09 - Return Of The Witch (17 page)

“Any word about the crazy chick with a gun?” I asked.

She smiled at that. “You mean with the Uzi?”

“What?”

“Yeah, I think one witness even states you had a rocket launcher.”

“Ha! I wish.”

Dominic said, “Enough with what people think happened out there. Lilith, tell us what really went down, and what happened to my car.”

“I’ll tell you, but first let me introduce you all to Paige
.”

Paige
Turner said little during introductions and offered everybody a seat once I was through. Carlos, Brittany, Dominic and Ursula took theirs on the sofa. Paige sat in her Porter’s chair. I stood.

“
Okay, this is going to sound crazy.” I looked at Brittany. “Yet, something tells me that even you won’t have any trouble believing it.”

Brittany
nodded. I looked at Paige Turner, who was looking at Brit with a curious eye, no doubt sensing something about her that defied the obvious.

Outside, the low rumbling of fire trucks rolling
through the parking lot rattled the windows and spooked all of Paige Turner’s cats into hiding.

Carlos checked his watch. “They’ll be knocking on the door soon. Gonna wan
na make sure everyone’s all right.”

“
Good. Let `em knock. The longer they’re here the better. He’s not likely to come back with the authorities mulling about outside.”

“
Who’s not?”

“The
stranger in the Escalade,” said Ursula, “born of wicked deeds and mal intent.”

“
The guy that ran you off the road last night?” asked Dominic. “He did that?”

“
Yes. He’s the one that wrecked your car, but we’ll get to that in a minute. First I want to tell you about a witch that’s out there killing other witches and stealing their essence.”

“What do you mean their essence?”

“I mean just that. Look, remember the other day you asked me about the quintessential? I told you then about the four elements of nature and magick, otherwise known as the prime essentials.”

“
Yes.”

“Well, t
he four missing women of Essex County were the guardians of those essentials. The thing is they’re not actually missing.”

“
Where are they?”

“
Give me a second. I’ll tell you. Did the lab have a chance to check out those chalk samples I gave you yesterday?”

“
Not yet.” He reached into his pocket and handed me four little evidence baggies, each containing about half the chalk I had originally given him. “They took what they needed and promised me they’d look at it today.”

“I’ll save them the trouble
. They’re going to find that the chalk is organic. It’s cremation ash, basically.” I held the baggies out in my open hand. “The women are right here…what’s left of them.”

“How do you know
that?”

“Because that’s how it works.
The witch vaporized these women where they stood, inhaled their essence and absorbed their powers of magick.”

“
I don’t understand,” said Carlos. “How would that work?”

“
It’s called vapor resonance. Vibration amplitude produced by smaller vibrations near the same frequency assists—”

Dominic interrupted,
“Assists the acceleration of electric particles, thus saturating the surrounding electric and magnetic fields with radiant energy equal to the rate of modulation.” He looked up at me and grinned. “I read that in the Grimoire.”

“
You
read the Grimoire?”

“Well, no, not the hard cover.” He leaned around me to look at Paige Turner. “I read an excerpt from i
t as transcribed on Paige’s website.”

I looked at Paige. “You’re publishing the Grimoire online
now?”

“Not all of it,” she replied, gathering the folds of her collar in indignation. “Only that which need be told to warn of the prophecy.”

I shook my head in dismay. “Okay, Dominic, so you read about it. Then you know that the disturbance it produces results in the spontaneous vaporization of organic bone and tissue, leaving behind nothing more than vapor and ash. The thing is, by inhaling the fleeting vapors, one can virtually absorb the victim’s life essence.”

“And that’s what happened to those women?” Carlos asked.

“I’m afraid so. See, those women were masters over their respective elements. It’s anyone’s guess now as to what degree the witch that killed them has acquired their powers.”

“
Wouldn’t she acquire all of it?”

“
No. It’s unlikely anyone could absorb all of it. The assimilation effort is fleeting at best and limited to a single breath.”

Dominic said, “
What a tragic waste, like killing a rhino for its horn and leaving the entire carcass.”

“No, Dominic. It’s nothing at all like killing a rhino. It’s killing four human beings for a sample of their essence.”

