Escort For The Witch

“Me? No guts?”

“Exactly.”

“Sure about that?”

“One hundred percent!”

“Wanna bet?”

“What on?”

I pondered.

“If I manage to drive that freak away, you’re going to tell everyone for a whole week how hot I am in bed and how much you love me.”

“And if you don’t, you buy me a new Flippy.”

I smirked; that was unlikely to happen.

“Deal?”

“Deal! Where? When? What time?”

“I’m working the night shift tomorrow. So… I think he'll be there.”

“Any preferences?” I asked.

“No kisses or hugs.”

“But we’re supposed to be a “couple.”

“We’ve been fighting.”

“Ah… A familiar scenario,” I mumbled. Sabrina glared at me.

“What’s the loser’s name?”

“Jim. Short, brown eyes, dark hair. You’ll know him. He’s always sitting near the bar, staring at me,” Sabrina said with disgust.

He must have really gotten on her nerves if she’s resorting to such radical measures.

“I’ll be there,” I assured. And she smiled again.

The life-saving bell rang and I hurried out of the auditorium, and then out of the university building itself. Weird and wonderful things were happening outside!

The weather had cleared up, and the sun was bathing the street in luminous warmth. I lit up and remembered how only five minutes ago I had agreed to be the “boyfriend” of a girl with whom I’d been at war for as long as I can remember myself. And even if it was just for one evening, this thought somehow warmed me much more than Louisiana’s fickle September sun.

“Hey, you!” a familiar voice called from behind.” “Can I have a cigarette?”

“Eric, when will you start buying your own?” I asked, reaching into my pocket for a pack. Eric grinned widely and shrugged.

“When they get cheaper. Which means never,” he replied with a smirk and took a deep breath. “I quit!”

“Well done!” I rejoiced, patting my friend approvingly on the shoulder.

“I’m gonna go check on Betty…” Eric announced suddenly.

“Again?”

“Yeah, I want her to be happy for me too,” Eric chuckled and headed towards the university office.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one having a good day. I smiled and headed back to the campus. I needed to draft an article for “The Guardian” and I thought I’d do that during the remaining classes.

Then I noticed Sabrina. She was telling Claire something enthusiastically, with Claire widening her eyes and gasping in surprise. They were probably discussing something extremely important and terribly girlish.

I felt my cellphone vibrating in my pocket.

“We’re waiting for you at our place. 6 PM. DON’T BE LATE!"

My mood took a deep plunge. Mom was commanding me to come for dinner…

With a heavy heart, brooding, I headed towards the parking lot. Then I stopped.

“Sabrina! What’s wrong?” Claire’s cry brought me back to reality. Hearing her familiar voice, I instinctively turned and looked in their direction. And then I saw Sabrina crouch down, clutching her stomach. Her face was unrecognizable. She shut her eyes, breathing rapidly, apparently trying to overcome a sharp pain. I was at Claire’s side in an instant. She was confused and horrified by the sudden development.

“What’s wrong with her, Jack?” Claire asked, genuinely concerned.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled.

She was absolutely fine not more than half an hour ago in our history class. There were no signs of illness or discomfort.

“Expired yogurt,” Sabrina mumbled.

“What?” Claire and I asked simultaneously, each making our own assumptions.

“The yogurt I had for breakfast was probably expired,” Sabrina muttered, looking off into the distance.

“Maybe you should go home? Or better yet, straight to the hospital!” Claire suggested, still frightened.

“Just not the hospital! But home is fine,” Sabrina said resolutely, tucking a strand of hair away from her face.

“Jack, could you take her home? I can’t miss the next class,” Claire said, regret in her voice.

“Of course. No problem.”

There really shouldn’t be any problem. My mother is one of the few highly respected professors at the university, and I shamelessly take advantage of that sometimes.

“Don’t worry, Claire. She’ll be okay,” I reassured the girl. “Go.”

Claire got unsteadily to her feet and, after a brief pause, headed towards the campus.

Sabrina let out a loud sigh and attempted to get up herself.

“Need a lift?” I offered.

She gave me a dismissive look, struggling not to be her usual rude self again.

