Easy Bake Coven: Book One of the Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries (30 page)

Vivienne
sprung herself forward with a cry and slammed against Victoria’s legs, knocking
her off balance. She fell to the wet floor with a thud.

Victoria
whirled around and kicked at Vivienne with her heels. “Help me.” She screamed
as loud as she could. “She’s getting free.”

Vivienne
ducked and weaved, as Victoria’s sharp heels came dangerously close to hitting
her face. She grabbed the rope and tried to lasso it around Victoria’s torso.

Victoria
grabbed hold of Vivienne’s hair and yanked back hard with a grunt. “Stephen.”
She screamed again. “She’s free.”

Vivienne’s
legs were still bound, so she remained at a disadvantage on the floor. She
frantically tried to unravel the rope. She yanked and pulled on the braided
cord, but it was no use.

Victoria
scooted back and got to her feet. She raised her arms in the air and chanted
something that sounded like Latin. One of the wine vats over Vivienne groaned
and tipped forward threatening to crush her.

With
quick thinking, she rolled backward just as the barrel came crashing down onto
the floor and split open like a ripe melon. One hundred gallons of red wine
splashed out like a crimson wave and swamped the floor with a foamy wet mess.

The
cloaked figure shambled into the room and appeared next to Victoria. “Kill
her.” She screamed in anger.

Vivienne,
soaking wet with wine and still bound at the legs, could only watch as the
cloaked figure walked over the shattered cask and reached out with claw-like
white hands. Without thinking, she threw her hands up and repeated the only
spell she had ever used. “Tempus
Revocare
. Tempus
Revocare
. Tempus
Revocare
.”

The
liquid began to bubble as if it were boiling. The cloaked figure lurched toward
her, stepping into the foaming mess. Suddenly, the liquid swirled up into a
vortex-like shape and pulled the figure into its center. Wood beams floated off
the floor, nails flew this way and that. In a matter of seconds, the wine cask
re-assembled back together trapping the liquid and the cloaked figure inside.

“No.”
Victoria screamed in frustration. She raced toward the now intact cask on the
floor and tried to roll it over Vivienne. It proved too heavy, and she only
managed to rock it slightly back and forth.

Vivienne,
safe from attack for the moment, wasted no time in working on freeing her legs.
She frantically began to undo the knot. At last, the rope slipped down past her
knees and she was able to free her legs. While the cask barrier had given her
the time she needed, it now became yet another obstacle between her and
freedom. She tried to push it away, but had no better luck than Victoria had
trying to roll it forward. All at once, the lights went out and the door
slammed shut with a thud.

It
took a few moments, but Vivienne’s eyes began to adjust to the sudden darkness.
There were several pieces of electronic monitoring equipment that provided a
weak, yet useful light from their LED display panels. Working her hands along
the casks, she felt spigots on the lower end that could function as a foot peg
to stand upon. Perhaps she could climb over and make a quick escape? With no
time to waste, she raised her right leg up as high as she could and put her
foot on the metal spigot. Using her arms, she pushed against the cask and managed
to climb up enough that she could make out the outline of the door thanks to
the bright light behind it. It had to be the exit.

As
she leaned her weight against uppermost edge of the wine cask, her cell phone
dug into her side. She reached down and yanked it out, overjoyed at her sudden
luck.

 
But her joy soon turned to disappointment as
the phone was too weak to get a signal down in the cellar. She was, however,
able to use the screen as a flashlight. She continued to climb over the cask
and stopped when she came upon the pale white hand sticking out from the wooden
beams like a spigot. It looked to her as if the wood had grown around the arm
creating a water-tight seal. The flesh resembled paraffin wax, flat and plain
in the feeble light. Upon closer inspection, she was shocked to see that the
fingers and palm were completely smooth and devoid of prints or lines.

She
didn’t know what exactly the thing inside was, but she was pretty sure it
wasn’t going to get out. As she moved her other arm to the side of the arm, it
lurched forward and grabbed her. She let out a scream of terror but the icy
grip was painfully cold and once more she felt dizzy.

The
wine cellar faded away and was replaced with the hazy image of a brightly lit
bar area that was filled with colorful bottles of wine.

Victoria
was standing in front of her, a glass of red wine in her hand. “Stephen, I
can’t fathom why you are content with just sitting back and running your
family’s winery. Don’t you have any ambition to be something better?”

Vivienne,
much like what had happened with Suzette Powell in the holding area, realized
she was experiencing another vision of the past through the eyes of another.
Only this time, she was seeing it through Victoria’s husband, Stephen Clemens.

“What
is this lust for power all of a sudden?” Stephen replied. “I swear, every time
you and Mona Clarke spend time together you just come back more miserable.”

“I’m
not miserable spending time with her.” Victoria set her wine glass down on the
tasting room bar. “I’m miserable because I’m married to someone who’s happy
making a life here in the sticks.”

“We’ve
got money, Victoria.” Stephen argued. “More than most people in this area have.
But that’s not good enough for you, is it? I’m not good enough.”

“You’re
drunk.” Victoria started to walk away when Stephen reached out and grabbed her
roughly by the arm.

“I’m
drunk because that’s the only way I can stand to be around you anymore.”
Stephen raised his voice.

“Let
go of my arm or you’re going to regret it.” Victoria snapped.

“Mother
was right about you.” Stephen let go of her arm. “You only married into this
family for the money.”

Victoria
reached for her wine glass and tossed the liquid in his face. “And you’re a
little man who will never do anything except run a little business that his
parents created out in the middle of nowhere.”

Stephen
reached for the open bottle of wine on the bar but lurched forward. His hands
went up to his chest. “Victoria…” He grunted. “Can’t breathe…”

“Stephen?”
She suddenly flew at him with concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Can’t
breathe…” He dropped to his knees. “Call an ambulance.”