“That’s what I meant. I was just saying that whoever did this might not be so powerful?”

Paige answered, “Not now,
perhaps, but the quintessential could change all that.”

“In what way?”

“In every way,” I answered. “It’s never happened before, but in theory, once a witch acquires all five essentials, the elements then begin to feed and strengthen one another, allowing the witch’s powers to grow exponentially.”

“Do we know who
this witch is?”

“No, but
just the fact that she employed such a diabolical spell, tells me we’re dealing with a most determined adversary.”

“Do you think
the stranger in the Escalade is our witch?”

I thought about it for all of two seconds before shaking my head no. “I don’t think so
. It’s like cracking an egg with a sledgehammer. A witch with such great powers would use more finesse to bring me down, like she did with the guardians. She wouldn’t need a six-thousand pound vehicle to do her dirty work.”

Brittany said, “You keep saying she. How do you know this other witch isn’t a he?”

“He?” I looked at Paige Turner. A slight uptick in her brow told me Brittany was right. “I don’t know. I suppose it could be a man.”

“And the driver of the Escalade could be a she
,” Carlos added.

“What?”

“Unless you’ve made a visual, you’re making an assumption in both cases. One thing Tony always used to say was, make assumptions but assume they’re wrong until proven otherwise.”

“Tony used to say that?”

“Yup.”

“That’s stupid.”

Dominic said, “Well, I have another stupid assumption. If this witch is so unnaturally powerful, who’s to say it’s not Doctor Lowell?”

“
It’s not Doctor Lowell,” I said, shaking my head faintly, remembering how I stuck around long enough to watch the evil doctor melt into a bubbling blob of green slime. “That much I’m sure of.”

“Then who?”
asked Carlos. “Who else would know that you’d been to the Eighth Sphere and suspect you of returning with the quintessential?”

“I don’t know
, but I have an idea how I might use these ash samples to find out. I just have to go home and—”

“Not so fast,” said Brittany
. “You can’t go home.”

“Why not?”

Carlos said, “Things have gotten complicated. That’s why Brittany’s here with us today. Ipswich P.D. put a warrant out for your arrest.”

“Oh, so now she’s going to arrest me?”

“No. She’s not going to arrest you. For your information, Brittany’s captain excused her from the case the minute he learned of your close relations with the N.C.P.D. On the contrary, she’s here to warn you, at great risk to her own career I might add. Someone from her department may be waiting for you at your home when you get there.”

“
Why?”

Brittany said,
“Because you’re now officially a person of interest in April Raines’ disappearance.”

“
Oh, because I went to her house and got into a shouting match with her neighbor?”

“
Yes, and because they now have you on video.”

I shook my head.
“I know about the video. The guys already told me about that. April’s neighbor has a grainy security cam video of someone that looks like me coming out of the fog and—”

“Not that
one,” said Dominic. “There’s another.”

“
Another video?” I immediately began worrying that another security camera in April’s house might have caught Ursula and me wandering the halls there the day before.

Brittany said, “
On the night April disappeared, she recorded a video on her laptop that she intended to upload to her blog. She obviously didn’t review the footage after recording it, because if she had, she’d have seen that the camera picked up something in the background.”

“
Like what?”

Carlos said
, “Someone was in her house. Ipswich P.D. got a hold of the computer, played the clip and recognized you right away.”

“Impossible. I wasn’t there
that night.”

Dominic cleared his throat. “That’s
not what you told us yesterday. You told us you were there, whether in body or soul, you couldn’t say, but you said you were.”

“Okay, maybe I was. I honestly don’t know. The point is, if
you think I killed April Raines or those other women, then who’s trying to kill me?”

Paige said, “
`Tis the prophecy witch, trying to steal the quintessential from you.”

“
No, Paige. I told you. I do not possess the quintessential. Whoever’s trying to kill me has some other vendetta.”

Dominic said, “I don’t know about anyone’s
vendetta, and I’m certainly not suggesting you killed April Raines or those other women. What I am saying is that just so long as there’s someone out there trying to kill you, I’d rather you don’t go and drag Ursula into it.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said I’d rather—”

“I heard you.
Now you hear me. Unless you’ve forgotten, you’re the one who asked me to get involved in this case. I didn’t ask you.”

