Interloper, p.27
Interloper, page 27
As she stood before her dresser, she opened the second drawer and contemplated what one would wear to see a psychic. Choosing to go with basic jeans, she dug deep in search of a shirt. Finding a Pink Floyd concert tee that had been her mom’s, she slid into it. Turning her attention to her hair, she maneuvered to the bathroom to freshen up.
◆◆◆
Marcus watched as Charlie prepped for the day. Knowing the events which would unfold would be key to thwarting Astrid and the Dark Magician, he performed a recitation for luck and understanding. Also, knowing Astrid would take full advantage of Charlie’s absence, Marcus, at the bequest of the Master, needed to influence Charlie to take the money with her on their trip. As he watched her, he knew he was running out of time to accomplish his task. Deciding the only thing he could do on such short notice would be to just tell her, he honed in on his recent teachings and, for the first time, spoke to his charge, whispering in her ear, “You must take the money.”
◆◆◆
As she set her toothbrush back in its cup, Charlie shivered and turned to her room. “Jared? Is that you?” She knew it couldn’t be, but hoped it had been. Tiptoeing into her room, she peeked around the corner to make sure no one was there with her. She was completely confounded, but knew what she had heard clear as day. Someone told her to take the money. As she reached in the top drawer for a pair of socks, she was startled by a knock at the door.
She twisted the knob to release the latch, then stepped back as Jared entered the room. “Hey, you almost ready?” he asked. He must have sensed something was off, as he asked, “Hey, you okay? Is something going on?”
“I… It sounds strange, but everything is strange lately, so here it is: I just heard a voice telling me to take the money with me today.”
“Well, if that wasn’t a sign, I don’t know what would be,” Jared replied. “With everything going on, I say we listen and take the money with us. You were warned for a reason.”
As Charlie sat on the edge of her bed sliding into her socks and shoes, Jared walked over to the closet and lifted the safe from its confines and disguised it with a small blanket he found. Checking to make sure they had everything, the pair exited the room and made their way to the car. Charlie figured the best place for the safe would be in the small area behind the back seats. Securing the rest of their stuff, the duo started their journey to Oneonta.
◆◆◆
Following the directions given to them, they exited the highway. Jared read the last stretch of directions, stating they were probably only twenty minutes away at that point. Looking at her watch, Charlie saw that even with the twenty minutes added, they were going to be about forty-five minutes early. Agreeing they could both eat, they found a diner and decided to stop.
Plopping themselves at the counter, they ordered coffee and opted to share a breakfast special plate. As they ate and drank, they talked about how they needed to go into the day with low expectations and how there was a very good possibility they would need to come up with a backup plan if it didn’t work.
They finished up their coffees, Jared paid, and they made their way through the small town, pulling up just outside of Kezia’s home with five minutes to spare. As Jared looked up at the house, he said, “Not what I expected. How about you?”
Charlie agreed the mid-century modern was not what she had been thinking of. However, what had she been expecting? A run-down cottage replete with a cobblestone chimney? She giggled at that thought.
“Ready?” Jared asked.
Charlie nodded. Making sure she locked up the car, she walked around and grabbed Jared’s hand and they made their way up the walk.
After knocking on the front door, they heard a faint voice from the other side call out, “Coming.” As the door opened, a small-framed woman with the most pleasant features stood before them. Charlie couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but she reminded her of what she had always thought the fairy godmother in Cinderella would look like as a real human.
“Well, you must be Jared and Charlie,” Kezia said.
Charlie nodded and poked Jared in the ribs for thinking what she knew he was thinking.
“Come in, come in,”” Kezia said, standing back to guide them in her home. “We are going to be in the parlor today, just ahead on your right.” Walking a few steps ahead, they turned to see the parlor. This is more like it, Charlie thought. The room was crowded but cozy. Bookshelves lined the side wall, with two windows flanking either side. Heavy burgundy fabric over them kept the daylight out. In the rear was a picture window and window seat, sharing the same fabric choice as the other windows. A round table with four chairs sat in the middle of the room. In the center of the table were what appeared to be stones and a few small books.