“I can manage on my own for now”, she replied dryly and straightened up.

“Oh, you are better now! Well, please yourself…” I was aching to leave her to it and teach her pride a good lesson.

Still, I helped her to her feet and walked her to my car. She sank heavily into the seat next to mine and rested her forehead against the cool window pane.

“And how long…”, I began asking as I inserted the key into the ignition.

“Not a word!” she hissed, and that ended the conversation.

Parking near her house in the Garden District, I finally dared to look at Sabrina.

She looked completely shattered and worn out.

“Let’s go. I’ll stay with you until Eric arrives.” She didn’t respond, but nodded wearily and got out of the car.

“I want to take a shower,” she said upon entering the house, not giving me a chance to say a word, and left me alone.

Thirty long minutes later, Sabrina emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in an old terry robe. Her wet hair was disheveled on her slender shoulders, a healthy flush had returned to her cheeks, although her movements still seemed a bit distracted. She walked into the living room, sat down in her grandfather’s favorite armchair, and looked at me intently.

“Don’t ask,” Sabrina whispered softly, as if reading my thoughts.

“I want to know what’s happening to you. And I’m sure Eric does too.”

Sabrina lowered her head for a moment, and when she looked up again, I froze in confusion. Tears glistened in her eyes. But apart from tears, there was something else, but I couldn’t quite make it out just what. Fear? Perhaps. But what was she afraid of? That was what I had to find out…

Chapter 9

Michelle De Manshand

I continued to silently observe her. As if in response to this, Sabrina wrinkled her nose, casually tossed her wet hair back, and began pacing the room. She furrowed her brows repeatedly, pondering whether she could trust me. After several minutes of continuous pacing, she stopped by the window. Another loud sigh escaped her lips, filled with so much anguish that my heart nearly stopped.

“Come on, what’s wrong? ” I asked as gently as possible.

“You won’t believe it,” the girl whispered softly, covering her face with her hands.

“Maybe just start, and we’ll take it from there? Trust me, I believe in a lot of things,” I encouraged her.

She pondered for a few seconds, then looked at me fearfully.

“And you won’t tell anyone? ”

I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“I mean, you won’t tell anyone that I’ve lost it and won’t start teasing me about it?”

“Are you kidding? Watching you in pain doesn’t bring me any pleasure, even remotely, ” and that was the absolute truth. “And I don’t believe you survive solely on expired food, ” I muttered. To my immense relief, she smiled.

“Okay, I’ll try. ”

Sabrina settled comfortably on the couch, contemplating where to begin her story.

“It all started on January twenty-fourth. Exactly a year after my grandfather’s passing.”

“Yeah, I remember,” my voice betrayed me slightly, but Sabrina didn’t seem to notice.

“That night, I…” she suddenly fell silent and took a deep breath. “That night, I heard his voice for the first time. In my sleep.”

I furrowed my brow but didn’t say anything. Instead, I cleared my throat, indicating to Sabrina that she should continue her story.

“I didn’t think much of it then, dismissing it as just a weird dream. But soon the dream recurred, becoming clearer. And another voice joined Alex’s. A woman’s voice. Then images appeared, becoming clearer and more distinct with each new dream. They argued about something, and… sometimes Grandpa yelled at her. And then the voices disappeared, for about a month, maybe more. But then they returned again,” Sabrina explained. I approached Sabrina and sat down beside her.

“Maybe my request will sound strange, but could you describe the woman?” I asked calmly, trying not to reveal my excitement, while mentally running through all the women of the De Manshand family that I knew.

“Yes, I can. She looks about twenty-seven. She’s not tall, with dark, almost black hair, light blue eyes. A very good figure, and also…” Sabrina suddenly fell silent and lowered her gaze.

“What’s that? ” I inquired.

“I swear to God, she looks very much like me! Almost identical!” Sabrina exclaimed.

I couldn’t believe it. Could Sabrina have seen her own mother? I frantically recalled everything I had ever read or heard about the De Manshand family. After Michelle and Alex had hidden the girl, Michelle decided to return home to France.

There was talk of an incredible scandal that had erupted in the family after Michelle had told Marie – Sabrina’s grandmother – that the child had died.