“Yes, but that was before—”

“Uh-uh! Zip it. You’re in this with me now. She’s in this with me. We’re
all
in this damn thing together until we figure out what’s going on. Capish?”

“
Lilith, I—”

“I mean it, Dominic.”
I turned to Brittany. “Detective, I appreciate your help in aiding and abetting my fugitive status. I know you really stuck your neck out for me.”

She smiled
and nodded. “I’m sure you’d do the same for me, Lilith.”

I smiled back. “Eh…
maybe not.”

Carlos said, “Lilith. You can’t go back to your house, so why don’t you and Ursula stay at my place
tonight. Maybe Brittany can give you a lift. She knows where I keep the key. Is that okay with you, Britt?”

“
Sure,” she answered, though not so convincingly. I supposed I could have done without my last comment to her.

“Why don’t you guys give us a lift?” I
asked.

“Dominic
responded, “Because we have to stay here and fill out a police report for the insurance company or they won’t pay for the damages to my car.”

Ursula
noted, “We did park under a tree to protect the paint.”

“Aw, did you?
Thank you, honey. I’m glad at least someone cares about other people’s property.”

“All right,
whatever.” I walked to the window and peeled back the blinds for a peek outside. The truck driver was still carrying on his interview with the police. I watched him assume a shooter’s stance and mimic the assault I made on the Escalade. He seemed rather convincing. I let the blinds close with a snap. “Listen. Ursula and I will have to slip out the back door. Brittany, you can pull around back and pick us up there if you don’t mind.”

“Why the back door?”
Carlos asked.

I made a face
at him as though I had just swallowed a sour grape. “I don’t like crowds. Is that okay?”

Chapter 16

Brittany dropped us off out front of Carlos’ house and
told us where we could find the key to let ourselves in.

“Really?” I said. “Under the
welcome mat? Isn’t that a bit obvious?”

She laughed. “Yes, but you have to remember,
we’re talking about Carlos. It’s never that simple.”

“What do you mean?”

“The key isn’t for the door. It’s for a lockbox hidden behind the doorbell.”

I
hooked a doubtful smirk. “You’re joking, right?”

She smiled back. “
If you ring the bell twice the button will unlatch and allow you to swing it up out of the way, revealing a small lockbox. Insert the key into the keyhole and turn it clockwise. A digital keypad will eject. Punch in the number, one-two-seven followed by the pound sign and the front door will open.

“
One-two-seven?”

“
Yeah, it’s his birthday, January 27
th
.”

“Okay, that sounds easy enough.”

Ursula and I started getting out of the car, when Brittany stopped us. “Oh, and Lilith?”

I turned back. “Yes?”

“If that doesn’t work, just try the doorknob. He almost never locks it.”

“
Nice,” I said, smiling. “That’s good to know.”

We waited until she
reached the end of the drive before ascending the front steps to the double mahogany doors.

I had only been to Carlos’ house once before, only
then Carlos didn’t own it. At that time, it belonged to a woman named Valerie Spencer.

Valerie was a member of Doctor Lieberman’s workshop, a group consisting of individuals
with aptitudes that transcended all dimensions of the paranormal. Of course, I was in that group as well. Unfortunately, what went on there eventually spilled way outside the realm of academic studies, ultimately costing many in the group, including Valerie, their lives. The house, therefore, had always held a dark invitation for me.

Carlos became familiar with the place while working
on a case with Tony that centered on the workshop. Its grandiose floor plan, marble embellishments and Mediterranean architecture appealed to his inner flamboyant side. I suppose that’s the reason he bought the house after winning millions in the Massachusetts State Lottery.

It’s funny how a house can represent one thing for one person and something entirely different for another. I think Tony shared my distain for the
home. He’d gone to Carlos’ house-warming party without me, but then never went back again. I think his memories of those old days, like mine, were too difficult to reconcile. For me, they still are.

