Location

Jade could see her breath in the air. The cold quickly seeped through her torn windbreaker and she trembled. She’d left her car two miles back, mangled and wrapped around a light pole. It was a wonder she survived. Her right leg was starting to burn just above her knee where a tree root had torn through her jeans. She stopped to catch her breath. When she put her hands up to breath heat onto them, Jade noticed that the hands she saw weren’t hers. They were pale and cracked. The acrylic nails were chipped and three were missing. But she was sure she was herself because she could see the face of a glowing little brown-haired girl with space buns in her hair running towards her. But that wasn’t right. She’s still in high school. She’s never even been on a date with a boy before. Jade blinked and looked up and saw the “Welcome to Blake, Georgia! Home of the sweetest peaches you ever tasted!” sign.

“I made it.” Jade heard herself say. But it wasn’t what she was thinking at all. She’d wanted to say “What am I doing out here? I just went to bed.”

She looked towards the road and could just make out someone speeding towards her on a bicycle in the twilight. A girl with short brown hair and neon pink pajamas under a Blake High School letterman jacket.

“Help me…” she croaked as the cyclist skid to a stop.

 

***

Jade woke with a start. She sat up and rubbed sleep out of her eyes. What was that dream? She shook her head and pulled on her bath robe. Glancing at the clock on her dresser, she headed downstairs. Everyone would be waking up soon and it was her turn to cook breakfast. Yawning, Jade put on a pot of coffee and grabbed the eggs, butter, and bacon from the fridge. She grabbed a loaf of bread from the breadbox and sat it next to the stove before reaching for a bowl and a frying pan. She would make the French toast first. As she whisked the eggs and cinnamon together, Mrs. Hawethorn entered the kitchen already dressed in her scrubs. She poured herself a cup of fresh coffee and sat at the breakfast table with her tablet.

“What are you reading?” Jade asked as she dropped three pieces of egg-y bread in the hot pan.

“It’s research on a new incubator for premature infants. The hospital is trying to update its equipment and these are supposed to be the best and they want my opinion before they order the new units.” Mrs. Hawethorn scrolled on her device.

“Wow, Momma,” Jade battered three more pieces of toast. “They’re already asking for your input on that kind of stuff. You’ve been there for like 20 years now.”

“Yeah.” Mrs. Hawethorn nodded. “I’m in the running for Nurse Manager.”

“Seriously?” Jade dropped more toast in the pan.

“Yes and we are all going to support your mother when she gets the job.” Mr. Hawethorn entered the kitchen as he tightened his tie. “Good morning, Dear. Morning, Jade.”

“Morning, Dad.” Jade placed the last of the toast on the plate and started on the bacon.

“I see French Toast and bacon.” Mr. Hawethorn poured a cup of coffee. “No grits?”

“We are out.” Jade stated, shaking her hand after grease popped on it. “I can pick some up after school today. I need a certain feminine product, so I have to stop by the store anyways.”

“What?” Mr. Hawethorn choked on his coffee.

“I have my period, Dad.” Jade sipped her coffee as the bacon cooked. “I need pads. I have, like, three in my bathroom. What?”

“Nothing.” Mr. Hawethorn coughed. “After breakfast is cooked, get twenty dollars out of my wallet for the grits and whatever else you need.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Jade finished cooking the bacon and sat the toast and bacon on the table.

As she left the room to wake her brothers, she heard her father speak. “I’m surprised she’s not going on about ghosts. It’s been a whole week. It’s a nice break.”

Jade grit her teeth and ran upstairs. She knocked on Brian’s door and she heard a muffled girlish giggle and someone cursing on the other side of the door. Jade grimaced, shouted that breakfast was ready and fast-walked to Kenny’s door. She knocked and then opened the door. Kenny was still asleep and snoring up a storm. Jade walked up and poked his cheek with her finger. When he didn’t respond, she yanked the blanket off him and started tickling him.

“I-I-I’m awake!” Kenny laughed and tried to escape.

“Good.” Jade nodded. “Because I didn’t slave over the stove and make extra toast because we ran out of grits just to have you skipping because you overslept.”

