Chapter Twelve

 By the time Frederick had cleared the town limits of Allora, the spell on Balthazar had broken - and the demon had also repeatedly parked his car, gotten out and tried to ask for directions more than twenty times; unable to stop himself from asking those around him from dousing him in Holy Water and then walking to the church across the street and… once he reached for the doors, he’d be back in his car again and parking it again.

Oh yes, Frederick had cast a ‘Ground Hog Day’ spell on that demon for coming back here to find him; and it was strong enough for him to be stuck until the Grigori packed his things and left town, when it would conveniently break leaving Balthazar with the odd feeling he was missing out on something and yet again, he wasn’t sure what.

 

At the church, Louisa Parkins walked slowly up to the the altar where she found an envelope left between the pages. She had been this church’s organist for over thirty years and had seen over ten padres come and go over that time. She was in her late-70’s and walked slowly due to arthritis in her hips and knees; but she never complained about it to anyone. She used to use a cane, but since Frederick had become Padre here, she had no real use for it as her pain had lessened a little.

She picked up the envelope as she walked past the altar, looking at it curiously. Nobody was around, and it was highly unlikely anyone put it here, unless it was the Padre. And looking at it, she was right. It had Frederick’s hand-writing on the outside in his wonderful delicate hand - a hand she had never seen before in a man of his age - and she ripped it open along the sealed edge, pulling out the folded single-sheet letter. Putting her reading bifocals on she always had around her neck on a silver chain, she read slowly - her lips moving - and a hand went to her mouth slowly.

“Oh, dear, this isn’t right.” she whispered, “Who’s going to do the sermon this Sunday?”

“Miss Louisa, is everything okay?” a voice asked behind her at the rear entrance to the church.

Turning, she saw her nephew, George had stepped inside, “Oh, you scared me, Georgie Boy.” she laughed, “I found a letter of resignation on the altar from Frederick. Is he out the back at the house?”

He glanced outside towards the house, “Actually, I was going to ask about that. His car is gone and the house is empty and locked up. He left the keys in the letterbox.”

Louisa walked to the first row of pews and sat down. It had been a hot day, and she was really feeling it, “Oh dear, it’s hot.”

George walked through to sit next to her. He had been adopted and was a lovely boy; even though he was in his thirty’s, he still looked after his Aunt Louisa - calling his Miss Louisa when they were alone as she called him Georgie Boy; and had done since he was little and her sister had introduced him to the family. It was a nickname which made this once-shy little boy laugh, “I’ll find out if one of the locals can do the sermon. It shouldn’t be too difficult, there’s a few days notice; and if not, I’ll look into the Lodge.”

“Good move.” she smiled patting his shoulder, “He didn’t say where he was going; just that his time here was finished, and it was time to move on.”

“Well, if he thinks it’s time, it’s time.” he stood and looked at her, concerned about his Aunt, “Are you okay? You seem as though you’re in pain.”

“Oh, it’s okay. My arthritis is bothering me more than it did yesterday.” she waved him away, “I’ll be going home now.”

 

Frederick stopped his vehicle next to the peacock letterbox, and peered out of this windscreen at the three large stone formations. If he hadn’t been a Grigori, he wouldn’t have been able to see that those three large stones - which looked like stone to Humans, but were gargoyles resting to him - were alive and waiting for the gates to open.

He back the car up, pulled into the dirt driveway and looked at the now very weathered letterbox. It looked like it had been here for years, but he knew better - it had been here for only a few months, weeks even.

Putting his right hand out of his driver’s window, he whispered: “Show me the way.” as though the gateway heard him, it shimmered and shifted, opening up a beautiful sealed road with a greenhouse filled with plants. The strong, heady scent of Sweetpeas caught the breeze and he smiled as he turned, swung his arm upwards and whistled.

As though they had woken from a long sleep, the three gargoyles pulled themselves out of the opposite hillside and followed him through the gate and into the dimension to find their master - to find Mary.

He looked in the rear vision mirror and found the gate had closed off from Earth, “Okay. This is weird. Gargoyles, Sweetpeas, and a field of blinding greenness where there’s none normally. I must find out what’s going on.”

The massive creatures flew overhead and onwards, vanishing through the tunnel of trees and around the corner. He wondered if it was such a good idea to allow them entry into this place in the first place… and who conjured them here?

“I’ll give, I’d love to see where this ends up.” he smiled and put the pedal down a little more.

 

“Now, shift it a little more and it should just… fall into place.” Frank said softly as he stood nearby with Mary working on her first staff.

With a of clink, the large moonstone she had picked out from the collection fitted well and didn’t move, “Oh, it’s lovely!”

“And the Teak really picks it up well.” Thomas grinned, “Nicely done. You’re a natural at making these things.”

Frank looked over at Thomas, “I was about to say that…” he looked around frowning as Thomas did, then they exchanged troubled expressions before Frank said, “There’s something going on.”

