nancy werlocks diary s02e15 (4 page)

“Sorry, forgot. Just wanted to get this to you for your lover boy.” He hands me an envelope. “Besides, I don’t have a car and I was in Philly.”

“I would have sent Houston to come get you,” I reply as I open up the envelope and exit the storeroom into the main shop.

“Sorry.”

Eric is with me as part of an exchange program. Inter-college studies are one of the latest fads in arcane education.  The Council of Chancellors, in an effort to “encourage more inter-college cooperation and reinforce the spirit of community,” established the program to give adepts a chance to learn about other areas of magic. It was actually Houston’s idea to get an exchange student. I needed to hire another person for the shop and the applications I was getting were not up to what I needed. Eric lives in London, but the commute isn’t really an issue for a Traveler.

But Anastasia isn’t a witch, so we all have to be careful not to accidentally expose her to something she shouldn’t see that we can’t explain away easily.

I had given Eric an assignment. Lee niece will be performing in a Christmas play at his family’s church. He’s expected to attend. This is, of course, problematic for him as he is a demon.

If his parents attended a newer church, it wouldn’t be a real issue. They simply don’t perform sanctifications like they used to. And without a proper formal sanctification, it can take years for a site of worship to become sanctified on the strength of the congregation alone. I’m sure with Lee’s unique physiology; he would have been fine walking into a newer church. But the problem with Southern New Jersey is that it is overflowing with “historical” buildings, which, of course, includes historic churches. The church his family attends was built in 1886 and sanctified by an actual Seer when it first opened. If Lee even walks on the grass in front of that place, chances are high he could spontaneously combust.

Inside the envelope, I find Eric’s notes and copies of various scrolls and spellbook pages. “Anyone at the guild give you grief?” I ask.

“Evokers have something against technology?” asks Eric. “They expected me to copy those rituals by hand. With a pen.”

“Ye gods forbid!” I feign surprise. “Evokers are expected to scribe their rituals directly into their own spellbook. It’s tradition.”

“It's archaic. They loosened up though when I told them I was working on a project for you. Mention your name and they get all lovey-dovey.”

“You didn’t tell them exactly why you needed this, do you?”

“I might have mentioned you were looking to protect your boy-toy from the Wrath of God.” He smiles as I scowl at him. “I kid. I just told them it was a theory assignment. They didn’t push. I didn’t volunteer.”

“Good job. Now clock in and see what Houston needs you to do. I have to go review these rituals and see if any of them will help Lee.”

I go into my office and close the door. I spread the notes out and read through the rituals. Most of the protections also result in visible manifestations of magical power, creating glowing shields or flaming auras around the protected demon. Obviously, such things would be a major breach of the Veil. The few that have no visible manifestation, well…

Shroud of the Innocent is out of the question, as I have no intention of bleeding six virgins just so Lee can safely watch a Christmas play, no matter how adorable his niece is. Cloak of the Martyrs also isn’t going to be much help as there is no way I can get my hands on a saint’s relic on short notice. Those types of acquisitions require a four-month lead time and pre-authorization from the magus of the school of Theomancy. And considering that Houston’s mother murdered and consumed the soul of the theomancer who was investigating her alleged Ascendancy, I doubt Franco Magus would be inclined to help me anyway.

That leaves me with Affliction Ward, which is out of the question because I am not about to anchor Lee to a surrogate to suffer the damage for him, and Mask of the Vile. Mask of the Vile disguises a demon’s nature so long as it doesn’t use any of its powers or engage in violent behavior. Neither would be an issue with Lee. But the parts of the demonic nature that the ritual hides aren’t really part of Lee’s nature. Lee doesn’t feed off of human vices or try to lure humans into decadence and debauchery. He sustains himself on love from the people he has grown to care about. 

I know. Cue the unicorns and rainbows.

I can probably craft a variant of the ritual to shield him. We could test it before he actually goes to the play to make sure that it will work. I still have a little over a month to resolve this.

My phone rings. It’s Laurie. She sounds hysterical. It actually takes me a few minutes to realize what she is screaming into the phone.

“Get over here and sweep my house! There are wisps everywhere!”

