move backstage. We’re behind the railing separating the stage from the crowd and behind good ol’ Chuck. The fans disperse and the security guard still looks stiff, but subdued for now.

Away from the masses, but not downstairs with the band members, I keep watch over Star just as closely as she eyes me. Stage technicians fiddle with lights, wires, and electronics. It appears they’re doing extra prep for the oncoming weather. Tarps are placed over exposed electronics and taped down. A gust of wind blows across the stage and a fifty-foot length of ladder rigging swings gently with the breeze.

“I can’t guarantee I’ll never go ballistic again,” she remarks.

“Which is why I’m out here with you,” I say.

“Better to know your enemy than be caught off guard?”

“Something along those lines,” I admit.

“You don’t have to trust me, but I’m making the best effort I can to earn Juliana’s trust back.”

“She didn’t deserve to be sliced open. You almost killed my girlfriend.”

“Believe me. I know what happened. I was there.”

“Do you believe in what goes around comes around?” I ask.

She swallows. A glint of alarm flashes through her for the briefest of seconds.

“We’ve never been alone before, have we?” she asks, her voice cool and betraying the firing nerves under the surface.

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“You’re not threatening me, are you?” She narrows an eye.

I cross my arms over my chest and say, “I don’t make threats, but I believe what you give is what you get.”

She lowers her lashes and when she looks back up, I see the resolve to follow through with whatever’s spinning circles in that pretty head of hers.

“Karma can be a cruel bitch,” she acknowledges. “But it can also be a tolerant friend. I’m trying to make friends with my past.”

“Let’s hope your plan succeeds.”

“Which is why I’ve been preparing,” she says.

“Let’s have it, Star. I don’t have time for games.”

“But life is a game.” She flutters those same long lashes and a taunting grin plays with the corners of her heavily painted lips.

I close my eyes for an extended blink and my jaw hardens.

“Relax,” she says, and lightly touches my arm.

Not comfortable with her touching me, I glare at her hand until she takes it back.

“What’s the deal with you today? You and Jules and Jared are three of the tensest people I’ve ever been around. Which is unlike Jared.”

“What are you up to, Star? And how does it affect me?”

“Jared’s told me a few things about his predicament. And yours.” She watches for my reaction.

Maintaining caution, I hide my apprehension and suspicions behind a careful mask of indifference. How much does she know? I don’t think Jared knows about my desire to return to the land of the living. But Vivi does. Star’s aunt has been a guide of sorts to me. She helped me find the fallen angel, Liam, so I could have my questions answered. We’ve become close. Would Vivi share our conversations with her niece?

“I’ve known about Liam for a long time. Aunt Viv likes to share her stories with me,” Star says and validates my uneasiness. “It’s all part of a larger plan, isn’t it?” she asks.

“Come again?” I ask, wanting her to spill it or quit wasting my time. I’m not admitting anything until I have a clear understanding of her motivations.

“Aren’t you planning to do what Liam did?” she asks.

“I don’t think this is the place for this conversation.”

She tips her head to the side and gives me the look I’ve come to associate with her. As if to see a different perspective on a situation, she actually has to tilt her head. Star pulls me by my shirt sleeve a few feet farther away from the stage crew or anyone else who might overhear.

“This is the first opportunity I’ve had to tell you about what I’ve been working on.” She pauses, tips her head to the other side, then raises it back up to center.

“Magic is seen by some people as going against the will of God,” I say.

“And some would say we’re only using what God gave us to use.”

“True. I don’t have an opinion either way, but after what you’ve done to Juliana, Jared, and myself, I’m inclined to stay away from it.”

“The enchantment on the lilac petals was for Jules’s protection. You can’t be against that.”

“No. You’re right to assume that much. I’m speaking mostly of my new scar. The power in the magical blade left a mark I can’t forget. You won’t convince me of the benefit of using magic.”

“Don’t you see that Juliana can use the petals to save her brother?”

“If she’s standing right next to him. Besides, the petals are gone.”

“No,” Star says, and her hopes hit the floor with a thud.

“Yes. They were useful, but they’re gone. It happened last night,” I assure her.

Defeat doesn’t dim Star’s glow for long.

“We’re getting sidetracked. That isn’t why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Why you’re cornering me,” I correct, and look past our nook of privacy amidst a slew of bustling crew and techies and a crowd of thousands mere yards away.

