Dance For The Devil (10 page)

Ramona looked shocked. “I was only joking.”

“I know that, you idiot. But
you gave me an inspiration. I’ll make him an amulet to protect him.”

Ramona considered. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. But how will you give it to him? As you wisely just pointed out, all you know is his first name.”

“I’ll worry about that later. With any luck, Jake will come looking for me, but if not, I can always try scrying. I’ve been practising.”

“Really? What do you use, a crystal ball?”

“No, too expensive. I found a wonderful fisherman’s glass ball on Long Beach a few summers ago. They wash in, sometimes all the way from the Orient. They used to be easy to find, but now with all the tourists... well, you have to be lucky and have a keen eye. Damn. If only I was home I could consult my Book of Shadows. I’m sure something in there would help make a protection amulet.”

Ramona spread her fingers. “Go, go. I’ll stay.”

“Oh...but...are you sure?”

“Positive, this inventory’s got to be done without customers milling about, and I can do it twice as fast without you moping like a demented Saint Bernard.”

“You’re too sweet.”

“You’re right, so I’ll take tomorrow off, with pay. It’s the least you can do for making me look at your sour face all night.”

Cari smiled. “You can have the morning off, I expect you in by lunch.”

“Slave driver.”

“You won’t be nervous being here by yourself, so late at night?”

“Nah, this ain’t exactly New York City. Any troublemakers hanging about and I’ll practise my Tae-kwon-do, and if that doesn’t scare ‘em, then my baseball bat will. That’ll teach the little buggers to play Halloween pranks on me.”

“Ramona.”

“Oh, I’m kidding, but don’t worry, I’ve got 911 on speed dial. Go on, get out of here. If I have any problems, I’ll call you.”

“Okay. You’re a lifesaver, you do know that?”

“Sure do, just don’t forget that sentiment when you make out my Christmas bonus.”

Cari laughed. “I never do, Romi, I never do.”

**

Cynthia sidled up to Gil petulantly. “You never let me have any fun.”

“You’re drunk and you’re disgusting.”

“I remember a time when you found me attractive.”

“That was before you got fat and started throwing yourself at every man within a two- hundred-mile radius. Really, Cynthia, you should get control of yourself before someone else is forced to.”

“Don’t you dare threaten me.”

“Consider it more like a promise.”

Her eyes narrowed speculatively. “Then promise me something I’d like – new blood. Jake’s perfect.”

“He’s not for public consumption.”

She decided to try charm, pouting sweetly, unaware that her makeup was running in greasy rivulets. “You never share your toys.”

“You can have him when I’ve finished with him.”

“When will that be?”

“Soon, Cynthia, but in the meantime, let’s get you another drink, shall we? The festivities are getting underway.”

“Oh, you old devil, what have you got planned?”

“Just what you asked for, Cyn, new blood. We’ll party tonight.”

**

Jake thought he heard a scream, but couldn’t be sure. He stood still, listening. Nothing.

He hesitated. Probably his imagination, or someone on the beach, fooling around.

Silence.

Better check on the kids, just to be certain.

Skeeter was already asleep, mouth wide open, snoring peacefully.

Amy was asleep, too, buried deeply under her covers. So deep Jake couldn’t hear her breathing. He crossed over, gently pulling back the flowered comforter. Instead of his daughter, he found a pile of clothing.

He flicked on the overhead light, panicking, looking for clues, eyes drawn to the window, ajar. She wouldn’t! It was too high. A fall from this height could kill her.

“Amy,” he yelled, crossing to the window, flinging it wide. He looked down at the tangled mass of limbs and hair that he knew was his daughter. “Amy!”

**

Cari spread everything on the bed, carefully surveying the contents. Although she had a good idea of what she was looking for, she consulted her Book of Shadows to be thorough. She was certain she would find what she needed to construct the amulet from her pile of treasures.