“Where are you now?” I ask as I grab my jacket and head out of my office.

“I’m in the driveway. The neighbors are looking at me like I’m having a nervous breakdown.”

“Good.”

“Good? How is that good!?”

“Just let them think that. That’s better than the alternative. Where are Scott and Megan?”

“Scott had to go into the office for a conference call and Megan is at school, but she’ll be home soon because they only have a half day. She can’t see these things, Nancy!”

I grab my kit from beneath the register. “I’ll be gone the rest of the day. You guys got the store.”

“Everything all right?” asks Houston.

“I’m on my way,” I say to Laurie. “I’ll explain later,” I say to Houston.

“Hurry!” Laurie cries into the phone.

The wisp population has been ridiculous all year. For the most part, wisps are harmless but a nuisance. Mundanes can’t see them at all, though they may feel their presence. That tingling sensation on the back of the neck, or when goosebumps appear on your arm for no reason, or a sudden chill or heat flash; all of those of potential indicators of wisps in the vicinity. They feed off of strong emotions and multiply like flies.

Witches, however, can see them. Which means Megan could potentially see them. Which means she would start asking questions that Laurie does not want to answer.

I make my way to the house. Laurie is talking to her neighbor, who is feigning concern while being a busy-body.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call someone?” the woman asks.

“No, no! My sister-in-law is here, now. It will be fine.”

I wave. The woman looks confused. “I thought you said you saw a mouse in the kitchen?”

“I did…see a mouse,” says Laurie.

“Your sister-in-law doesn’t look like an exterminator.”

“Oh, no! I’m…I had a problem with squirrels. And squirrel babies…they look like baby mice. They are all the rodent family, you know,” I stammer.

“So you know how to get rid of squirrels?”

“Well, no…um...see, I told Laurie I would come over and see if it was a baby squirrel or a mouse. Because if it is a mouse, she’ll need an exterminator. But if she has squirrels, she’ll need to call animal control. They carry rabies.”

“Oh!” says the woman. “Well, that makes sense. Better to know for sure what you are dealing with. Laurie just seemed real upset out here, so I thought I should check on her.”

“And I appreciate it, Mrs. Riley. We need to go in now, though.”

“Well, let me know how it turns out!” she shouts after us as we go inside.

As we approach the door, I can see several anxiety wisps clinging to the bay windows. “Oh Laurie, when did you first start noticing them?”

“A couple of days ago,” she admits. “But it was just one and I figured it would die in a few hours, you know?”

“Laurie, you know better. You should have called me as soon as you saw the first one.” We go through the front door and, as if realizing why I was there, dozens of wisps scatter.

“I just…I hoped it would just
die.
”

I hand her a warding fetish. “Hold on to this and stay in the living room. It will keep them from trying to cling to you while I work. I’ll start upstairs and work my way down. This shouldn’t take long. I’ll be done before Megan gets home.”

“Thank you, Nancy.”

Forty minutes later, the house is wisp free. I’m the one that did all of the work, but Laurie is the one that looks exhausted.

“I’ll send Houston over tomorrow to set up a warding perimeter. That will keep them from coming back,” I explain.

“So what do I tell the neighbors if they see him traipsing around my yard doing, whatever it is he’s going to do?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell him to trim your hedges while he is here. For all anyone will know, he’s doing landscaping.”

“I don’t want to abuse him and make him do my yardwork.”

“He’s my apprentice. It is his job to be abused.” Laurie smiles weakly. “Hon, this house was overrun with anxiety, fear, and anger wisps. That wasn’t just a minor infestation. Are you going to talk to me or not?”

“I…I’m…I’m tired, Nancy.”

“Laurie, talk to
someone
, then. If not me, at least let me give you a referral.”

“Because nobody will think I’m crazy when I start talking about wisps and fairies and transmutation.”

“There are counselors who work with the witch community. People that you can talk openly with.”

We hear Megan’s school bus pull up out front and go outside to meet her. She’s carrying a brown paper bag full of birthday cards and little gifts she got from classmates.

“Aunt Nancy!” she rushes over to me and tries to hug me while holding on to her bag. My party doesn’t start until six!”

