Invoke

Chapter 25

"What!" Grace screamed in panic. She froze where she stood, the air purring with what sounded like whispers of people in the room. Loud, yet soft and prevalent, churning about in the stillness. Regina seemed unmindful of it, her attention not parting from Scarlett. Rosetta had left, bolting down the narrow hall, the sound of her footsteps carrying in the small house.

She yelled from the back room. "Which one, Nana?" the alarm in Rosetta's voice evident.

Regina's old frame hunkered over to Scarlett, who sat upright in the chair, unaware of anything but the immense void she seemed to be trapped in.

"What do you mean, possession?" Grace barely choked out the words. "She was fine a second ago." Her eyes looked again at Scarlett, who sat quite properly, considering.

"Does anyone hear that?" Grace whimpered.

At that moment, Rosetta ran into the room carrying a spread of things, but one that attracted Grace's eye was a silver chain with a large pendant that swayed in her hand. The silver rope chain was quite long and tarnished. It looked very old, perhaps an heirloom. The oval-shaped stone was a tiger's eye that flashed softly in the room from the rays of sun pushing through the windows.

"I brought the Tiger's eye." Rosetta breathed out, grabbing the small wooden chair that was next to the sofa. She quickly moved the tiny coffee table with her leg, pushing it several inches away from the sofa, all the while handing Regina the necklace and placing the chair directly in front of Scarlett so her grandmother could sit.

Grace felt utterly helpless. She collapsed into a chair opposite the couch.

Regina nodded, not once separating from eye contact. "It is the correct choice."

Her old hands took it into her palm then brought it to her mouth. She whispered something, and then lifted her arm, allowing the pendant to swing back and forth on her wrist in a hypnotic fashion. It swayed long strokes on its own, as if it was powered by an unseen energy.

Rosetta methodically lit the white candles she had brought in, and took the sage bundle and lit it as well, then placed it in a large abalone seashell on the table. She stood adjacent to her grandmother and observed, like a student eager to learn. Grace stared at all three, wildly desperate, trying not to crumble out of sheer panic.

"Scarlett, are you here with us now?" Regina asked in a low voice that was quiet, but firm.

Scarlett nodded no, her eyes closing. Then a faint smile began to take form at the corners of her mouth. Again, the light whispers pricked the room, but no one seemed troubled by it, other than Grace.

Regina turned her head looking to Rosetta, their eyes communicating, and asked. "Who are you? What do you want with Scarlett? What do you seek?"

The tiger's eye rapidly moved faster and faster, gliding like silk on Regina's dark wrist.

The quiet was too much. Its loud squall was like the sounds of shattered glass falling throughout. Regina pressed on. 

"You've come here for answers, have you not? You've breached the walls of the living and the dead, and yet your voice is as hushed as the night."

Scarlett sighed loudly then, straightening her shoulders. Her brows were held in concentration, and her head began to shake in protest to whatever was consuming her flesh.

Regina's voice rose higher. "Are you Josephine or Veronica?"

Scarlett's eyes flew open then, wide and alive. Then a voice that was not Scarlett's breached the surface. "You know who I am, Madam Regina. I am Veronica. Josephine is my enemy."