Chapter 8

Annie and Sara arrived at the printing plant just after 12:30. Sean and I were just finishing cleaning up the presses, and only needed to use a quick spell to clean ourselves up and be presentable. Annie and Sara were wearing jeans like Sean and I were, but had on heavy blouses and jackets rather than the “Magic Ink” T-shirts that Sean and I were wearing with our sneakers. They had also brought jackets for us.

“It’s a lot colder in Denver than it is here,” Sara told us, as they handed us the jackets.

We went through the portal to the Denver store after telling Uncle Will that we had finished and were leaving. George and another clerk were in the Denver store when we came out of the booth.

“Hi, George,” I called, as we emerged.

“Hi guys ... and you too ladies!” George answered and looked at us peculiarly. “I’m not expecting a delivery,” he told us.

“We aren’t delivering anything. We’re on the way to see Mrs. O’Neill,” I told him.

“It’s our birthday,” Sara told him, happily.

“Congratulations, girls. How old are you now?” George asked.

“We’re fifteen now,” Annie informed him with a smile.

“I understand that it’s quite a walk to your old house,” George said because we were all only fifteen, and none of us had a driver’s license.

“Oh, we aren’t going to walk,” Sean told him, even though we could have. “We’re going to use Magic.” Annie and Sara closed their eyes and concentrated on the living room of their old house while I chanted the spell that we had learned while studying for our Master’s Level exams and made the sign for it in the air.

We instantly disappeared from the bookstore and reappeared in Mrs. O’Neill’s very disorganized living room. Actually disorganized might be too weak a description. Disaster might better suit the scene before us. There were pillows and other things scattered everywhere in addition to the numerous beer cans on the floor and the furniture, along with several whiskey bottles. Some of the beer cans hadn’t been empty before being discarded and the place smelled like a bar or a brewery. Annie and Sara had a horrified look on their faces.

“Are you sure we’re in the right house?” Sean asked. The two young women looked around, still aghast at the condition of the room. They spent several minutes looking carefully at things before answering his question.

“Yes, this is or was our house. All of the furniture is correct, even the pictures on the wall, and the paint are correct, but what happened here? It wasn’t like this when we visited before Christmas!” they both told us, indignantly.

“Where is your Mother?” Sean asked.

“I don’t know!” Sara answered, beginning to panic, and called, “Mom!”

“Mom are you here?” Annie called, when we got no response.

“Let’s look around,” I suggested, “but in pairs.”

“Yes, we don’t need any surprises,” Sean added. Sean and Sara headed for the dining room and kitchen while Annie and I went to check the bedrooms and bathroom. We had checked the girl’s old room and the hall bathroom when Sean and Sara rejoined us. They didn’t look very happy.

“Nothing there?” I asked.

“Just a bigger mess,” Sean replied. Sara didn’t say anything, but looked very upset. It turned out that she was justified in that when we opened the door to the master bedroom.

The scene before us was like a clip from a disaster movie. There was a large man on the bed, but all of the bedding, as well as clothing, was scattered about the room on the floor and other furniture, and he was nearly naked and asleep or passed out on the bare mattress. There were more beer cans on the floor, and another empty whiskey bottle on the night stand.

Laura, the sisters’ Mother, lay on the floor at a strange angle. Her face was bruised and both eyes were blackened. There was dried blood on her face and on the floor beneath her from a cut on her scalp. There was a heavy collar of some sort around her neck. The fact that she was naked and had bruises and other marks on her body was partly concealed by the sheet that covered part of her. She had the end of the sheet in one hand.

“Mother!!” both girls screamed in unison and dropped to their knees to help their mother. The scream woke the man on the bed, who looked around as if unsure where he was, and things were apparently still rather blurry from the booze he had consumed before passing out on the bed.

“What the fuck are you kids doing in here?” he demanded after gathering his wits somewhat.

“What are you doing in our Mother’s house, and what did you do to her?” Annie demanded in a shrill voice, as she came to her feet.

“Is that bitch your Mother!?” he demanded with a leer. “Come over here, girly, and I’ll give you some of what she got!” he said rubbing his crotch in a suggestive manner. My quiet Annie literally exploded in anger, she was so mad at this remark.

A spell that I only partly recognized came from her lips as she traced a strange glyph in the air. She had become nearly incandescent with power doing this, and the flames leap up around the bed and touched the ceiling of the room.

The spell ended and Annie collapsed to the floor as the flames disappeared and the light faded from her body. I touched her as she returned to her normal color, and found her to be very warm, actually hot, to the touch.

“Annie, Annie are you all right?” I asked in a pleading voice, as she quickly cooled further. In the meantime Sean and Sara were staring at the bed where the man had been. There was nothing there now, not even a depression on the bare mattress.

“What happened to that guy? Where did he go?” Sean asked in a weak, squeaking voice.

“Go!?” I asked, looking up from Annie to find the bed empty.

“I don’t know, but we’re going to need to bring Annie back to consciousness to find out,” I told them.