“Is Kylee coming t-t-to breakfast?” Kenny sat up.

“Not this morning.” Jade shook her head. “C’mon before Dad eats all the bacon.”

“Shouldn’t we g-e-e-et Brian?” Kenny asked making a beeline for Brian’s door.

“Nope.” Jade jumped and steered Kenny towards the stairs. “He already knows. Let’s go downstairs.”

Jade watched as Kenny headed downstairs before running to her room to change. As she stepped out into the hallway, she ran right into Brian and his girlfriend, Heather.

“Good morning.” Jade raised an eyebrow. “How’s your psych project going, Heather?”

“Good.” Heather smiled as Brian went ahead downstairs. “Listen, I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“You can see ghosts, right?”

“Yes.” Jade leaned against the wall. “What about it?”

“When you see a ghost,” Heather started, “What’s it like? What do they look like?”

“Well,” Jade folded her arms across her chest. “Before the fire, I had to focus to see them and it caused migraines and exhaustion. Now, not so much. They’re just there like another person or a light pole. Except, they’re opaque with a thick string dangling from their chests. Their voices kind of echo.”

“Oh.” Heather scrunched her face up. “So it wasn’t a ghost I saw then.”

“What do you mean?” Jade pushed off the wall.

“Well,” Heather twirled in a circle. “I was driving past the abandoned mill just past the “Welcome to Blake” sign on my way to see my granny over in Athens when I saw something. It was this weird looking thing entering the old mill. It, like, walked right through the wall.”

“What do you mean ‘weird looking?’”

“It was red and had this bird sitting on…are you alright?”

Jade bolted to her room and grabbed the picture James drew when she described the demon. Heather appeared at the door. Jade turned towards her and showed her the sketch.

“That’s the thing I saw!” she exclaimed, pointing at the picture. “You’ve seen it too?”

“More than once.” Jade placed the sketch back in her desk. “It’s a demon. Next time you go past that old mill, don’t stop. Do not approach it. That thing is dangerous.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.” Heather started towards the stairs. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Bacon and French Toast.” Jade shrugged.

Heather’s face lit up and she started down the stairs. Jade changed into a pair of faded denim jeans and a black and yellow shirt with CHEER written on before heading downstairs with her bookbag and duffle. She needed to tell James and Cassie about what Heather said.

 

 

Jade cursed and pressed her bleeding thumb against her shirt. She dropped the trowel in the now empty five-gallon bucket and admired the mosaic tile design of her end-table. The blue and green and white triangle-shaped tiles were caked with charcoal colored grout. Tomorrow she would be able to clean the table, stain the wood, and apply the clear acrylic paint to the mosaic to protect it. She’d been working on the table for the past two weeks and was excited to have it ready for Mrs. Hawethorn’s birthday. Jade smiled, nodded, and maneuvered through the workbenches to the classroom. She caught the teacher’s attention and got a pass to the nurse’s office. As she started down the hallway, Jade spotted a ghost floating past her homeroom class. The ghost spotted her and drifted towards her.

“You can see me?” he asked hopefully.

“Yes.” Jade smiled. “Do you know that you’re no longer of this world?”

“I..Yes.” he looked down. “Where should I go?”

“To the light. Don’t worry. There’s a whole new world waiting for you. It’s safe. Don’t fear.”

“Yes. The light. I can see it.” The ghost gave a tired smile. “It’s so warm. I think I see Momma.”

“Go to her.” Jade smiled. “Peace be with you, friend.”

“Thank you.” The ghost floated towards the wall and vanished.

The air in the hall grew warm. Jade smiled and started back towards the nurse’s office. When she opened the door, Nurse Jackie looked at Jade and sighed. She was a regular customer and always had a new injury at least once a week. Nurse Jackie took a gander at Jade’s thumb and blinked. It was already starting to mend itself. She grabbed an alcohol pad out of the bucket on the counter and cleaned the cut. After wrapping Jade’s thumb in a neon pink band aid, Nurse Jackie instructed her to sit down.

“I was starting to think you stopped being a total klutz.” She said, filling out an excuse form.

