Phoenix and the Dark Star Read online

  “They are…” Tucker was only able to get out.

  “Are they here in Savannah, Georgia?” Ellen interrupted.

  Tucker slightly grinned before saying, “They live ten minutes from here.”

  “I want to meet them,” Ellen insisted.

  “They’ll want to meet you too, but I’m not sure how possible it will be,” Tucker said.

  “Why not?” Ellen demanded to know.

  “Our handler might object to it,” Tucker supplied.

  When a confused expression came across Ellen’s face, Lance explained, “There are protocols to follow, Ellen, and the fact that your uncle is currently talking to you activates a relocation protocol.”

  “What do you mean?” Ellen demanded.

  “There’s a good chance that your grandparents and your Uncle Tucker will be relocated to a different part of the country over you identifying your uncle,” Lance said.

  An annoyed expression came across Ellen’s face before she asked, “Why are you in the witness protection program anyway?”

  “Your grandparents and I witnessed a man named Liam Seawall murdering someone…” Tucker was only able to get out.

  “Any relationship to Clayton Seawall?” Ellen interrupted.

  “Liam was Clayton’s father, and if it wasn’t for a man named Alex Anderson, your grandparents and I would be dead too.”

  “What do you mean… about Alex Anderson?” Ellen quickly asked as she, Everett and Lance stared curiously at him.

  “He worked for Liam, and after we had witnessed the murder, he had allowed us to escape undetected by Liam,” Tucker said. “Of course, by his son Mitchell dating my sister at the time…” Tucker quit talking and stared intensely into Ellen’s face for a brief moment. “Mitchell Anderson is your dad, isn’t he?”

  Ellen took a breath before nodding and requesting, “Please don’t hold that against me though.”

  Tucker shot Ellen a confused look while saying, “I like your dad. He’s a good guy.”

  “Obviously those thirty-two years in witness protection program had left you out of touch with reality,” Ellen replied.

  “You think that your dad is a bad man?” Tucker asked confusingly.

  “My dad and grandpa… my Grandpa Alex had worked for Clayton Seawall before Clayton Seawall had gone to prison sixteen years ago.” Ellen informed. “And my dad had gone to prison sixteen years ago himself for thirteen years over accidentally killing four of my siblings and my Grandpa Alex while fleeing from the police.”

  Tucker hesitated for a moment before saying, “Okay, well, I have no response for him getting your Grandpa Alex and siblings killed; however, if he worked for Clayton, he only did it to protect your mom.”

  “What do you mean?” Ellen quickly asked.

  “Liam had his hands in everything illegally imaginable, and your Grandpa Wendell had owed Liam ten thousand dollars over a gambling debt,” Tucker began. “Your Grandpa Wendell, Grandma Deloris and I were at Liam’s mansion so your Grandpa Wendell could pay back that debt; however, before he could, we witnessed Liam shooting someone…”

  “What does that have to do with my dad working for Clayton Seawall?” Ellen interrupted.

  “Although your Grandpa Wendell had the money, he never got the chance to pay back his debt, and the Seawalls had the habit of going after the next of kin for people’s debts,” Tucker continued. “Your dad loved my sister… your mother. And I’ll bet anything that your dad took on my dad’s debt in order to keep the Seawalls from going after your mother.”

  With a confused expression across her face, Ellen questioned, “Why didn’t he tell me this four years ago… when he was attempting to bond with me?”

  “Most likely your dad didn’t want your mom learning about any debt that your Grandpa Wendell had racked up,” Tucker guessed. “And because of your Grandpa Wendell’s and Grandma Deloris’s testimonies against Liam over murder, your dad might’ve racked up a large debt of his own in order to keep your mom off of the Seawall’s hit list.”

  “Okay, my dad had definitely left out a huge chunk of his life story when he was telling me his life story,” Ellen replied.

  “How old are you, Ellen?” Tucker asked.

  “Sixteen,” Ellen answered. “Why?”

  “You’re my niece and I’m just curious of your age,” Tucker replied. “And you had four siblings?”

