Chapter 2

I took the full forty-five minutes to scrub the red streaks from my face and make something close to acceptable of my hair. After quickly changing out of the sweat drenched clothing I had fallen asleep in I dashed out the door to pick up a very impatient Steven who was waiting outside his house, foot in full tap motion. He climbed in, ready to give me a verbal thrashing but stopped short at seeing the circles under my eyes.

"Whoa Shay, babe, you look awful."

"Thanks," I said flatly as we pulled away from the curb and I tried to hurry as fast as the van would allow, knowing any hope of a decent parking space was all but lost at this point. At least leaving would be easy. There’s always a silver lining.

"No, Shay, what is wrong?" He was trying to search my face in the flashing lights of the street lights as we passed under them.

"Just tired," I said, waving his concern away. I didn’t know why I wasn’t telling him and Jodi about the dream. Probably because I was determined to think of it as that, just a dream. Just thinking of explaining it out loud gave me an ominous, sinking feeling in my stomach. Until tonight I hadn’t put much stock into it

"Well, we have to do something about your face before we get there." 

"We're already late, Steven."

"Babe, we can’t know where we're sitting – I mean standing – until the squads and band get into the bleachers anyway." He had a point. I heard him digging through the messenger bag he always carried with him. He pulled out a make-up case, armed and ready to attack me when I parked.

Once parked I turned and surrendered my face, knowing resistance was futile. He dabbed concealer into the dark areas around my eyes, his chin tilted up slightly, reaching blindly with his free hand for eye brightener. "I know it would kill Jodi if you ever started wearing make-up regularly, but with just a few key elements you would really be a knock out. Not that you aren’t already beautiful, but I mean you’d be like insane if you did."

"What do you mean it would kill Jodi?" I blinked trying to concentrate on not sneezing in Steven's face.

"Sweetie, you're much prettier than her without any help, even with all that make-up she wears. If you started wearing make-up to really draw out all of your features she just might hate you." I glanced at Steven, looking for something in his face to tell me he was just kidding. I could taste the truth of his words on the back of my tongue and my stomach clenched when I realized he was serious.

I started tracing the short curls of his dark hair with my eyes to distract myself. Steven’s hair grew faster than most people’s so one week it would be short enough to spike and then the next it would be curling softly as it was now. It was too dim inside the van to see the natural highlights that the sun always caught, showing shades of honey and amber.

If Steven hadn’t been gay he would’ve been beating the girls off of him. As it was he had plenty of offers anyway. He was tall and lean and he carried a casual confidence born from the years of love and acceptance Jodi and I provided that he didn’t always get at home. And under all the trendy outfits he hid lean, practical muscle that made you feel safe in a dark parking lot.

"Why do you always have mine and Jodi’s shades of make-up with you anyway?" I switched the subject, uncomfortable with the idea that our friendship hung by such uncertain strings.

"For. Just. Such. An. Emergency." He stopped on each word as he examined my face after one last brush of mascara. He nodded, seeming happy with what he was looking at. "Ok, I think your hair is fine. Kinda has that tousled not quite sex hair look to it."

"Oh gee, just what I was going for." I rolled my eyes and hopped out to make the long walk to the stadium. We walked through the bleachers just as the band and squads were settling into their designated section that we called The Cheer Section. Steven and I ducked under the railing and squeezed in next to Jodi. A couple of the girls near us squealed and hugged Steven tightly.

"You guys were cutting it close," Jodi said to me over the roar of the crowd as our team took the field.

"Passed out after school, picked Flamer up late, and had to hike a mile to get here." I saw her look at my face critically for a moment, not really listening to me. I tried to push away the thought that Steven had planted in my head that she wasn’t happy to see me made up. Steven was forcing me to realize that because I was a girl and he was not I was always going to be in a one-sided competition with Jodi. I envied that he would never have to deal with this. Magical abilities or not, we were still teenagers.

"Jodi!" Steven squealed, reaching over me to hug her. "I have a change of clothes for you in my bag."

