The Coven: Dark Summons, #2

By Tricia Drammeh

Abby has finally put the horrors of the past behind her and is ready to move forward as a medium-in-training, but her vow to refrain from dabbling in the paranormal is harder to keep than she'd anticipated. A strained relationship with a former best friend, a mysterious stalker, and a new friend who is full of surprises turns Abby's world upside down, but when she discovers someone she trusts is keeping a shocking secret, she doesn't know where to turn.​

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blue Flower Books
• Release date: Aug 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393460350

Tricia Drammeh

Tricia Drammeh is a wife and mother of four children who lives in New Hampshire. Her published works include The Fifth Circle, The Seance, Better than Perfect, and the Spellbringers series. She is currently working on her ninth novel. When Tricia isn't writing, she can be found hanging out with her dog, devouring books, or drinking record-breaking amounts of coffee.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

BLOG POST: HAPPY NEW Year’s Eve to my faithful followers. I hope you’re all ready for a fantastic new year. I know I am! As many of you know, it’s been a rough year for me. I’m happy to report that I am excited and ready for the fresh start a new year will bring. I have absolute faith that things will be much better. I’m looking forward to sharing my new adventures with you. Until next year, stay healthy, happy, and safe. Blessed Be.

I closed my laptop, smiling to myself. In just a few hours, a new year would be upon me. I couldn’t wait. So much had happened. So much had changed in my life. I was excited about what life had in store for me.

Glancing at the clock, I sighed. Jared was supposed to pick me up in less than two hours, but it seemed like an eternity. Mom and Dad were out for the night. It was the first time since the exorcism that they’d left me alone. They had offered to skip the New Year’s Eve dinner party with Dad’s real estate friends, but I had assured them I’d be okay. Besides, I was going over to Karen’s and Jared’s for the evening, so I wouldn’t be alone.

The quiet stillness of my empty house was oppressive, and though I knew my house was safe, I didn’t want to stay there alone any longer. The irrational side of fear had taken over and before I knew it, I had my coat, hat, gloves, and cell phone, and I was rushing out the door, tugging my gloves on as I rushed down the driveway.

Cold air cut through my thick winter coat. As the sun made its final descent behind the clouds, I turned the corner and headed down toward the river. The meandering flow of water rippled in the moonlight, and all my fear and anxiety sloughed away. I loved the river. There was something so soothing and peaceful, and even in the bitter cold, I had an overwhelming desire to keep walking until I reached the path that wound close to the river’s muddy banks.

I nodded at a couple of joggers and a guy walking a huge black dog. He hustled along, seeming desperate to get out of the cold. Even bundled up from head to toe, he probably wasn’t as warm as his furry best friend.

Standing on the pathway, I reached down, scooped up a couple of rocks, and tossed one toward the water. My throws went astray, so I used my teeth to strip one thick knit glove from my right hand. My next attempt at throwing rocks went much better and I heard a thin plop as my toss hit the water. A few rocks later, I was frigid and ready to get out of the cold. The old-fashioned street lights on Main Street beckoned, and with a final glance and silent goodbye to the river, I walked up the hill toward Jared’s aunt’s shop.

Celestial Traditions was my favorite store in the whole world. It was owned by Jared’s aunt Claire—Karen’s sister. Jared worked there during his spare time, which was how I met him. Before the séance, I used to browse the shop, marveling at the mystical objects. Crystals, books, jewelry, incense, music CDs—everything imaginable. I swore that when I was older and had a job, I’d buy everything my heart desired. Until then, I had to be content with the occasional candle or bag of six-for-one-dollar incense sticks.

Wind whipped around me, nearly ripping my hat from my head. I turned down a back alley, eager to take a shortcut that might provide some shelter from the wind. Walking quickly and navigating around trash cans and boxes that belonged to one of the shops up on Main, I tilted my head, listening. Footsteps sounded behind me. I jerked my head around, but no one was there. Dark doorways lined the alleyway. If someone had been following me, they might have dipped into the shadows to evade detection. Most likely it was my own fear and paranoia that made me imagine phantom footsteps.

I continued toward Main Street, still listening. When I reached the illuminated, populated sidewalk, I turned around and gasped. A tall, dark form stood in the middle of the alley. He turned away, retreating back toward the river. Shivers wracked my body. Not just shivers from the cold, but from apprehension.

As my eyes adjusted to the well-lit street, I strode toward Celestial Traditions, and with every step, my fear lessened. After all, the person I saw didn’t try to accost me. He or she might have worked at one of the shops and was on their way home after their shift. I wasn’t the only person to take the alleyways as shortcuts. Lots of people did. No one had been following me. I had just been hearing things.

