Phoenix and the Dark Star Read online

  “Is she my Great-Grandma Gloria?” Ellen quickly asked.

  The girl glanced at the ghost before saying shyly, “Her name is Eleanor…”

  “Eleanor?!” Ellen echoed in a surprised tone. “Eleanor Thorne?”

  The girl glanced at the ghost before nodding.

  “Who’s Eleanor Thorne?” Karla asked.

  “She’s my ancestor who had lived in the 1400s,” Ellen said as the girl made a gesture as if she was listening to Eleanor. “I had just started reading her volume last night, which her volume is actually the oldest original volume in my collection out of three originals.”

  “Eleanor says that there’s a cloaking ritual in one of the volumes that you have,” the girl said shyly.

  “Wait!” Ellen strongly requested. “What all has Eleanor told you?”

  The girl glanced at the ghost before saying shyly, “You like to begin by telling the person who you are informing that you’re related to Merlin and allowing the person to form his or her own conclusion before continuing on.”

  “So you know what I am?” Ellen questioned.

  “You’re a sorceress,” the girl said shyly. “And Eleanor wants you to cast that cloaking ritual before that wizard in New Orleans discovers your location.”

  “Hold up,” Ellen requested. “Before we continue this discussion, I would like to know your name.”

  The girl stared timidly at Ellen before saying nervously, “It’s… it’s Andie.”

  “Nice to meet you, Andie; I’m Ellen,” she began before pointing out the others. “Meet Everett, Jessica, Karla and Simon.”

  “Hi,” Everett and Simon told Andie.

  Jessica and Karla just waved.

  “Allen is a part of our group too, and he’s at the food table while getting something to eat,” Ellen continued.

  “Okay,” Andie said shyly while glancing towards the food table.

  “Now getting back to the cloaking incantation,” Ellen began. “There are actually two in my family’s volumes. One is for a large group and it has a one-minute duration so the incantation has to be continuously repeated to be effective. I’m very doubtful that, that incantation is the one that Eleanor is referring to.”

  Andie glanced at Eleanor before agreeing shyly, “It’s not.”

  “Now the second cloaking incantation is a permanent one and it’s for individuals,” Ellen continued. “Jess and I learned about it during our cram-session to learn as many defensive incantations as we could in one night. There’s also a warning notation next to it that was written out by one of my ancestors that the incantation has side-effects; side-effects that I’m not willing to live with, so that’s out.”

  “What kind of side-effects?” Everett quickly asked.

  “One-fourth of the wizards who had cast that incantation had undergone a severe personality change after the incantation was cast, and I like my personality the way it is, thank you very much,” Ellen informed. “Plus, the attraction that the animals have for me would be lost, and I’m not willing to give that up.”

  “That wizard will find you if you don’t cast that incantation,” Andie warned shyly.

  “Good,” Ellen retorted. “He’s hurting people, and he needs to be stopped, so it just means that I won’t have to hunt him down.”

  Andie glanced at the ghost before saying shyly, “Eleanor says that what you are planning is a mistake.”

  “Since I’m the one who has to choose on if I listen to someone’s advice or not, the outcome of the advice solely rests on me and no one else,” Ellen began. “So if it’s a mistake not to cast the incantation, then it’s my mistake. And hey, if this mistake kills me, then it kills me and not a polar likeness of me.”

  “Eleanor says that you are a fool,” Andie said shyly.

  “Yeah, well, me being accused of being a fool isn’t going to change my mind,” Ellen retorted. “And out of curiosity… Grandma Eleanor. Are you the one to give me those missing pages through Spencer?”

  Andie nodded before saying shyly, “She says, ‘yes.’”

  “I thought it was my Great-Grandma Gloria,” Ellen said as if to herself. She then saw that Andie was acting as if she was listening to Eleanor. “Is Eleanor saying something else?”

  Andie nodded before saying shyly, “Your Great-Grandma Gloria was killed by the Dark Ritual, and nothing of a person survives that ritual.”

  “What does that mean?” Ellen questioned in a confused tone.