"I love you!" They flashed matching smiles at each other as the crowd roared and the game was underway. Jodi had to pay attention at that point to keep up with the chanting they were required to yell in so-called “school spirit”. I grabbed Steven by the arm, spun him around to get to his bag, and pulled out my emergency novel. Fully planning on sitting down to be hidden in the standing mob of The Cheer Section, I was stopped short when Steven nudged me.

"What?"

"Mike’s looking for you,” Steven said, nodding towards the field below. My head snapped up involuntarily and I saw his lean, tall figure facing towards us, his head turning slowly as he scanned the stands. I sat down so fast even I thought I'd fallen for a second. "What're you doing?" Steven asked, looking down at me.

"I want to read. Besides, how do you know he's looking for me?" Steven was bending down to hear me.

"Who else would he be looking for? Hey, why didn’t you wear the jersey, you could've gotten us in for free!"

"You did get in for free, I paid for you! Besides, I don’t want to give the poor boy false hope."

"Please honey, even if you don’t want to wear his pin you could at least pass some time with him." He gave me a wicked grin and winked at me before I put my hand in his face and pushed him away.

The game passed in a series of screams, cheers, and groans. Somebody won, I was told, but I was more interested in getting the hell out of the parking lot before the team had the chance to leave the locker room. I didn’t want to chance running into Mike and be expected to congratulate or comfort him. I wasn’t sure which would be worse.

"Oh shit, hold on, my flute!" Jodi broke away from us half-way to my van when she spotted her mother's car and dashed over to stash her instrument in the car. I was gripping Steven’s sleeve, twisting the fabric tightly in my impatience to get away as I watched Jodi have a small argument with her mother while pointing at us.

You think she's telling her she can’t go with us tonight? Steven thought at me.

I hope not. We've got to get to The Oak, Ash and Thorn before they close for the night. The Oak, Ash and Thorn was the local metaphysical supply store we shopped at and the last thing I wanted to do was be there on a Saturday, it would be packed.

Aw, but there's a party!

There's always a party. And it'll still be going by the time the store is closed anyway. Oh, good, here she comes. Jodi jogged over to us quickly.

"Sorry. She wanted me to come home and visit with the grandparents."

"You sure that's ok?" I looked over her shoulder at her mom.

"Oh yeah, I pointed out that I was home earlier and that I'd be home most of the day tomorrow."

"Cool, then let’s go!" I grabbed her with my free hand and pulled them relentlessly to the van since I’d seen the first few players appearing in the parking lot.

We made it to the store with only fifteen minutes left before closing. Luckily I knew the manager behind the counter and smiled at Deb with a quick wave. She winked at us and went back to helping convince a couple of girls that a little jasmine oil would go a lot farther with their crushes than any potion they were looking for. Steven laughed openly at the exchange and we hurried to the back of the store where the real merchandise was.

"What're we getting?" Jodi was poking through the crystal baskets on glass selves.

"Um, we're out of pink and white candles... and I think I'd like some sage. Oh and you know actually, Steven?" I stood on my toes looking for him through the shelves.

"Yeah?" He stood up, having bent over to grab the sage for me.

"Go ask Deb for some of that jasmine oil she's already got out, I think that'll be a nice touch." I gathered a few other items including a perfectly carved and polished rose quartz heart out from under Jodi's nose.

"Rose quartz heart, jasmine oil, pink candles? C'mon aren’t we getting a little cliché here?" Jodi eyed me skeptically.

"Hey, some things are cliché for a reason. Besides, Tracy needs true, affectionate love to convince herself there is someone better out there than Nick, otherwise she's never gonna leave him."

"We're doing a love spell?! Are you kidding?!" Jodi asked in a very accusatory voice. The term “love spell” was as bad as "black magic" in our circles.

"No! Of course not!” I said quickly. “We'd need a person to do that, you know that. We're just looking to find that one guy that actually loves her to help move the pieces closer together so she'll see there's better out there. Tracy’s convinced herself that any boyfriend is better than being alone. If there’s no one worth breaking up for she wont leave him."

"Oh, ok cool." Jodi visibly relaxed and started browsing again.

"Hey kids!" Deb came around the corner with her usual bright aura that was almost visible even to the untrained eye.

