The Tailsman

Trinity is born a very special child

The Talisman

 

        The paper rustled in the wind as she read.  The woman skimmed down the advice columns to the horoscopes.  She paused at the tiny paragraph under her sign.         

   

           Cancer:  Unexpected things will come your way today, but do not worry about them.  If you have faith in the way of the universe all will be well.  Expect some conflict with a relative and some financial stress before the days over.  Your lucky numbers are 3, 7, and 14.

 

         Stephanie closed the paper and took a sip of her coffee as she wondered if this one would prove true.  This particular astrologer was right about her about 75% of the time.  When Stephanie actually gave the future any thought she found that she was nearly a 100% accurate when she tried to predict the future herself, but she didn’t usually give the future much thought.  It was usually her past that was on her mind. 

         Though only 38 Stephanie felt like she was an old woman, she certainly had been through enough.  She had grown up in a rather poor Catholic family and knew what it was like to struggle to just have food on the table.  Then there was the alcoholism, drug abuse, and violence that had plagued her life. She just never seemed to be able to catch a break.

        Stephanie smiled as she thought of how her parents had freaked out over her reading her horoscope when she was ten years old.  They acted as if Satan himself had written it just to trick her, when it was just a whimsical curiosity she had.  Stephanie suspected it was some things that happened in her childhood that had made them overreact so violently. 

        From the time she was old enough to speak Stephanie had been predicting the future.  She had an uncanny ability to know what was going to be said before someone said it.  When she finished peoples sentences or answered their questions before they were asked she made her parents extremely nervous.  It wasn’t until Stephanie claimed to see spirits around her that her parents completely freaked out.  They took her first to their priest and then to a psychologist.  Nothing appeared to be out of place or abnormal with Stephanie, so nothing happened really.  When Stephanie saw how much her powers scared her parents, she stopped talking about them. 

         When she was eighteen Stephanie drifted away from her home, her religion and her family.  She ventured out of the small farming town she grew up in for the dark urban setting of Cleveland.  It was there she had gotten involved with Patrick, and it was there that she found the trouble she had been looking for.  At the tender age of twenty she found herself alone and pregnant.  Patrick took off and left her alone and her parents refused to have anything to do with her.  “You abandoned us,” her father told her, “You made your decision, now you have to live with it.  You can’t just come crying back to us every time you need something.  You have grow up sometime.”  And that was that.

      Stephanie found a tiny apartment in the flats and worked a waitressing job until she gave birth to her baby girl.  She named this precious little girl Jill, after the nurse who helper her through her last month of pregnancy and delivery.  After Jill was born, Stephanie ended up living on welfare for a few months.

       Things were by no means easy, but they had managed somehow.  Stephanie took odd jobs and continued to work as a waitress as Jill grew up.  Struggling to make ends meet, she was gone most of the time, and Jill was on her own a great deal.  At first she went to the sitters and day care, but as she got older Stephanie found it difficult to afford paying someone to look after her daughter.  At eight years old Jill became a latch key kid.  And for the most part Jill seemed to be doing well.  There were the usual problems with low grades in school and hanging with the wrong crowd, but nothing to make Stephanie think Jill was heading for some serious problems.

         Jill hid her growing dependency on drugs well; but then again Stephanie didn’t really want to see any way.  For two years Jill and Stephanie argued constantly about Jill’s whereabouts and activities.  Jill constantly lied though and both of them knew it.   Then Jill ran away when she was fifteen.  Stephanie waited a couple of days and then contacted the police.  They had no luck in finding her.  It appeared as if Jill was gone for good.

         When Stephanie was at the end of her rope with this, she ended up seeking therapy to get through the trauma of losing her daughter.  She often cried for days, convinced she was a horrible mother.  “I drove her to drugs and to runaway.  If I had been there I might have been able to prevent this!”  she told Dr. McBeal one day. 

       “No, you didn’t drive her away,”  McBeal assured her, “It’s night like you did it on purpose.   You have to accept the fact that you did have a role in her behavior, but you did not have control over it.   There are many factors that lead to drug abuse and running away.”

          In the months that followed Stephanie made progress in leaps and bounds.  She began examining her own childhood and what had led her down the path she had taken.  She was able to connect that to her currant problems with her own daughter.   It was all beginning to make sense.  Stephanie began doing research about psychology, religion, and philosophy.  A hunger for knowledge rose from somewhere inside her and took over.  She faced each day with a new out look.   Self-empowerment and hope replaced her once negative outlook.  She was no longer afraid of the powers that lay within her, but embraced them.

       Stephanie snapped back from the past and got up from her seat.  She tucked the paper in her bag and took her coffee cup with her as she headed toward her car.  She left the park and went back to work.  Though she had an hour lunch break it never seemed long enough.

     Rain was beginning to fall from the dark skies above that night, and soon their would be place to hide from the approaching storm.  Stephanie was coming back from her yoga class, praying that she’d make it home before it started to pour when she saw someone huddling in her doorway.  Her heart skipped a beat as she realized who it was, at least who she hoped it was.  Just as the wind picked up, the thunder rumbled, and there was a flash of lightening she saw her face.

        “Jill!”  she cried.

        Jill stood there limply as her mother gave her a hug.

