Sunday, August 7, 2011, 2:00 a.m. Los Angeles

WARNING: This chapter includes an attack scene which may be upsetting to some readers.

Heaviness settles over my body as I shuffle across the dry reservoir with Dad, Mom and Aunt Rose. Lights twinkle from Peppergate Ranch about a half-mile away. Dad and Aunt Rose have their arms around Mom to help her walk. In between sniffles she mumbles, "Conlan's alive. My baby boy needs me."

A tear slips down my cheek as I clench my fist. That nasty Shadow Man sounds like the same asshole who taunted me and Kibbles in the portal. My hands are hot and shaking, my stomach queasy. I'm dying to ask Mom and Rose about the Shadow Man, but something tells me to wait until we're alone.

Dad uses his free hand to pull his cell phone from a pocket. "I'm calling Officer Johnson. We need to stop whoever's behind this sick joke." I move to walk by his side and watch him stare at the screen as the dial tone sounds. After a minute, he gives up. "No service out here. I'll call when we get back to the house."

Dad stops walking and strokes Mom's hair. "Aislinn, I promise we will catch this guy." Mom nods and buries her face in his chest. Her shoulders rise and fall with muffled sobs. Aunt Rose wraps her arm around Mom's back and motions for me to do the same.

My eyes flick upwards to the three-quarter moon as I vow, Hang on Conlan. I'll find you. Never mind that I've no clue how to pull off his rescue. Heat rises to my face. My skin's burning. I'll make Shadow Man suffer for kidnapping my baby brother.

We stumble across the meadow in silence for a half hour. My anger grows with every step, which is weird because I never get mad. Not when kids at school teased me, or when Mom left, or even when that mean blonde ghost called me bad names. Something changed with the appearance of Shadow Man. I want to explode. An image forms in my head of him materializing in front of me. I fly at Shadow Man with punches and kicks. I want to tear him apart.

A sharp bark from Kibbles tells me we've reached the fence surrounding Peppergate Ranch. Me and Aunt Rose climb the chain link first. I drop to the ground to hug Kibbles as Auntie and Dad help Mom over the fence.

The wire rattles as Dad releases his grip and lands next to Aunt Rose. He squeezes her shoulder. "I'm going inside to call Officer Johnson. Please stay with Aislinn and Amber." Aunt Rose nods and gives Mom another hug.

We follow Dad and Kibbles up the stairs. The pool stretches eastward to disappear into shrouded darkness. Dad heads west where the house wraps around him like a giant horse shoe. Kibbles stays with us.

Mom points to one of two orange doors across the courtyard on the south side of the house. "The guestrooms." She offers her hands to me and Aunt Rose. We flank Mom as we walk to stand before the room to the right of the double front doors. "As I recall, this room is bigger."

My teeth clench and my chest tightens. "You've been here before?"

Auntie and Mom exchange a quick glance. Aunt Rose clears her throat as Mom looks at her feet. "Of course not, silly. Your mom saw the realtor photos."

Auntie throws open the guest room door and flicks on the light. Kibbles darts in front of me to follow Auntie and Mom into a yellow 12x15 foot room. The queen bed from our guest room in Seattle sits to the right. To the left is a bathroom. Mom plops on the bed as I find the sink and splash cold water on my face. Raising my eyes to the mirror, I find my face pale, mouth set in a frown.

I return to the bedroom to find Kibbles seated in front of Mom, licking her hands. Aunt Rose is pacing. Her face, neck and chest are red, nearly matching her hair color. "I tried so hard to protect you both." Tears flow down her cheeks. "I faked my death to make it looked like I drowned before I left Ireland. How did he find us?"

Mom's mouth falls open in a "O" shape. She rises to stand in front of Auntie. "When you left Ireland... when was that?"

Auntie takes one step backward and looks away from Mom. "Um, well, er..."

Mom rises to grab her shoulders. "You're thinking of the right answer instead of telling me the truth!"

The sick feeling in my stomach grows. "What about Mom? If you faked her drowning, that looks like you murdered her!"

