The smiling red-haired swimsuit model of my dreams winks at her. The girls both giggle at him. Achilles growls at Smiley as if to prove his distaste of the name. Achilles looks at me again in anticipation, his tail whipping to-and-fro. I smile at the dog.
“Achilles,” I say to the dog, “I like it.” He cocks his head and jumps at me in response to his name.
“He really isn’t normally like this,” Alex tells me. I glance at Alex and smile, quickly looking away before I ogle him again. “He doesn’t take to people,” he says with such a strange inflection I almost ask what he means.
“Alexandros! Phelix! We must go!” a male voice booms through the crowd at us making me jump. Over by the silos, I see the same two twins from yesterday looking bored and a very intimidating tall man with dreadlocks. When his gaze passes over me, I feel myself locked in place by the sheer power of his stare. He blinks lazily then nods at Alex and what my guess is not Smiley, but Phelix. I breathe out suddenly and realize I had been holding my breath since the man looked at me.
“Alexandros? Dude, your parents are cruel,” Aaiden says from behind me. I wanted to glare at him, but I looked to see Alex’s reaction. He grins making no remark to the cruelty of his parents for his unique name.
“I have to go,” Alex says to me in apology. I’m just as sorry as he sounds. I don’t reply. He turns and starts to walk away. “Come on, Achilles,” he says with his back to us. The dog turns to go, then looks to me and whines.
Phelix gets my attention with a strange grin. “Would you like to come with us?” he asks me.
“What?” I think about those strange twins who stared at me before and the adult male calling the guys. No way am I going off with these weird drool-worthy strangers. And yet...
“Phelix!” the man scolds. Phelix laughs as if he just did something hilarious and leaves without even waiting for my answer.
I watch the boys and the dog disappear into the dark behind the silos. The model twins and the man are nowhere to be seen.
“Well, that was something,” Blythe says wistfully. We all seem stuck in place for a moment longer mulling over the strange encounter.
“Did you see the way they were just staring at Vi?” Fiona asks breaking the silence.
“Did you see those chicks?” Aiden counters.
All three of us girls groan in unison, turning back to the way we were going before Achilles jumped on me.
“Oh, I have to watch you three go basic over a few scrawny guys, but I mention two glorious specimens of the female form and I get a groan. No way, those chicks were sizzling and Aaiden wants a bite. I don’t care what you say.” Aaiden wiggles his brows at us.
Chapter Four
Violet
“I summon those behind the door, I summon you now,” Fiona chants for the thirtieth time.
“I think I feel something,” Aaiden says after a moment. “Yeah, I feel it, my right cheek is asleep.”
Blythe giggles.
“Guys,” Fiona complains, “you promised you would keep your mind open. Madam Leticia said you have to have an open mind or it won’t work.”
“Well, Madam Leticia hasn’t been sitting here with her butt on some poor old man’s grave for the last half hour waiting for the spirit realm to commune with us. I’m pretty sure the guy I’m sitting on is what’s causing this butt cramp, for him it’s a full moon tonight,” Aaiden replies wiggling for emphasis.
I sigh, “Let me see the book, Fiona.”
Fiona gives me a sideways glance. I scoot to the middle next to her. She’s probably wondering if I’m going to chuck the book, but she opens it onto my lap. As soon as I touch it, I feel a jolt like static hit my fingers, only it’s not unpleasant, it’s...a nice feeling. Familiar somehow. The book is heavy. The pages are thick and old. They even smell like an old book, only mixed with spices, fragrances of wherever it’s been stored. I run my fingers down the page. Touching it is like holding the hand of an old friend or family member, comfortable.
“Violet, what are you doing?” Fiona asks pulling me out of my head.
“Uh, I don’t know,” I say, “So, what are we reading?” I clear my throat and change the subject. The page Fiona has been reading from is close to the beginning of the book.
“See, look here.” Fiona points to the top of the page where it says ‘To Open A Realm.’ “You have to have a circle like we have, five candles, and a zoana. That would be me.”
I read through the few instructions silently.
On hallowed ground under a late moon, place five blue candles in a circle. The zoana must sit in the middle and speak these words to open the door.
I summon you now,
I summon those behind the door.
I release you unto this realm
Until the time my watch has ended.
I summon those behind the door.
I summon you now.
“What did your teacher say about being a zoana, is that like a witch?” I ask her, since this really looks like a witch’s book.
“Not exactly. A zoana is chosen, by blood. A witch is a term that can be used by anyone who practices.”
“And you were chosen?” Blythe asks cocking her head.
Fiona straightens. “Well, my mother was a Wiccan and practiced, and I was born into it. So yes, I am. Madam Leticia thinks so anyways.”
“How about we all say it,” I say, trying to temper the mood. I just started hanging out with all of them, I don’t want them to fight.
Fiona shrugs. “It couldn’t hurt.”
Aaiden and Blythe scoot closer so we are all in the middle now.
“Wait, what are we supposed to ask them if they come?” Blythe looks around the graveyard.
“If they miss tacos,” Aaiden interjects holding up the recorder Fiona gave him to record the EVP questions she planned to ask the spirits. She said sometimes they don’t respond on a level we can hear so we will listen to the recording after we leave and see if we caught any disembodied voices on it.
Fiona smacks him. “Ask whatever you want, just leave time for them to answer on the recording before speaking up again.”
“Let’s just see if they show up first,” I say grabbing Blythe’s hand in one hand and Fiona’s in the other. We all link hands and follow Fiona’s lead.
“Speak slowly, everyone,” she whispers, “and close your eyes.”
“If we close our eyes, how will we read?” Blythe asks.
“I think we have all heard this enough we can remember it.” Aaiden snickers.
Fiona huffs, “I’ll speak first, then you follow.” She closes her eyes. I close my eyes too.
“I summon you now,” she says.
“I summon you now,” we say together. As suddenly as the words leave my lips an image appears in my mind. It’s like I’m still in the graveyard, but I’m not. Instead, I’m in a large room. I know it’s a room even though it’s dark with only a door visible. As I breathe, my breath comes out in a frost in front of me. This is too real to not be real.
My eyes fly open in fear. I’m still in the graveyard.
I close my eyes, the room with the door is still there.
I open one eye - graveyard.