Arielle Immortal Awakening (5 page)

Eva finally smiled and agreed that Gabrielle’s plan was a good one, and they all decided to give Eva time to find the right spell, then get together and try to help Juliet before they went away on their holidays.

For the next week they left Eva alone and waited for her to let them know when she was ready. Their thoughts were full of Juliet and the upcoming event. Arielle was sure it was going to be the biggest thing they had ever experienced in their lives thus far.

Finally on Thursday, Eva called them to say that they needed to get together and talk. They agreed to meet at Arielle’s house that same evening at seven o’clock.

“Did you find the right spell?” Gabrielle asked.

“Yes,” Eva said. “But there are several things that you both need to understand if we are going to do this the right way.”

“What do we need to do?” Arielle asked, full of curiosity.

“First we have to find a natural location free from outside disturbances such as noise, other people, phones, and any other outside interference. Preferably a place that is commonly used by spirits and that has a symbolic connection to our purpose. The perfect choice would be the house of the deceased person, but we can’t do that. So the next best place, in my opinion, would be the cemetery.”

“Oh, I don’t like that at all,” Gabrielle said, in a voice so low it was almost a whisper.

“Well, if we are going to do this we can’t have any grasping and groping during the connection. We absolutely have to have our feelings in check, our hearts free of any other problems, and we have to stay neutral about what we are doing. If we can’t do that, we can’t do the spell.”

There was quiet in the room and nobody said a word for a very long time. Finally Arielle asked, “What else do we need to know?”

“During the summon we have to bring a lot of love and support for the difficulties that surround Juliet in order to help her find Jasper. Love is the pulsation of contact in the spirit world, and that is what will also enable Jasper to find his way to Juliet’s path. It’s like giving him a soft push in her direction. Also, we need to bring candles. The cult books say that spirits are attracted to sources of heat and light.”

“Is there anything else we need to bring?” Arielle asked.

“I’ll bring Vervain, saffron, and prepared incense to burn during the summon within the safety of a magic circle that we will draw, and that circle will also hold a symbolic item - the pentagon that was handled by Jasper and Juliet. That will be the connection between them,” Eva said. Then she looked at both of them very seriously and asked, “Do you think you can do it? If not, then let’s not waste any more time on this, and let’s just move on.”

“No…we have to do this,” Gabrielle said in a very firm voice, and Arielle agreed.

“I think the best time to do it is on Saturday night around midnight. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes,” they both said. They were nervous about this decision, but also really sure that it was the right thing to do.

“I’ll pick you up first, Eva, and then Gabby,” Arielle said. “And I’ll bring the candles. What color do they have to be and how many?”

“There are different colored candles to be used for each day of the week. We need a black one because we are doing the summon on Saturday, and we also need three violet ones and three white ones.”

They all agreed to be prepared and calm. They truly wanted to help Juliet move on to her final destination. Then they went home feeling full of the secret they had and wondering about how it would all unravel.

Chapter 4

O
n Friday, Eva and Arielle decided to spend the afternoon together, going to the mall to do a little shopping. They needed to purchase all the items that Eva said they needed to gather for the cemetery.

Arielle spent a little time thinking of the upcoming holiday. Her parents loved the ocean just as much as she did, and they had purchased another home in a small town in France, St. Jean de Luz, that would satisfy their love for the water. Going there gave the family a chance to spend quality time together while away from home, school, work, and daily commitments. Eva and Gabrielle’s families did the same, though in different places.

So as soon as school was out each year, the three of them went their separate ways for the summer months, looking to make new holiday friends, new memories—and some juicy secrets that they could share with each other when they got back home.

Arielle would be leaving with her parents for France the following Wednesday. Eva and her mom were leaving on Monday for Alnmouth, in the northern part of England. Gabrielle and her parents would be flying to San Marco Island in Italy on Tuesday.

The friendship between Gabrielle, Eva, and Arielle was something very, very special. They shared all of their most intimate secrets; they discussed every little thing with each other, whether it was important or not. Arielle knew Gabrielle’s intimate thoughts and most of Eva’s, and she told them most of her secrets, except for the secret of her dreadful gift. She knew she would tell them someday, but she was afraid that they might not want to be her friend anymore if she told them. And she knew she couldn’t live without them in her life.

They had plenty to talk about each time they got back home from their holidays, but so far there had been nothing earthshaking happening in any of their lives. But they wanted to believe that one of these days one of them would come back with something great to talk about.