“If only.” Jade sighed. “Yesterday, I banged my toe on my doorstop.”

“And those fresh burn scars on your hands?” Nurse Jackie looked up from what she was writing. “I doubt those were from the fire. I doubt a ghost did that.”

“Nope.” Jade shook her head. “A demon. I have a question, though. Why don’t you use your magic to heal people that get hurt at school?”

“Not many humans believe in magic.” Nurse Jackie handed Jade the excuse slip. “Cassandra came to me this morning since her teacher’s out of state for work. She was asking about Black Grimoires and if there was an incantation on locating a demon without a human vessel.”

“She did mention that she was going to ask a Crone about those.” Jade stood. “I thought a Crone would be kind of old and wrinkly.”

“Witches don’t age like normal humans.” Nurse Jackie shrugged. “You can get the info from Cassie that she was asking about. But, like I told her, you should petition one of the Twelve Houses for help on this. A medium, a Mother, and a human can’t take on a demon like this.”

“Mother?”

“She’s not aware of this, but Cassandra’s on par with Witches that have achieved the rank of Mother or Father.”

“She’d be excited to hear about that.” Jade smiled. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Shoot, but you’ll be late to class.”

“What house are you in?”

“The House of Ignus.” Nurse Jackie crossed her legs. “If you were an official witch, you’d probably be in my house.”

“Why?”

“Your fire affinity, one track mind, desire to help people�"living and dead, intelligence, stubbornness. At least, that’s how Cassandra described you.” Nurse Jackie stood and reached in a drawer. “Before heading to class, here is a charm. It should protect you from the Fax. Run along now.”

Jade nodded and started back down the hall towards her construction class. The bell had already rung and students were filling the halls. As she headed to the classroom, Jade scratched at her face. She felt something strange radiating from Nurse Jackie, but she couldn’t place it. It was like she was hiding something. Jade couldn’t see a colored cloud floating around her. She shook her head and grabbed her bookbag and took off down the hall to her last class. American History. As she entered the classroom, the teacher took the note and asked who was the individual that wrote the Star-Spangled Banner.

“Francis Scott Key, Mr. Hoffstead.” Jade said as she slid into her desk next to James. “Composed the Star-Spangled Banner on September 13, 1814. Maybe a tougher question next time?”

“Attitude, Miss Hawethorn.” Mr. Hoffstead deadpanned. “Another remark like that and it’s detention.”

“Yes, Sir.” Jade grumbled as she scribbled a note to James and Cassie.

I have a lead on the Fax. Meet me at the Abortorium after practice.

Jade passed the note to James when the teacher began writing on the Smart Board. He read it, nodded, and passed it to Cassie.

“I have information, too.” Cassie signed before copying what the teacher wrote on the board.

Jade nodded. When she, Cassie, and James decided to learn sign language, she didn’t think she’d be using it to communicate secret messages in class instead of helping deaf ghosts pass on. Jade sat ram-rod straight when Mr. Hoffstead called on her again�"this time with a question on the date the shot heard round the world was fired.

“July 29, 1775.” Jade almost shouted.

“Nice of you to be paying attention.” Mr. Hoffstead frowned. “Now, does everyone have their homework assignments?”

Jade paled. She’d left her assignment on her desk�"completely having forgotten about it after her conversation with Heather.

 

Jade had just finished talking a young ghost into crossing over when she felt Cassie and James walk up behind her. Despite knowing they were there, she was still startled and almost fell in the little pond. James grabbed her wrist and helped her right herself.

“If you could swim,” Cassie plopped down with her yellow duffle bag in the grass. “It would have been funny if you fell in there.”

“I can swim.” Jade huffed. “I just don’t like deep pools of water.”

“Or rivers, swimming pools, lakes, the ocean…” James added, sitting next to Cassie. “So, what’s the sitch?”

“I know where the Fax is hiding.” Jade sat in front of Cassie and James.

“Really?” Cassie exclaimed. “So do I. Nurse Jackie gave me a tracking incantation for demons. I used the ash left from the charm this past weekend to track its spiritual signature.”

