Necromancy for the Greater Good

ignored Leah.

  “I dreamt about a small black dog with pointy ears I met walking through a field of snow. The dog barked something, and suddenly this door appeared in the field, not in a building or anything. Just a door without a frame sitting in the snow. The dog looked at me and said, 'You will know how to make the door when the time comes.' I heard some music in the distance and then I woke up,” Maryann said.

  “Oh, it was one of those dreams,” Isabella said. “Any ideas what that means?”

  “I think the small dog might have been Anubis. He is the Opener of the Way. Something is going to happen.”

  Isabella got to carry the overly large bag that served to hold their emergency kit. As soon as they got outside they realized something was wrong, and it was stronger than before. Light snow was falling from the sky, causing the world to seem muffled and still. Even Sabra seemed agitated. It was slow going to the chapel because the snowplows were busy on the major roads. Finally they made it and went to the chapel. The wind was bitter cold and the walk seemed to tire them out more than it should have.

  When they got inside Sabra sat down in one of the pews. The chapel seemed oddly empty for a Sunday morning. They didn't even see a minister.

  “You can go up without me,” she said. “I'll be right there. That wind is just so cold I need to catch my breath.”

  The four looked at her but ascended the steps.

  “She should have just come with us,” Leah panted, unzipping her brown jacket. “I'm good and warm now.”

  They reached the carillonneur cabin. Sabra was not right behind them, so they checked out the view from the tower.

  “It's wrong,” Maryann said, looking out at the gray, muffled world. “It's Chicago but it doesn't feel like a city full of life. It feels frozen. It's not even snowing that hard outside. It shouldn't be like this.”

  Isabella was staring at the carillon itself. “'In the startled ear of night how they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak they can only shriek, shriek, out of tune...How the danger sinks and swells by the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells.'”

  “Isabella, what's wrong?” Nora asked. “Why are you reciting poetry?”

  “'Iron bells! What a wrong of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night, how we shiver with affright at the melancholy menace of their tone!'”

  “Isabella, snap out of it,” Leah ordered, putting her hands on her shoulders and turning her around.

  Her eyes were completely white from edge to edge.

  “Oh, I've never seen that before,” she said, backing away.

  “That means a very powerful spirit is speaking to her,” Maryann said. “Maybe even through her. Yes, probably through her.”

  “That does not make me less freaked out,” she replied.

  “Me neither,” Nora added.

  “We need to get Sabra,” Isabella said. “The spirit of the bells is crying out for help and we need her to play. We must get her to play!” She dashed down the steps.

  The other three followed quickly after her.

  Isabella found Sabra who was still sitting in the pew but her eyes were closed. “Sabra! Sabra! You need to play!”

  But the young woman didn't respond.

  “Is she dead?” Nora asked, but then put her hand on Sabra's wrist. “She's not dead. But what's wrong?”

  “The silence has taken her. She can't hear me. It's taking over the city. We must make some music!” Isabella said; her eyes still white. “We need to get to the van. I think there are some charms there that can help.”

  “Isabella, what's going on?” Nora demanded but the blonde ran outside.

  The other three followed her.

  Isabella had suddenly stopped in her tracks.

  “Now what?” Nora said, and then she saw the problem. “What is that?”

  Standing about thirty feet in front of the chapel was a tall, thin woman with white skin and white hair. She was wearing a long dress and a crown made of frost. “Why are you speaking?” she demanded haughtily.

  “Why shouldn't we be?” Leah replied.

  “Because the silence should have taken you. I see why it has not quite taken your friend,” she said, indicating Isabella. “But the rest of you have no such force guiding you. Why have you not been taken by silence? What are you that my spell has yet to work?”

  “What spell? What are you?”

  “She's a fairy, I think,” Maryann said. “Some sort of Unseelie fairy, clearly.”

  “You know, that doesn't actually help explain anything.”

  “She’s a bad fairy,” she clarified.

  “I am a resident of the winter-touched realms,” she roared. “But I will not give you my name.”

  Isabella could still hear the spirit of the bells, but she found it difficult to react.