Mary leaned her staff against the wall next to her broom and picked up her choice in wands, and turned, “What’s going on?”

Frank was out the door before Thomas was, and the young man walked over to Mary, “Stay here with me. We need to stay put, because somebody came through the gates along the main road.”

Leaning on the large bench, she groaned, “You mean to say, they figured out how to open the gate we came through, after it closed and sealed us in?”

Thomas took her arm gently, “There’s only a few magical beings who can open that - and Balthazar is not one of them.”

“Okay.” she nodded looking up at him, “That’s a good thing. Then if he can’t open it, but we can… then who else can?”

“A Grigori.” Frank said walking in with another person behind him, “This is…”

“Frederick?” Mary and Thomas said at the same time.

“You’re not a priest anymore?”

“And since when are you a Grigori? And what’s a Grigori?” Mary asked, “Did you tell us what you were and I forgot?”

“I was never a priest, but I’ve always been a Grigori. And I am an Earth-bound Angel who lives off the souls of humans. But I like the darker side of the plate… I eat Demon Souls. Sure it’s a little more bitter, but it freaks out other Angels and scares a lot of people.” Frederick said, “Oh, you’re learning of your powers - good.”

Frank looked the man up and down, “And how did you get the gargoyles in?”

“I could see them for what they are.” he looked up at Mary from the bench and her collection of things to be made into a wand, “And all three of them are waiting for you outside. Gotta say, they’re cute!”

“The gargoyles?” Mary asked.

“Oh man… if they see me… they’ll eat me.” Thomas mumbled, “I’m staying here.”

The Grigori shook his head, “No necessarily, Thomas. If you’re here and I haven’t eaten you yet, well, that says something.”

Mary put away her makings for a wand and walked outside to be greeted with three massive, grey faces towering over her. Taking a step back, she didn’t know whether to run and hide or to pat them, “You guys look like a really rough-scale type of dragon.”

“Oh my god!” Diane screamed from the house, “How did they get in!”

“I’m sorry, Diane, I should have called first.” Frederick walked out of the barn.

“Frederick? What are you doing here?” she walked down from the house and broke into a run, embracing the man.

“Um… mother. What are you doing hugging a man we don’t know?” Mary asked as one of the gargoyles dumped himself on the ground next to her and gazed up trough the broken shade of the tree’s canopy. She stared at the creature for a moment, then turned back to her mother, “Mother!”

Diane turned to her grinning, “Oh… yes. Mary, I’d like you to meet, Frederick, he’s your father.”

“My… father? You never told me about him.”

“I told you he left us when you were very young… but after that you just didn’t ask about him.” her mother said, “I never thought I’d see him again.”

Frederick look down at Diane, “Why is Balthazar asking about you? Did you sell your soul?”

“I don’t think it’s wise to talk about issues like this in front of Mary.” she said, “Now, let’s get you something to eat - not a dark soul - but something real.” she took his hand and led him to the house.

“Diane, talk to me… it’s important.”

“After we eat.” she turned and pointed to the gargoyles, “And you clean them up, young lady!”

Mary looked at the creatures lolling around the yard and under the trees, “Why is it that my mother could have sold the most important thing to her to a demon, and yet I get into more trouble for conjuring three gargoyles?”

Thomas peered from inside the barn, “Because she wants me to live; and is worried they are going to attract attention in the outside world and the cosmos.”

“And her missing a soul won’t?”

Frank shrugged, “And your folks haven’t seen each other in a very long time.”

Mary pulled a face, “Oh gross, Frank. I don’t want to think about old people sex!”

 

Chapter Eleven

 A sonic boom vibrated throughout the surrounding hills as Balthazar stood by the road. He looked around for a plane, to be disappearing over those hills, but found none. Then, he turned and looked down the long, neglected driveway which was blocked to him; and knew it was coming from that place he couldn’t get into.

This pissed him off to no end.

Running his hands through his wet hair, he stalked back to his car, got in and drove away. He had to find another way to get those two out of there - and to collect the soul he was promised: the soul of Diane Wilson.

 

A wash of exhilaration hit her as the sonic boom exploded across the salt lake, and the lightning’s last flash was imprinted on her retinas every time she blinked.

“That lightning imprint will go away.” he said, pulling his feet out of the salt, shaking them, “How cool was that?”

She pulled her feet out and grinned, “Woah! I can’t believe we did that!”

“We? That was all you… after I got you to relax and trust me, you did the rest.” Thomas smiled putting out his hand to walk her back to the two vans, “And because I could withstand the power you hold, it’s probably a good idea if your Uncle Frank stays away from you while you hone your skills as a …” he stopped, “I’m not sure what you are.”

Diane walked out to the lake’s edge, “Mary, you’re a White Mage - like I am.” she pursed her lips: “But you need training; which was something I should have done when you were little.” she turned and regarded her brother, “You Uncle here has been bugging me to get in and train you - but I didn’t want you to attract anyone of the likes of Balthazar into your life.”