“Listen, chappie.” She points a slender finger at my chest, all serious and glower now. “Marcus is a relentless obstacle for what we both want.”

“You don’t know what I want.”

“I know he’s keeping you from spending time with Jules. He’s a threat and I can be rid of him.”

I shake my head. As much as Marcus and I haven’t been getting along, I don’t want any harm to come to him. I wave a hand of dismissal and say, “Forget it. He doesn’t deserve vengeance. He’s only doing his duty.” I take my leave and step away.

“Wait,” she says. “He won’t be hurt. It’s temporary.”

I stop walking but refuse to turn around. She has seconds to convince me she’s not being malicious.

“Jared and I deserve a chance, too. You and Jules aren’t the only ones in love.”

“Your time is running out. I’m sorry, but I don’t think you should involve me in this, Star.” I turn to face her so she sees I’m not being cruel. I don’t want anyone else involved in my problems.

“It’s an incantation from Aunt Vivi. Only I’ve changed it to suit our needs,” she says.

“Do what you want, but you don’t need me.”

“That’s just it, though. The spell works by three’s. It has to be me, you, and Marcus. It’s chanted three times, holding three talismans. And it has to be said by someone who is directly involved. Someone who feels threatened by him. Since you see Marcus, you can do this with me and he will be exiled. He won’t be gone forever. He’ll only be stuck in limbo for a while.”

I shake my head not liking the sound of her plan. “He’s going to help Jared, not hurt him. You don’t understand. We’re here to assist spirits as they cross over so they don’t get lost or stuck.”

“Jared needs more time,” she says.

“I’m sorry, Star.” I take a couple of steps closer to her. She looks frightened and smaller somehow. The vulnerability I see now drives me to tell her. “I think you should know, Jared doesn’t have many hours left.”

“Don’t say that,” she says, and squeezes her heavily mascaraed eyes closed to the truth.

“Jules and her grandmother both saw it happen in a dream. If you love him like you say you do, you should be with him right now. Not here trying to convince me to practice magic.”

She takes a tentative step toward the ramp that leads to the dressing rooms. “But you can help give Jared another day or two. Please help us.”

“I can’t.”

Star hugs herself and patters off down the ramp in her tall buckle boots. I face the wall of red stone, placing my back to the organized chaos around me, and take a needed minute to settle my nerves.

 

∞

Juliana

 

Star grabs me by both arms and swings me around to face her.

“What the? Hey, are you okay?” I ask.

“No,” she whimpers through barely suppressed tears. “Is it true?”

I place my hands over Star’s forearms and ease her off me. We’re still at a tenuous place where trust might be somewhere over the horizon. The panic in her eyes sends bolts of terrifying memories through my consciousness. I’ve seen Star go crazy before and she looks about halfway there now.

“Is what true?” I ask.

“About Jared?”

By not speaking, Star receives her answer. She must see the truth on my face.

“Tonight?” she asks.

All I can do is stare into her pleading eyes.

“No. I’m in love with him, Jules.”

Her words are drenched with the unfairness of life. My wall of alarm lowers slightly. Star isn’t out of her mind, she’s fully in it. She’s not going to turn on me with some unseen hidden danger. She’s only searching for a way to grasp the unthinkable. I’m not a stranger to the anguish she’s experiencing. It’s been a persistent weight in my gut for weeks.

“He’s getting ready to go on stage right now. Maybe you should stall him for one minute and say goodbye.” The words are rough. I barely manage to speak the sentence before I have to look away.

“I don’t think I can do that, Jules. I didn’t want to ask you to do this, but I don’t have another choice.”

“Ask me what?”

“I have no right to put this on you, but I’ve come up with a plan. I didn’t know we were going to do this tonight, but it has to work. You’re the only one who can help now.”

“Help with what?”

“We’re going to get rid of Marcus. If he’s not around, then Jared will get more time with us. I’m sure of it. I’ve done all the research and come up with the perfect incantation. Please do this with me, Jules. I need one more person.”

The vision pierces my mind. Images come flashing and glaring. More pieces of the puzzle interlock and form a bigger picture. The blank spot in my vision from this morning nag and warn me of danger, but giving Jared another day overrides the caution. If Star and I can kick Marcus in the backside, I’m all for it. And if it doesn’t change anything, then Nathaniel can help Jared when the time comes. He was Jared’s angel when all of this started. It would be more than fine with me to have my boyfriend help my brother cross over.