Aunt Rose pivots to face me. Her face is ghostly white. "There's something you need to see. Take my hand." I grasp her left hand as she extends her right to Mom. "Saint Brigid, show them the truth." As she exhales, the room disappears.

I'm in a green, treeless meadow, standing outside a circle of twelve people. All women, and they're naked. Screams from the circle's center prompt me to squeeze between two onlookers. I expect to feel skin, but my shoulders pass through their bodies, like I'm a ghost. My head snaps to a crying young woman laying on her back. Four women pin her to the ground by sitting on her arms and legs. The young woman is thin, with long, red hair. Her blue eyes and narrow nose tell me it's Auntie!

I rush forward to pull off her attackers. My hands disappear into their bodies. They can't see me!

A tall, muscular red-headed man enters the circle from the south. The women chant in Celtic, yet I somehow understand their words.

Take the virgin.

She is our offering.

Renew our coven.

My stomach lurches as he leans over Aunt Rose to rip off her clothes with one hand. She's wrestling and begging him to stop, but his lips spread into a smile. Fingers fly as he unzips his pants. His privates dangle as his pants fall to the ground. The man drops to his knees and straddles her.

"Stop!" Mom screams. I open my eyes to find her curled in a ball on the floor. Kibbles is at her side, licking her face. She's sobbing. "You...you're..."

A shaking Auntie drops to her knees and wraps her arms around Mom. Kibbles pokes his head between them and nuzzles.

I want to puke. The redheaded sorcerer raped Auntie! I drop to a crouch next to Mom. My eyes find Aunt Rose's and I repeat Mom's question, "What year?"

Auntie wipes tears with the back of her hand, her face sickly pale.   "1963."

Mom cries aloud as she rocks back and forth. "I was born in '64!" She grabs Aunt Rose's forearms. "Who are you, really?"

Auntie removes Mom's hands and strokes her hair. "I'm your mother." She reaches for my hand. "I swear to Saint Brigid, I won't let your grandfather hurt you!"

My head's spinning. "You're my grandma?"

Auntie-now-Grandma nods. As she squeezes my hand, the room fades to darkness. I'm back atop the hill and Shadow Man's emerging from the portal. His smoky features sharpen to reveal a chiseled face and light blue eyes. Rage explodes in my chest and my heartbeat quickens. I stand on my tiptoes to wrap my hands around his throat.

Grandma releases me, and the vision disappears. I clench my fists as heat radiates from my palms. Kibbles pads to my side and sniffs.

Mom lifts her eyes to look at Grandma. "My father. Who is he?"

Grandma kisses the top of Mom's head. "Seamus O'Donnell." She looks away as her voice grows soft, so quiet I have to lean in to hear her next bombshell. "I changed my last name to Connelly when I fled to America."

Mom lets out a wail as the terrible truth punches me in the stomach. "Your last name is really O'Donnell? Then that makes him..."

Tears fill Grandma's eyes as she finishes my sentence. "My father."

I open my fists as sharp pain shoots through my fingers. As I stare at my upturned hands, blood-red streaks lash the creases in my palms. A crimson trail slashes through the veins in my wrists and arms. Sweat soaks my shirt, my heart pounds with burning heat.

Fear grips my chest. Will I burst into flames? Explode? What the heck's happening?

A damp nose on my cheek rips my attention toward the interruption. Without thinking, I grab a fistful of fur. Kibbles yelps and tears himself from my grip. With a leap, he's flying over my head to land on the bed.

Mom sounds far away as she  shouts, "Amber!"

My vision is fuzzy as my mind's eye shifts to a memory of the psych ward. The medication's made me nauseous and dizzy. I'm sprawled on a couch, helpless.

A howl from Kibbles snaps me back to the present.

The rage boiling in my heart rushes to my neck and face. "You knew the truth, and you had me hospitalized!"

Grandma throws her arms around my shoulders. "Please believe me, I tried to stop your Dad, but he insisted you be evaluated at the psychiatric hospital. When you were released, I begged him not to put you on medication. But he's a typical  rocket scientist and did what he thought was best for you." 

