Cat-astrophic Spells (14 page)

A
fter several hours
, I found myself starting to doze, which was not good considering I was stretched out on Aunt Astrid’s couch, holding a four-inch thick book in front of my face.

Outside, the sky had gone from blue to violet to black, and the clock struck once, indicating ten thirty.

“Are you sure a good, old-fashioned binding spell won’t do the trick on this one?” Bea asked, wiping her hair away from her face. She and my aunt had gone through two kettles of tea, and I had eaten three brownies I’d found in the back of the freezer.

“I’m just positive she’ll be expecting that,” Aunt Astrid said. “She has probably already put up her defenses and psychically bricked them over by now. We need to find something that will enable Cath to fight fire with fire. And since Miss Skala has crossed so far into sorcery with no real knowledge of what she’s doing based on her past handiwork, she’s going to play dirty. Very dirty.”

Dirty.
The word stuck in my head, and I quietly got up, setting the big book down. Tucked on a shelf between some bigger books was just what I was looking for. I’d seen it before. It was about thirty pages long and reminded me of the CliffsNotes some kids used in high school when they didn’t want to read a whole book. It was a classic witches’ spell book called
Light Magic
… because it was so small.

I stuffed it into my back pocket, yawned, stretched, then shrugged. “Oh, geez!” I thought fast on my feet. “I think I’m still a little nauseated from those witches’ vials.” My lie was lame, but it was all I could think of.

Both Aunt Astrid and Bea looked at me as if I’d suddenly turned green.

I didn’t say anything. I was sure they saw right through me. Then suddenly, my aunt jumped up from her seat, pushed aside the big book she was reading, and rushed over to me. “You poor thing. You’ve got to rest. You can’t have any distractions. It wasn’t smart of you to challenge this woman, but I know your intentions were to save Treacle and us.” My aunt tucked a few stray hairs behind my ear. “That’s why we’re going to help you. We’ll find a spell that will work, something that will keep you safe and maybe, just maybe, knock her out of the game.”

I looked deep into my aunt’s eyes and saw how worried she was. It tore at my heart. I never lied to her. It made my stomach fold over on itself, and I thought I was going to start actually feeling like I did at Brit’s place.

“Go lie down in my room. I’ll have Bea bring you some special tea and—”

“No. I don’t want any tea. Just a little rest. Maybe twenty minutes or so.”

“Take a little longer than that if you need to,” Be said. “We’ll be ready when it’s time to go.”

I couldn’t look at them anymore. The guilt was too much. I looked down at my feet, smiled, and headed off to my aunt’s room. Along the way, I grabbed a white candle and a book of matches from the side table in the hallway.

Once inside her room, I pulled out the little booklet and found exactly what I was looking for.

I said the words quietly over the tiny flame, lifting the spell to the four corners of the Earth and calling to my side a few familiar souls to walk with me on this scary journey.

I was scared for my family. More than that, I was scared for Treacle. He was out there, and I couldn’t tell if it was because wandering was his nature, or if it was the hocus-pocus that Jennifer had cast on the felines around town. He was a tough kitty, but he was no match for that kind of black sorcery. He didn’t stand a chance. And when it was all over, if she got a hold of him and did the horrible things she had threatened, he would just be left there, alone, dying, suffering, and wondering where I was.

My eyes clouded up with tears, but I continued my vigil, requesting the simplest assistance.

Once I was finished with part one, I tiptoed to the door and listened.

“Hmmm,” I heard Bea mutter. “What about this? It’s a chant to induce a sort of hologram. Cath wouldn’t even have to actually go to the clearing. She could stay here in a circle of salt, but Jennifer would see her, hear her, yet not be able to touch her.”

“Yes, yes, that sounds good. And here, look here,” Bea said. “Since her strength would be at a lesser level, she could summon a simple silencing spell that would shut that girl’s mouth for almost seventy-two hours. That would be just enough time for us to get a hold of her and make that muteness permanent. She wouldn’t be able to summon a waiter, let alone a cessation spell.”

“Do you think that would be enough? She is a murderer.”

“We just have to stop her and trust that the universe will deal with her in an appropriate manner. It will be out of our hands by that point.”

