3 Dark Energy (18 page)

Chapter 20

Mark, Helen, and Perry stood in a circle in the front yard and continued their work on the power center they had created five days ago. Light energy flowed between them and through the energy currents that were permanently entrenched in the yard. After while, a pleasant and buoyant sensation engulfed Mark’s body as was common when using white magic on a continuous basis. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement from the living room window as Alice occasionally peered outside to watch them.

“Okay, we’re ready to connect this new power center with the enchanted garden,” Mark announced.

“Are you sure? Maybe we should give it another week,” Perry suggested.

Helen and Mark exchanged concerned looks. They had both noticed Perry was procrastinating with the extension of the power center. There was no risk involved to the enchanted garden so they suspected Perry didn’t want to lose his sleeping companions. He had never seemed to recover from his brush with death. He refused to leave the enchanted garden except for brief periods of time to be in the house.

“We’re ready,” Mark said.

“All right,” Perry acknowledged.

The three of them directed half a dozen streams of energy from the new power center to the one comprised of the enchanted garden. After several moments, a rush of white magic surged into the front yard as the connection snapped into place like a puzzle piece. Mark, Helen, and Perry beamed with excitement over their accomplishment. Their bodies radiated with a white glow and shimmering blue sparks swirled around them and between them. The energy currents in the front yard became visible as silvery white streams of luminescence that reminded Mark of party banners.

“We should be able to expand the power center into the house now without any problem,” Helen said.

“We’ll wait until this evening for that, Josephine wants to be home because it may affect the curse,” Mark said.

“Do you think it will?” Helen asked.

“I really don’t know what to expect,” Mark said. “I’m never able to predict what’s going to happen with white magic.”

“It makes it kind of scary,” Perry commented.

“Don’t be afraid.” Helen leveled a compassionate look at him. “Everything has always turned out for the best with white magic. Even with the most dire of circumstances, it managed to save you.”

“Thank you for your assistance, Perry. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without you,” Mark said.

“I’m glad I could help.”  A pleased smile curved his lips.

A pressure began to build in Mark’s temple and he stumbled backward with disorientation. Perry and Helen regarded him with startlement and concern. A memory surfaced in Mark’s mind.  His great, great grandfather Charles Freeman had visited the family when Mark was nine years old to see if he and Maggie were ready to start work as apprentices. His sister was several years older than him and the two of them had been close at the time. Both she and Mark had dreaded the visit. Charles Freeman was one of the executive officers of Freeman Enterprises with a rock solid reputation for making sound business decisions and creating groundbreaking inventions. Mark’s parents had insisted that he and his sister both dress in business suits for the entire duration of the visit during the summer. One morning, Mark and Maggie hadn’t yet dressed in their formal attire and were playing a game of Chinese checkers in Maggie’s room on the floor. They were both donned in jeans and a tee shirt. Maggie flicked a lock of her silky, black hair away from her face and adopted a stuffy expression as she mimicked their grandfather.

“You must devote all of your waking hours to the cause. When you’re a zombie like me, that’s when you will make your greatest breakthrough,” Maggie said in a low-timbre voice.

Mark snorted with amusement before the two of them burst into giggles. Maggie’s bedroom door burst open and Cyril stepped into the room. He took in their casual attire with a severe frown of disapproval.

“Why aren’t you dressed yet? It’s nearly six-thirty in the morning and we’re all having breakfast at seven. Mr. Freeman has important business matters to discuss and you need to be there,” he said.

Maggie made a face. “We’ll be ready by then. We’re almost finished.”

“Put that inane game away and get dressed. Don’t forget to fix up your hair, young lady. This is an important opportunity for the two of you.”

Maggie began putting the pieces of the game away with obvious reluctance. When Cyril turned to leave, she stuck out her tongue at him. Mark covered his mouth to stifle surprised laughter. Cyril spun around and Maggie adopted an innocent expression on her face as she continued putting the game pieces away. Cyril narrowed his eyes at her with suspicion for several seconds before leaving.

“What a jerk,” Maggie fumed. “The last thing I want to do is work for Grandfather.”

“I can’t wait to have breakfast with Grandfather Charlie Horse,” Mark teased her.

Maggie giggled as she finished putting the game away.

She adopted a serious look. “I suppose we’d better stop thinking about fun things. We know they don’t like to see us smiling too much.”

After breakfast, Charles advised the family he wanted to work with Mark alone. Cyril and Elizabeth Freeman were beside themselves with excitement that he’d taken interest in their son for work. Cyril wasn’t yet clan leader and had aspirations to one day obtain that position at Freeman Enterprises. With a sense of dread, Mark followed his grandfather to the guestroom.

“Close the door behind you,” Charles ordered.

Mark complied with the request then took a seat in one of the three plush armchairs that occupied the corner of the room. Charles opened one of his suitcases which contained a wooden box that reminded Mark of a mini treasure chest. It was comprised of a leather lining and contained only one object – a crystal skull. Charles picked up the skull and gazed at Mark with a strange look in his eye. Anxiety clawed at Mark’s gut and his instincts told him to run out of the room before it was too late. However, there was no escaping whatever his grandfather had in store for him.

“Not very many people get to work with these.” Charles sank into the armchair facing his grandson. “This is an ancient magical device dating back to a time when there lived an advanced civilization far superior to this current time period. Their technology was better than anyone here can imagine but they were still seriously flawed.”

“How do you know so much about them?” Mark asked.

Charles peered at him with anticipation. “You’re going to be a category six when you grow up just like me.”

