Out of the Darkness

138

With Sam's help, I was able to get the essentials done, and change clothes. Didn't compare to a shower, but even that little bit wore me completely out. "Why don't you rest for a while? I'll come back in an hour and check your bandages again," he suggested, after he helped me to my couch. "I will rest," I replied. "On this couch, with my laptop, while I do research on being as safe as we can be to go back to that house." He rolled his eyes skyward, and shook his head. "You're so stubborn sometimes." "I know," I said, laughing. "Yo, will you hand me the doll?" He glanced at Anna's doll on the foot of my bed, then back to me. "Still haven't heard from her, huh?" I shook my head. "No. I don't know if she's avoiding me, or if something is wrong. So, I'm going to try to get her to come talk to me." "I hope you get too," he said, grabbing the doll and handing it to me. "Thanks, man. Me too,," I replied, with a deep sigh. Even if she didn't answer me, I was going to tell her what I had planned. Maybe she could still hear me. "Okay, let me know if you need anything," Sam said, walking to my bedroom door. "I'll check on you in a bit." I rolled my eyes, and grinned. "Thanks Mom." "You're welcome, sweetie," he said, in a high pitched voice, as he walked out and closed the door behind him. I laughed, then picked up Anna's doll. I stared into it's vibrant green eyes, trying to find some hint of life in them. I only saw the hard, glass that they were made of. "Anna, if you can let me know you're okay somehow, I would really appreciate it. I feel like I haven't spoken to you in forever," I said, softly. At first, there was still nothing. Just me, talking to a fucking doll. Just as I was about to set the doll aside, the citrusy smell that I had been missing filled my senses. "Anna? Are you there?" I asked. I saw a slight shimmer in the air in front of me, almost making the outline of her. Then it was gone. "Are you not strong enough? Or is something stopping you?" A light breeze went through my room, lifting the hair at the back of my neck. Then the room went still, and the citrusy smell disappeared. "Anna?" I called out to her again, and waited. Something had to be stopping her. Or she was too weak to talk to me. I didn't want to think about that option. I waited another couple of minutes and didn't get in inclination that she was still with me. So, I opened my laptop and started doing research about protection spells, and talismans. There were the usual things, like sage and crosses, a few protection spells that you could perform on these items to make them stronger, and then something caught my eye. Something called a Universal Protector Talisman. That sounded promising. I clicked the link, and read the first paragraph. "The story behind the name of the universal protector talisman is quite simple. It is called universal because it can protect you against a while range of problems and hardships. Despite the simplicity of the answer, the production process of the universal protector talisman is quite complex and not all magic practitioners are able to make it." Okay, wow. I really hoped that Ash or Amethyst. That was her name! Pretty sure. Anyway, stay focused Colby. I kept reading about how some people just put a tag on their talismans, saying that they were universal protectors, when they were actually made just to protect against one thing. That wasn't going to work for me. Then came the list of things that an actual universal protector talisman could protect you from. "Diseases and premature death; human meanness, envy and revengefulness; certain curses; all types of black and white magic; negative energies; accidents; loneliness and divorce; loss of money and poverty" It went on to say that the talismans could be 'pimped out' to make you almost invincible. I got excited for a minute when I read that. Who wouldn't want to be invincible? Then I continued reading. "Aw, damn it," I muttered. That would take months of hard work and would cost as much as a luxury car, or at least, that's what the website said. I scrolled through the different amulets that the page owner was selling, and whistled in between my teeth. "Daaamn, these are expensive," I murmured. There was one that caught my eye, in particular. On a thin cord of dark stained rope, hung what looked to be a wood chip. It was decorated with quite a few tiny light and dark beads, and an amber colored gem in the middle. There was a painted design on it, that looked like amber colored flames, and it had two small metal cuffs attached to the rope. I had no clue why, but I almost felt like it was calling to me. This was the one that I needed, though I had no idea how I knew that. I glanced at the price and almost fell off of the couch. "$1100!" I exclaimed, loudly. "What the fuck?! It's a chip of wood on a rope!" I knew it was more than that. I could feel it, but $1100?? There was no way that I was getting that thing...was there? I glanced at Anna's doll, and then thought about Sam doing everything he could to help me with this excursion, even though he knew it was really dangerous. "Damn it," I growled. I grabbed my wallet off of the table and dug around for my credit card. Looked like I was getting the damn thing. "It better fucking work," I grumbled, putting in my information. I filled out all of my information quickly, got next day delivery, got my confirmation, and closed the page. I didn't need to see anything else on that site. "What the fuck am I doing?" I sighed to myself, and leaned my head back on the couch. I was really trying to take on a woman who had become a witch, who I was beginning to believe had turned into a demon, of sorts. For someone that I really didn't know. Hell, she barely knew herself. It didn't matter though. Anna had come to be very important to me.