I shook my head. Why didn’t I know about this omnipresent spell when I was taking gym class in high school, where it really would have come in handy? But this was a different situation. Jennifer had threatened my family but had singled me out because of my cat… just like Darla had singled me out because something about me rubbed her the wrong way. I couldn’t just send my shadow to fight. I had to be there no matter what my chances were. Anything other than a physical confrontation wasn’t going to stop a person like Jennifer Skala. She thrived on inducing fear. Taking away her voice, even permanently, wasn’t going to deter her. I had no doubt she would retaliate.

I looked at the clock and saw it was nearly ten. I had to prepare, and if I was going through with meeting the class bully at the clearing by the top of the waterfall, I wanted to get there first. Hopefully, my little plan would work, and I could be back at my aunt’s house before one o’clock and tell Aunt Astrid and Bea that Jennifer was no longer a problem. I quietly cracked the door and listened again.

“Why would Cath accept a fight like this? Without us? Without our help? She’s never done anything like this before?” I could hear the hurt in Bea’s voice. It made me feel worse than the lying did.

Aunt Astrid replaced the teakettle on the stove for the third time. The click, click, click of the burner kicking on sounded like a cricket from where I was standing. “I don’t know what she could be thinking, but we have to respect it. Although we’re all family, she is still an orphan, and I don’t think she’ll ever not feel that desire to prove herself.”

“She doesn’t have to prove anything to us,” Bea said. “Why would she think that?”

“Because she’s so good. She doesn’t want to be a burden or a victim or anything less than a true Greenstone woman. No matter how stubborn that may make her.”

I’d heard enough. I had to leave and do this on my own. I quietly slipped out of the bedroom door, down the hallway, and to the front door.

B
efore I could leave
, I was confronted with Marshmallow, who stood there in all her puffed-up glory looking right at me. Behind her, Peanut Butter chased a rainbow prism on the ground that came from the lamp on my aunt’s roll top desk.

“And where are you going?”
Marshmallow asked.

“I’m going to get Treacle.”

Marshmallow purred quietly.
“Take me with you.”

“No. And don’t sound the alarm until I’m good and gone.”

“Is it dangerous… what you’re doing?”

“Yes.”

“Will you come back?”

“I sure hope so.”

Marshmallow rubbed up against my leg then stepped back, sitting on her haunches and looking at me through little slitted eyes.
“I’ll be right here when you and Treacle come home.”

All I could do was smile. I opened the front door, slipped out, and pulled it tightly shut behind me.

The air felt colder than usual, and I wished I had a jacket. I would like to think the cold was what made me shake as I got into my car, started it up, and pulled out of the driveway without turning on the headlights. Once I was three houses away, I hit the lights and the gas and began my journey to the waterfall.

I saw a calico cat peering at me from the area of the woods where Treacle had run. Was the calico just a stray, or someone’s furry companion out for an evening adventure? Or was it one of hers?

“It’s not Treacle. There’s still hope. That isn’t him, and as long as I don’t see him around, I can assume she doesn’t have him. And if she doesn’t, then she’s just a hack witch with a bad attitude.” The words sounded braver than I felt.

The dark street unfolded in front of me like an innocent set of rollercoaster tracks… the ones that led you up, up, up. They weren’t threatening. There was nothing scary about those bits of track. The view was usually very pretty until you realized those tracks had led you to terror.

“Come on, Cath. You’ve got a plan. Stop freaking yourself out,” I said out loud, hoping I’d listen to me and toughen up.

It usually took about twenty minutes to get to the waterfall clearing by car. If I wanted to play it extra safe, I’d park the car and take the path that, in the daytime, took about thirty minutes to maneuver. It was wide and well-marked, so I was pretty confident I would still get to the clearing before Jennifer with enough time to prepare.

I parked the car at a gravel turn-in where Wonder Falls Water Works vehicles and Wonder Falls Department of Streets and Sanitation trucks would park for their surveys and sometimes to nap. My car was barely visible from the street.

I grabbed a bottle of water that I had in the car and began to walk. The path was just ahead, and I was able to find it easily by the light from the streets. Once I was on it, though, the path became very dark, very fast.