Wind chimes and dangly crystals tinkled as I opened the door to Celestial Traditions. Any lingering doubt I had about the dark figure dissipated as I stepped across the threshold of the shop. The aromas of a hundred different varieties of incense and candles competed for attention. As I drew closer to the counter, the scent of Nag Champa grew stronger. Plumes of smoke wafted from an incense burner that looked like a jolly Buddha. I inhaled the wispy scent of comfort.

Hey, Abby, Jared called from behind the counter.

A woman dressed in a long, flowing, multi-colored woven caftan came from the back room. She looked a lot like Karen, even though their styles were completely different. While Karen looked like any typical middle-aged woman with her neat, cropped gray hair and casual clothing, this woman let her long gray hair curl and frizz around her face and down her back and shoulders. Her bright, colorful clothing and jangling bracelets commanded attention. Claire looked like a total hippy or mystic, as opposed to Karen who could blend in anywhere.

Abby, she said. It’s about time I got to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from Jared and Karen. Come give Auntie Claire a hug.

She was on me before I could protest, pulling me into an embrace. She smelled like lavender and cookies, a heady combination, but not the least bit unpleasant. I liked her instantly.

You give good vibes, she said. How naughty of Jared and Karen not to include me in their little exorcism.

I caught Jared’s glance from over Claire’s shoulder. His expression was a mix of apology and amusement.

Aunt Claire, you should consider yourself lucky we didn’t include you, Jared said. Besides, you were sick and Aunt Karen said the demon would have sensed your weakness. We had to act quickly.

Of course you did, honey, she said, releasing me and turning to her nephew. Why don’t you go ahead and get out of here? There’s no reason for both of us to be here. She swept her hand in an arc, indicating the empty shop.

Only if you’re sure... Jared began before I interrupted.

No, he doesn’t have to leave. I’m sorry. I just sort of showed up...

Nonsense, Claire said, cutting off both mine and Jared’s protests. I might close up shop early anyway and get an early start on my New Year’s Eve celebration.

You should come over. Aunt Karen is making a big pot of chili and we still have cookies left over from Christmas...

No, no. I can’t leave my babies. What kind of mother would leave her babies all alone on New Year’s Eve? They like to celebrate too, you know.

Yeah, I know they do. Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us, he said.

Abby, it was good to meet you, honey. You come over to the store more often, you hear? I’m not always around, but if you’re lucky, you might catch me. She winked.

Claire hugged both me and Jared, before bustling us out the door. The sign in the front window flipped from ‘open’ to ‘closed’ before we made it two steps down the sidewalk.

She’s nice, I said.

In an eccentric way, Jared replied, laughing. Aunt Claire is fun, but Aunt Karen is much more settled. That’s why she took me in. Besides, Aunt Claire’s house is too full of ‘babies.’

What kind of babies?

Mostly cats. A small, mean Chihuahua. A couple of guinea pigs. I’ve lost track, to be honest. It’s like a freaking zoo over there. Aunt Karen can’t stand it.

I laughed, imagining Claire surrounded by her menagerie as she rang in the New Year. Did she pour a glass of champagne for each animal? Or did she buy them special treats? Fancy Feast for the cats, bacon strips for the dog, and maybe a carrot for the guinea pigs?

Is Yasin coming over? Jared asked, opening the passenger side door of his car for me.

No. His family is at an event.

I didn’t elaborate. Yasin’s family was spending the evening at the cultural center. They were having special prayers and then a feast. I was used to being vague when it came to Yasin and his religion. At school, a lot of the other kids accused Yasin of being a terrorist just because he was a Muslim. Jared and Karen weren’t like that, but I still didn’t think it was my place to blab about Yasin and his family. Actually, Karen had given Yasin an open invitation to her house. Yasin had risked his life to help me, Karen, and Jared get rid of the demon that had haunted me. His unwavering support through the worst time of my life did not go unnoticed.

Have you, um, talked to Martha? Jared asked.

While Yasin had been a rock of strength, my ex-bestie Martha had been willing to leave me to deal with my demon problem alone. She cut me off, avoided me, and then dated my long term crush. Only through threats and bribes did Martha become convinced to help me. And though we sort of made up after the incident, we would never be friends like we used to be. Martha had a new set of friends and a new boyfriend. And I was still the weird Goth girl who was dating the school ‘terrorist.’"

I’ve talked to Martha, I said. We might hang out sometime. We’ll see. Things are still weird between us.

