Just a Little Magic Ch. 14

JUST A LITTLE MAGIC Chapter 14

1. BREANNA Atlanta, Georgia January 9, 2001 January 14, 2028

2. ELODIE Brugges, Belgium February 8 February 13

3. VICKY Singapore March 9 March 13

4. SOPHIE Montreal, Quebec April 7 April 12

5. IRENE Limassol, Cyprus May 7 May 11

6. SANDRA Taipei (Taiwan) June 5 June 10

7. ASHLEY Chicago, Illinois July 5 July 9

8. MIRELLA Sao Paulo, Brazil August 4 August 8

9. KAVIA Vadodara, Gujarat September 2 September 6

10. ESTHER Johannesburg, S.A. October 2 October 6

11. TAMARA Tampa, Florida November 1 November 5

12. RI Osaka, Japan November 30 December 1

13. JANINE Toronto, Ontario December 30 December 31

******

I stood in Breanna's living room for a good few minutes, trying to make sense of what I was looking at. A full moon.

I was a fool. A dupe.

Lillian and Janine had lied to me. They'd taught me about magic, and sex. Lots of sex. They'd blinded me with magic and sex, and fed me an unbelievable story - a tale so ludicrous, only an idiot could have believed it.

That idiot would be me.

I left Breanna soaking in her bathtub, and staggered outside, where I promptly threw up. My head hurt - it was like a migraine on steroids.

Get away. That was all I could think of. Drive - Lillian could find me, if she wanted to search. But why would she be looking? She couldn't read my mind from a distance. As far as she and Janine knew, I would be happily having sex with Breanna - and impregnating her. They'd be unlikely to worry about where I was until later in the day tomorrow, or the day after, at the earliest.

Even if they did realize that I was gone, they'd have to physically catch up with me - not so easy to do if I kept moving. I needed help. I needed proof. But my first priority had to be to put some distance between us.

I drove. Concentrating on simple tasks helped to clear my head a little, though I could still feel it throbbing. I couldn't stop myself entirely from thinking about how Janine had sabotaged my only two serious relationships before Sophie - Michelle and Danielle.

To Lillian and Janine, I was no more than a tool - and a pretty dim-witted one at that. They must have shared a good many laughs, comparing notes about how stupid I was.

Four hours later, I stopped for gas, and then checked in at a motel. I didn't need to sleep; I was far too tightly wound for that. But I did want access to their internet. I used my phone to look up the dates of the full moons.

I knew what they would be. I just wanted the evidence right in front of me, to clear my head - to help me snap out of this mind-fog.

Except that I couldn't. I immediately felt a powerful wave of nausea sweep over me. I tried to tough it out - to grit my teeth and just persevere. It didn't work. I spewed again, hurling what was left of my last meal into the bathtub.

When I recovered, I staggered back to my car, and started driving again. That seemed to help a bit. I still needed help, though.

I called Sammy.

- "Are you out of your freakin' mind!" he snarled. "Do you know what time it is?"

- "4:38." I said. "Sammy - I'm in trouble. Big trouble. You were right, all along."

- "What? Wait - WHAT?"

- "I'm on the run from Janine and Lillian. I need your help."

There was silence, for a moment.

- "Where are you?"

- "Coming up on Lexington, Kentucky. Sammy - I need you, man."

My best friend stepped up, when I needed him most.

- "Tell me what you want."

- "Meet me in Windsor. (Windsor is a small Canadian city just across from Detroit, Michigan, about 3 1/2 hours from Toronto). Get a motel room - I'll call you for directions when I get close. Make sure it has internet. Load up on coffee - and some donuts, or something. And a change of clothes for me. In fact, pack me a bag."

- "Motel in Windsor. Coffee and donuts. Pack a bag for you. Got it. If you think of anything else, call me back. I'll see you there."

- "Thanks, Sam."

- "Just be careful. Drive safe."

I only had one friend like Sam. In an emergency, he would be there for me.

It took me another 6 1/2 hours to get across the border. I'd made great time at first; it's amazing how much ground you can cover in the early hours of the morning. Now the traffic was heavier, but I still made good time.

Sammy was waiting for me at the Starlight motel (honestly - is there a Starlight motel in every city in North America?) I would have hugged him, but my shirt and pants were still covered in flecks of vomit.

- "Dude - you reek."

- "I know - that's why I wanted the change of clothes. I need a shower, too. You need to look up -"

I couldn't even get the words out before the bile rose in my throat. I was dry heaving, though, with nothing left in my stomach to vomit.

- "Pete! Holy shit!" Sammy was shocked to see me bent over, my body wracked with spasms.

