Possession (28 page)

“In hope of what?” I asked.

When she looked at me, the brightness had gone
from her eyes. She looked saner than I had ever seen her. “What can the gods do
for mortal men? The killer isn’t mortal anymore, but I’m sure his desires don’t
differ from those of mortal men. Isn’t it always the same? The hope is always
that the gods will bestow some of their secrets or some of their power.”

Luke was looking at me, probably trying to decide
if I believed all of this or was just humoring the old woman, but my face only
mirrored his confusion. I didn’t know if I should or could believe anything
Mildred was saying. She is insane. She was stuck in solitary, and just minutes ago
she was ranting that Wendy’s not to be trusted.

But I couldn’t deny that something about what the
old woman was saying made sense to me.

“What about… Why would he eat their hearts?” I
asked.

“You eat your enemies’ hearts to gain their power.
It’s not unheard of in some tribes. Even hunters, when they kill their first
deer, take a bite of the deer’s heart.”

“So he’s killing the people and letting their
blood flow in hopes that he will get the notice of his gods.” I looked over at
Luke.

It was Luke’s turn to shrug his shoulders. “It’s
as good a theory as any. The blood gives him power. Makes him stronger.”

“But he’s a spirit—” I started to say.

Mildred interrupted me. “And so is the man
standing next to you. But if he finds the right spell and takes over the
other’s body once and for all, then he’s not just a spirit anymore. He’s solid
flesh.”

“Maybe the killer is trying to come back.
Permanently,” Luke said in a quiet voice.

“Or maybe this maniac is just a nut job on a
killing spree,” I offered up. I wasn’t sure what to believe.

Mildred turned to me and said in a loud voice,
“Don’t mock me. You’d best be careful. He started out like one of you—a
death dealer.” She pointed at my chest. “If you aren’t careful, maybe
you’ll
descend into madness and become like
him.”

“What? The killer is one of us?” Luke burst out,
obviously horrified.

Mildred nodded her head. “A death dealer. Didn’t
you know? I thought you knew. Did I forget to mention it?” She started to walk
down the hall nonchalantly.

Luke and I stood there looking after her, stunned
expressions on our faces.

I caught up with Mildred, leaving Luke, who still
stood frozen in shock. “You think the killer was a death dealer?”

“I
know
he was, child.”

“But you never said anything about this before!”
Mildred could be frustrating, and I was never sure just how far I could trust
the information she gave me.

“Didn’t I? Maybe I didn’t know before. But I know
now. The spirits…they told me.”

“The spirits talked to you?” Mildred never said
she could talk to the dead.
Was
she
a death dealer? Or was she something
else entirely?

Her eyes went wide and had a wild look to them.
“When I was in
there
. I was in there
a long time, this time. I remember thinking that I didn’t know if I could make
it through. I remember thinking that maybe this time I’d completely lose my
mind. Then
she
came to me.”

“Who?” I asked.

A sad expression crossed her face, and she shook
her head. “No, it was the little redheaded girl. The one who they think killed
herself. The one who lived down the hall from you. She used to remind me quite
a bit of my daughter.”

“Sabrina?” I stared at her, unsure whether to take
her seriously or not. “Sabrina came to you and told you the killer was a death
dealer?”

“I think she did. Or maybe I dreamed it. I’m not
sure…” A confused look came into her eyes, and also a look of panic.

I patted her arm, exhausted both by the deluge of
information and also by Mildred’s quickly shifting moods. “It’s okay, Mildred.
You’re out now. Everything will be okay. We’re heading out to the woods to meet
up with—” I started to say Wendy’s name, but then changed my mind. I
didn’t want to hear another rant about how awful she was. “To meet up with a
friend.”

Mildred gave me a wild smile. “Oh, how nice. I do
love walks in the woods at night. Especially when there’s a full moon out. Is
there a full moon out tonight?”

“I don’t know,” I answered. I slowed my steps and
let Mildred walk ahead of me. I fell in step with Luke, who was trailing behind
us. “She says the spirits told her about the killer. Is she a death dealer? Can
she actually talk to spirits? She says she can.”

