First Destroy All Giant Monsters (The World Wide Witches Research Association) (12 page)

Either way, his aura as seen from the Ethereal was that of a seriously depleted, ill person. Who was she kidding? He looked near to death. She’d never, ever seen an aura that looked like it was drowning. The filament that was latched onto her life cord like a leach was wrapped around him like a burial shroud.

Amber would have shuddered if she’d had a body. Instead she contented herself with thinking,
Yeck
.

The thin filament was drinking her personal energy at a rate that left her living body shivering, but the mess that bound Karl Benn was a great gulping thing. Heavy. Old and ravenous. It amazed her that he was still capable of standing up unaided. What? Feeding an evil spider bent on destroying, no … eating the world?

No. Not just the world. The whole of the Ethereal Planes throbbed and groaned under the weight of this web.

What was it? What could possibly be drinking the universe? Not the universe but people. This was unbelievable. Obscene.

Not comforted by the thought she lifted up through the opalescent light.

When she had the time, and a body, she’d be terrified.

Beneath her now, she could see the web stretching out over most of the United States. One or two strands traveled away from the continent, but mostly the stain arched over the northern landmass.

Okay, not the whole universe. Not yet, anyway.

This was more than just Laurenville Books being the site of an evil spell. The web united and broke again and again. Hundreds of focus points over the U.S. Damn. What was this thing?

What sort of monster was she dealing with?

The previously gentle shimmering light of the Planes deepened and the universe rang as if a gong had been struck. A multicolored streak descended through the opalescent glow toward her. The streak separated and for a moment she was bathed in a rainbow. The colors consolidated into four areas of brilliant light. Amber’s spirit bowed as the Elemental entities – Earth, Air, Fire, and Water consolidated around her. Their flickering forms were too bright for her to look upon for more than seconds. She bowed her head.

As she’d told Smoke, if she met them she would be afraid.

Her aunt told her over and over again that there were Five Elementals, not four Elements. That the universe might be made up of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, but nothing changed, nothing happened unless acted upon by Spirit. Even if it was as little a thing as her own personal opinion. Her own small spirit could create ripples through the world.

How odd to be disappointed that her aunt was wrong. There were only four Elementals here.

Except. Except there was a warmth behind her.

Amber ducked her head, cringed, then turned just a little. Behind her, just a hair’s breadth behind her was the bright white glow of Spirit.

There was no face, so she couldn’t avoid its eyes. There was only the incredible weight of
Presence
. She didn’t know what to say, what to do faced with one part of the Universe’s perception of itself.

“
You’re late
,” echoed in her mind.

They weren’t words or sounds, not as she understood them, but she knew she’d been addressed by the Spirit.

Late? Late? They’d been expecting her? The Elementals –
the Elementals
expected her? Her soul shivered, and as she’d told Smoke, she was terrified.

An answer seemed to be expected.

“I made a mistake,” she forced out.

“
Apparently
,” was the reply. “
Now, what do you intend to do about it
?”

“Uh, I don’t know.”

The Elementals vanished, pushing her back, off of the Ethereal Planes to thud back into her body. She came upright, struggling with the pain of old injuries, the shuddering, slithering weight of the web entering her body, her soul filling her mouth with bile. She lay back down on her side, whimpering, struggling to keep from disgracing herself on her aunt’s floor.

Smoke came to his feet, the chime held tight, but stayed carefully on the outside of the circle.

“What happened? Did you see them?”

“Uh,” said Amber.

“What did they say?”

She curled into a ball, letting the solidity of the world comfort her. “Fix it.”

“What?”

It hadn’t been words, but she’d returned with the solid understanding of the Elementals’ message.

“They want me to fix it, but they didn’t say how.”

“Too much to expect, kid,” said Smoke as if they were discussing the incomprehensible assembly instructions for a birthday present instead of a giant monster. “We are supposed to be grown-ups and solve our own problems. I was just hoping for a little guidance. Oh, well.”

His calm acceptance was annoying. If she’d been physically capable of movement she would have strangled him. Instead Amber groaned and rubbed at her eyes. She still hadn’t been able to gather enough strength to rise from the floor, dismiss the circle. Instead she lay where she’d fallen, shivering with bone deep, soul deep fatigue.

