Sorcery in the City Ch. 01

Maybe it was just an excuse to focus on something other than the news, but Opal decided she would make it her mission to understand what was going on there for its feline residents. She attempted to view the property using Google Earth but strangely that section of the city was blurred out, like it was a restricted area. She could find plenty of information online about the Robertson family, none of it discussing any witchy business, and saw black & white pictures of the mansion in its heyday in the early 1900's. It had been impressive and had probably cost a fortune to build.

To get onto the property she'd have to scale a wall or climb over the gate -- a tricky problem given that it was surrounded by homes and low-rise apartment buildings, and everyone was currently at home staring out of windows at all hours of the day. Opal wasn't particularly athletic but she had a rope escape ladder she'd bought when she moved in to her apartment. If she could push it up the wall she could use the hooks on the top of the ladder to attach it and climb up. Armed with the ladder, a hiking stick, some duct tape, a flashlight and a backpack full of cat food and paper plates, a little after 2am one morning Opal picked the quietest spot on the wall that she could find and miracle of miracles, her scheme worked. She got to the top of the wall, discovered it was all jagged and rough on the top (why hadn't she thought about that?!), and flipped the ladder around to allow her to get down the other side. She only ripped her pants and jacket a bit on the top of the wall -- no major wounds thank heavens.

She worked her way through the overgrown garden to the driveway looking for any trails through the greenery where cats might be walking. She saw nothing. She needed to find some spot where she thought cats would pass through to put the food down. She'd seen one cat by the gate but that might not have been a regular occurrence. Opal walked up the driveway until she reached the remains of the mansion. It was a sad thing to behold -- a blackened ruin, with only two partial walls and three chimneys still standing. She walked around the remains as far as she could, looking for and listening for cats. She moved the flashlight around hoping to see glowing eyes staring back at her, which was one of the quickest ways to spot a cat. Still nothing.

For over an hour she'd searched, in every widening circles around the mansion, but found no evidence of cats. She finally settled for leaving food under the half-collapsed roof of the garage where it would stay dry and found her way back to the ladder. Two days later she went back, again in the very early morning, to check on the food. Some of it had been disturbed but she could see from footprints in the dirt and the dust that it was rodents, not cats, that had sampled what she'd left.

For the next few weeks, every couple of days, she went back. She moved the food to a variety of different places, looked carefully in, under and around everything as she slowly moved around the entire property. No cats. That was weird. A big wild area in the middle of a city, usually undisturbed by humans, with lots of prey and a source of fresh water (she'd found the pond one night by falling into it ... ug!) it should have feral cats in it, and she should have seen at least one by now.

At the end of what she'd promised herself would be the last night of this increasing crazy quest, tired and frustrated, she sat on the remains of the mansion's stone steps staring down the driveway. No cats, and come to think of it, no dogs, raccoons, or skunks either ... nothing that might keep cats away. The biggest things she'd seen were squirrels and owls.

"Whatever you are looking for, you won't find it."

The male voice from above and to her left scared the freaking shit out of her! She couldn't help it -- she screamed, several times -- and jumped up, twisting quickly to aim her flashlight in the direction of the sound.

A tall man with a scruffy beard and long hair, dressed in dirty faded jeans and a worn leather jacket looked down at her.

"You should leave now. Don't come back."

Opal should have been agreeing to do that, and running for the ladder, but she was mad. "What, no apology for scaring me half to death? It's the middle of the night for heaven's sake, there were much better ways to say hello, and it would be proper to introduce yourself!"

The man grunted, "None of your damn business who I am. I have no patience for trespassers. You are on private property, behind a locked gate ... you should not be here."

"Are you a security guard? I haven't seen you before. I'm sorry if I've broken some rules but I was only trying to see if there are feral cats on the property before demolition occurs. I'm a volunteer at the animal shelter."

The man looked confused, "Demolition? What demolition?"

