Body Bags & Blarney (23 page)

Vivienne
fought back the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes. “I used up most
of my magical energy on a healing spell to save Alexis and with my grimoire
hidden away at the Elder Council, I can’t recharge.” A single tear dripped down
her right cheek. “If something goes wrong from this point on, I’m not going to
be able to use magic to fix it.” Vivienne sniffed.

“Then we need
to make sure nothing does go wrong.” Joshua squeezed her hands tight and
brought them up to her lips. “I promise.”

“Pinky swear?”
She asked him.

“What?”

“Pinky swear
on it?” She repeated and held out her pinky.

“Sure.” He bent
his pinky around hers and smiled. “Pinky swear.”

He bent
forward and kissed her on the lips. “You take a nap and save your energy. We’ll
wake you up when it’s time to go.”

“Okay.” She
replied. “I love you.”

“I love you to
the moon and back.” He replied with her favorite line.

*
           
*
           
*

They worked in
the cemetery, under cover of darkness. Digging with shovels, the Arkins
brothers used their hearty strength to power through the packed earth which
thankfully was still rather loose and yielded easier than thought. It had taken
until just after midnight before they struck the concrete vault and pried it
off to get into the casket where the body of Father William lay at rest.

“Are you sure
you want to go through with this?” Joshua asked her.

“I have to
try.” Vivienne nodded.

Joshua and
Hunter lifted the upper lid of the casket open and crawled out of the open
grave. “He still looks pretty good.” Hunter remarked. “For a dead guy, at
least.”

Joshua jabbed
him in the ribs for the offhand remark.

“Can you lower
me down onto the casket?” Vivienne asked.

Joshua took
her by the hands and gently lowered her onto the metal lid. She carefully
crawled on the cold metal until she reached the open area where Father William
was lying flat inside the satin interior. “Can you shine some light down here?”
She asked.

The brothers
both reached for their flashlights and provided enough illumination to see what
she needed to do. “Forgive me, Father.” Vivienne reached out and took hold of
his hand. It felt cold, almost like touching a marble statue in a garden. “I
must see what happened to you that morning.”

She was going
to need to use up what was left of her magic energy to make this work.
Concentrating with all her might, she closed her eyes and allowed her power to
emerge.

“Is it
working?” Hunter asked her from up above.

“Not yet.” She
replied. “Give me some time.”

Joshua kept a
close eye on the road near the cemetery. He was thankful that it was quiet and
that no residential homes were too close by. “We’re okay up here. You just
concentrate and do your thing.”

“Right.”
Vivienne called back. She didn’t want to think too terribly much about what she
was doing straddling a casket, holding the hand of a dead priest in a cemetery
at midnight. Not to mention that it was the second time in three months where
she found herself down inside a grave. “Okay Father, it’s time to show me what
you took to the grave.” She closed her eyes once more and felt a tingle in her
fingertips. “It’s working I think.”

The lights
went out for a moment and she found herself standing beside the baptismal pool
inside Our Lady of The Lake.

“I think I’m
done cleaning up your mess here, Father.” Seamus Kilpatrick’s voice rang out as
a blast of cold air flew into the church. The slamming of the back door echoed
off the rows of empty pews leaving Father William alone.

Vivienne
detached her viewpoint from inside Father William’s mind. She was beginning to
really get the hang of it, feeling like a movie director who moved the camera
around to film the action of the actors.

“Why am I not
surprised?” He spoke to himself and resumed cleaning with his cloth. He looked
around the altar area with pride. “You shine up like a new penny.” He smiled.

The back door
opened once more and a figure dressed in a dark hoodie ran inside the church.

“Can I help
you?” Father William called out.

The hooded
figure sprinted toward him. “He’s going to kill me.”

The back door
opened as Seamus Kilpatrick raced inside.

The hoodie fell
back revealing the bald man. “Father, you must protect me from this man. He’s
possessed.”

“I know you.”
Father William stared at the bald man. “You were at the library meeting.”

“You thought
this place would save you?” Seamus Kilpatrick bellowed. “How small minded you
sorcerers are.”