"Hey Deb," I reached out and hugged her before she stared taking our items for us to hold at the counter until we were ready to pay.

“Hm, rose quartz, pink candles,” Deb muttered, looking at our items before glancing over to Steven at the counter. “And jasmine oil? Shay, Jodi, you’re not doing what I think you are, are you?”

“It’s not a love spell,” I said, my voice barely in check. “It’s a banishing and calling,” I explained through clenched teeth but Deb relaxed as quickly as Jodi did so I let my frustration go.

"Oh, good, need any help?" Deb asked.

"Just some good vibes tomorrow night, say around nine o’clock?" I looked at her hopefully.

"Oh sure doll, no problem." I'd take any help I could get, no matter how small the help was. "I'll go ahead and charge the crystal for you, if you want?"

"Yeah, all the good vibes we can get, go for it."

 

We ended up at that party Steven was so desperate to get to, and after twenty minutes I was horribly reminded of the fact that I just never seemed to fit in with most people my age. I always ended up feeling like the chaperon. A sixteen-year-old chaperon. Now that’s cool.

There were so many bodies inside the house that the heat started to get to me. The hormones were prickling at the small of my back and the vague sense of competition, testosterone, and estrogen were swirling in my belly. A cold sweat broke out along my hairline. The room was tilting slightly to the left. I pressed myself against a wall to stay steady until Jodi ordered me to go home an hour later, promising they'd found rides home.

"Besides, you need a good night’s sleep before tomorrow night. Take some Nyquil and knock out when you get home and don’t get up until noon. Promise?" She squeezed my hand as Steven leaned to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll try." I tried to smile but I was sure it looked more like a grimace.

Hurry, Mike just walked in and he's looking around. Red thoughts. That was Steven, pressing his fingers into both our palms. 

Crap! I looked around for a different exit since he was so close to the front door.

Here, we'll play interference. Jodi grabbed a hold of Steven's hand and dragged him straight over to Mike, talking animatedly to him, almost too quickly for him to follow. I dashed out the door right behind him. The cold air was as refreshing as a cold drink on a summer day. Not wanting to chance my luck, I didn’t take the time to fully appreciate it but quickly raced towards my van.

We'd gotten here later than normal and I was forced to park around the corner. I reached out and felt the shields I always had up around me, finding no weak spots, and breathed a little easier as I rounded the corner. Nearing my van I heard a girl’s muffled cry and stopped dead. Eyes wide, trying to take in every sliver of light available, I scanned the street. Straining to catch any other sounds, I was careful not to even breathe. I still had that underwater feeling in my ears from the noise inside the party and the sudden quiet of outside.

Eternity passed in the few moments before I heard another soft sob a few cars ahead of me. I walked slowly, not sure which car the noise came from, reaching out with every ounce of empathy I had and three feet from a large midnight blue F-150 I heard a familiar echo of pain and pulled my energy back into myself. Anger colored the edges of my vision as I marched up to Nick's truck, a birthday gift for his sixteenth birthday from his over indulgent parents almost two years ago. We all joked that it was also an apology for shortchanging him on the genetic code and helping to compensate for what he lacked physically.

"Nick, baby, please! My stomach hurts so much." I heard Tracy's pathetic pleads coming from the back of the extended cab, wishing with all my might I had something more lethal on me than just pepper spray. Tomorrow night can’t come soon enough, I thought to myself as I planted my feet shoulder-width apart, feeling my way past the concrete sidewalk down to the bare earth beneath. I drew up the energy I needed, balled up my fist, and banged harshly on the truck door.

"What the fuck?" I heard Nick's angry words and they seeped into my ears like poison. I tried not to gag at the thought of him polluting me. I saw his dark shape through the tinted window as he pulled up and away from Tracy and turned, reaching for the door handle. As soon as it was unlocked I reached up and yanked it open, causing him to come tumbling out, crashing on his shoulder on the sidewalk. "Sunnovabitch!" He spit the swear out with a snarl.