Gabrielle loved horses and every time she returned from her holiday, she would talk about how exuberant she felt each time she got on a horse and galloped through the beautiful green fields of San Marco. Arielle wanted to experience that feeling too, but she had just one problem: she was completely petrified of horses. She and Eva were more the beach or pool-relaxing type. She didn’t like too much excitement. She was happiest just reading, listening to music, walking on the beach, and lying by the pool. She guessed that the most exciting thing she and Eva would ever like to be involved in was waterskiing.

Spending time in the sun was pretty important to all of them. They always wanted to come back with a great dark brown healthy color showing that they had been on holiday.

When it came to books, even though Arielle and Eva both loved reading, Eva’s tastes had changed since her father’s passing. Arielle loved to find new gothic romantic stories and classic books like
Pride and Prejudice,
Rebecca,
or
Wuthering Heights
. Eva had once loved the exact same type of books, but now she was more interested in books about shadows, witchcraft, Celtic mysteries, and books of spells. It wasn’t Arielle’s thing at all. Still, she and Eva had the same taste in music, so they were able to share that.

Of the three of them, Gabrielle was the athlete, the horseback rider, the swimmer, the skater, the biker – the list went on and on. Just thinking about Gabrielle and what she would be doing on her holiday made Arielle tired.

Tonight she decided to read for a little while before she went to sleep. She stood up, picked up one of her favorite books,
Persuasion
by Jane Austen, and slipped in a leisurely way under the covers. She started to read and as usual she got lost in the world of Anne Elliot and her love for the handsome, dashing Captain Frederick Wentworth.

This is the kind of love I’m looking for
, she thought,
and why is it that I only seem to find it in Jane Austen’s books? Especially in Pride and Prejudice.
She sighed. She was glad that they were leaving soon on holiday, and that she would have a little break from all these witchcraft and summons sessions; however she also knew that they had to get through this one last session on Saturday night.

Somewhere in the middle of reading her book she drifted off to sleep and the next thing she knew, her mother was calling her for breakfast. She gazed at the clock - it was already 9:30. She spent the day getting ready for her holiday, deciding which books to take, what music to listen to, and what clothes she would need. She laughed out loud thinking about how she had done this same activity over and over again, but somehow each time it seemed as if she had never gone on a holiday before in her life.

Around 4:00 the next afternoon Gabrielle called her, full of excitement and enthusiasm.

“I can hardly wait for tonight!” she said. “I’ve been thinking about this for two days straight, and I haven’t been able to sleep.” She sighed a deep sigh.

“Just remember, you have to stay calm, with
no outbursts,”
Arielle reminded her, “if you want the summon to be successful.” All Arielle wanted to do was to get it over with and move on with their lives. “We’ll pick you up around 11:30, okay?” she asked.

“Arielle, please let me come over to your house. I’m going out of my mind being alone. All I can do is think about tonight.”

“Well, all right,” Arielle said, chuckling at her friend’s eagerness. “Come on over. Maybe you can help me pack.”

“I’ll be right there!” Gabrielle said, and the phone went dead. Just a few minutes later, she was startled to see Gabby walking through her bedroom door, all worked up, but smiling.

“Good Lord, did you fly here?”

“Arielle, I swear that if midnight doesn’t come soon I will just burst!”

Arielle had to laugh just looking at Gabby’s face. She hugged her warmly and they laughed together even though they knew what they were going to do that night was no laughing matter.

Finally 11:00 came, and then 11:30. As the hour approached Arielle grew even more nervous, and Gabrielle seemed to be a little bit less excited and a little more apprehensive herself.

Arielle called Eva just before they left the house. They picked her up and soon they were on their way to the cemetery. The iron gate was not locked, so they drove along the long winding lanes and covered pathways, blatant cues of the solemnity of death, and found their way to where Eva’s father was buried.

The burial plots were small but the spaces between the lots were large, with plantings and created landscapes unbroken by hedges. There were no stars in the sky, and the cloud-obscured moon made the night charcoal black. It was extremely quiet and very tranquil. Arielle knew that all three of them were contemplating the mystery of death.

Then Eva’s voice broke into her deep thoughts, asking her to bring out the candles. She watched as Eva moved between two lots and drew a large circle around her. She placed the candles a foot apart around the inside of the circle, and right in the middle she set the vervain, the saffron, the incense, and the pentagon. Then Eva asked Arielle and Gabrielle to take a seat on the edge of the circle, close their eyes, breathe in deeply, and exhale several times. “Meditate,” she said. “Try to get rid of all unwanted thoughts and problems that may be occupying you. We all need to have a clear view of what we are here to do, and nothing else.” They sat quietly for about twenty minutes, concentrating only on Juliet and Jasper, becoming more relaxed and more serene, wanting to see this matter through.