“It’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?” Mary said, “And what about that book? Is it yours or mine?”

“Technically, it’s mine, but seeing you’ve come into your full powers, it’s now yours.”

Frank stood from his sitting position against the bull bar of the van, “Well, first off, she needs a staff.”

Thomas smiled, “And a broom - both of which you must make yourself.”

“Oh goodie. This sounds like fun.” Mary laughed, “I have no skills like this.”

Her mother smiled, “This is the beginning of your training, my daughter, and you will have to learn fast - seeing that demon wants my soul; and he wants it sooner than expected.”

“Why?”

Diane sighed, “That sonic boom you both put out reached outside this dimension, and he would have felt and heard it. Now, you really pissed him off.”

 

He pulled his vehicle into a vacant parking lot at the local shopping centre in Allora and stepped out into the hot sun. Straight away, Balthazar could feel the stares penetrating him from all around, from everywhere. He looked around, and anyone walking past stopped and looked him up and down, from windows, store doorways … they all stopped and stared at him, making him feel as though he did not belong.

And in this reality, he didn’t.

But he didn’t really give a shit, he needed to ask questions of this township, and find out why he felt so ostracised by everyone here and yet he hadn’t said a word yet.

Stepping up onto the footpath, he pressed the remote to his car and the black vehicle blooped, lights flashing, locking itself.

He looked around and the people still stared at him, “Hey, folks, I’m looking for some answers if I could ask a question or two please?”

One man walked up with a bottle of water in his hand, took the lid off, drank a mouthful, then spat it in his face. As soon as it made contact, the most painful, burning turned his face red, as his skin began to light up and turn to ash, rotting as it did, “Why would we talk to you, Demon?” he poured the water over Balthazar as he turned his back on the man, and the demon began to burn and smoke, and he dropped to his knees.

A gutteral voice came from his throat, “You will help me, because I’ll rip your soul from you if you don’t!” Balthazar turned, thrusting his hand into the man’s body, through his ribcage - where the sound of breaking bones sounded like dry twigs - and ripped out his still-beating, blood-engorged heart, showing it to the man as the light of his life drained from his face and eyes as he dropped to the ground. Balthazar took a deep breath, stood and looked around as his skin healed from the burns from the holy water, “Now, be good little Humans and tell me where I’d be able to find your closest pretty little white church.”

The group of people watching on, pointed in one direction as some of them stared at the dead, bleeding body of their friend and local shop-keeper, Robert Brown - the son of the original Bob Brown who ran the hardware store; and still did until now.

“Thank you all.” he turned away from them, with the heart still in his hand, drying blood dripping from his fingers, he walked across the baked, hot road to the pretty little white church they had all pointed out to him. As he approached the building he began to laugh, knowing they were all still standing on that footpath, not a single one of them wanting to move to pick up their friend - too scared to do anything.

 

Frederick looked up from his readings at the end of the aisle. He had been practicing his sermon for this coming Sunday when the double doors of the church blew inward, slamming against the adjoining walls.

“Oh great, you’re back.” he muttered, sighing, “What can I do for you, Balthazar?”

The demon swaggered up the aisle shifting the freshly-plucked Human heart from one hand to the next, as he glowered at the Grigori. Then, he came to the front of the church and dumped the heart on the open book Frederick was reading from, “You can tell me which of your people this came out of.”

He didn’t have to touch it to know it came from the Brown family - along-standing, well-known family in Allora. The scent of how good this man was, how generous and beautiful he was as a Human invaded Frederick’s senses, and he took a few steps back, recoiling from the man’s untimely death at the hands of such a horrible entity.

“How could you? What did he ever do to you?” he stammered.

“Well…” his eyes looked at the heart and then back to the Grigori, “I have a problem with how you’ve been brainwashing your little town, Padre.”

“Brainwashing? I’m not brainwashing them.” he snapped, “I’ve been preparing them for the likes of you.” the his demeanor changed, and he chuckled, “Oh, I see, Robert got you good with Holy Water I take it.”

“Shut up!”

“And the whole town could see you for who you were as soon as you showed up in that city-slicker, black, late-model wanker-mobile, right?” he smiled, “And here I am, an Earth-Bound Angel, and all I do is guide my flock so they get into Heaven the right way, the honourable way… and you come along and rip out the heart of Robert Brown; all because he called you out.”

“Where is she?”

“Who?”

The demon growled as he balled up his blood-stained fists, “Diane Wilson! Who do you think I’ve been talking about?”

“Oh… and I think you have the shortest memory of a demon I’ve ever seen.” Frederick smiled, “You seem to forget what I eat.”

“Souls.”

“Yes, but what kind?”

Balthazar’s eyes widened, “How do I end up here all the time?” he turned to run, but found Frederick in front of him, his sword drawn at the ready.

“The question should be: how are you going to get out of this one?” the priest said.

 

Uncle Frank took Mary out to the large barn and opened its doors, presenting the place for what it was: a workshop. He had staffs, parts to make magical tools, brooms and other things stored here instead of animals.

