I nodded, thinking that part made sense. But I still wasn’t sure how my going back in time could work because I wasn’t in the spiritual world. Then something occurred to me. “Am I able to manipulate time because part of me is Drake’s spirit?” I asked.
“Ah, très vrai,” Drake said. “Very true, mon chaton.”
Lovie nodded. “Somethin’ like that, yes.”
“So how does this work?” I continued, putting aside my understanding, or lack thereof, of the specifics of time travel. The other questions I had seemed more pertinent at this point. “Will I actually be back in the year 1919? Or will I just be dreaming or hallucinating or something?”
“As far as yer concerned, you will be in 1919,” Lovie answered with a shrug. “I dunno fer sure how it all works but—”
“Yesss,” Guarda hissed as she stumbled back into the living room and handed me a plastic bag of what looked like sticks of incense. “Yer gonna be in 1919.” I couldn’t say my attention was on the contents of the bag, though. Instead, I watched as Guarda hobbled over to the wall of skulls and pulled the closest one down, handing it to me. I was reluctant to touch it. “Go on,” she said as she shoved the thing toward me.
“Do not touch it, ma minette!” Drake said, sounding panicked. “I do not trust this woman! Perhaps the hideous thing is charmed?”
“What could be her reason for charming it?” I thought back as I accepted the skull and my skin began to crawl at the thought of how perfectly smooth the cranium was.
“Is that a real human skull?” Ryan asked as he studied it with a shocked look that quickly turned to revulsion.
“’Course,” Guarda responded as she busied herself at a table in the far corner of her living room. It was concealed by a red tablecloth and covered with all sorts of vials, candles, dolls, and other things that defied categorization. She picked up the various vials and studied them for a few seconds before putting them down again and moving on to the next.
“Is it legal ta own human skulls?” Ryan inquired, his posture uptight and uncomfortable.
Guarda glanced back at him and smiled a toothless, gummy smile. “Everyfin’ I does is legal.”
Not wanting her to elaborate, I changed the subject. “Going back to this whole time travel thing . . .” I took a deep breath. I tried to make sense of something that, by its very nature, defied logic. “If I really am going to be in 1919, how will I know where to go or what to do? How am I going to even find the Axeman?” I took a breath. “What day will I go back to, exactly?”
“Will I be there as well?” Drake piped up. “Or will I still possess your body?”
“And would Drake be alive then? Or would he still be inside me?” I asked, cringing at my word choice as soon as the last sentence left my mouth. I glanced up at Ryan and smiled sheepishly in apology.
“I don’t want you doin’ this alone, Pey,” Ryan said, his expression seeming harder.
“She ain’t got no choice. She gots ta do it alone,” Guarda answered as she apparently found whatever vial she was looking for and carried it over to a cabinet beside the table. She set the vial down on the edge of the table and opened the cabinet, reaching for a large decanter of clear liquid. She pulled the top off the decanter and uncorked the vial, pouring maybe two ounces of the clear stuff into the vial, which already contained about an ounce of a light-blue liquid. She recapped the vial after putting the decanter back into the cabinet. After she shook the vial for a few seconds, she studied it before nodding with contentment.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You’s the only one wif a direct connection ta the spirit world, since you got a spirit in ya. So you’s the only one can bridge the gap ’tween this world an’ that one,” Guarda answered as she handed the vial to me. Realizing my hands were already full with the skull and the bag of incense, Ryan accepted the vial for me.
“What is all this stuff anyway?” he asked as he inspected everything she’d just handed us.
“Three sticks o’ incense,” Guarda said as she gestured to the plastic bag in my hands. “Frankincense fer summonin’ spirits. Aloeswood ta dispel evil spirits.” I assumed that was to help me get rid of the demon of the Axeman, a task that required further clarification. “Myrrh fer protection an’, co-in-cidentally, it also known fer stimulatin’ sex-u-al-i-ty,” Guarda finished with another gappy smile directed at Ryan.
“Why—” he started, but I shook my head.
“Don’t ask,” I warned as I offered him a little smile that he returned.
