Alexandra Sokoloff - Book of Shadows

Garrett found himself holding his breath… as the big man on the floor slowly nodded.

“You can speak,” she told him. “What is your name?”

To Garrett’s utter astonishment, the Dragon Man spoke, a deep, resonant James Earl Jones voice.

“Roland, ma’am.”

“Roland what?” Tanith asked, without a trace of surprise.

“Roland Cutler,” he said, without opening his eyes.

“Roland, I’m Tanith. I’m very glad to meet you. Are you comfortable?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“That’s good. I want to ask you questions about a girl named Amber.” The man stiffened on the floor, tensing every muscle in his body. Tanith said quickly, “You’re safe. You’re safe here.” Slowly he relaxed, not altogether, but enough.

“You do know Amber,” Tanith said softly.

“The lost girl in the park. She loves the angel,” the Dragon Man murmured. Tanith glanced over at Garrett. He nodded tightly. Inside he was reeling, a disorienting wave of paranoia. Am I being set up? How can this guy have gone from stark raving to lucid because of some purple light?

“That’s right. That’s Amber,” Tanith said. “We’re looking for her, Roland. Can you tell us where she is?”

The big man shuddered. He did not open his eyes, but tears squeezed out from the corners and ran down his cheeks, plopping softly onto the dark silk below him. “A bad man got her. Very bad. Scares me…” He paused, and whispered… “Evil.”

The wind rippled through the empty space, and Garrett felt the chill in his bones.

“Tell us about the man, Roland,” Tanith said softly.

“He came in a car, like one of her—like the other men.”

“Describe the car,” Garrett said sharply. On the floor, Roland stiffened. Tanith glanced at Garrett, shook her head slightly, frowning.

“What kind of car, Roland?” Tanith asked. “Can you describe it?”

Roland squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head.

“You were in the park, watching,” Tanith suggested. Roland nodded his head warily. “But now you’re only seeing it as if you’re watching a movie. That’s all; it’s just like watching a movie. Tell me about the car.”

After a moment the big man spoke slowly. “Dark blue… Camaro. It’s not new… but not too dinged up.”

Beside the pillar, Garrett moved, impatiently, opened his mouth to ask about the plates, but before he could speak, Tanith was asking.

“What about the license plate? Can you see the numbers?”

Roland frowned, moved on the silk circle on the ground. “I can’t see it,” he fretted.

“You can see it,” Tanith said. “Tell me.”

“T-O-R,” Roland said obediently. “Then there’s a nine…” He squeezed his eyes tightly closed, as if squinting to see. “That’s all I can see. I’m sorry,” he added.

Garrett had pulled out his notebook and was writing furiously. Hypnotism, he told himself. Not magic. You’ve seen it before.

“That’s very good, Roland, thank you.” Tanith glanced toward Garrett. “Let’s talk more about the man. Can you describe him?”

Roland started to shake his head on the floor, in mute denial.

“It’s all right. I’m here with you. Tell us what you see.”

“She went to the car and talked to him. Then she got in and he took her away…” The big man was crying again, softly sobbing. “Hurt her. Hurt her,” he choked out. “Killed her.”

There’s something wrong, here. Something… Garrett shook his head and Tanith looked toward him. After a moment, she spoke aloud.

“Roland, how do you know? Did you see him kill her?”

“He brought her back.” He shuddered again with a sob. “She was dead.”

Garrett straightened, electrified. He kept his voice low. “He brought her back to the park? The body is in the park?”

“Did he bring her back to the park?” Tanith asked.

“To the Channel,” Roland said, through tears.

Tanith glanced toward Garrett. “Fort Point Channel?”

Roland nodded.

“He killed her at the Channel?”

“No, he brought her back,” the big man’s voice trembled. “She was dead and he put her on a chain and dropped her into the water, down, down, down.”

Tanith’s face was intent in the glow of the candles and black light. “Was this the same night?”

“The next night.”

Garrett wasn’t following this at all. “Wait—then what were you doing at the Channel?” he said sharply.

Tanith ignored him. “Where at the Channel, Roland? Can you tell us where?”

“HarborWalk. Binford Park.”

Even crazier. Binford is miles away from Chinatown. “How the hell…” Garrett muttered. Tanith shot him a black look and he didn’t finish.

“Did you follow the car?” she asked the man in the circle gently. “The Channel’s pretty far away. Why were you there?”

The man on the floor lifted his hands helplessly. “I went there. And he came and he put her in the water in a big stone on a chain.”

“Who is he? Describe him,” Garrett demanded.

The candles in the circle flickered as if in a rush of wind. On the floor, the big man stiffened. Then he sat up suddenly and pointed, eyes blank and staring. “There,” he said, barely audible. There was pure terror in his voice.

Garrett whipped around, scanning the dark expanse of the building.

Inside the circle, Tanith stood, her body tense as she stared into the purple-lit dark. “Yes, I see.”

Garrett stared into the dark, saw nothing. Demons again, he thought. Back to the nut farm. But he found his arms were raised in gooseflesh.

The big man’s face contorted in terror and he started to scream. “No! No!” Around them the candles were wavering wildly in the wind.

Tanith spun, took a step toward the outside of the circle—and suddenly Garrett saw her stagger back violently, as if she had been shoved. He started toward her, but Tanith held both hands out, palms flat, a gesture of holding back. Her voice blasted out a warning: “Hold, intruder, get thee gone. I say this circle will hold strong. With each step your powers thin; you may not, cannot come within. Go! ” she said savagely and pushed with her hands. The candles wavered, sizzling. The wind whipped at the plastic sheeting, gusting through the empty building.

Quickly Tanith raised her head and her hands high in a V and called out: “Circle, Elements, Watchtowers hold, with all the magic strength of old. Hear me now and ancients hark, repel the powers of the dark.” Her voice was strong but there was a harsh undercurrent in it, almost as if she were in pain.

The wind dropped… the wild whipping of the plastic ceased.

The gooseflesh on Garrett’s arms faded, and the sense that his heart was enclosed in a vise. He breathed in sharply.

“Blessed be,” Tanith murmured.

The Dragon Man was no longer thrashing on the floor, his breath had slowed. Tanith drew herself up, drew a ragged breath. “Roland, I’m going to bring you back into the circle, now. When you open your eyes you will feel rested and at peace. I promise you, we’re going to help you. Take a deep breath, now… and release it all…”

As the Dragon Man breathed out, she stood, extended her arms straight out at her sides with palms up, and made a slow revolution. “I draw up now this circle’s power, away to wait for another hour.”

She brought her hands together, dropped her head, and remained standing, her body shuddering with her labored breathing. Then she lifted her head and knelt by Roland’s side, taking the amethyst crystal from his chest.

He opened his eyes and looked at her hazily. She stared into his eyes, then put her hands on his forearms and helped him sit up.