Earth (29 page)

“‘I hope this is enough for you to forgive
me,’” I muttered to myself, tracing a star with my finger between
the five points. Strangely I hadn’t sketched an altar. I noticed
that drawn on the five trees were not your traditional pentagrams
but rather the different runes that we had seen on the altar in the
first ritual. I shivered at the thought of Tracy trapped in the
middle of that circle and could taste the bile in the back of my
throat.

I had written notes on the bottom of the page
detailing the correct timing of the spell and its purpose. My heart
swelled when I realized I had written a spell to draw in the power
to enable myself to break through the circle of power that would be
called to trap Tracy.

“So I have no choice. I’ll have to enter the
circle before I can free Tracy…” Before I could do anything else, I
threw myself out of bed and ran full out for the bathroom, making
it just in time to hide my face in the toilet before I lost it.

When I woke up again, it was true dawn on
Wednesday. I had spent a few hours in the middle of the night lying
with my cheek pressed against the cool tile of the bathroom floor,
curled up in the fetal position around the base of the toilet. It’s
funny how, when you’re sick to your stomach, the bathroom floor is
the most comfortable place in the world. I had staggered to bed
when I was sure the vomiting was over and collapsed into the bundle
of covers and pillows, sleeping a wonderfully dreamless sleep. I
rolled over and stared at my clock. It was just after six o’clock;
my alarm hadn’t even gone off yet. I considered getting another
half hour of sleep, but I knew I was too keyed up with last night’s
revelation to fall back asleep.

I threw back the covers and got out of bed
after switching off the alarm. I wasn’t going to school today, that
much was certain. I needed to get to the clearing today in the
light of day and start working so my plan would be ready for
tomorrow night when we went to rescue Tracy. I tried not to think
of the possible outcomes of tomorrow night when I would have to
step into the circle.

My stomach was in knots while I got ready,
threatening all the while to revolt on me again and force me to go
running back to the bathroom. I knew I had the potential for power,
I knew I was talented, but if it was Ian I was facing, he was
physically larger than me and had a demon as back up. The odds were
not in my favor. I had a flash of Nick that night on the darkened
street and heard his cries as he clutched at his arm after I had
broken his collarbone and smiled. They were similar in size and I
had done just fine then.

As I sat brushing out my hair and staring
into my mirror, I tried to consider the possibility of facing
Jensen in that clearing. What if he had taken Tracy and Ian was out
there trying to find them, to stop him? My mind tried to reject
that thought, but I knew it was a possibility. I couldn’t yell at
Jodi for not wanting to consider anyone else if I wasn’t willing to
consider him at all.

I had already sent Jodi and Steven text
messages to let them know my stomach was upset last night so I
wanted to stay home and rest today so I could just head out to Ojai
when I left the house. I had taken my books out of my backpack and
replaced them with my journal, my new set of runes, some dried sage
and my last vial of consecrated water. I sighed, rolling the vial
between my fingers and watching the light play off of the glass,
wishing I had made more. But I liked to use rainwater for my
consecrated water and there wasn’t anything in the world that would
get me to use the rain that we had been experiencing this
month.

I knew all three of our ceremonial knives
were in the car so I didn’t have to worry about those. As soon as I
was ready I took off, leaving earlier than I normally would have if
I were going to school. Luckily my mom didn’t notice. The drive
into Ojai wasn’t as smooth as I would’ve liked thanks to morning
rush hour traffic. It took a lot of self-control to hold onto the
steering wheel without gripping it to the point of bursting blood
vessels in my knuckles or screaming at the windshield for people to
get the hell out of my way. The morning banter on the radio was
almost more than I could take, but I didn’t think to turn on a CD
for some reason. All of my attention had zeroed in on the task that
was in front of me and every extra second it took to get there felt
like a failure. Eventually, I pulled into the parking lot of the
park I was looking for.

