Beautiful Souls (23 page)

    
              Who or what was out there? Why were they engaging in this attack? What did they want from us --- from me? I felt eyes peering at me from all directions, and I couldn’t tell if it was my nerves playing dirty tricks on me or if in actuality I was being targeted by the entire supernatural world.

    
              The hovering, darkened sky just moments ago glowed with the white face of the moon and wide-spread sprinkling of stars, but was now dense with layers of ominous-looking, purplish clouds. A thick, gray fog rose beneath us and seemingly spread for eternity. The change in our surroundings was eerie and sudden. I was terrified beyond words, yet all of it held an exciting and thrilling aspect.

    
              I felt the hands apply death grips on me again and pulled me hard into our decent. A whirlwind of dark images flashed by as we sped through the black tendrils that reached out from the trees. Our aim was the deathly shadows of the forest, and within seconds my feet touched spongy, mossy ground.

    
              I fumbled a bit, regained my balance, and found my footing. I followed my mom and Mrs. Stanley deeper into a dark forest I’d never seen before. This part of woods was more dense than any of the area behind our house. We ventured deeper with every step, and I could no longer see my mom’s entire form in front of me as her body blended with the blinding darkness. My only assurance was that I continued to keep a section of her cloak wrapped tightly inside my fist. As sure as I was alive, I wasn’t letting go of that cloak.

    
              I felt my mom stiffen. “Stop,” she whispered so quietly that I considered for a moment if she had actually spoken the words or if I maybe had read her mind. I knew she had already heard the faint crunching of fallen leaves and earth that I caught a hint of just now. The three of us stood motionless and silently together. Huddled together and stiff with fear, we waited with my newly inherited gifts and enchanted necklace as our only defenses. I certainly questioned my capabilities as we were enveloped by the shadows of this dark forest.

    
            
 
The ground began changing before our very eyes. I was captivated by a rusty brown glow, slowly illuminating the earth. It spread across the ground before us, casting an enchanting glow on the wall of ancient trees that encircled us.

    
              “I thought this might be easier to explain to Becca about this place if she could see it for herself,” my dad said, as he came from behind a nearby tree accompanied by Mr. Stanley.

    
              They flew quickly across the glowing ground cover, shadows following close behind, then came to a halt directly in front of the three of us, hovering slightly as they landed on the mossy ground.

    
              Mr. Stanley hurried to his wife’s side while my father bent to kiss my mom on her cheek. I wanted so desperately for Leo to be here now and to be wrapped in his comforting arms.

    
              “I don’t think we’ve been followed, but let’s get inside before we’re detected.”

    
              “In?” I asked in a whisper, “In where?”

    
              My mom and dad shot little grins to one another that I didn’t understand. My dad walked a few steps forward, his feet now on top of the illuminated part of the forest floor, and he stopped just in front of one of the ancient trees.

    
              “What is that?” I asked.

    
              “Of course she sees it,” my mom beamed with pride. “But we had better get a move on.”

    
              “Right,” my dad reached for a rather large knot hole about seven feet up on the tree, stuck his hand inside, and turned whatever lay hidden inside.

    
              The rumbling began instantly. It was followed by the outline of a cottage, showing itself where the wall of trees had previously stood. The cottage was completely camouflaged, covered and wrapped in small shrubs, vines, and other forest vegetation, keeping it almost invisible while the woods itself grew and bent around its subtle outline.

    
              “Amazing. What is this place?” I asked, mystified.

    
              “This was your great-grandmother’s cottage,” my mom began.                   My dad quickly grabbed hold of what I assumed was a doorknob, and hastily flung open a section of draping vines and thick branches full of withering vegetation. I thought about how completely perfect this cottage must be concealed in the full growth of its surroundings during summer months.

    
              The door looked heavy and solid, almost similar to a bank vault, meant to protect the valuables inside while simultaneously keeping out the vile things that could bring harm or steal away those irreplaceable valuables. I stepped across the threshold my dad had just revealed, my feet crunching through littered leaves and dead berries fallen from the encrusted door as I beheld the sight of a cozy, old-fashioned cottage. This could definitely be home. My dad closed the door behind us after he waved a cautious farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Stanley.

    
              The cottage consisted of what appeared to be three areas: the open main room with a sitting area placed just in front of a large stone fireplace running the height of the small room, a charming wooden table with two chairs sitting in the far corner behind the sofa, and then a tiny kitchenette with only an old wood-burning stove, antique wooden cutting table topped with a few china plates and mugs, and two wooden shelves attached to the wall holding up vintage dusty bottles containing a wide range of colorful liquids and powders.

    
              My mom led me to the sitting area, and she nudged me toward an old, dark, wooden rocking chair placed diagonally across from the gray cobblestone fireplace. I sat taking in my surroundings, and became aware of a skinny doorway between the sitting room and kitchen. The room was still dark and the small doorway was encased in black shadows. I couldn’t see what was beyond the door frame, but I assumed it must have been a bedroom.