The bald man
grabbed hold of Father William and spun him like a shield. “Please Father, you
must believe me. He’s not who he appears to be.”

“Seamus,
what’s going on here?” Father William asked.

Seamus stood
before him. “This doesn’t concern you, holy man. Stand aside.”

Father William
shook his head. “Is this some kind of stunt? Are you really going to sink so
low?”

Seamus reached
out toward Father William with the open palm of his left hand. He briskly swung
it back and forth in a quick sweep motion. “Out of my way, human.”

Father William
was suddenly swept off his feet and went rolling off the side, stopping when he
struck a pew.

The bald man
took advantage of the moment and made his own hand gestures which caused Seamus
to stumble backwards and nearly fall into the baptismal pool. He turned to run.

Seamus
recovered quickly and lashed out at him by extending both hands forward and
lifting them up. The carpeting in the aisle lifted up like a wave and rolled
back toward Seamus, striking the bald man and carrying him forward.

“It’s the
devil’s work, Father.” The bald man cried out. “We must put a stop to it.”

Father William
returned to his feet and gasped in disbelief as the carpet wave dissipated,
dropping the bald man in front of Seamus. “This isn’t possible.” He stammered.
“What in God’s name is going on?”

 
Seamus picked the bald man up with one hand
and held him effortlessly in his grip. He turned to Father William and snarled.
“Your faith has no power over me, holy man.”

Father William
made the sign of the cross. “You are a demon.” He said breathlessly. “You have
no place in the house of the Lord.”

Seamus shook
the bald man furiously back and forth and then threw him to the ground, where
he rolled and slammed against Father William, knocking him down into a pew.

“Are you
hurt?” Father William asked the bald man.

The bald man
reached up with a shaky hand. “Please help me.” He whimpered.

“I will
protect you.” Father William helped him up. “We have God on our side.”

The bald man
suddenly wrapped his arms around Father William and held him immobile in a
strong grip. “I’ll make you a deal.” He called out to Seamus. “You let me live,
and I’ll help you with whatever you want.”

Seamus cackled
and rubbed his hands together. “A deal? I like deals.”

“I want your
word that you will not harm me.” The bald man demanded.

“What are you
doing?” Father William struggled against his captor.

“Sorry Father,
but this is called ‘negotiating’.” The bald man replied.

“I have a
ritual that I’d like performed. It would be easier if there were two of us.”
Seamus replied.

“Don’t make a
deal with the Devil.” Father William struggled to free himself. “You will only
find misery and deceit.”

“Enough talk.”
Seamus lashed out at Father William with his left arm.

Father William
started to say something in response, but his voice slurred awkwardly.

“You can let
him go now.” Seamus grinned.

The bald man
released Father William who dropped to the floor, now paralyzed under magical
influence. “So we have a deal?”

“Yes.” Seamus
nodded. “You started a ritual casting already by setting fire to that business
in town, satisfying the requirement for that.” He grinned. “I would very much
like to continue this process with you under my supervision. Imagine what
ancient spells you could learn. Imagine the power of casting magic that no
other being could counter.”

“I’ll help you
complete it and then I’ll be free to do as I please. Do you agree to the
terms?” The bald man asked.

“Agreed.”
Seamus pointed to the baptismal pool. “Shall we continue with water?”

“Yes.” The
bald man replied happily. “How can I serve you?”

“Show me how
creative you can get.” Seamus cackled.

“I have a way
to make a water sacrifice that looks like a natural drowning. It’s worked for
me many times before.” The bald man smiled.

“Proceed.”

The bald man
grabbed Father William and pulled him effortlessly over to the pool. He lowered
him into the water and floated him on his back. “I usually find this works best
in a deep bathtub.” He spoke proudly. “You see, the secret is not to leave any
marks from a struggle by having to hold their head down.”

Father William
suddenly awoke with a start and began to flail about. “What are you doing?”

“Intriguing.”
Seamus smiled. “What next?”

