The taxi halted outside Zara's. She hadn't stopped talking since her final snog with Pete.
"And did you see Tam's face, when Pete put his arm us as we were leaving? I'd no idea she liked him so much."
"Good night Zara. Go get some sleep." We hugged and kissed.
I thought I was finally shot of her but she turned around and put her hands on her hips, wobbling on the one healed shoe.
"Minta, what did you do to that girl, you know the one in the loos? If I could read her expression right, she wished you to hell."
I scowled, thoughtfully. "No idea who you're on about."
"Oh. She had a fantastically short dress. Very sexy."
The Taxi revved.
I shrugged. "I met this guy, maybe she was with him and I got in her way."
Zara's face lit up. "Oooo, yes. I saw him. Tell me everything in the morning."
I was about to say 'there's nothing to tell', but decided it'd prolong the agony. I wanted to get to Jasmine Cottage then home.
I watched her go in before allowing the taxi driver to drive off.
My inner alarm bell rang at something Zara had said, but it was late and I was tired, so I couldn't workout why.
*
Quarter to twelve, it was still the Solstice, just. I slammed the taxi door shut and made the driver promise to come back in an hour or so. I didn't fancy walking alone at one a.m. even with a Red Kite trailing me.
A garland of evergreen leaves, holly and mistletoe hung on the door and the wintery smell of nutmeg and cinnamon seeped through the letterbox. Little lights framed the window and I could see an abundance of wooden animal-shaped decorations inside, along with a tree. It was Christmas come early. In all the years I'd known Gam, I'd never questioned why the decs went up on the twenty-first.
"Ouch, Dawlish! Oh, not my tights. Damn cat." I picked him up as the door scraped opened.
"Happy Yuletide." Gladys greeted me with a hug and a smile. I couldn't help but be surprised. She laughed. "It is a time to celebrate. Another year has passed and from out of the darkness, new life will arise."
I dropped Dawlish on the threshold and nodded, half understanding. It sounded like Christmas and Easter all rolled into one. "Is this a pagan thing or an Wiccan thing we're doing?" I sat down at the table whilst a mirage of happenings proceeded around me and a banquet of dried fruits and cake appeared before our eyes.
"Neither and both. The Solstice belongs to all who claim it, Celts, Druids, ancient Greeks, Romans and more. Each one has their own traditions, but all know it as a time for reflection, resolutions and renewal."
I pulled out the wire-wrapped amethyst from out of my bag. "I made this for you, with a touch of magic."
Gladys didn't move for a moment, her expression, as usual, didn't change. "Thank you."
Finally, she took a short, sharp breath in as she picked up the pendent from the table. "Amethyst stills the mind and protects against witchcraft. It has long been used to aid spiritual wisdom and heal negativity." The cord draped over the back of her hand. "I feel there was much love behind the choice if stone."
I felt embarrassed. "Well, I meant to give it to... I mean I chose the stone for Gam, but it seemed fitting to give it to you, it matches your ring." I hoped it didn't make the gift seem a cheap alternative.
Gladys whole face lit up. She seemed ten years younger, than whatever age she actually was. "I'm honoured you feel I am worthy of such a precious gift."
For a moment, I thought I saw an aura of light around her, but I blinked and it was gone. "We were such good friends, your great aunt and I. Such good friends, and then," she sighed, "as your great aunt wanted to stay within the bosom of her family and therefore age gracefully, I couldn't even pretend to be a distant relation, those alive and aging would have wondered why I did not mature accordingly. I've visited in secret over the last few decades." A sparkle, a single tear rested in the corner of one eye. "I could not attend her funeral. I dare not visit your mother. She's a shrewd one."
I let her talk. It was unlike Gladys to offer so much information freely. Even Dawlish was still.
"It is easier not to meet people and to simply live in the shadows. Your great aunt, Araminta Fager was an amazing woman. She chose to join in with human living, instead of cloistering herself away waiting for signs."
"She was a nurse in the world war." I spoke quietly remembering the times Gam told me stories about the dark years. They were the reasons I'd visit. I never drifted during stories about the war.
"Yes, the second and the first, and in many wars before that. However, I dare say that information will not surprise you now."
I shook my head.
"It was not easy for her, either." Gladys smiled ruefully. "One day you'll experience the desolation of not being able to change a destiny or cure a mortal wound when it is not in your power too."
I randomly picked at the dried fruits, post party hunger suddenly kicking in. "But how did Gam know who to save? Did she have to stand back and let people die, even with her magic?"
Gladys sat back and sighed. She looked at me with the soft resignation and pity of a woman with experience towards a girl who has no idea. "She used her human skills of medicine and care upon whoever she came in contact with, but Araminta, you already know when it feels right to involve yourself in someone's destiny and when there is no urge to do so."