"Hey Trace! There you are! We were looking for you at the party," I said bright and loud as I stomped on Nick's inner thigh and reached into the truck, grabbing Tracy by the ankle. I pulled her sliding across the seat and out, catching her waist as her feet hit the ground.

"Shay? What’s going on?" She looked like a mouse caught in a corner by a large cat. Her shirt was undone and in disarray and the button and zipper of her jeans were pulled apart. I caught a glimpse of the bruises I had been suffering through with her and tried not to stare and embarrass her. They were much worse than I had imagined.

"Oh nothing, just people were asking about you and wondering where you'd gotten off to." I kept hold of her wrist as I stepped backwards, stomping on Nick's stomach this time, helping her with my free hand to straighten and close her clothing. He cursed again and beat the sidewalk with his fist before finally pushing himself up. I pulled Tracy behind me, shielding as much of her as I could, which wasn’t difficult given how tiny she was.

"Just what the fuck are you doing, you stupid bitch?" His breath reeked of stale beer and cheep weed. My stomach flipped as it hit my face.

"Just looking for Tracy. People were asking. Wouldn’t want people looking for her, would you, Nick? You know, asking questions, if she went missing or got hurt." I double checked my energy lines and projected as much feeling as I could at him, trying to fill him with rejection and fear and the sense of flight. I hoped if he felt creeped out enough he would just turn and run, thinking I was a freak; it didn’t matter to me what he thought of me. But in his drunken state he took the feelings and allowed his need to overcompensate blind him, feeling challenged instead of scared. I felt this channeled back at me through my own projection. Damnit. Stupid jock. He took a clumsy step towards me.

"Tracy, get in the goddamn truck. Now!" He found his confidence quickly and yelled at her. Tracy jumped as if just his words would inflict more bruises.

"No!" I cried out as he moved quicker than I thought he could. In one motion he was stepping towards me and reaching one hand to push me out of the way, grabbing at Tracy with the other. All pretenses aside I drove all my energy down in one angry spiral and felt the tremors flying back up at me. The ground shook, sudden and violent, the sidewalk cracked and crumbled beneath Nick's feet. I turned, wrapping my arm around Tracy's waist and running into the nearest front yard, re-centering and grounding myself almost instantaneously. Without the barrier of concrete it was much easier to do.

Nick faltered and tripped over his own feet trying to get away from the crumbling sidewalk. As he fell, I closed my eyes and reached for the energy lines that were still shaking. I pumped more energy into them causing a second violent episode and the small crack opened five inches. Nick came down, shoulder first again, landing awkwardly in the crack. Under the rumbling of the ground I felt the snap of his clavicle and I smiled to myself, reaching down and thanking the Earth and pulling my energy lines back into myself. The rumbling stopped.

"Oh my God," I heard Tracy whisper through the fingers she had pressed over he mouth, her eyes so wide they seemed to take up half her face. "Do you think he's hurt?"

"One can only hope," I muttered and Tracy looked at me, tears welling in her eyes. "Sorry. Um, have you been drinking?"

"No." She couldn’t seem to speak in anything more than a whisper and two fat tears spilled over and down her cheeks.

"Well, yeah, I think he's hurt," we could hear his curses by now, "and he's had quite a few," she nodded dumbly at me, "so you should get him to a hospital." She nodded again and scurried away, reaching to help Nick as much as she could to stand back up and get into the truck. She was so tiny, barely five foot one and all of a hundred pounds, maybe. And here was this jerk-off, over six feet tall and probably well over two hundred pounds abusing her. I guess it takes a big guy like that to beat up such a tiny girl. 

I pressed my lips together in a tight line, trying with all my might not to wince as she did when she bent over, putting more pressure on her old and new bruises or when he draped his meaty arm over her battered shoulders. I waited until he was finally in the passenger seat and she scurried around, climbing up into the driver’s seat before stepping off the yard and back onto the sidewalk. I waited there, just outside of a pool of light from a street light, watching Nick through the window, my eyes narrowing. In my mind I was already reciting the binding and banishing of him.