        “Come in,” Stephanie invited as she opened the door.  Jill followed her into the apartment and sat down on the couch.  Stephanie poured them some coffee as she talked, “Where have you been?  I am so glad you all right, you had me worried to death!”

        “I’m sorry Mom.  It just got too intense around here and I had to go.”

        “Well, at least you didn’t end up dead in some gutter.”

        “I almost did,” Jill sighed.

        Stephanie handed her a steaming cup of coffee and sat down next to her on the couch.  “How horrible!  What happened?”

         “Well for awhile I crashed at Shani’s, but then she kicked me out after we had this big fight.  I went to find Bones…”

          “Bones?” her mother repeated with shock, “What kind of name is that?”

          Jill ignored the comment and continued, “He completely fucked me over on a deal and I end up with some s****y stuff.  Anyway, I was feigning pretty bad and going f*****g nuts when he finds me.”

           “Who?”

           “Ezra.  He saw me and took me in.  He was so great.  He like lives in this huge mansion with all these servants and stuff.  It was cool.”

            “Did he hurt you?”

            Jill shot her mother any angry look, “No, Mom, he didn’t hurt me at all.  In fact, when I told him I was pregnant he wanted to marry me.  Marry me?  Imagine that.”

            “You’re pregnant?”  Stephanie asked in disbelief.

            “Almost three months.”

            “Then why did you leave?”

            “I don’t know,” Jill shrugged, “I wanted to come home.  Ezra was being a jerk about me even calling you, so I figured that I should just leave and come home.”

             “So he doesn’t know where you are?”

            “Nope, and that is fine with me.  I don’t need him to have this baby.  You got a long fine without Dad, and I can get a long fine without Ezra.”   Jill began to search her purse and her pockets.  She looked up and asked, “You don’t have any cigarettes, do you?”

           “You know I gave up smoking years ago.”

           “I thought you might of started back up with all the s**t I put you through.”

           Stephanie shook her head, “Besides, you shouldn’t smoke when you’re pregnant.”

          Jill let out a frustrated sigh, “I’ve got to have some vice.  I quit all the other stuff.”

        “So you’re clean now?”

        “Six months,” Jill smiled.  “Ezra got me in this rehab program.  I kind of hated it at first, but then it turned out okay.  Some of the stuff the woman said made sense.”

        Jill and Stephanie continued to talk long into the night.  It was the best talk they had had in a very long time. 

        Over the next six months things went smoothly.  Stephanie did everything she could to be there for her daughter.  She took her to doctor’s appointments, enrolled her in yoga, and signed her back up with the school.  Jill would be home schooled until the next year, when she’d return the high school for the 11^th grade.  Jill and Stephanie were getting along for once and were closer than ever before.  

        One night Stephanie and Jill were walking down town when Jill stopped.  Stephanie paused to see what her daughter was looking at.  It was an Old Catholic Church.  The sandstone and the steeples made it look out of place among the gleaming new skyscrapers.  “I haven’t been inside a church since I was five or six,” Jill said. 

         “Do you want to go in?”  Stephanie asked.

         “Do you mind?” Jill asked.

          Stephanie shook her head.  She smiled as she led the way up the walk and into the double doors.  They sat in the pews and talked quietly.

          “Why didn’t we go to church more?”  Jill asked.

          “I guess because I felt like the church never did me much good.  All of its rules and dogma’s only seemed to make life more difficult.”

          Jill said nothing as she got up and went to light a candle.  She crossed herself and kneeled in prayer.  Stephanie was nearly moved to tears when she saw her do that.  It was at that moment that she realized that something had been missing from both of their lives, and it had been faith.

          

          Several days later, on April 14^th, Jill gave birth to a little girl, 7 pounds 3 ounces.  She named her Trinity.  Trinity was a beautiful baby, with soft blue eyes and head full of black curls.  Her mother and grandmother couldn’t have been prouder.

           A week hand not even passed before everything went to hell in a hand basket.   It all started when Ezra showed up at Stephanie’s door.

Stephanie and Jill had just returned from a walk when they spotted the limo by the curb.   Stephanie wondered aloud whose it could be, but Jill already knew.  

          As they approached the door, a man stepped out from the shadows.  Though he was not very tall, there was a powerful aura around him, and though he looked to be in his twenties, he was in fact was well into his thirties.  Ezra was very attractive, but Stephanie could sense that there was something unnatural about this man.

         “Thank god you are alive,” he cried embracing Jill.  “I was so worried that you had gotten kidnapped or went back to your old boyfriend.”

         “No, I came home,” she told him flatly. 

         “Ezra, I presume,” Stephanie interrupted.

         “Yes,” he replied looking up at her, “You must be Jill’s mother, Stephanie.”  He held out his hand for her to shake it.

          He certainly seemed nice enough Stephanie thought as she took his hand.  They shook and then he turned his attention back to Jill, who was picking Trinity up out of her stroller. 

         “This must be the one we were waiting for,” he said putting his finger in Trinity’s tiny clenched hand.  She grabbed on and stared at him calmly.

He smiled and looked up at Jill, “Why did you leave?”

          “I just wanted to be with my family.  I didn’t need all those people waiting on me hand and foot.  It was creepy.”

          “But all I wanted was the best for you,” he protested.  