Opal sighed, "They are going to flatten everything here and build a high-rise as soon as the stay-at-home order is lifted."

The man laughed softly, "That should be interesting ... I wonder what will happen when they try ..." He looked at Opal, "I don't know what a stay-at-home order is, but if there is one, shouldn't that be where you are, at home?"

"Maybe ... but I'm being careful and normally there is no one here to worry about keeping six feet of physical distance from."

The man looked puzzled, "That is an oddly specific number for the placement of people. Why would you say that?"

Opal looked at him, "Where have you been ... on Mars or something? COVID-19, the virus that is making lots of people sick. "Be safe" ... "Flatten the curve" ... all that important stuff ... we stay far enough apart, then if either of us is infectious we won't spread it."

The man looked sad, "Another plague? Mankind is suffering yet again? I am sorry for you."

She thought that was a strange way to look at things, like he wasn't including himself with the rest of humanity. Maybe he was homeless, alone, out of touch. "Are you ok? Do you need a place to stay? There are services not far from here if you need food or a place to sleep."

He shook his head, smiling softly, "No, I am where I must remain. You however should not be here. How you were able to enter is a mystery. It should not have happened."

Opal shrugged, "I climbed over the wall, sorry. I meant well, really I did, I just wanted to help any cats that were making a home here."

The man sighed, "There is only one cat here, and he is fine. Perhaps your intention was pure enough so you were allowed to come and go. But there is no need for you to return. Go, and do not come back."

Even one cat was worth saving if she could. "Can I give you my phone number? The news is saying some restrictions may be lifted soon and construction companies will be able to restart their operations. When demolition starts here I can help find the cat a new home, you won't have to worry."

"I don't have a phone. I will look after the cat, he is my burden."

If he felt the animal was a burden then maybe it would be too much for him to look after it. "Can I give you my address then? If you need some place for the cat, anytime, you can come ask for help."

The man groaned, "You don't give up do you? Fine, give me your address. Anything to get you out of here as soon as possible!"

Opal found a pen and some paper in her backpack and quickly wrote down her name and address, and phone number just in case. She put it on the stairs and stepped back. "Sorry, can't hand it directly to you."

The man nodded and stepped down to pick it up. "Opal McDaniel ... named after the gemstone with a fire inside it."

She nodded, "Yup, that's me. Parents were geologists, guess they couldn't help themselves, had to name their only child after a rock."

"It is a powerful name. Tell me, when were you born?"

"When was I born? May 13, 1988. Why do you want to know?"

The man looked like he was calculating something in his head, and suddenly looked astonished, "You were born on a Friday the 13th. A strong sign. Pure intention and strength ... it was enough."

Ok, things were going a bit sideways now. She was tired, it was late, and he wanted her gone. Probably best to go. "I'm going to go climb back up over the wall and get out of here." She picked up her backpack, pulled a bag of dry food out and put it on the pavement saying "You can have this for the cat" ... and started walking down the driveway. He followed. She turned, "You making sure I'm going?"

He grinned, "Sort of. I'll help you take down your ladder and give you a simpler, safer way out."

After the ladder was bundled up Opal followed him at a proper distance further along the wall. Under a large distinctive tree he walked up to the wall and pushed hard against one of the stones. There was a soft click and a section of the wall the size of a low, small door swung open to the street beyond. Stepping back he gestured to her to go through.

Opal nodded, "Thanks, much easier. Does it open both ways?"

"It does, but only to those who are welcome here. It would not be a good idea for you to come back. There is no point to that."

"Ok, I understand." Opal started to walk through the door, and stopped. "I'm sorry, I never asked you for your name."

The man frowned, "The knowing of names is not offered lightly. There is power in a name."

"That's ok, you don't have to tell me. Just thought I should know in case you need help with the cat sometime."

He sighed, "Very well. I will trust you with it, asking that you not share it with others. My name is Shu."

"Shoe? You are named after a piece of clothing? And I though being named after a rock was irritating!"