“Do you believe her? I know other varieties of
mage have some affinity for the spirit world, though their connections are not
as strong as death dealers’.”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “It could just be her
imagination. Or maybe they do talk to her.” There was no way to know.

He held out the small book we found on the altar.
“I’ve been flipping through it. I didn’t recognize the symbols and spells in
that room…” He tapped the book’s cover. “But this, this is my people’s magic.”
He stopped and opened the book. He pointed down to a page. “You said he took
out the victims’ hearts?”

“I felt my heart being pulled out in my vision.” And
I heard heartbeats in the air.

“But everyone thought the murder victims were
accidents or suicides. If their hearts had been taken, surely someone would
have noticed.”

It was true. Giant, gaping holes in their chests
would be hard to miss.

“Unless there wasn’t any evidence of removed
hearts.” He lifted the book. “This is a forbidden book. It’s very dark magic.
Magic that’s not supposed to be practiced anymore. There’s a spell in here that
lets you take out someone’s heart magically. You take the heart to gain power.”

If he could do such a spell, then the killer had
to be a powerful mage. As powerful in death as he was in life. “You think he’s
a death dealer? Do you think Mildred was right about the older powers, too?”

“I don’t know, but if the killer is taking his victims’
power, then he’s gaining more strength with each person he kills.”

“Then how can we stop him?”

An expression of helplessness crossed Luke’s face.
“I have no idea. I’ve no magic of my own in this body.”

“We’re running out of time. Our only hope is if
the spirits can tell us something useful. Something that can help us figure out
a way to stop him.” If Mildred was actually talking to the spirits in that room…
I called out, “Mildred?”

She stopped and waited for us. “Yes, my dear?”

“When Sabrina came to you, did she mention any
weaknesses the killer possesses? Did she tell you how we might stop him?”

“
You
can
stop him, child.” She was looking at me with big eyes.

“Me?”

“Of course. You have the power in you.” She
cackled. “It’s always the strongest ones that don’t realize what they truly
have.”

* * *

We snuck out of the asylum and walked through the gardens
toward the woods. If Mildred was hoping for a full moon, she was going to be
disappointed. Clouds covered the sky. It wasn’t storming now, but you could
smell the rain in the air. It seemed likely the storm would restart any minute.

Luke took the lead, shining his light back and
forth, and we followed close behind. As he swung it to the right, it shone
against the dull metal of the fence. I thought I could feel the charge in the
air that the wire gave off. The border of the fence made an easy path to follow
through the darkness toward the stand of trees. I said a silent prayer under my
breath that Wendy would be out there, safe and waiting for us.

As we came upon the woods, I saw a light shining
through the trees. I put my hand on Luke’s shoulder. “There. Over to the right.
The light—it has to be her.”

He changed his path and we followed him across the
grass. As we got closer, the light in the woods suddenly went away.

“Wendy?” I called out.

“Thank the Goddess it’s you,” she answered, turning
her flashlight back on. She was holding a white pouch. She smiled and lifted it
up. “I got them. Three raven feathers. It wasn’t easy. I had to ask a half-dozen
people who were not thrilled to be woken up in the wee hours—” She
suddenly stopped speaking when she saw Mildred.

“We found her.” I gave Mildred’s arm a squeeze.

The smile had left Wendy’s face, and now she just
looked closed off and cautious. “Great.”

Mildred pushed off my hand and hissed when she saw
Wendy. “You…”

Wendy’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t want any trouble,
old woman.”

“You were born to make trouble,” Mildred threw
back at her.

I stood in total amazement watching the two of
them. Were they about to get into a brawl?

“There are more important things going on. What do
you say to a truce?” Wendy held out her hand.

Mildred spit in the dirt.

Wendy pulled her hand back and her fingers
clenched into fists at her sides. For a moment, I thought they might charge at
each other.