          Stephanie interrupted long enough to get Trinity and go inside.  Jill and Ezra continued their discussion outside.  

           “You have no idea what it’s like do you?”

           “What what’s like?”

           “What its like being me.  I grew up on the streets practically.  I am used to taking care of myself.  I will be fine.”

           “What about us though?  Don’t you want to be with me?  Don’t you love me?”

            “I don’t even know what love is, and neither do you Ezra.  Remember all those stories you’ve told me about how you’ve always been a player and you always will.  One woman isn’t enough for you, and I don’t want to have to share you.  I shouldn’t have to.”

            “But I’m done with all that now.  I want to settle down and have a family.”

            “Only because you already have a one.”

            “Please,” he pleaded, “Come back with me and see how things go.  If I screw up once then leave me.  But, at least give me a chance.  You walked out before I could even show you….before I could prove to you that I meant all the things I said.”

           She drew in a deep breath and took a good hard look at Ezra.  He could be telling the truth she thought.  He did seem to be sincere.  Without giving him a direct answer, she invited him in.   He sat in the living room and played with Trinity for awhile as he told Stephanie about himself.

Ezra made quite an impression.  He was, after all, a self-made millionaire.  A few good investments, a couple of book deals, and some major luck in climbing the social ladder had provided him with enough money to live on for the rest of his life.   He claimed that he didn’t know what to spend all this money on but silly toys, but that was until Jill had come along. 

       “She has made me realize what is important in life.  I need her,” Ezra said.  

        The next day Jill began packing her things.  “What are you doing?”  Stephanie asked her.

        “Packing.  Trinity and I are going to live with Ezra.”

        “When did this happen?”

        “Ezra asked me last night to go back with him.  I told him I’d think about it and let him know when he came back today.”

        “So you decided to go?”

        “He can provide Trinity and me with the best education and life.  He can give her what we never had Mom.”

        “I know, but I am still not sure about this.” 

        “You can come and visit us any time.  Nothing will change, I promise,” Jill said as she folded up one of Trinity’s nightgowns. 

         Stephanie said nothing, but inside she knew if Jill left now she wouldn’t see her or Trinity for a very long time.  This Ezra was bad news.

As much as she wanted to stop Jill, she realized that it wasn’t her place to.  She had to let Jill make her own mistakes instead of trying to constantly fix them.

          That night Ezra came over and took Jill and Trinity home with him.  Stephanie cried after they left.  Not only was she was going to miss them so much, but she feared that something bad was going to happen. 

    

          A few days later Stephanie called Jill at Ezra’s.  She got directions to their house and arranged to go over for a visit.   He lived about ten miles outside of Cleveland in an old estate that he had bought from one the notorious crime families of the area. 

           When Stephanie pulled up to the gates, she could only stare in awe.  It looked like something out of a movie with all its numerous wings, towers, and gables.  If Ezra wanted to appear like some evil lord of the manor, he was certainly succeeding.  The whole set up gave Stephanie an uneasy feeling. The old guard gave came to question her from his little house and then opened the gate to let her go through.

           Stephanie parked on the circular drive and went up to the door.  A servant greeted her and led her through the long empty hall and up to the sitting room where Jill was lounging on the couch.  She was dressed in a silk nightgown and robe and was talking on the phone.   When she saw her mother enter, she bid good-bye to whoever was the other line and hung up.  She reached up to hug her mother.  Stephanie leaned down and gently embraced her.   “Quite a place you’ve got here.”

        “It is a little too much I think,” Jill replied.  “Sit down, make yourself at home.”

         Stephanie sat down after Jill moved her feet and sat up.  “So how are you doing here at Hill house?” Stephanie asked.

          “Hill House?” Jill asked.

          Stephanie smiled, “Oh, it was just something I read once.”

          “Good.  I am doing good. Ezra is overjoyed at having us here, and Trinity has really taken to him.”

         “Where is Trinity?”
         “Oh the nanny Camille has her.”

         There was a pause and then Stephanie asked, “Can I see her?”

          “Sure, I’ll ring for her,” Jill said.  She picked up her phone and hit the intercom button.   “Camille can you come to the sitting room and bring Trinity.”   Jill’s voice rang throughout the house sounding strangely empty and hollow in the huge place.

            A few minutes later a middle-aged woman came strolling in with Trinity in her arms.  The woman had long blond hair that flowed around her face.  Camille looked as if she could have been beautiful once, but something had drained her and aged her before her time.  Her movements seemed almost pained as she leaned down and handed Trinity to Stephanie. 

           Stephanie’s eyes lit up when Camille gave her Trinity.  “Oh,” she cooed, “She is just as beautiful as I remembered.”
          Jill smiled,  “Is just precious isn’t she?  Absolutely divine.”

          Stephanie smiled and gazed down her granddaughter.  The thought of being a grandma at her age wasn’t appealing at first, but now she couldn’t imagine not being one.  She held Trinity for only a few moments before Camille took her back.

          “She is on a very ridged schedule, and it is time for her nap now.”

          “Surely she can stay up a little later to see her grandmother,” Stephanie said.

           “No, she can’t.”  Camille snapped as she pulled Trinity close to her.  Her mouth drew in a tight line and her eyes shot daggers at Stephanie.

Camille said nothing more as she turned and left the room. 

            “B***h,” Stephanie muttered.