“Sean, see if there are any small towels or wash clothes in the bathroom. Wet a couple of them with cold water and bring them in here. We have two women to revive,” I told him. Sean returned shortly with a couple of cold, wet wash cloths and a small dry towel.

“Try these,” he said, as he handed one to me and the other one to Sara to use on her Mother. We both set to work. I wiped Annie’s face and wrists with the cold wash cloth then folded it and placed it on her forehead. She soon opened her eyes.

“What happened!?” she mumbled, and her body shook.

“That’s what I was going to ask you,” I told her. “You lit up like a Christmas tree and used a spell that I only partly recognized. The flames hid the bed, but when they died down the guy was gone, and you had passed out,” I told her.

“OH, dear!” a very shocked Annie said in surprise. “All I remember is being very upset with what he said, and then waking up here on the floor.” It was at this precise instant that the flames reappeared with a man in the middle of them - a tall distinguished man in a long toga and a cape. He was smiling at us through the flames.

“I’m sorry about that, Anna,” he said earnestly, as soon as he appeared.

“Who are you?” Sara asked in surprise.

“Why I’m Michael O’Neill, your Father, Sara,” he told her with a smile.

“Mich...!!... Daddy!?” both sisters screamed in astonishment.

“Yes. I’m your Father,” he answered with a continued smile.

“But ... How? ... Where?” Sara began still in shock.

“I’m not really there,” he told us. “What you are seeing is an image of me. I’m still in the alternate reality where I live. A long time ago there was only one reality or universe. That was before the rise of technology, back when Magic ruled everything. At a certain point, technology rose faster than Magic, and it was at that point that things split. Our world of Magic went one way, and Magic remained strong.

“Your reality or universe went with technology, especially with the use of iron. You have gone very far very fast with it, but science and technology aren’t able to answer all of your questions, or take care of all of your problems now, and Magic has begun to reassert itself,” Michael O’Neill told us.

“The Eternal Flame required someone of exceptional Magical Power to come to your reality and help return it to the path of Magic. I was the one chosen to go. Initially it was just a job to be done, but when I met your Mother, it became much more. I came to love Laura and would have remained with her, but!” here he paused, as if unsure what to say.

“BUT!!?” both girls prompted as if hypnotized.

“But things came up at home, and I was left with no choice, but to return and take up the duties that are mine and only mine. I was given no choice in the matter,” he finished somberly.

“But you’re here now!” Annie protested.

“NO. I’m not really there. You are only seeing my image. It’s similar to your television,” he told her.

“What happened to that man?” Annie asked, and her voice turned hard.

“Your anger at him gave me a channel into your world, and I used you to cast a spell that sent him to a place in your world that is very cold and far from civilization. He will be a very long time finding his way back to your location. That is if he survives the wilderness where he was sent,” Michael O’Neill told his daughter.

“Oh!!” Annie said very quietly.

“Neither of you girls has introduced me to these young men with you,” he said next in a chiding voice.

“This is Aengus and Sean O’Connell, our future husbands,” Annie told him with a smile.

“Ah yes, the O’Connells! I was told of them. I’m glad that you have found them. Magic is developing rapidly in your reality. It will soon reach a critical point, and then this thing that you call government will take notice of it. They will want to control it, as they do other things in your world, but they will have no Magic of their own and won’t understand it. Those drawn to government are usually those most deficient in Magic. It will be interesting to see what you do,” Michael told us.

“Will you help us?” Sara asked, coming out of her daze.

“I will not be able to help you directly, at least not more than occasionally and only with advice. You will need to find your own way. Even now the Eternal Flame is telling me that my time is short to talk to you. Tell Laura, your Mother, that I still love her and think of her often. Also tell her that if she must have a man to pick the next one more carefully that the last several that she chose. Good-bye my sweet Daughters. I love you!” he said, as his image faded along with the flames. Both girls stared at the space where his image had been for a short time.

“We need to take care of your Mother,” Sean said quietly then. We all turned to Mrs. O’Neill then and Annie and Sara checked their Mother to see how she was and what medical attention she required.

“Did you bring any blessed chalk?” Sean asked me. I checked my pockets and discovered a small piece at the bottom of the front pocket of my jeans.

“Yes, but only a small piece,” I told him.

“It will never do,” Sean answered in disgust. I had to assume that he didn’t have any.

Laura O’Neill slowly returned to consciousness as her daughters continued to work on her. The first sign was a moan.

“Where are you hurt, Mother?” Sara asked.

“What ... how did you girls get here!?” Laura asked coming totally awake.

“We came to see you on our birthday and found you here like this,” Annie told her in a disgruntled voice.

“Where’s Derick?” she asked in a frightened voice. “He was drunker than usual last night and...!” she didn’t finish. “He might hurt you!!” she said at last in a frightened voice.

“You needn’t worry about him. Father was here and sent him somewhere cold and far from civilization,” Annie told her.

“Michael ... was here!!?” she asked in shock.

“More or less!” Sara told her. “He couldn’t stay all that long.”

“He did say that he still loves you,” Annie told her, earnestly.

“He also said that if you really need a man to choose a better one than the last couple,” Sara told her in distaste. “Apparently he is keeping an eye on you.”