The Hidden Paths to Power (15 page)

“I swallowed my bile long enough, to call the dark mystic in Kansas; the one I told you about that Marcus and I generally keep an eye on. Of course, he wasn’t willing to be too helpful, but did say, one of their own has been making them jumpy for the last thirty years or more. He wouldn’t provide me with a name but commented that, this one managed to kill his teacher before being fully trained. After getting rid of the willies, for having to deal with a dark mystic, I grew concerned. It usually takes a dark mystic about sixty years or more, before their mentors can teach them any level of restraint. They are aware their actions put the balance at risk. It just takes that long before they learn any semblance of caring about it.

“Marcus has been looking into public records as much as he can. We’re certain Gilpatrick is a cover identity just like we use. There are patterns that we can search for. I’m sure you remember me mentioning, how tricky moving can be for mystics. I’m old enough and powerful enough, I’ve learned a spell or two that makes it easier, but it’s not simply like picking up and changing residences. Obviously a lot of work goes into building the casting rooms below. I’ll show you more about that the first time we have to move.

“The primary things we can look for is, the date when the property gets purchased, and for dark users specifically, when official complaints start appearing by neighbors, because of foul odors and yards that show signs of disease. When we find these, we find ways to get close to these properties. If it is dark magic, we start a full investigation to find who lives there. The casting rooms are built after the house is purchased and usually filled in before the house is sold. As I think you can imagine, some dark users don’t care, and after taking the tools of their trade out of the room, leave it for the next owners to deal with. That’s the next thing we look for; houses where the new owners pay the cost to have the rooms filled in. The people, who usually do this, don’t have a use for the room, and don’t want their children getting hurt playing in them.

“Unlike with the house Ryan grew up in, because his parents were killed and couldn’t stop whatever they were doing, the negative energy usually dissipates within a few weeks after they leave. That’s the next thing we look for; when the official complaints by neighbors stop. It isn’t an exact science but gives us a general understanding of where these people might be.

“Marcus came across the land record for a house that has been abandoned for the last thirty years but in all other aspects, fits the criteria. Neighbors complained of foul odors and the yard always looked sick, and a few complaints about late night activity that woke them up some times. The house was owned by a woman named Regina Compton. What I was doing yesterday was, researching why this property has remained vacant all these years. I came across an old news story about that house. I need you to brace yourself because some of the details are disturbing.

“The property was originally in the name of George Compton; Regina’s husband. It wasn’t until after they moved in that Regina met her teacher. I haven’t discovered who it is but given the shaky nature in the voice of the man from Kansas, I have my suspicions. He was in Colorado fifty years ago, which is when George and Regina Compton moved into the house. As a young newlywed, Regina was gorgeous and much admired by her neighbors. At first, George’s chest was filled with pride, he got to show off the prize he captured the heart of. That was until his wife started to turn distant and uninterested, like a woman who found something new to capture her interest.

“Regina met a new man and started having an affair. I’ll never get Samuel Perkins to admit it but when he lived here, his house was only ten blocks from the Compton residence. Roughly ten months after his wife started showing signs of pulling away from him, George started to investigate. When he caught his wife with her new man, he didn’t rage about it; he turned cold. Walking away from the room, he went to find his gun. George had a reputation as a good man. All his neighbors said he was quick with a helping hand and a friendly word to everyone. When he had his gun, he went to the front yard and shouted to everyone within hearing that his wife was a whore then shot himself in the head.

“Regina gained two black marks on her reputation. First, George was so well liked and respected, when people heard his shout, they believed him instantly. The second was, Regina couldn’t even pretend to be upset about his death. At the funeral, she was even seen to be joking with one of the other attendees. George’s brother was heard to shout publically that he would kill her, if he ever laid eyes on her again.

“Nobody in the neighborhood would hire her for a job. George had been a rising star in banking world, so she had gotten used her lifestyle, but couldn’t support it herself. She was also still taking lessons in magic, which meant she had other prices to pay as well. As I said before, dark users demand payment for the lessons. She had one resource that could give her a means to hide her magic use but also gather some income. The house she now owned.

“Regina contacted the State of Colorado and offered to turn her house into an orphanage. After the state sent out a social worker to inspect the house and found it pristine, the state hired her and her house, for a monthly stipend for her use, as well as for the children. I think you know where I’m heading but I need to finish.

“For the first fifteen years, Regina managed the house brilliantly. The children were well cared for, she found time for her lessons and found a way to be happy, though she still lived as a social misfit because of the stigma on her reputation. Then, the complaints started to come in from neighbors, about foul odors and her yard turning into an eyesore. The schools the children attended, started to notice odd behaviors in the young ones, and suspected abuse. When this was reported to the state, a social worker came out but found nothing, to indicate the complaints had any merit; though the man who came, did tell her, the yard needed to be taken care of better for the children’s safety.

“Four and a half years later, the police were called to the house, after someone heard a violent fight and screams coming from the house. Regina was found dead in a pool of blood, from a knife wound, and all the children who resided there currently, had been slaughtered. When the officers did the body count, they discovered one boy, a seventeen year old named Robert Vincent, was missing. As the police investigated, they found Regina’s casting room, which lost all its power when she was killed. Robert was never found. The stigma on the house, because of the murders of ten children, and the “devil worshipping”, has made it difficult to find anyone willing to buy it.”

I interjected a question here, “If this Robert Vincent was seventeen when he left, how would he have become so powerful? That’s assuming, he is the progenitor of those using the Gilpatrick name.”

