The Spirits' Guide

Chapter 22

Iris jumped awake when she heard a heavy thump on her door.

Twisting to look at it, she swiftly got out of bed and tip-toed to the door. Looking through the peephole with a held breath, she sucked one in when she saw the large form of her burly, hulking neighbor. Leaving the chain in place, Iris opened the door.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice laced with annoyance.

The large Spell-witch leaned to look through the crack of the door, the chain just a blur in her vision as she stared into his yellow goat-like eyes. A shiver went down her spine. Spell-witches were destined to make a deal with a devil.

"I know what you're up to Realm-witch. We all know." He whispered. His breath, created by the rotting teeth in his black hole of a mouth, cascaded over her face. She wanted to gag.

Iris stared into his eyes for a slight moment before she reached her arm out of the cracked door to his neck. He stepped back, out of her reach unless she wanted to open the door to her home.

"If you know, Spell-witch, I suggest you stay out of my way. Hate for human blood to be spilled," Iris spat.

Leaning down, staring into her face the entire time, the Spell-witch growled, "If I was human, I would not be in this city." With that, he stood straight and left Iris in her apartment.

Closing the door, she remembered to lock it properly, not that that would stop anyone from entering if they wanted to.

"Interesting. I never thought of you being one for bigotry." A voice chuckled. Iris hit her head on the door before she turned to the messenger.

"A Spell-witch is nothing but a human with potential for magic." She spoke with little emotion as she walked to her bed.

The cocky god shrugged his narrow shoulders in response.

With a grin he said, "You could have some fun with them."

"If you're talking about a massacre, forget it." Iris snapped, waiting for the god to leave.

He tilted his head and asked, "You said it yourself, they're just humans, so what are you so afraid of?"

"All witches are just humans with magic. Get out." She snapped.

"The message? Hades wants you to do your job properly. Over the past four years, you haven't done much guiding, Spirit-guide. Even Anubis is wondering what's happening with his little lost spirits. Now, I won't be so crass, but he was also wondering if you would get back to your job." Hermes chuckled.

"My job is to hunt demons. If the gods want someone to go into the Spirit-Realm and deal with all the nasties while leading the lost spirits to their designated realms, I suggest Amun better do his job properly too." Iris shot back at the god. She didn't have time to waste convincing spirits to trust and follow her.

"You know he can't do that," Hermes said, suddenly serious. Iris paused.

"Why?"

"Because a little witch demanded all the power she needed to kill a little demon."

Iris looked to the ceiling and groaned. She was getting tired of the endless tasks.

"I'll get to the spirits after I'm done with this job." She told the messenger god. She received no reply. Looking back to the god, she began to say, "I said-" Only, he was gone.

She took that as an agreement and fell back onto her bed, the sheets reeking of filth.

Leaping off in a sudden burst of energy, Iris quietly sat in the chair next to her desk. Looking around, she found the photo-album the Jinn had found. Picking it up, she opened it.

The photo of the late queen Flavia smiled up at her, a bundle of blankets in her arms.

She was a beautiful woman, dark brown hair that looked black in the colorless photo, brilliant eyes of a lighter shade of blue that appeared silver.

She was a good queen, but she died of a sudden illness after the strain of thirty years ago, or so the king told his people, but Iris was certain now that it was heartbreak.

She stared into the queen's eyes, the feeling of knowing her seemed to fill Iris's gut. She had met the queen before, or seen her but she wasn't ever able to meet her personally.

Iris leaned back in her chair and placed a hand over eyes. She was tired even though she had just woken up.

Surely, another hour wouldn't bother anyone. Iris began to drift away in sleep, the air around her warm and comfortable with the scent of lilac.

She was jolted awake by the metallic call of an unknown individual. Iris groaned as she reached for the phone that rested on her bedside table.

"What is it?" She grunted into the machine.

"I thought you had him under control?" Josephine spat out at Iris. Iris titled her head up.

"What did he do?" She asked.

"The school's been flooded! Get over here now!" With that, the phone clicked silent.

Iris slammed her feet on the ground as she grabbed her jacket and walked out the door.