“But it doesn’t help and I’m still tired. This, thing, that’s in me. The web. They didn’t say anything about what it is or what I’m supposed to do next. Or how to get it out. Nothing useful.”

“Kid, what did they say? Exactly?”

“First they said I was late. Then I … I didn’t hear the actual words. I just have this feeling that they want me to fix it.”

“That’s the way it usually is,” said Smoke. “They don’t have actual mouths, and you don’t have air or ears on the Ethereal.”

“They met with you,” said Rust. “That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Then they’re not mad at you,” added Manny. “You were afraid of that.”

“Maybe,” whispered Amber. “Yes. No. Yes, they are very angry with me.”

“If they met with you,” said Rust, surprising everyone. “Then they will let you reach out to them.”

“I tried.” Amber cast a narrow-eyed glare in his direction.

“No. Not like that. In this world.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They’ll give you strength, actual strength,” said Rust.

“That’s not a good idea,” said Smoke sharply.

“Sure it is,” said Rust. “Amber’s wiped out. Despite sleeping she’s exhausted. She’s too tired to sleep, too tired to work. If she can’t stand up she can’t fix this. Of course they’ll let her borrow some strength.”

“Okay, then it isn’t a
safe
idea.” Smoke folded his arms across his chest.

“Safe is not the issue here,” said Amber. “I have to fix this, whatever this is; therefore, I need to have enough energy to walk from one side of the room to the other. How the heck am I supposed to fight a giant monster feeling like I do right now?”

“Okay,” said Smoke. “Reach out to the Elementals and ask for physical strength.”

“How? And why would they give me anything? If they wanted to help then they wouldn’t have pushed me away.”

“You didn’t have your marching orders from them before,” pointed out Rust.

“How come you know so much?” demanded Amber.” You’re always saying you don’t do magic.”

“We don’t,” said Smoke, pulling on his flannel shirt and smirking at her. “Not anymore. But we were all practitioners of the arts before we gave our magic to your aunt.”

That caught her attention enough that Amber raised her head from the floor.

“You never said that before.”

“You didn’t need to know,” said Smoke. “Now you do. Listen, Amber. Most of the time when you’re casting spells you draw in energy from the people in the circle with you, from the elements, from life, the world, and then you wrap it up in your intention and put it out into the universe. Yes?”

“Well, yes. Roughly.”

“And your aunt always warned you that if you raised too much energy from a spell working you were to ground it back to the earth or else you wouldn’t be able to sleep. Also, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Well, she lied.”

“Huh,” said Amber. “Somehow, not surprised.”

Smoke grinned. “Under certain circumstances with suitable precautions, you can draw in Elemental energy and hold it in your body. It is a very, very bad idea to do it without good reason and to continue for any length of time or to do it more than once. You’re more than the usual amount of tired, so just this once, recharge yourself from the Elementals directly and keep the power.”

She considered this for a moment then checked. The circle was still in place. The quarter candles still burned. She had not dismissed the invoked elements.

“Okay,” she repeated. “Starting with …”

“Earth, for stability,” said Smoke. “You have to direct it carefully. Earth to support your bones, Air to fill your lungs, Water to fuel your blood, Fire, very, very cautiously, to fuel your spirit and determination. And I do mean careful. I don’t want you turning Rambo.”

With that chilling thought in mind Amber managed to climb up to a seated position then scuttled around on her ass to face north. Raising her hands above her head she said, with intention, calmly. “Element of Earth, grant me stability and strength.”

For a moment nothing happened.

“You have to reach out. Reach down. You know the rules; do it as if you’re grounding, but instead of shaping it for a spell just let it settle into your bones.”

Reach out. Reach down. For the first time in two days it was hard to get outside her body. After being attacked at the bookstore she’d gone around with the strange feeling that if she turned a corner too rapidly her soul would continue in a straight line. Now it took an effort to reach down into herself, then down, through her center, down into the depths of the earth. Down beneath the stubborn mountains, down through the soil that fed and supported. Down.