            “Mother!”  Jill cried.

            “Well, she is!”

            “Camille is just strict.  You should see her with Trinity though, she is wonderful with her.”

           “Well, I just don’t like her.”

           “Ezra insisted we get her for our nanny.  Camille came with only the best references.  She even had a reference from the president.  She took care Chelsea Clinton when she was only a baby I guess.”

           “Maybe so, but sometimes appearances can be deceiving.”

           “You just don’t like the fact that I have someone to take care of me and you never did.”

            “I chose to be alone.”

            “No one wanted you.”

             Stephanie stood up, “That is quite enough Jill!”

            Jill just glared at her with contempt.  Stephanie shook her head, took her purse, and headed toward the sitting room door.  The servant quickly to the lead and showed her through the maze of halls to the front door.

            The next visit was even worse.  She was told that Jill and Trinity weren’t even home.  “Can I come in and wait?” she asked the servant woman.  Reluctantly the woman let her in and took her to the sitting room to wait.

            After a half an hour of sitting alone Ezra came into the room.  “Still waiting?” he asked.

           “Yes, do you have any idea when they will be home?”

           “Not for awhile.  You might want to come back at a later time.  And next time you decide to come for a visit you might want to call first.”

            “You know I’m not a stranger.  I am Trinity’s Grandmother, and I have a right to see her.”

            “You are here by my consent only.  I let you come here out of courtesy, but I may change my mind.  You last visit upset Jill and Trinity a great deal.”

            “Upset them?  I was only here for fifteen minutes, and it was Jill who upset me.”

            Ezra didn’t seem the least bit affected by the conversation.  He might as well have been talking about stocks and bonds for all the concern he showed.  He poured himself a drink from the decanter and turned back to look at Stephanie.  “I am trying to be nice about this, but you are making it difficult.”

            “Nice!  Where I come from they call it being two-faced.”

            “Don’t make me call my body guards.”

            “Don’t make me call my lawyers.”

            “What lawyers?” he huffed as he tipped the glass to his lips.  He took a drink and added, “Jill says you were too poor to even pay for her doctor bills.  She says that you got her on a medical card to pay for it all.”

            “Not all people are willing to sell there souls for money!”  Stephanie snapped.  “I am going home now.”  

             Stephanie went home angry and frustrated.  Though she had seen this coming, she didn’t know how to change it.  It was late that night that she began to formulate a plan to get custody of Trinity.  She may not be the best parent in the world, but she knew she could do better than Jill and Ezra.  Better than that b***h Camille for sure. 

           Stephanie called a couple of time to try and talk to Jill, but she was told that Jill wasn’t home or Jill spoke to her only for a few minutes before hanging up.  Not knowing what else to do Stephanie sought the advice of a lawyer.  When Stephanie went to visit a him, she was not happy with what he told her.  She explained her situation as clearly as possible and tried to get him to understand something bad would happen if she didn’t get Trinity out of there.

         “Where is your proof?  Nothing you’ve said would hold up in court,” Mr. Peterson told her.  “Unless there is physical signs of abuse you have no case.”

         “But I am her Grandmother.”

         “Doesn’t matter.  Mother’s have all the rights and Ezra is a rich b*****d.  You don’t have a chance in hell, at least in my opinion.”

          “Fine, then I will get someone else’s opinion,” Stephanie told him.

          And she did.

          She got five other opinions, which were all the same as Peterson’s.

This was almost more than she could bear.  Stephanie felt so helpless in the face of this.  At the last lawyer she visited, she voiced her going frustration.  “Why did this happen?’ she thought aloud, “What did I ever do to deserve this?  What did innocent little Trinity do to deserve this?”

         “I’m a lawyer Lady, not philosopher,” the old lawyer told her.

          With those words echoing in her head, Stephanie began to search for her answers inside.  She reminded herself of all the things her psychiatrist had told her and all the things she had read.  She had created this and she could change it.  She at least change how she reacted to it if she couldn’t physically change the situation.

 

           As the days passed and ideas formed, Stephanie became more at peace with the way things were.   Trinity was her second chance to make things right, at least that is the way she felt.  It was her challenge to let Trinity go and let Jill go at the same time.  All she could do was make sure she learned from her mistakes and move on.  Ezra and Jill were just reflections of her own insecurities. 

           Despite being a little lonely and constantly thinking of Jill and Trinity, things were going good for Stephanie.  She quite her stressful supermarket job for a better one at bookstore.  Soon bills were getting paid off and Stephanie was able to save some money toward moving out of her cramped little apartment.

           About a year and half had passed when Ezra suddenly showed up at her work.  He cornered her over in the New Age section while she was shelving books.

          Stephanie turned to see him and he gave her a start.  She dropped the hand full of books she’d had.  “What are you doing here?”

          Ezra smiled, “I’m sorry I scared you like that.  I came here to ask for your help.”

          Stephanie picked up her books and laughed, “My help?  You’ve got to be kidding.  You hate me and I hate you.”

         “Hate?  You really hate me?  I didn’t think you knew me good enough to hate me.”

          “You took my daughter and granddaughter away from me, of course I am going to hate you.”

          “Well, I am sorry for that.  Can we go somewhere and talk?”

          “I have a break in five minutes.  I’ll meet you over in the café and we can talk there.”