“This is the magical supply store of all magical supply stores.” he smiled, “And here there’s all kinds of crystals, broom handles, powders, potions, books, and, well, anything you can think of to use in everyday and extra-ordinary magic needs.” he turned to Mary and Thomas.

“You’re so proud of your collection of goodies, here.” Mary smiled, “I never had anything like this growing up.”

“Well, let’s start you out with a broom, and then you can work on your staff.” he walked over to the line of broom handles, “Which type of handle would you like? Ash, oak, willow? They’re all here, ready to be used.”

“Oh… I don’t know.” she shrugged, “Mother never told me anything about any of this. It was all ‘do your school work and you’ll get into a good university.’”

Frank’s ruddy, beaming grin fell, “Oh, I see. It wasn’t in any way a part of your life? Okay… the best one to use is Ash.” he pointed to it, “You pick it up. It’s your broom.”

Mary picked up her broom handle and Frank turned to show her a bundle of twigs and small branches which were nearby to tie to the handle. He told her how to attach them, wrapping the area where the twigs were going around it with sage, rosemary and other herbs to purify the broom.

This took a few hours to get done. Mary enjoyed making her first broom and Thomas was so proud of her - seeing he’d made three brooms in his life; for different stages of his life.

“That broom is a great one, seeing you’ve never made one before.” he smiled, “And it’s strictly a very female thing for women to make.”

Frank nodded, “Men make brooms, but they’re not very male-orientated, this is a very feminist things for female mages and witches.”

“Do I fly on it?”

Her uncle burst out laughing, “Oh boy! You’ve been watching a lot of Hollywood films. No. Not unless it’s an emergency; and even then, you don’t want anyone seeing you do that - it’s just…” he looked over at Thomas for help.

Thomas grimaced: “Embarrassing.”

He agreed, “Yeah, trying to explain the whole flying witch thing is like telling everyone that Samhaine is a god from Hell who loves to try to break out every six hundred years - and brings friends along for the party.”

Her eyes widened, “He is? He does?”

Frank groaned, “Okay, time to have dinner, you my girl, you need to study up. You’ve missed out on so much and have such little time to catch up on it all.”

 

Over the next few days, Mary and Thomas worked on her spells and studies. He couldn’t believe how little she knew about her powers, the world of magics and how much she had to catch up with it all, with Balthazar looking for them.

 

Balthazar pulled his vehicle into an empty spot in the parking lot in the middle of the Allora township. Looking around, this felt very familiar - how, he wasn’t sure. But it was feeling as though he had done this before.

He turned off the vehicle and got out of it, stepping out into the hot sun, and getting the feeling he was being stared at by the locals, as though he really didn’t belong here.

In truth, he didn’t, not in this reality.

And he didn’t give a … shit.

He looked around himself, down at his hands. They were stained with blood, “Hang on!” he looked at the footpath, to find the body a dead local man there, “This isn’t right!”

 

Frederick stood nearby, smiling knowingly as his spell worked a real number on Balthazar. He knew it would take a little while before the demon figured out a way to get out of it - but not long.

The Grigori turned and walked back to the church. It was time for him to leave this place. He had left a letter of resignation on the altar for the organist to find and locked up the doors - lining it them with salt - before leaving. He walked down the side of the church and to the little house out the back where he had resided for a little over a year, picked up his two old-fashioned suitcases and put them into the boot of his car.

Yes it was time to leave.

The one thing he hated about this was not saying goodbye to anyone. This part always bugged him - the vanishing without a trace part - not matter how long he’s been on Earth, he’s hated just leaving the Human’s he’s gotten to know without a trace. It breaks his heart a little more each time.

 

Chapter Ten

 Mary and Frank were left alone the next morning to work on her other skills for the day. They had left in Diane’s van to drive to the other side of the property so she didn’t destroy anything they were living in.

After driving for around half an hour, Frank pulled onto a dirt track which took them to a salt lake. Mary couldn’t believe how huge it was; and right in the middle of the land her mother had created to live in.

“Why is this here?”

He pulled on the hand brake, “Well, if Diane needs salt, we can get it from here, and if she needs a place to try out something - a new spell - she can do it here too, without blowing up anything nice she’s created.” he got out of the van and began walking towards the huge expanse of white nothingness.

“Oh come on, that can’t be…” she quickly exited the vehicle and followed him, “Hey! Wait for me!” Mary caught up with the older man, “So, why are we here?”

“You have an immense amount of power and I’m hoping to teach you to control it,” he said, then chuckled, “, without getting myself blown up in the process.”

“I’m not that… oh I suppose I am.” she said, “So, control is all about balance?”

“You’ve been reading?”

“Well, no. But Thomas has been talking to me about control; and he’s got a lot of power as well, and he knows how to control it really well.” she sighed as they walked out onto the lake, the salt crunching under their shoes.