  “Five total, but they’re all dead,” Ellen said. Tucker frowned slightly. “Three of my brothers and my sister had died seven and a half months before I was even born, and Michael—the oldest sibling to us all—and his wife Tanya had died last month in an auto accident. He was twenty-nine.”

  “I’m sorry to hear about your mom and siblings,” Tucker said sympathetically.

  “Thanks,” Ellen said. She then gestured towards her group. “Anyway, this is my boyfriend Everett and his dad Detective Lance Delaney.”

  “Good meeting you folks,” Tucker told Everett and Lance.

  “Good meeting you,” Lance and Everett echoed.

  “So, Ellen, how long have you and your dad been living here in Savannah, Georgia?” Tucker asked.

  “I don’t live with my dad,” Ellen replied. “He lives in Independence, Missouri, and I’ve been living here for only a couple of weeks.”

  Tucker gave Ellen an incredulous look before pointing out, “You’re too young to be living on your own. So who are you living with?”

  “With Harris and Allyson Bradley. Harris is Tanya’s brother.” When Tucker gave an acknowledging nod, Ellen continued with, “Could you hold out on informing your handler about you being identified by me until after I meet Grandpa and Grandma?”

  Tucker took a breath before saying, “Give me your contact information, Ellen, and I will see what I can do for you to meet your grandparents and cousins.”

  “Okay,” Ellen agreed, “but I’ll need a pen and paper.”

  Tucker nodded before saying, “I’ll get them for you.”

  Ellen nodded before Tucker turned and walked away. Tucker was gone for a short time before returning with a notepad and a pen.

  As Tucker held out the items for Ellen to take, he said, “Here you go.”

  Ellen took the items without saying a word and flipped to the first blank page before proceeding to write down her address, the numbers to her house phone and cell phone and her Email address.

  Once the information was written down, she held out the notepad and pen for Tucker to retake.

  Tucker took the items before telling Ellen, Everett and Lance, “It was good meeting you three, but I need to get back to work.”

  “We need to get going anyway,” Lance said.

  “I hope I see you again,” Ellen told Tucker.

  Tucker grinned before saying, “Me too. Anyway, take care, Ellen.”

  Ellen nodded while echoing, “Take care.”

  “Bye,” Lance said followed by Everett.

  Tucker nodded before turning and walking away.

  As Tucker was walking towards his cash register, Ellen, Everett and Lance walked towards the exit.

  A few minutes later, Lance was letting Ellen and Everett out at Ellen’s house.

  Before Everett could shut his door, Lance told him, “Be ready to go at nine.”

  “Okay, Dad,” Everett replied before shutting his door.

  As Ellen—with her book bag and the bag of her purchased item in her hands—and Everett walked towards the front door, Lance drove away.

  Ellen led the way into the house, and once in the living room, Ellen and Everett saw that Jessica and Karla were there, in the living room, while sitting in dining room chairs.

  Blaire, Devon and Trevor were sitting on the couch. Blaire was gently and playfully bouncing Sonya in her lap. Harris and Allyson were sitting on the love seat while Sadie was sitting in the armchair. A music CD was playing at a comfortable level in the background.

  Ellen shot Jessica and Karla a confused look before asking them, “Where’s your two’
s car?”

  “Our dad drove us here,” Karla said as Ellen put her book bag and the drugstore bag down next to one of the end tables.

  “Ah,” Ellen said in an understanding tone before gesturing towards Everett. “Anyway, for the ones who don’t know Everett, this is he. Everett, meet Blaire, Devon, Trevor and Sadie.”

  “Hi,” Everett, Blaire, Devon, Trevor and Sadie said in an uneven chorus.

  “So you’re the witch-finder,” Blaire continued.

  Everett shrugged while saying, “I guess I am.”

  “I know for a fact that a witch-finder is what you are,” Blaire told him.

  “Okay,” Everett said, skeptically.

  “From a spell, William the Conqueror had turned a talented group of archers into witch-finders prior to his invasion of England in order for those archers to spot a witch or a wizard among the apposing army,” Sadie shared with Everett. “When William the Conqueror and his men did invade, those archers were instructed to go after the witches and wizards as they spotted them. What William the Conqueror didn’t take into account is that the ability to spot witches and wizards would be passed down to those archers’ descendants.”