As Grandma kisses my forehead, my rage fades and the angry red marks disappear from my arms and hands. Maybe I am crazy. The sharp pain in my heart gives way to sadness.

I turn to Kibbles and reach to muss his fur. He scoots away, brown eyes staring as if to say, "Why did you hurt me?" Shame floods my body.

I rise to stand. "I'm going after Seamus O'Donnell!"  I swear on my life, I'll find a way to make him pay.

"It's too dangerous!" they cry in unison. Grandma squeezes my shoulder. "You're new to this. He's been taking down enemies for over 80 years!"

Mom squeezes my hand as she embraces Grandma. "Oh my poor, sweet Rose! Incest? Your father is a sick, evil man! How did he find us?"

Oh crap. This is my fault! I cough and kick the floor. "It started on the hill, where we saw him tonight." I tell them about the attempted dognapping. When I speak about using astral projection to ride with Kibbles into what I now believe is the deathly realm, Mom and Grandma rise to stare at me.

Grandma glances at Mom before gripping my hand. "I thought if I kept you away from witch business, you wouldn't develop powers." She clicks her tongue like she's seeing me for the first time. "Only the most advanced can project their spirit self across the astral plane."

Her words prick the stabbing guilt. My skin's tingling.

Mom shakes her head and backs away. "I don't understand! We saw the ghost of Seamus O'Donnell?"

Grandma's upper lip curls as she retrieves her cell phone. "We're going to find out." She puts her phone on speaker and dials. Within three rings a woman answers, her voice gravely. "Ester O'Donnell speaking." Grandma resumes pacing. "Aunt Ester? It's me."

The old woman speaks with a heavy Irish accent. "Rose? I knew you weren't dead! After all this time, why didn't you reach out to me?"

Grandma stops pacing and sighs. "I didn't want Seamus coming after me, or my baby."

"I prayed to Saint Brigid to save you. Praise be to our divine virgin, Mother Mary! Your child, they'd be 47?"

Me and Mom stand frozen as Grandma answers. "Yes, and her daughter is 14."

"Seamus can't hurt yer now. He's been in a nursing home for months."

Mom grabs the phone. "I don't know who you are, but that fucker has my baby boy! Cut the crap and tell me where I can find Conlan."

"You've a son?"

Grandma takes the phone from Mom. She tells Aunt Ester about my confrontation in the portal and Seamus's appearance. The old woman she's speaking to doesn't respond until Grandma finishes telling our tale of woe.  "If Seamus has mastered astral projection across the Pacific Ocean, he can conjure a Conlan doppelganger. Don't be fooled, it's not your baby."

"Bullshit!" Mom screams. "I saw Conlan tonight!"

Part of me wants to remind Mom the doppelganger spoke in complete sentences, inconsistent with a one-year-old baby. But as the yellow around her irises expands to engulf the normal green color, I realize she wants vengeance, just like me.

Grandma's eyes flick to us. "He must be powerful beyond measure! How do we fight such a sorcerer?"

Static erupts from the phone. The elder's voice cuts through. "You've a powerful ally in Los Angeles, Dr. Betty Morton."

Mom gasps. "That blonde psychologist? Don't trust her."

I move to Mom's side and lean my head atop her shoulder. "I do. She's my spiritual teacher."

Grandma protests, but Aunt Ester cuts her off. "Betty and I go back many years. You don't have a choice. She's your only hope. And Rose? As soon as possible you must ritually cleanse the house. Do you remember the acts of protection?"

Grandma nods. "Yes. Aislinn and Amber will help me. They will learn the ancient ways."

"Good. If Seamus still draws breath, I'll confront him at the nursing home."

AUTHOR NOTES:

Banner  graphic of the Peppergate Ranch original architectural design (1939) (c) Peppergate Ranch and the Paul Revere Williams Project.

Playlist Secret by Above and Beyond & Ocean Lab

https://youtu.be/7ffZFP1lN2A