“I am?” Mark mulled this thought over with puzzlement. “But Maggie is so much stronger than me.”

“She’ll be a category six as well but I’ve chosen you.” His grandfather’s eyes conveyed a strange sense of greed. “Put your hands on the skull.”

“Why?” Mark eyed the crystal with a clear lack of enthusiasm.

“Just do it,” Charles ordered with sudden impatience.

Mark reached his hands out toward the object as slowly as possible. As soon as his fingertips landed on the crystal, a terrible cold seeped into his skin. He shivered as something powerful and heavy weighed down on his mind. Mark tried to pull back but his body wouldn’t comply. He was frozen in his current position hunched over the skull like a statue. Mark struggled to move but it was useless. Darkness crept along the edge of his vision as the terrifying cold and a pervasive heaviness invaded his essence. His heart thundered wildly in his chest and his strength gave out. He collapsed to the floor and lay on his side still clutching the skull in his hands. He could see Charles beaming down at him with a smile of glee on his face. Even though Mark could still see, it was like he was watching his grandfather from a great distance. He felt as though he was floating and could barely feel his body anymore. He wondered if this is what it felt to die. He’d never contemplated death much or seen it first-hand.

Surprise registered on his grandfather’s face and then his gaze turned contemplative. Charles reached down and plucked the skull from Mark’s hands. Instantly, Mark’s body began to normalize although he still felt very weak.

“You have the potential for something else. You may prove useful to me in another capacity,” Charles said.

He put the skull back in its box and pulled out a mini wand from one of the satchels in the open suitcase. Mark pushed himself into a sitting position with weak, shaky arms. His body trembled with fatigue as though he’d just run a marathon and didn’t have any spare energy.

“I can’t allow you to remember any of this.” Charles pointed the wand at Mark and unleashed an amnesia spell.

Mark returned to the present and his mind reeled in shock. The white magic that still flowed through him, protected him from feeling the full horror of the recovered memory but he still felt violated. Perry and Helen regarded him with troubled expressions on their faces. Mark explained what had happened and told them about the lost memory.

“Later that night, Grandfather Charles told everyone that he chose my sister as his apprentice. He said I was a disappointment and would need to work hard before I started working at Freeman Enterprises,” Mark said.

“I’m so sorry. Charles is a terrible man. What’s he doing now?” Helen asked.

“He actually died the day he was going to leave with Maggie. He had a heart attack.”

“How is that possible?” Helen asked. “How old was he?”

“He was one hundred thirty-seven.”

“That’s very young for a category six. We usually live over twice that age.” Helen gazed at him with sympathy. “I’m so sorry. What a terrible childhood you had.”

“That’s when Maggie changed.” Mark’s thoughts whirled as he thought about it. “She began to get real serious and focus on Freeman Enterprises right after that. She started helping me with restoration and memory enchantments. At first she spent lots of time with me but she always focused on practicing magic. She told me it was important to do something fun and that she knew I would enjoy those spells. She was right. It took us almost a year before I succeeded for the first time in restoring a broken remote control toy car that I owned. We were both excited and she was very encouraging. The only time she ever spent time with me was practicing magic. For some reason, after I succeeded a few times with those enchantments, she always said she was too busy to help. She was always so serious about the family legacy. She was like a different person. It was grandfather Charles dying that changed her.”

“Death changes everyone. Some people suffer far more than others,” Helen said. “Your sister didn’t adjust very well to it.”

“No, she didn’t,” Mark agreed.

“It’s a shame. It sounds like you two were very close.”

“We were.”

“Helen can be your sister now,” Perry suggested with a child-like expression on his face. “Kind of like a stepsister. She’s a very nice lady.”

Mark smiled with mirth and surprised laughter escaped Helen’s lips. Perry regarded them with puzzlement.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Mark said. “You’re just you and we love you for it, Perry.”

“Thanks,” Perry murmured as his expression turned contemplative. “I can’t help thinking about my own death since I took you to Seattle and tried to save us. I thought the dark wizard destroyed the enchanted garden and when I failed to create a power center in the woods that was strong enough, I thought I would die. I would have if you and Josephine and Helen hadn’t saved me.”

“Everything always turns out for the best,” Mark said.

“I was never meant to be born. I was an accident,” Perry said.

“No, you weren’t,” Mark protested.

“Yes, I was. You never meant to make me. You were trying to save Josephine from a curse. I was a random occurrence made from wild magic. Maybe I’m not meant to exist.” Perry’s hazel eyes reflected the anguish and inner turmoil that tore through him.

Mark’s gut twisted with sympathy. He’d known something was eating at Perry but hadn’t realized the extent of his trauma.

Helen pressed her hand against Perry’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “You’re very important to us. We love you, Perry White. Don’t forget that. In the grand scheme of things, you were meant to be with us. White magic found a way to make it happen.”

A mixture of wonder, love, and fear danced across Perry’s face. Helen leaned into him and kissed him on the cheek. Perry wrapped one arm around her and brought his other hand up to his cheek as his hazel eyes conveyed surprise. Helen slowly pulled back as she smiled at him and his arm slid down her back and to his side again.

“What was that?” Perry asked with confusion and awe.

“You looked like you needed it,” Helen said.

Perry cocked his head to the side with curiosity. “Why didn’t you do that to Mark earlier when he told you about his grandfather?”

“Because Josephine would have kicked our butts,” Mark said.

“Why?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Mark said with amusement.

“I’m looking forward to expanding the power center into the house,” Helen announced. “This is such a terrific accomplishment. I never would have thought I could do so much with source energy. We make a great team!”