  Everett slightly grinned while saying, “That’s an interesting fun fact.”

  “So have Jessica and Karla been filled in on things?” Ellen asked.

  “They’ve been told,” Blaire said, “but before I continue with more than that, I need to know what all have you told Everett.”

  “I told him about the Tri-Star Confederation, your offer for me to join the confederation and the definition of Immortal Magic,” Ellen began. “I didn’t think to tell him the part about him being a witch-finder.”

  “Everett, I was hoping that Ellen would decide not to tell you, but since she had, you must understand the importance of keeping the existence of the Tri-Star Confederation a secret,” Blaire said.

  “I’ll keep the secret,” Everett replied. “I promise.”

  “I hope so,” Blaire said.

  “So, Jessica? Karla? Have you two accepted the offer of joining?” Ellen asked.

  “We accepted,” Jessica and Karla said.

  “Blaire said that you haven’t given your answer yet,” Karla continued.

  “I thought about it, and I’ve decided to join,” Ellen said while looking towards Blaire.

  “Excellent,” Blaire said. “So does anyone have any questions?”

  “Has Harry joined?” Ellen quickly asked while glancing at him.

  “I have,” Harris said.

  “So are there any other questions,” Blaire asked.

  “Have you talked to Jessica and Karla about those books?” Ellen asked.

  “We were about to get to that when you and Everett were joining us,” Blaire said.

  “What books?” Jessica asked.

  “Those ancient books… or documents that your grandfather owned,” Ellen said.

  “Jessica. Karla. With your permission, Devon, Trevor and I would like to look at those books or documents,” Blaire said.

  ‘Sure’ and ‘Okay’ were the responses that Blaire received from Jessica and Karla.

  “It’s actually only one book though,” Jessica informed. “And how soon do you want to look at it?”

  “Until this wizard in New Orleans is dealt with, Devon, Trevor, Sadie and I won’t be going anywhere,” Blaire began. “So at your convenience.”

  “Okay,” Jessica said.

  “I have a question that I want to ask, but I keep forgetting to,” Everett announced.

  “Ask it,” Devon urged.

  “From Ellen, I learn that crystal balls are real,” Everett began. “But what about magical wands?”

  “Everett, I’m going to assume that you know how to operate a computer,” Trevor said.

  “I do,” Everett said in a confused tone.

  “So you would know about keyboard shortcuts?” Trevor questioned.

  “Again, yes,” Everett replied in the same confused tone.

  “Okay, well, a magical wand is nothing more than a magical token, and any object can be turned into a magical token, and magical tokens are nothing more than shortcuts to predetermine spells,” Trevor informed.

  “Give a better example,” Ellen requested with a confused expression on her face.

  Trevor grinned before saying, “The ‘levitating an object’ spell is eight lines long, but you can cast an incantation on a wand that will make the wand levitate an object with a single command word.”

  “And any object can be turned into a magical token that will make things levitate?” Ellen questioned.

  “Yes, but obviously carrying or waving a statue around to levitate things would be impractical… plus making you look ridiculous,” Trevor began. Ellen just amusingly grinned. “So most objects of choice that are turned into magical tokens are jewelry, rocks, wands and staffs. And when a wizard or a sorceress chooses to use a wand or a staff as a token, it’s mainly to dazzle or confound the attended audience. Also you can have as many magical tokens as you want; however, you will have to give each token its own individual command word or phrase, otherwise you will activate multiple tokens at the same time.”

  “Make sense,” Karla said.

  “Oh, and don’t fret if any of you would ever lose a magical token,” Devon added. “Magical tokens only work for the witch or the wizard who the tokens were cast for.”

  “That’s not a completely true statement,” Blaire quickly informed while glancing between Jessica and Karla. Everyone gave Blaire a curious look. “Blood is what binds a token to a person, and since twins… especially identical twins share the exact blood type and DNA, a token will work for either twin regardless of which twin that the token was cast for.”