    
              My mom and dad made themselves busy for a couple of minutes while I rocked my troubles away. I’m not sure what they were working on, but soon enough my mom was sitting next to me on the sofa and my dad was stoking a rather lovely fire. I wasn’t sure how he had gotten a fire started so quickly. I didn’t even recall seeing him bring in any firewood or build the fire.

    
              My mom started in again on the subject of my great-grandmother. “She was the one who charmed this cottage, you know?”

    
              “Who?” I asked, still baffled by the instant blazing fire.

    
              “Your great-grandmother…Theresa.”

    
              “Charm? How does that work?”

    
              My mom giggled with enjoyment and pride. We all seemed to be more at ease now that we had the safety and exclusivity of the confines of the cottage to protect us. My dad turned away from the fire, where he had been hunched, and walked across the room to take a seat next to my mom on the sofa.

    
              “She charmed this cottage. Theresa, that is. She was a very powerful and amazing Witch. Her spells and charms packed a punch that I have not seen or heard of being paralleled even to this day. This cottage has never been penetrated or found by any other Wizards in all these years. It cannot be seen by the human eye, either. She included that in the charm, as well as a deterrent which keeps anyone from accidentally wandering too close into its vicinity and accidentally stumbling upon our secret here. Only our closest and most trusted Wizard friends even know this exists.” She added, “From my knowledge of Theresa, I think that you are going to be a lot like her, Becca.”

    
              “Me? Why, what do you mean?”

    
              “Your powers and your instincts that you’ve already demonstrated have shown incredible possibilities as to what you will be capable of in the near future,” my dad replied.

    
              “Powers like what? What can I do that the rest of you can’t? Leo…he can even…”

    
              “Shape-shift. Yes, we know. Leo does a great job of it, too. That’s definitely where his talent lies, but Becca, we are all capable of soul possession in order to shape-shift,” he explained.

    
              “Wow, really?”

    
              “Of course. Why do you think I decided to be a Conservation Officer? My occupation greatly benefits our extent of shape-shifting abilities while conveniently assisting in the covering of our tracks if necessary. Once in a while, it happens that one of our non-Wizard friends…ahem, humans…,” he said with a wink. “They come across something in the wrong place at the wrong time and inadvertently se
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too much. As you can imagine, my job allows me the ability to handle such matters quietly.”

    
              “I see.”

    
              “Not to mention having the upper-hand when it comes to any of the dark side having much of an influence around here. They unfortunately do try though,” he added.

    
              I considered all this momentarily, “What did you mean by soul possession?”

    
              “Ah, I wondered if you’d caught that little bit. Well, I suppose we’d have to explain how shape-shifting works sooner or later, so why not now? Anna, what do you think?”

    
              My mom nodded, dropping her eyes to something scuffed on the wide-plank, hardwood floors.

    
              “All right then, I’m just gonna jump right into it,” my dad said.                   I waved my hands to signal for him to continue when he paused.

    
              “Well, what happens when a person or animal dies is that their spirit leaves their body and moves on, crosses over, gets reincarnated, sent to heaven or hell…whatever the afterlife might entail.” He paused to see if I followed along, and again I motioned for him to continue. “Okay, well, what you don’t know yet is that the transfer of the spirit can be intercepted by Wizards.”

    
              I shook my head not quite understanding, “What do you mean exactly?”

    
              “There are a few short seconds following death when the soul, or spirit, lingers as it leaves this world before it moves on to the afterlife.” My dad was very serious now, his eyes focused hard on mine, and I could sense the gravity of what he was about to divulge. “You see, Becca, in those few precious moments, Wizards are capable of possessing the soul as it lingers. We can merge our body into the path of the soul as it leaves. We can keep it as a part of us till the day we die, if that’s what we choose.”

    
              “So, that’s how Leo can shift into the mountain lion?”

    
              “Yes.”

    
              “Can you shift into anything?”

    
              “Yes, that’s another advantage of my job.”

    
              “Well…what?”

    
              “Oh, a few things…wolf, black bear, hawk, a rottweiler, a water moccasin…”

   
              “That’s amazing!”

    
              “Yes, well, that is one of our abilities that we’re able to keep.”

    
              “What do you mean, keep?” My dad had me confused again.

    
              “When you inherited your powers, your mom and I…we lost ours.”

    
              “That’s right, Leo did mention something like that. A supernatural balancing system.”

    
              “Exactly,” my dad replied. “Obviously, we keep our flying abilities as well.”

    
              “What about you, Mom?”

    
              “No, no, I can’t. I wouldn’t.” she answered quickly.

    
              “Why not? What do you mean you wouldn’t?” I couldn’t understand why someone, especially my mom who was so thrilled about our ability to fly, wouldn’t want to use their powers to shape-shift if it were possible.

    
              “There’s one more detail,” my dad added, “that you are still unaware of.”

    
              “What?” I spit out.

    
              With everything mounting that had happened tonight, the way my life had taken such a sharp turn in the blink of an eye, I just couldn’t wrap my head around how all of this existed. There was so much in this new, magical world of mine that still remained unknown to me.

    
              “Well, Becca…” he continued slowly. “The thing is, that for a Wizard to be able to possess a soul, then you have to be the one that takes its life. Either that or absorb the soul upon another Wizard‘s death.”