Convergence

Demons, witches, magical creatures… who really believes in such things? I can’t say that I ever had. Sure some strange stuff used to happen when I was younger, but after many years of therapy, I was able to get over it. They said my beliefs and fears of being stolen away by a monster all stemmed from my mother’s accident and resulting death. I was very young when it happened and don’t remember that much about her except that she was kind and fiercely protective of me. I put those days behind me. Talking about it only made people upset, so decided to be as perfect as possible… but the truth can’t stay buried forever.

It had suddenly begun to rain as I walked home. There had been nothing in the weather reports that suggested the sudden waterfall. There weren’t any clouds or thunder either. It wasn’t unusual, really. Sudden cloudless downpours were common during the rainy season in the desert, but the fact of the matter was that I was trapped outside in it without any kind of protection from getting soaked. That’s when I saw a little store. I ran up to the awning and saw it was a metaphysical store. I’ve never been one to believe in magic and the idea of an entire store loaded up with trinkets dedicated to its practice filled me with so much anxiety, but I couldn’t very well stay outside under the waterfall.

I took a deep breath to settle the butterflies before walking into the odd store. A tiny bell on the glass door chimed and I was greeted with a strange smell. The modest store was cramped with cases both filled with and covered with stones on pewter sticks, statues, and gems. The only statue I recognized was a small gold-colored Buddha on the case nearest the door welcoming me with a smile and a wave.

I carefully made my way around a tower of greeting cards hoping not to hit my purse on anything only to tap my knee on a display of rocks in a variety of colors. Each set of rocks had its own little enclosure and a label. I recognized the rose quartz right away. I had gotten a heart-shaped one as a gift once that still held a place on my dresser. No surprise that the label said one of its uses was for love. The solid green aventurine rock was new to me. The label had said one of its uses was for money.

I continued around the store. There was a shelf full of books on magick (spelled with a K), Wicca and Witchcraft, magical herbs, and tarot cards. A particularly large white book labeled Encyclopedia of Spells caught my eye. I huffed at the selection and moved on seeing yet another glass case, this one with a cash register on top. The case was filled with oddly shaped pendants that each held a different colored stone wrapped and framed in silver and there were beautiful bracelets with similar themes. There was another interesting silver looking piece that had seven stones, each stone a different color of the rainbow. Something about it just sort of held me to it for a moment.

“It is called a chakra wand.” An older woman with white streaks in her black hair stood behind the case and smiled at me. She had a strange sort of accent like English was her second language. Maybe she was from Columbia or something.

“Ah.” I nodded and continued looking around.

There was a smoking little stick stuck into a long slab of wood next to the register. At least I found the source of the odd smell.

“Can I help you find something?” the lady asked.

“No,” I quickly replied. I realized that my statement may have come out harsh and revised. “I mean no thank-you. I only came inside to escape the rain, you see.”

“Yes, I see.” She smiled and nodded sweetly. “Please feel free to look around as much as you like.” She spoke slowly and pronounced every word carefully so I would understand. “Girls your age tend to come in looking for love spells,” she pointed to a room behind me. “So I created a display right back there if you are interested.” Her R sounds rolled fluidly from her tongue.

“Um, thank you.” I gave her a sort of bow—I don’t even know why—and backed away. I saw her smile before returning to the back.

The store wasn’t exactly what I expected. I suppose I thought there would be a cauldron with some potion brewing and a black cat with large yellow eyes watching my every move. I definitely didn’t expect such a sweet-looking woman. It was pretty much just a regular store that had more product than space and sold to a particular clientele. I let out a deep sigh and started breathing normally. There was nothing to fear and I felt stupid for thinking there was.

I stepped down into the room and saw a turning display of candles also in different colors and sizes. I glanced up and met my reflection in a mirror. My rich brown skin glistened in the fluorescent lighting and my deep brown hair—that once was straightened to perfection—waved from the moisture and had begun to frizz in the places where it was dry. My mascara had run a little around my large round eyes. I was glad this wasn’t a full-sized mirror. I looked like a drowned rat. I darted my hand into my bag and tried to look somewhat presentable cleaning the make-up with a tissue.

“I have not seen you here before.” The sound of the old woman’s voice behind me made me jump.

“I…I don’t normally walk this way home.” I found a hair tie in my purse and started pulling my hair back into a high bun.

She smiled at me. “I have something for you.” It was strange how she said that particular line of words. Different. Lilting.

I reluctantly followed her back to the case with the register trying not to breathe in the smoke from the stick. She went into the back for a moment and returned with a wooden box the size of a shoebox. She placed it on the counter and I saw a star inside of a circle burned into the lid. I traced the lines.

“The pentacle,” she said. It was as if she could sense my confusion.

She opened the box and showed me a small book—maybe a five by seven size—that had a hard wooden cover and filled with old looking pages. I felt my hand get warm when I touched it. My heart started to race and I quickly released it with a soft thud. Next to the book was a little black pouch. The woman grabbed the pouch and opened it to reveal a triangular silver pendant with a polished white stone in the center. She smiled before placing it beside the box and shoving them in my direction.

“What?” I looked back at her confused but she simply put the lid back on the box and stared at me. “Wait, I can’t take these without paying.”

“You do not have to pay for something that is yours,” she said sweetly.

“What do you mean? Mine? I don’t have anything like that.”

“You are of the Howe family lineage, are you not?”

I just stared at her wondering how she could know that. “My name is Parker. Karissa Parker.”

She smiled as if she already knew that. “Karissa, is it? One who is deeply loved.” She picked up the necklace and reached over the counter but I pulled away. “You’re not going to make an old woman beg, are you?” She pouted.

“But….” I dropped my head in defeat.

She slid the necklace carefully over my head. “This will protect you.”

I held up the pendant and looked at its perfectly polished surface. “This is too extravagant. I can’t accept it.”

“It belongs to you,” she insisted. “I am only returning what is yours.”

“Well, then maybe you have me confused with somebody else.”

“It belongs to you. It has always belonged to you and will continue to be yours until the end of time. You are the next custodian.”

“Custodian? What do you mean, like a janitor?”

“A protector of the magical world.”

I scoffed. “I don’t even believe in such a thing! I don’t have any magic. Nobody has magic. The very idea is just ludicrous!” I could feel my heart punching inside of me with total fear. Even though it would appear I didn’t believe a word she was saying, everything inside of me was screaming that she was telling the truth.

“Please, calm down.” She led me around the case to a chair. “Just breathe.”

“Just absolutely crazy, just crazy,” I said mostly to myself.

She gently rubbed my shoulder. “Surely you knew this of yourself.”

“You have to be lying to me. You just have to.” I grabbed the pendant ripping it and the chain from my neck tossing it to the ground. “You’re insane! There’s no such thing.” I was shouting. I could still feel it was true no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise.

I jumped up and started to run out. When I reached the door, I turned back to look at her still smiling face. I felt a little better knowing my shouting and sudden movements didn’t give her a heart attack. She didn’t seem the least bit fazed. She just waved at me as I shoved through the door to leave.

The rain had stopped sometime while I was inside, but the ground didn’t show any signs that there ever was a storm. I couldn’t even smell it in the air. I just kept moving as quickly as I could until I reached home.