He laughed, "No, S ... H ... U. It's the name of the Egyptian god of air and wind."

"Wow ... a god huh ... still, your parents were crazy. I'll bet you got a lot of ribbing at school."

"Not really, no."

"Ok then Shu", she giggled softly, "it was nice to meet you. Stay safe."

"And you also Opal McDaniel."

She stepped through the door and it closed behind her. She couldn't see any evidence of it from the street side of the wall but she took careful note of the tree and where the door had been. If she ever needed to, she'd try going in that way before climbing over the wall again.

For a few days after, Opal just worked from home and got full nights of sleep again. She did her walk each day, and circled around the Robertson property pausing to stare through the front gate each time, but saw no cats or any sign of Shu.

Curiosity motivated her to do more online research on the Robertson family and the property. Veronica Robertson had been the last family member. She had died, aged 94, in the fire that destroyed the mansion. She had been a recluse for over half her life. Opal only found a few images of her online, all of them from when she was in her 20's and 30's. She had been an incredibly beautiful woman.

Veronica's will specified that the property be given to the city as a permanent park, with the mansion repurposed as a community centre. The city would get land valued at over one hundred and fifty million dollars for free for as long as two conditions were met. Once a year, on the night of Samhain ... Halloween ... a fire was to be lit at 6pm within a circle of stones found on the property and kept burning brightly until at least 6am the following morning; the stones were never to be moved or changed in any way. The second condition was that the city mayor take his or her oath of office on the property by a large stone (it looked like an altar to Opal when she saw the picture); during the oath the mayor was to cut his/her finger and make a mark in blood on the stone.

In the five years since the fire, neither of those conditions had ever been met. From various news articles and the record of city council meetings Opal got the impression that everyone thought Veronica Robertson had not been in her right mind when she'd made her will and there was no way the city or the mayor would do what she had specified. The will had been challenged in court and the odd conditions declared void, the estate had gone through probate and the property had been given to the city. Trouble was, the city didn't want another park to take care of and with the mansion gone there would be a lot of expense in building anything new on the site. The city decided to sell it all to a developer and use the money for other things.

Opal read with interest the final section of the will everyone also considered the creation of a confused mind. It stated that if the city refused Veronica's gift (which they effectively had), or the two conditions were not met (which they hadn't), then the property had to be given in perpetuity to whoever could prove they were in possession of a particular antique hatpin (exact description not provided).

She found the hatpin thing hilarious. It was a bit like the King Arthur legend where he had to pull a special sword from a stone to prove he was the King, but Veronica Robertson's version involved a six to eight inch bit of metal that could be anywhere or anything. The Probate Court didn't find it funny though. They'd been overwhelmed with people bringing hatpins of every size and shape to them until they set up a website to process hatpin claims. Apparently you had to submit a photo and no more than three sentences explaining why the pin you had was "the one", and you'd only hear back if it was a match. The website was still active, which was interesting considering the city had taken possession of the land and then sold it.

The final sentences of the will were a warning:

At your peril do you choose to do anything other than that which is specified above. You shall forfeit all you own, to your very soul, to do harm to the land that nourishes us all.

Yipes, that did not sound good. Opal knew the developer just needed the COVID restrictions eased a little and then their machinery would be chewing up the property to build the first of a series of high-rise buildings.

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Late July 2020

Nobody could talk about anything else except what was going on at the Robertson property. It was a top TV news story every night, there were blogs and tweets, Instagram videos of everything that happened and 24-hour webcam sites so people could watch in real time from the comfort of their homes (a perfect solution for the curious who couldn't crowd together in the time of COVID).

It had started out small. The demolition company couldn't cut the chain off the gate no matter what they tried. They gave up and decided to pull the gate down ... it didn't budge ... so they got a backhoe and attempted to pull down sections of the wall ... nope ... couldn't even scratch it, and the equipment kept breaking down. They tried to undermine the wall by digging holes but the holes kept filling right back up, and the equipment they used began to catch on fire.

