Me and My Ghoulfriends (31 page)

“That makes sense.” I eyed her over the top of my mug.

“To go against another’s free will means you will be subjected to the Rule of Three.”

“What’s the rule of three?” I eyed her curiously.

“The Rule of Three means you will attract something back to you three times as bad. Witchcraft is never about manipulation. Brianna should know that.”

That didn’t sound good.

“It’s about working with the energies of the universe to bring you what you desire. Like a beautiful, romantic and sustainable love from someone who loves, respects and excites you. As opposed to using it to specify that someone acts a certain way according to your will. This is not tolerated by the magical world. And Brianna will be dealt with accordingly for what she’s done.”

Well, if I could in fact trust Karyn, it sounded as if Brianna was in some serious trouble.

“If you need my help, then I can give it, but in order to break the spell, the magic must come from someone who truly cares for the person affected.”

I wasn’t sure what she was getting at.

“Which means?” I asked.

“It means you will have to meet with the coven and perform the spell while we help you.”

I swallowed nervously. She couldn’t be serious.

“I don’t think that would be such a good idea. You said yourself I couldn’t become a witch overnight, and frankly, I have no desire to become a witch.”

“All right. Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you, then.” She stood.

“Wait, so that is it? That’s the only way you can help?”

“Yes, that is the only way,” she said, looking at me as I still sat on her sofa. I wasn’t ready to leave just yet.

I hesitated. Well I had already performed it once. Of course, that was in the safe surrounds of my bookstore. But I guess she knew what she was talking about, or I hoped she did.

“Where would we meet to perform said spell?”

“It’s a secret location. I’m afraid I can’t tell you, unless I know you are completely serious about helping your friend.” Gosh, I halfway expected her to say she’d have to kill me if she told me. A secret location made me even more edgy. Let the nail biting begin.

Callahan’s kisses flashed through my mind and I could almost feel the tingle on my lips. I saw his amazing smile, and I knew I had to take my chances with the coven. If they had it out for me, then I would just have to fight. I was fighting for Callahan and what I believed was the right thing.

“All right, I’ll do it.”

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Me and My Ghoulfriends

Chapter 27

Meeting with the leader of the local coven had been a strange experience, to say the least. I’d been suddenly thrust into a world I knew nothing about, and to say I was confused was putting it lightly. Some people might find it bizarre, but I had lived my life in the little cocoon of seeing dead people and chasing ghosts, and I had never once thought about witches, witchcraft and all that it implied. Sure Bigfoot, UFOs and other unexplained events were on my mind sometimes, but never the witchcraft aspect of it.

Why had I put my blinders on at other paranormal events going on around me? I guess I’d never really thought of witchcraft as paranormal. I’d never thought of witchcraft at all. Apparently, my little hometown of Magnolia, Kentucky was a center of activity for the mystical and had its share of supernatural connections that I’d never taken the time to realize.

It was the following evening, and the time of my meeting with the coven had arrived. Agreeing to meet them in the middle of the isolated woods, just like Mindy had warned me not to do, might have been a bad idea. What was I thinking? I didn’t even know the people. I was just going on my impression of them.

That may not be enough. What if my opinion was drastically wrong? Sure, they seemed honest and normal, but how did I know for certain? The answer to my question was I
didn’t
, and that was a sizeable problem in my book. The situation was a huge predicament; it loomed over my head, and weighed on my conscience.

As I turned my car onto to the gravel path, my headlights were all I had to show me the next curve. A cloud of dust twirled around my car as I continued to my meeting with the unknown. My radio was faintly playing and I flipped it off out of nervousness. My headlights flashed across the area in front of me, and my heart raced when I saw the others were already there. Sprinkled along the side of the dirt road were various vehicles belonging to the coven members. SUVs, trucks, cars and even vans that looked like they belonged to soccer moms were the modes of transportation—no broomsticks in sight.

