Читать книгу Legacy: Phoenix and the Dark Star - Gerald Pruett - Страница 9

Chapter Five

Ellen, Everett, Jessica and Karla had found Cole Middleton’s house fairly easy. A car was parked in the driveway, and after the four had stepped up to the front door, they could hear a piano being poorly played.

Ellen took a breath before ringing the doorbell. The piano had stopped for a brief moment before continuing.

Ellen was about to push the doorbell again, but as she was in the motion to do so, the doorknob turned. As the door was opening, Ellen pulled back her hand.

When the door opened wide, a man in his early thirties with brown skin, straight black hair, a week’s worth of black whiskers and facial features that screamed ‘India’ looked at the four at the door.

“May I help you four?” he finally asked, with a slight southern accent.

“Are you Cole Middleton?” Ellen asked.

“I’m guessing that you four are here because of my ad; however…” Cole was only able to get out.

“We’re not here about any ads, Mr. Middleton,” Ellen interrupted. “We’re here in Andie’s behalf.”

“Andie who?” Cole asked.

“Your niece Andie,” Ellen replied.

Cole expression became serious before asking, “What about her?”

“We met her yesterday, and we learned that she’s on medication when I know for a fact that she shouldn’t be,” Ellen said.

Cole took a breath before asking, “What do you know for a fact?”

“I own some diaries of my ancestors, and I knew before meeting Andie that there was a spirit attached to them,” Ellen began. “I thought that the spirit was my great-grandmother—she had owned the diaries before me, but after meeting Andie, I know that the spirit is Eleanor Thorne. And Eleanor Thorne is my ancestor who had lived in the 1400s.” Cole slightly nodded in acknowledgement. “Anyway, my point is, Andie is on medication for her delusions of seeing spirits, and I know for a fact that she can see spirits. She is a medium and she shouldn’t be on that medication.”

Cole took a breath before prompting, “You and your friends would be?”

“I’m Ellen,” she began before pointing out the others. “They’re Jessica, Karla and Everett.”

“Ellen… Jessica, Karla and Everett, what you four had learned about my niece last night, I had learned ten years ago,” Cole said.

“So you know that Andie is able to see ghosts?” Karla questioned.

“I know,” Cole began. “It’s my sister who refuses to see the truth.”

“And you’re allowing Andie to be medicated when you know for a fact that she shouldn’t be?” Ellen demanded to know.

“When it comes to Andie, I have no input whatsoever,” Cole said. “My sister had made that clear when she took a restraining order out on me. I’m not allowed twenty feet of Andie until she reaches her eighteenth birthday. I’m sorry, Ellen, I can’t help you or Andie. In fact, the only thing that can help Andie is if Andie suddenly stops seeing ghosts. So perhaps you four can create a charm that can prevent Andie from seeing them.”

“Excuse me?!” Ellen demanded.

“I don’t see ghosts, but I can hear them,” Cole began. “In fact, Mary, the woman who had this house before me, had actually died here. Mary’s spirit has never moved on, and she is currently screaming witches in my ear. Mary has never lied to me either, so I’m assuming that at least two of you are witches… good witches I might add since you four are here on Andie’s behalf.”

“Mary might not lie to you, but she can be wrong, and in this case she is very wrong,” Jessica rattled out before Ellen could respond.

Cole grinned before saying, “You four wouldn’t tell me differently anyway, and regardless, I would love to help Andie, but I can’t.” Cole then gestured behind him. “Anyway, I have a student at the piano. So I need to get back in there.”

Before Cole could step away from the door, Ellen continued with, “You can hear ghosts and Andie can see and hear them, so apparently the ability to communicate with ghosts runs in your family.”

“Insanity is what runs in our family, Ellen,” Cole said. “At least that’s the official… diagnosis. My mom had hung herself when I was nine months old because she was tired of the voices. Each of her siblings is on some kind of medication for having psychosis. My mom’s dad was institutionalized from a court order when I was ten. He’s still alive and is kept so drugged up that he can’t distinguish reality from his dreams, and his dad had also killed himself to get away from the voices.”

“Your family members have certainly been… misunderstood and crucified for their ability over the generations,” Ellen commented.

“They have,” Cole agreed. “In any case, you four have a good day.”

“Good day,” Everett, Jessica and Karla echoed.

With a troubled expression on her face, Ellen thought for a moment before taking a breath and sighing. “Good day.”

Cole nodded with a slight grin before backing up and closing the door.