It had escalated quickly. In frustration out came the explosives, with careful preparation and special permits. There were lots of loud bangs and booms for a few days, but when the dust cleared the wall was still standing. They tried lifting equipment over the wall, but the lifting equipment broke down or caught on fire. By then everyone was making suggestions ... throw things over with catapults, drop in by parachute, crawl in through an underground water culvert.

There were only so many options - over, under or through - and nothing worked. They did try lowering equipment in with a helicopter, but an unexplained wind blew the chopper off course and the suspended equipment crashed into the side of a nearby apartment building. Nobody was hurt thank heavens, but the repair cost was all going to come out of the company's pocket and they didn't try that again.

When the earthquake happened overnight and the ground outside the wall liquefied, sucking all the company's equipment and temporary office structures into the quicksand, it got weird. The foreman went temporarily insane (at least that was what his lawyer said), somehow got his hands on a pistol, and starting shooting bullets at and over the wall. Unfortunately they all ricocheted, and again nobody was seriously hurt, but oh boy the lawsuits were going to be painful.

What got everybody hyped up was a video of the bullets (which got viewed online millions of times in 24 hours, breaking some kind of record) bouncing off something in the air above the wall, something invisible. Soon there were security guards patrolling all the way around the property as people had fun trying to throw things over the wall. Nothing anyone tossed made it over, but it was very curious since there were also videos of birds coming and going, and a couple of squirrels climbed up and over too. Any person who tried that climb (and lots did) fell, and sometimes ended up with broken bones. Finally when one man's jacket caught on fire as he climbed the climbing stopped.

Opal watched it all, wondering how she'd made it onto the property, and worrying about Shu and the cat. She hoped that they were somewhere safe, but there was no way to know. She didn't see any sign that the developer or demolition company knew someone might be living inside the walls. Had she been irresponsible not to say something about Shu to anyone? She wanted to check on him, hoping that she'd still be able to get in, but with all the security and video surveillance she didn't know how to do it without being caught.

****************************

Late August 2020

The neighbourhood was finally starting to relax. The developers had stopped trying to get into the Robertson property, at least for now. The media had moved on to other stories when nothing new was happening here. There were still plenty of looky-loos taking selfies but security moved them along as quick as they could. Scientists came and went, doing whatever tests they thought would give them some clue about what was going on, but they were mostly quiet and unobtrusive.

Opal felt safe enough to walk all the way around the property again. Various security guards became used to her daily pattern and said hello or waved when their paths crossed. As she passed the gate she always looked for any movement inside but saw nothing. It had been two months since she'd met Shu and she couldn't stop worrying about him. She watched hours of webcam footage where there was some view of the area inside the walls and there was no sign of him.

She started to make a plan to get back inside. She studied the security patrol patterns. There were some guards who walked the perimeter, others drove around. The section of wall where the door was located was sometimes free of security for almost 10 minutes, she could use that time to try to find way to open the door. There was bigger problem though ... the section was being watched 24 hours by one of the online webcams. It was situated on an apartment balcony across the street, four stories up. She couldn't think of a way to disable the camera and she didn't want to reveal the door if she was successful in getting it to open.

She'd have to use her ladder technique to get in, and hoped it would work - she didn't want to fall or catch on fire! She'd been checking every public webcam video she could find of the property and there was a small gap in coverage. She didn't think anyone had noticed it, but one of the cameras had been bumped in the past month and was missing a small section of wall on the north side. It was wide enough that if she went straight across the road to it no one would see her on video. It would still have to be done in the early morning though to avoid being seen in person.

So one night at 2am she went for it, scrambling as quick as she could up and over. Too quick, unfortunately ... in her rush she managed to drop her flashlight street side and slice both her hands on the rough top of the wall. She ripped up a part of her t-shirt, wrapped it around the wounds and kept going. She didn't know if she'd get another chance to find Shu.