I didn't answer. "I don't think I could watch someone in pain knowing one word could change that. I can see why some Cumendre want to hide in a room until there called for."
"Yes. It is the easiest way; you pop in and pop out. However, can you truly understand if you never truly feel?"
The lights dimmed and twinkled and the smell of pine filled my nostrils. The food-covered table continued to call me as Gladys poured peppermint tea.
"Mint for the coldness of winter; tea for the warmth of the coming summer."
We sat eating in silence. It felt easy. I hadn't realised how Gladys and I could do that, like Gam and I, once upon a time. Feeling more cheerful, I ate, drank and merry-ed as medieval music struck up from nowhere.
"And I have something for you." A decidedly cheerful note sang in Gladys voice and a small chunk of wood emerged in my hands. A little confused but, not wanting to be ungrateful I smiled.
"A piece of Yule log, for luck. You must keep it and burn it next year with your new Yule log." Satisfied with her explanation, she sat back in her chair.
"Thank you. I need some more of that, luck I mean." I thought about George.
"Why is that, my child? I sense you had success in your spells tonight."
"I did, oh I did!" The excitement returned. "I changed the way Zara's viewed by our lot at school. I got them to see she's beautiful, wonderful and amazing. None of it wasn't already true, but you know what kids are like."
"I do. So you didn't change Zara, you merely cleared up a misunderstanding."
"Yes. I fixed what was broken and I cast spells to keep the magic alive. Words just came to me from nowhere. It was... It was..."
"Magical."
"Yes, magical." I smiled. "I felt it too. When Zara stood on her own two feet and kissed Pete, I soared inside. Amazing. Can you teach me how to lengthen spells? My top and skirt have just about made it, but the shoes are falling apart."
Gladys nodded sagely. "I can. It is all coming together, Araminta, as it should, and on the solstice, the time of transformation." But there was a tiredness in her eyes, that she couldn't disguise quick enough.
"Is that a car I hear? Did you do as I said and order a taxi?"
"Yes, so you'll have to keep the cat tonight. Lock him in, I don't want Dawlish getting lost trying to find his way to mine in the slush."
Gladys looked hesitant.
"Please Glad, I'll worry otherwise."
"Will not the driver allow the cat into the carriage?"
I shook my head. "No. Cats and carriages don't mix."
They stared at each other. Gladys broke first. "Very well. But if you see him in the morning, it's his own choosing, not mine."
"Thank you. He'll be good. Be good Dawlish." I grabbed my bag. "Are you sending the big bird after me?"
"Yes, Elsie will watch from above. I shall rest better when I know you are home and wish I had discouraged you in making such a late venture. How your mother lets you out so late at night I don't know?"
"My mother doesn't know I'm being hunted by dark magic and she's at her work's Christmas party tonight." I accepted my coat as it hovered in the air behind me. "Thanks. Like you said yesterday, no one's going to try anything when I'm surrounded by mortals, and taxi drivers are the worst gossips, everyone knows that." I gave her a hug. Gladys was unprepared and felt like a porcelain doll, breakable and cold.
Dawlish meowed as the door closed.
Perfect snowflakes. I watched them, one by one, land on the taxi window and hummed a Christmas tune I didn't even know the name of.
My mind wandered with tiredness. Would Dawlish escape and stupidly follow me home again? Selfish to hope he would, but I craved his warmth at night and I really did sleep better when he was on the end of the bed. Really, I hated to think of my kitten trudging through the snow. Maybe I could persuade mum to keep Dawlish for Christmas now she was happy with Har-.
The heavily scented Christmas tree air-freshener was starting to give me a headache. The synthetic perfume was a far cry from the edible smells in Jasmine Cottage. "Um can you open the window please," I asked as pathetically as I could.
"Too cold." This wasn't the easy-going bloke I'd chatted to, about 'dysfunctional youth in Henley', on the way to Gladys'. But it was late and the roads were too lonely to have a row with a taxi driver.
With only a few minutes more in the car, I held my breath and pictured a pocket of clean air around me. When I next breathed in, the air was sweet.
I caught the driver's eye in the mirror and tried to smile. No response. I guess I was a cheep local fare when he could be delivering someone at a greater distance. It took me a moment to realise he'd turned the wrong way down our road and out towards the countryside.
"No mate, I'm up the other end, stop!"
I waved at him in the mirror. He looked panicked for a second and then stopped the car. "I'll stop here. You get out. Have a pick-up in Town."
I couldn't walk far in these shoes and wished instead of letting Gladys fix them, I'd changed into trainers. "No, what I mean is, it's not far. You can drop me outside my door."