“Aaah, well, therein lays the difference between you and Thomas: he’s been working with his powers since he was a child; however you’ve only just discovered yours.” Frank waggled his finger at her smiling, “And Thomas has had practice over many years and a good family to help him work with his powers. He turned, stopping and looking over the huge lake, then back to Mary, “But your mother? Well, I’m really disgusted in her approach with you. She didn’t even hint you had powers?”

“No.”

“Okay. Tell me what you can do, besides blow up light bulbs and freak out people.” he waved his hands dismissively.

“That’s it. I’ve been blowing up light bulbs for a few years; and the scaring people is new. Then, I saw the gargoyles the other day - which was something mother told me I summoned.” she shrugged, “I don’t know how I did that… but I did it.”

Frank watched his niece as she oozed helplessness. He could feel it, and he couldn’t help wanting to get her through this. He hated being an empath; and this was the main reason why he avoided the public so much - there was so much pain in the world, “Okay, you can do some pretty powerful stuff. But Thomas said you almost summoned lightning - and that’s a good defence - which you need a good storm for first. Was there a storm around?”

“Yeah.” she pointed, “There was…”

He suddenly ducked, “Hey! Woah! No pointing at me! I still don’t know what you can do!”

Slowly, Mary put her hand down, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry. But there was a storm, it came out of nowhere. One minute there was sunshine, stinking hot heat, and then next thing we had a storm, thunder and lightning.”

“Where you anxious? Angry? Tired?”

“All of the above.” she said, “But I felt as though I couldn’t do it on my own, and the minute Thomas was next to me, it was like he took over the whole … storm.”

Frank smiled, “So, it wasn’t a naturally occurring storm. You created it - but then didn’t know what to do with it once it showed up; much like the gargoyles. You’ve got them here, but you have no idea what to do with them now they’re here.” he took her shoulders gently, “When you become anxious, big things happen, storms, lightning, and gargoyles show up out of nowhere.”

“I don’t mean them to.” tears welled in her eyes.

“I know, but the one thing you have to learn is to control the anxiety so these things don’t happen - even if your storms become short spurts of rain, that’ll be something.” he smiled, “Now, let’s conjure some lightning and see what you can do with it.”

“What?” she wriggled out of his grip, “Are you nuts? I might fry you alive!”

He smile widened, “Hey, kid, I’ve been around longer than you think! Come on, your mother will like it that I got you to throw your power around a little.”

 

Thomas sat out on the verandah of the house waiting for Mary and Frank to return when Diane handed him a large mug of tea and joined him in the glider next to him, “They’ll be gone all day.” she sipped the tea.

“Yeah, I know. But conjuring lightning?” he sipped the tea and then put it on the table in front of them, “Why?”

She looked out across the quiet, shady property, “I didn’t tell her about her powers, because I was hoping she didn’t have them.”

“But she did, and when you found out she did, you just simply vanished?” he looked over at Diane, “I still don’t understand how you could do that.”

“I wanted her to find me.” she regarded him, “You see, Thomas, I knew she was with you, and you would never let her come into any danger, but then when I found out you worked for Balthazar… well, my faith in you took a dive.” she shifted so she was facing him, “I knew you wanted to be a lawyer, but really.” she shook her head, “Did you have to work for him?”

He looked at his cup of tea, “Well, I went into the place blind. I needed to learn while on the job, and didn’t know who he was until my Dad told me, and by then, I had signed the contract.”

She gave him a tight, small smile, “So, it was too late.”

“Yeah, and Dad’s been getting threats since Mary and I have left Brisbane from him; and seeing how powerful Dad is, Balthazar isn’t getting far with him.” the young man looked over at Diane, “And besides, I’m not worried about my family. They know how to protect themselves.” he looked at his phone, “Besides, my boss has been trying to call… I can see the messages being blocked.”

 

“Okay.” Frank shook his wet hair, laughing, “Now you have have it raining, I want to see you conjure a storm - get a bolt of lightning going.”

“I need a target.” she said squeezing her hair out, knowing it wasn’t doing any good.

He quickly looked around and spotted a large boulder not far away, “That boulder over there.” he pointed, “Blow that up. What you do is visualise somebody you hate - but don’t bring them here - and…” as he spoke, he heard a grumble of thunder behind them, “You’re doing well.”

Taking a deep breath, Mary reached her right hand up to the darkening skies, as the bright blueness and the sun was blotted out by the purple-green storm clouds above. The rain became heavier as the wind picked up and the storm moved faster. Any birds which had been singing only moments before went silent and hid, as lightning stretched across the horizon with skeletal, jagged fingers, striking the ground here and here, and the thunder crashed and grumbled afterwards.

Then, as the winds picked up and lashed the salt lake, with Frank standing next to her, the lightning came closer - striking the ground with massive purple-white bolts, and deafening thunder crashing overhead. Frank tried not to react, but he found it hard to stand still, but watched Mary, as she focused on the large boulder by the edge of the lake, her hand reaching up to grab the lightning when it -

 

Then it happened!