The earth beneath Five Corners stirred, familiar with the touch of magic, of witches and reached up to meet her. It recoiled, briefly, sensing the web, but somehow managed to avoid it, continuing on to link with Amber. She welcomed the soothing touch. Not hard or harsh or heavy but enfolding and nourishing. In the beginning. After a moment she noticed the sensation of dirt. It seemed odd at first that the sensation should worry her. She was reaching for Earth, after all. Dirt was part of the earth as well as Earth, the power. Then she “tasted” the contamination. The stain. The contamination that was the web.

She recoiled, pulling back into her own body, remembering only at the last to thank Earth.

“Now, Water,” came Smoke’s voice. “To strengthen your blood and heart.”

Water was not too far away. She could sense above the house that rain would fall just before dawn. A little friendly rain to feed the streams, satisfy the plants. The cedar lake just downhill from the farm house. Yes, the lake had been used for magical focus in the past and it reached out to her.

“Element of Water, free flowing one, sustain me.”

She hadn’t been aware of how parched she was, emotionally and physically. She’d been alone by her own intention in the most crowded, unfriendly city on the planet, intentionally avoiding her family, and her heart was aching and hollow. Water flowed into her, lifting her wounded soul, but not enough to wash the sticky filament away.

Amber sighed and turned to face Air.

Again the Element responded with satisfying speed and left Amber feeling a little light-headed and giddy.

Fire took care of that.

It barely waited for her invocation before tearing into her body, highlighting and attacking the bond between her and the mysterious, hungry web. It burned, hot and angry in her center, but the invader resisted. The element raced through her body, filling each cell with heat and fury, then retreated.

It wasn’t very soothing or sustaining, but it did make something quite clear to Amber.

She was in a shitload of trouble if the elements couldn’t shake her loose.

“Now Spirit,” commanded Smoke.

Amber opened one eye and squinted at him.

“Spirit, too?”

“All of them.” Smoke gave her a smug look. “And remember to be polite.”

“Okay.” Amber straightened her spine and lifted both hands straight up directing her will nowhere in particular, but thinking of the strange, overpowering glow she “met” on the Ethereal. “Spirit. Please. Sustain me until I am free of this … web monster. If you don’t mind.”

She winced; that sounded pathetic, but it seemed to work. There was no sensation as with the other Elements, but she felt better than she had for weeks. Better but still not normal.

“How do you feel?” asked Smoke.

She thought about it.

“Itchy.”

He laughed. “Okay. It’s safe to dismiss the circle. What are you going to do next?”

“I think … I think I haven’t the foggiest idea.”

“Sleep might be a start,” suggested Rust, yawning.

Amber turned to the nearest window. To her surprise it was pitch dark outside.

“What time is it?”

“Near onto midnight,” said Lightning.

“What?”

“You’ve been in soul-flight and meditation for hours,” said Lightning patiently.

“Do you think you can sleep?” asked Smoke. “It might be a good idea if you can. You’ve had a near concussion and you’ve been in soul-flight in one twenty-four hour period. Personally I think you should rest.”

“I think I can. I’ll read if not.”

“Fair enough and tomorrow …”

“Tomorrow, I think I need to go back to Laurenville Books.”

“Not directly,” warned Smoke. “This time you’ll, I dunno, just for kicks, just for the novelty value, why don’t you think first and plan.”

“Nasty,” said Rust as Amber stuck her tongue out at the eldest cousin.

* * * * *

It had taken Karl four hours to drive from the Poconos to Buffalo, New York. His mother was waiting and it seemed that she’d saved all her tears for his arrival. They didn’t leave his mother’s apartment for another hour while she wept herself out for the boy who had been like another son to her.

Then Karl had driven them to where Mike’s family sat Shiva.

Karl climbed out of his car and stared down the tree lined street. Hard to believe that a few short years ago he’d learned to drive a car here. Of course, he hadn’t been more than fifteen when they’d stolen Mike’s mother’s car and his father’s beer. Karl sighed, eyes focused on the past. His mother came around the car, took his arm, and walked him up Mike’s front path to where the grieving parents waited. Karl ignored the headache lingering behind his eyes as he walked up to the door that Mike would never enter again. Mike’s mother hugged him tightly to her as his father patted him on the shoulder, then they pulled him into the house. They passed clots of grieving relatives standing about, sipping drinks and nibbling on those foods that people insisted on bringing to funerals and walked into the comparative peace of the kitchen.