"Sorry. Have to go. Free ride. Get out."
Puzzled was an understatement. "Ok. Happy Christmas, Driver." I slammed the door and braced myself for a ten-minute freeze and seriously unhappy feet.
With no paths the countryside end of town, I'd have to walk on the road and dive into the overgrown, snowy verge if a vehicle passed. That's if there were any cars. It was nearly two a.m. I needed to hurry before Mum arrived home and freaked.
The prickles down my back intensified as the taxi reversed and drove off towards town. He was driving past my house after all. This was all wrong, and I felt a little sick with anxiety and synthetic pine air freshener. Where had I smelt that smell before?
Clutching my phone, I looked for Elsie in the night sky, and nearly fell shoulder first onto the verge. Who could I ring to chat my way home? Robbie was at a mate's, Zara wouldn't wake in an earthquake and Mum, drunk by now, couldn't use a mobile when she was functioning normally.
My breathing was so shallow it was almost non-existent.
The streetlamp over the bus stop went out before I'd even entered it's glowing radius. A car poked out from a dark lane ahead. Had it been there a moment before?
My back arched. An unadulterated fear crept through my body, forcing my senses to take over and declare a state of emergency. A familiar ringing in my ears signalled a final departure from sanity. Instinct, told me to act, and I ran for my life.
Eyes forward; my legs powered me faster than I could sensibly run. I felt the possibility of stumbling in my thighs; the icy road gave me no control of my feet. All too late, I noticed the hooded figure clamber out of the car and take a short run forward. I couldn't stop and ploughed straight its chest.
I screamed.
"We've been waiting." His icy fingers gripped my arms, squashing them into my sides.
My hands thrashed around trying to push him back. "Leave me," I squealed pathetically as my legs buckled.
"No," he barked as my body weight pulled us down and he had to let go. "You're coming with me."
I gulped in air, clean fresh air, but my brain pulsed with a headache I'd not known before. "What do you want?" My words came out voiceless and breathy, as he dragged me up and over towards the car. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. I tried to say 'Ætberan' and focus on the spiral in the palm of my hand, but gripped with fear, my mind leapt from one dreadful realisation to the next. There was someone else in the car in the driver's seat, the engine started and my stomach sank further. If he took me, I would die, whether he had murder in mind or not, that would be the result.
A car door opened and I lost the will to fight. As I was dropped onto the cold leather seat, I forgot everything, aware only of his weight, the sound of his mutterings, and my breathing.
I closed my eyes as a flash of light came out of the darkness.
Screeching from above, Elsie cut through the air, wings tightly wrapped. She made straight for my assailant's face, clawing at his features as she dived. He was unprepared. But Elsie awoke the life in me, and with a single gasp of air, I pushed off the seat and ran, feet sliding beneath me.
Groaning and huffing, the hooded man rallied and the car engine roared. I didn't turn and risk wasting time, but within a microsecond, the air-pressure behind me changed. My back arched again anticipating his grab, yet I pushed on with a surge of energy I'd not known before.
A muffled moan resounded, and I heard Elsie's feathered wings beating behind me. I almost turned, but from nowhere Dawlish ran past, hissing. I banished bewilderment, "Ætberan," and wished myself home.
Speed. The world zoomed past me and I hit the door with a loud thud, falling back onto the cold slabs. Dawlish meowed enthusiastically and as I fumbled for the keys, the car pulled up beside me and someone was getting out. "Yes, alright Cat, I can feel you reminding me. Ætberan."
The car pulled up on the roadside as I managed to fling the front door open. Dawlish shot inside first, turing to shove the door closed. The weight of someone's shoulders pushed it back. "NO!" I sobbed. I didn't have the energy for another fight and still couldn't get to grips with words and spells.
From behind me, an arm reached over my shoulder and lent its force to help shunt the door closed. I pressed my head against the pane. A human curse resounded from outside and seconds later the car sped away. With relief, I cried into the Yale lock and had twenty seconds of heartfelt howling.
I stopped.
Fear enveloped me once more; I needed to turn because I had to know who was standing behind me with their arm resting above my head, hand pressing firmly on the front door, still holding it needlessly closed.
Slowly it dawned... so slowly, I could barely breath. "Dawlish?" I whispered.
No Dawlish.
Ed, the guy at Hunters stood over me sheepishly. "I thought you needed assistance."
Immobilized.
Thrown.
Through the numbness, I could feel a familiar headache return into centre of my head. "Oh. Oh. O-."
*************
So seriously, things are going to be different now!
I was told by my editor to take out any reference to demons and did so accordingly. Let me know if you think this was successful, or if you feel there would be room for one driving the car...