Electric Blue (13 page)

"We're too late," she said. "We have lost the Shape Shifter."

"Maybe not," Naomi said. "I think it's time we call the Coven to order."

* * * * *

Lucy felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. One moment she was fine and the next there was a bright flash of pain, white hot like electricity as it dances blue and gold. She dropped the tray she was holding and the shattering of glass woke her senses. She dropped to her feet to scoop the glass up. "Oh, God," she said out loud to the customer sitting in the booth in front of her, "I'm so sorry." She looked up to see Lucia looking down at her. She had a bruise on her face, just under her left eye. "Oh, Lucia Honey, what happened?" she reached out to touch Lucia's eye and Lucia moved away.

"Forget about it. What happened to you?"

"I. . .I had the strangest sensation." Lucia got on her knees and began to help Lucia with the shattered glass. Someone brought them a dustpan. "I felt this. . .pain. Something's happened."

"What, though?"

"I don't know, I think it has something to do with Poppy. I think my daughter is in trouble."

"You know, I think you may be right," Lucia said.

"Why do you say that?"

"I. . .I can't say. It's not my place." She fingered the bone Buddha in her coat pocket.

"Why not?" Lucia looked at Lucia, grabbed her coat collar. "If you know something, something that can help Poppy. . . ."

"We have to find Alicia," Lucia said. "She'll know what to do."

* * * * *

David ran into the living room when he heard
Orlando
yell out. It sounded as if he was in pain. When he got to the living room, he found
Orlando
doubled over, clutching his chest. David ran to his side.

"What's wrong?
Orlando
, what's wrong?" There was terror in his voice.

"I'm alright," he said. There were beads of sweat on his brow.

"No, you're not, you're not alright. What's going on?"

Orlando
was having trouble breathing. "I can't tell you," he whispered at last.

"What can't you tell me?" David asked. "We were supposed to have no secrets, remember?"

Orlando
could barely get the words out. "Get Karma. . .get Karma. . . ." He closed his eyes and collapsed on the floor, oblivious to David's screams.

* * * * *

Alicia felt the sharp stab of pain. Standing at the door to the basement, she had no doubts as to where Poppy had gone. She had gone into the house, this house full of tricks. This house of mirrors. She had lost her lover forever, all because of lies. She didn't have time to mourn her loss. She heard a scream of tires out front, loud enough to raise the dead, and ran down to the front door. Lucia and Lucy came barreling out of the car and towards the house. "Where's my daughter?!" Lucy screamed at her. She was frantic, mad. Losing your daughter would do that to anyone.

"I don't know." Alicia said.

"YOU don't KNOW?" Lucy said. Her voice was rising.

Lucia placed a calming hand on Lucy's arm. "I wouldn't say anything. I told her we had to come to you. You felt it, then?"

"Yes," Alicia said. "We have to go see Karma."

"Karma? What does she have to do with this?" Lucy asked.

"More than you think," Alicia said.

* * * * *

Roz was lying on her bed, holding her stomach with her baby growing inside her. She felt the shock of the earth too, felt it coursing through her body. This was not evil, however, but it was part of the puzzle. Poppy had started her quest. She rubbed her tummy, the room around her full of light. She had opened the curtains so she could see out at the world around her. The sun helped calm her, took away the depression. She could feel Poppy, sense her. She had started a new fork in her path, one that would lead to her destiny.

"And so it begins. . . ." Roz said.

* * * * *

Honey was changing the twins. Eileen had already been changed and placed in her crib for her nap, cooing softly. She was changing Kieran's diaper when she noticed something on the back of his left leg. It was a mark, shaped like a Pentagram; a star within a circle. With a growing sense of dread, she undid Eileen's sleeper and looked. There, in the same place, was the Pentagram. It looked as if both children had the same birth mark. Shaken, she finished changing Kieran and put him in his crib. Something was going on here. She didn't know what it was, but something was definitely going on. She closed the babies' room door quietly behind her and went out to the back porch.

Since the fateful events on Valentine's Day, she had taken up smoking. She had lit up again right after the babies were born. She needed to do something to calm herself and taking half a bottle of Valium didn't seem to be an option. There was a rustle of leaves and Honey saw Vanessa, their next door neighbour, standing at the back fence. "Hey neighbour!" she said. Her brown hair fell poker straight but was tied loosely at the nape of her neck. Her almond eyes were brown and deep and she had a happiness that emanated from her. "What's shaking?"

Honey smiled to herself and took another drag off her cigarette. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said.

* * * * *

Honey could smell the roses. They filled her nose with a heavenly scent that made her think of summer days and happier times. She had loved roses as a child, their red petals, their softness, their intoxicating scent. She took another puff of her cigarette.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said.

"Try me," Vanessa said. "I'm no stranger to the weird and unusual. My husband used to collect books on the paranormal, God rest his soul."

"Your husband is dead?" Honey asked.

"Died four years ago today and not a moment too soon." She laughed at Honey's shocked face. “Oh, don't sweat it Honey, it's not all that bad. Jack lived a good life. We were married for twenty years and I enjoyed every moment. Now I have my roses to keep me company."

"It must be a lonely life with no one to keep you company."

"I don't mind, really. I like my own company. There's no one to talk back to me." She smiled.

The smile warmed Honey. "Would you like to come around? I can put on some coffee."

Vanessa smiled. "You know, I've been waiting for an invite. I'll be right over!"