Michelle had never been seen again since. Some newspapers wrote about her death, and Marie did not deny it, on the contrary, she burst into tears, portraying herself as a grief-stricken mother, but Michelle’s body was never found. And now, what if Sabrina is seeing Michelle’s spirit? What is she trying to convey to her daughter? And why is Grandpa’s spirit so persistently opposing this interaction?

Could it be that Michelle wants Sabrina to reach out to her Grandmother herself?

But why? Michelle was so desperate to save her daughter from the family fate. She didn’t want Sabrina to grow up like all the other women in their family. Cold, callous, and merciless. Maybe… But was that Michelle feared? Grandpa was right; Sabrina’s mother was different from the other family witches. Michelle’s paranormal gift was being able to see both the past and the future. She knew the whole truth about the deeds of her numerous relatives and ancestors. All it took was touching any object belonging to someone even remotely interesting to Michelle, and their past lives with all their deeds, no matter how terrible, would be revealed before her eyes. It was this gift that made her different. Also kind, loving, and honest. And most importantly, she was capable of something that other members of the De Manshand family were not. She was an empath, able to feel deeply: guilt, shame, and even disgrace for the past and present of her own family.

That’s why she had turned to Alex for help…

“I’ve been visited by her during the day,” Sabrina said thoughtfully.

Her quiet voice interrupted my thinking. I widened my eyes in disbelief and stared at Sabrina.

“What? What do you mean she has visited you during the day? ” My confusion was so apparent that Sabrina became slightly alarmed. She squinted at me. I turned away to face the window and pulled out another cigarette trying to mask the emotions that had come over me at the most inappropriate moment.

“Mind if I smoke? ” I asked.

“No, of course not,” she replied.

I sat down on the wide windowsill and lit up, desperately trying to sort out my thoughts. However, what I had just heard made it difficult to think rationally, and some details of Sabrina’s “encounter” with her mother left questions swirling in my mind unanswered.

“So what’s this about her visiting you, ” I reminded her.

Sabrina sighed bitterly and turned towards the window. She looked so small and vulnerable in her Grandfather’s old robe that I felt a pang in my heart.

“I was in my room, getting ready for work and thinking up a plan to get Eric out of his binge, when suddenly the Mardi Gras beads hanging on my mirror fell down and scattered all over the floor. I started picking them up. When I finished, I habitually glanced at the mirror and was stunned. She was there, looking at me.

She was standing right behind me and I was looking at her reflection staring back at me!” Sabrina paused to catch her breath and continued. “I turned around but she was gone. I thought it was just paranoia or a hallucinations – just the product of my exhausted brain. But soon it happened again. And this time, the vision was much clearer. Then I started hearing Alex’s voice. And I swear, there are other voices too, but I can’t make them out. They… they mumble something, but I don’t understand. It’s madness. ”

I smoked silently, unsure of how to tell her that everything that was happening to her was neither madness nor paranoia, nor the product of twisted imagination. I couldn’t find the right words to adequately explain this. Now I knew why she had glances crazy look in her eyes sometimes, strange, erratic gestures, and mood swings. It was Michelle, accompanied by Alex. And they clearly frightened her.

“Jack,” Sabrina called out softly, “do you think I’m going crazy? ”

I tried to gather my thoughts and even shook my head, hoping for some enlightenment that would help piece together the puzzle. However, everything only became more tangled.

“You say you can hear Alex’s voice,” I ignored her question.

“Yeah…” Sabrina still sounded uncertain.

“What does he say? Or what is he trying to communicate?” I knew Alex’s character well and was sure that Grandpa would never dream of scaring his granddaughter for no reason, especially now that he was dead.

“He also comes to you during the day now?” I pressed further.

“Lately – yes. And he says something about me being different, that I shouldn’t listen to them and never, under any circumstances, believe what they say. Also…”

She paused and glanced at me sideways.

“Yes?” My patience was wearing thin, and it must have shown.