Two massive forks landed on either side of them, reeking of ozone, making all their hair stand on end, making Frank break out in a cold sweat of not know whether to stay or to run.

He did not touch Mary as the third, middle, fork was grabbed by her, ran down her arm, and out her left hand as she thrust it out towards the boulder. The lightning burst from her to the huge stone exploding it into so many pieces as the thunder clap and boomed above them, making the ground shake.

Then, as quickly as the storm appeared, the lightning storm showed up, the boulder exploded… it all vanished. The sun was out, brilliant and blinding against the salt lake. Mary stood there breathing deeply, as she exhaled a few breaths of smoke before looking over at Frank, who stood next to her staring in shock.

“Uncle Frank, that was amazing!” she smiled, “Wow! I didn’t think that would happen the way it did! At first I could only make it rain, then, you told me to blow up that boulder over there, and then, it… well, it just happened! I’m stunned, and it was so much fun! I want to try again, but with something smaller, to practice my control. It’ll be good for… Uncle Frank? Are you okay?” she looked over at him and took a step toward him, but he backed away quickly, his hands up.

Frank didn’t know what to do as she just talked, acting as though nothing was wrong. She took a step towards her, but he backed up, “No! That was…” he turned and walked away, off the salt lake and back towards the vehicle.

Mary followed him, thinking he was going to leave her there, but he just sat on the bull bar of the van, “Uncle Frank, are you okay?”

He looked up at her as he leaned his hands on his knees, looking very pale. Then, he leaned further over and threw up, “Oh, this is what happens when I’m around too much power.”

She backed away, “Oh shit, I’m sorry. Did the lightning get you?”

He put a hand up, “No. I should have waited on the edge of the lake, not stand next to you. I should have brought Thomas with us - he would have helped with the leveling out of the powers you both have.”

She ran to the passenger side of the van and grabbed the handle of the door, only to have the van’s engine start. Jumping back, she shouted in shock, “Crap! What happened?”

He turned, “It’s okay, you’ve got enough lightning in you still to start electrical things like cars. I should have told you this.”

Bursting into tears, Mary shook her hands, “I want to get you some water, but I just started the car without keys… and if I touch anything else, I might hurt you or… why didn’t we bring Thomas?”

 

Diane and Thomas heard a huge explosion while they were talking, and looked out towards the road, then to each other. He got to his feet as she did and they both ran out to his van, and he started the Kombi, threw it into reverse and it bounced down the road.

“We have to drive faster!” she snapped.

He picked up the remote to camouflage unit, “Landcruiser.” and the whole vehicle revved loudly, and quickly changed into a late model Toyota Landcruiser, and he put the foot down and they really took off down the road.

“This is impressive you can do this with the camouflage unit.” she said, “Where did you get it?”

“A Delorian dropped through from another planet and now it can’t get back because its parts are from the next century… so a good - I can’t call him a friend - put this together for me.” Thomas said, “And he’s now moved his chop shop to another place.”

“Where?”

“I can’t tell you.”

Diane grumbled, “Or you won’t.”

“No I can’t tell you, because I don’t know where it is.” he said.

“Oh.”

After a fifteen minute drive, they came to Diane’s van with Mary freaking out next to it and Frank being sick. The van was running and Diane and Thomas wondered what the hell happened. He turned off the engine and they both got out and ran to help.

He pointed to Frank, “You help your brother. He looked at Mary as she shook her hands frantically, “Stop shaking your hands! You’ll go off again.” he tried not to touch her, “And come with me.” he ran towards the salt lake and she followed him, “Take your shoes off, and out in the middle with me.” They ran out as far as they could run, and he knelt down and began to dig a hole, where he put his feet in and pulled her into it, then buried them both ankle deep in the wet salt, “We can do this.”

“We? What do you mean, we?” she tried to pull away and get out, “I’m going to end up killing you… make you sick, like Uncle Frank.”

“He’s sick because he’s an Empath Warlock.” he looked at her, stroking her long red hair, “Mary, you have to trust me in this. We are alike, you and me. Without me, there’s not much of you, and without you, there’s not much of me. We’re ying and yang… I can help you if you let me.”

“Frank said that too.”

“Then let me.” he looked up as the storm clouds gathered again with the lightning spattering around the under-carriages of the darkening skies. As the large drops fell on and around them, he took her hand and raised it up as he looked into her eyes, “Please just let me… let me help you.”

 

 

Chapter Nine

 “Protect me?” she read further, “Well, okay, why is it that they’re not here?”

“Here?” Frank asked.

“In this dimension?” Thomas asked, “They were across the road from the place, sitting and waiting for Mary, and when we came here, they didn’t follow.”

Her uncle closed the book, replacing it on the shelf again, “Well, let’s see, I think it’s because they either trusted you or feared you.” he shrugged, “Either way, you’re both not out of the woods with this.”