I can imagine. After a pause, he said, I can’t see how you two were ever best friends. She’s so different from you.

I stiffened and took a covert look in the side mirror at my reflection. Dark hair, pale skin, circles under my eyes that were fading, but not gone yet. I was hardly the fashion princess Martha had become. I smoothed my hands over my black knit leggings, wishing I would have worn something nicer. The clothes my mom had bought me for Christmas were cute, but not my style, and today I’d chosen comfort over fashion. Now I regretted it.

Jared continued, She’s so...soft. I don’t know. She totally lost it. I mean, I know it was some terrifying sh...stuff, but still. You and Yasin didn’t flake.

Well, everyone is different, I replied, thinking that Jared was right in his assessment of Martha, but I was unwilling to trash her. She wasn’t really my friend anymore, but she used to be. It might have been easy for her to cast me aside, but it wasn’t that easy for me.

I guess so.

We rode in silence until we reached Karen’s house. Multi-colored Christmas lights lit the front porch and her Christmas tree twinkled in the window. Her house looked festive and inviting from the outside, but even more so from indoors. A merry fire flickered in the fireplace. Scents of warm apple cider, chili, and vanilla wafted from the kitchen.

Hi, Aunt Karen, Jared said, meeting his aunt in the kitchen. He leaned down so she could plant a kiss on his cheek.

Hi, honey. How was work?

Dead. I think we had five customers all day. I tried to get Aunt Claire to come over, but you know how she is.

I do. So it’s just the three of us? she asked.

Looks like it. And, as usual, you’ve made enough food to feed an army.

She shrugged and turned to the stove. She ladled out three steaming mugs of cider and passed them around. I curled my hands around the warm mug and inhaled. Cinnamon, cloves, and spicy goodness. Karen cooked with love and that infused a special magic into everything she served.

I nibbled on a cookie while Jared and Karen talked.

We had a weirdo come into the store today, Jared said. I bit back a laugh. Most people in our Midwestern, conservative community would think Claire was the weirdo.

Oh, yeah? Karen asked, taking a sip of her cider. What made him weirder than most?

Her. I don’t know how to explain it. She didn’t really give off a negative vibe. Actually, she didn’t give off any particular vibe at all. She was very guarded.

Okay, so she probably has some natural or acquired skill in psychic shielding.

Right, but, I don’t know... Maybe Aunt Claire can explain it better. This woman was just...weird. She was in the store for less than five minutes, but she didn’t really look at anything. She stood by the jewelry and stared at the display case, but I could tell she wasn’t looking at the jewelry, if you know what I mean. Her head was tilted to the side, like she was listening for something.

Or maybe trying to pick up on the store’s vibe. Maybe she’s a psychic or a medium and is new to the area. If she’s looking for supplies, she’s going to be very particular where she shops. She doesn’t want to buy anything from a shop that has negative energy.

She didn’t buy anything. She just turned around and walked out without saying a word.

What did Claire say?

You know Aunt Claire. She just said, ‘What an odd little duck,’ and went back to dusting the shelves.

Then I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Claire might be a little flaky, but I trust her instincts. If there was something off about this woman, Claire would’ve noticed.

Okay, Jared said, relenting.

I could tell by his tone that he didn’t agree. Something about that woman had really bothered him, but maybe Jared was just being paranoid. Maybe he’d been thrown off his game by the demon incident at my house. It would probably take us both some time to recover. I thought about that dark figure I’d seen in the alley, but cast the thought aside. It was a guy I’d seen—not a woman. The height, the bulky build—yes, definitely a guy. And probably completely unrelated to the woman in the store. I’d allowed my fear to get the best of me, just like Jared’s reaction to the strange customer.

Karen stood up from the table and stirred the concoction in the crock pot. Then she began to dish out heaping helpings of chili. My mouth watered in response. Karen placed small containers of cheddar cheese, diced onions, chopped jalapenos, oyster crackers, and sour cream on the table. We each took turns doctoring up our chili just the way we liked it.

After we ate, we all worked together to clean up the dinner mess before moving into the living room. Karen placed platters of baklava and cookies on the coffee table, but we were too full to eat.

Abby, I’m glad you came over tonight.

Me too. Thanks for inviting me.

Jared and I usually perform a cleansing ritual on New Year’s Eve, but if you’ve had enough hocus pocus to last you, you don’t have to participate. We thought that after the year you’ve had, you might like to join us.

Yeah. I mean, thanks. I could use all the help I can get, right?