At the end of twenty minutes Eva entered the circle and lit first the incense, then the vervain and saffron. Slowly she moved on to light the candles one at a time, starting with the black one and ending with the white.

“The light from the candles will illuminate the passageway between our worlds,” Eva whispered. “Through these candles there is truth in all communications that come to me.” Then she sat between her two friends and asked them to hold hands with her.

“Please concentrate very hard and try to merge Julie and Jasper in your minds by repeating three words under your breath: “Juliet, Jasper, merge…”

They followed her instructions and began to quietly chant those three words together. Then Eva closed her eyes, and after a short pause she started to chant slowly but with a firm voice.

“
Guardians of the Spirit realm, hear and guide my plea.

When the witching hour rings true, bring my friends to me.

Other souls who hear my call are not welcome in this place.

Only the ones known as Juliet and Jasper may enter the sacred space.”

Eva was quiet for a short time. Then she repeated the spell two more times. Nothing happened for a long while; it seemed like centuries to Arielle. But suddenly she was jolted by very evident changes in their surroundings.

They had been well prepared to stay calm and not make any gasping noises or show any fear. Their fingers were intertwined, and they grasped each other’s hands tighter and stronger while with their thoughts they willed Juliet and Jasper together.

The wind picked up and the swishing sound of tree leaves became a loud whistle, so loud that it made their eardrums hurt. Arielle closed her eyes tight and pressed her lips together, not sure of what was going to happen next. Suddenly she felt heat spreading across her skin, and she snapped her eyes open as her jaw dropped.

Right in the middle of the circle there was the familiar brilliant cocoon, its light surrounding Juliet. The sight was breathtaking, her hair was moving around her face to a light breeze and her eyes were sparkling like two precious jewels. A mystical smile spread across her face as she looked intensely past their faces somewhere into the darkness, and her arms were extended, as if they were waiting to embrace someone.

Their eyes were wide open and their breath seized in their throats as they waited, still holding hands, still whispering the words “Juliet, Jasper, merge” over and over again. Not long after that, the whistling from the leaves of the trees stopped, and stony silence fell around them.

Arielle didn’t think she could describe in words what happened next. A strong sound almost like thunder was heard, but there was no storm anywhere near. A soft white cloud moved around the outer part of the circle, pausing for a very short time over each one of them. First Eva, then Gabrielle, and finally Arielle, feeling a soft touch as it passed over her and moved slowly towards the center of the circle. Juliet’s eyes were on that cloud, and her smile was now even wider. But a second later, the cloud moved inside the brilliant cocoon and changed into a young man with open arms that encircled Juliet.

The brilliance of the circle was amazing, and the heat that it was producing was almost too hot to bear, but they didn’t move an inch. Their embrace was a long one. There were tears in Juliet’s eyes and there was peace in Jasper’s face. They both bent down and picked up the pentagon, their eyes never leaving each other’s faces. Arielle was crying; she could not take her eyes away from the two souls that had found each other and could now take their final journey together.

As they moved away, Juliet looked back at Eva as if she was trying to say something, but they couldn’t hear a sound. Eva smiled back at her with a look of complete gratification on her face, tears rolling down her face.

Arielle was still trying to get over the shock of the most amazing experience she had ever had in her life.

Nothing was left now but the circle and the burning candles. Eva got up and extinguished the candles in the same order in which she had lit them. With the palm of her right hand she moved the ashes of the Vervain, saffron, and the incense around the outline of the circle, making it disappear. She picked up the candles and they all moved towards the car without speaking.

They were all crying, touched by the beauty of the experience and the positive outcome of their effort. Arielle’s heart was calm, peaceful, and happy. She was thankful for her friends and thankful for her life.

When she was back safely in her room later that night, Arielle took her journal out of her desk drawer and climbed into bed. Her emotions were evident as the pen started to glide across the blank page.

May 29th

Today I learned that there’s no greater joy than that of true love. I saw two souls that searched desperately to find each other, even after they were dead. I saw the love, the passion, the devotion, and the need between Jasper and Juliet to be one. Their merging shattered my senses down to my very core. Apparently the definition of “love” is nothing like what I thought it would be, prior to tonight’s events. The turmoil in Juliet’s face while looking for Jasper was astounding. I want so much to find that kind of love. I want the imprint of the man I fall in love with to reach the depths of my very soul. I want to fall in love and experience the warmth and the extreme sensation of exhilaration that Jasper and Juliet’s faces displayed when they found each other.