The Trouble With Spells (8 page)

Mom clapped her
hands together in excitement. “Isn’t it great?” she said, smiling.

I wasn’t sure if
my facial expression was giving anything away as I nodded in horror, trying to
keep my fake grin in place. Should I be excited about a granny motorcycle?

“We know how much
you wanted a car, but this was something we could really afford, and they’re so
easy to drive,” my mom prattled on gushingly. “As soon as you get your license,
you can start driving it to school every day!”

I couldn’t deflate
her excitement. “Mom, words could not possibly express to you what I’m feeling
at this moment.”

“Oh! I knew you’d
like it!” She threw her arms around me in a giant bear hug. “She likes it,
Sean!” she called out the window to my dad.

A lovely picture
flew into my head of Vance Mangum on his massive beast of a motorcycle, and
then suddenly there I was next to him on my little green moped.

I laughed so hard
I cried.

Chapter 6

I hung my head
over my book, pretending to read Shakespeare’s
Hamlet
,
in my
English Lit class. My thoughts, however, kept drifting back to the previous
night.

I had been
inducted into the coven. I’d watched with amazement as Grandma cast a circle,
and the whole group called the elements. Then a candle representing unity was
lit on the center of the table.

After that I was
presented to the entire group again, only this time I called them by name back
and kissed their knuckles, while whispering the Blessed Be incantation. Then I
was placed in a spot next to Vance. A chalice was passed around and everyone
took a sip of the wine inside.

When that was
done, my Dad explained how God created the Earth and we’re to respect the
things on it, both spiritually as well as physically. He said when we use the
things the Earth provides for us in a proper manner, we surround ourselves with
the powers of creation and goodness. If we misuse the things we’ve been given,
it calls forth a dark magic that can overtake us.

Grandma then
explained the Law of Three, saying how we’re blessed when we use good magic. She
also explained how sometimes the consequences of our magic may not show up
immediately
,
so we should always be careful in what we do because the
results of our magic can be far-reaching.

When they were
done explaining things to me, the group began discussing Vance and his father.

Grandma filled me
in on how Vance had been raised by a powerful warlock. They did not speak the
name of his father, because they did not want to call his dark energy to them.

My dad said he’d
been observing Vance’s dad from a distance. He felt that he was still
desperately looking for Vance but hadn’t found his location.

Grandma explained
to me in detail the story of how Vance had begun to manifest his magic at an
early age. His father was delighted and had begun using him in their rituals.

Vance’s mother
noticed through the next few years his dad would often disappear with Vance for
long periods of time, several times a week. She started to wonder what was
going on and began to watch them closer.

She began to
question Vance about what the pair of them were doing when they disappeared
together. He would tell her about going to get ice cream, or going to movies
and such, and it seemed like father and son were having a great time bonding
with one another. But his mother just couldn’t shake the bad feelings she was
having, so she decided to follow them on their next outing.

She tailed them to
a wooded area on the outskirts of town, staying quite a distance behind them to
avoid detection as they walked through the trees to a small clearing.

His mom watched as
his father cast a circle and called dark elements in around him. She was
horrified when she saw him put Vance into a trace. Then he took his athame and
sliced into the young boy at the wrist. He filled a chalice with Vance’s blood
before sealing the wound over again. Then he drank the blood.

Vance’s mother ran
back through the woods. She jumped into her car and raced back home. She ran
inside, throwing some of her and Vance’s belongings into a suitcase, carrying
it out and placing it in the trunk of the car. Then she waited for them to come
back home, pretending she’d been busy cleaning while they were gone.

His mom called out
happily to them from the sink full of dishes she was washing
when they
returned. Vance bounded up to her, telling her about the great excursion they’d
had at the zoo. His mother laughed at his stories and told him she was glad they
had a good time.

Vance’s dad told
his mother he would be away at a meeting for work that evening. She smiled and
said that was fine, telling him she would try to have dinner ready for him when
he got home.

