Of the Shadows

Chapter 16: Protection?

Tears of frustration trickled from my eyes as I decended the pourchsteps and got in my car. I pulled a joint from my weed box with shakey hands. Unable to locate my lighter, I struck one if my backup matches, nearly breaking it in the process and lit the rolled cigarette. Sweet, earthy smoke filled my lungs and calmed my nerves. Breathe, I told myself. My mind was racing. I had to figure this out. Had someone bewitched my dad and stepmother? I could still see the golden symbol hidden in their skin. It was almost like a backwards "Z" inside of a square opening bracket. It was a strong magic. I could have killed him. Thinking back to it, I really couldn't let go of him.  Everything in me wanted to break through whatever warped Dad's mind, but it wasn't that. It was like whatever magic is in me wanted to burn through the engraving on him. If Cyndie wouldn't have yanked me off of him would I have continued? Even after his ears bled, would I have continued until his brain was mush? I hoped not.
I was halfway through the joint now. No ambulance had shown up. No police. Cyndie said she'd call. Dad seemed to have been recovering when I was leaving maybe he was fine. I wouldn't allow myself to leave until I knew he was okay. Maybe I could just peek through one of the windows and check it out. I got out of the car and climbed the steps once more to peer into one of the slender windows on either side of the door. I couldn't see anything. They must be deeper inside of the house. I decided to knock. The worse Cyndie could do was tell me to leave again or call the cops and I was sure I could be gone before they got there. So I did. I rapped rather loudly on the metal, the slight pain from the action traveled through my knuckles and calmed my nerves. Dad answered the door. He looked healthy. There was no dried blood on his face. He was in different clothes, khaki pants and a plum colored button up. His hair was pulled back into a braid, kind eyes looking down at me.
"How can I help you young lady?" He asked. I scrunched my brow in confusion.
"Its me, Maura." I said. My heart felt like it was sinking in my chest.
"I'm sorry, darlin, I think you have the wrong house. I don't know a Maura. Its a pretty cool name though. 
"Thanks... yeah... sorry to bother you." I gave up and retreated to my car. I made it worse was the only thought running through my mind.
Defeated, I rested my head on the steering wheel. The car reeked of marijuana, an aroma that smell hits harder once you've left and came back. I closed my eyes and breathed it in calming my worried mind. Once I opened them, I noticed the necklace Mum had given me laying beneath the random assortment of things collecting in my passenger seat. I decided to put it on. Maybe it would help me see anything I missed. The turquoise stone was warm to the touch but not hot enough to burn me this time. The heavy pendant sat comfortably on my chest and as soon as the smooth rock hit my skin my Dad's house lit up with protection symbols. I recognized a few of them that were similar to the ones around my home. "Mum." I said aloud. "She knows." Theres a reason she didn't want me to go to the city and if dad couldn't give me an answer I was determined to get one out of her. I mulled it over in my mind anger boiling up inside of me the more I thought about it. Did she do this? I questioned with accusation. I tried to talk myself out of it, plenty of people were practicing magic these days, right? I knew that argument was weak, however. This magic wasn't some slapped together spell that someone got off of an asthetically pleasing pintrest page; this was traditional magic. This warding, or at least I hoped it was for protection, was resilient, powerful, and required a level of skill I could only dream of. I decided I was of no use here and turned the key in my cars ignition in preparation to leave.
A mailman came around the corner on the other end of the block and headed towards the house.  He made my body hairs stand on end and put my brain on high alert. Something was off about him. His neck was hunched over, shoulders drawn up, and he swayed oddly with each step. He also wasn't carrying mail just a lone package in his right hand. The necklace grew warmer on my chest and buzzed excitedly. He was heading for my dad's house. Once he was closer I noticed his large black eyes rimmed with gold and the talons extending from his fingertips. As he approached the front steps of my dad's house it took everything I had not to get out of the car. The mailman thing placed the package by the door and wrapped his clawed hand around the handle. He paused and just stared at the door for a few moments before he turned, picked up the box, and decended the stairs.
It repelled him, I concluded happy that that thing hadn't broken in on Dad and his family. Once the creature had reached the sidewalk it stopped again and jetted its tongue out at the air, appearing to smell it in a reptilian fashion. Then it looked dead at me. It screeched ran towards me, launching the package at my car before it was halfway across the street. I already had the car in drive and my foot on the gas and managed to peel off before the box could hit its target. Black smoke burst from the box blanketing a few square feet of the sidewalk and street. A cat and the few plants that were in the path of the smoke perished in an instant. The orange tabby cat went rigid and its breath ceased. The plants withered from a brilliant variety of greens to barren tans. As I sped off I was hit with the weight of the realization that that deceased ball of fur on the ground could have been me, could have been Dad. The only question screaming in my mind was "what the hell is going on?"