He got me into the motel room, and sat me down on the bed.

- "Sammy ... full moons - uurgh! - dates - eeurgh!"

- "What the fuck, Pete?"

- "Dates -" I was bent over, sweat and snot running down my face.

- "The dates of full moons?" said Sammy.

I weakly waved a hand at him, and began crawling to the bathroom. He insisted on helping me to my feet - though he wisely sat me down on the toilet seat. He turned the shower on.

"I've got you, Pete. Just clean yourself up."

He was even willing to help me strip off my disgusting clothes. I waved him away.

The water helped. Not having to think helped even more. I held my head under the scalding hot water, and tried to think of other things.

I finally came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a couple of towels which had once been white (but were now closer to grey). Sammy was sitting on the bed.

- "You okay?" he asked.

- "No." I said. "What did you find?"

Sammy held up his phone. To my surprise, seeing those dates didn't make me hurl - because I'd seen them all before.

I called up a file on my phone, gave it a new title, and showed it to Sam.

Sam's Dates - full moons of 2028 my list - the dates Lillian and Janine had given me

January 11 January 14

February 10 February 13

March 10 March 13

April 9 April 12

May 8 May 11

June 7 June 10

July 6 July 9

August 5 August 8

September 3 September 6

October 3 October 6

November 2 November 5

December 1 December 4

December 31 January 3 (2029)

There it was.

It didn't make me throw up. Lillian and Janine had told me that my father was going to rape the 13 women on the dates to the right. They'd convinced me that I had to go in three days earlier, to pre-empt his evil plan.

But I would have been impregnating the women on the night of a full moon - which Lillian had claimed was my father's scheme.

Dupe. Idiot. I'd been played. If Breanna hadn't started talking about how animals and people behaved differently during a full moon, would I have looked out the window? Would I have even realized what I was seeing?

Lillian (or Janine) had somehow bewitched me, so that I couldn't look up the cycle of full moons. I couldn't even think about them. I certainly couldn't tell anyone - as I'd learned when I'd tried to share the secrets with Sophie.

- "Dude - what is this?" Sammy was confused.

- "I can't tell you."

- "What the hell?"

- "Every time I think about it, I get nauseous, and my brain stops working. I tried to tell Sophie, last year. I got a fever, and puked my guts out for three days. I can't tell you, Sam."

- "You get sick when you try to tell me - but why?"

- "I can't say. But maybe you can guess."

- "You want me to guess? Fuck, Pete - I'm shitty at twenty questions."

I handed Sammy my phone.

- "Contacts 2." I said. That was enough to fold me in half, sending me to my knees as the pain seized me.

Sam found the correct file.

1. BREANNA Atlanta, Georgia January 9, 2001 January 14, 2028

2. ELODIE Brugges, Belgium February 8 February 13

3. VICKY Singapore March 9 March 13

4. SOPHIE Montreal, Quebec April 7 April 12

5. IRENE Limassol, Cyprus May 7 May 11

6. SANDRA Taipei (Taiwan) June 5 June 10

7. ASHLEY Chicago, Illinois July 5 July 9

8. MIRELLA Sao Paulo, Brazil August 4 August 8

9. KAVIA Vadodara, Gujarat September 2 September 6

10. ESTHER Johannesburg, S.A. October 2 October 6

11. TAMARA Tampa, Florida November 1 November 5

12. RI Osaka, Japan November 30 December 1

13. JANINE Toronto, Ontario December 30 December 31

Sammy stared at the list for several minutes.

- "Pete - Sophie is on this list. And so is Janine." He looked again. "And that Brazilian model - Mirella. You already knew who she was?"

His thoughts didn't hurt me. I was able to get up off the tattered carpet.

- "Keep guessing."

- "13 women, and where they're from. These are cities where you've been touring for the past couple of years. So that's the connection? Aw, shit - have you been banging all of these women?"

- "Not all of them."

- "But not for lack of trying, is that it? Geez, Pete - I thought you weren't going to cheat on Sophie."

- "I didn't ..." I stopped myself. It sounds pretty pathetic to say 'I didn't want to'.

Sammy was pretty disappointed in me. I didn't have to read his mind to see that.

"What's the 3rd column?" he said.

- "What do you think they are?" I managed to say, without nausea, or spasm.

Sammy studied the list a little longer. "Wait - December 30th - isn't that Janine's birthday? And April 7th - that's Sophie's birthday."

I wasn't puking. I could nod my head.

- "What's special about those dates? Is that the connection between all of these women?"

I helped a bit, but Sammy had to figure out for himself. It took him a while. But the internet can be a wonderful thing.