  Andie looked towards Eleanor before saying shyly, “The body and soul are both changed into energy and that energy gets absorbed by the wizard or sorceress performing the ritual.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Ellen said sullenly while giving Jessica a remorse look.

  Jessica saw the look that Ellen was giving her and replied, “My dad had filled Karla and me in on the terrible things that our grandfather had done. So as far as I’m concern, when we performed that Dark Ritual on my grandfather, we did what we had to do to survive.”

  Ellen gave Jessica a sympathetic nod before turning her attention back to the current matter.

  “Anyway, Grandma Eleanor,” Ellen began while looking at no one. “Thanks for the warning, but I’ll come up with another defense other than casting that cloaking spell.”

  Andie listened to what Eleanor had to say before saying shyly, “She says that before you, she had found ways to help the others who had ownership of her volume; however, not one of them was as difficult as you are being.”

  Ellen slightly grinned before saying, “Your solution is unreasonable, Grandma Eleanor. So find another solution… a reasonable solution and I’ll consider it.”

  Again Andie listened to what Eleanor had to say before saying shyly, “The wizard in New Orleans practices Immortal Magic, and the only solution for you not to be killed is that cloaking spell.”

  “Well, that’s one solution that is definitely out,” Ellen began. “And what in hell is Immortal Magic, Grandma Eleanor?”

  A disturbing expression came across Andie’s face before saying shyly, “She will explain it to you personally once the wizard had killed you.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence in me, Grandma,” Ellen uttered sarcastically.

  “She’s no longer here,” Andie said shyly. “She left as I was telling you what she had said.”

  “Who would’ve thought?” Ellen quipped. “A sulking ghost.”

  Before anyone could respond, Ellen and her group were drawn to a seventeen-year-old boy dressed as a knight wielding a sword as he disparagingly uttered, “Andie Jolene Cornell!”

  As the teenager was stepping up, Ellen stepped in front of him.

  “Hi, I’m Ellen,” she interjected while offering to shake his hand. Ellen’s untouched plate of little smokies was held balanced in the palm and fingers of her left hand. “And you are?”

  Without shaking Ellen’s hand, the teenager gave Ellen a ‘have you lost your mind?’ look before grumbling, “I’m Robin.” He then gestured towards Andie. “And I’m here to speak with her.”

  “I gathered that when you had shouted out her name as if you were cursing a dragon,” Ellen retorted.

  “So why isn’t your sword drawn?” Jessica questioned sardonically. Robin turned and gave Jessica a curious look. “You will need it as you go after her heart.”

  Robin gave Jessica an annoyed look before facing Ellen again and strongly requesting, “Will you please move aside so I can talk to my sister?!”

  Ellen backed up slightly while ordering, “Talk with her and not down to her.”

  Robin gave Ellen an insulted look before turning away from her. As he stepped up to Andie, he ordered, “Come with me to the kitchen. We’ll talk there.”

  “Why can’t we talk here?” Andie asked shyly.

  Robin glanced towards Ellen’s group before saying, “Certain things shouldn’t be discussed in front of strangers.”

  “They’re not strangers,” Andie mumbled incoherently and shyly.

  “They�
��re not what?” Robin demanded.

  “They’re not strangers,” Andie repeated slightly more clearly.

  “They’re strangers to me, Andie,” Robin retorted as Allen was returning with a plate of assorted food. “Now let’s go to the kitchen.”

  “Please,” Ellen added strongly. Robin shot Ellen an annoyed look. “You can say please to me, but you can’t say it to your sister?”

  “You’re not much of a knight,” Karla added. “You don’t even follow the knight’s code of chivalry.”

  “You should’ve dressed up as the Tin Man,” Jessica told him. “You certainly need to ask the Powerful Oz for a heart.”

  “Guys,” Ellen interjected. “Just because Robin isn’t showing us or his sister any respect, it doesn’t mean that we should lower ourselves to his level.”

  “If I didn’t have respect for my sister, I would talk to her in front of you six,” Robin retorted.

