Ritual of the Broken (Haunted Hearts)

Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

O range and purple streaked the sky when they approached the River Grove station on Cumberland Avenue. Just as they arrived, Adrian’s dispatch returned with information on Eleanor Barnes. There wasn’t much to go on. No warrants or arrest record. All they had was her last known address and two death certificates attached to her name. Ollie was right. A car wreck on I-55 claimed the lives of both Eleanor’s husband and her son. It was ruled an accident. Eleanor wasn’t even involved. She was only left to deal with the aftermath.

The Metra train station came into view, and Ollie sat up straight. “That’s it. That’s the one I saw in my vision.”

But as they rode over the train tracks on Cumberland, Adrian slowed the car. “Uh, which cemetery?”

Ollie peered out over the dash, and his shoulders slumped. There were two, one on the east side of Cumberland and another on the west.

“I’m not sure,” Ollie said. He wanted to say the cemetery on the west side looked more like what he’d seen in his vision, but he couldn’t be sure. There were more trees on the east side than he remembered from the vision, but he couldn’t rule it out.

After Adrian parked, Ollie grabbed his bag, and they hurried from the car and toward Cumberland Avenue, where they could gain access to either cemetery. Commuters hurried to catch their trains home as the sun sank lower on the horizon.

Closer to how Ollie remembered the skies in his vision. They were running out of time.

Ollie scoured the crowds anxiously, half-expecting to see Eleanor Barnes waiting on the platform.

Of course, there was no sign of her yet. The empty cemetery would soon fill with lengthening shadows, bringing with them that malevolent beast.

“Where do we even start?” Adrian asked. He looked across the busy street at the east cemetery while Ollie peered into the west.

“I could try a life-force location spell,” Ollie said.

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

Ollie stopped. He couldn’t help but feel a little offended. “Yes it’s wise. What are you going to do? Try to sniff out her trail? Do you even know what she smells like?”

Adrian held up his hands. “I was just asking. ”

Of course, he knew Adrian had already seen a spell of his go crazy. He guessed the question wasn’t too far off the mark. But they didn’t have a lot of options. “I’ll handle it,” Ollie said as they reached the entrance to the west-side cemetery.

He wasn’t sure where to go, so he pointed to a tall-standing tombstone far back in the west-side cemetery. “Let’s take cover over there so I can work without prying eyes.”

They made their way into the cemetery. The sounds of traffic lessened, seemingly weighed down by the tombstones and the presence of so many buried dead. Ollie led the way to the tall tombstone he’d spotted from the road, a freestanding angel holding a cross above a marble plaque that read, “In loving memory of our son, Harry. Forever in our hearts.”

Ollie dropped—or threw, really—his bag at the angel’s feet. He hunched down and grabbed the small kit where he kept his components.

The heart of an Elder tree or a hummingbird’s feather would work best for this. Then he could try to steer the power toward Eleanor Barnes herself. But all he had in the kit for magic such as this was a crystal prism. At most, it would allow him to sense living beings nearby. It would have to do. He pulled it out and held it up between his thumb and forefinger so that it caught the late-evening sun as it just kissed the horizon.

“What do you need me to do?” Adrian asked.

“Just watch my back,” Ollie said. He stared into the prism and focused the magic around him. He felt a familiar tingling sensation in the tips of his fingers as magic began to stir in his core.

In his mind, he called up a sigil, one for a spell of this type. Not very specific, but it should work. In a moment, the image took shape before the prism and hovered like a ghostly orb.

Ollie took a deep breath and released the energy. A soft glow expanded from around the prism as it rose into the air and drifted outward, scanning the surrounding area. A soft, blue light pulsed, bathing the cemetery in a haunting glow that Ollie hoped would go unnoticed in the light of evening. Maybe they’d think it was a late-season lightning bug or the light of a plane from nearby O’Hare. But there was no other choice. They didn’t have time for nuance.

The orb lifted higher and higher, and Ollie’s sight split so that he was seeing as if peering out from the floating orb of energy.

Immediately, the white-hot energy of Adrian standing next to him poured over his senses like a sun.

“Wow,” Ollie said.

“What?” Adrian took a step closer to him, and that light grew even brighter, enough to make Ollie squint. This was a man alive, fully alive, and his power was almost blinding.

“Turn off your brights, buddy,” Ollie said, looking at him with a little smile.

Adrian didn’t get it, but there was no real time to explain, so he turned his attention back to his magic .

Nearby, there were small pings. Animals such as mice or moles or a squirrel. He dismissed those and sought larger centers of life force. Immediately, the power zeroed in on a mass back in the direction they came—the people standing behind the tall fence at the train station at the edge of the cemetery. Those he dismissed as well, seeking out even farther, blocking out the constant dashing pull of forces moving around and trying to push his power into the cemetery on the other side of the road.

There, he found several more sources, their life pulling at the power to let him know of their presence. But these were clumped together, people moving in groups or gathered around one place as if they were in front of a tombstone.

Then he turned his attention back to the western cemetery once more, pushing his magic into a space he hoped was large enough to capture the presence of Eleanor Barnes.

He feared the spell wasn’t working as he didn’t immediately center on anyone. And the sun moved even lower, casting the world in the glow of the golden hour—and the chilling thought entered his head that maybe he was already too late.

But… there. He picked up on something—on someone—moving through the rows of tombstones. Someone running.

It had to be her. He tried to focus the power to move closer just to be sure, and he could see the light. Most life forces appeared as glowing embers, their vitality and luminescence varying based on the vigor and emotional state of the individual. But this one had a shimmering, blue hue, reminiscent of a moonlit night. The glow was not just radiant but had a depth to it—like an ocean of sorrow.

It had to be Eleanor. Ollie had to get to her in time.

He released the spell.

Only it didn’t let go.

Ollie tried again, forcefully tugging at the bonds of the life-force view and pulling his sight back into his own location. Rather than cut off, the power intensified. It reached for him, gripped him like a fist.

Adrian called his name.

But before could react, a gut-twisting lurch hit him. Then he was on his knees, the power finally setting him free. He had to blink to adjust to his sight being his own again and not coming from the orb.

Something about the light caught his eye. It was no longer the golden rays of sunset. The light had become cool, almost washed out around him.

There was a scream and he looked in that direction to see someone running away. A woman.

Eleanor Barnes. He recognized her by the dress she wore, the same as in his vision.

Ollie got to his feet and turned to look in the other direction. Coming toward him was the dark entity, its two red eyes bearing down on him.