          Ezra nodded and left her work.  She finished shelving her cart of books and made her way over to where he was waiting for her. 

          She sat down and sighed, “This had better be good.”

          “Oh, it is,” he assured her.  “I need your help because I think Jill and Trinity are in danger.”

          “From what?”

          “Someone wants to use them for a sacrifice, and we have to find a way to stop them.”

          “Like a satanic ritual?”  Stephanie asked in horror.

          “Yeah, kind of.”

          “Omigod!  You’ve got to be kidding.”

          “I wish I was.”

          “You have like an army of people on your side.  Why couldn’t you take care of this on your own?  Why couldn’t you call the police or the FBI or someone?”

          “Don’t you want to help them?”
          “Of course I do, but I just don’t understand where I come in.  What is it you think I can do to help?”

           He took a piece of paper from his black jacket pocket and unfolded it.  “Have you ever seen this before?”  he asked.

           On the paper was a picture of a necklace.  The design was intricate and old.  There were four crosses within the circle that were interconnected and covered by another smaller circle in the middle.  Four strange looking letters were in each of the corners.  It looked vaguely familiar to her, but she didn’t know where from.  “No, I don’t think so.”

            “It is some sort of ancient talisman.  It is the sign the group uses for rituals and stuff.  I need you to find out what it and what it means.  I thought since you were into books and all of that you might be able to figure this out quicker than anyone else.  That, and you are the only person I can trust with this.  If I hired someone the group would find out,  I’m sure.  I think they have someone on my staff spying on me.”

          Stephanie studied him as he spoke.  He seemed to be genuinely upset, but she sensed that he wasn’t telling her the whole truth.  She took the picture from him and looked at it.  “Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”

He flashed her his devilishly irristable smile as he said, “Fantastic.  I wrote down an e-mail address on the back of that paper.  You can contact me that way and let me know what you’ve found out.”

         Ezra left his empty coffee cup and took off.  Stephanie studied the picture for just a little longer before folding it up and putting it in her skirt pocket.  

       

          The talisman came from ancient Egypt and was used to harness the power of the universe.  At least, that is what the book at the library said.

The talisman had been made by Isis herself and handed down from priestess to priestess through the centuries.  It was said to be a direct link to the Goddess herself.  Anyone who possessed this talisman would become a channel for Isis and could command her powers.  The talisman was neither good nor evil by itself, but depended on its owner to direct its will.  It had been in the hands of some pretty shady characters, and then again, it had been in the hands of some saints.  One book claimed that the Virgin Mary had it in her posession when Jesus rose from the dead, and yet another book claimed that Hitler had possession of it right up until the turn of WWII.  The talisman seemed to show up at every event in history, just like Forrest Gump.  Had someone just imagined the talisman was responsible, or was it possible it really was?  Stephanie wasn’t sure.

         She had a pile of notes and pictures, but wasn’t sure what to do with them.  There were still so many unanswered questions.  Like, why did he want to know about the Isis Talisman?  Who had it, and what did they expect to accomplish with it?  Would stealing this talisman stop them?  Or would it require something more substantial, like a gun?  Stephanie got on the computer at the library and e-mailed Ezra.

 

          Ezra,

               I’ve got the info, but first you have to tell me why you need it.

           Stephanie

 

 A couple of days later she went back to the library and checked her mail.  He had replied.

 

            Stephanie,

                  Meet me in the lobby of the Renaissance hotel Friday at Noon.

            Ezra

 

        The lobby of the hotel was elegant.  Businessmen and guests sat around the water fountain that reached up toward the high ceiling.  Classical music played over the loud speaker as bellhops gracefully danced their way in and out of the hotel with carts of luggage.  Stephanie watched people coming and going from the Tower Mall that was next door.  It was an interesting variety.  She was busy observing a father and his daughter meeting up with the mother for a day on the town.  Stephanie was thinking about her own family when Ezra suddenly appeared.

        “What is it you want to know?”

        Stephanie jumped and turned to him, “You’ve got to quit doing that!”

         “Doing what?”

         “Just appearing like that.  If I didn’t know better I’d think you were a vampire or a ghost or something.”

          “You never know,” he smiled.  “So what did you find out?”

          “You first.  Who has the talisman?  What are they going to do with it?  And how do Jill and Trinity fit into this?”

          “You would have made a good lawyer,” he commented.  “There is this Isis cult, actually, there are several of them.  This particular one wants to control the world.  They have numerous people in high places already.

I don’t know the details, but the leader is preparing to make a very important move.  She believes that if she sacrifices Jill and Trinity to Isis on Samhian this year that she will be granted the power to do exactly what she wants.”

           “Which is?”

           “I don’t know.”

           “How do you know about this Isis cult?”

           “Because I am a part of it in a way.  I have a mutually beneficial relationship with the leader.”

           “And who is this leader?”

           Ezra didn’t say anything.

            “Come on, Ezra, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me who we’re up against.”

            He drew in a deep breath.  “Camille.”

            “I should have known.  Why in god’s name did you hire her as the nanny then?  What were you thinking?”  Stephanie demanded angrily.