I knew as I watched Tracy pull hesitantly away from the curb and drive down the street that, being only seventeen, the hospital would insist on calling Nick's parents. I hoped with his obvious level of intoxication, even golden boy Nick wouldn’t escape a well-deserved grounding. That would buy us a little extra time to find Mr. Right for Tiny Tracy. I sighed heavily when I lost sight of the truck’s rear lights. I knew he had been hitting her, for all of her lame excuses and denials, but I had no idea that he might be raping her. It seemed even ungifted girls learn to build walls around something like that, hoping to hide it and keep some dignity. Well Trace, at least tonight you don’t have to put out.

 

The next morning I'd woken up feeling a little better than I had yesterday since I took some Melatonin and passed out to some late night T.V., satisfied that I had given Tracy one of the better Friday nights she'd had in months. I knew I had dreamed but luckily the drug induced haze left me with only memories of blurred green and yellow and slivery light rather than specific details.

I drank my coffee slowly, savoring the flavor, allowing myself time to wake up. The house was totally quiet, my parents having taken off for the day to go the Indian Casino about two hours away. The house was colder than usual, with a slight bite in the air, letting me use my robe for the first time in almost a year.

I took my time getting ready, taking a long hot shower and eating a huge lunch, not sure if I’d have time later for dinner. My mom called at some point to let me know they were doing well at the casino so they’d be staying for the rest of the day and probably have dinner there. When I reminded her I’d be out tonight, she sounded strangely disappointed but didn’t press the issue. I was in a hurry to get off the phone and prep my supplies for tonight.

When I was a kid my dad built me a tree house in our backyard. Much to their surprise I still used it frequently, mostly as a cache for our casting supplies. I scurried up the tree and through the trap door with my bag from The Oak, Ash and Thorn clamped in my teeth. After latching the trap door I took a deep satisfying breath, smiling to myself and exhaling in a sigh. My dad had taken care not to damage the tree by not cutting down the branches and building around them, allowing thick branches inside the space, giving it an earthy smell. I pushed open the huge window he’d built into the south-facing wall that opened to a view of a large orange orchard.

I set to work charging the candles and crystal I bought last night and left them sitting on the window sill to absorb the sun’s energy. I turned to cleansing my pentagram and my sacrificial knife – an athame – I pulled from a chest I kept up there. Although I was by nature a control freak, I did trust the other two to do this work just as well as I would do it, but I was the only one out of the three of us with a decent hiding place for our tools.

Jodi would have to hide them under her bed or in a dresser drawer where she ran the risk of her sisters finding them when they went in to steal clothes. As for Steven, his mother still frequently cleaned where she wasn’t wanted and picked up his laundry and put it away for him, which completely ruled him out. We could handle blackmailing siblings but not a freaked-out Catholic mom who still chose to pretend Steven was just going through a phase rather than admit he was actually gay. After a little over an hour my cell phone went off loudly, shattering my peaceful reverie.

“Hey, Steven.” I answered absentmindedly as I polished the blade of the athame.

“Hey! Did. You. Hear?” He was punctuating his words again, he had juicy gossip. I could practically hear him salivating.

“Probably not. What?”

“Nick Braver!” he breathed. I smiled, silently congratulating myself.

“What about him?” I tried to ask lightly.

“Oh you witch! You do know!” His voice rose excitedly.

“Know what?” I asked.

“Ooooh you did it didn’t you?”

“What? Steven, spill!”

“Well he’s telling everyone that he was mugged last night when he and Tracy left the party and was beaten up so bad that they broke his collarbone.” He was bursting to laugh. “But the funny thing is you’d think he’d have some bruises or a black eye maybe or even a fat lip, but just the collarbone. That’s weird, right?” He was fishing.

“Absolutely bizarre.”

“Shay!” I could feel the red in his voice.

“What?” He was silent, waiting for me to spill this time. “Oh fine,” I conceded. “Remember when I left?”

“Yeah?” His voice took on a hungry tone.

“Close your mouth. Anyway, I heard Tracy begging him to leave her alone in his truck, so I simply… separated them.” I packed all our necessary items into a backpack and slung it over my shoulder.

“And just accidentally broke a bone?”

“Can I help it if he was literally falling down drunk?”