Ursula and I took a quick tour of the
place to see what touches Carlos had put on it to make it his own. The answer, to my surprise, was apparently none. As far as I could tell, except for the name change on the mailbox, it was still very much Valerie’s home. From the exquisite wall paintings and lush live greenery to the fine Venezuelan artifacts, it appeared that Carlos hadn’t changed a thing.

“I don’t like this,” I said, leading
Ursula past the grand foyer and through the library toward the media room. “It even smells like her.”

“Who?” she asked.

“The previous owner. I swear, I think her ghost must roam the halls here.”

After reaching the media room, which was actually a small theater, complete with cinema row seating, surround sound stereo and a projection room
high up on the back wall, I began setting up for my experiment.

“
There,” I said, pointing to a lectern in the corner of the room. “Help me get that over here, will you?” We dragged it across the room and centered it in front of the movie screen. I adjusted its top to give me a level surface in which to work and then set the four evidence bags of ash out on top of it.

“Do you know what I’m going to do?” I asked.

“I know not,” she said with a shrug, “but thou art keen in thy purpose.”

“
Damn straight I am, and you’re going to help me. In fact, I’m hoping that Valerie’s ghost
is
present. We could use her spectral energy to assist us.”

“Will we be
engaged in séance?”

“Close. We’re going to make a thought form
, four if we’re lucky.”

“A thought form? Sister, I confess I know naught of such things
.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll tell you all you need know, starting with how
wicked cool they are.”

“
Be they cold to touch?”

“No, no…well, yes, actually, they are
, but that’s not why they’re cool. What makes them cool is that they’re nonphysical entities capable of independent reckoning.”

“They are ghosts?”

“In a way, I suppose. They’re two-dimensional ghosts.” I pointed at the blank white movie screen. “We’re going to make them appear on the wall there.”

“How shall we do that?”

I tapped the side of my head. “With our thoughts.”

She tapped hers.
“Of course.”

“
All right now, I think it bears mentioning that the beauty of conducting this with just the two of us is that it’s easier to focus our thought energy on what we’re doing. The drawback of using just us two is that there’s much less thought energy in the room to manipulate.”

“I see.”

“The last time I did this, it was in a room with nine other participants, the optimum number of people for such a sensitive endeavor. So you know we have our work cut out for us now.”

“I am ready, Sister. I shal
l fail thee not.”

“That’s the spirit…so to speak.”

I unzipped the first baggie and sprinkled its contents over the surface of the lectern. “This brown ash is all that’s left of Terri Cotta, guardian of the good earth.”

Ursula steepled her hands below her chin.  “Rest
thee well and merry part, Terri Cotta.”

“Rest
thee well and merry part,” I answered.

I drew a
picture of a sunflower in the ash using my finger.

“Although thought forms fall into a category of level three spells, akin to making a witch’s ladder, creating one requires considerabl
y more finesse. That’s because unlike a witch’s ladder, they are not merely instruments of stored or potential energy. As I mentioned earlier, these things are nonphysical entities. Once established, you have to allow the thought form to run its course. You got that?”

“I do have that.”

“Hmm…okay. I want you to take my hands, close your eyes and do as I do.” I offered my hands palms up and waited for her to take them. When she did not, I said, “Um, Ursula?”

“Aye, Sister?”

“Are you going to take my hands?”

She hesitated
some before admitting, “I cannot see them.”

“That’s because you closed your eyes too soon.”

I watched her crack one eye open and sneak a peek through a tiny slit before taking my hands.

“You good now?”

She smiled childlike. “Aye.”

“Okay then. We’ll begin.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, humming a low note and holding it as long as I could. By my second breath, Ursula had joined me, and together our blended harmonics carried on a wave as smooth as silk.

It turned out that being in a theater provided great acoustics for our purposes.
By our fourth chorus, our verses began to resonate, building layer upon layer and carrying on their own.

On the sixth
refrain, I could feel the vibration in the floor. A circular pattern of sound had established an orbit around us and was now feeding on itself.

We
continued; our voices and breaths consecrated in purpose, fueling a sonic wave that reverberated throughout the entire room. Soon the walls began to rumble. The ceiling shook. The chandelier above swayed in pendulum fashion.