            “Well, she is kind of my girlfriend.  I met her about ten years ago.  She began casting spells to make me rich, and it seemed to work.  I didn’t care how she did, I was just happy to have the money.  The relationship worked well.  She didn’t care who I slept with or what I did, as long as I supported her.  My legititment business was a front for her illegal business.  I turned my back to the drugs, orgies and even murders that resulted from whatever it is that she does.”

          Stephanie sighed as she thought of how the soothing classical music was a strange contrast to the disturbing things he was telling her.  “You just let it happen?”

          “I am a shallow person, I admit that.  I never felt guilty or ashamed of my actions until I met Jill.  There was something about her that changed me.  I found myself head over heals in love with this vulnerable, bright and an incredibly beautiful woman.  I’m still not sure why she had the affect on me she did.”

         “At first,” Ezra continued, “Camille didn’t seem to care about this new fling of mine.  Then when she found out Jill was pregnant she got really upset.  I thought it was jealously.  Then she told me that this child was important to her plans and that I couldn’t let Jill go anywhere.  Suddenly Jill disappeared and Camille completely flipped.  It took us several months and several detectives to find her.  I guess it would have helped had I known Jill’s last name or anything about her.  In the months we were together, she never talked about her parents or where she came from.  I knew only the name of her drug dealer that she had mentioned.”

         “When did you find out about Camille’s plans?” Stephanie asked.

         “Not until a few months ago.  I didn’t know what to do.  I was afraid that Camille might turn against me and kill them anyway if I tried to stop her.    Then I thought of you and I had a feeling that you could help me out of this.”

         “So you have a heart after all?”

         Ezra leaned forward, “Don’t tell anyone, okay?  I have a reputation to uphold.”

          “This isn’t just part of the plan to hurt me too?”

          “No, I swear.  I’ve done a lot of despicable things, but I can’t let her kill my wife and daughter.”

          “We have to get the talisman away from her.  It is the source of her power; at least that is what she believes.  You have to get some more details on her plans and get back to me, and then we will go from there.  I need some time to let all of this sink in and figure this out.”

           Ezra nodded, thanked her, and disappeared into the crowd again.  

           

           That night after work Stephanie began talking to her friend Arleen from work about witchcraft.  They were walking out to their cars when Stephanie commented, “I don’t understand all these books on spells we have here in the store.  They couldn’t possible work, could they?”  Stephanie asked.

             “Spells are like prayers,” Arleen informed her.

             “I guess I just find it hard to believe that someone could really buy into all that….”

            “It really isn’t so hard to believe.  It isn’t any more difficult to believe that Jesus was born of a virgin and rose from the dead.  You know, the worship of the Goddess is essentially good.  That is one of the hardest prejudices’s to get over.  So many people associate devil worshipers with witches, and it just isn’t right.”

              “Do you know anyone who does worship the devil?”

              “A few people.  They are just lost souls though, looking for something to guide their way.  They are the ones that are weak and give into the dark side of the life force.  As a true Wiccan you are supposed to honor the Guardian of the Threshold, and not do drugs or participate in any destructive behavior.”

               “So there are good witches and bad witches?”

               “Are there not good priests and bad priests within the church?  The biggest difference between Wicca and Christianity is in the balance of power.  The church is afraid of us because we promote power that comes from within, instead from something outside of us.  They don’t like the fact that we preach taking responsibility for your life and the fact that there are no victims.”

              “It sounds like a lot of the self-improvement and new age books I’ve been reading.”

              “Ah-huh.  It all comes from the same place.”

              “So how would you approach dealing with someone who has gone off the deep end with this stuff, someone who is a lost soul, as you said?”

            “People like that operate off of fear.  The use fear to manipulate you and control you.  I would confront this person, tell them that they have no power over you, that you’ve found the god within.  If you believe in it enough then no harm will come to you and your problem will be solved.”

            “Sounds easy enough.”

            “But it is the hardest thing in the world.”

            “So basically you are saying is all I need is a little faith?”  Stephanie smiled.

            “Yep,” Arleen replied.  “I hope that that helps.”

            “It did.  It did,” Stephanie sighed.  She walked passed Arleen to her car in the cool night air.  She noticed that the moonlight cast a beautiful glow on the trees on the other side of the parking lot.   For the first time in months, she felt some comfort.   

         

            Several days passed before Ezra left her a message to meet him down in the flats by pier 6.  Stephanie sat on a bench and waited eager to hear what he would have to say this time.  She wanted to get moving on this plan and get Jill and Trinity out of there as soon as possible.  Arleen had given her some hope.  Stephanie shivered in the cool October air.  She wondered where Ezra was as she watched the big cargo ships drift out into Lake Eerie.

            “You know we have to be very careful about this,” a voice called out of no where.

            Stephanie snapped out of her daze.  “Ezra!”

            “The one and the only,” he said putting his hands in his London Fog coat.  He sat down beside her as sea gulls flew over head.

           “Why do we have to keep meeting like this, couldn’t you just call me or come over?”

           “What fun would that be?  No, seriously, I just don’t want Camille to find out about this.  She watched my every move in the house.  It is only when I leave do I feel like I have some privacy.”

            Stephanie nodded.  “So do you have some more details for me?”

            “Midnight October 31^st is when she plans on performing this ritual.  I am supposed to attend this black mass of hers at the cemetery not too far from the house.  She is going to recite some incantations and then kill them with her knife at the end of the ceremony.”