“The skull is fer travelin’ from this world ta the spiritual one,” Guarda continued. “It’s yer guide,” she said to me. “An’ ya gonna drink the contents o’ that vial ta git there.” Then she reached for a coiled snake candle, which was sitting on top of the table beside her and handed it to me. “Burn this an’ this one too,” she said as she handed me a red candle that was in the shape of the devil. Lovie accepted them both for me, looking at each of them quizzically as she did so. I wasn’t sure why, but the snake candle seemed somehow familiar to me, like I’d seen it before. I brushed off the feeling of déjà vu and figured I could have seen the candle on the last visit we’d made to Guarda’s. Or maybe I’d seen something similar at Lovie’s store.
“Ta answer yer questions,” Guarda continued as she worked her way back into the living room. She sat down in the only chair that stood in the corner of the room, beside the wall of skulls. “Once ya drink mah tonic, it’ll put ya inta a trance-like sleep. When ya wake up, you’ll be in 1919, in the same spot ya went ta sleep in. An’ ya ain’t gonna hafta go far ta find the Axeman. He already lookin’ fer ya.” She took a shallow, raspy breath. “He been lookin’ fer ya all along. You an’ he got some unfinished bidness ’tween the twos o’ ya. I dunno nothin’ mo’ ’bout it than that.”
I swallowed hard, but decided not to press her on that point. Instead, I recalled the other questions that required answers. “How will I know what day it is when I wake up?”
“You gonna hafta go back jist befo’ the Axeman’s last kill,” Guarda answered.
“What does that mean?” I demanded. “A day before? An hour before? What?”
Guarda narrowed her eyes. “No mo’ than a day ’fore the Axeman kills ’gain. An’ don’t be thinkin’ yer gonna be no hero an’ try ta stop ’im from killin’. It ain’t up ta us ta change the course o’ history.”
I wasn’t sure how that information sat with me but I left it alone for the time being, paying attention to the logistics instead. “How do I pinpoint the date so I make sure I go back on the right one?” I asked.
“You gonna keep the date in yer mind when ya do yer ritual,” Guarda responded. “Yer will is what’s gonna make things happen.” Then she silently eyed me for a few seconds.
I nodded, figuring the whole thing followed the same lines whenever I dealt with the spirit world in general—thinking things to make them happen, or not happen, as the case may be.
“Will her corporeal body be sent back to 1919?” Ryan asked.
Guarda and Lovie both shook their heads, but it was Guarda who responded and, surprisingly, looked at me, rather than Ryan. “Yer body gonna be here, on this plane, the whole time. But ya ain’t gonna be awake. People not knowin’ better would think ya was in a deep sleep.”
Hmm, so maybe it was just my spirit that would go back to 1919? “Can I die then?” I inquired.
“’Course,” Guarda answered, shaking her head like I was stupid for asking the question in the first place. “If yo’ mind thinks yer dead, yer as good as.”
Fear began to well up inside me. I just couldn’t seem to accept knowing that my life was on the line. “And what about Drake?” I asked, detecting his impatience as it swelled up inside me.
“What ’bout ’im?” Guarda asked.
“Will he be alive in 1919? Or still possessing me?” I answered, hearing the
tremor in my voice.
“He be alive jist as he once was,” Guarda said, sounding bored.
“Will he know who I am?” I continued.
“Ya jist touch ’im an’ he’ll know who ye be,” Guarda answered. Then she stood up and started for the door. “Now all’s ya gotta do is burn dem candles an’ incense an’ drink half that tonic. Put the skull in yer lap durin’ the ritual an’ you be on yer way.” She sighed for a few seconds and had to stabilize herself against a nearby chair when she started to waver a bit. “By some miracle, if’n you is able ta exorcise that demon, ya jist drink t’other half o’ that tonic an’ next thing ya knows, y’all be wakin’ up in yer own bed.”
“But how do I defeat the Axeman?” I asked, my voice cracking because it seemed like Guarda was rushing us and I still had a myriad of unanswered questions floating through my mind.