  “Which is what she’s actually requesting,” Simon was the one to point out. “Therefore, you’re not respecting what she wants.”

  Robin shook off what Simon had said and faced Andie.

  “Please come to the kitchen with me so we can talk privately,” Robin slightly begged.

  “Andie, we’re not going anywhere?” Ellen told her. “So you can always return after you and Robin get done talking.”

  “Okay,” Andie agreed shyly.

  Robin turned towards Ellen and stared at her as if he was debating to say something.

  When Robin stared longer than what Ellen thought that he should, Ellen prompted, “Say it.”

  Robin took a breath before saying, “Presently you seem to be… friendly towards Andie, but my experience tells me that once you get to know her that will change.”

  “Your experience doesn’t take me into account,” Ellen retorted.

  “And what makes you different than everyone else?” Robin quickly questioned.

  “If you knew me, you wouldn’t ask that,” Ellen told him.

  “Well, I’ve been around enough people to know that when people get to know Andie, they tend to regret it,” Robin said as Ellen saw that Andie was uncomfortable with the current conversation. “So…”

  “Can we stop talking about Andie as if she’s not a few feet from us,” Ellen said in Andie’s behalf. Andie grinned. “I wouldn’t like it if I was in her shoes, and I’m sure she doesn’t like it now.”

  Robin shot Ellen an astonished look before saying, “There’s the first thing I saw that makes you different than most people. Unfortunately, I’m still not optimistic of yours and Andie’s long-term friendship after you two get to know one another.”

  “They know about me,” Andie mumbled shyly and barely coherently.

  “They know what?” Robin questioned incredulously.

  “They know what I can see,” Andie said shyly.

  “We know that Andie can see and talk to ghosts,” Ellen added.

  “You can see ghosts?” Allen questioned incredulously.

  “No!” Robin interjected strongly. “She’s on medication for her delusions of her believing that she can see ghosts.”

  “I assure you, Robin, that your sister isn’t delusional,” Ellen quickly informed. “In fact, Andie had given me a message from Eleanor Thorne, and Andie couldn’t have done that if she was delusional.”

  “And Eleanor Thorne would be…?” Robin prompted for Ellen to finish.

  “An ancestor of mine who lived in the 1400s,” Ellen replied. “I own Eleanor’s diary, so I know for a fact that the message that Andie had given me from Eleanor is authentic.”

  “Ghosts aren’t even real,” Robin insisted.

  “I thought that too not all that long ago,” Simon shared. “I now know that I was mistaken and you too are mistaken. Ghosts do exist and Andie has convinced me that she can see them.”

  “Robin, I don’t know what medication Andie is taking, but she needs to be taken off of them,” Ellen informed. “She doesn’t need them, and there’s no telling what harm that they’re doing to her.”

  Robin sighed before facing Andie and saying, “A short time ago, Maria informed me that she saw you talking to… to a ghost.” Robin shot Ellen a quick glance. “Was that ghost… Eleanor Thorne?”

  Andie nodded before saying shyly, “Eleanor saw that I could see her and she asked me to give Ellen a message.”

  Robin turned towards Ellen again before asking, “And you have no doubts that Andie was talking to Eleanor Thorne—an ancestor of yours?”

  “I have no doubts whatsoever,” Ellen assured him. “In fact, after receiving Eleanor’s diary—plus several other diaries—I knew that a spirit was attached to those diaries because of certain… paranormal events that had occurred after receiving them. However, I was thinking that the spirit attached to the diaries was my Great-Grandma Gloria. She… died violently sixty years ago, and she was the last one who had owned those diaries before me.”

  “What kind of paranormal events?” Allen asked.

  Ellen thought for a second before sharing, “Okay, well, recently I met an eight-year-old autistic boy named Spencer. Although he’s capable of speaking, he doesn’t. He does draw though… constantly.” Ellen gestured as she continued with, “Everett had met him when I did, and the day we met him, he wrote out a cryptic message for me from Eleanor. He then handed me that message while verbally telling me how to decipher it. He then—as if a switch was flipped—reverted back to his autistic self and retook his place at his drawing pad.”