            “How many people are going to be at this thing?”

            “A lot.  I think she said it was going to be the biggest event yet.  There are going to be hundreds of people there.”

            “Then we should do this before Halloween.  We will make our move tomorrow.  You will have to get Camille alone in your office and let me in through the secret passage way.”

             “How did you know about that?”

             “I just did,” she said nonchalantly.  “We confront her, tell her that she is no longer wanted and no longer feared.  Then we get the talisman from her and kick her out of the house.”

              Ezra laughed, “That is your grand plan?  I could have thought of that myself!”

              “But you are scared of her and in her power.  You need me to support you and remind you that you have power over your own life.”

              “Okay, we will see if this works, but I am warning you that is more powerful than you think.  I’ve seen what she can do.”

              “Good, then you must get Jill and Trinity out of the house and into a safe place so she can’t use them against us.”

              “I’ll see what I can do.  Tomorrow at 1pm then?”

              Stephanie nodded as she stood up.

             “You’ll find an old drive in the woods that leads to a cellar door, the kind that they used for tornadoes and stuff.  I’ll meet you there and show you where to go.”

                

             That night Stephanie had a hard time falling asleep.  She tossed and turned for hours before she slipped into unconsciousness.  And when she did sleep, she had the strangest dream.

             She was back in Egypt in ancient times.  Candlelight flickered in the wind and made eerie shadows on the walls of the temple.  Stephanie heard voices chanting as she prepared the room for the ceremony.  She was a priestess in the Isis cult.  Then another priestess came to help her.  They held hands and chanted together.  Stephanie took the talisman that hung around her neck and lifted it up toward the ceiling.  It was at this moment the other woman tore it from her hands and pulled out a knife. Before she knew what had happened the knife was inside her chest and she was lying on the floor helpless.  The woman ran away into the night as Stephanie bled to death.

              Stephanie sat straight up in bed clutching her chest.  She let out a huge sigh of relief when she realized there was no knife there.  As she lay back down to sleep, she thought over the dream and its meaning.  Perhaps it meant that her Camille had karma to work out and it was her turn to be triumphant.  No wonder she didn’t like Camille from the beginning!  They had been enemies for centuries.  This made the struggle more personal than it already was, and explained so much.  Suddenly Stephanie felt ready to face her. 

 

              Though afternoon, a strange fog remained in the woods.  Stephanie followed the grown over drive from the main road back to the rear of the house.  She nearly tripped over the cellar door, which was covered by weeds.  She gave a little laughed and waited for Ezra.  It was only a few minutes before Ezra opened the cellar door from the inside.  Stephanie watched as he appeared from the darkness.  

              Ezra told led her through the cellar and into a passage that took them to the house.  The passage was cold, dark, and just felt plain creepy.  It all she had not grab on to Ezra for comfort.  The tunnel ended in the basement of the mansion.  The room was filled with cages and smelled of burning flesh.

               “What the hell is this place?”  Stephanie asked quietly.

               “Camille’s torture chamber.  Usually there are people in here, but she has moved them to the crematorium at the cemetery for the ceremony.”

                 “Oh, how can you live with yourself knowing what horrors must have taken place down here?”  She asked as they moved past the cages to the wooden door. 

                 “How did the Nazi’s live with themselves?” he replied calmly as he pushed open the door.  They walked through a storage room filled with various body parts in jars, various poisons, and other contraptions.  They might as well have been wandering through one of those haunted houses that they set up for fun downtown Stephanie thought; only this was real.  They passed through a room that was empty, except for the rats, and then made their way up the stairs. 

          Once out of the dungeon Stephanie gasped.  She was trying not vomit or cry.  She was completely overwhelmed by what she saw.  She could almost hear the victims screaming and the children crying. 

          “You all right?”  Ezra asked.

           She shook her head no. 

           He put his hand on her arm and said, “We have to keep going.  If I don’t meet her soon she will come looking for me.  I think she already suspects something anyway.”

           Stephanie drew in a deep breath and looked up at him.  “I’m ready.”

           Ezra took her around to the servant stairway and opened a secret door in the wall.  “Follow this hall to the end.  You’ll be able to hear all that it is said between Camille and I.  When the time is right push on the wall and it will open up right into the office.”

            Stephanie nodded and disappeared into the darkness.  Her heart beat wildly with anticipation and fear.  Could she really do this?  She had to.  The life of her daughter and granddaughter depended on it.  Stephanie felt her way to the end of the hall and waited.  Light filtered in from the cracks of the door.  Though muffled, she could hear sounds coming from the other side.

            Ezra had gone around the other side and met Camille at the door of his office.  “You wanted to see me?” she almost purred.

            “Yes,” he said, “Lets go inside.”  She walked into the large room and Ezra shut, then locked the door behind her.

“What is this about?” she asked, “You know I have lots of work to do Samhain is approaching fast.”

           “That is what I wanted to talk to you about.”

           “Are you nervous about being in the ceremony?” she asked caressing his chest lightly through his shirt.  She looked up at him with her big brown eyes and made it difficult for him to say what he had rehearsed.

            He drew in a deep breath and pushed her hands away.  “I can’t be in the ceremony.”

           “Why not?” she asked sweetly.