  “Yes,” Devon agreed in a tone as if the knowledge of that fact had suddenly come back to him. “Twins are the only exceptions to my last statement. Anyway, Ellen, Jessica and Karla, here’s another tidbit that you three might be interested in. By becoming stage magicians—and as long as you three keep the spells small and trivial—you three can mask the fact that you three are practicing witchcraft in public. So if, or when people would see you performing witchcraft, those people will think that it’s a part of your bag of stage tricks.”

  “There’s a thought,” Karla said.

  “That would also ease Sonya into the world of witchcraft too, by introducing her to stage magic first,” Ellen added.

  “It would,” Blaire agreed.

  “Except I don’t want a career as a stage magician,” Ellen continued.

  “You don’t have to make a career out of it,” Trevor told Ellen. “Just take it up as a hobby; however, people will need to see you practicing that hobby before that façade will work.”

  When Ellen nodded in agreement with a polite grin, Devon said, “Here’s another tidbit that you might or might not be familiar with. The spell that changes man into beasts predates documented history, so lycanthropy—L-Y-C-A-N-T-H-R-O-P-Y—and liken—L-I-K-E-N—are one and the same, and as far as I know, both of those words had appeared in history at around the same time. However, some people choose to think of lycanthropy as the science behind the liken spell.”

  “And if you talk to anyone who studies or teaches myths or folklore, those people will most likely use the term lycanthropy… or—thanks to the ‘Underworld’ series—the word lycan—L-Y-C-A-N. So keep that fact in mind if a discussion comes up at school about it,” Blaire added. “Anyway, are there any other questions?”

  As Ellen tried to think of any questions that she might want answered, Jessica said, “I don’t have any.”

  “I don’t have any either,” Karla said.

  “What about voodoo dolls?” Everett asked, as if it was an afterthought. “Are they real?”

  “Yes… and no,” Trevor informed.

  “Yes and no?” Ellen echoed curiously.

  “To put a hex on someone, the witch or wizard would wrap the victim’s nail clippings, the victim’s hair and a smal
l amount of the victim’s blood inside an enclosed sack, and then chant the appropriate hex incantation,” Trevor explained. “I’ve heard those sacks called several things, including hex bags. In any case, a voodoo doll is nothing more than a hex bag. And the only reason why a witch or a wizard would make the hex bag look like a doll is to openly scare the victim, and by openly scaring the victim, the victim could do more harm to him or herself while trying to avoid the hex dangers than the hex spell could ever do.”

  “Also, movies and storybooks do exaggerate the hex bag’s power,” Blaire added before looking towards Ellen. “And for examples, you can’t drown a person by immersing a voodoo doll underwater, or suffocate the person by putting the doll inside an airtight enclosure, or even burning the person by lighting it on fire. In fact, the only way to harm a person with a hex bag, is by casting a malicious incantation on it—and even that, the number of incantations that will work on a hex bag are very limited.”

  “What kind of malicious incantation will work with a hex bag?” Ellen asked.

  “Incantations that can interfere with someone’s physical or mental health,” Blaire began. “However, those health hexes are mild, but accumulative, so it may take up to a year or longer to see any change in the victim’s health. Anyway, there are hexes that can give someone either specific or random nightmares, or even prevent them from sleeping all together. There’s also a hex that can turn someone into a total klutz… there’s more, but I can’t currently think of them. Anyway, any more questions?”

  “No,” Jessica and Karla said.

  “The magical wand and the voodoo dolls were all I was wondering about,” Everett said.

  When everyone turned towards Ellen, Ellen said, “I don’t have any questions.”

  “Ellen, Jessica and Karla, I have a question for you three,” Devon began. When they gave him their focus, he asked, “Are you three virgins?”

  “That’s a personal question,” Jessica shot at him before Ellen or Karla could respond.

  “You’re right, and you three don’t have to answer, but if any of you are a virgin, I highly recommend that you three lose your virginity,” Devon told them.

  “You’re telling us to have sex?” Ellen demanded to know.