“He said I should be around you and Eric,” she said, staring at me intently, as if trying to read my mind. A faint glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes, hoping that I would be able to unravel the mystery of her strange visions. “That only you know the truth and can help me deal with it ,” she continued, leaning forward as if afraid to miss something important. “What does that mean? What truth and who is he talking about?”

I sighed deeply, feeling the weight of her expectant, cautious gaze on me, stood up, and started pacing the room. I mentally thanked her for not bringing up that brief conversation she had had with Eric when he was still drinking, namely what he had said about me doing the job better than him.

“I, I don’t know,” I said a near-truth. “And the pain?” I glanced at her stomach. Sabrina hesitated for a moment, then looked out the window again.

“It only hurts when I try to ignore it.”Ì stared at Sabrina in bewilderment, not believing my ears. Could such a thing really be possible?

“So? ”

“Well… I pretend not to see. I try not to notice. I think pain is how she’s trying to get my attention. ”

I now watched Sabrina’s every move intently. Genuine shock reflected on my face.

“Can she physically affect you? ” I whispered in horror.

“Yeah, maybe,”

“So that means…” I started, “in the kitchen then and then today…”

“Yes. But when you or Eric are around, something changes. She can’t get too close and it doesn’t hurt as much as when I try to ignore her,” Sabrina fell silent and tucked her legs under her.

“So that’s why you’re always hovering around me.”

She blushed and nodded, about to say something when the front door slammed, making us both jump in surprise and turn towards the direction of the sound.

“Hey everyone! I’m home! ” Eric’s hoarse voice echoed from the hall.

“Jack!” Sabrina jumped to her feet and, coming up to me almost face to face, grabbed my hand and whispered excitedly: “Please, don’t tell him anything! I don’t even know why I decided to tell you all this nonsense. ”

“No, not nonsense. Sorry, I need to… figure some things out,” I muttered, stepping out of the room uncertainly and heading towards the kitchen, where Eric was making a racket.

I caught my friend rummaging in the fridge, hoping to find something he hadn’t already nibbled on. He was humming some tune to himself and making dancing moves, completely oblivious to my presence. I reached him in two steps and slammed the refrigerator door right in front of his surprised face.

“What the heck, Jack! Cut it out! ” Eric hissed, startled, glaring at me. “What’s going on? I got your message, ” he added.

I didn’t know what to do. Utter confusion? Bewilderment? Doubt? It all hit me at once like a tsunami. Maybe my parents would? Damn, my parents! I completely forgot about dinner with parents! I glanced at the clock frantically. I still had to write my report on the latest developments. But what am I supposed to write about now?

“Jack! What’s happening? Is she having another episode? ” Eric’s concerned voice seemed to be coming from a distance.

“Stay with her. Don’t go anywhere. Got it? I need to talk to Dad. ”

Eric looked at me in confusion, but nodded, not asking further questions.

“You think it’s all that serious, huh? ” he asked after a pause.

“I don’t know.” I could see from Eric’s displeased expression that he wasn’t satisfied my reply.

“I gotta go. ”

I walked out of the kitchen, grabbed my coat, nervously fumbling with car keys, and was about to grab the door handle when I heard Sabrina call me.

“Hey, you!” She leisurely emerged from the living room.

“I’m all ears, miss, ” I murmured. She smiled. Well I never! She does nothing but bestow smiles on my all day.

“Have you forgotten about our little bet? ”

“How could I?! ” I feigned offense and grinned playfully.

“Well, tomorrow then? ” Sabrina asked flirtily.

“Tomorrow it is. ”

I leisurely walked out onto the street and headed towards my car parked the back.

For some reason, I felt extremely queasy. What did Grandpa mean only Eric and I could help? I was at my wit’s end. But one thing I was sure of, Sabrina saw her mother, and the vision wasn’t just scaring her, it was causing real physical pain.

What’s worse, both Eric and I saw her writhing in pain and both felt completely powerless and useless.

Chapter 10

The Council

Having parked in front of my parents’ house, I sat in the car for some minutes, gathering my thoughts. I kept replaying the details of Sabrina’s story over and over. Then I noticed the time and winced. Almost six o’clock. I was running late and risking a lecture from Mrs. Renton. I got out and trudged towards the house.