A Salem Awakening

Chapter 36

As soon as the sun showed itself in the east, shimmering over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Junius stood. He stayed awake most of the night, keeping watch in case Rennik came looking for him. When he saw the first sign of the sunrise, he moved to a clearing in the trees and turned his back to the east. He wanted his hair to soak in every beam of light the sun could deliver to him. Once the first beam of that delicious sunlight touched his hair, he immediately felt rejuvenated. Within just a matter of minutes, he was strong enough to walk a few steps. He started back for his house, or more precisely, Tobias' house.

After about ten minutes, he arrived home. It was much worse than he remembered or expected. Luckily it was still early in the day. Nobody would stop by just yet, and he conducted almost all of his business in town. He had some time. He would not clean everything on his own, instead he planned to wait a bit longer and build more strength from his hair. Once he was back near full capacity, he would use his energy to get everything back to normal. Plus, he would need to embody Tobias again. If he didn't, people might wonder where Tobias disappeared to.

After about thirty more minutes in the sun, he was feeling almost his old self. First, he would re-embody Tobias. That was important to do first in case anyone happened to stop by. He clasped his hands together, let the energy flow through him, closed his eyes and thought deeply about Tobias. He imagined his short, stout body, and his fat, red, bumpy nose. Junius imagined every detail and as each thought crossed his mind, his body morphed closer and closer to Tobias' visage. Within a couple of minutes, Junius was no longer visible and Tobias was back.

Tobias waited a few more minutes to allow his hair to harvest more energy from the sunlight, since he just used a good amount for his re-embodiment. Once he felt strong enough, he clasped his hands back together and undid all the damage to his house and property. A few minutes later, everything was back to normal. Tobias felt good – everything was back in order. He reckoned he must have badly injured Rennik since he never came looking for him. And now he finally knew the identity of the child keeping him from becoming Master. His multi-decade plan was near fruition. Monday promised to be a good day.

Things were not as happy at the Porter house. Rennik did not react well to the medicine Elizabeth applied. He slept very little, was quite feverish and the area around his wound became bright red and swollen. It was too painful for anyone to touch. The lesion was badly infected and there was nothing they could do – it was happening faster than anyone could believe. "I've never seen a wound abscess so quickly," Joseph whispered to Elizabeth. She shook her head in agreement. For obvious reasons, they could not consult a doctor. Their only hope was Rennik would survive the night and with the rise of the sun, use its energy to heal.

To pass the time while he couldn't sleep, Rennik talked to Abigail. He explained more about the history of the Order. Abigail's favorite part was when he talked about what it was like to be Master. At first, Rennik talked about the great responsibility and obligation of his position. "Speaking about obligation is a very Samuel thing to do," Abigail mused. By three in the morning, however, the conversation turned to the pleasures of his role. He talked about some pranks he pulled on his friends. Having access to the relics had its benefits.

There was one time late at night when he put Belle on, grabbed three medium-sized rocks, and then transported to his friend's house. His friend was fast asleep. Rennik stood directly above him and dropped the stones at exactly the same time he transported away. His friend woke from three stones falling on his stomach with nobody around to blame. Rennik recalled laughing himself to sleep that night. He also admitted to Abigail he needed to practice the maneuver about a dozen times to ensure the timing was just right.

Abigail was happy to spend this time with her father, but it saddened her it took so long to reach this point, and that it was under such unpleasant circumstances for them to have this rapport.

But the night did not go well. By four thirty, well before sunrise, Rennik took a turn for the worse. He was in a lot of pain, his fever was entrenched, and he was consistently coughing up a significant amount of blood. Abigail was doing her best to comfort him, while Elizabeth and Joseph tried to keep clean towels replacing the bloodied ones. At four forty-five, Rennik motioned for Abigail to come close to him. He motioned for her to put her ear next to his mouth. It was a great struggle for him to speak and he could only muster a forced whisper.

"I'll be leaving soon. But know I will always be with you, as will the others. There are always others."

Abigail tried to stop him from talking – she wanted to will him to remain alive. If he didn't speak about dying, perhaps death would not notice him.

But Rennik assured her, "It will be all right. You will be the Master now. It may take time for the rest of the Order to see you as the Master, but Joseph will tell them what he's seen in you. They will support you." He coughed some more. "You have two primary responsibilities now – first, you must remain alive, at any cost. Second, you must go to England and call a global coven. You must make all members of the Order aware of your inauguration. When they see you reading from the ancient book, they will know the book has revealed itself to you, proving you are the new, true Master. I love you Abi, this will forever be true. And always remember, there are others."

With the salutation of the Order contained in the last six words he would speak, the great and revered Rennik Samson, fifth Master of the Order, drew his final breath. Abigail collapsed onto his body, weeping. For the first time in her life, she was alone. Both parents were gone, within one day of each other. She stood, with the Porters standing behind her, and watched in astonishment as Rennik's body disintegrated into dust and a sudden breeze which mysteriously entered the house swept it away. They all looked up and watched the body of dust float away. Joseph, though sad, smiled widely as he knew this was the way of the Masters. Rennik's soul was being taken to a place where he would join the other Masters in eternity. It was a bittersweet moment for Joseph and entirely bitter for Abigail.

A few moments later, Tobias received a message. He placed his three middle fingers upon the temples on his head and said nothing. The person on the other side simply said three words, "Rennik is dead."

Tobias removed the fingers from his head and smiled. "This day is looking up, indeed. Just one more to take care of."