Out of Time (Collectors Cross-Over)

Chapter 17

Nate - Matched

"Where do you need us?" Brody M. looked at Charles as we walked into the barn he'd been using to set up for the ritual. Ian followed close behind. Tonight was the night they were casting the spell.

"Right there in the center of that circle," Charles pointed, then went back to the books and charts he'd been looking at when we walked in. "Nathan, I need you over here with me please."

"Sure," I watched as Brody M. and Ian made their way to the middle of the circle.

Sean walked with me over to Charles. Sam was already there, helping any way she could. Misha and Robert were laying out lots of charts, and there were a couple of other people there that I didn't recognize. Everyone seemed to be so into the charts that I didn't want to interrupt so we could get introductions.

"Is there anything we need to do?" Mom and Drew came inside. I wasn't sure Mom would want to be there for this, but she'd insisted she wanted to see everything.

"No, Susanne," Charles looked up. "We were just finishing the last minute preparations."

"What is all this stuff?" Drew was looking around at everything.

"These," Charles walked over to the long tables that were against the wall, "are star charts. Lily," he pointed to one of the women shuffling through the charts, "tracked all of them down. We're working with Colleen," he pointed to an attractive blond lady, "who is the head of the witches that work with the werewolves." I looked over at Ian.

"Hmm, I don't know her over there," Ian mumbled.

"I study star charts, and see where the timelines connect. It's all been very fascinating to me since I was very young. I always suspected there were multiple dimensions and timelines, but until now had no proof," she smiled over at Brody M. and Ian. "These charts will help us predict where the demon will show up, and we should be able to spot a pattern."

Mom had forced like a double dose of the pain-numbing potion on me, so I was able to pay attention to Colleen as she showed us on the charts how the spell would light up the patterns, and show them where the demon had been, and where it was going. Seems that Temporal demons are big on time patterns, and can jump dimensions. They like to stay somewhere for a set amount of time before they travel on. Sometimes they cause havoc, sometimes they just observe. Sometimes they're known to throw things way off.

Kind of how this one has fucked my life.

Charles finished what he was doing, then began instructing people where he wanted them to be. I just knew that I needed to stick close by. Drew kept motioning with his head for me to come stand with him, but I'd just shake my head.

"Why is Nate with you?" he finally called out.

"Nate, as part of a Matched Pair, will help make the spell more powerful," Charles explained. "If I had Emily too, it'd be even more powerful, but I'll take what I can get."

I couldn't totally hear what Brody M. and Ian were saying, but it sounded like they approved and wanted the spell to be as powerful as I did. I doubted that, they didn't need to get back to their other half like I did. I was now needing that double dose to keep going. Especially after I heard that Emily had killed like five demons and was thrown around by one a couple of nights ago. I needed her home. Now.

Charles positioned me just the right way, closed the circle (I remembered that from when Emily told me last time), then began the spell. He did his normal waving around of incense, throwing herbs, and chanting in Latin. Emily had tried to teach me a little bit, but I just got lost and ended up answering her in German. She got frustrated with me, huffed off, and I watched the game with Sean. At least, that's how most of our sessions went.