"Holy shit ... they were all born the night of a full moon."

It took a bit longer for him to make the second connection.

"You mean ... they were all born on the night of a full moon - all in the same year?"

- "Yes." I breathed.

- "I don't get it." he said. "Pete - what's going on with you?"

- "Abracadabra."

- "Magic?"

- "Magic, Sam. And who taught me how to use magic?"

- "Janine. Lillian."

I nodded, ever so slowly. "You think I'm puking because I want to?"

Sammy blinked. "You're saying ... that they used magic on you?"

- "Bingo."

- "But ... what does that have to do with these crazy lists? I don't get it."

- "Do you remember, Sam, when I started to learn magic? How badly you wanted to learn, too?" I said. "Do you also remember why you couldn't? Can you remember what I told you?"

Sammy wasn't the sharpest tool in the drawer. Neither was I - in fact, I'd pretty much proved that I was dumb as a bag of rocks. But he remembered.

- "Bloodlines." he said. "You said ..." Then he made the connection. "These women ...?"

- "Yes." I was able to say that without vomiting, without a migraine.

"We have to move, Sammy. I need to find someone to help us. Someone who knows magic. We need help against Lillian and Janine."

***

We left my rental at the motel. It had been rented under Lillian's name, anyway. Sammy drove us, in his car. That didn't stop him from guessing. Some of his speculations were ... let's just say they were wide of the mark. But he did figure out that the 13 women on the list came from magical bloodlines.

He wasn't very good at 20 questions - it was more like 267 questions.

- "Why 13?" he wanted to know.

- "What comes in thirteens?"

- "Donuts. Bagels. Ahh ... 13 cards in every suit? Does this have something to do with a deck of cards?"

Sammy did have some good advice, though.

"We need help. Magic help."

- "I know."

- "Well, what about asking these women? Are you friendly with them? Because if they come from these magic bloodline families, maybe they have a relative who knows magic."

That wasn't a bad idea.

I had 4 messages from Breanna. I decided not to start with her.

What I ended up doing was putting together a single message, and sending to all 12 women.

This might sound strange, but I'm asking because it's something of an emergency. I need magical help - urgently. Is there someone in your family who knows magic? Real magic, I mean. Please let me know as soon as possible.

The first answer came from Breanna.

- Where the hell did you go? Where are you?

There were several more in fairly quick succession.

(Ri) Are you still in Japan?

(Sophie) Are you okay?

(Ashley) Are you headed this way? I can look up other magicians in Chicago, if you want.

(Kavia) Rather an odd question, don't you think? I don't know anyone who does what you do.

The responses were a little underwhelming. They kept coming in, though. Elodie wanted to know what was going on. Tamara was concerned, too. Breanna kept firing off messages, asking questions that I couldn't answer.

(Irene) Is there any way I can help?

(Mirella) I have an Aunt who tells fortunes. And if you're in trouble ... you know you can come here. Or tell me where to meet you.

Some fifteen minutes later, one message caught my eye.

(Sophie) You're in danger, aren't you? Call me. I can help.

I texted her back. Thank you, love. Not sure you can help me with this.

(Sophie) Aunt Anna may be able to, if you can get to Toronto. On my way there now. Her number is 416-320-2659. She said to call. Call her. I love you.

Aunt Anna was a psychic. I couldn't see how that was going to be of any help to me - but it might be better than nothing. At the very least, I didn't want to reject Sophie's offer out of hand. I made the call.

- "Peter?"

- "Hi, Aunt Anna."

- "What kind of trouble are you in?" she said.

- "Umm ... it's hard to explain."

- "This is no time to be shy, Peter. You've got magical problems. What kind?"

- "I don't know if I can explain, Aunt Anna. I've ... I've tried to tell someone before. I ... got sick. I vomited, and came down with a fever ..."

- "And a migraine?" said Aunt Anna. "Worst headache of your life?"

- "What? How ... how did you know that?"

- "I know a few things about magic. Are you able to tell me who might have cast a spell on you?"

I couldn't. I mean ... I was stunned - Aunt Anna knew about real magic? But I couldn't even begin to form the words.

- "It was Janine!" yelled Sammy. "And Lillian!"

- "Who's that?" asked Anna.

- "My best friend - Sammy. He's driving."

- "Good. And who is Lillian?"

- "Janine's mother." I said.

Aunt Anna didn't say anything for a few moments. Then she gave us instructions.

- "Here's my address. Get here as soon as you can. Park your car in front of the house, and then ring the doorbell."

- "Are you sure, Anna?" I said. "I don't want to drag you into my troubles."

