Prologue~Ch. 1~Ch. 2~Ch. 3~Ch. 4~Ch. 5~Ch. 6~Ch. 7~Ch. 8~Ch. 9~Ch. 10~
Ch. 11~
Chapter 12
A car horn honked behind her. Jessica studiously ignored it, being used to horns by now. “What is it about someone walking around in a costume that brings out the jerk in people,” she wondered out loud.
“Jessica? Hey, Jessica!”
Jessica turned around, delighted to see Howard waving to her from the open window of an ancient Volkswagen Beetle, rust spots showing through the bright yellow paint. “Howard? You have no idea how glad I am to see you. You would not believe the night I’ve been having. I—”
“Come on,” he said, reaching over and opening the passenger door for her. “When you didn’t show up at home I thought maybe you’d missed the bus,” he said, once she was sitting beside him.
“You’re a life saver, Howard. Hey, where are we going?”
“We don’t have much time,” he answered. “We can’t be late for the spell.”
“Howard, I can’t go dressed like this!”
“It’s dark, nobody’ll notice,” he glanced over at her. “Well, they won’t really care if they do notice.”
“But . . . ah, damn,” she slumped down in the seat. “Where are we going, anyway?”
“Spirit rock.”
“That figures.”
“Jess,” he glanced over at her again. “I really want to thank you for helping me.”
“No problem, Howard.”
“No, I mean it. No one but you has ever believed in me. It’s really meant a lot, especially this last couple of years.”
She looked over at him, surprised to see how tense he was as he watched the road. This really did mean a lot to him. Part of her hoped that something would happen tonight, just enough to prove to the others that he was right.
“Even when we were kids you could do some pretty amazing things,” she told him. “You were the smartest person I knew then and you still are. If you believe so strongly in this, who’s to say you’re not right?”
“Thanks, Jess,” he said again.
“Enough already. Tell me, what’s my part in this test of yours? I refuse to disclose whether or not I’m a suitable candidate for virgin sacrifice.”
“Nothing that drastic,” he assured her. “I’m going the use the power the coven raises in an attempt to teleport you. All you need to do is just stand there.”
“I don’t suppose you could teleport me all the way home, could you? I’m dying for a bath.”
“I’ll be lucky if I teleport you two feet, let alone twenty miles,” he said glumly. “Oh, by the way, here,” he took one hand off the steering wheel long enough to reach into his pocket and hand her back her medallion.
“I was able to reset it so you could have the half without the symbol back. If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep the other piece for awhile longer.”
“Take all the time you need, Howard.”
“I didn’t get anywhere with my research on its origins,” he told her. “But I have a friend who’s a geologist and he swears it’s made out of moonstone.”
“Moonstone?”
“It’s semi-precious. Not particularly valuable, but—”
“So it’s more or less just costume jewelry.”
“No,” Howard said slowly, “I wouldn’t say that. Like I said before, it has a very strong magical aura. I think that the symbol has something to do with luck or good fortune.”
Jessica held the disk in her hand for a minute before placing it around her neck. “I could have used its luck earlier,” she told him glumly. “I haven’t made much more headway with mom’s diary, either. A lot of the pages are faded, or stuck together.”
Howard glanced at her, “Are you still worried about the possibility of being adopted?”
She bit her lip and stared out at the night rolling by. “I found a passage that said: ‘I don’t know where he came from or where he went, but I thank the Lord he found me worthy of his gift.’”
“What gift?”
“That, my friend, is the million dollar question.”
The gate was open and the small parking lot at Spirit Rock Conservation Area was about half full. It was on the tip of Jessica’s tongue to ask if they had permission to be here, but then she decided she’d be better off not knowing. Maybe one of the coven had other talents besides magic. Howard parked and quickly led her to where a group of about fifteen people waited.
Jessica was amazed that everyone looked so normal, not a long black robe or a broomstick in sight. The ages ranged from late teens to senior citizens. They were dressed mostly in jeans and t-shirts, a couple of women in long broomstick skirts, and one older gentleman looked like he’d just come off the golf course.
“Okay, Howard,” a tired-looking woman in an I’m on Debt Row t-shirt said, “Let’s get this over with.”
Jessica was a little irritated at her attitude. Couldn’t she see how much this meant to him?
“This way,” was all Howard said.
He led the way along the trail to Spirit Rock. Several people carried flashlights, though with the full moon overhead extra light wasn’t needed. Crickets chirped, a cow lowed in the distance and the water could be heard lapping at the nearby shore. A slight breeze rustled the leaves of the trees. It was a beautiful night.
Howard had Jessica stand with her back to the rock and ranged everyone else in a circle around her. He, himself, took up the position directly opposite her, also just inside the circle.
“Now, I want everyone to link hands,” he said. “When I start the spell you should feel a slight charge building. Whatever you do, don’t let go until I’m done.”
Jessica shifted impatiently. The dew from the grass had leaked right though the suede of her boots, her feet were cold and damp. She hoped she could have the boots cleaned before Jennifer saw them.
“Jessica, hold still. If the spell works, you should end up in the parking lot.”
“What if it doesn’t?” someone from the group snickered.
Howard ignored him and raised his hands. The night seemed to pause. He began chanting, under his breath and rhythmically, building slowly in volume. Again, slightly higher in pitch, he chanted. When he started for the third time he began weaving his hands in an intricate pattern, almost like sign language.
Jessica heard a few gasps from the circle. She felt like gasping herself as she was suddenly surrounded by a tingling sensation. My God, she thought, this might actually work.
The tingling sensation intensified. Jessica couldn’t speak now if she wanted to. She couldn’t move at all. There was a sensation of movement all around her. Her vision swam. Howard’s chanting filled the night, he filled the night with the power of his voice.
Jessica was reminded suddenly of her nightmare. A nameless fear filled her. She would have screamed if she could. The stars spun above her. There was a terrible wrenching sensation, then nothing at all.
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