Thomas sighed, “Look it’s getting late, we all need some sleep. And I’d like it very much if the furniture around this place didn’t take another swipe at my life.”

Mary gave Frank an expectant look, “Yes, I don’t want to wake up with him dead.”

“Oh jeez, I’ve broken your trust, haven’t I?” the older man groaned, “I’m so sorry, sweetpea, I really didn’t mean to do that. But your mother did tell me to protect you when you got here.”

“Okay, I get it, but I’m classed as an adult.” she said, “Oh, another thing: why wasn’t I told about my powers? Was this thing going to be a huge secret until I blew up a city block?”

“I told her to tell you, but she was terrified at how you’d respond. And keeping it from you was the wrong thing to do as well.” Frank shook his head, “You should have been told when you were sixteen, but by then, you had met Thomas and you were both supposed to click as partners in the witch and warlock worlds.”

“Hey, I remember that day!” Thomas said, “It was really weird. We kept running into each other. Bolts of lightning kept coming out nowhere on a hot sunny day… and nobody could explain it.”

Mary nodded, “Yeah. It was us and our powers?”

Frank sighed, “You two were supposed to … well… be.”

“Be?”

“Matched up by the Fates.” Thomas said, “But seeing we missed out on each other then, we met in university. And your mother went to extremes by - oh hell - going missing, to get you away from me.”

Mary looked at Frank, “Okay, she was scared of something going buggy, so why was she keeping us apart?”

As the two stared at Frank, he motioned them toward the dining room table, “Okay, you’ll have to push your Dad about this Thomas, but there’s a big Fate story coming your way.”

 

The sun was coming up, glinting through the lower branches of the trees when Frank finished talking. He had pulled out some of the Family History books from his shelves and showed the two how Fated they were supposed to be.

“And just as there’s a King Arthur in every dimension and time on Earth, you two are like Merlin and his love.” Frank said, “I have no idea why your mother kept you separate from Thomas, but she did. You would have both kept the Balthazar’s of every world and dimension in their own prisons for a millennia - or more.”

The sound of a car pulling up sounded outside, and Mary and Thomas looked up from the book, “Who’s that?” Mary asked.

“That would be your mother.”

“Or Balthazar - in case he’s figured out a way to get here.”

“Doubt that.” Frank rose from his chair and walked out along the wrap-around verandah, “Diane! You’ve been gone for longer than expected.”

“Frank, what happened to your illusion?”

“It bummed out… and you’ve got a visitor, well, two really.” his voice said.

Mary turned in her seat quickly, “Mother?”

“I don’t recognise that Kombi next to mine. So, who could… hang on there’s a force field around it. Camouflage?” there was silence, “Oh, this is great! Where is he!”

“Now, Diane, don’t get one your soapbox, they’re here for a good reason. And really you should have told Mary.” Frank’s voice got closer as her mother’s marching footfalls almost ran along the verandah and came to a sudden halt at the door, “You knew they were Fated to be together, so why did you try to stop it?”

Mary ran to her mother hugging her, “Oh mother! It’s so good to see you!”

Her mother held her close, “I knew you’d find me. But why are you with a demon? Why did you bring Thomas Benson here? He works for Balthazar… they communicate all the time.”

“Actually, I haven’t spoken to him for over three days.” he said, “But if you bothered to ask me about that, instead of your daughter, you’d get the real answers.” he turned in his chair, leaning his arm across the back of the chair next to him, “And besides, your brother tried to kill me last night - kudos to him - with Mary defending me.”

Diane stared at her daughter, “Why did you stop Thomas’ death?”

“Mother, we’ve had all kinds of things after us over the past few days, and I’ve tried to contact you - and you’ve been hiding here like a child! And Thomas has been the only person who has kept me safe. He’s used all his leads, people I’ve never met, weird-looking creatures who got us that camouflage unit for the Kingswood, and then we met the only person - I could only guess was an Angel - and he helped us when he didn’t have to, because he knew you as well.”

“Did you get the book?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t feel it. Its magicks are strong.”

“It’s in a led-lined box.”

Frank pointed to Mary, “And this is why you mis-judged your daughter, Diane.”

“And without realising it, I summoned the three gargoyles as well to help me.” she said.

Her mother took a step back, “Oh… wow! I couldn’t do that without destroying something. And you did that - when?”

“When I was in the city visiting the lawyers. They were on the building.” she said.

“A-and they didn’t crush the building?” her mother asked.

“No… just watched me walk in, and walk past.” she frowned, “I thought they were something I was imagining, until Thomas told me he could see them too.”

Her mother smiled, “And you two are more powerful, um, together?”

Thomas looked at Mary, “We’re not sure yet. We haven’t tried out our powers together.”

“Why not?”

Mary blushed as she looked at her shoes, “Well…”

He put his arm around her shoulders gently, “Mary gets nervous and blows up things in a huge way. And last night, she blew all the light bulbs in the house, imploded all the potion bottles and made a battle ax fly through the air - aiming it at Frank’s head.”