“So what now?” Everett asked as the four casually walked away from the front door.

“I want to do what Cole had suggested,” Ellen began. “I want to create a charm for Andie that will prevent her from seeing and hearing ghosts.” When Everett sighed, she told him, “I want to help Andie.”

“I know you do,” Everett agreed. “Do you know anything about creating charms though?”

“No,” Ellen confessed, “but Sadie might, so I’m going to ask her… and the others to help.”

“And if they can’t help?” Everett asked.

“Then I’ll try to come up with another way to help Andie,” Ellen replied.

“You’re not going to give up until all the avenues have been investigated, are you?” Everett questioned.

Ellen grinned while shaking her head. Everett just sighed. Ellen’s grin turned into an amused one as she took and held Everett’s hand.

In the living room at the house, Blaire, Devon and Trevor were sitting on the couch. Harris and Allyson were sitting on the love seat while Sadie was sitting in the armchair. Sonya was sleeping in her playpen and the stereo was turned down to a very low setting. The two dining room chairs were left in the living room and sat empty.

The group was having a conversation about Sally Harman, but when they heard the front door opening, the topic was dropped.

“I expected them to be gone longer than this,” Blaire said as she glanced at her watch.

When Ellen and the others entered the living room, Allyson told them, “You four are back sooner than I expected.” Ellen was noticing that Sonya was sleeping in her playpen as Allyson continued with, “Were you four able to speak with him?”

“We spoke to him and he knew already,” Ellen said. “However, he was ordered by the courts not to go near Andie.”

“So does that mean you’re giving up on this?” Allyson questioned.

Ellen shook her head while saying, “I have another plan.”

“I’m scared to ask, but I have to ask this anyway,” Allyson began. “What’s your plan?”

“Cole had suggested that we should create a charm that would….” Ellen was only able to get out.

“You told him about us?” Devon quickly demanded to know.

“I didn’t,” Ellen assured him, “but apparently there’s a ghost residing in that house that he can only hear, and that ghost had informed on us as being witches…”

“I quickly denied that we were witches before Ellen could confirm it,” Jessica interrupted.

“What makes you think that I was going to confirm it?” Ellen quickly questioned. “I may not have.”

“You have a habit of confessing, and I wasn’t going to take that chance,” Jessica retorted.

Ellen rolled her eyes before saying, “Anyway, I want to create a charm… or a token that will prevent Andie from seeing and hearing ghosts.”

“You know how to create a charm of that nature… or any charm for as that matters?” Devon asked.

Ellen slightly cringed before saying, “No, but I was hoping to solicit some help from you, Sadie, Blaire and Trevor.”

“It might be possible to invert the spell that makes a mirror capable of reflecting souls and spirits,” Sadie thought aloud.

“So does that mean you’ll help?” Ellen asked Sadie.

“Well, creating a charm that will prevent Andie from seeing and hearing ghosts is a solution less likely to get you into serious trouble,” Sadie retorted. Ellen shot Sadie a smirk. Sadie grinned as she continued with, “So yeah. I’ll help.”

“Thanks,” Ellen said, gratefully.

Sadie nodded before saying, “I’ll need your book on incantations that has the spell that makes a mirror capable of reflecting souls and spirits.”

“I’ll go get it,” Ellen said.

“Before you step away, Ellen, I thought of a couple more tidbits that you, Jessica and Karla should be aware of,” Trevor said.

Everyone gave Trevor his or her focus as Ellen asked, “What are they?”

“As you, Jessica and Karla well know, there are incantations that wizards and sorceresses can do that witches and warlocks can’t,” Trevor began. “However, thirteen or more devoted-to-the-craft witches and/or warlocks can make eighty percent of those incantations work by combining their magical energy.”

“Is that where the thought of covens having to have thirteen members each had come from?” Everett asked.

“Actually, that belief had come about in 1662 during Isobel Gowdie’s trial for being a witch,” Trevor began. “Isobel Gowdie had supposedly confessed that her coven had thirteen members, and so the belief that all witches’ covens having to be thirteen members was born.”

“Interesting,” Everett replied.

“So what is the second tidbit that you want us to know?” Ellen asked.

“Everyone in the world is born with the potential of becoming a psychic,” Trevor began. “That potential psychic ability remains high within everyone until the age of eight with the occasional to frequent psychic or paranormal occurrences, and then after the age of eight that potential psychic ability begins to recede.