“Once the power has been awakened, there’s nothing to stop you from learning on your own though it is harder. That would explain why Sam said, even dark users were a little jumpy about him. If he is Ryan’s teacher, he will be a little undisciplined in his magic use. I imagine, the only thing that keeps him contained at all is, there is no statute of limitations for murder, and the name Robert Vincent is still on the books, as being wanted for the murders at the house. Given the way we age, I have my suspicions about the young blonde man who was reported as being a part of the Gilpatrick household.”

“What about the older members?”

“They could be older dark users who took him in or any number of scenarios. These are simply guesses that we need to investigate. The signs of age are not an indicator, for how long a mystic has been around. Not all of those, who have the power awakened, do so young. I know of one man, who was sixty years old, before he was activated. He only lived for another one hundred seventy-five years. I’m fairly certain, I’m right about Regina Compton and Samuel Perkins. It would explain why he high-tailed it out of Colorado when Regina was killed.”

“How will we get into the house?”

“I have an appointment tomorrow, with someone from the real estate company contracted by the bank that owns it; which ironically, is the same one George Compton worked for before the tragedy. I’ll be presenting us, as developers interested in tearing down the house and building a new one.”

“Are you actually going to do that?”

“I don’t know. It depends on what we find and how the neighbors feel about it. The house has become something of a landmark in the neighborhood. It has a dark stigma, which inspires the kids in the area to makeup horror stories. It also serves as a reminder, to a few of the older people, who lived there when Regina did; and still live there; about the tragedy and if they aren’t careful, it could happen again.”

“The balance again, huh?”

“Everything is balanced. If it wasn’t, we would be in trouble for not doing our job.”

I turned to Marcus, “It’s time for you, to dish out the story that had you turning bright red, when Doriane threatened to tattle on you. You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to, but you and I will be working together for a long time.”

The color in his cheeks increased a little, “It’s not a very flattering story but may serve as another lesson for you, about keeping our life, to those within our esteemed circle. As I’m sure you can guess, my views on men, would have seen me killed in any number of horrible ways, had they been known. It’s still a risk but not nearly as much of one as in my time.

“It was three months after Doriane and I first arrived in Boston, Massachusetts. The year was 1897 and we had setup two houses because it was my testing to see if, I was ready to be let off the apron strings. Doriane had a dark user she was hunting, who was beyond my skill to help with, but we agreed, I could start living on my own. My very first night on the town, after my house was finished, I met a young man. He was gorgeous. The type that would have you and I tittering about, as we watched him saunter by, at a little outdoor café, which we need to do sometime.

“Of course, given my nature, I had to take it very slow before finding out about his desires but something in his eyes told me, he was looking at me, the same way I was looking at him. I’ll give you details if you want at another time but we started having a relationship a few weeks later. I was so infatuated that I started to ignore many of the lessons I received, about paying attention to behavior. I guarded my nature and protected my house but started to forget about casting out at times, for the presence of dark magic.

“I was confused and hurt, when the man I was starting to love, didn’t want to be near my house. I had blinded myself to the obvious, as I thought he was afraid to be caught being a man who liked men. I wasn’t experienced enough yet, to sense the presence of dark magic without actively seeking it. Doriane tracked me down because she ran into a little situation that was urgent enough, she needed my help as soon as she could find me. Doriane, as our teacher and the one to awaken the power in us, has the ability, when it’s needed, to locate us in a moment.

“Imagine her surprise, when she cast her senses out, to find me and seated next to me in the theatre, was the presence of dark magic. Immediately she came to investigate and discovered, I wasn’t investigating the man seated next to me, but having a relationship with him. What’s even worse was, he was the student of the dark user she came to hunt. The man, whose name I will not utter until the day I die, had been set to spy on me by his mentor.

“When the man seated next to me, saw the look on Doriane’s face, he thought he was dead in that moment, but our teacher had better control than that. It wasn’t him she was throwing the hard look at, but me. Without causing a scene, Doriane ordered me back to my house. She definitely left my date feeling very small before she followed. At my house, she ordered me into my own casting room and forced me to cast the vision spell. What I saw, caused me to want to chop my own head off. If I had continued to remain blind, I would have fallen in love and would tilt the balance too far within ten years.

“The man I was falling for, was a student of a dark user, who had taken himself out of the shadows and ran for public office. Had I remained blind, it would have been my actions that exposed magic to the world. What I saw was, Doriane coming to me five years after I started having my relationship, and when she told me about my man’s nature, I would go insane. I would begin hunting dark users without restraint, and ordinary people would see me blasting apart, any dark mystic I came across. While my own actions would put pressure on the idea that I was good, I would take out enough of the dark users for the world to become too good.”

I turned to my mentor, “How did you handle the dark user who took a public office?”

“I wasn’t there because he took public office. I was there because, I felt some of his private activities, were putting some serious pressure on the balance. I discovered while investigating, he’d been using some less potent versions of the dark-eyed lover spell that Ryan wished cast on you. His would have completely turned you into a walking mannequin, unable to do anything without orders, even take a piss. The ones Charles Milburry were casting didn’t take the free will away completely. They just made it difficult to resist the orders given.

“When I found his little secret den of evil, I discovered he’d been running a little side business in child prostitutes. He had five little girls, who couldn’t have been older than ten at the most. Each one was under the influence of the mild, dark-eyed lover spell. That’s why I didn’t find them caged or shackled. They waited in his little sick, pleasure palace, for the next customer he brought to play with the little ones.