“I just stopped over to help your mom with some…cleaning.”

“Let’s get inside and see what you got there,” says Laurie. We go into the house and Megan spreads out her loot on the kitchen table. Lots of birthday cards. Some little bags of candy. A $5 iTunes card (who gives that to a seven-year-old?) And a little child-painted heart ornament that says ‘Megan and Paul’ in white paint.

“Who’s Paul?” I ask as I hold up the ornament.

“Um, my friend,” says Megan as she blushes.

“Oh, I know who Paul is,” says Laurie. “He’s that little blond boy you sit next to on the bus.”

“Yeah.” Megan’s shoulders scrunch up and she puts her head down in embarrassment.

Laurie tells Megan to go upstairs and get out of her school clothes. She takes the ornament from me. “I’ll just hide this from Scott for now.”

“Yeah, last thing we need is my brother hunting down some seven-year old boy.”

“I think Paul is eight.”

“Oh no! An older man! Scott will kill him!”

Laurie laughs for a moment, but then grows serious again. “So if I came by the shop to talk, you wouldn’t tell Scott anything I told you, would you?”

“Of course not. It would be in confidence. Just tell me when you want to come by and I’ll set aside the time. You even get the family discount. 100% off the regular hourly rate. No coupon required. Want me to stick around and help with the party preparations?”

“Nah, I’ll be good. Mom is going to be here in an hour and Scott will be home soon.”

“I’ll see you at six, then.”

As I leave, Mrs. Riley scurries over to me. “Is everything okay with Laurie?”

“Um, yes! Everything is fine. A squirrel…it got in through the back door. But we chased it out. I wanted to let you know, though, I think I saw it run into your yard. You might want to make sure there aren’t any openings on the back porch it can get through.”

“Oh…OH. Well, I should go check that now! Thanks for letting me know!”

* * *

I am so glad the party is at the house and not at Chuck E. Cheese’s again. It is also a much smaller affair than last year. Last year, there were like thirty kids and their frustrated parents rampaging around. This year it is just the immediate family and some of the kids from the neighborhood. Scott and Laurie were worried that Megan would feel let down with a smaller party, but if she is you can’t tell from the way she is hugging on everyone and talking about her pending baby brother.

“His room is going to be right next to mine, so I can help check on him,” I overhear her explain to Laurie’s cousin, Stella. “And I’ll be the big sister so he’ll have to listen to me.”

“Because your father always listened so well to me,” I say.

“Hey!” exclaims Scott.

“Was daddy bad?” asks Megan.

“Bad isn’t the word I would use,” I reply, giving Scott a knowing wink. “He was just…inquisitive.”

“Oh, here we go…”

“What does that mean?” asks Megan.

“It means your dad asks lots of questions. Like ‘why do I have to clean my room?’ and ‘why can’t I stay up late?’”

“That sounds like he was being bad,” she replies.

The adults laugh. Megan goes off to play with her friends. I see Laurie and her mother move into the kitchen. I casually make my way over to eavesdrop in the event I need to intervene. Darlene has not, after all, been supportive of their decision to not train Megan in magic.

“Why won’t you tell me what happened today?” asks Darlene.

“Nothing happened, Mother!”

“Laurie, I can see the residue. I’m not blind. Something happened.”

“Nancy took care of it, Mother. It was just a wisp.”

“One wisp? You needed Nancy to help you deal with
one wisp
?”

“Can we not have this conversation now? None of those parents out there know anything. If someone overhears something it will cause problems.”

“Oh, is that what this is all about? Putting on a show for the mundanes?”

“Mother!”

That was my cue. I open the door. “Hey guys, we need more soda!”

“I’ll get it,” says Laurie, not taking her eyes off of her mother. She grabs two two-liter bottles out of the fridge and leaves the kitchen without saying a word.

“You have impeccable timing,” says Darlene.

“I was listening at the door.”

“Not even going to pretend?”

“I like you too much to insult your intelligence.”

“At least one of you does. What happened to my daughter?”

“It was an infestation triggered by Laurie’s stress level.” I lean closer to Darlene and lower my voice. “And you aren’t helping her stress level.”