“You grab the
victim by the heels and yank quickly like this.” He proceeded to demonstrate
and the violent motion lowered Father William into the pool, and kept him below
the surface. “You see, the water enters the nose and mouth so quickly there is
scarcely time to take a breath. You just hold their heels up like so until it’s
done.”

Father
William’s eyes bulged as his mouth opened and swallowed the water. What little
struggle he could put up was easily put down.

“By the power
of darkness, I offer a sacrifice of water.” The bald man spoke the incantation.
“As his life force ebbs away, so flows the power into this ritual.”

The bald man
released him where he remained under the water. “Even if he wasn’t wearing
shoes, the only mark would be perhaps an impression on the heels from holding
them up.” He said to Seamus. “Accidental drowning 101.”

“Impressive.”
Seamus agreed.

The bald man
knocked the ladder over with a bump of his elbow. “We’re done here. What’s
next?”

As Father
William died, the memory came to a jarring halt. Vivienne stirred from the
awful experience and felt sick to her stomach.

“Are you okay
down there?” Joshua asked.

“I know what
happened now.” Vivienne looked up. “Get me out of here.”

Joshua and
Hunter lifted her out of the open grave. “How about a defense to help us?”

Vivienne
shivered in the cold night. “Our best defense is to find the sorcerer and make
him a better deal than the one he has with the Elemental.”

“Good luck
with that one.” A voice called out from the darkness. “My part of the bargain
is almost finished.” The bald man mocked as he was joined by Seamus Kilpatrick
at his side.

“Defiling a
corpse? Even I have never stooped that low.” The bald man mocked them.

“He wouldn’t
be a corpse if you hadn’t murdered him.” Vivienne shouted back.

“Yes. You do
have a rather interesting power for a witch.” The bald man replied.

Joshua and
Hunter stepped forward, keeping Vivienne behind them.

“You three
have been doing some pretty naughty things here.” Seamus cackled. “It almost
makes me sad to have to kill you.” He raised his hands in the air as bolts of
red energy crackled in the cold night air.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Vivienne awoke
with a start, her mouth dry. She coughed and opened her eyes. The room was dark
but warm. When she tried to move her legs she found them bound up. In a panic,
she reached down only to discover that she could easily free herself as it was
only a thin blanket wrapped around them. In fact, as she felt around a bit
more, she was surprised to discover she had been sleeping on a simple twin bed
and was dressed in one of Joshua’s oversized tee shirts. “Joshua?” Her voice
was raspy. Why was her mouth so dry? She coughed a little bit but it didn’t
help. “Joshua?” She called out again, her voice no better.

Her eyes were
adjusting to the darkness of the room and after a few moments she could see a
little crack of light coming from behind what looked like a door. As quietly as
she could, she stood up from the mattress which caused the floorboards beneath
the bed to creak. She held her breath in response and listened for footfalls to
indicate that her captor was now aware of her being awake.

After a few
moments, she slowly walked toward the door. She could make out that she was in
a small bedroom from the look of things. There was a small dresser, a
nightstand with an antique looking glass lamp, and one of those old wall
radiator units that was hissing and putting out the heat that she felt.
Vivienne’s head was pounding. She felt slightly disoriented, sort of like the
morning after one of Kathy’s famous New Year’s Eve parties.

As she reached
the door, it was open just enough to allow her to peek out at the living room
area waiting beyond the bedroom. There was a small sofa that was covered with a
tropical-floral print slipcover, two mismatched styled recliners, a small
coffee table that was covered with stacks of what looked like old books and
papers, and two large windows against the far wall that revealed what looked to
her like the early morning light before dawn. She could see heavy snowfall
swirling outside the window glass.

As slowly as
she could manage, she pulled the door open just enough to make her escape and
find out just what the heck was going on. There was a howling sound as the wind
outside picked up and blew some snow crystals against the glass. She was
thankful for that, as it provided cover for the noise as she padded barefoot
across the floor which was covered with thick-braided area rugs.