As soon as Vance’s
dad was gone, his mom asked him if he’d like to go out to eat with her. He
excitedly went out and hopped into the car. His mother stopped at their
favorite fast food drive-through and picked up some burgers for them. Next they
stopped at the bank where she cleared out her bank accounts. Then she started
driving.

When Vance awoke
the next morning they were in a different city far from their home. His mother
had driven all night long. She checked them into a hotel with cash, trying not
to leave a trail. She used her magic to show Vance what his father had really
been doing to him.

After that, they
kept moving from city to city trying to avoid being caught by his dad. His
father came close to capturing them a couple of times, but they managed to get
away. Finally, his mother met Marsha and begged her to take her son.

Grandma explained
to me that Vance was a very powerful warlock, and by drinking his blood his
father was adding to his own strength. She also explained as this exchange was
happening, it was beginning to link Vance to the dark arts as well. She told me
how they’d done a lot of blessings over him, trying to remove the unwanted
attraction, and it was very important for him to be surrounded by good energy. If
he were to be overwhelmed by bad energy, it could turn him in a less than
desirable direction.

The whole time the
story was being told Vance stared at me, watching my reaction to everything.

I looked into his
deep blue eyes. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say.

He didn’t reply,
but he did reach out to briefly squeeze my hand.

After the meeting
ended, I walked with Vance out to his motorcycle. He leaned up against his bike
while I stood looking at the stars overhead.

“So, how do you
feel now that you know I’m the coven’s big dark secret? That I’m the bad guy,
so to speak?” he asked, folding his arms.

I looked hard at
him. “None of this is your fault,” I said, wanting to reassure him.

“That isn’t the
point,” he replied. “The fact is, I’m the dangerous one. I’m the person who
could be turned and destroy everything good about you and your family.”

I walked up to him
and placed both of my hands on either side of his face. “I don’t believe you’d
ever hurt me, or any of us for that matter,” I searched his gaze. “The very
fact you’re worried about us tells me the kind of character you have.”

He looked at me
for several long moments before he reached out, mirroring my move, and placed
his hands on the sides of my face, pulling me even closer.

“I hope you’re
right, Portia.” He held me there for a few seconds before placing a light kiss
on my forehead. He dropped his hands from me, hopped onto his motorcycle
,
and started the engine.

“See you
tomorrow,” he said.

I stepped back
from the curb. I gave a little smile and a small wave after him as he drove off
down the street.

He wasn’t at the
school when I’d arrived with Shelly in the morning. I waited by the door for
him, but he hadn’t shown before the warning bell rang. I brooded about him all
day long. I hadn’t seen him in any of the halls between classes either, but that
didn’t mean he wasn’t here. We just didn’t have any classes close together.

I finally decided
to try to find him, trying to tell myself I was just checking on him to see if
he was okay. I wasn’t quite ready to admit I needed to see him to make myself
feel better.

I went into the
front office between classes and stood at the counter giving a sigh of relief
when I saw Mrs. Parker was working today. She liked me, and I’d earned a few
brownie points with her after helping her with a school project recently.

“Hi, Portia! Can I
help you with something?” she asked, looking up at me from her desk with a
smile.

“I hope so,” I
said, smiling sweetly. “My friend brought my books to school for me in his
backpack this morning, and I accidentally left my assignment for next period in
there. I was wondering if you could tell me what his next class is so I can go
get it? I can’t find him, and I don’t want Mr. Perkins to drop my grade because
it’s late.”

“Sure, no
problem,” Mrs. Parker said, turning to the computer at her desk. “What’s your
friend’s name?”

“Vance Mangum,” I
said, trying to seem casual about it.

Mrs. Parker smiled
while she tapped his name into the computer.

“I wasn’t aware
you knew Vance,” she said casually. “He’s a cute kid. I’ve worried that he was
a loner. Glad to hear he’s making some friends.”

“He’s a nice guy.”
My heart was beating rapidly at my charade.