           “Because I am putting a stop to it.  I can’t let you kill my wife and child.”

           “And what makes you think you can stop me?”

           “Because they are my family and this is my house.  I am asking you to leave this house and leave us alone.”

            Camille let out a horrible laugh that echoed in the room.  “Oh, that is funny.  You ordering me around!”

             “I’m serious.  I should have done this a long time ago.”

              “You can’t stop me Ezra.  I will be the next Hitler.  My armies of darkness are preparing to march across the earth and you think you can do something about it.”

              Stephanie pushed on the door and stepped out.  Camille turned to look at her.  “I don’t know who you think you are, but you will not harm my daughter or granddaughter.”

              Camille turned to Ezra,  “Oh, come on Ezra.  Her?”

             Stephanie stepped closer toward Camille, “You have no power over me.  You have no power over me.  You have no power over me,” she repeated like a prayer or mantra. 

              The sky darkened outside and thunder rumbled.  A gust of wind came out of no where and whipped Stephanie’s shirt around her.  Camille put her hands together above her head and called out something in ancient Egyptian.  A ball of fire appeared in her hands and she launched it at Stephanie.

              Stephanie acted quickly by leaping forward onto Camille.  The fireball hit the wall behind Ezra and disappeared as Stephanie knocked Camille over.  Camille screeched at Stephanie as she reached for the talisman around her neck.  The talisman broke loose and fell onto the floor as Camille bucked Stephanie off of her.  Both of them struggled to get to the talisman first. 

             Ezra put his foot down right on top of the talisman.  The women looked up at him.  “This is over Camille,” he said bending down to pick up the talisman.

             “I still have you in my power,” she told Ezra.  She muttered a few words and he fell onto the floor writhing in pain.  A smile twitched on Camille’s lips as she grabbed the talisman.

              Stephanie pulled herself up off the floor and gave Camille’s hand a swift kick.  She let go of the talisman and watched it skid across the wooden floor out of her reach.  Camille stood up and went to get the talisman when the locked door magically creaked open.  All three of them stopped to see who it was.

               The 18-month-old Trinity toddled in seemingly unaware of the battle she had interrupted.  Quietly she made her way over to Ezra and reached out to him, “Dada,” she cried.  “Up.”

               As Ezra pulled her into his arms, Stephanie got a hold of the talisman.  “It’s over!” she told Camille as she held up the talisman in her hands.

              Camille spat out another incantation and harpies materialized in the room.  They flew right for Stephanie who continued to hold the talisman in front of her.  The harpies screamed and fell to the floor before they could ever reach their victim.  Camille threw fireballs and even rats at her, but nothing came close to ever touching Stephanie. 

              There was a pause in Camille’s attack as puzzled over this woman’s power.  This was Stephanie’s chance to make her move.  Talisman in hand she strolled up to Camille and punched her in the face.  Camille reeled back more from the shock than the force and fell back onto the floor.  She hit her head on the edge of the desk and was knocked unconscious. 

              “Do you have some rope or something?”  Stephanie asked Ezra.

              He stood motionless with Trinity in his arms.  “That was amazing!” he finally managed to say.

               “Well it won’t be if she comes to and kicks my a*s.”

               Ezra went to his desk and pulled out a pair of handcuff.  “These should keep her for awhile.”

               Stephanie slapped the cuffs on her as she said to Ezra, “You would have handcuffs in your desk.”

              He grinned sheepishly.

              “I thought you were going to get Jill and Trinity out of here?”  Stephanie asked.  She took Trinity from Ezra’s arms and hugged her.

             “I was, but when I went to get Jill I found her passed out on the bed.  I think Camille drugged her.  I did take Trinity from her nursery and hid her in my limo though.  I told her to stay put and that I would come get her later.  I don’t know how she got in here.”

             “Oh well,” Stephanie sighed.  “So what are we going to do with Camille?”

             “Nothing!”  Camille cried.  She stood up, broke the handcuffs and brought her hands together.  A bolt of lightening shot out at Stephanie and Trinity.

            The lightening bolt turned back on Camille and zapped her before anyone could even comprehend what was happening.  Camille glowed white-hot for an instant and then her ashes fell to the ground.

           “We don’t do anything,” Ezra said in answer to Stephanie’s question. 

             Stephanie looked at Trinity who was staring at the dust pile with an unwavering calm.  “This little girl here is very special,” she thought aloud.  Stephanie couldn’t help but feel that final strike was all Trinity’s doing somehow.

             “Absolutely divine,” Ezra said looking at his daughter with proud disbelief.  

 

             In the days that followed, the mansion was sold and Ezra moved Jill and Trinity to nice simple house in the suburbs.  The Isis cult fell a part without their leader and never did give Ezra any more trouble.  The talisman was donated to the Cleveland Museum of Art where it would be safe. 

            Trinity grew up healthy, happy, and safe.  Though she never became famous, those who knew her often wondered if she was a saint or an angel.  Her gentle manor and unending kindness were legendary in the area.  Good things had a tendency to happen whenever she was around.  No one would have ever guessed the horror she had witnessed, or the gruesome death that she had almost met.  When they looked into her blue eyes all they saw was someone who was filled with faith in the goodness of the human soul, and someone overflowing with love.

              

Author's Note

Inspired by the book "Bless the Child."