09 - Return Of The Witch (29 page)

“Oh, so you speak on behalf of the entire world now. Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“Lilith, you can’t—”

“Dominic, this isn’t your call. It’s Ursula’s. As soon as she gets her wits about her again, we’ll ask her what she wants to do.”

“And if she says no?”

“If she says no, then fine, we’ll fight Gypsy on Gypsy’s terms. But if she says yes?”

“She won’t say—”

“Yes,” said Ursula.

We turned
abruptly and saw Ursula standing there. She appeared so suddenly, I thought she’d simply popped in from nowhere.

“Ursula?” I heard the surprise in my own voice and did not try to hide it. “How did you do that? A second ago you were sitting in that lounge chair across the yard.”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Dominic. “Ursula, you say yes, but you don’t even know what we’re talking about.”

“Oh, but I do. I heard every word and missed not one.”

I said, “You heard us talking about your connectivity to the guardians?”

“Aye.”

“And about Gypsy opening the gates to the Eighth Sphere.”

“That and more.”

I pointed across the yard. “From over there?”

She glanced over her shoulder and back again. “From there, aye.”

“Amazing. You see that, Dominic. It’s the quintessential. It’s given her hyper-sensitive hearing.”

“Why now?
She didn’t have that ability earlier.”

Carlos said, “Wind. Sound travels on the wind.”

“No. That’s ridiculous.”

“He’s right,” I said. “Air is a medium for sound
. This could help us tonight. It could prevent Gypsy from sneaking up on us.”

“What helps us helps her, too,” said Dominic.

“What do you mean?”

“Gypsy possesses the same essence. Remember?”

“It’s okay, though. Now we know one of her strengths.”

“And maybe one of her weaknesses
, too.”

“How so?”

“You said last night that out in the cow pasture, Gypsy seemed especially riled by the sound of our siren.”

“That’s right.
”

“
It could be that the pitch of the siren is especially painful to her hyper-sensitive ears.”

Carlos said, “Maybe some of her other powers
trouble her, too.”

“Like?”

“I don’t know. I’m just saying. Take fire for instance. Fire requires fuel. Fuel is a resource. Where does she get that resource? Does it weaken her to use it?”

“That’s a good question
. Unfortunately, there are answers to that and more we’ll never know if we don’t take advantage of Ursula’s potential.”

“No,” said Dominic. “Don’t start that again. We’re not using Ursula as a guinea pig.”

“It’s not your call, Dominic.” I turned to Ursula. “It’s yours, Urs. To be fair, though, I don’t want to pressure you. I won’t lie. I have no idea how dangerous it is to do what we’re asking you to do.”

“Not what
we’re
asking,” said Dominic, “what
you’re
asking. Remember, Ursula, this is Lilith’s idea entirely.”

“Whatever.” I took Ursula’s hand
s in mine. “Look, girl. You heard everything. You know the score. This is your fight if you accept it. But know that no matter what, I’m behind you all the way.”

“And I behind thee, for `tis our fight, methinks, not mine alone.”

“You know you’re right?” I pulled her in close, held her hands to my heart and pressed my forehead to hers. Our noses touched. I felt the soft brush of a wordless whisper sweep across my lips. She smiled thinly. I smiled back. “What?”

“We
are sisters of the soul, you and I. We are of one heart and one spirit.”

“
One against adversity.”

“
Aye, for Gypsy knows this to be true.”

“
She also knows we’re the only ones standing in her way.”

“Then we shal
l not back down.”

“
So, you’re ready to kick some ass?”

She looked down at
my feet. “What good be thy shoes if all thee do in them is walk?”

“Wait!” said Dominic. “Ursula, you don’t know what you’re agreeing to.
Turning yourself into a non-human entity could have disastrous consequences. Look what almost happened to you out there earlier.”

“Dominic, my husband, I wish not to disobey, but to sway thee thy mind to see my way. `Tis for us as well I seek what essence shal
l complete me.”

“But…I thought I complete you. That’s what you told me on our wedding night.”

“And so it is true. Thou doth complete me my life and happiness. But for a blessed child and thee I should want for nothing more.”

“Is that what this is about?” Dominic moved me aside with a car
eless shove and took Ursula in his arms. “I’ll give you a child, Ursula. I swear. I just wasn’t….” he dropped his chin to his chest, inhaled deeply and exhausted it with a sigh. His eyes came back to her, pooling. “I just didn’t think you were ready yet. I didn’t want to risk another…I mean so soon, you know?”

