Earth (15 page)

“Deb!” the three of us called out in unison.
Deb’s head snapped up immediately and the ten or twenty people
around us went quiet and turned to stare at us. We all stared
resolutely ahead, right at Deb, refusing to acknowledge their
admonishing stares. I tried to convey a look of urgency on my face
and, luckily, she seemed to understand.

She nodded ever so slightly and then grabbed
a poor part-time employee who didn’t do too well with crowds and
pushed him in front of the customer she was trying to help. Deb
pointed to the back room where they gave tarot card and palm
readings and shuffled along behind the counter, making her way
there much easier than we were going to.

I gripped Steven’s hand tightly and pulled.
He did the same to Jodi. I turned my body and led with my right
shoulder and just started pushing. I heard the grumbling of some of
the customers, but I ignored them, continuing to cut a path to the
back of the store. In less time than it took us to get close to the
counter, we were stepping through the door that Deb held open to
us.

“And why do a group of children get special
attention over the rest of us?” An angry middle-aged woman demanded
of Deb when she started to pull the door closed.

“Because, ma’am, they have an appointment. If
you had an appointment for a reading, I would be stepping away to
help you as well. There is nothing special about this.” Deb always
sounded sweet, even when she was talking down to someone. The woman
tilted her chin up, not fooled by the tone, and turned back to her
friends.

As soon as I got inside and Deb finally
pulled the door shut, I doubled over, grabbing the table for
support. I took deep, fast breaths, expelling the noxious air that
I had to breathe with all those bodies. It had almost been too much
for me, like holding your breath underwater when the water is
swirling violently around you.

“Too many…” I managed to gasp, cradling my
stomach with one arm. Deb walked over to me, Steven and Jodi
standing out of the way; she placed her hands just over my
shoulders, but not touching me. It felt like she had slid her hands
under the collar of my coat, but I knew she hadn’t. She curled her
hands around something and pulled swiftly away from me, like
pulling a tablecloth off of a table. A gust of wind rushed through
the room with her flourish; she whispered something and then threw
her hands into the air, opening her fists.

I took one long, deep breath and felt a
hundred pounds lighter. “Thank you,” I moaned and fell into a
chair, my shoulders sagging with relief. Another time where being
an Empath totally sucked. When caught up in a situation with enough
adrenaline you could ignore pain and fatigue, but once you get out
of it, it all catches up to you and that’s exactly what was
happening to me now.

“Any time,” she smiled at me and took a seat
on the other side of the table and motioned for the other two to
sit with us. “I don’t know why this always happens. Those people
out there try to pretend this store doesn’t even exist most of the
time, but give them a good demonic scare and we’re more valuable
than their pastors or priests.”

“It’s stupid really,” Steven’s usual bright
face looked gray and moody.

“It really is,” I agreed. “They can buy all
the amulets, crystals, and sage that they want, but if they don’t
believe in them, they’ll do them no good.”

“Well, at least it’ll do something for our
revenue. So, kiddies, I take it that’s why you’ve come?” Deb looked
so calm and relaxed, it seemed out of place in the maelstrom of
people outside.

“Yeah. Do you know anything, or heard
anything?” I sat up straighter as I asked, Steven and Jodi
following my lead.

“Well, no one is sure who it might be, but
people are saying that they’re new people, not anyone who’s been
working up to this.” Deb stood and walked over to a table against
the wall where a coffee pot with hot water was sitting and started
to make us some tea.

“Wouldn’t we have noticed if new
people
moved into town?” Steven asked, putting special
emphasis on the word since we all knew she was referring to
individuals who performed magic or had special powers.

“Haven’t you?” Deb turned, one cup of tea in
her hand and walked it over to Jodi. “Here, this’ll fix you right
up.”

“Thanks,” Jodi smiled a tired smile and
cupped her hands around the mug, breathing in the steam. Deb was a
healer; she could feel sickness and injuries like I could feel
emotions. She knew exactly what Jodi needed without hearing a list
of her symptoms.