I felt Ursula’s hands begin to tremble. I pulled them in
close, squeezed them, encouraged her not to let go, not to let the commanding wall of sound demand more from her than we could provide.

She reciprocated, nearly crushing my hand with her grip.
We raised our voices to the rush of wind that swept across our faces, ushering in the cold air that always precedes the coming of a thought form. The phenomenon was at hand.

“Open your eyes,” I said, and
we did. The wind ceased and the symphony of sound subsided. On the white wall behind Ursula appeared Terri Cotta’s thought form. I gave a silent nod for Ursula to turn around.

“Behold,” I whisper
ed. “I give you Terri Cotta.”

Ursula turned around and
gazed at the life-sized apparition on the wall. It was Terri, back at her home, playing out the scene that ended her life.

She
looked older than I had pictured, mid-fifties, perhaps. Stood about my height, as best I could tell, had brown hair, curly, shoulder length. She had a pleasant face with round cheeks and keen eyes that seemed to frown upon us as she peered through thick eyeglasses out into the theater. Yet, as Ursula soon realized, Terri Cotta was not looking at us. She was looking at an unwanted visitor.

“`Tis the killer’s eyes through which we see
!” said Ursula, after gasping lightly.

But I knew that.
Thought forms always play out through the eyes of the one beholding the last earthly images of the victim.

We both came around the lectern and approached the screen.
The lights burned bright in Terri’s house the night she died. A copy of the Salem Gazette lay open on the kitchen table. A cigarette burned in an ashtray nearby. The TV was on, but thought forms are visual records. No sound did we hear.

Terri answered her front door, perhaps believing the knock had
come from a friend or a neighbor. We read the confusion on her face. “Can I help you?” she said, though we only saw the words on her lips.

A
shockwave blew her back into the room. She fell against a coffee table and onto the floor. She tried to pick herself up, but then abandoned her efforts to cover her ears instead. Whatever the sound, it must have been excruciating. We could see it on her face, racked in pain, her body paralyzed in agony.

It was almost too much to watch, but it was over quickly. In a blink she was gone. Vapor filled the void
she once occupied. Ash outlined her body’s footprint. The two comingled lazily in a restless spiral, animated by an unseen energy force powerful enough to dim the lights throughout the house. A slurry mix of both soon lifted in a swirl of dense brown fog. Bits began to clump. Small pieces became bigger pieces. Bigger pieces became larger still. Soon, it was obvious. We were witnessing the affects of accretion, a process as old as time itself.

“`Tis a body
,” said Ursula, after realizing the gas and ash had formed the outline of a person.

“It’s Terri,” I said. “It’s her essence revivified.”

Vague features of Terri Cotta began to appear in the molded clay-like substance that formed before our eyes. I thought it might even come back to life, but then it suddenly popped like a balloon, scattered into a trillion bits and disappeared completely.

With that, the assimilation of Terri Cotta, guardian of the
essential Mother Earth, was complete. The image on the white screen faded. I glanced down at the lectern. The brown ash was gone.

I looked at Ursula
and she at me.

“`Twas a rude houseguest then, wasn’t it?”

I laughed dully. “Ya think?”

“Hath thou any
doubt of it now?”

“
About the assimilation?”

“Aye.”

“I can’t say I saw it coming, if that’s what you mean.” I gestured toward the screen. “I will tell you one thing. The killer is a woman.”

“And
thou knoweth how?”

I pointed two fingers at my eyes and then to hers. “
The killer’s viewpoint. She was looking up at Terri after Terri opened the door.”

“She was shorter, then?”

“No, about the same size. See, the killer stood outside on the porch. You remember when we were there yesterday; there was a single step up from the porch to the front door.”

“
Aye, about a half and four inches, I should think.”

“That’s right, about the difference between Terri’s line of sight and that of her killer
’s. On level ground, the two stood eye-to-eye.”

“
Mayhap the killer is a man of short stature.”

“
Uh-uh.” I shook my head. “There was something else. Just before the shockwave threw Terri back into the room, I saw a reflection in her eyeglasses. It looked like a woman with long dark hair.”