Luke must have seen the same intent in their eyes,
because he suddenly took a step in between them and raised his hands. “Ladies.
I don’t know what’s between you two”—he looked from Mildred to Wendy—“but
Wendy’s right. There are more important things going on. There’s a madman we
have to stop. If we’re going to have any chance at all of stopping him, it’s
going to take all of us working together.”

Mildred and Wendy glared at each other.

Wendy unclenched her hands and whispered, “I won’t
cause any trouble if she leaves me alone.”

Mildred muttered a loud, disapproving, “
Umph
.”

What bad blood is between these two?
I’d thought Mildred was just on some
crazy tangent, but seeing Wendy’s reaction, I realized there was a lot more to
the story.

There was a rumble in the sky, a ways off. If we
were going to do this spell, we needed to get it done before the sky opened up.

“I had the vision over there.” I pointed to a
place a few feet away.

Luke nodded his head and looked up. “Let’s get set
up before it starts pouring.”

* * *

The Ouija board was on the ground. Three candles surrounded
it.

“Before, you had a half-dozen candles. Now we only
have three,” I said, as I placed the last candle on the ground.

“It’ll be enough.” Luke gave me a reassuring
smile.

Wendy handed Luke the raven feathers, and he placed
them
around
the board and gestured toward
my pocket. “You’ll need the medallion.”

I looked at him and realized he wanted
me
to do the spell. Of course—I
was the one with magic.

He was watching me closely, and a look of sadness entered
his eyes
.

I put my hand on his arm. “I’m sorry you don’t
have your powers.”

He gave me a smile. “Don’t worry, Colina,
everything will be okay. I’ll walk you through the ritual. The most crucial
thing is that you concentrate.”

I remember last time we did this. “What if something
evil comes through?”

“Then you push it back. You force it away.” He
reached up and touched my cheek. “You can do this, Colina. You have the power
to do this.”

I looked down at the board. I suddenly felt cold.
A raw, powerful fear pounded through me as I remembered what happened the last
time we did this spell. I wrapped my arms around my body. “But I never finished
the training.”

“True, but look at what you’ve been able to do on
your own. You brought me back.”

“I had help.
The
old mage—Walter.
He helped me.”

“He gave you the tools you needed, but you did it
on your own.”

I leaned up and kissed him. When we
parted,
I looked over at Wendy and Mildred.

Wendy looked embarrassed, but Mildred had a big
smile on her face. For a moment, I’d forgotten they were there.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the
medallion. I grasped it tightly in my hand. “Let’s do this thing.” I lowered
myself to the ground.

“You have to say the prayer first,” Luke said. He
came down next to me. Our shoulders were now touching.

“Remember that when you force a spirit to come to
you this way, they can become angry and upset.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “Terrific.”

“They do have physical powers. They can possibly
hurt you, scratch you, bite you…move things.”

My hand went to my cheek. Luke’s banshees had once
scratched me so hard I had welts. The first time we did this, books had flown
off a shelf, the table had jumped, and the Ouija board flew across the room.

He reached out and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry.
You can do this.”

I didn’t realize that I’d been holding my breath.

“You’re going to put out the call and beckon
whatever spirit you’re searching for to come to you.”

“Gloria Kincaid,” I whispered.

“You’ll have to focus on her when you do the
spell. Think of her name. Call out to her. The medallion still has some juice
in it. It will help protect you if something else comes through.”

It was the
something
else
idea that was so unsettling.

The board was as I remembered, wooden with a
polished surface. In the top left corner was the word
yes
. In the top right
corner was the word
no
. Below these two words were letters from
the alphabet. The letters were arranged in two rows, and each row was arched in
a way that created a half circle. Beneath the letters were numbers the one through
nine. There was no number ten, but there was a zero to the right of the number
nine. And below the numbers was the word
good-bye
.

The planchette sat on top of the board—a
heart-shaped piece of plastic mounted on three felt-tipped legs. At the tip of
the pointer was a transparent circle that showed the selected letter or number
beneath. I just had to put my fingertips on the pointer.