The next few days were hectic. Everyone had taken turns trying to read, and understand, the journal while also spending time talking to Katie. Jacob needed to turn over the journal to Shayla sooner rather than later. However, before he was willing to let it go he had to know every single word in the book. The problem was that the more he read the more questions he had.
Jacob closed the journal, probably for the last time, and decided it was time for a group meeting.
“Hazel,” Jacob peeked into Katie’s room, for the first time realizing that Cheri was sleeping on the bed next to Katie. “Can you come to my office please? Wake up Cheri and bring her too.”
“Sure.” Hazel placed her book down on the desk then gently placed her hand on Cheri’s shoulder. “Cheri, wake up.” With a gentle shake the sleeping woman startled awake and jumped up.”
“What? What’s wrong? Katie?” Cheri quickly settled back down and sat up on the bed.
“Thanks, I’ll be there in a minute, I gotta get the others.”
Fifteen minutes later the entire group was crowded into Jacobs small office. The tension was high and nobody knew how much time they had until there was no going back. There was probably already no going back. If they didn’t do something Katie would remain trapped in the mirror and their baby would be born with a soul of evil.
Jacob passed out a binder to each person. He had taken the time to photocopy the journal and make it easier to read.
“Here Hazel,” he passed her to binders. “I know your grandmother wants the original, which she can have, but I figured this one would be easier for her to read. We’ve all had time with the original. I think it’s time we meet with Shayla again and find out what the next step is.”
“I’m not sure I can do this, face him again,” Tracy stammered. By now she was visibly shaking at the mere thought of seeing Alexander’s hateful eyes again.
“We’re not gonna force you to do anything you don’t think you can. We’ll need someone to stay here with Katie anyways.” Jacob replied.
“The mirror won’t be here, so Alexander won’t be able to show himself,” Jasmine tried to soothe Tracy. “But we don’t know how Katie is going to react.”
A sharp explosive BOOM burst from somewhere outside sending everyone to the floor for cover. A acrid pungent smoke rose from the truck parked just outside the office window and quickly the smoke filled air seeped into the room through the open window.
Jacob grabbed his Glock 19 from the bottom drawer of his desk, unlocked the safety, and checked the window for intruders.
“I don’t see anything, or anyone,” Jacob checked outside of the window then quickly glanced at each of the women still crouched on the floor. “Jasmine, are you comfortable with guns?”
“Grew up with them, so yes.” Jasmine never took her soft brown eyes off of Tracy, her arms wrapped protectively around the still trembling woman. “We’re all ok, you’re safe, you’re well taken care of, and you are very very loved. Tracy, look at me.”
“I… I’m…” Tracy stammered, “I’m okay, go with Jacob.”
“There is another Glock in the bottom drawer. It’s loaded already but the safety is on. Grab it and come with me.”
“Katie is stirring, I’m going to see if she’s ok.” Hazel was staring at the video monitor set up to keep an eye on Katie when there wasn’t anyone in the room. “Tracy, do you want to stay here alone or come with me?”
Tracy was curled up in the corner where she had fallen when the explosion occurred, still sobbing and trembling with fear. Her tears flowing down her face like a salty river.
“You two go ahead, I’ll take care of Tracy and Katie.”
Hazel leaned down and comforted Tracy. She soothed her hair back and whispered softly
“It’s ok Tracy, it isn’t him. We got to go check on Katie.”
Gently she took her arm and slowly coaxed her to her feet.
“Kathrine, wake up!” Alexander bellowed with his face only a few inches from Katies. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Alexander,” Katie whimpered not knowing what was wrong or what she had done. “I was sleeping.”
“You were calling for him,” Alexander was obviously angry. Katie was confused seeing pure hatred in his eyes. “You are mine. You’ll never be with him again. He doesn’t even want you. He said that to you.”
“My love,” Katie used the most soothing voice she could muster through her fear. “I was sleeping and having a dream.”
“Stop dreaming about him!” Alexander grabbed Katies arm hard and pulled her towards him.
“Dreams are just how it processes problems and conflicts. I don’t want to go back to him.”
Tears streamed down Katies red cheeks as Alexanders fingers dug into the tender flesh of her arm. She could feel bruises forming under the delicate white skin. This was the first time he had laid an angry hand to her.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Please,” Katies voice was small and trembling. “Please let go of me. You’re hurting me!”
“NO!” Alexander’s voices boomed.
Katie screamed as smoke filled the room and the glass in the window shattered, sending shards of glass inward covering the floor, and Katie’s bed, with thin sharp fragments. Katie pulled away and ran, barefooted, to the door.
“STOP!” Katie halted with her hand on the doorknob and blood seeping from the bottom of both feet. “With all that I am and all that I have I implore all the power around to build a wall.” Slowly Alexander raised his palms from his sides to the air. “Walls to keep the innocent protected and safe within this domicile. No outside forces may enter, none shall exit without its keystone.”
Katie fell to her knees as darkness enveloped her psyche.
Jacob peered out the slim long sidelight window next to the front door only to see dark black smoke billowing out of his once new truck and the blare of the truck’s alarm siren filled the night air. The thick pungent smell of burning leather filling his nose made his stomach turn sour.
“I don’t see anyone,” Jacob turned towards Jasmine.
“Let’s go take a look around and shut off that damn alarm,” irritation evident in her voice.
