But there was one Egyptian god she wanted to please—the spider, its colour, all connected. Warmth and peace surged through her as she thought of the coming trip to the island. In her mind’s eye, she stood in her robe with her arms raised to the sky. The god would be pleased. Tingles raced through her body.
She resumed brushing her hair. Her partner’s support motivated her—guided by his Great Architect. He understood the things that needed to be done and he encouraged her. Sometimes she wondered why but such thoughts came from her old insecurities trying to fight their way back into her life.
A dark thought. She frowned and tilted her head. Could her partner be trusted?
Where did that come from?
Go away. She never wanted to return to those dark, depressed days and she hated the person that put her there, but someone would pay. The daughter of the man at fault and then maybe him.
She needed to focus on the task ahead, so whispered a goodbye to the mirror and disconnected from the spiritual world. She stood up and walked into her bedroom. The room was cold. Its warmth had departed through the uncovered window. She shivered and walked over to the window. How fitting—the full moon was climbing above the island. The water sparkled with glints of orange, adding joy to her heart. Reluctantly, she closed the curtains. Darkness also brought joy to her heart.
She lay on her bed and thought of her partner. She pictured him in his favourite shirt, a Hawaiian design, palm trees, blue sunset—it needed updating. He would be tugging at his beard, wandering the island. He’d left earlier, taking their boat. She hoped he was behaving. Although he’d never done anything to hurt her, his wandering eyes and other peculiarities disturbed her at times. She’d learned to push them back as she still found him endearing. It must be her mothering gene.
She would join him on the island tomorrow.
Her partner convinced her that the girl would come to the island, would participate in the circle. He had befriended and manipulated the appropriate person. Jill didn’t want to explore that thought too far.
What should she pack? Not now. Her eyelids were heavy. She relented. The image of the robed high priestess returned, the shadow of the hood concealing the face in darkness. Her mind moved her closer to the shrouded face. Her body shuddered. The face was covered in tiny green blackish crawling creatures. The creatures tumbling from the eyelids as they opened to reveal yellow reptilian eyes. Jill opened her eyes for a moment before a heaviness returned her to the land of dark dreams.
<°))) ><
Saturdays brought with it a different world. Shopping, gardening, exercising, socialising, and enthusiasm. And Ruby had to get out of her rut.
The man mowing her father’s lawn wasn’t the bronzed muscled man that housewives fell over. The mowing man must be in his sixties, but he looked fit and had muscle tone. She needed to give the man access to the property as her dad was still overseas, trudging through swamps seeking unusual bird encounters.
She sat on a bench under a large tree and tried to catch up on some reading while the man went about his tasks. Birds in the bird bath distracted her—Dad had passed his interest in nature on to her. She was convinced some of her friends didn’t know the difference between a tree and a bird. Harsh, but close to the truth.
The sound of the mower came closer.
The man removed his ear piece. “Won’t be much longer,” he yelled.
“That’s okay. I’m reading.” She pointed to the tablet device on her lap. “No rush.”
“What ya reading?” He turned off the mower.
“Just a healthy, nature-type book.”
“Good. Hope it’s not one of those new age books.” The man pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.
“New age?” She hoped he wasn’t allergic to grass.
“Yeah, you know. Nature and spirit type stuff.” The man blew his nose. “Had a sister who got caught up in that stuff. Didn’t do her any good.” He paused, gave another blow, and had more to say. “Some call it a demonic deception.”
“I’m sure it’s harmless.” This man liked to express his views.
“Don’t be too sure.” The man started up the mower again. “Best get back to work. Just be careful.”
“I will. Thanks for your concern.” Ruby watched as he returned to attacking the grass. He gave her a smile and a wave.
Demonic deception? Strange. What did he mean by that? What she was reading could only be harmless. Her interest in nature often made her think all has not been revealed. She believed it was the spiritual side that needed exploring and that was why she’d decided to go to the spiritual event on the island with Zoe and Shoana. They’d convinced her it would change her life.
She looked at the time. Mower man would be finished soon. Then she could lock up and head to the ferry terminal. She was off to one of the bay islands and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. The mowing man had planted a seed. A foreign seed. A negative seed.
Ruby wanted to be positive. Now she sensed she needed to be careful . . . but of what? She wasn’t sure. The demon thing worried her.
3 – The island estuary
CHRISTOPHER LEWIS STOOD IN THE PARKLANDS staring up at the sky. The outline of an almost-full moon hung in the blue afternoon sky, working to claim its lofty and majestic position, not allowing any clouds to conceal it.
Christopher walked the narrow concrete path running alongside the contours of the isolated estuary. It was incredible to think the water flooding into and ebbing out of the estuary was controlled by that disc in the sky. He stopped and watched a lone pelican cruising across the water. He could just make out its webbed feet giving the occasional thrust in the water.
A large mound of dirt lay piled near a group of tall shrubs in a dry elevated area, away from the water edge. Curious, he ventured off the path and edged closer to have a look. Someone had dug a large hole. There were straps lying on the ground which reminded him of a burial service he attended, where similar straps had been used to lower a coffin into the ground.
What was the purpose of this hole? He’d heard of natural burials on private land but on public land? He wasn’t sure. Besides, why was he thinking such things? The hole must exist for a good reason—perhaps a pit for a new sustainable composting-type toilet. And straps could be used to lower many things.
A few shovels had been left in the shrubbery, near a gap that led down to the water’s edge. It was a sandy area and there were grooves in the sand where a boat had beached. Christopher shrugged. Enough of this Sherlock Holmes stuff.
He headed back to the path, and soon came to a weathered timber bench at the end of the path. There was a symbol painted on the concrete path. Christopher sensed a chill in the air and had a sudden desire to leave, but knew the desire would pass. He looked around.
Silence.
He examined the symbol—a star in a circle. It was familiar, but he didn’t know what or who it represented. What he did know was that it was evil. He could sense the evil surrounding him. He knew what he would see if his spiritual eyes were opened.
He sensed their presence.
He’d heard people came to this park at full moon for some kind of ritual. He could imagine the gleam in the red ember eyes of the entities greeting the worshippers. The entities would be invoked during the ritual but not be visible to the invokers who would only experience their presence—a cunning and deceitful presence.
He turned away, and said a quiet prayer.