“Only you can answer that question fo’ yerself,” Guarda replied.
“What do you mean?” I demanded as my stomach flip-flopped on itself and I started to feel nauseous. “I know nothing about defeating demons!”
“Y’ull know what ta do when the time comes,” Guarda responded stoically. “Ain’t nothin’ mo’ I can say on the subject.” Then she walked to the front door and opened it, to signify that we’d worn out our welcome.
“I’m not sure what game Guarda is playin’,” Lovie said as she sat down beside me on my bed later that evening. She studied the red candle, which was shaped like the devil. Christopher nodded, but didn’t say anything. He just continued staring out of my bedroom window as if he was half expecting someone to walk up my driveway.
As for me, I was so overcome by the shock of what I was about to do—time traveling—that I felt completely numb. I didn’t really comprehend how I would dispel a demon, which I was in no way prepared for. When I questioned Lovie about it, she supplied me with an arsenal of exorcism implements: a red candle for Saint Michael; a small bowl meant for holy water; a vial of holy water; a small bowl of kosher salt; a swinging incense censer; a purification blend of incense made up of frankincense, myrrh, and benzoin; a dagger made of iron, and tied with a red thread knotted nine times (a ward against dark powers); and a spirit bell. “You really think I’ll be able to bring all this stuff with me?” I asked, even though I knew the answer was no. As far as I could tell, all of the time travel accoutrements would purely exist in my head.
Lovie nodded as she handed me a folded sheet of paper, on which she’d written down precise instructions. They said how to carry out the exorcism ordeal and what, exactly, I needed to repeat and when. “Here’s your instructions, honey,” she said as she tucked the sheet into the bag containing the implements of exorcism. Apparently, like me, she didn’t buy into Guarda’s whole notion that I would know how to rid myself of the demon when the time came.
“What did you mean when you said you didn’t know what game Guarda was playin’?” Ryan asked from where he stood in the doorway as he watched us both. He leaned against the doorjamb with his arms crossed against his chest and one leg over the other. With his dark-blue jeans and green-and-blue-plaid, flannel shirt, he looked like he stepped straight out of an L.L.Bean catalog.
Lovie shook her head and picked up the silver candle shaped like a coiled snake. “A candle shaped like a snake is used in rituals where the outcome is ta bind or control someone,” she said as she looked at the red candle in the shape of the devil. “An’ this candle is used fer commandin’ lust.” She took a deep breath. “Red is the color fer courage an’ victory. So ya put the two together, this candle is sure ta control someone’s lustful appetite.”
“Huh?” I asked, already confused. “Why would Guarda be interested in controlling my sex life?”
“I dunno,” Lovie answered with a frown as she studied both candles that Guarda had given me. She shook her head as if to say she was at a complete loss. Putting the devil candle on top of my bed, she gave her full attention to the snake candle. “I’m mo’ concerned with this one,” she said after a protracted silence. “Silver is the color o’ moon magic, goddess magic.”
“What does that mean?” Ryan demanded.
“It means that the candle calls on the magic of the moon, which is an incredibly powerful being,” Christopher answered from where he stood in solemn silence by the window. “It strengthens the power of the snake candle.” He sighed. “And, yes, I too am concerned by this.”
“Why?” Ryan asked, spearing both Lovie and Christopher with his gaze.
Lovie shrugged. “It could be nothin’, but I find it a little odd that Guarda is requestin’ us ta burn a candle laced with magic that allows one person ta control another.”
“Maybe it’s for me to be able to control the Axeman?” I asked, not intending to be the devil’s advocate, but there it was.
Lovie nodded at the same time that Christopher cocked his head to the side, as if he was just now considering that angle. “That could very well be,” Lovie admitted as Christopher nodded. “But the part that makes me scratch ma head is that both you an’ me cain’t remember a thing that happened ta us when we was at Guarda’s gittin’ yer block removed.”
“A very strange happening indeed,” Christopher agreed. “It makes one wonder what Guarda felt she needed to cover up.”