- "Thank you for that, Peter. But please believe me - coming straight here is the best thing you can do right now. For you - and for Sophie."

- "Okay. We'll be there in a couple of hours." I hung up.

Sammy was slowly shaking his head.

- "Holy fuck, holy fuck ... what the fuck is going on ...?"

- "We're going to Aunt Anna's house."

- "So Lillian was the one who taught you magic, right?"

- "Yes."

- "And Janine can do real magic, too?"

- "Yes. You already knew that."

- "We are so screwed. They messed with your head, didn't they?"

- "What?"

- "Think about it, Pete." said Sammy. "While they were teaching you, they ... they programmed you. Brainwashing. They made you do things, right?"

I was getting nauseous, just thinking about it.

- "Sam ..."

- "They put some kind of spell on you. From the very beginning - that's why you did all that weird shit, like breaking off with Danielle for no reason -"

I could see the truth in what Sammy was saying. I just couldn't think about it. I turned my head in time, but couldn't quite get the window down fast enough. I spewed semi-digested coffee and donuts all over the passenger door of Sammy's car.

The inside of the passenger door.

***

Aunt Anna was like an older version of Sophie: dark hair, dimples, and cleavage. She didn't react at all to my dishevelled appearance, or to the stink of the vomit splashed down the side of my shirt and pants.

- "Come in." she said. "Hello, Sammy - I'm Sophie's Aunt Anna."

She invited us into her kitchen, where a pot of soup was simmering on the stove. Aunt Anna was a very practical woman: she sent me to the bathroom to change my clothes. Then she fed us.

- "This is great." said Sammy. "Thank you very much."

- "You're very welcome." She let us eat in peace - although she didn't even attempt to hide the fact that she was studying me carefully.

"I'm sorry if I'm making you feel uncomfortable, Peter - I'm just trying to figure out what's been done to you."

- "They cast spells on him, didn't they?" said Sam.

- "How about if you two just shut up for a bit, and let me work."

Sammy turned to me, with a big wide-eyed grin. 'She knows magic.' He mouthed the words.

Anna studied me carefully for several minutes. Then I jumped - it was like someone had touched me with a fingertip.

- "Sit still. I'm not going to hurt you." said Anna.

- "Sorry."

It got weirder. I felt more fingertips, and then something akin to a scratching fingernail. I grit my teeth and tried not to move.

Anna sat back, and let out a deep sigh.

- "They put spells on him, right?" said Sammy.

- "They most certainly did. Multiple spells. I recognize Janine's work here - and someone else's, of a much greater order of magnitude."

My eyebrows rose at that. "You can recognize -?"

- "Oh, yes. Every mage, every witch has a very distinct signature. It's better than a fingerprint; once you've seen a magician's work, you can always recognize it when you see it again."

My mouth fell open.

- "You ... you're ..."

- Yes." said Aunt Anna. "I'm a witch. A fairly good one. But this kind of thing is well over my head, so I've called in some help."

- "Help?" said Sammy.

- "Have you read the Harry Potter books?" asked Anna.

- "I saw the movies."

Anna shook her head. "Nobody reads anymore. Then everyone wonders why democracy doesn't work. Oh, well ... do you remember the Ministry of Magic?"

Sammy goggled at her. "You mean it really exists?"

- "No. There's no such thing." said Anna. "But we magic-users learned long ago that all of us suffer when one of us goes rogue. So we police ourselves - we keep tabs on the dangerous ones, and rein them in."

- "Does ... does Sophie know -?" I asked.

- "That I'm a witch? No. But I suppose that little secret ends tonight."

Sammy's eyes were about to pop out of his head. I was stunned, too: Sophie's Aunt was a witch? There were Magic Police?

- "So ..." said Sammy. "You can tell that Pete's got spells on him?"

- "Oh, yes. Geasa."

- "Geasa?"

- "The plural of geas." said Anna. "An old type of Irish spell."

- "A compulsion." I said. "To make you do something."

- "Yes. But a geas can also be a prohibition."

- "To prevent me from telling anyone what was going on?"

- "I think so. But is there any way that you could find to let me know what's happened?"

Sammy stepped into the breach. He showed Aunt Anna the lists we'd compared: the names of the 13 women, their birthdays, and the dates of the full moons this year. Anna was no fool. She quickly began to put 2 and 13 together.

- "Were you in Atlanta, yesterday?" she asked me.

- "Yes."

- "What happened?"

- "I was supposed to ..." I felt the bile rising. I didn't want to throw up all over Aunt Anna's kitchen.

"I ... saw the full moon." I said - without vomiting. "I ... left. I started driving - and I called Sammy."