Although it was still bitterly cold outside
it hadn’t rained again, giving the earth a break from the water and
letting the soil settle back down. I had dressed in layers, but was
sure to pull on hiking boots this time rather than the slick soled
tennis shoes I had worn last time. I put both Jodi and Steven’s
knives in my backpack, but I tucked mine into the sleeve of my left
arm. The hilt pressed against my palm felt like a splint for a
broken wrist, but I would be able to draw it out of its sheath with
my right hand if I needed to and it gave me a vague sense of
security.

Because of the weather and the fact that it
was Wednesday at eight o’clock in the morning, the park was
blessedly deserted. I had a small sense of dread at the thought
that, should anything happen to me, no one would know to look for
me, but there was no other way for me to get this done if people
knew where I was going or planning to do. Jodi and Steven would
have insisted that they come along, but I wasn’t sure the spell
would work correctly if there were three points of interest working
rather than just me alone. Tracy’s life was at stake and now mine
probably was too. The risks were too great. At least, that’s what I
was telling myself.

I was amazed at how long it had taken me to
get to the clearing the second time. The darkness must have played
tricks with my sense of distance when I had come with Steven and
Jodi. I slid on loose mud more than once without a tree or branch
to catch myself on. The knees and seat of my pants were slick with
mud that sent a whole new chill through my body. I pressed on and
the trees began to grow in size until they were so big around I
couldn’t wrap my arms around them.

Finally in the distance, I saw the true
thinning of the trees that lead to the clearing. I stopped just
feet from the edge of the clearing and knelt in the fallen leaves
and pulled my backpack around in front of me, opening it and
fishing out the dried sage bundles. I already had matches in the
front pouch of the bag. I pulled one out and struck it on the box
igniting the tiny flame and set it against the bundle. I had the
sage smoldering quickly after waving it around, encouraging the
smoke to grow stronger until the fragrance filled my sinuses,
bringing tears to my eyes.

I sniffed against the smoke, blinking back
the tears, and stood, carefully slinging the bag back over my
shoulders, settling it in place. I walked forward until my toes
were just at the edge of the circle. I pulled my knife free of its
sheath and gripped it tightly in my freehand, taking comfort in the
weight of the hilt in my palm. One deep, steadying breath and I
slashed forward, cutting through the magical shield held in place
by the invisible circle of power, and stepped into the
clearing.

I felt the edges of the cut I had made slide
over my head and shoulders and fall away behind me like a heavy
plastic curtain. The clearing looked the same as it had all those
days ago. A shiver ran down my back and goose bumps raised on my
arms. The power in the circle was trying to reach me, but I was
under it and it couldn’t touch me now. If I had taken the time to
think about what I was doing when I had brought Steven and Jodi
here the first time, I would have thought better about just
breaking into this circle. But then I had thought we were just
dealing with a group of rebellious teenagers and not someone or
something practiced in the dark arts.

I turned to look back at the trees I had just
stepped through and found the first tree that I had marked in my
book with a rune carving. I was facing the bottom most point of the
star that created the inverted pentagram in the clearing. I walked
right up to the tree and took a moment to re-sheath my knife and
then placed my empty hand on the tree trunk. The bark was cool and
rough to the touch. I pushed past that first layer and reached into
the heart of the tree and felt the burning sensation of pain and
anger sear my hand. I said a quiet prayer and waved the smoldering
bundle of sage in front of the tree and felt the heat receding,
fading out of my hand. It was still there, but not as strong. It
was working. I moved on to the next tree and repeated the breaking
spell and continued on until I had done all five trees.

I moved on to erasing the first layer of
power in the earth that had been laid when the circle was drawn and
then started all over again with the first tree. It took hours of
repetition and three ruined bundles of sage later before I could
finally lay my hands on that last tree and feel nothing but the
rushing life force as it drew water and energy back up into itself
from the ground beneath. I gave myself a second to revel in my
small success, sinking down between the roots of the tree and
resting against the trunk, listening to the life teaming inside. I
rummaged in my bag until I found the velvet pouch that held my
runes and spilled them out into my hand. I selected five different
stones, each with a symbol representing different things like love,
faith, and protection.