In a move I felt
was a reversal of roles, Ursula palmed his cheek and brushed it softly. “Then we shall try again, my love, tonight mayhaps when gone is the witch what hath returned so swiftly and with vengeance.”

“Can’t I talk you out of it?”

“Dominic.” I patted his shoulder lightly. “Maybe we don’t have to do it the way you think.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ursula may not have to turn herself into fire or water, or even a brick. There may be another way.”

“I’m all for another way. Let’s hear it.”

“I’m thinking about having a séance.”

“A séance?”

“Sure, why not? Ursula shares a connection with the spirits of the guardians. Maybe we can contact them and figure out a way to facilitate a passive acquisition of the prime essentials.”

“
You mean, assuming the spirits want to relinquish their remaining essence.”

“I think we have to
take that chance.”

“Aren’t you making another
big assumption?”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t know if there’s been an acquisition. Just because Wendy came to Ursula’s rescue, doesn’t mean she gave up her essence. What if all Wendy did was help Ursula get back to human form?”

“
Good point. I guess we don’t know, do we?”

Carlos asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means Dominic presents a valid argument. I’ve been assuming all along that after what happened Ursula possesses the prime essential, air.”

“
Well, sure she does. She heard us talking from all the way across the yard.”

Ursula said, “Doth thou wish a demonstration?”

“You think you can do that?”

“I can try.”

“Wait,” said Dominic. “I got a bad feeling about this.”

“No, I think she
’s right. She should try to give us a small demonstration. Otherwise, a séance might prove to be a huge waste of time.”

“All right then, a small demonstration, but I emphasize the word small.”

“I got it,” I said. “This is something a normal witch can’t do without a witch’s ladder. If Ursula can do this, then she most certainly possesses the element, air.”

Carlos laughed.

“What are you laughing at?”

“A normal witch. Isn’t that an oxymoron?”

“You’re an oxymoron. Ursula, come with me.”

I led her to
a section of the yard where the grass had died. The boys followed. I drew a circle in the dirt with a twig. “There. That’s your boundary.” I pointed at the manhole-sized ring. “I want you to make a little dust devil, nothing fancy. A couple of feet high will do, but don’t let it out of the circle. Okay?”

Dominic said, “Oh, this is so not going to work.”

“Dominic, please. Ursula?”

We stood back
once again, to give her room. Ursula wasted no time in setting the mood, adjusting her stance, leveling her hands and loosening the kinks in her neck.

“
Whenever you’re ready, Urs. I don’t think Gypsy will afford you as much time to show her what you got.”

I might have startled her with my words.
She flinched suddenly and flicked a microburst of wind from her fingertips that bounce off the ground and ricocheted into the broadside of my shed, flipping it over on its side.

The poor thing nearly cried
, she was so upset. Dominic and I were happy, though. It proved she had acquired the essence of air, even if she still could not control it so well.

“It’s okay,” I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulder as I led her back to the house. “Later, we’ll have you shrink it down in size so that we turn it over and set it back on its pad
. Then you can make it big again.”

“Art thou sure? I could do it now if
thee like.”

“No, now’s not the time. It’s getting late and we all have a date with three of the most important spirits
of nature.” I looked back at the boys who were following closely. “Everyone up for a little séance?”

Chapter 25

I don’t normally like doing séances in the afternoon
. It’s like trick-or-treating in the daytime. It loses a little something in translation. Of course, spirits don’t mind. They have no sense of time. The infinite continuum holds no spatial reference for time to matter. It’s the reason mourning the dead is such bullshit. We don’t mourn the dead. We mourn our own loss. Why else do we say that so-and-so is in a better place now? If we truly believed that, then we would rejoice in a loved one’s passing. Me? I’m not rejoicing over Tony’s death. I’m pissed. I want him back.

I prepared the kitchen table, setting
up three red candles in a triangle with a stick of jasmine incense burning in an ashtray off to the side. Ursula set out five additional candles, one yellow at each compass point around the room and a brown one aligned with the current position of the moon.

There are other traditional procedures one may take when preparing for a séance
. My usual routine includes lining windowsills and doorways with brick dust to ward off evil spirits, and setting up an audio wash of white noise to mitigate sound variances within the room. Spirits are a nervous bunch, believe it or not. They get skittish around sudden noises. Oddly, it’s those bumps in the night that’ll spook a spirit, alerting you of its exit rather than its entrance.

For our séance, I didn’t
worry much about brick dust or white noise. I knew that if Ursula had connectivity with the remaining three guardians, then even the candles were overkill. Connectivity is to a séance what high speed is to the internet. All other séances are slaves of dial-up. With Ursula, contact was all but assured.