Karen nodded. Cleansing rituals can be performed anytime. We’ve already cleansed your house once, but it’s probably worth repeating. Eventually, you’ll be able to do a cleansing ritual on your own, but for now, you should have me or Jared help you.

What Karen was really saying was that I wasn’t ready to dabble in magic on my own. And she was right. The séance was only the beginning of my ineptitude. After accidentally summoning a demon, I’d turned to a fake psychic to help me cleanse my house. I’d racked up a huge charge on my dad’s credit card, acquired a bunch of useless magic stuff, and enraged the demon. If it hadn’t been for Jared and Karen, I’d probably be dead now. No joke. No exaggeration.

It sort of annoyed me that she felt she had to remind me not to take psychic matters into my own hands, but I couldn’t blame her. After what she’d had to deal with, it was only natural that she’d want to caution me. My face heated with embarrassment when I glanced at Jared. I’d been such an idiot back then. I wondered if he’d ever be able to look at me without thinking of the delusional fool who’d summoned a demon in my first and only séance.

Jared and I are going to cleanse the house, and then we’re going to do a purification ritual that will benefit us all. Nothing too extensive. We’re going to light a few candles, burn a little incense, and pray to the Other Side, asking the spirits to help us in the coming year.

I nodded. Sounded good to me. Like I’d told Karen, I needed all the help I could get in the new year.

Karen, Jared, and I held hands while Karen murmured a few prayers. She called on the Goddess and the spirits, asking them to purify her home and to cast away all negativity. Then she took a metal burner from a tall shelf in the corner. She filled the base with crushed leaves and lit the candle underneath. It looked like one of the things Catholic priests burned during Mass. The scent was not pleasant, but it wasn’t disgusting either. Karen walked through the house with the burner, chanting and praying while Jared and I followed her.

When she went down the hallway, I got my first glimpse into Jared’s bedroom. Clothing littered the floor, and Karen had to step over things in order to get into the corners. I stood in the hallway, feeling too weird to step inside. I looked around while Karen completed her ritual. Jared’s room seemed pretty normal. School books on a desk in the corner. An open laptop on the bed. Shoes kicked into a corner. A baseball glove on the dresser.

Karen’s house in general was the opposite of what someone would expect a medium’s house to look like. It was so normal. So average. I’d always thought a medium’s house would look like Celestial Traditions, and that a medium would look like Claire. But, clearly, that wasn’t the case. If someone didn’t know Karen, they’d never guess she prayed to a Goddess or wielded magic. Never in a million years.

Karen moved from Jared’s bedroom to her own bedroom, and then down to the basement. The unfinished basement was empty but for a few boxes and some pieces of furniture stacked in a corner. A washer, dryer, and hot water heater was at the opposite end. Karen quickly completed the purification ritual and Jared and I followed her upstairs.

After a brief prayer, Karen put away her purification supplies. Maybe it was only my imagination, but I felt lighter, free of the negativity that had plagued me for so long, ready to face the world.

Karen drove me home around eleven. My parents were waiting for me, but didn’t stay awake for long. Mom was exhausted from her advanced pregnancy and required extra sleep. Dad went upstairs with her. I shrugged and followed. There was no point staying downstairs by myself. The living room and family room were practically bare. We still hadn’t replaced all the furniture and electronics the demon had destroyed during his final hours.

Mom and Dad hugged me before disappearing into their room. And I went into my own bedroom, ready to ring in the New Year alone. I’d once heard a superstitious theory that whatever you’re doing at the stroke of midnight was what you’d be doing the rest of the year. I hoped my solitude at the stroke of midnight wasn’t setting the tone for the upcoming year.

CHAPTER TWO

Journal Entry: So totally not looking forward to going to school tomorrow. I can’t believe Winter break is over. Tragic! People always talk about getting back to normal or settling back into a routine after the holidays, but I don’t know what that’s going to look like. Does normal mean my mom and dad going back to their old workaholic ways? Or Yasin and I going back to being just friends? I don’t know what normal is anymore...

Going back to school after the Christmas break was always painful, and this year was no different. I spent the Sunday before immersed in dread. Monday dawned cold and gray, a suitable match for my mood. Mom drove me to school, promising to get off work by five.

Your dad will try to be home by the time you get out of school unless something comes up. He’s trying to schedule his appointments while you’re at school or while I’m home with you.

Okay. I appreciated my parents’ efforts to be there for me, but part of me rebelled against it. After being on my own for so long with hours and hours of free time each day, it would be an adjustment having to answer to someone else. Not that I spent tons of time away from home or anything, but still. When Martha and I had been friends, I