The stars were making their presence known, peeking out from behind the few clouds scattered in a sky that had just turned to darkness. If I’d thought wishing upon one of those bright twinkling stars would have gotten me out of the mess I was in, I’d have tried. Alas, I knew it wouldn’t help.

Standing beside her car, Karyn was studying the dirt path; I knew she’d been watching and waiting for me. Leaning slightly against her shiny sedan, she looked more like she was ready for a night out with girlfriends, instead of magic rituals, in her jeans and black sweater. Draped over her arm was a large black cloth, I didn’t know what it was, but I prayed it wasn’t the bag they were going to use to dispose of my body in.

I threw my car into park. Karyn twisted the corners of her mouth into a mysterious smile when she saw me staring in her direction. Pausing for a moment and inhaling deeply, I turned off the ignition, grabbed the car door, slid out and then approached her. If I could have walked slower, I would have.

“Hi,” I said with a shaky voice.

“Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” The tension was evident in my voice.

Karyn waved her hand and motioned for me to come with her. We hiked a short distance in the open surroundings until we came to the line of trees about twenty-five feet ahead.

“So we’re really going into the woods, huh?” This was it. There was no turning back for me.

“Yes, we’re really going.” She turned to give me a brief smile.

It was all so surreal. Carefully, we traveled down the path with the tall trees hovering above us, whispering in the stir of the wind. The branches of the oaks and pines were draping over us as if they were scrutinizing our every move from high above. Under our feet, leaves and branches crackled, and in the distance I could hear the faint howl of animals. I had no idea what kind they were. I prayed they were dogs and not packs of wolves just waiting to sink their teeth into us.

The situation I found myself in was different from those with ghosts and the occasional demons I’d dealt with before.
It can’t be any worse than my confrontations with evil spirits.
I tried to comfort myself as I continued down the path. As we moved along, Karyn whispered, “We’re counting on you to break the spell. You are the only one that can truly end the hex Callahan has
had
placed on him. He had feelings for you before Brianna forced him to be with her. So you’ll have to really concentrate on performing the magic.”

Great, no pressure there.
The man’s life depended on me.

I gave her a wide-eyed stare. “I’m not going to lie. I’m nervous because, as you know, I tried it before and it didn’t work.”

“As I told you, it takes true belief in the magic. I can help you, but you must do most of it on your own. Just remember, I will be with you the entire time. Right beside you. You have to believe in yourself.”

Her words didn’t do much to comfort me. I winced and continued down the path. Twigs and branches pulled at my feet with each step I took. An unexpected thorn snagged my arm, and I jumped and screeched. Karyn placed a reassuring hand on me and nudged me forward.

The path seemed to stretch on indefinitely. Suddenly, a trickle of terror sprouted in my stomach, and before long was consuming me. The fear of being led into their black magic trap washed over me. I felt like an insect being carried to a spider web, to be trapped and then devoured alive.

As the silver moon glowed through a patchy cover of clouds, the sound that disturbed me the most was the murmuring of the people gathered around, waiting for me to appear. I knew we were nearing our destination as the voices became more distinguishable. I had no idea so many people would attend, watching me and judging every move I made.

As we came to the end of the path, there was an opening. I could see a break in the trees and I stepped forward, and that’s when I saw everyone. All of the coven members whose voices I’d heard were now staring at me. I froze to the spot, there in the wilderness, and then Karyn grabbed my hand, pulling me closer to the audience.

I braced myself for any psychic energy that might come my way. I didn’t know what was in store for me. To my right, I heard a woman’s voice. I turned to look in her direction. She was a short older woman and her cropped stylish hair looked out of place in the surroundings. Wearing a sweater and pants she, like Karyn, also didn’t look like a witch. When was I going to drop the green skin and warts image I had in my mind of what these people should look like?

Karyn led me to my position and let go of my arm. I wondered if I could outrun her if I needed to. I eyed her up and down. She looked fast, with her long legs, so I concluded I’d probably lose in that race.

The older lady was now a few feet in front of me. In a low, courteous voice, she said, “I call to the powers of the North.”