After the others took their seats at the table, I set out the only non-traditional items
our special séance would need: a bowl of water, a six-inch block of quartz and a four-inch round white candle.

I set the block of quartz in the water, half-submerged, and the candle, lit, on top of the quartz.

“Gentlemen and fair lady,” I said, “welcome to the séance. Tonight we….” I looked around, realized the time and amended my address accordingly. “This afternoon, I mean, we will attempt to summon the spirits of the guardians of earth, water and fire. I’ve never summoned multiple spirits before, however, under the circumstances I feel we must try. So say ye all?”

“Aye,” said Ursula.

“Yes,” Dominic answered.

I waited on Carlos. He was smiling, so I knew he wasn’t dead. “Carlos?”

“Yes, Lilith?”

“So say you?”

“So say me what?”

“Do you feel we must try?”

“Sure.”

“Why didn’t you say so?”

“Was I supposed to?”

“I asked, so say ye all?”

“Oh, I thought you were making an observation. I’m sorry. Yes, of course. Aye-aye or whatever.”

“Carlos. I know I don’t have to tell you this, but I will. A séance is no laughing matter. It’s
a serious business. You remember our séance at Johnny Buck Allis’ house?”

“
Sure.”

“Do you remember how unruly he got?”

“Yeah, he was a little agitated.”

“
He was more than agitated. He was downright pissed, and for good reason. Somebody shot him in the back, put a hole in him the size of a grapefruit.”

“What’s your point?”

“My point is that the guardians we’re about to summon have all been murdered. They’re probably a bit pissed, as well. I would like them to think we’re not immune to their suffering. So, do you think you can sit up straight and pretend you’re interested?”

“
Sure, I can do that…I mean I won’t pretend. I am interested.”

“Good. Now give me your hand. Let’s all join hands
and free our minds of outside clutter. Ursula, since you’re the one holding the cards, why don’t you deal this one.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

I watched her blank expression dissolve
into something of fearsome worry. “Sister, I…I have not the cards of which you mention.”

“Urs, it’s an expression.
I meant will you conduct the proceedings?”

“Oh,
but of course.” She cast her gaze aside and sarcastically mumbled, “What idle interests quickly peak when first we mix our words in speak.”

“What
’s that?” I asked.

She smiled thinly and let it go at that. I was reasonably sure she
meant it as a slam, but for the sake of argument, or rather no argument, I also let it go.

The jasmine incense had burned down three-quarters of the st
ick. That was good, as it left the room smelling like an Asian head shop, earthy and natural.

Ursula
inhaled deeply and expelled it through her nose. Upon her next breath, she uttered these words.

“
Guardian spirits hear my plea, let none thy essences squander. I call ye now not one but three to here from there and yonder
.”

We all set our focus on the bowl of water with the block of quartz and the candle. We didn’t know what to expect, but we expected, I expected, something. When nothing developed, I suggested Ursula try again. She took another deep breath, shook the hair out of her eyes, cleared her throat and repeated the incantation. Once again, nothing happened.

I looked at Carlos and squeezed his hand to get his attention. “You
.”

“What?”
He looked surprised.

“Are you thinking about meatballs?”

“Nooo.”

I could tell from the way he answered that he was. “Carlos, a séance requires concentration.”

“I’m concentrating.”

“He is,” said Dominic. “I can tell. If he were thinking about meatballs, you’d see the little upward curl at the corners of his mouth.”

“Then I don’t get it. Why isn’t anything happening?”

“
Beats me.” He shook his head and shrugged. “It’s just not coming together, I guess.”

I let go of his and Carlos’ hands and sat back in my chair. “This makes no sense. I
’m sure Ursula has connectivity with the guardians. It’s almost as if…. Wait. That’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“It’s not coming together.”

Carlos laughed. “
Duh. Didn’t Dominic just say that?”

“No, you don’t understand. These are the guardians of nature. They
work together.”

Dominic pointed at the bowl containing the three elements. “But you have them all together.”

“It’s not good enough.” I pushed my chair out and stood. “You all sit tight. I’ll be right back.”

I went to the living room and grabbed a potted ficus
from the corner by the window. Returning it to the kitchen, I ripped the plant out by its roots, pitched it into the sink and set the pot down on the table.

“The elements of nature wor
k best when they work together,” I said.

The others all nodded in agreement.

I took the candle off the block of quartz and removed the quartz from the bowl of water. “There is a relationship to all things within the cosmos. That which comes from stardust, returns to stardust eventually. In the meantime, nature keeps its secrets from all but a few.”