The night was perfectly clear, and high in the sky, a beautiful third-quarter moon seemed to welcome the millions of stars around it. Stopping for a moment, I listened and heard a wild and comforting choir of crickets. I was ready to start running if the sounds of nature stopped, but so far, it was just a regular night. Within minutes, I heard the sound of the waterfall in the distance. With each step, it grew louder and louder.

Finally, I saw the slope in the path begin to level out, and up ahead was the beautiful, flat clearing where the river lazily drifted past only to pick up speed in the distance in its hurry to get to the waterfall. The water wasn’t that deep along the edges. Many people would stand on the bank in waders and fish. But the river did get deep in the center and at times, after the rains, the undertow would try to claim a victim or two.

Arriving at the center of the clearing, I knelt down. I began to finish the chant I had started at my aunt’s house. This was part two, and I needed my hands in the dirt of this place, some water to mix, and just a couple of ancient words that were pretty to say and simple in concept. I wasn’t looking for complicated.

I stood up, again greeting the four corners of the Earth with my hands covered in what was then sacred mud. I had one more step to complete but stopped dead in my tracks.

“Hey, who’s over there?”

I knew that voice.

No.

O
f all the
times and places, Blake Samberg had to show up then.

“Blake?” I said in a hushed voice. “Is that you?”

“Cath Greenstone?” I heard his voice and suddenly saw a spot from a small flashlight not twenty feet from me. “What are you doing up here at this hour?” he asked, strolling my way.

“I thought there was supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. I came up here to get a front row seat, so to speak,” I said nervously as the flashlight lit up almost everything around me. “But you can’t see a thing with that flashlight. Maybe you should douse it, you know?”

“No, you won’t miss anything. It’s next week. Actually, Jake said this was a good place for stargazing. I didn’t know you were interested in astronomy.” He shifted from his left foot to his right as he stood close to me. The soft glow of the flashlight lit his face, and I noticed what looked like a smile on his face.

“You have no idea.” I looked up at the stars that had helped me find my way home on more than one occasion, as well as fight a demon once. That was another long story for another time. “I think I’ll be going now.”

“I didn’t see a car pull up. Did you take the path up here?” Blake asked. He sure was talkative.

“Yes. I felt like walking, sort of taking the path less traveled, you know? But I think I’ll be heading back now.”

“Well, let me give you a ride.”

“No. That’s not necessary.”

“You don’t want to walk that path in the dark. You could slip and fall.” He shined his flashlight on me and saw my hands covered in mud. “Or did you already?”

I held them up in front of me, shrugging.

“Yeah, you know how clumsy I am. Just ask Bea.” It was all I could think of to say.

“All the more reason you shouldn’t walk back.”

“Look, I know you’re trying to help, but I don’t need any help.”

“From the looks of it, you really do.”

“This isn’t the time or place, Blake, for you to get all police-y on me. I’m a big girl. It isn’t a crime to fall in the mud.”

“Why are you getting so defensive?”

“I’m not defensive.”

“You sound like it.”

“Well, that shows how much you know. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to wash my hands in the water and be on my way.”

“Leaning over the banks at night is also dangerous. Let me get you a bottle of water from the car, and you can wash your hands with that.”

“Fine. If it will make you happy.”

“It would. Just wait here.”

I watched as Blake’s flashlight bounced along the ground a good couple of yards from where I was standing. Quickly, I hurried to the water’s edge. No sooner was I on my knees, bent down, and reaching for the water, than I heard another familiar voice.

“Isn’t this nice?” Her voice was low and menacing, like the growl of a hungry animal. “You get here early and bring the police.”

I whipped around and got to my feet. My hands were still caked with mud. I just needed a drop, one single drop from the river to complete my spell. But Jennifer had other ideas. I quickly stepped to the side to get myself in between Jennifer and Blake.

“He was here when I got here. Leave him out of it.” I tried to appeal to her logical side, if she had one. “He’s a cop. You don’t want to be known as a cop killer,” I said, making a design in the dirt with my foot.

“What is that you’re doing? Some kind of binding spell?”

If I lived through this ordeal, I’d be sure to tell Aunt Astrid she’d nailed that one. Miss Paranoia would have sniffed out a binding spell from thirty miles away.