“For five percent of the world’s population, that potential psychic ability will linger on beyond the age of twenty with the occasional psychic or paranormal occurrences. For two percent of the world’s population, that potential psychic ability will linger on beyond the age of thirty with the occasional psychic or paranormal occurrences. It’s only one percent of the world’s population—if even that—that actually becomes a bona fide psychic with frequent psychic or paranormal occurrences.”

“Interesting,” Ellen told Trevor.

“Of course if someone is a psychic, then his or her children and grandchildren… and so on have better chances of becoming psychics as well,” Trevor added.

“Okay,” Ellen said in an uncertain tone.

“Anyway, my point is that there are wizards and witches out there who will sacrifice children during their sacrificing rituals in order to tap into and utilize that potential psychic ability,” Trevor continued.

“Great!” Ellen uttered unenthusiastically as she looked towards Everett. “As if Everett needs another reason to dislike the magical community.”

Everett grinned before saying, “I know that everyone here doesn’t practice those sacrificing rituals.”

Ellen rubbed Everett’s arm in a consoling manner with a grin. Everett gave Ellen a delightful grin for a response.

Ellen then gestured towards her room while saying, “Anyway, I’ll go get the book that Sadie wants.”

“Bring back a pencil with an eraser and a notepad too,” Sadie told Ellen before she could step away.

“Okay,” Ellen said as she was walking in the direction of her room.

Ellen was gone from the room for a short time before returning with the book—opened to the correct page—a notepad and a pencil.

Once Ellen had stepped back into the room Sadie stood up. As she held out her hand for the items, she told Ellen, “I’ll work on this incantation in the dining room.”

As Ellen went to hand Sadie the items, Devon asked, “Do you need any help?”

As Sadie was taking the items, she replied, “Thanks for the offer, but when it comes to creating incantations, I work better alone and without an audience.”

“I guess that means I can’t tag along and watch,” Ellen presumed.

“Not trying to be rude, but I prefer that you didn’t,” Sadie replied.

“Okay, I’ll stay here,” Ellen said.

Sadie turned, and as she walked towards the dining room, Ellen sat on the floor next to the playpen.

Everett sat on the floor next to Ellen as Jessica and Karla sat in the two dining room chairs.

“So what was everyone discussing before we came in?” Ellen asked.

Blaire glanced in Jessica and Karla’s direction while gesturing and saying, “Their mother.”

“What about our mother?” Karla quickly asked.

“We had continued our discussion of your mother’s possible appeal after you, Jessica, Ellen and Everett left,” Blaire replied.

Ellen gave Blaire a curious look as Jessica asked, “You’re not changing your mind about asking Wolfgang Alistair to help with her appeal, are you?”

“No, but your mother was seen by a room full of people shooting Peter Berkeley, and being hypnotized to kill at the time of the shooting isn’t a strong defense,” Blaire began before glancing at Everett. “Your mother is doing life in prison for a crime that she didn’t truly commit, and we were discussing other options on how to help your mother.”

“What other options are there?” Jessica asked.

Blaire glanced towards Harris while lying convincingly, “Unfortunately we are unable to come up with any.” Harris, Allyson, Sadie, Trevor and Devon responded as if there was a big secret in the air, which Ellen had noticed. “I’m sorry.”

“I understand,” Jessica said as Ellen shook off the ‘secret in the air’ feeling.

“We appreciate any help that you can give us,” Karla added.

Blaire just nodded for a response.

After a short moment of silence, Ellen asked, “When the covens gather, what are the meetings like?”

Trevor responded first with, “It’s kind of like an informal community meeting; however, the members do sit in front of a podium and the current president addresses certain issues that might’ve presented themselves after the last meeting… or if an old issue is still lingering about then we’ll discuss that again. Many of our members are also philanthropists, so we do organize a lot of fundraisers during the year.” Trevor thought for a moment before continuing with, “We socialize. For the ones who can create incantations, they’ll trade them. Oh and there will also be tables set up for tarot card readings, palm readings and crystal ball readings, and if time allows, some of us will perform stage magic.”

Devon was about to speak, but when the doorbell sounded, he didn’t.

“I’ll go see who that is,” Allyson said while standing.

As Allyson was stepping away, Devon said, “With the Clover Coven, many of the coven members bring food.”

“Tabitha, one of the members of the Raven Coven, owns a catering business, so although food have been brought in by coven members from time to time, our food is normally catered by Tabitha,” Blaire shared.

“Tabitha usually caters the Tri-Star Confederation meetings as well,” Trevor added.