But maybe, just maybe, Star’s plan will work and we won’t need Marcus, or Nathaniel.

I say in a hushed whisper. “I saw what’s coming, and my answer is yes. I’ll help you, but we have to be quick.”

 

∞

 

Dirty deeds may come with a bigger price tag than I realized. As if the universe is urging me to think things through more thoroughly, our plan to sneak into one of the dressing rooms under the stage and perform the incantation is being thwarted at every turn.

We run into Jared and the band coming up as we head down. They’re walking to the stage and I’m going to miss it.

Jared pauses only long enough to kiss Star and mutter a quick, “We’re on.”

He wiggles his brows and grins like I’ve never seen. All teeth and eyes gleaming.

“You coming?” he asks us both.

Deciding I can’t miss this moment, I tag along behind and watch them pick up their guitars as Derrick sits behind the drums.

Star stands by my side, close enough so our shoulders touch. I guess she doesn’t want to miss Jared’s big entrance to the great world of famous musicians who have stood on this stage. Feeling like someone’s eyes are on me, I glance over and notice Marcus hanging farther back. He’s not watching us, but he’s loosening a rope tied to the corner of a tarp. It comes free and lifts with a breeze. Marcus turns around, the tarp flapping behind him. A glistening mist of the rain passes through him as if he weren’t there. He gives me a solemn nod and I look away before he sees anything telling on my face. I didn’t realize it started raining. The wildfire burning south of my hometown comes to mind, and I wonder if any rain is falling there. I can only hope.

Caleb fronts the band and says a brief, “Thanks for coming out. We’re Mostly Mayhem.”

Derrick leads with a choreographed tap of his sticks on the rim of the drum and they start their opening song.

Jared has always been able to leave the world behind and focus on his playing. He becomes the music and it becomes a part of him. When he interacts with the band or the crowd, you can tell he’s the living will of the music. It’s extraordinary and fascinating to witness. Even in the first few bars of the song, he’s a goner. Totally engrossed. Thirty seconds into the song, Star nudges me to follow her.

Dragging myself away from Jared and from the best seat I’m ever going to have at Red Rocks is like taking an unwilling plunge into mania. I breathe deep and focus on what I really want. Jared’s life is more important than watching him play songs I’ve heard a thousand times.

Or is it? Isn’t this the moment we’ve dreamt of? Can I walk away to attempt something I have no idea how it works just to fulfill my own selfish desires? Is it selfish? Wouldn’t Jared want us to try anything we could? He did ask me about the flower petals.

A warm hand rests against my back then I become even warmer as arms encircle my waist. Nathaniel snuggles up behind me.

“Where have you been?” I ask over the blaring of the speakers.

He looks slightly confused at first and raises his hand to his ear. I repeat the question.

He smiles. “Waiting for you,” he says near my ear.

With the nonstop distractions, I forgot to call him. Star nudges me and urges me to follow her downstairs. I look to Jared, then Nathaniel, and back to Star. I slip from Nathaniel’s arms to take care of the “deed.”

Nathaniel holds me tight, and shakes his head.

I shrug and say, “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t go,” he says.

In the blink of an eye, we’re bombarded with a force that feels like gravity has turned against us. Nathaniel is yanked away from me. He releases his body. The contents of his pockets and the stage pass fall to the floor.

“Looking for a little sport tonight?” Marcus asks as he grips Nathaniel by the throat.

At the exact same moment, a deep rumble passes overhead and I stare up at the sky. Of course, I only see the stage canopy, but over the blaring music, I can’t mistake the sound of thunder. A masculine grunt brings my attention back to the present danger. Nathaniel grabs Marcus’s hands and tries to release the choke hold. It isn’t working, but Marcus grimaces as he struggles to back away from me while keeping Nathaniel under his control. The helplessness of the situation is too familiar. Instant anger boils my blood and sends the adrenaline surging. Marcus’s bullying is intolerable.

Star saw Nathaniel disappear, but she doesn’t know what’s happening. I grab Star and run for the ramp and the stairs leading backstage. We dash downstairs and stop by a pile of personal belongings, bags, and jackets.