“What do you mean?” Steven asked, accepting
the cup of Green tea from Deb after I took mine.

“Honey, you three are better than that.
What’s the temperature today?” Deb asked, stirring her cup
idly.

“I heard it’s like around 48 today,” I
answered.

“Well?” Deb prompted.

“You think the people slaughtering the
animals are the same people causing the weather change?”

“Honey, when you mess with the dark arts, you
throw everything out of balance,” Deb paused to sip her tea. “So,
you throw everything out of balance and nature is going to
respond.”

“What is wrong with me?” I was staring
blindly ahead.
Why hadn’t I thought of that?

“Well, honey, don’t beat yourself up. After
all, it’s not like it’s July or anything. It is pretty close to
winter, so people just figured it’s the whole global warming thing
throwing the seasons outta whack.” Deb shrugged as if our
misperception was no big deal, but it bothered me, just as I knew
it bothered the other two.

“Ok, so, new
people
, what else? I
mean, does anyone believe the possible human sacrifice that idiot
cop mentioned?” I set my cup down, scooting to the edge of my seat.
Deb took a moment before responding, not looking at any of us.

“Well…” she started after what felt like an
eternity.

“Yes?” the three of us said in unison.

“Some of us have been casting for answers and
well…” Her brows knitted together, like she was searching for the
right words. “It’s like looking into a black hole.”

“What?” Steven asked before I could.

“We can’t
see
them.” She finally
looked at us, but her gaze lingered on me the longest, as if
willing me to understand. “We get close to where they are or what
their intentions are and then it’s like someone switches off a
light, they’re just gone.”

“Oh that’s just great!” It was like my
emotions were right at the surface these days and I was having a
hard time holding them back.

“What?” Steven and Jodi asked together.

“That means they aren’t freaking amateurs.
They aren’t stupid wannabe Goth kids trying to piss off their
parents! They know what they’re doing. They’re good enough to block
out a county’s worth of witches!” I was standing now, slamming my
fist on the table, and I couldn’t even remember when I had stood
up. Deb nodded in agreement before taking another sip. Steven and
Jodi had lost a little color from their faces, looking back and
forth from Deb and me.

“Well, now, just because they’re good doesn’t
mean they aren’t kids,” Deb corrected.

“What?” Steven asked again.

“Look at the three of you. People call you
kids and you’re three of the best I’ve ever known.” That was a huge
compliment coming from her.

“Oh good, well, let’s not try to narrow down
the list of suspects or anything,” Steven said sarcastically.

“Ok, so new
people
, screwing with
nature, probably just gonna get worse, may or may not be kids,” I
listed off a little angrily. “Anything else?”

“Well, there is the general consensus that
it’s all male energy that we’re getting.” Deb said carefully.

“Wait, if you can’t
see
them, how do
you know that?” Steven was leaning over the table now.

“We have someone on the inside in the
sheriff’s department. She’s let us know exactly where the crime
scenes are and people have been investigating the residual energy
there and everyone agrees it’s probably all men.”

“Wait! How come we don’t know where this is
happening?” I demanded.

“Because I don’t want the three of you
charging in like the Three Musketeers gone to save the day!” Deb
sounded very much like a mother just then.

“But we could be helping!” Jodi finally
interjected. I could hear her voice was stronger and she hadn’t
sniffed in over five minutes.

“No.” Deb’s voice held a tone of finality.
“We don’t know how many people are doing this and, while you three
are very, very good, you’re not going to risk your lives over
this.”

“But Deb, you said yourself your coven hasn’t
been able to do anything,” Steven said. “We don’t use Wiccan magic,
maybe we can figure this out.”

“No,” she said again, shaking her head. “You
may not be your average kids, but you are still minors. You can’t
expect me to just stand by and watch you guys risk your lives.” We
all stiffened at that; Deb wasn’t our mother no matter how maternal
she was and we couldn’t help but feel a little offended at her
telling us what we could or couldn’t do.

“Deb,” Jodi started, but I shook my head at
her to stop when Deb looked towards her.