“Spiritual signature?” James asked, pulling out his trusty dusty notebook.

“All living creatures leave a trace of themselves wherever they go.” Cassie explained. “That trace is called a spiritual signature. Demons and ghosts were once human, so they also have a spiritual signature. It’s hard to track without an item the being possessed or interacted with.”

James scribbled in his notebook as Cassie ruffled in her duffle. Jade focused on her friends. There was a green cloud surrounding James and a blue cloud around Cassie. Jade wondered if the clouds were their spiritual signatures.

“So this,” Cassie pulled out a burnt piece of paper. “Is a map of Blake. Do you see this little burn hole?”

“Yes.” Jade and James said in unison.

“Well,” Cassie grinned. “This is the location the Fax is hiding in.”

“The old mill just past the Welcome to Blake sign going towards Athens.” Jade said. “Yeah. You know Brian’s girlfriend, right?”

“Heather Rush, right?” James looked up from his notebook.

“Yeah.” Jade nodded. “She spent the night last night and stopped me in the hall this morning. Said she saw some weird looking creature pass through the wall of the old mill a few days ago. When I showed her the picture James drew, she said that was it.”

“So you knew where the demon was hiding.” Cassie smacked her palm with her fist. “So we’re on the right track. Now all we need to do is figure out how to get rid of that thing. Send it back to hell or completely obliterate it.”

“How are we going to do that?” James scratched his chin with his pen. “I mean, Cassie, you’ve been looking for a spell to do that, haven’t you?”

“But I’ve come up with nada.” Cassie put the map back in her bag. “I found the location during lunch. Had to hide in the old store room to use the incantation, ha ha. We might petition the Twelve Houses for help, but then they would kick us off the case if they took on our request.”

“We could ask Dr. Novak.” James interjected. “She’s an authority on occult studies, so she might have a solution.”

“Not a bad idea.” Jade smiled at James. “I have an appointment with her tomorrow after school. Actually two appointments. I’m meeting Dr. Walton, too.”

“The woman from the fire, right?” James asked.

“Yeah.” Jade nodded. “Y’all said she wanted to talk to me, so when I set up the appointment with Naomi, I set one up with Dr. Walton as well.”

“So we have a plan of sorts.” Cassie nodded. “Good. I know y’all want to take this thing down as much as I do.”

“Damn straight.” James nodded. “After what that thing did to Kenny, it’ll have hell to pay.”

“Pun intended?” Jade poked James’s ribs.

“Yes.” He laughed.

“He has jokes!” Cassie exclaimed. “It’s a miracle. Tall, Dark, and Stoic has jokes. I was beginning to worry that you were born without a funny bone.”

Jade laughed as Cassie teased James. The pair weren’t exactly close, but they were her best friends. She remembered meeting Cassie about eight years ago when she and her family moved to Blake. Cassie got into a fight with an older classmate on the playground and threatened to hit him so hard he’d fly to the moon. Jade intervened and they became best friends. When she introduced her to James, they bucked heads all the time. And when Jade told her that she could talk to ghosts, Cassie jumped on the wagon to help. Jade sighed. Soon they’d be going into battle together and Jade wasn’t sure she could protect them.

“Jade? Earth to Jade? Anybody in there?”

“What?” Jade jumped.

“Jeeze.” Cassie complained. “You sure do space out more than normal people.”

“I’m not exactly normal.” Jade threw her towel at Cassie. “James, I was thinking that we take this thing on this weekend. What do you think? Cassie?”

“Isn’t the Spring Fling this weekend?” James clicked his pen closed.

“That’s right!” Cassie exclaimed.

“The Spring Fling is Friday night.” Jade stated. “There’s a full moon that same night. Wouldn’t your powers be strongest then, Cassie?”

“Well, yeah.” Cassie nodded, tossing the towel back at Jade. “But even with my magic amplified, I can’t do much without water. To take on that demon, we would need a spell to get rid of it and a lot of water.”

“If we did this thing on Friday, it would have to be after the dance.” James interjected.

“Exactly!” Jade exclaimed. “Cassie, your magic will be stronger when the moon is high, right? The foe is over at the old mill. There is a little creek behind it that used to turn the mill wheel.”