“Hmmm … I’m not
finding him,” she said, staring at her computer with a frown, and I suddenly
had visions of him fleeing into the night without a trace, his evil father
chasing after him. “Oh, wait! Here he is! I forgot we had to transfer him into
a new class this morning.”

“A new class?” Had
something happened to him after all?

“Yes,” she
answered while she wrote some information on a piece of paper. “We just
realized his transcript didn’t have enough of the required physical education
courses on it for him to graduate this year. We had to drop him from one of his
electives and put him in P.E. instead.”

“So he’s in P.E.
now?”

“Yes, he should
be.” She stood and came over to the counter. “They’re out on the baseball field
today, though, which will make you late for your class, so I wrote a note to
excuse your tardy too.” She handed me a slip of paper.

I flashed a warm
smile at her. “Thanks so much, Mrs. Parker! I appreciate your help!”

“Any time,” she
replied with a grin.

I quickly left the
office and began making my way across the campus, down toward the baseball
field. As I approached, it occurred to me that I didn’t want anyone to see me
since I didn’t actually have a real excuse to be there, so I snuck stealthily
up behind one of the dugouts. I peered around the corner and began looking
through the uniform-clad boys who were out on the field, but I didn’t see Vance
anywhere.

I saw Shelly’s
boyfriend, Brad, standing in front of the dugout with a group of guys, but
Vance wasn’t there either. I was about to give up and walk away when I caught
one of their voices.

“Dude, he didn’t
even dress out,” the guy said, and I recognized him as Kurt, Brad’s friend.

I followed their
gazes up the hill and saw Vance approaching. Massive relief flooded my heart
and I found myself releasing a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. I
continued to watch Vance walk onto the field over to the coach, handing him a
slip of paper.

 “Coach isn’t even
saying anything about it,” Kurt continued to complain.

“Maybe he hasn’t
had time to buy any from the bookstore yet,” Brad replied with a shrug.

“I’m just sick of
listening to all the girls rave about him,” a guy named Jeff piped up. “I went
to see Sara after school yesterday, and she went on and on about him like he
was God’s gift to women. I finally just left and told her to go date him
instead. I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“Take the field,
boys!” the coach’s voice called out. “Brad, you and Vance here can bat first. Ten
pitches each. Try to work the field.”

“No problem, Coach!”
Brad called back to him, and I saw Vance shrug out of his leather jacket and
toss it over the fence, revealing his sculpted arms with their well-formed
biceps.

“Now’s our chance
to show him what the guys at this school are really made of,” Kurt said with a
grin, smacking his mitt against Brad’s arm before running out to take his spot
on the pitcher’s mound. I could see he was planning on setting Vance up, and it
made me kind of angry to think they all would gang up on him like that.

Brad went over to
the chain link fence, where there were several bats of various sizes and
weights hooked into it. Vance walked up beside him to look at them too, and I
had to step back a little farther behind the dugout so they wouldn’t see me
standing there.

“Play much
baseball?” Brad asked Vance casually.

“Haven’t really
had the time,” Vance replied, reaching out to turn one of the bats.

“Well, pick a
weight and length that feels good to you,” Brad said, picking up a bat which
was long and looked a little heavier weighted. “Then you can go stand over
there and warm up while I hit. Just watch your stance, keep your eye on the
ball, and do the best you can.”

“I think I’ll just
use the bat you’re using,” Vance said, turning to lean casually up against the
fence, folding his arms over his chest, and I couldn’t help noticing that it
caused his arms to flex even more.

“Whatever floats
your boat, man,” Brad said, shaking his blond head slightly at him. Stepping up
to the plate, Brad dug his cleats into the dirt, got into his batter’s stance
and nodded to Kurt who stood waiting. “Bring it,” I heard him say.

Kurt smiled and
wound up. He threw a good pitch, and Brad swung
,
connecting easily with
it. The ball soared far out into left field, where the fielder ran back and
caught it near the fence.