  “It was eerie,” Everett added.

  Robin turned towards Andie before genuinely saying, “I’m sorry, sis, for not believing you. Can you forgive me?”

  Andie nodded with a pleasant grin.

  When Andie didn’t verbally respond, Everett questioned, “Andie will be taken off the medication now, right?”

  “I would love to say ‘yes’, but my parents…” Robin gestured towards Andie before continuing, “Our parents won’t believe that Andie is seeing ghosts no matter what proof we take to them.”

  “That medication might be causing her harm though,” Everett pointed out.

  “I do feel… bad when I’m on it,” Andie shared.

  “Andie, you will have to prove to your parents that you’re getting better,” Jessica said.

  “And how is she supposed to do that?” Everett asked.

  “Andie will have to pretend not to be able to see the ghosts,” Jessica replied.

  “I tried that before,” Andie said shyly. “The ghosts won’t leave me alone though and it’s hard to ignore them.”

  “Everett, perhaps your mom could help to get Andie off of her medication,” Ellen suggested.

  Everett shrugged before saying, “We could ask.”

  “How could your mom help?” Robin asked.

  “She’s a third shift supervising nurse in the psychiatric ward at the hospital,” Everett shared. “So she might know of a way to get Andie off of that medication.”

  “Until then, moving on to a more pleasant topic,” Karla prompted.

  “One more thing before we do,” Ellen announced. “Andie. Robin. I’ll need you guys’ phone number, so I can get in contact with you. I’ll even exchange it for my number.”

  Andie slightly grinned as Robin nodded while saying,” Alright.”

  Ellen and Robin then exchanged phone numbers. Once Robin had Ellen’s phone number, he rejoined his girlfriend Maria on the other side of the room.

  Chapter Two

  Andie had remained with Ellen’s group, and as the evening progressed, Ellen would ask Andie things to get to know her, and to get her involved in the conversation.

  During their conversation, Ellen learned that Andie and Robin attended a private school. Ellen also learned that Andie and Robin’s parents were both research doctors for a local facility.

  Everett saw in Ellen’s eyes that Ellen wasn’t happy when Andie shared that test animals were being used at the research facility. Ellen took a calming breath befor
e saying, “I’ll keep that little tidbit away from my uncle.”

  Ellen saw a confused look on Andie’s face as Karla asked, “Your uncle would have a problem with animals being used for research?”

  “Mmm,” Ellen let out with an agreeing grin. “In fact, over twenty years ago, he was an animal rights activist. About twenty years ago, he went to prison for several years for breaking into a lab, releasing the animals and assaulting police and security officers.”

  “And how much do you take after your uncle?” Everett questioned in a slightly worried tone.

  Ellen amusingly grinned before shrugging and saying, “I don’t know, but I won’t be breaking into labs and releasing lab animals… or anything worse. In fact, the only thing that I would do is sign a petition if one comes my way.”

  “I’m happy to hear that,” Everett told her with a grin.

  Ellen nodded with a grin before continuing on with a different topic.

  Across town, Winona—instead of being out hunting vampires—was at a local hospital while waiting patiently for her Great Aunt Bonnie’s test results. She, Riley and Brad had been waiting in the waiting room for over two hours after they had rushed Bonnie to the hospital with severe chest pains.

  Ellen and her group stayed at the party until 10:00 P.M. Allen was the one who drove his group to the party, and he was the one who was to drive everyone home.

  Ellen got out with Everett in front of Everett’s house and then assured Allen that she will find her own way home after she speaks with Everett’s mom.

  Karla was in the front passenger seat while Jessica and Simon were in the backseats, and as Allen drove away, Ellen and Everett entered Everett’s house.

  Everett’s dad was in the living room while watching the late night news when Ellen and Everett entered the room.

  “Hi, Mr. Delaney,” Ellen said when he looked her way.

  Lance glanced at his watch before saying, “Ellen, I thought that you were going straight home after the party.”

  “I have a question for Mrs. Delaney,” Ellen explained. “She hasn’t left for work yet, has she?”