Honey stubbed out her cigarette and went back inside to put the coffee pot on. She didn't know what had possessed her to invite a stranger into her home, but Vanessa seemed harmless. Jose was out with the boys, playing a round of golf with his friends from the Food Bank. Now that Jose was retired, he wanted to fill his time. "I might as well make a contribution instead of sitting on my butt" he had said.

She was happy that he was enjoying himself. He worked every Tuesday and Thursday from eleven am to four, and loved every minute of it. He handed out food to the homeless and loved talking to everyone. He got along great with the four women and one other man who ran the food bank and they had started playing golf together every Friday afternoon. She hoped he was enjoying himself.

Vanessa came in bearing a large basket of roses. "From my garden," she said, smiling. "I hope you're not allergic."

"On the contrary," Honey said, "I love living here; I love the smell of our roses, it's quite beautiful." She took the roses and got a crystal vase to put them in. "Roses used to be my favourite flower as a child."

"Really? I didn't get into flowers until after Jack died. I wanted something to fill my time and I got a seed catalogue from Jimmy Feed and Seed in the mail. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Rose is my last name," she said.

"I don't have many hobbies. I used to be an actress."

"Really?" Vanessa was wide-eyed. "Would I have seen you in anything?"

"Probably, but it was just so long ago. Perhaps I can show you my collection of memorabilia?"

"I'd really love that." She sipped her coffee. "You know, meeting you has been nice. I haven't had a girlfriend to speak to in years."

It occurred to Honey then that she had very few friends. Sure, there was Jose and David and
Orlando
and Karma, but she didn't have any friends of her own. With Jose gone more and more lately, she had been feeling more and more lonely. "I could use a friend." Honey admitted.

"Great!" Vanessa smiled and squeezed her hand. "We're gonna get along just fine, you and me. Now what did you say I wouldn't believe?"

"How about I just show you instead?" Honey said. They climbed the stairs to the babies’ bedrooms and Honey went to Eileen's crib and then Kieran's, showing her the Pentagram shaped birth mark on the back of both their left legs. Vanessa stared at the Pentagram with eyes like pie plates. "I've never seen the like," she said. "Why are those marks on your babies?" she asked.

"I don't know. That's what I need to find out," Honey said.

Chapter Eighteen

Company's Coming

Karma felt them before she saw them. She could feel them coming towards her, at her, from all around her. She knew that it was time. She lit a cigarette and went outside to wait for the group. The wind was warm for October. A brief spot of warmth to heat her cold heart. She saw Naomi and Cecelia first. Alicia, Lucia and Lucy followed, their car stopping abruptly with a loud squeak. Then she heard a door close behind her and David and Orland were on the porch. David looked stricken,
Orlando
looked as if he were in pain. The only people missing were Roz and Chip. She assumed that they were not involved in this. She waited for them all to gather around her. Cecelia approached her. "I think it is time we call the Coven to order."

"This is all that remains of the Coven," Karma said.

Cecelia looked shocked. She stared at Lucia, Orlando and Alicia. "They are it? They are all that remains of a Coven that is hundreds of years old?"

"I'm afraid so," Karma said. "Witch hunters don't tend to like our kind, or has history not taught you anything?" The bite in Karma’s words was like acid.

"Damn you!" Cecelia said. "This is not a game."

"I know it's not. But I suggest we have this talk inside, away from prying eyes." She smiled sweetly. "My daughter Starr is with my boyfriend Jason," she told everyone. "I suggest we all go inside. I can see that all of you have questions."

They all went into Karma's apartment. The living room had been cleaned up, in preparation for their arrival. A large plate of sandwiches and a case of pop was on the table. "I suggest that you all grab something to eat," she said. "It's going to be a long talk."

* * * * *

Poppy felt the door close behind her. The white light continued to shine but, as she watched, it faded slowly until it was a soft glow. She felt bathed in it, blessed by it. There was no negativity inside her, no hate. All the trials of the past month had been wiped away. Her mind was a clean slate and she breathed deeply in her new found freedom from her mind. She felt at peace with herself. It didn't matter that Alicia had lied to her, that she was unsure of herself, that she was afraid of the magic within her. All that mattered was the pure white light, which, even now, was fading even more.

When the light cleared, she turned around. The door she had passed through had disappeared. She was stuck here, it seemed. For how long, she wasn't sure. She turned around again, facing in front of her. She gasped. In front of her, there was a table and two chairs. Sitting in one of the chairs was a young woman who looked to be no more than sixteen years old, though she was probably younger. She had long brown hair that fell to the floor in masses around her. Curls of hair tickled the girl's feet and she giggled a soft, lovely sound. There was no ground around them, no sky, only whiteness and a table and chairs. The girl looked up and regarded her with dark blue eyes.

"I wasn't sure you would come," the girl said.

"Where is this place?" Poppy asked.

"There is no ‘where’ here, and no ‘here’ here. You are inside but outside."

"I'm not sure I follow."

The girl smiled. "I know it is confusing, but it is really quite simple. You were in one world and you crossed into another. It can be quite confusing." She gestured to the seat across from her. "Sit, please. It has been so long since I've had anyone to speak to."

"Have you been here long?" Poppy asked.

"I am part of the Coven House," the girl responded. "I am its Guide, its embodiment."

"The Coven House?"

"Do you not know the story of the Coven House? Years ago, Witches lived with mortals. They needed a place to drop roots, to grow. They chose here. This was many, many moons ago. Witches have been able to hide over the years, but the Hunters still found them. There are only a few Witches left"