“No.” I quickly glanced behind me in the direction Blake had walked. I still saw the light from his flashlight aimed away from me and in the trunk of his car.

“What are you looking for? Did you bring other people here, too? Maybe Brit is with you or your aunt. Who’s back there besides that cop?”

I didn’t say anything. I was trying to concentrate and find the right words. But when Jennifer stepped closer to me, I saw her face clearer than I’d ever wanted to.

Her cheeks were high and chiseled. Her mouth was covered in thick, red lipstick, and her eyes were plain, milky white holes in her face. I couldn’t help but gasp.

“I’ll tear you to shreds,” she hissed.

“Cath? You okay?” Blake yelled.

“Do not keep until the frost. Time to sleep when time is lost,”
I muttered quickly, pointing in the direction Blake had called from. Within a few seconds, I heard the gentle thud of a body hitting the ground. He was asleep. His catnap would last a little while and buy me some time.

“Your boyfriend?”

My cheeks flushed. Anger surged through me because I knew even in the dark, Jennifer could feel my embarrassment, and she enjoyed it.

But I had to stay in control. My plan was so simple, and all I needed was some water and a little luck.

I started to inch my way toward the riverbank but was frozen in place when Jennifer grinned a wide grimace of sharpened teeth. The moon bounced off of them and gave her an almost translucent look. She growled a low, feral-sounding grunt, and I began to shake.

“I’ll tear you apart, but only after I have my fun with that man married to your cousin.”

Jake. No!

“I’ll drive his wife mad. Hearing noises, seeing things, and late-night visitations from some of the more aggressive entities should send her off the deep end quite nicely.”

“You stay away from my family!”

“Well, aren’t you scary?” She waved her hand, and I felt as if I had just been punched in the gut. I reeled backward only to lose my balance and fall on my butt. I coughed and gagged. She came at me again, clenching her fist and yanking it in toward her check. I felt my hair being pulled by the handfuls, and I was dragged up to Jennifer’s face.

“Is this all you’ve got?” I asked. “I thought you were supposed to be some kind of super witch. All you’re doing is beating me up without using your hands. Any sixth-grader could do that.”

She snarled at me, her lips peeling back from her horrible teeth. Why had she done that to herself? I was reminded of the before and after pictures of drug addicts, except Jennifer depicted what sorcery did to a person. It was black, no matter what anyone said.

If Bea were there and took Jennifer’s hand, she would probably see the black legions in her brain… layers and layers of filth, clogging up her arteries and coating her organs like a parasite. But unlike a cancer or a tumor, paranormal infections are invited in. Jennifer had made an intentional transformation, and she was enjoying herself.

I was tossed another fifteen feet across the grass. I lay there panting, wondering what time it was and why the hell I hadn’t allowed my family to come and help. I almost laughed out loud at the thought, but it couldn’t get past the lump in my throat when I heard the most horrible sound.

Trying to gulp in air enough to speak, I croaked out the word. “Treacle?”

It was a quiet meow, but I heard it.

“NO!”
I screamed in my head.
“Run, Treacle! Hide. Don’t come here!”
But I got no answer.

“Aren’t you going to even try and fight back? Don’t you have a power of any kind, or are you one of those witches who can only make flowers grow or talk to animals?” Jennifer laughed. Her white eyes scrunched into half moons as her cheeks pushed them up.

I tried muttering a spell of confusion to get her lost for a few minutes, even seconds, so I could get to the water. My head pounded, and my stomach and ribs ached terribly. But when I muttered the words, I felt the psychic vibration as it bounced right off of her. I tried a binding spell again, which was all I could think of at the moment, but it also rolled off of her like raindrops on a windshield.

Suddenly, I was yanked to my feet. Jennifer held me by my collar with one hand. She walked toward the riverbank, and my feet dragged clumsily along the ground.

“Your family will probably find your body in a couple days. And you know what the autopsy will say? Natural causes. Who would have thought someone so young, so full of life, would have such a bad ticker.” She swung me over the edge, bending my back at an unnatural angle.

I looked around as best I could and saw a sleek, black form moving along the grass.