“Fine, but you’re telling me and Jodi everything later. Swear!”

“Fine.”

“Hey, want dinner before? My treat.”

“Yeah, I’ll pick you and Jodi up at, what, seven?”

“Yeah.”

“’Kay, call Jodi for me.” I hung up and shoved my phone back into my back pocket and shimmied back down the tree.

 

Dinner was at a rundown café on Main St. with a decent comfort food menu at cheap prices. Despite the nine hours of sleep I’d managed to get, that didn’t make up for the missed sleep over the course of the week so I threw back my fair share of cream and sugar coffee while we ate. I knew when Steven called Jodi after speaking to me this afternoon our dinner conversation was going to be comprised totally of my recounting, detail for detail, what happened between me and Nick last night. I was careful to give them too many details so they wouldn’t hound me about it and recounted the whole five-minute episode that somehow took ten times as long to describe.

“So I told Tracy to take the jerk-off to the hospital.” I shrugged as I finished the tale and signaled the waitress with my coffee cup for a refill.

“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to call on my energy that easily.” Jodi stared at me wide eyed after the waitress scurried away.

“Easily? Are you kidding? I was exhausted.” I shook my head at her and took another sip of my extra cream and sugar coffee. “And remember, earth can be more tangible than air. It’s easier to summon up the faith that its there for the taking.”

“Still though, that’s pretty impressive,” Steven agreed with Jodi.

“I wasn’t trying to be impressive.” I was glowering and I knew it.

“No, I mean that you were able to do that without Tracy realizing what was going on. She’s been insisting there was a freak earthquake last night.”

“What?!” I spilled some of my coffee, burning my hand and coughing on the sip I was in the middle of taking.

“Calm down!” Jodi hissed at me, shoving napkins at me. “She hasn’t even mentioned you were there. People just think Nick tripped and fell on that crack you made and that Tracy’s trying to make something up to help him save face for being so clumsy.”

“Oh. And people are buying that?” I asked.

“Obviously, no one’s gone to check out her story. They’re really just brushing her off.” Steven shrugged at that last part. “But no one really believes he was mugged, I mean look how big he is!”

“Hmmm…. Oh well, can’t ask for much more than that.” I wadded up the ruined napkins and shoved them to the end of the table. “So, how high was Prince Charming’s B.A.C.? Is he grounded for life? Kicked off the team? What?”

“Actually no,” Jodi sighed, rolling her eyes to the ceiling and holding them there for a moment. “I guess Tracy did like you told her to do but his mom was so upset about his clavicle that they didn’t really even pay attention to the fact that he was obviously drunk and stoned.”

“Are you freaking kidding me!” I lost control of my voice and startled the waitress behind the counter. I shot her an apologetic look before whispering back at Jodi and Steven, “Nothing? He’s off scot-free?”

“Pretty much babe.” Steven shrugged again, shoveling the last few bites of his strawberry shortcake into his mouth. I sat there fuming for a few quiet moments, gripping my coffee cup until I felt the ceramic start to shake under the pressure and set it down carefully.

“That is utter bullshit.” They both nodded slowly at me. “Well then I’m glad I included a binding and banishing on that creep in the spell tonight. Maybe when Mr. Right shows up to sweep Tracy off her feet it’ll be in a way that humiliates Nick.”

“Terra…” Steven gave me a warning tone with one raised eyebrow, using my elemental name for emphasis; we all knew once you started casting for revenge it was a slippery slope that many people couldn’t recover from. You’d find yourself asking for things you knew you shouldn’t, even for personal gain, which just opened a flood gate for karma to bite you in the ass down the road.

“I know! I know!” I sighed; flustered with the rules we were all careful to follow, even if it was tempting not to. I drummed my fingers on the tabletop for a moment, counting to ten in my head to give myself time to calm down and then took a deep breath. “Let’s go, we’ve got a lot of setting up to do. We’re doing a double circle instead of just a single tonight.” We climbed out of the booth as Steven threw a few bills down to cover the bill and tip. We turned to walk out when the waitress came running up to me holding a Styrofoam box.

"Don’t forget your take out!" She stretched her arms out, handing me the box.