Guiding them to have a seat, Kezia offered tea. “Thank you,” Charlie said, “but I just finished several cups of coffee and am at my caffeine limit.”
“Same, but thank you,” Jared added.
Chuckling, Kezia said, “But of course. If you change your mind, please let me know.”
Charlie was having a hard time pinpointing her accent. Jared had mentioned Gunther told him she was not from the United States originally. Gunther’s family was supposedly German, but Kezia sounded more Russian.
Tilting her head, Kezia looked at Charlie and said, “Slovakia”.
With a baffled expression, Jared repeated, “Slovakia?”
“Yes, my dear. Your friend here was wondering where my accent is from. My family is Slovakian originally. They migrated to Poland, then Germany, and eventually here.” As she finished her statement, she asked both to have a seat at the table. “So, Gunther offered little insight as to what you seek from our meeting today. Can you please fill me in?” She looked at Charlie as she finished her question.
Charlie began with what started this quest: the death of her mother. As she attempted to wind her way through the complexity of what they had experienced, Kezia stopped her.
“My dear, we have a visitor. An unwanted one, I feel. We must take a moment to protect our minds.” With that, Kezia asked them to join hands with her as she began a prayer of sorts. Finishing up, She said they were free to have their discussions and asked Charlie to continue.
As Charlie finished, Jared added, “What we really need from you today is a way to communicate with the Master. We need to find out how to stop Astrid and figure out what really happened. We hope that, armed with the full story, we might come up with a plan to stop Astrid and the Dark Magician.”
Kezia took a deep breath. “You will be dealing with strong forces if you are to attempt this. It could end poorly if you aren’t careful. I need you to acknowledge this before I begin.”
Looking at each other, both Jared and Charlie gave their consent.
With that, Kezia began. She picked up the stones lying in front of her and placed them in a small, purple, velvet pouch. She held it between her hands and chanted, then passed the pouch to Charlie and asked her to think about what she wished for. Then, she gave Jared the same instructions as Charlie passed the pouch to him. With intentions out in the universe, Kezia reclaimed the pouch, opened the top, and spilled the contents onto the center of the table.
For the first time, Charlie noticed the stones had markings on them. As Kezia continued to speak in her native tongue, Charlie watched, not knowing what to do.
After a few minutes, Kezia placed her palms on the table and said, “Charlie, I have someone here who would like to speak. He says his name is Marcus. He says to tell you he was the one who whispered to you this morning.”
Stunned, Charlie nodded in acknowledgement. He has a name. Wow, she thought. This is real. She looked over at Jared and arched her eyebrows.
Kezia continued. “He says he is a student of the Master and has been charged to be your protector—nay, he says to tell you he is your guardian angel.”
Charlie nodded in acceptance as Kezia went on to relay messages from Marcus. After what seemed like an eternity, Kezia’s posture and energy changed. Almost glowing, she announced she was speaking with the Master. She explained his role in the afterlife and how he was the one who had allowed Astrid to be part of Birdie’s life. “He’s apologizing to you, Charlie. He says it was his fault for not seeing the signs. Astrid was hand-picked by him, upon her death, because of her innate desire to help people, and her youth made her special in the world of guardian angels. He did not consider the desires that would arise from passing at such a young age. He should have sensed she was ripe for the picking for the Dark Magician.”
Kezia continued to give a history lesson on the who, how, and why of their realms. She fed questions to both Jared and Charlie, and she relayed several questions they had for the Master. As Kezia appeared to grow weak from the ordeal, she began to share instructions for Jared and Charlie to follow to bring an end to the Dark Magician’s plan for Astrid and to help her return to her true purpose within the Master’s realm. Charlie’s photographic memory chose this moment to fail her as she was left with just a few bullet points to follow - One: Find a way to lure Astrid to them. Two: Assemble as strong a team as they could, for they would need exponential energy. Three: Find a way to harness the energy in a way that wouldn’t strengthen the Dark Magician. Knowing Jared was recording this visit, Charlie relinquished her attempts to keep up moments before Kezia’s body slumped forward.