“Is Nathaniel okay?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” I say. Nathaniel’s predicament has me in panic mode. “Let’s get this over with.”

Her band members must sense our urgency because no one says anything. Star finds her satin purse.

“This way,” she says.

She opens a door to a private room and the lights go out. The guys in the lounge hoot and whoop in the sudden darkness. Someone says, “Man, I hope they don’t cancel us.”

Star reaches for me. The emergency exit signs are the only visible light and Star walks over to the nearest one.

“They have generators here, right?” I ask as we stumble toward the exit.

I hear a flick of a lighter and then Star is illuminated by a tiny flame.

“They better have,” she says.

We move into the tunnel. The narrow concrete stairway covered with the names of the famous isn’t quite as glamorous in the semi-dark. But we’re away from the joking and the excited chatter of Star’s band members, and we can sort of see what we’re doing.

The music stopped when the power went out and my heart sinks for Jared and the guys. Then just as suddenly as it had gone dark, the lights come back on. A voice I don’t recognize utters apologies and asks for the audience to stay calm. The announcer reassures the crowd the concert will continue momentarily.

“Take this.” Star places something ticklish into my hand. “As soon as we start the chant, unravel the talisman into as many pieces as you can.”

I knew what I was holding without looking at it, but I stare down into my palm anyway. The black and white feathers woven together to make an odd mat with tiny silver and multi-colored glass ornaments embedded into it is exactly what I saw in the vision.

“Tell me the words,” I say in a hurry.

Nathaniel is being beaten up and drained of energy for approaching my brother while Jared plays the final songs of his life. I’m sick to my eyeballs with Marcus’s crap.

Star recites the words for the chant. “Marcus has trespassed on unwanted ground. Now he journeys to a place without sound. Without the light and without his touch, he shall visit the prison I have created. Where he will sit and be sedated. Marcus will stay three days away and in these three ways, he must obey.”

I silently repeat the chant to memorize the words and push aside the screaming alarms going off inside my mind to quit this madness.

Star bends over and draws a red triangle on the concrete in front of her feet. She places another talisman inside the triangle and a single black feather with white and blue ribbons tied around the shaft at the pinnacle of the triangle.

“Stand across from me,” she instructs.

I move into position, feeling the tingle of the magic begin like a whisper over my skin. The charm in my hand hums with readiness.

“Picture Marcus far away from here,” she instructs.

I glance up the stairs, looking for Nathaniel and Marcus and see nothing but the glow of stage lights. The electricity flickers, goes out, and comes back on.

“Jules,” Star says to regain my attention.

With a start, I look to Star and the talisman falls from my hand. I squat down to retrieve it and notice Star’s impatience.

“As we say the words, tear it to bits. Then put all the pieces on the top of that one.” She points at the third charm inside the triangle.

I nod and Star begins the incantation. I join her and our voices meld. Then I’m distracted again as Star’s lead singer pops her head out the doorway, gives us a shocked but knowing look, and disappears back into the lounge.

“Keep going,” she hisses at me after the first round.

Drumbeats pound from the stage over our heads and Mostly Mayhem begins another song. I think I hear a slight off-key note from Caleb, but I have to focus on tearing up the feathers and trinkets in my hand while saying the incantation with Star.

Tearing up the feathers while creating a spell with our words creates a sensation to which I imagine being similar to standing in the eye of a hurricane. I want to run away and forget about all magic and the supernatural. I want my teenaged life back, with work, and school, and an irresponsible little brother to worry about. The only thing that stops me is that I may be buying Jared more time and getting Marcus off Nathaniel’s back.

We make it through the second verse and begin the third. We have to yell to hear each other, but Star’s determination fuels my own. We make it through the first half. Our hands work twice as fast as the slow chant of the incantation. Then without the slightest warning, a bolt of lightning strikes somewhere close to the stage canopy. My body jerks in reflex and I crash into the cement wall of the stairway. I try to keep up with Star who looks unfazed by the strike, but I know I fudge the last part of the sentence. Before I snap out of the shock, the thunder cracks, giving me a whole new respect for its ability to deafen and numb my senses. The sound echoes and amplifies inside the tunnel and I drop the bits and pieces of the talisman to protect my ears.

Star shrivels slightly but doesn’t cover hers. She looks at the concrete floor, horror and disappointment equal on her heart-shaped face.