She cast aside an unusual stone. Like everything else here, the stone had caught her eye
at some point in her life, and she’d brought it home to her collection. The stone was a strange mix of jade and quartz, found near the crystalline waters of Cayoosh Creek. The stone, like everything else here, represented an item Cari felt she might need someday.

The collection was eclectic and diverse. To an observer, her horde would hold no connection between items. A mishmash: some bits retained for their sentimentality, others for their beauty
or rarity, still others for their sheer oddity. The bulk of the collection was gathered for no better reason than these items had compelled Cari to pick each one of them up, fondle it thoughtfully, and tuck it into her pocket.

It was difficult to make an amulet for someone she didn’t know. Amulets needed to be carefully planned, to be created with the personality of the bearer in mind. Sometimes a single item
would suffice, depending on intent. For this purpose, she decided to choose a mixture – hopefully covering all bases. Kind of like an umbrella amulet.

She sucked in her cheeks and chewed on her lower lip, finally selecting an old key chain, long broken. It was a cheap Hawaii
an souvenir, representing some Polynesian god... she forgot which one. No matter. The theology was irrelevant, but the shiny plastic eyes would protect against evil and promote good health. Perfect. The symbolism of the eyes, the
udjat,
was universal and had been used since the time of the ancient Egyptians... maybe even before.

A small bell, taken from a pet collar, would protect against not just evil, but evil magic, although at this point Cari couldn’t be sure that force was involved.

Some fabric scraps. Hmmm. Red for protection, pink for overcoming evil. Why not? Couldn’t hurt.

A sprinkling of angelica r
oot, not only to ward off evil, but also to encourage good luck in both health and family matters.

What was this? A dried up old beetle? Poor fellow must have crawled in here and died. She carefully wrapped it in the fabric scraps, taking it as an omen: beetles, too, protected against evil magic. A bit of overkill, but what the heck, might as well make this amulet as powerful as possible. Who knew that Jake was up against? She tossed everything into a gris-gris, a small cloth bag fashioned expressly for this purpose.

Cari stood up and stretched, stopped for a moment to scratch her dog’s head, then positioned the glass ball, sitting directly before it. She shifted slightly to get comfortable, allowing her mind to clear. She focused on the glass, seeing through it, willing an image of Jake’s face.

Nothing.

She repeated the process until she grew weary, then took a break to make herself a cup of tea. Daisy followed her into the kitchen, putting her head in Cari’s lap. “Go on, you old mooch, I’m not giving you a cookie. You’re too damn fat as it is.”

Daisy wagged her tail.

Cari sighed, then broke off half a cookie and gave it to the dog. Why did Labradors have such soulful eyes? “You’re very bad mannered, Daisy, it’s absolutely disgusting the way you mooch. You’re a shameless hussy.” Daisy answered by licking Cari’s hand. “Yeah, I know, chocolate’s my favorite too. Don’t tell anyone I’m giving you this, though, chocolate’s very bad for dogs.” Daisy wagged her tail again. “I agree, how can anything that tastes this good be bad for you? Okay, girl, time to get back to work.”

She settled in front of the fishing ball again, summoning Jake’s image into her consciousness, trying to remember the lines of his face, the dark curls of his hair. The clarity of the glass hazed slightly as an image began to appear. The lines were fuzzy and watery, as if one was without reading glasses. Cari concentrated further, keeping her body relaxed and her mind clear.

She jerked back suddenly, gasping softly as the image cleared. It was not the portrait she’d been imagining, nor a clue to Jake’s whereabouts. She blinked with surprise and the image dissipated.

Jake was in deeper trouble than she’d realized – the image was an inverted pentagram.

Cari thought for a moment, then carefully wrapped the glass ball and placed it up high, out of harm’s way. She returned to her bed, looking at the contents spread over the duvet. She needed to add one more item to the amulet. She needed to make a Sator Square.