I tipped the pot
upside down over the bowl and shook the dirt out into the water. I then began working the muddy mix with my hands into a consistency stiff enough to mold. Ursula, anticipating my intentions, retrieved a can of lighter fluid from the kitchen junk drawer and returned it to the table.

“May I?” she
asked.

I nodded.
She tipped the can and squeezed it empty over the molded blob of mud. Carlos and Dominic were beginning to understand what we were up to and slid their chairs back a scooch. Ursula reclaimed her seat and waited for me to do the same.

After
washing and drying my hands off at the sink, I returned to the table with a book of matches and handed them to Ursula. “Your show,” I said, “your honors.”

She lit a match and
flicked it into the bowl. The lighter fluid ignited in a whoosh of orange and yellow that danced in spiky fashion several feet high. We all held hands again, and once more Ursula recited her call for the eudemon trinity.

“
Guardian spirits hear my plea, let none thy essences squander. I call ye now not one but three to here from there and yonder
.”

This time something happened, and quickly. First, the fire took on the cool turquoise color of an oxygen-rich flame, no doubt aided by Wendy Skye’s lingering essence that was now a part of Ursula.

The second, more exciting, thing was
the way the mud reacted. From the moment of the incantation, a strange transformation began ushering in a bizarre paranormal manifestation, the likes of which I’d never witnessed at a séance before.

Like the sculpting of Mount Rushmore,
four faces appeared through the flames, all women, hauntingly peering out at us in silent shouts of terror. Their eyes appeared hollow, their mouths blackened like soot. It was as if invisible hands were magically molding the mud, shaping and reshaping the faces, varying their expressions, but always into something resembling pain.

“`Tis the Guardians,” Ursula remarked.

We had all figured as much. I peeked over the flames and said to her, “See if you can communicate with them.”

Ursula nodded. I thought she would verbalize
her intentions, but I soon realized that was not necessary. Instead, she communicated with the four guardians through silent connectivity.

I watched
her expression change suddenly and dramatically. Her eyes narrowed. Her lips thinned to threaded lines. Carlos and Dominic both looked down at their hands. She was squeezing them so hard her knuckled had turned white.

“She’s in pain,” said Dominic, though it came out sounding more of a question than a comment.

“She’s all right,” I told him. “Don’t interrupt.” Carlos shifted his eyes from Dominic’s to mine. I held him with a stare “Goes for you, too.” He gestured agreement with a chin-up nod and returned his gaze to the guardians.

Meanwhile,
Ursula’s breathing grew heavy and choppy. She continued tensing up, twitching involuntarily and uttering little noises that seemed to convey discomfort or even, as Dominic put it, pain. I could hear her feet scuffing the floor in quick jerky fits, her chair occasionally rocking back on two legs and dropping down again sharply.

Several times, she tried breaking handhold with Carlos and Dominic, but they wouldn’t have it. It made me glad
that they held her hands and not I, for surely my grip would not have held as firmly.

After
a minute or two, though it seemed much longer, the worst of it ceased. Ursula closed her eyes and dropped her head in a slouch. Her breathing slowed. The twitching continued, but to a lesser degree.

I looked at the guardians. Their
faces had changed as well. Their shock and awe expressions faded with the flow of abstract energy through Ursula. It seemed the four had become one with their human host. Their pain diluted through shared connectivity.

We watched the fire slowly die, taking with it all formations in the mud resembling the
four guardians. I let go of Carlos and Dominic’s hands. They let go of Ursula’s. She opened her eyes, raised her chin and yawned. Then she drew her arms up over her head and splayed her fingers wide, unfurling like a flower awakening in misty dawn.

“Are you all right?” Dominic asked her.

Carlos poked at the mud mound with his finger.

Ursula smiled
at that, but said nothing.

I came around Dominic and pressed the back of my hand to
Ursula’s forehead. It felt warm. “Ursula? Did you hear what Dominic asked you?”

“Aye.”

I touched her cheek and neck in a similar manner and concluded her temperature seemed higher than normal. “You didn’t answer him.”

“Did I
not?”

“No.”

“I thought it.”

I reached
down and brushed the bangs from her eyes. “But we can’t read your thoughts, Ursula, not the way the guardians can.”

I came back around the table and
reclaimed my seat. Carlos and Dominic seemed anxious. I didn’t know what to tell them. I wasn’t terribly worried about Ursula, but I wasn’t exactly comfortable with her condition, either.

“Well?”
Dominic asked.

I gave
him an uneasy shrug. “The girl’s burning up. I’m not sure what it means.”

“Fire?”

I knew he meant the essence. “Maybe.”

“Is she going to be all right?”