Another flash of lightning shocks the sky and I stare toward the stage at the end of the stairwell. The power goes out, leaving us in the apocalyptic glow of the emergency lights. The crowd boos and it’s only now that I realize the band has stopped playing again.

Star says the final bit of the incantation without me.

“Juliana!” I hear Nathaniel cry out.

In the next instant, I’m up the stairs. I see Nathaniel and I call out, “Right here!”

A scream from behind me makes me look back at Star. She’s hugging the wall in the corner of the stairwell. Marcus looms over her, blocking her escape. He’s ferocious as he squeezes Star’s shoulders. It’s then I notice his feet inside the triangle and half sunk into the cement landing. Marcus isn’t quite himself. He appears half solid and half translucent.

“I knew you were trouble from the very beginning,” he growls into Star’s face.

“Tell me you didn’t help her,” Nathaniel says as he takes my outstretched hand. His arms engulf me and I’m instantly inside my safe haven.

“Your plan is failing miserably, you wicked witch!” Marcus says.

Nathaniel and I can’t help but look. We see her struggling against Marcus’s grasp. He’s stuck inside the triangle but has a hold of her. I pull out of Nathaniel’s arms, unable to leave Star behind with an irate Angel of Death.

“Leave her,” Nathaniel says.

He holds me back. It isn’t in me to leave a friend in trouble.

“Look at him,” Nathaniel orders. “He can’t hurt her. She’s only scared. And she earned it.”

Someone appears from the lounge. I can’t see exactly who it is from up here with only the dim emergency lights, but it must be one of her band members.

“Help me!” Star yells. “Grab me and pull!”

Star breaks free of Marcus and the two of them disappear into the other room.

We stare for another second. Long enough to see Marcus struggle for freedom and know that he can’t escape. Nathaniel hurries me away from the stairwell and toward the stage. My eyes search for Jared amidst the chaos.

A deep voice alerts the audience that the rest of the show is canceled. Staff members echo the announcement and the hum of disappointment travels across the amphitheater. Someone rushes by us saying the generators aren’t coming back on because lightning has hit a main fuse box. People whine and complain about what a nightmare the night has turned into and how too much rain is leaking onto the stage.

Derrick and Caleb move guitars, pedals, and mics toward the center of the stage. Dan and Alex, with two of the stage crew team up to carry keyboards and instrument stands away from the blowing rain. Where is Jared? Then I suddenly know. The vision is so clear in my mind. Jared will be at stage right. Near the back by the building and the rocks.

Nathaniel and I are on the same side. All I have to do is turn slightly to look for him. Jared’s retying the tarp Marcus had loosened. Rain pours in and it’s the main cause of the growing stream of water soaking the stage.

Jared is so fixed on his efforts that he doesn’t see me or Nathaniel.

“Stop him!” I cry out and lunge toward my brother.

But the sight of him in the location in my vision where I knelt over his body has me paralyzed with fright. Well, almost.

For my entire life, whenever I’m unfocused, stressed, or out of sorts, this will be the exact moment I’m most likely to have an accident and injure myself by some embarrassing, klutzy, and always painful blunder. Just because this may be the most important moment of my life, and Jared’s, doesn’t give me a free pass.

My ankle turns over as I spring toward Jared. As I recover, I trip over Nathaniel’s foot. Luckily, Nathaniel is by my side and he catches me before I crash to the stage. He gives me a look that says he can’t believe fate wouldn’t give me one ounce of sympathy in this night of terrible nights. Since I don’t have time to worry about the Justice League coming to my rescue and slapping some sense into the universe right now, I cry out, “Make Jared stop right now!”

Nathaniel wants to help me, so he urges us closer, moving as fast as I can possibly go on one foot.

“Jared!” I yell, but I don’t think he hears me because he moves to another loose corner of the tarp. “Jared, stop!” I try again.

He’s only twenty-five feet away and I don’t understand why he won’t turn around.

“This happened in my vision,” I say, pleading. “Nathaniel, get him away from there.”

Nathaniel leaves me hopping on one foot and moves to Jared with speed that should alarm anyone who may be watching, but no one is. Everyone is busy dealing with the rain, no power, wet equipment, and thousands of people trying to figure out the fastest driest path back to their cars.

Then the worst happens.