"Oh, thanks!" I pulled a ten out of my pocket and handed it to her, the greasy roast beef sandwich and mashed potatoes with brown gravy felt like they weighed fifteen pounds.

"So," Steven's head appeared between us once we were on the road, "is this totally new stuff tonight?" His hand reached forward to eject my CD again but I was ready for him this time and slapped his hand away. I held a firm rule about music before we cast. I had a CD that I burned compiled mostly of new age and Celtic music. It was the perfect balance to center one's energy, calm the spirit, and excite the senses, a perfect recipe for spell casting. Steven pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow at me but didn’t complain, probably just testing my resolve on the rule.

"No, not really. Just instead of calling on The Watchtowers I wanted to call on our guardian angels." Steven nodded and leaned closer to Jodi to read over her shoulder. She had dug out my paperwork with tonight’s spell and instructions, trying to commit the chants to memory, not wanting to have to consult her notes and distract herself once we were into it. She passed a copy to him and Steven settled back into his seat to study.

"Hmmm... interesting." Jodi said under her breath.

"What?" I asked.

"I see you're really asking her guardian angel for help."

"Yeah, but through a channel we can trust. Can’t just go asking anything out there to identify itself as her angel, we'd be asking for a world of trouble."

"No, I like it..." There was a hesitation in her voice.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I don’t know my guardian angel." Her face fell slightly.

"Oh, babe, I know. They'll show themselves to you, don’t worry."

"I don’t know what to picture in my head though." Steven was watching me intently through the rearview, clearly very interested in my explanation, as if as soon as Jodi had voiced the concern he too felt nervous.

"You don’t have to. You'll know them when you see them." I emanated confidence and reassurance to them with my words, feeling them both relax marginally. I allowed myself a smile and continued down the road, turning to park under the over pass. We each carried a backpack full of supplies across the road and onto the sand. We walked quickly and quietly, not wanting to attract any attention. A short distance away I heard the gentle humming of old lungs carried back to me on sea salted air.

"Byron!" I called out into the darkness and heard the humming stop and the rustle of stiff fabric as a shape took form in the pale moonlight. As the shape took the form of a man I heard the rough chuckle rumble from his throat.

"Hello my pretties." I returned Byron's smile and handed him the take out box from dinner. He took as deep breath and sighed with pleasure, "Ahhhhhh.... roast beef, my favorite. Thank you."

"And I brought this for you." Steven handed him a wool blanket he'd carried out that I hadn't noticed.

"Very kind." He smiled at all of us and nodded, "Same as last?"

"Yes, but it may be a little longer than last."

"That’s fine darling. The city installed a lovely bench by the road. I shall have a sit down with my dinner and cozy blanket and I'll read by the street lamp." Byron was the self-proclaimed beach bum of our town. He'd become homeless by choice, giving up society for good in the 80's when he caught his wife cheating on him with his brother. He stumbled upon us one night, nearly breaking our circle, but didn’t ask too many questions and offered to strike a bargain with us to act as our look-out on nights we needed to work, all in exchange for the simple cost of a hot meal. Of course we offered money more than once, and shelter, but he refused it every time, saying nature provided all he needed. So instead we'd bring him food and hand-me-down clothing our fathers were going to donate to charity.

We set out for the spot on the shoreline we customarily took. It was partially hidden by a curving of rocks and the sand was smooth and free of pebbles but large enough to create a fifteen-foot radius circle. We each set our bags down on the rocks and quickly stripped our socks and shoes, shivering from the cold, damp sand. I found the spot to mark as the middle and extended one arm fully. Jodi grasped my hand, stepping back to extend both arms and Steven reached for her hand, extending his arm fully. Carefully I began to rotate on the spot, Jodi and Steven walking slowly next to me, marking two large circles in the sand with their feet so we could have clear lines to follow when they magically drew the protective circles.