I crawled out of the shelter of the tree and
walked over to a thick tree next to the first tree I had started
the breaking spell on. I would create my own pentagram in complete
contrast to the one I had just destroyed. It would be a pentagram
of protection, like taking a ruined inverted cross and cleansing it
in holy water and hanging it upright again. I picked out the first
of my runes, choosing the one for protection against enemies to set
the protection spells into motion, and laid it inside the hallow of
the tree. I chose trees that already lent themselves to my purpose
rather than carving into their bark and causing pain and scars like
what had been done to the five trees I had just healed. I turned
and faced out into the clearing and began pacing towards a tree
across the way and just off to the right.

As I walked, I envisioned a line of power
cutting through the fallen leaves and grass trailing behind me. I
felt the energy pulsating just at the small of my back as I walked;
it was warm against the frigid air. When I reached the first tree
again, closing the final point of my star, a warm gust of air
swirled through the clearing suddenly, tendrils of energy reached
out to me like curious, searching fingers. It swirled around me in
a vortex, lifting me off the ground and surrounding my whole body
in a cocoon and turning faster and faster until every inch of me
was covered in the swirling magical air. My body ached to pull away
from itself joint by joint against the power that was consuming
me.

Instinctively I struggled against it, willing
it to set me back on the ground and release me, but with every
second I struggled it only gripped me tighter. My lungs contracted
as if trying to breathe through a fire, but there wasn’t enough
oxygen left in the air to get one good breath. I realized I was
becoming lightheaded and dizzy even though the swirling energy had
only lifted me straight up and held me steady. I could feel the
corners of my mind growing dark as the thought of passing out edged
closer and closer.

I closed my eyes against the vortex and
sighed out the breath I was holding, relaxing into the energy and
succumbing to its power, its will. Almost instantly, my mind
cleared and the sweetest, freshest air filled my lungs. My body
stopped trying to tear itself apart and eased into the cocoon of
power. It was dreamlike floating there in the center of my
pentagram of protection, wrapped in the warm embracing power of my
elements against the cold destroying power of the demon. I felt my
aura pulsate. As the vortex calmed and I inched closer to the
ground, my aura grew in strength and light. I was absorbing the
power into my shields, into me.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying in
the center of my pentagram on the forest floor where the secret
element of spirit hid, protected by the other elements of power. My
skin was tingling with the power I had just taken into myself and
in my peripheral vision I could see the glow of my aura as if it
were a tangible thing.

I propped myself up on my elbows and looked
around. It was the same clearing, but I realized the sun was much
farther to the west than it should have been from when I was caught
up in the vortex of power until now. It made me a little nervous
about how much time must have passed. Magic worked that way. You
think things are taking hours to accomplish and really you’ve only
been working for twenty minutes, but now ten minutes must have gone
by in a couple of hours. Great. I did not want to be stuck trying
to find my way back to the trail in failing light. I got to my feet
and hurried over to my bag and gathered my things. I took a few
moments to say one final prayer and seal the circle I had drawn and
thanked all of the trees that we would be using.

I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or
not, but another warm breeze glided through the clearing, rustling
the branches and leaves before it caressed my face. It was a pretty
nice gesture and a boost to my confidence. I turned and started to
make my way through the forest back to the trail before I lost all
daylight.

Chapter 17

The sun was slowly disappearing behind the
ridge of mountains when I finally came out of the forest. The air
was colder now and the thick hooded sweatshirt I was wearing was
nowhere near enough to keep me from shivering violently. My breath
came out in white puffy clouds and the sweat that had broke out on
my forehead burned with cold. I unlocked the trunk of my car and
tried to hurl my backpack in, but my arms were weak and I only
managed to drop it inside. I pulled the trunk lid closed and had to
try twice before I got the latch to catch. I was nothing but
spindled nerves and trembling limbs. I had forgotten the fact that
I would need to eat at some point in my haste to get out of my
house and all the energy it took me to hike in and out of the
forest was enough to make me hungry, but with the added cost of the
magic I had summoned and worked through, I was ravenous and running
on fumes.