“Cool,” Ellen said as Allyson escorted Herb—Jessica and Karla’s dad—into the living room.

Everyone stood up as Allyson introduced Herb to everyone. Sadie stepped into the living room during the introductions, and once the introductions were over, Herb was told about Blaire, Trevor and Devon being coven leaders, and that his daughters were offered membership into Blaire’s coven.

Herb sighed before questioning, “This witchcraft will never be over, will it?”

“Mr. Harman, your two daughters are powerful sorceresses and they have expressed the desire to practice their craft,” Trevor began. “I have no doubt that they will continue to practice their craft if they join the Tri-Star Confederation or not, but by them being a member of our confederation, they are guaranteed our support and guidance.”

“Dad, they operate their covens peacefully, and I believe that this is a great opportunity for Jessica and me,” Karla said.

“Karla and I want to join,” Jessica added.

Herb slightly hesitated, and while slightly shaking his head, he told Jessica and Karla, “You two are the ones who are going to explain this to your mother.”

“We would like to speak with your wife, Mr. Harman,” Blaire told him before Jessica or Karla could say anything. “The chances are slim, but we might be able to get your wife out of prison.”

“Please call me Herb, and I would be grateful if you could pull that off,” he said. When Blaire nodded with a grin, he continued with, “Anyway, Jessica. Karla. We should go.”

“See you all later,” Karla told them with a slight wave.

Jessica slightly waved too as she and Herb told them, “Bye.”

“Bye,” the others echoed before Jessica, Karla and Herb could turn and walk away.

As Jessica, Karla and Herb were leaving, Allyson asked Everett, “Are you going with us when we go out to eat?”

“I would like to,” Everett said.

Allyson nodded before looking at the others and saying, “Okay, if no one objects I would like to go now.”

“We can go now,” Trevor said followed by the others.

“I’ll get Sonya ready,” Ellen said as she turned towards the playpen.

Sonya was asleep and she began to fuss once she was picked up. Ellen quickly began singing to Sonya, which quickly calmed her.

It took the group a short time to get organized before everyone left the house.

As they were leaving the house, Ellen asked Sadie, “Have you started yet on writing out that incantation?”

“Not yet, and it might take a day or two to create one,” Sadie replied.

Ellen responded with a nod and a polite grin.

Everyone was quiet for a brief moment before Ellen asked, “Which spells can be linked to a magical token?”

“I’ll put it to you this way,” Trevor began. “The only spells that can’t be linked to a magical token are vivacious incantations.”

“What about precision incantations?” Ellen asked.

“Okay, the only spells that can’t be linked to a magical token are vivacious incantations and precision incantations,” Trevor amended. “Any other spell can be linked to a magical token.”

“I want to try it,” Ellen announced. Everyone gave Ellen a curious look. “I want to link a spell to a token.”

“Okay,” Trevor said in an uncertain tone. “Which one?”

“What are the common ones linked to magical tokens?” Ellen asked as they were approaching the vehicles.

“Linking spells to magical tokens are done more for convenience and not which one is more common,” Trevor told Ellen. “Which spell would you more like to cast with a single word or a short phrase?”

“Defensive spells,” Ellen uttered without putting too much thought into her answer. “One at least—one that will defend off an attack.”

As they stopped walking near the vehicles, Trevor informed, “Offensive and defensive incantations are known as combat incantations, and because of the complexity of combat incantations, a magical token holding a combat incantation can only be activated once.”

“Okay,” Ellen said while pondering what was said. “Could I… reload it? The object that I used for my token? With the same spell?”

“Of course,” Trevor said. “You can even cancel a spell attached to a token and attach a different spell to it.”

“Cool,” Ellen uttered. “Which spell would be the best one to defend off an attack?”

“I recommend one that will knock a person back several feet in order to give you time to assess the situation,” Devon suggested.

“If I’m defending myself against an attacking wizard, I would know what the situation was,” Ellen retorted.

“It’s not that simple, Ellen,” Blaire was the one to say. “Some peaceful yet untrusting wizards and sorceresses will attack first and ask questions later. At which you will want to defuse the attack without causing harm to that person, so you can explain that you are there peacefully. However, the untrusting wizard might not believe you, and come at you again. At which you will need to use a stronger defense against the attacking wizard. And even then, you will want to use a spell that will defuse the attack without causing harm.”

“Alright-alright,” Ellen quickly said. “I get it. I’ll go with the type of spell that Devon had suggested. I want to link that type of spell to a magical token.”