Twenty minutes later and both Steven and Jodi finished their circles, careful to have everyone inside the inner-circle before Jodi sealed it around us. I had set up our altar as they drew the protective lines around us, feeling energy flow strongly around me as I worked. Steven lit the candles. Closing his eyes and breathing deep he raised his hand to the wicks and caused them to flame to life. My face glowed with pride. Fire was one of the more volatile elements to attempt to control. Because I had the aptitude for all four elements things came easier to me than to the others, which had made me a makeshift teacher for them in their elements. So when they were able to show command over their powers I couldn’t help but feel proud.

We sat then, meditating for a time, reaching out to each other and interlacing our energies, pushing it out to the circles around us, strengthening their shields. We joined hands and I began the prayer, calling all good energy and light to help us, dispelling any evil or mischievous entities. I vaguely heard Steven and Jodi near me chanting beneath my prayers, calling the names of the elements and the power of three, their twined voices like velvet on my skin.

"We call to our guardian angels to come and hear us. Aide us this night in search of healing and love for another."

"Earth, Air, Water, Fire. Earth, Air, Water, Fire. By the power of three times three, let it be, let it be. Earth, Air, Water, Fire. Earth, Air, Water, Fire."

"We call to our guardian angels to come and hear us. Aide us this night in search of healing and love for another. We ask for help banishing an evil, controlling force that threatens her innocent life."

"Earth, Air, Water, Fire. Earth, Air, Water, Fire. By the power of three times three, let it be, let it be. Earth, Air, Water, Fire. Earth, Air, Water, Fire." Their voices were softer now. I held my eyes closed to keep out all distraction. I heard the ocean pulse nearby, the waves lapping gently against the packed sand and in the darkness I saw the shimmer of silver light growing stronger by the moment. I felt Jodi's fingers tighten around mine, knowing she was seeing a similar vision. It was only thanks to years of practice that kept her from gasping aloud and breaking the rhythm of the chant.

"Earth, Air, Water, Fire. Earth, Air, Water, Fire. By the power of three times three, let it be, let it be. Earth, Air, Water, Fire. Earth, Air, Water, Fire." I kept quiet, summoning the energy I felt beneath me and sending out to the lights that approached us. I became aware of two others, one on either side of me and I knew they were drawing closer to Jodi and Steven respectively. Our deep connection to each other, with the channel open through our joined hands, allowed me to share this moment with them as their guardian angels began to take form for them. I would never truly know what their angels looked like, just as they would never know what mine looked like, that being a very private and intimate thing, but I reveled in the joy, knowing I had helped bring them together.

The breeze that had swirled around us suddenly stopped and I knew that Jodi was embracing her guardian angel and had found the power within herself to fully command the intangible element, shielding us completely, not wanting even a breath to interrupt this most beloved of meetings. I reached out and drew my familiar angel to me. He smiled softly, but with that smile he could light a thousand suns and I felt my throat tighten and tears spill from behind my eyelids.

He was more beautiful than a full-mooned sky with a million stars reflected over the sea. He had tousled, golden hair and rich evergreen eyes that seemed to have the depths of heaven hidden there. His wings, shimmering black and silver, wrapped around me, pulling us together into one. And in that moment I gathered myself and silently sent my plea to him for Tracy's sake, asking for help to find her guardian angel to keep her safe from Nick and guide her where her heart belonged.

In an instant it was over. The crisp, moist air whipped around us suddenly, biting into our cheeks and hands. We sat in silence for a few more minutes, grasping each other’s hands tightly and I knew, without looking, they cried with me.

"Thank you..." I almost didn’t hear Jodi's whisper over the unexpectedly loud waves crashing closer and closer to us. Steven, beyond words gripped my hand tightly, his silent gratitude washed over me like heat of a roaring fire on a cold winter's night. I smiled again.

After we said a prayer of thanks and dispelled our circles and cleansed the area around us we made the hike back up to the road, finding Byron still sitting on the bench, reading a dog-eared copy of A Tale of Two Cities.

"Ah, all finished then?" He asked brightly as we approached.

"Yes, thank you Byron, as always, we couldn’t have done it without you."

"Do you need anything Byron?" Jodi asked, genuine concern in her eyes.

"No my dear, thank you." We bid him goodnight and piled into the minivan and I turned us back onto the freeway and drove quietly and contentedly into the night.