She looked
around the unfamiliar room for a door that would lead to the outside of
wherever she was being held. There was a folding shutter door that was half
closed to the galley kitchen area, another door near the windows which looked
to lead into another bedroom, and finally a larger wooden door that had a
deadbolt lock on it. She hurried to that one and slowly began to twist the lock
open. The metal creaked, badly needing a quick spritz of WD-40. As she grabbed
hold of the basic metal doorknob and twisted it slowly to open, she considered
for a moment the insane idea of running out into a snowstorm wearing only a
thin tee shirt. She had no idea where she was, but anywhere had to be better
than being held captive in some strange apartment. She would take her chances
and hope for the best.

She slowly pulled
the door open, keeping an eye on the other bedroom door behind her to make sure
some maniac wasn’t coming upon her with an ax or a chainsaw. There was no sound
other than her own breathing which was growing a bit more panicked with each
new minute.

The door
pulled away from her and a dark figure lunged forward. Vivienne somehow found a
way to make some sort of a scream sound, but it was more like a squeak and she
coughed again as she prepared to fight off her attacker.

“Vivienne.”
Octavia’s voice cried out. “Honey, it’s me.”
 

Vivienne’s
vision blurred and then shifted back into focus. It was indeed Miss Octavia and
she looked just as frightened as Vivienne felt. “Octavia?” She gasped.

“Child, where
are you going?” Octavia set down a basket of folded laundry and stepped into
the apartment.

“What
happened? How did I get here?” Vivienne felt woozy.

Octavia
grabbed hold of her arms and helped her back inside to the sofa. “Easy now.
You’re still coming out of the shock from the spell.”

Vivienne eased
down onto the sofa and paused for a moment as the dizziness passed. “Spell?”

“The one that
I cast to save you all from the Sorcerer and that Elemental masquerading as a
human preacher.” Octavia spoke softly. “Do you remember that?”

“No.” Vivienne
replied hoarsely.

“Let me get
you some tea for that throat.” Octavia hurried over to the entryway, grabbed
her basket of laundry, and closed the door to her apartment. She flipped a wall
switch that illuminated the kitchen area and retrieved a pitcher of cold tea
from the refrigerator. She reached into one of the upper cupboards and grabbed
a tall glass, filling it with a dark blue liquid.

“How long?”
Vivienne asked.

Octavia rushed
over with the drink in hand. “This is some cold blueberry tea.” She pushed the
glass into Vivienne’s hand. “It’ll soothe your throat.”

Vivienne put
the rim of the glass to her parched lips and drank heartily. She let the cool
liquid rest for a moment in her mouth, refreshing her tongue which felt a bit
swollen. After a moment, she swallowed hard and almost choked it back up.

“Easy now.
Take small sips to start.” Octavia sat down next to her and began to rub her
back. “You’ve been through a lot.”

Vivienne felt
so much better after getting the tea inside her. She took another sip and this
time it went down much smoother. After the third sip, she set the glass down on
top of one of the books that covered the coffee table and found her voice
again. “The last thing I remember was being in the cemetery with Joshua and
Hunter.”

“Memory loss
is a common side effect from the dimensional doorway spell.” Octavia replied.

“Where are
Joshua and Hunter?” Vivienne asked.

“They’re
staying with Nana Mary at her apartment.” Octavia answered.

There was the
sound of scratching and a loud meowing from the bedroom door that was closed.
Vivienne knew instantly it was her precious cats, Tommy and Sammy.
 
“You brought my cats here too?”

Miss Octavia
smiled. “Well, I couldn’t just leave the poor babies to starve while you were out
cold. They were a bit rambunctious at first, but I think they’re warming up to
their Auntie Octavia.”

“How long was
I out?” Vivienne had no concept of how much time had passed. Try as she might,
her memory yielded no more clues other than being surprised at the cemetery by
Seamus and the bald headed sorcerer.

“It’s Sunday,
March 16
^th
. You’ve been in a suspended state for over six days.”

“What?”
Vivienne couldn’t believe it. “What about Joshua and Hunter?”

“You all have
been dead to the world.” Octavia replied. “It was the only way to hide you all
from their scrying spells.”

Vivienne
grabbed the glass of blueberry tea and took another long sip. “What happened at
the cemetery?”