“Mary!” her mother shouted.

Frank shushed his sister, “In all fairness, I was trying to kill Thomas without actually getting the full story about him. I did think he was just a demon - but he’s just working for the wrong team.”

Diane was still not impressed by her daughter’s actions: “Frank, she still could have done that a little differently.”

Her brother shook his head, “No… what she did was right. I was enjoying my torture of Thomas way too much; and she had a right to make everything explode like that.” he took a deep breath, “Diane, your daughter has some really big juice… you have to train her, and do it properly.” he looked around outside, “This means you can do it here without worrying about destroying parts of Earth.”

“Mother I can feel my gargoyles missing me… can I conjure them her?” Mary asked.

“Not while Balthazar is looking for us both.” her mother said, “And we need to start on your magickal education today. Both of you will need to work on pairing up with your magicks together. Frank’s right. I shouldn’t have gone against the Fates in this. You’re both very powerful; and with your powers working together, you can get rid of Balthazar.”

Mary smiled, “When do we start?”

“Well, have you eaten anything for breakfast?”

“Actually, Uncle Frank has been teaching us about our history.” Mary said.

Diane smiled, “Well, let’s eat first and we’ll see what you can do outside - well away from the house.”

 

All four of them spent the day away from the house, working on their herb-gathering, identifying trees, mushrooms and other items Mary had to learn about within a few months - which she should have learned over her whole life, but didn’t.

Thomas and Frank picked up some kindling and chopped wood for the fireplace that night.

“How long have you been using your powers?” Frank turned from the block with the ax in his hand.

“Well, since I was about five years old.” Thomas said, “When I accidentally killed my goldfish by feeding it.”

“Shit man, what did you do?”

“I sprinkled the flakes in and - as I rubbed my fingers together - a bolt of lightning from my fingertips electrocuted my fish; and blew up the fishbowl.” he pulled together a pile of sticks and tied them with some twine, “I was a mess as kid. I didn’t want to pat or be near any animals because I thought I was going to kill them.”

Frank wiped sweat from his face with a handkerchief, “I can see where you’d think that.”

“When Dad found out, he decided to take me to one side and teach me about my powers, and showed me how to work it so I didn’t blow things up like I did with the fish. It took a long time to get it right, but I’ve been working my powers in my own way for a long time.” he looked over at Mary and her mother, “But for Diane to not say anything to Mary is, I don’t know, like being a bad parent.”

Frank rested the ax against the pile of timber to be chopped, “Yeah, well, I can see where you may think that. But I think Diane didn’t want her daughter to be feared.”

Thomas sniffed, “Yeah, now I think back, I didn’t have that many friends. But Mary doesn’t either. You have to think of it: we’ve been gone from uni for - what? - over three days, and nobody has reported us missing. That’s how many friends we have back there.”

The older man sighed, “I guess.”

“And the only person - or thing - coming after us is my boss, Balthazar, who is after not only Diane’s soul, but will rake me over the coals if he ever catches me.” he shuddered at the thought of that demon ever catching up with him, seeing he had gone against the CEO of Billy, Bob & Sons, “And what kind of business calls themselves that? And how can I ever go back to just being me, after all the foul deals I’ve made, my soul is so manky it’s not worth saving.”

Frank felt truly sorry for the kid. Thomas had finally fallen in love with the sweetest, most lovely young lady - his niece - only to find he was dealing with the demons at his workplace. And those demons were his bosses, “You know, this place doesn’t want to spit you out.”

Thomas turned from looking at Mary and Diane, “It doesn’t?”

“Nah, I said that to get on your nerves.” he smiled, “And you’ve got service on your phone… I did that to you too. Just please don’t make any phone calls - or Balthazar will find you. He’s like a bad penny.”

“Yeah, he is.” he looked at his phone, “Why is it that my phone says I’m in New York?”

Frank grinned, “Well, you don’t want him finding you in Australia, do ya?”

He glanced at the screen again, “No. We do need a plan though.”

“We need more wood for the fireplace.” Frank said, “And getting the ax to chop it for us? Not a good idea. I’ve tried that.”

“A bit like Mickey Mouse in Fantasia?”

“Ha! Yeah!”

They both turned as they heard the voices of the women coming towards them, “Now,” Diane said, “You’re coming along well. I’ll get you a book from inside the house and you can start your own Book of Shadows and you can begin creating your spells as well.” she looked at Frank, “Tomorrow, I’d like you to teach her about harnessing lightning.”

“Woah! That’s advanced!” his eyes widened.

“No, not really.” Thomas said, “We nearly did it on the road outside of here, but Mary got apprehensive about doing it - even with me around. She was scared she’d hurt me, blow up the road, or the fence or the letter box… you have to get her confidence up.”

“Right.” Frank nodded, sniffing, “So, I’m the old fart being sacrificed then?”

Diane, smirked: “I suppose you are - at least for now.”