Not knowing what to do, Charlie sat still. Beside her, Jared seemed similarly paralyzed. Concern grew to panic as Kezia did not move. Seeing she was breathing, albeit shallow, Charlie continued to sit in silence. Time crawled until Kezia lifted her head and said, “We must have some tea”.
As the group sipped their tea, Kezia averted her eyes from both Charlie and Jared. This can’t be a good sign, Charlie thought.
Kezia set her teacup down on its saucer, steadied her hands on the sides, lifted her head, and finally looked at Jared, then Charlie. Not breaking her gaze, Kezia spoke to the pair, letting them know that the Master would be in touch and that he and Marcus would provide any and all assistance they would need to see this through. She relayed his final instructions on how to perform a protection spell that will keep Astrid from listening to them as they prepared for the event..
As she finished, Charlie drew in a breath and held it.
Jared cleared his throat and said, “Well, I think we need to get that down on paper, don’t you, Charlie?”
Finally releasing the aforementioned breath, Charlie agreed and reached down into her bag for a notebook and pen.
As Kezia repeated the steps of the Master’s plan, Charlie logged the details. Charlie thanked Kezia, as did Jared. While Charlie packed up, Jared leaned over to Kezia to see if she was okay.
“I’m fine, young man,” Kezia said. “I just need rest.”
As Jared handed her a hundred for her time and efforts, she grabbed his hand. “It is vitally important you follow through on the plan.”
Jared stood back, flustered, and Charlie moved in for a hug goodbye.
Kezia added in Charlie’s ear, “Marcus and the Master both said they are here for you. You have your own personal army of angels. Use them if needed, Charlie.”
Charlie nodded and said, “Thank you.”
-CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX-
THE PLAN
The drive back was a quiet one. Even though Kezia had done most of the work, it was as if she had pulled from their energy somehow. Jared seemed to fight the urge to just lay his head back and sleep, which Charlie was thankful for since she was in the same boat and talking to him was all that kept her awake. The last thing they needed was to crash. Eventually running out of energy to carry on a conversation, Charlie did the best she could to keep their minds occupied with music. Unfortunately, there were not a lot of options on the long stretch of road, so she pushed in a mix tape she had made with Ramona. As she listened, she couldn’t help noticing how ironic this playlist was. The highlights included “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by Wham, “Magic Man” by Heart, and“Abracadabra” by Steve Miller Band. On the third song, Jared poked her thigh and used what little energy he had to smile at her.
With the clock tower in sight, they knew they were closing in on the campus. The shared breakfast having worn off, Charlie knew they would need food to boost their energy level. It was going to be a long day; she could feel it. After making a few sporadic turns, she slid Juicy up in front of Dinos. Jared sat forward and for the first time since getting in the car and spoke. “You read my mind, Charlie.” They exited Juicy and took a seat at a booth lining the front windows.
◆◆◆
Astrid stared down at the pair. She knew they had gone out earlier, but something happened, and her power of sight was lost after they entered the home of the seer. Utilizing that time, she had gone to the dormitory to retrieve her cash, only to find they had taken it with them. They were toying with her. Something was up. Something that was not good.
◆◆◆
Not wanting to risk Astrid or the Dark Magician hearing them, Charlie and Jared steered their conversations in every direction other than the plan. They both knew they would have to wait until they got to a safe space to actually talk. Inhaling their first plate of wings, Charlie mentioned they should give Cassandra a call and have her join them. They were going to need all hands-on deck. Jared agreed and pulled out his cell phone. Relaying that he would fill her in in person, Jared asked Cassandra if she was free in about an hour or so. The answer must have been yes, because Jared told her to be at his place and finished up by asking her if she had eaten yet.