With a fine-tipped b
lack pen and a scrap of paper, she slowly printed in block letters:

S
A T O R

A
R E P O

T
E N E T

O 
P E R A

R
O T A S

She studied her handiwork for a moment. The powerful magic of the ancient Sator Square would be the finishing touch. She slipped the square into the gris-gris. The amulet was finished. Now it was up to Jake.

Cari felt exhaustion wash over her like a fine-tooth comb. She flicked off the light and slipped under the covers, too tired to put away her treasures. They lay on top of her like guardsmen, glistening in the strong moonlight. Daisy slunk up on the bed, ears flat as she waited for Cari’s admonishment. When none came, the dog slipped into a deep, innocent sleep, untroubled by the images now filling her mistress’s dreams.

**

The Emergency W
ard at Victoria General was overflowing with Halloween revellers. Two men with knife wounds bled inconsiderately on the admitting desk as they continued their heated squabble. It wasn’t clear which man started the fight, but both seemed willing to persist for the benefit of the gaping patients. A sturdy nurse rang for security to keep the men apart until a doctor could stitch them up. Another man held his forearm gingerly, an apparent firecracker victim, with burns scorching most of his right hand. A toddler sat cradled in his mother’s arms, his Winnie-the-Pooh costume torn and muddied. Hit by a car, his mother explained, her terse face belying the calmness of her voice.

Three
hours later, with the clock ticking closer to dawn, an elderly doctor finally approached Amy, clucking like a mother hen as he probed her wrist. “Jumping out of windows, eh? Tsk, tsk. Where’s the sense in that, young lady?” A sprained wrist, he proclaimed after an interminable amount of poking. “But we’ll X-ray to be sure.”

Aside from some scrapes and bruises, Amy was remarkably lucky. The doctor wrapped her wrist in a Tensor bandage and gave her an envelope of Tylenol. “No more flying without your pilot’s licence,” he admonished, sending her on her way. Amy was too tired and too sore to acknowledge the lame joke. She wanted to g
o home, crawl into her warm bed and forget this entire night. She leaned against a post as her dad went to collect Skeeter.

“Amy?”

“Alex?” Amy opened her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s Elise,” Alex said shakily. He looked awful – pale and sweaty, his skinny body racked with uncontrollable shivers. “She’s... I think...she’s...dead.”

“What!”

“We went to the club... only it wasn’t a regular nightclub, just an old warehouse. At first it was cool, but then things got out of control. We were drinking tequila. First with orange juice, then straight, like shooters. Someone gave us something else to drink... I don’t know what.” He was babbling and Amy concentrated to make sense of his words.

“It was really fun, at first, everyone was dancing, making out, then they took Elise –”

“Who took her?” Amy asked sharply.

“Dunno. Couldn’t tell, but she was happy, giggling. Didn’t see any danger. Then suddenly she was naked, in front of everyone, up on a platform, and she wasn’t giggling anymore, just screaming. She kept trying to get away but they wouldn’t let her.” He started sobbing. “They raped her, Amy. Over and over, a whole bunch of them. I tried to help her but they held my arms, made me watch. Oh, God, Amy, they made me watch.”

“Oh, Alex, what are you saying?”

“I don’t know. My head’s fuzzy, I can’t think straight. I got to go, before they see me, before they catch me and kill me, too. I gotta get out of here!”

“Wait! What about Jason? Where’s Jason?”

“Don’t know.”

“Was he a part of it? Tell me Alex, I need to know.”

Alex shook his head, his throat swallowing convulsively. “It was so hard to tell, everyone wore costumes. But Jason wouldn’t do that to Elise, she’s his friend.
Was
. She
was
our friend.” Wild-eyed, he turned and ran out the exit door, into the black night.

“Amy?” Jake said, returning. “Are you okay? Who were you talking to?”

She turned to face him, then saw the two policemen, bearing straight for her. “Miss?” the younger cop asked politely. “The kid you were just talking to, did you see where he went?”