Another voice on my right rang out. “I call to the powers of the East.”

Then another, “I call to the powers of the South,” and another, “I call to the powers of the West.”

A chorus of women’s voices rang out in unison, “Please join in our rite, do witness our pledge and grant us insight. Lend us your energy to this ritual that we work tonight. So mote it be.”

Wow, they didn’t waste any time getting started.

Karyn nodded at me, then said, “Place the salt in a circle and make it wide all around this area.” Carefully, she handed me the black velvet bag containing what I assumed, and what looked to be, salt.

My heart was pounding loudly in my chest as I clutched the bag and did as she instructed. Even as I did it, I still had my doubts. I wondered if I could trust her to tell me the truth. After all, she’d been friends with Brianna at some point. How did I know she still wasn’t?

This could be Brianna’s chance to finally get rid of me. For all I knew, I could be performing a spell on myself, and Brianna would have the last laugh, finally rid of me, just as she wanted.

Anxiety surged through me as I walked a circle around the area, dropping pinches of the salt as I went, just as I had been instructed. Hesitantly, I looked up at Karyn and, once again, she nodded in approval. Silently, she was letting me know I was doing exactly what she wanted me to do.

“Just as you did before, take your fingernail and trace his name on the candle. Then, place all of the candles around the circle, all six of them.”

Slowly, I traced Callahan’s name in the candle, shaking off the excess wax when I was finished. My breathing was rapid. What if I did exactly as I was told, and all of it still didn’t work? Looking around at the faces intently watching me, I made the same path with the candles as I had with the salt, at that point placing all of the candles along the circle. Goose bumps rose on skin.

“Now, light the first candle and, from that, light the others. Be careful, and don’t let the flame extinguish.”

With fumbling hands, I took the long lit matchstick from her hand. Gracefully, she moved back to her position, just outside the circle. I had to force myself to move and walk forward. One by one, I lit the candles I had placed in small dishes around the circle. The glow of the candles was casting an ominous-looking flicker around the ring of witches. Shadows filled the hollows of the faces, engulfing me.

“Now you must stand directly in the middle of the circle you’ve drawn,” Karyn ordered when I’d finished the task.

I took in a deep breath and moved back to the center of the circle I’d made. When I reached the middle my legs instantly seemed to be glued to the ground.

As I stood, frozen in one spot, the wind picked up, a powerful gust swooshed wildly around us. A rumble echoed on all sides of us, encircling us, and enclosing around us. My hair whipped madly all over the place as the wind grew and swirled dust and leaves as though we were now in the middle of a tornado. Only we weren’t moving. The wind wasn’t lifting our bodies as it would in a tornado, and the trees high above were still, as well.

I’d seen a lot of things while chasing ghosts, but I’d never seen anything like this before. I’d watched objects move on their own, and other unexplained events, but in that moment, it was like we were trapped in our own little world, out there in the middle of the woods. Far away from the bustle of the normal world. Amazingly though, the candles remained lit in spite of the intense wind.

“Larue,” Karyn shouted, above the noise of the wind. “Repeat the words I taught you.”

I paused, wondering if I’d get it right. I wasn’t a witch. How did they expect me to do this? I was a ghost chaser, a medium. They were the witches. Why was I the one doing this?

She’d told me, though, that I had to believe in order for it to work. I paused, lost in my self-doubting thoughts. I didn’t want to see Callahan as a zombie his whole life. If I couldn’t have him, that was fine, but he deserved a say in whom he loved. And I was determined to see to it that he got that say.

I heaved a sigh, and then caught my breath, letting it out slowly. Carefully, I wrapped my mind around the words we’d practiced, the words she had painstakingly helped me memorize. Karyn had comforted me saying it would only work if I believed the words, and that memorizing them would help with that.

What had I gotten myself into this time? Why was I always in these types of crazy situations?
Please let this work
. I let out another deep breath. It was probably obvious I was stalling, and I could tell everyone was growing impatient waiting for me to start.