Wow, Charlie thought. I hit the jackpot with this guy. Always thinking about others.
She smirked as Jared ended the call, and he said, “What?”
With a giggle, Charlie avoided having to answer that question. She instead steered the attention back to his conversation with Cassandra. “She’s on board, then?” Charlie asked.
“Her exact words were ‘color me intrigued’,” Jared said as the waitress delivered their burgers. He added a burger to go on their order, and the pair sat back to eat in silence.
Arriving at Jared’s, Charlie carried in Cassandra’s burger and her backpack while Jared handled the safe. Excusing herself to the bathroom, Charlie set everything down on the coffee table as Jared placed the safe to the side of the couch, took his jacket off, and plopped down onto one of the oversized armchairs. Charlie then made her way down the hall, and by the time she came out, Jared was sawing mini logs. Deciding to let him be until Cassandra arrived, Charlie sat down on the couch and fell asleep herself.
In what seemed like only a few minutes later, the doorbell ringing jolted Charlie and Jared awake. Charlie sat upright as Jared shuffled to the door, opened it to reveal Cassandra, and let her in. He groggily greeted her and pointed to her burger in the box.
“Wow,” she said. “What happened to you two?”
Knowing they couldn’t answer until they performed the protection spell Kezia had provided, Charlie asked her to sit and humor her and Jared for a few minutes. Cassandra took her place on the couch and began nibbling on her burger. Charlie and Jared sat opposite each other at the coffee table and, following Kezia’s instructions, laid half a dozen of the marked stones on the table and spoke the words written on the paper.
Once they were done, Charlie nodded to Cassandra and said, “Now we can talk.” Charlie explained their trip to see Kezia and the protection spell.
“Ah,” Cassandra said. “Like the cone of silence on the old Get Smart show?”
Jared looked at Charlie and laughed. “Yeah, I guess kinda like that.”
Charlie slid her notebook further onto the table, being mindful not to disturb the circle of stones. The group freely discussed what needed to happen to bring Astrid back to the light and hopefully release Birdie’s soul.
Cassandra nodded and broke it down to its bare bones. “So, all we have to do is lure Astrid in using Charlie and the money as bait, perform a spell to contain her, keep the Dark Magician at bay, somehow convince Astrid she doesn’t want to be human, and release her soul from your mom’s body, which will somehow do what? Trigger a cosmic shift and bring your mom back?”
Sighing, Charlie said yes to the first four, but clarified the plan was not to bring her mom back, but to release her soul from wherever it landed after her death. She explained what the Master told Kezia about how souls are held for a finite period of time while they were sorted to their final destinations. According to the Master, Birdie’s soul was considered lost or in limbo at the moment, and if they could get Astrid to return to her rightful place, it would allow Birdie’s soul to be free.
“So, wait,” Cassandra said. “What will happen to the body?”
Charlie thought about that for a moment, and Jared was the first to chime in. “Well, from what I gather, the body that Astrid inhabits is not a real body, but an exact reproduction of Birdie. Astrid formed it over time through a close bond as she fed on Birdie’s energies, creating an exact double. So, in theory, the body will just vanish.”
After taking a moment to let that sink in, Charlie continued. “We will need to time this perfectly. We are definitely going to need some help. And, we cannot fuck this up. The Master conveyed to Kezia that he believes the key is Astrid’s link to her mother, that her love for her mother will trump the desire to be human again. We just need to use that to our advantage somehow.”
As the group worked through the plan, step by step so as not to forget anything which could cause a catastrophic failure, they realized they hadn’t discussed when to enact the plan. Charlie pulled out a calendar from her backpack and looked at the weeks ahead. “I must secure the money tomorrow at the bank and somehow make Astrid think I still have it in the safe. We then need time to plan and gather the items and people we need.” She paused. Sliding her fingers over the dates on the calendar, she noticed something and bolted upright. “Here!” she exclaimed as her finger landed on April twenty-first. “Look at what is significant about the twenty-first, y’all.”
