“I saw something.”
Lizzie’s voice cut through the room, knife-sharp as she spoke so clearly and without holding back.I could sense the air around her change, and I remembered just when the sirens had closed in after calling the police that she’d knelt down and put the back of her hands on each of the victims.She hadn’t collapsed this time, but it made sense to me now that she’d been processing this entire time.
“What did you see, Lizzie?”Temperance ran a hand up and down her back, eyes fixed on Lizzie so intently.
“Lights on a string, glowing yellow and red.Faded colors in a blur.But…it reminds me of the carnival.We knew something wasn’t right there.What if it’s this thing?This malevolent being of the past.What ifthat’show the performers are able to do what they’re doing?”
“It certainly doesn’t bode well, and it seems like far too much of a coincidence.We picked up on their magic during the show, and now, the clues from your vision are leading us to them.”
“But what about the church connection?”Temperance shot me a look, getting fidgety on the couch as the light outside dimmed, a thick cloud blotting out more of the sun.
“I don’t know.”I shook my head, hanging it as the feelings of overwhelm and dread swirled.“I just…It could be both, for all I know.I haven’t directly dealt with any of this before now.We might need to split our focus among the three of us.I can learn more from the school board about the murders and any others that have occurred in the past.Lizzie can peep in on the carnival, and Temperance, you can speak with your mother.”
“Split the party?Have you ever played D&D?That’s a terrible idea.”
“Youhaveplayed D&D?”Lizzie poked Temperance in the side with her elbow as the two of them glared playfully at each other.
“That shouldn’t surprise you.I’m a huge nerd.”
Smiling, Lizzie leaned in and pulled Temperance under her arm, kissing her head.“True.”
My spine tingled watching them, this sense of something I didn’t want to name because I knew it would crush me; I knew what came with it.Clearing my throat, I stood up off the coffee table, but Lizzie was quick to grab my hand, preventing me from walking across the room.She had a way of doing that.
“Uh-uh.Don’t do that.Don’t run.”Those deep brows eyes seared into my soul, perceiving everything I was, inside and out.“It’s a thing.I’ll give that to you.But with what’s going on, with what we’ve seen, I’m going to tell you right now that I want this.Temps wants this.Apparently, life is real fucking short, Caleb.So, make it count.”
Temperance snorted beside Lizzie, ducking her head so that I wouldn’t see her laugh.It did no good, of course.Still, I was more focused on what Lizzie had said, and the churning in my gut that told me all this wasn’t going away any time soon.They were missing puzzle pieces I never imagined I’d find, lost to the horrors of my past.
And if I wasn’t careful, I knew I’d lose them to the horrors of my present.
I sighed, sitting back down on the table.“What’s just a bit more important right now is that we figure out exactly what we’re dealing with.We can’t prepare a sealing ritual unless we know what it is we’re shoving back in the box.”
“Fair enough.But after…”
Lizzie grinned, and gods help me, I couldn’t keep myself from smiling right back.“Ugh, anyway.To stack bad on top of bad, we risk giving away what we know if they seek out help from the school board because this particular evil loves manipulating people so much.Those brainwashed followers could be anywhere, anyone, and they won’t hesitate to kill in the name of their false god.”
“So,” Lizzie raised her brow, tilting her head onto Temperance’s shoulder, “what the fuck can we do then?”
“There may be one way to get the upper hand, to secure more power.”I walked over to my desk quickly, snagging the last photocopy of the library book I shouldn’t have been copying and holding it up in front of them.“Soul weaving.”
Temperance and Lizzie exchanged looks, both straightening with their brows raised, speaking simultaneously, “What the fuck is that?”
Sixteen- Threads Through Holes, Reeds Woven In Time, Creating Duality From What Was Mine
Lizzie
Calebstifledagrinas he shook his head, looking between Temps and me as the joined words hung in the air.He sucked in a deep breath, meeting us at the couch again with another photocopy in his hands.He laid it on the small coffee table, pointing to a line near the bottom of the left-hand page.
“Soul weaving.This is from one of the books at the library that I couldn’t take out.Hell, I shouldn’t have been copying it either, but desperate times.Anyway, it’s an ancient practice that I know a little about.I’ve been curious about the mechanics for a while now, even doing some research when I was abroad.”
“Ancient is good, or does that mean this could go tits up real easy?”I asked, cocking my head as I scanned over the words on the photocopy.
“Potentially both.”Caleb sighed, pulling off his glasses and polishing the glass on the fabric of his tweed jacket.“It’s rarely done.Always has been.But from what I understand, it was more common in the past when witches and practitioners weren’t as concerned about what spirits they might be letting in.Thankfully, we’ve gotten more cautious over the years.”
“It lets in spirits?Isn’t that a big no-no?”Temperance’s brow was furrowed way down over her eyes as she fiddled nervously with the hem of her skirt.
“Usually, yes.”Caleb slid his glasses back in place, pointing down at the passage again.“You’ll see that it warns that you may not always have control over the spirit you soul weave to.But it does increase power, and depending on the potency of the spirit or being, the power achieved could be drastically changed.Many in the past, more reckless witches who were greedy and too intoxicated by the promise of more, didn’t view the incoming spirit as a person or entity but as a thing to be used.The results of the course could often be a toss-up as a result.You either got your powers and stayed who you were, or the incoming spirit took over.”
My pulse skittered under my skin as I realized what that could mean.“Wait, so the soul weaving could leave the person as…someone else?”