Jacob quickly depressed the small button on his slick black key fob to turn off the offending noise and silenced quickly cleared the area around the truck just as the smoke detectors in the house decided to make its presence known. He quickly glanced back to see Hazel gently escorting Tracy towards Katie’s room and then cautiously opened the door. With his Glock in the ready position and pointed up he eased out the front door with Jasmine behind him.
“I don’t see anyone,” Jacob whispered to Jasmine, who only nodded back before the two made their way to Jacob’s truck.
Every window in the once pristine vehicle had been completely blown out and covered with a fine film of grey black soot, and the cab was filled with thick smoke billowing out from the cracks in the cargo trunk that contained the mirror fragments. Quickly he unlocked the box and threw open the lid only to be blasted in the face with a barrage of thick black smoke. The only items in the box were the mirrors and their broken fragments and that were now covered in thick black soot but left in their original condition.
“All of this came from the mirror!”
When Jacob reached into the cargo box to inspect the offending layer of filth when a barrage of blue flames erupted from the mirror that had once been nestled in the formally white box.
“Jacob, watch out!” Jasmine pulled Jacob away from the side of the truck with a new plume of smoke blowing up into their faces.
“Katie!” Jacob took off running at breakneck speed back to the house.
Hazel firmly gripped Tracy’s limp cold hand and quickly guided her down the hall towards Katie’s room. She let out a small gasp as she noticed the thick gray smoke flowing like a small creak running down a mountain coming out of the doorway into the hall. The smoke swirled around the detector outside the bedroom causing it to fill the house with an ear-piercing screech warning of fire.
“Katie!” Tracy screamed, the threat on her niece apparently snapped Tracy out of her mind-numbing fog. “Katie!” she screamed again and broke free from Hazel as she ran unafraid to the bed.
By the time Hazel reached the smoke-filled room Tracy was already rummaging through the closet searching for something. The offending smoke was still spewing out from the cracked mirror now laying on its back on the floor.
“Open the window and push the screen out.” Tracy firmly commanded the young Hazel who was still struggling to take in the wreckage of the room. “Now!”
“O…OK,” Hazel stammered out as she jumped towards the window. The squeal of the window sliding over could barely be heard over the screeching fire alarm, which continued to blare. With one quick shove she pushed the screen out and watched it fall to the damp grass outside.
At the same time Tracy swept up the still smoking mirror into a crisp clean pink pillowcase then rushed towards the open window tossing the weighted pillowcase out the open portal without breaking her stride. Then she turned towards Katie, her shoulders once again slumping in despair, her spirit broken and her soul bleeding out and dying with every passing second.
“He did this… He did this… He did this…” Tracy was mumbling to herself through tears as she stood over Katie who had finally settled down back into silent repose.
Mister slinked out from under the bed where he had been hiding. His protective instinct prevented him from leaving Katies room but his desire for self-preservation forced him under the bed and away from the thick consuming smoke. It had only taken a day or two for Mister to choose his person, meaning he had chosen Katie. Katie hadn’t given him any affection, hadn’t been the one to feed or clean his box, she hadn’t even been the one to buy him his toys or catnip that kept him frolicking around the room. However, she was the one that needed his comfort and protection.
“Oh… My… God!” Jacob stammered as he stepped into the doorway.
Cheri and Jasmine slipped in from behind Jacob and stood in stunned silence taking in the destruction of the room. A thin layer of smoke still swirled above them, clinging to the ceiling like the winding tentacles of an octopus. The books that had been so neatly placed where now strewn about the floor where the initial blast had sent the pages scattering them haplessly about, and the antique crystal lamp, still connected to the electrical outlet, laid on its side on the floor. Even the bedspread that had previously covered the bed was cringed from the heated.
Several minutes had passed before Tracy stiffened her back and snapped out of her haze.
“Stop!” She commanded. Back straight and shoulders up she continued, “He did this to her and its only getting worse. We don’t have time to sit back and wait any longer and we only have a couple of hours until the next nurse comes, and she can’t see this. Jacob, open the windows and set as many fans as you can to clear out this smoke and please, please shut down that damn smoke detector. Jasmine clean Mister off and put him in the kennel. We can’t have him traipsing footprints throughout the house while we are cleaning up this mess. Cheri grab the cleaning supplies from the kitchen so we can get started. Hazel, contact your grandmother. We can’t wait. Find out if she needs a copy of the original BDC Book of Shadows. We don’t have time to get the original because it's in Oxford and it will take about four hours go get home and back to get a copy of it.”
Something and flipped Tracy’s on button and not one of them had any desire to switch it off again. She had switched from flight to fight, and it was what they needed.
Jasmine grabbed an old towel and wrapped it around the cat and carried it to the kennel. The kennel was a luxury room created for him. It was four feet by four feet and six feet tall. It contained a four-tiered cat condo, fluffy bed and an auto clean cat box. He was rarely locked in it, but never complained when he was. Even with all these comfy trappings Mister voluntarily spent any time in it. He could usually be found curled up on Katie’s bed.
It took Jacob only a few minutes to get the smoke detector to shut up. It was only achieved by tearing it off the ceiling and pulling out the batteries. Unfortunately for Jacob he was forced to do the same to three others in the house.
“I think it would be easier to move Katie into my room. Cleaning the ceiling and walls is a bigger chore. Just cleaning the equipment that needs to be moved with her and the hall would be quicker.” Cheri suggested she was already running out of adrenaline, and they were going to have a busy day.
“Grams said to come over as soon as we can get away, and she doesn’t think we’ll need the Book.”
Tracy gave a small nod but never took her eyes off of her niece.