  “I will be the Queen of Winter here,” she replied. “And all will be my subjects, once the silence takes everything. I know not why it hasn't already taken you.”

  “How did you get here?” Nora asked.

  “The same way you get from one place to another, of course. I entered through a door. I am sure those that opened it did not intend for my passage, but I saw an opportunity to extend my power and I took it. Your world was not what I expected. It is so full of noise and light and humans going hither and yon. And your churches and your chapels are the worst with all the bells. How I hate the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!”

  Nora, Maryann, and Isabella were starting to feel cold and numb.

  The woman in icy white took a few steps forward and the snow glittered around her. “But it doesn't matter. I have cast my spell and soon all will fall into silence and worship me. It will be beautiful, perfect, silent, and cold.”

  “We'll never get past her to the van. We need to get back into the chapel,” Leah said, tugging at Isabella's arm.

  Isabella didn't move.

  “Come on, girls, we need to go,” she said again, looking at Maryann and Nora.

  They all seemed entranced by the glittering snow.

  “What is going on here?”

  “They are falling under the spell,” the woman said. “You are hardier, though. But it doesn't matter.”

  Leah she pulled a horseshoe out of the emergency kit and chucked it at the woman in white. She was actually trying to hit the woman but her aim wasn't very good so the horseshoe only landed at the feet of the woman in white. The woman in white jumped backwards as though it was a snake trying to bite her.

  “Come on, girls!” Leah shouted, and tugged at Isabella again.

  The cold iron lying at the feet of the fairy broke her concentration and her spell. The band hurried back into the chapel and shut the doors.

  “I am so glad close enough counts in horseshoes,” Leah said.

  The others didn't even groan at her pun.

  “Now what do we do?” Maryann wailed. “I was falling under her spell and Isabella protected us last night and we can't get to the van.”

  “We need to make some music before the spell is complete,” Isabella said. “And we need to wake up the bells!”

  “But all our instruments are in the van and Sabra won't wake up!”

  “Then we sing,” Leah said firmly. “She can't take our voices. We'll sing until we're hoarse but we'll make music and keep her spell from taking hold completely.”

  “What do we sing?” Maryann asked.

  “Anything. We're a band! Here, we'll keep it simple and sing Christmas carols. We all know them and can sing them from memory,” she answered, and started singing 'Jingle Bells.'

  The other three hesitantly joined in.

  Outside, they could hear the woman in white screaming at them to stop.

  By the time they started, 'Silver Bells,' Sabra was starting to stir. Nora pulled her to her feet and she opened her eyes, although they weren't focused. Without pausing in the song, they helped Sabr
a climb all 271 steps to the cabin and sat her down.

  “What do I play?” she asked muzzily.

  “Anything you can,” Nora answered.

  “And play it loud. Turn this thing up to eleven,” Leah said.

  “It doesn't have dials,” Maryann said.

  “Not literally!”

  They could feel a storm coming outside and knew they had to stop the power of the fairy.

  Sabra blinked a few times and put her hands on the keyboard. She took a breath and suddenly seemed far more focused. She pressed down on the keys and seventy-two bells burst into joyful noise as though they were alive. 'The Carol of the Bells' rang out across the grounds.

  Leah looked outside to see the woman in white clutching her head in pain. “It's working! Come on! It's time for a big damn heroes moment!”

  They ran back down the stairs.

  “What are we going to do?” Maryann asked.

  “She's a fairy. Send her back to fairyland!” Nora said.

  “There are lots of fairy realms!”

  “That's great!”

  They ran out the doors and could hear church bells in the distance ringing out in response to the carillon.

  “I hate the noise!” the woman screamed. “You're breaking everything!”

  Maryann's eyes flashed white and she remembered the dream from the night before. “I know where to send her,” she said, and started to cast a spell. “But you must get her through the door.”

  Isabella, now feeling much better, pulled another horseshoe out of the emergency kit. “I think I know how to do it.” She gave another horseshoe to Nora and they ran towards the fairy. Leah picked up the one on the ground and they surrounded the fairy.

  “You!” she shrieked. Her features had turned harsh and angular and not remotely pretty any