The Witch Stone - Emily Oakes Page 0,64
Brenna couldn’t see inside. She slotted the key into the lock and pushed open the door.
The room was just how Maggie had left it. Nothing out of place, the bed made, the television set sitting opposite the bed, and the bedside cabinet held an alarm clocked that blinked the same time over and over. Brenna walked into the bathroom not noticing anything strange. Annoyed she couldn’t find anything after searching through every drawer and cupboard, Brenna started for the door when a blue light shot out from under her blouse. A strange noise drifted out of the pouch. She put her hands into her top and took out the pouch, pulled out the glowing stone and placed it in her right hand. The moonstone flew out her hand and landed on the red carpet. It flickered with luminous light like a tiny television screen on to the floor. Brenna rifled around in her hand and found a purple velvet drawstring bag with a pentacle embroidered on it. She laid the purple bag on the bedside table and took out a white sage smudge stick, a small bottle of salt, and a beautiful pure white feather. She turned and looked back to the floor where the moonstone had landed and slowly approached the stone. Leaning close to the stone she watched in amazement an image materialized in the stone like it really was a television.
“What the…” Brenna’s breath quickened. The little stone continued to mystify her. She squinted at the stone. The image was too small to make out. The more she closed her eyes, the better she could see it. When she closed her eyes fully, it was as though the insides of her eyelids were movie screens. She could see the back of Mr. Hector as he walked out the room seven’s bathroom. She was struck by how different he looked from the last time she had seen him. He seemed lighter. More approachable. He flopped down on the bed, next to a mass of papers that were strewn about.
Brenna watched as a dark cloud of smoke appeared out of nowhere and hovered above Hector. He opened his eyes just as the black smoke closed in on him. He rubbed his eyes then let out a hoarse scream as the smoke hovered down, soaking into his body. He stood up from the bed and cocked his head back as if he was somehow adjusting to the darkness that had entered him. That same awful red color she had seen in the eyes of the entity seeped into Hector’s. He left the room, slamming the door behind him. A sharp bolt of lightning struck the outside of the hotel startling Brenna as she opened her eyes. The moonstone had gone back to normal. She picked it up and carefully slid it back into the leather pouch around her neck and tucked it back under her clothing.
Thunder bellowed in the dark sky making the realization that Hector had been possessed by the evil judge all the more horrifying. It dawned on her that when she was dealing with Hector at the lawyer’s office, she had been actually talking with the evil judge.
Lightning lit up the eerie room. Brenna guessed the room was being haunted by the real Hector’s confused spirit.
She lifted the smudge stick, igniting the end with her lighter. She fanned the white feather gently over the tip spreading the spicy smelling smoke into each corner of the room, chanting softly as she went. Then she sprinkled sea salt in each corner of the room. Immediately she felt the heavy presence in the room lift and a soft chanting ring throughout the air. The chill left the air. Hector’s troubled spirit was released.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Hector.”
She left the room with a spring in her step. A little bit of magic did wonders for the mood. She knew her success was attributed to the stone. Without it, she was sure the ritual would have failed. Unsure of when Ronan was going to turn up, Brenna thought she’d have a browse through the book of shadows her grandmother had left her. To save herself from messing up her room, she opted to wait in her car. She fished out the book and marveled over pages and pages of spells, recipes, chants, and poems. A small spell caught her eye. She cleared her throat and read it out loud, enjoying the fact she could perform magic again with the stone’s help. “A Missing