“Alright,” Trevor agreed. “They’re known as blow-back incantations. There are several different ones with varying effectiveness. Several years ago, I had memorized one of the powerful ones, and when we get back from dinner, I’ll instruct you on how to link it to a token.”

“Thanks,” Ellen said.

Trevor nodded before instructing, “In the meantime, think of a word or a short phrase that you would never use in a conversation. That word or phrase will be what you’ll say to activate the spell.”

“Okay,” Ellen agreed before she and the others went to their respective vehicles.

Winona, Riley and Brad left Bonnie’s house to search for the two vampires within the city; however, from a vampire locating spell that would be cast on a mirror or a crystal ball—that Winona’s father would do within Winona’s hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Florida—they knew exactly where to go.

After climbing into their rented van that had eight seats and side windows, Winona, Riley and Brad went to the house that had hosted the large Halloween party the night before, and as they drove up, they saw that the owners of the house were hosting another moderate size social event.

Brad was the one driving, and when he saw the moderate number of expensive vehicles parked in the driveway and around the house, he asked, “What now? We can’t exactly knock and barge in.”

Winona was in the seat directly behind Brad, and after a short moment of pondering what to do, she said, “We’ll sit out here and wait. They have to leave at some point.”

The neighboring houses were two to three times farther apart compared to other neighborhoods, and Brad turned around in the next driveway down.

Trees filled the neighborhood yards, but Brad found a place to park the van with a good view of the house between the driveway that he had used and the house that was harboring the vampires.

They talked as they watched the house, and after a forty-minute wait, a police cruiser—with its lights on—pulled up behind them and parked.

“We have company,” Brad informed as he watched the officer get out of the cruiser.

“That’s stating the obvious,” Riley retorted.

Brad rolled down the window before the officer could step up.

While shining his flashlight with is left hand, the officer looked into the backseats first. When the light had found Winona, the officer held it there for a second longer before shining it on Riley in the front passenger seat. After seeing who all were in the van, the officer turned his attention towards Brad.

The officer had his right hand resting on his gun as he instructed, “Keep your hands where I can see them.”

“Of course,” they said in cadence.

Winona put her hands on the back of Brad’s seat. Brad placed his hands on the steering wheel and Riley placed his hands on the dashboard.

When the officer saw that the three had complied, he said, “Guys, no doubt that you three are big fans of Denise Stanley, but give her a break tonight and don’t stalk her home.”

“Denise Stanley lives there?” Winona quickly questioned in a surprised tone as she gestured towards the house.

Winona was being serious, but the officer shot her a look that said, “I’m tired of the dumbness routine.”

“I don’t go around stalking novelists,” Winona defended just before a thought occurred to her. “Not as a rule anyway. Her books are awesome though. I read them all.”

The officer took a breath before saying patiently, “She’s supposed to be signing books tomorrow at ‘Jinkie’s Bookstore’. So go there tomorrow if you want to see her.”

“Yes,” Winona agreed. “We’ll do that.”

The officer nodded before instructing, “Now move along.”

“Yes, officer,” Brad said before starting the van.

“I’ll be keeping watch to ensure that you won’t be back,” the officer informed.

“We’re leaving,” Riley assured him with a slight wave.

The officer backed up a couple of steps and watched as Brad put the van into drive and drove away.

“So what kind of books does Denise Stanley write?” Riley asked as Brad was driving away from the house.

“Romance novels,” Winona informed.

“Huh?” Riley let out.

“What?” Winona questioned skeptically.

“I never pegged you for the romance novel type,” Riley said.

“I’m not,” Winona informed. “At least not as a rule. However, Maryann is, and she has read all of Denise Stanley’s books plus several romance novels from other authors.”

“So you knew who Denise Stanley was because of Maryann,” Brad accused.

“Yep, and good thing too,” Winona said. “Being stalking fans is easier to explain than being vampire hunters.”

“So what are we going to do about the vampires?” Riley asked.

“Well, watching Denise Stanley’s house is definitely out,” Brad said.

Winona pulled out her cell phone before saying, “I’ll call my parents and have them keep track of the vampires’ movements with the mirror. As with us, we can go back to my Great Aunt Bonnie’s house and relax or…”

“Rushing out of the house once your parents call might look suspicious to your aunt,” Brad pointed out.

“Or we can find a club that minors can get into and relax,” Winona continued after the brief interruption.

“Alright,” Brad began. “We’ll find somewhere to hang out at.”