“Ok, fine, Deb, you win today,” I said,
pushing my chair back under the table. “But will you keep us
informed if you hear anything else? Even the smallest thing? Every
one needs to be watching out for this.”

“Of course, Shayna, of course.” Deb watched
my face for a moment, a crease forming between her eyes. I could
feel her anxiety rolling off of her – she didn’t believe we would
stay out of this, but she also knew there was little she could do
to stop us. We all stood to leave, Deb hugging us each in turn. She
hugged me a little longer, lending me energy and power to reinforce
my shields to get through the molten mass of people on the other
side of the door. “Please,” she whispered to all three of us,
holding my hands, “Please, be careful.”

We drove straight to my house after leaving
Deb and the mob. Jodi called Jay on her cell canceling their lunch
date and rearranging for a dinner later in the evening. We stopped
inside to be polite, letting my parents know we were there before
stealing some food and drinks and making our way out to the tree
house. After opening the windows and pulling the food up on the
rope we had attached on the inside, I pulled a map of the county
out of my storage box and grabbed an amethyst pendulum that was
hanging on the wall.

We spread the map out between us and found
Ojai. I let the pendulum hang loosely from my right hand. Taking a
deep breath to steady myself, I forced myself to not think of the
point of the crystal and stared blankly at the map. Jodi and Steven
were sitting back on their heels watching expectantly as the
crystal circled slowly over the map. We were concentrating on the
idea of finding the location the slaughtering had occurred. The
crystal started making smaller and smaller circles, pulling harder
and harder on my hand. Dowsing with a pendulum is a delicate
balancing act of letting the pendulum guide you without
compromising it by directing it with your own intentions.

Suddenly, like an arrow shot from a bow, the
point of the crystal came to a stop on a spot on the map in a
wooded area of a public park. It was far off of the marked trail
for hikers and the markings on the map indicated it was probably
very hilly there. “Wow, that’s like a mile off of the trail,” Jodi
commented.

“Well, if you don’t want to get caught…”
Steven said.

“Still got caught. Twice.” Jodi corrected
him.

“You know…” I started, rubbing my chin with
my free hand.

“What?” Jodi prompted.

“Well, it could’ve been an animal that
interrupted them, but then again, if they’re new to the area like
Deb said, then maybe…” I chewed the inside of my lip thinking about
what I was saying.

“Maybe they aren’t picking well concealed
spots?” Jodi finished for me.

“Yeah.”

“That’s totally possible,” Steven agreed.
“But then, if they’re careless enough not to pick well concealed
spots, then who knows what they’re doing up there.”

“We don’t exactly pick concealed spots,” Jodi
said, looking back and forth between Steven and me.

“But we’re careful!” Steven protested.

“Even still, we cast on the beach and in open
fields!” Jodi continued, her voice rising a little.

“But we’re careful,” I said calmly. “If it’s
too open we have a look out. Otherwise we take precautions to keep
people from stumbling upon us; these guys don’t seem concerned
about that.”

“That’s true,” Jodi conceded.

“And we don’t do blood magic and they are,”
Steven said.

“And that’s what really worries me,” I said,
finally pulling the crystal away from the map and marking the spot
it pointed to with a pin.

“How can anyone be so confident, so arrogant
as to not worry about being caught? Do they think they’re that
powerful? That they’re above concealment?” Jodi asked.

“You know, I really didn’t think of it that
way,” Steven said, worry creeping into his voice.

“So you think they’re doing something to the
person or thing that interrupts them?” Jodi asked.

“I don’t know,” I was getting frustrated.
“That’s the thing! Whatever or whoever is interrupting them
mid-clean up, right?”

“Right,” they said in chorus.

“So if they were taking the time to do
something to it or them then they should still have time to clean
up. Unless…” I stood and walked to the window, looking out to the
orchards.

“Unless?” Steven urged.

“Unless they’re so violent and erratic that
they get consumed with dealing with the interruption that they just
totally forget what they were doing.”

“That’s comforting,” Jodi said
sarcastically.