“You’re right.” Cassie confirmed. “But I’ll need the incantations so I can prepare. Can you get them from Dr. Novak? And is there still water in the creek?”

“I won’t know until I meet with her.” Jade stood, looking at her phone. “I’ll do some research while I’m at it. The creek still has water flowing through it. We might be in a drought, but I rode past it the other week heading to Athens with Momma. Speaking of, I should go. Momma texted and needs me to cook supper.”

“What’s for dinner?” James perked up.

“No idea. I’ll have to see what was laid out.” Jade shrugged, turning to walk off.

 

Jade parted ways with Cassie and James and jogged the short distance from the park the abortorium was in to her house. As she passed the track that surrounded the kids’ playground, a group of spirits were gathered around the swings. Jade counted fifteen different spirits. It was odd how they gathered�"ghosts tend to keep to themselves unless they’re haunting something or looking for help passing on. Jade slowed to a stop to observe them. If she approached suddenly, they would probably disperse. She narrowed her eyes. They were just standing there in the woodchips. Motionless. The remnants of their spirit chords looked strange�"even from the distance she was from them, she could tell they were rotting. Normally, the spirit chord on a ghost was cleanly cut. Jade scratched at her chin and focused on the group of spirits. There was not a black cloud anywhere to be seen. So, what was affecting the spirits? Suddenly, a warm presence appeared behind Jade. A voice spoke before she could turn around.

“Don’t turn around.” It spoke softly. “I’m not a threat. And you wouldn’t be able to see me at your level. You see those spirit’s rotting chords?”

“What if I do?” Jade turned her head to glimpse at the person behind her. All she saw was a shimmer like how the ghosts looked before the fire. “Who are you?”

“That doesn’t concern you, human.” The voice sighed. “It’s the fax you’re hunting. It’s feeding on those souls.”

“But there’s no taint.” Jade argued. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“You wouldn’t have said that if you didn’t believe me.” Another sigh. “My people and I aren’t strong enough to take on that demon. I came to ask a favor.”

“Your people?” Jade raised an eyebrow.

“Humans are curious creatures.” The voice laughed. “You’ll know in time.”

“So, what is this favor?”

“Get rid of the fax.” The voice deepened. “Your team hosts a powerful water witch. And your fire magic will come in handy if you can utilize it.”

“If I accept your favor,” Jade tilted her head. “What do I get in return? I assume this demon’s taken out some of ‘your people’.”

“I was under the impression you liked helping ghosts.” The voice said dryly.

“Ghosts, yes.” Jade nodded. “But even at ‘my level,’ I can tell you’re no ghost. Not human either. I assume something on par with angel or something.”

“We’re not that strong.” The voice laughed. “If you take this thing out and cross those spirits over, we’ll help you out when the time comes. Oh, and give you information. For a price, of course.”

“I’m don’t like the idea of making a deal with an entity I’m unfamiliar with.” Jade crossed her arms.

“Your caution is admirable. You’ll need a three-tier water incantation and a two-tier fire barrier to take that demon on. That enough for you?”

“Any chance you can give me the exact incantations?”

“You’re a tough bargain, but no. I’m sure you can find something that will work. Do we have an accord?”

“I’ll agree.” Jade scratched at her head. “For now, at least. How can I contact you, Oh Mysterious One?”

“Are all humans this sarcastic?”

“It knows about sarcasm.” Jade grabbed her face in amazement.

“We’re always in the area.” The voice sighed. “Just state your name and say ‘I call upon the Mysterious One. I am in need of your aid.”

“Something tells me you’re being sarcastic.” Jade snickered. “Whatever. I really need to skedaddle, though.”

The presence disappeared. Jade turned around in time to see a wisp of white cloud dissipating into the wind. She blinked and turned to look at the ghosts before heading home. If what Oh Mysterious One was telling the truth, then once those chords completely rotted from being snacked on big, fiery, and ugly, she was going to have a horde of soul-munching devoratores on her hands. And those were some creatures she’d rather not get involved with. Jade shook her head and started back towards her house.