Victoria
frantically ran over behind the bar and reached for the phone. “I didn’t mean
to make you so upset.” She turned to face him. “You can’t die on me yet. We have
so much more to accomplish.”

Stephen
dropped to the floor with a groan and then went silent. His vision of Victoria
blurred.

Victoria
raced over to him and knelt down. “I need you still.” She whispered and took
his hand in hers. “I refuse to let you leave me like this.” She yelled.
“Stephen, do you hear me. I refuse to allow this to happen.”

The
vision faded to black and Vivienne found herself back in the wine cellar. Only
now it was illuminated with all sorts of black candles and she was lying prone
on a table. Victoria was dressed in a black robe and she waved her arms in the
air and chanted. She stood before a simple table that had a small cast iron
cauldron resting above some lit
sterno
canisters. “I
pull you from the darkness of death to do my bidding.” She brandished a small
knife and dragged it across her palm, drawing a river of blood which she
dripped into the cauldron. “I borrow thee from the realm of shadow and command
you to serve me.”

Vivienne
could only watch in horror, trapped inside the memories of Stephen, as his
re-animated body twitched and groaned. It sat up stiffly from the table and
swung his pale legs over the edge. “I obey.” The voice was raspy and garbled.

Victoria
grabbed a small basting brush off the table and dipped it in the cauldron. She
swirled it back and forth and then pulled it free, coated with a sticky
syrup-like mixture. “You will follow my orders without question or hesitation.”

His
head bobbed up and down. “I will obey.” The voice, low and sepulchral, had a
strange echo to it that sounded anything but human.

“Give
me your hands.” She commanded.

Stephen
extended his arms and she took hold of his hands and turned them palm side up.
She took the brush and painted his hands with the concoction. The fine lines
and prints sunk deeper and deeper within the pale flesh and then disappeared
altogether, appearing very much like the hands of a store mannequin.

Once
more, the darkness swirled around the vision and Vivienne was suddenly
transported to the dumpster outside her store. The voices of Victoria and Mona
Clarke grew louder as they walked down the alley.

“Victoria,
I don’t know why we have to look at the parking situation this morning. I’ve
got a very busy schedule with the bakery opening.” Mona’s voice said.

“The
sooner we address this problem the sooner we can move forward with the plan.”
Victoria replied as they both rounded the corner from the alley. “Boy, there’s
a real nip in the air today. There’s no doubt fall is coming.” She rubbed her
black leather gloves along her arms.

Mona
put her hands on her hips, the giant pair of scissors in her grip. “Actually,
there is something I wanted to ask you about and it may as well be now. It’s
something that’s been bothering me since last night’s meeting.”

“What’s
that dear?” Victoria asked.

“It’s
about that magazine article that Kathy
Hemmings
brought up.” Mona tapped the scissors against her leg. “My lawyer has been
doing some investigating into the situation and he informed me that the
publisher is under Fiona Meadows’ company.”

“I
had no idea.” Victoria’s eyes widened.

“Actually,
I think you had plenty of ideas.” Mona continued. “You see, there was a file
sent to that magazine shortly after I gave the interview. After some legal
pressure from my lawyer, the editor sent it as proof he wasn’t printing libel.”

“What
was on the file?”

Mona
set the scissors down on the pavement. “It was a follow up with the very quotes
that I thought they he had made up to sell copies. Only, these appeared to be
written by me.”

Victoria
eyed the scissors. “That’s strange.”

“When
I checked the date of the file, it just happened to be created the day you and
I spent in my home office going over the plans for the Main Street
refurbishment.” Mona explained. “So I can only assume that for some reason you
took it upon yourself to sabotage me. You created those quotes and you sent
them from my own email address so not to arouse suspicion from the editor.”

“Yes,
you’ve got me there.” Victoria nodded. “Frankly, I’m surprised you were able to
figure that out given how self-absorbed you’ve become lately.”

“Excuse
me?” Mona’s voice went up a tone.

“You
are so high and mighty you don’t even recognize someone you went to high school
with.” Victoria mocked. “Hello?” She tossed her hair with her hands.

Mona
shook her head in bewilderment. “What’s going on here?”

Victoria
continued. “We were on the cheerleading squad together at
Elmira Free Academy
.” She tossed her arms into the air with a
little cheer. “Go Blue Devils.”

Mona
eyed her carefully and then the spark of recognition appeared. “Missy Collins?”

Missy
nodded. “I was counting on you to be so into yourself that you’d never
recognize me. You made it all too easy.”

“You
look completely different.” Mona’s jaw dropped. “Why did you change your name?”

“I
had to because of you.” Missy replied. “You see, I never got my knight in
shining armor to save me like you did. After high school, I moved to New York
to try and become a fashion model but the competition was just too fierce and I
never could land a job. I was a little fish in a big pond. Before long, my
accounts ran dry and I was faced with the prospect of moving back to Elmira
with Mother.”

“We
all fall down from time to time. The moment we pick ourselves up and continue
is what truly defines us.” Mona added.

“Spoken
like a true politician.” Missy shook her head. “I had landed a full time job at
a small pharmacy in the city and was making just enough to get by. Making a
nice little normal life for myself and almost forgetting how bad things really
were.”

Missy
ran her gloved hands along Mona’s expensive jacket. “Then, one night, you blew
in like a diva demanding a prescription for your husband after hours. I said
hello but you didn’t even recognize me. All you saw was a tacky plastic name
tag and the stupid blue uniform. You got your way with the manager, thanks to
your new social connections, and left without even saying thank you.”

“I
had no idea.” Mona sympathized. “You should have said something that night.”