“Right,” I said before realizing I wasn’t really following the conversation at all, and shook my head. “Wait, what do you mean?”
“Mind scrapin’ is standard procedure when someone don’t want someone else ta know what’s been goin’ on,” Lovie answered.
“Why didn’t you mention this to us earlier?” Ryan asked Lovie as he folded his hands across his chest and looked irritated. “That sounds like important information.”
“At first, I didn’t think nothin’ of it,” Lovie answered. “It isn’t so uncommon fer this sort o’ thing ta happen after a major episode o’ magic. I figured Guarda’s magic was so intense when she was removin’ Peyton’s block that it naturally scrambled our memories.” She took a deep breath. “But now, seein’ these candles, I’m startin’ ta rethink that angle.”
“But why would Guarda want to control Peyton, Lovie?” Christopher asked. He might as well have substituted my name for “chopped liver.”
Lovie shrugged. “Why does anyone want ta control anyone else? An’ further, who am I ta say what dark thoughts haunt that woman’s mind?” Christopher nodded, apparently satisfied with her response. “My question is, just what is Guarda coverin’ up?” Lovie continued.
“That could be a mystery we might never solve,” Christopher answered.
“So we just don’t burn those two candles,” Ryan said as he pointed to the snake and devil candles with a shrug. “End of story, right?”
Lovie shook her head. “If we don’t do everythin’ as Guarda tol’ us, it could mean the spell won’t work just right.” She sighed as Christopher nodded.
“It could be that the snake candle is part of the magical net Guarda wove for you, Peyton,” he said.
“Yep, we gotta do it jist how Guarda tol’ us to, otherwise we takin’ too big a chance,” Lovie concurred. “But that isn’t ta say we cain’t work in our own magic ta thwart evil intentions,” she finished. She reached inside her fabric bag where it sat on my bed beside her and pulled out a white candle. “I planned fer this,” she announced. “I anointed this candle with clarity oil an’ Abre Camino herbs.”
“What is clarity oil?” I asked, watching her set the candle on a piece of what looked like charcoal on top of my bedside table.
“This candle is designed ta give clarity to a situation an’, in its way, ta break through the artifice created by magic,” Lovie answered.
“Um, what?” I asked, none too eloquently.
“The purpose of the clarity candle is to break any spells of control or compulsion which might have been placed on you,” Christopher answered, rolling his eyes like I was
slow.
“Oh,” I said as I faced Lovie, who was busily lighting the white clarity candle.
“Now, Peyton, I’m goin’ ta repeat Psalm 134 eight times, an’ while I’m doin’ that, ya need ta hold in yer head the idea that any ties or binds from Guarda ta you are done away wif, ya understand?”
I nodded and closed my eyes, finding it easier to concentrate without the distraction of everyone surrounding me. Seeing only the darkness of my eyelids, I imagined all ties to Guarda dissolving away as Lovie began reciting the psalm.
“Praise the Lord, all you servants o’ the Lord who minister by night in the house o’ the Lord. Lift up yer hands in the sanctuary an’ praise the Lord. May the Lord bless ya from Zion, he who is Maker o’ heaven an’ earth.”
She repeated the psalm another seven times as I did my damndest to concentrate even harder until I was pretty sure that any claim Guarda previously had on me was now done away with.
“We should be okay now,” Christopher announced as I opened my eyes.
“Ma minette,” Drake piped up suddenly, and I realized he’d been strangely quiet for the last few minutes. “I am fearful for you,” he started. “I know your mind is made up, so I will not attempt to talk you out of it.”
“Drake, you know what’s going to happen Tuesday if we don’t go through with this,” I replied.
“Oui, oui,” he answered hurriedly. “That is why I am not going to attempt to change your mind. I just . . . I want you to know, mon chaton, how much I care about you.” He was quiet for a few seconds before making the sound of clearing his throat. “I wish you much luck, mon amour,” he finished, and I was left with the distinct impression that he hadn’t said everything that was on his mind.
“Thank you, Drake. I’ll see you soon,” I said, trying to sound as happy about it as I could.