Miss Octavia
sighed. “Well, as you remember, you were discovered at the cemetery by the
gruesome twosome.”

Vivienne
nodded. “Yes. I had just found out how Father William had died and they just
appeared.”

“Your magic
called them there.” Octavia continued. “They were waiting for you to use your
magic so they could figure out where you were and finish you off so they could
complete their ritual.”

“Oh.” Vivienne
felt a bit foolish for not thinking about the before she agreed to use her
power on Father William’s body.

“Well, lucky
for you, the Elder Council gave me their full attention after the message from
your Nana Mary arrived. Her update about what was taking place in Cayuga Cove
spurred them all into action.” Octavia reached behind and fluffed one of the
decorative throw pillows behind her back. “Given the new information, I was able
to convince them to send some Devas to help with this particular problem.”

“I’m afraid I
don’t know what a Deva is.” Vivienne confessed.

“Yes, the
Elder Council told me that you weren’t spending nearly enough time on your
magical studies as they hoped you would. You really need to work on that.”
Octavia chided her, albeit rather playfully.

“They’re
right” Vivienne agreed. “If I had spent more time learning from the grimoire I
might have been better prepared for this sorcerer.”

“Don’t beat
yourself up too much, child.” Octavia smiled. “It took me years to pick up on
all the magic creatures and terminology. Even given that, a novice witch facing
a sorcerer is a challenge. When you pair that sorcerer with an Elemental from
the plane of chaos, even a seasoned witch would be in hot water during that
fight.”

“Thanks.”
Vivienne smiled back. “So what exactly is a Deva?”

“Devas are
spiritual knowledge or energy given humanoid form. Sort of like pure
consciousness that is there to help mortals when they face challenges that seem
impossible to beat.” Miss Octavia explained. “Unlike Elementals that are
usually confined to the planes they exist on, Devas can freely travel wherever
they are needed. They are the champions of order and hopeless causes. Some
mortals have called them angels or muses.”

“So these
Devas came to Cayuga Cove?” Vivienne asked.

“A
split-second after the Elemental and sorcerer found you, they were able to
travel through one of the magic portals and follow the source of dark magic
they sensed to the cemetery.”

“I don’t
remember seeing anything except some sort of spell the Elemental was getting
ready to cast at us.”

Octavia’s eyes
widened. “That’s because the instant they arrived, the three of you were pulled
through a dimensional doorway, existing between this world and the astral plane
where the Devas reside. It appeared to them as if the Elemental’s spell had
blasted you all into tiny bits. With the three of you out of the picture, they
went back to planning the last stage of the ritual to open the gateway and
flood Cayuga Cove with hundreds of Elementals.”

“They think
we’re dead now?” Vivienne asked.

“Absolutely.”
Octavia replied. “Surrounded inside this magical little cocoon, the Devas
placed you all in a sort of hibernation until the Elder Council could analyze
the ritual and send you back to banish them for good.”

“How am I
supposed to do that?” Vivienne asked.

“I’m glad you
asked.” Miss Octavia smiled. “They need to complete the ritual under the full
moon tonight and you’re going to stop them cold with this.” She reached down
onto the coffee table and handed a thin tree branch to her.

“A branch?”
She took it in her hand and examined it. “Is it magic?”

“Not yet.”
Octavia replied. “I’m going to help you craft your first wand and you’re going
to use that to stop them.”

“I don’t
understand what I’m supposed to do with it.”

Octavia
clucked her tongue. “You really are behind in your magical studies.”

“That and I
think I really need some coffee to start to deal with this.” Vivienne joked.

 
“A wand is the most powerful tool in a witch’s
arsenal. With it, you will begin to access magical energy that is beyond your
wildest dreams.” Octavia slowly pulled herself up from the sofa. “It’s time to
take the step to the next level, Vivienne Finch.”

Vivienne
snapped her fingers. “I know the first thing I need to do now.”

“Yeah?”

“A hot shower
followed by copious amounts of coffee.”

“By all
means.” Octavia gestured to the bedroom door where the cats scratched and
meowed in protest. “The bathroom is through there.”