Spirit Ch. 02

Jun 6, 2010

Fragmented Pieces Book I Spirit Chapter Two A Special Night

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Heavy Metal Thunder Productions

Presents...

Copyright protected on March 2010.

The persons, places, entities, and events depicted in this story are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, places, entities, or events is unintentional and purely coincidental.

Warning Some stories may contain adult language, explicate violence, adult situations, and some sexual content. These stories are intended for a mature audience.

Fragmented Pieces Book I Spirit

Written by Stacy James Meadows

With Concepts Created by Stacy James Meadows, Larry William Van Hoorebeke, and Donald Edward Van Hoorebeke.

Previously on Fragmented Pieces Book I Spirit... We met with Steven "Shadow" MacGraw, who broke the fourth wall, and gave us the readers an over view of just who he was, and what he does. Then we went to a prison cell and were introduced to Jason Chambers, who reflected back on how he got there by killing three women. We now return back to Steven who has a night off from work.

Chapter Two

"A Special Night"

Steven down shifted his small compact car from third gear into second, and made the turn into his apartment complex's parking lot. He quickly found a good parking space and backed up into it.

Many of the safe driving courses that he took, talked about how backing up should be avoided, but if had to be done, should be done while the mind was still concentrating on driving, so it was better to back while still driving, then to back when first getting into the car. Many of accidents, from running over pets and little children to hitting other cars, mostly occurred when drivers jumped in and started backing up. Steven didn't see any fault in this line of thinking, so he began doing it as a practice as well. Besides if he was in a hurry to get somewhere, it was much faster to just drive forward, then to have to back up first.

He set the parking brake and turned off the engine. As the engine and air conditioner died his mind wondered briefly back to his most recent case. As he got out of the car, closing and locking his car door behind him as he went, and began to climb up the stairs to his apartment, he raced through his thoughts on his most recent case.

Disappointingly enough it had been just another man hunt for a deranged psychopathic killer. He had been doing quite a lot of these types of cases recently. In his opinion, they were boring, and a waste of his talents. He felt others should take care of these types of cases, but the higher ups felt differently, and so he was off on another man hunt.

Nothing really spectacular happened on this case at all really. The perp didn't even put up any real resistance, but, of course, Steven didn't allow him to.

Steven simply snuck up behind the mad man, and shot him in the back of the head. Of course, Steven wasn't just a cold blooded killer, he believed in up holding the law and in due process, but in that instant he simply didn't have any choice.

It was a life or death situation. Either the ax wielding maniac with his ax raised high, or the terrified bound young woman he was about to make into mince meat. Steven in that split second, decided to permanently eliminate a hazardous threat. Sure he could have tried to wound the guy by shooting him in the arm or leg, but that wasn't a hundred percent sure thing. For all Steven knew the crazed maniac could have been high on drugs, such as PCP, or wearing body armor, or even just have a high tolerance for pain, and the maniac could have still managed to kill the woman, which Steven was desperately trying to save, and possibly Steven himself could have been slain.

The young woman, of course, was a Senator's daughter, and the whole reason he was put on this particular case to begin with, and Steven just wasn't about to take any unnecessary risks to either himself or the young terrified woman.

At that moment because he was not a police officer, but a government operative, and because of the political importance of the woman, he had the freedom to kill. He didn't have to worry about collecting evidence or search warrants, or even justify beyond a shadow of a doubt his actions, all he had to do was just rescue the girl.

Although Steven himself knew it was wrong to kill, he did not hesitate or waver. After all he had trained all his life to eliminate any potential threat to society, and to him it was just a job. In this particular case he just happened to save the taxpayers' money on prison and court costs, or to allow this potentially dangerous individual the chance to be freed on some technicality and be allowed to harm more people, or even come after Steven, himself, for revenge because Steven was doing his job and showed a little compassion. Steven had read many police reports on revenge killings of police officers who were just doing their jobs.

As Steven reached the top of the stairs, he decided to push all thoughts of work out of his mind. He was finally home after a week in the field, and it was time to relax, even if it was just for one night.

"Tonight is a special night." Steven thought, as he put his key into the lock and clicked the front door to his apartment open. Pulling the key out he stepped inside, shutting and locking the door behind him as he went, after all there were a lot of crazy people in the world, and here recently he had to clean up after a lot of them.

His apartment was a small one bedroom apartment. It had a kitchen, laundry room, living room, bath room, and a bed room. Each room had its own decorations and items.

The living room was where the front door came into. Beside the front door was a tall coat rack. The living room itself contained a rather old blue sofa couch, a glass topped coffee table sitting in front of the couch with a glass candy tray on top in the center of it, a simple wooden end table sitting on one side of the couch with a small red lamp and a black cordless telephone with caller id and a phone book stuffed under it, a white swivel fan on a stand was on the other side of the couch, an entertainment center with a television, a dual video cassette recorder/dvd player, a stereo with a cd player, a tape player, and a record player. Underneath the entertainment center in its sliding doors were various tapes, compact discs, dvds, and video cassettes. Along one wall was a huge bookcase full of books, mostly on magic. In one corner of the room sat a bench press with weights. Several huge house plants were against the walls. Various pictures and posters, mostly pagan, hung on the walls.

The kitchen, which was separated from the living room only by a counter, was small and it contained only the bare basics. A stove, a refrigerator, a coffee pot, a toaster, and a micro wave oven were all that was in here besides the cabinets, counters, and kitchen sink. A few small plants were on the counters. A computer desk and another telephone, usually used for the internet access, were halfway between the living room and kitchen. A door lead from the kitchen into the small laundry room, which only contained a washer, a dryer, and cleaning supplies on a shelf above the washer and dryer. The size of the laundry room was more of a closet size than an actual room.

The bathroom was of simple design. It was decorated with just a tub with a shower, a toilet, a sink with a small cabinet underneath the sink, a mirror medicine cabinet, and a small wall storage cabinet for towels and wash rags. The door to the bath room was in a hallway leading from between the kitchen and living room into the bedroom. Two large plants and several posters hung on the walls were all that was in the hallway.

The bed room had a small closet, a four-drawer dresser, a bed, an end table beside the bed with a lamp and an alarm clock on it, another white swivel fan on a stand, a few huge plants by the walls, posters on the walls, and a medium sized marble topped table in the middle of the east wall under the window.

As he entered into his apartment, Steven took off his trench coat and hat, and hung them neatly on the coat rack beside the door.

Walking into the kitchen, he placed the keys on the counter along with his pistol and shoulder holster, and continued into the hallway entering into the bath room. Turning on the bath room light, he took a moment to look at himself in the mirror. His face looked dirty and had a few days growth of a beard. His light brown hair looked greasy and was every which way. His clothes were dirty, and he could smell the stench of himself.

"Yeah, tonight is a special night. Peace and relaxation. No work, only rest." He thought to himself aloud. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. It is also midsummer." He remembered this only after seeing the reflection of a poster calender hanging on the wall in the hallway.

Snapping out of his daze and thoughts, he turned on the water in the bathtub, and put a stopper in. From underneath his bathroom sink he pulled out a cup full of sea salt and a smaller cup full of vinegar and added it to the tub's water, along with a small cap full of bubble bath.

"This will purify and cleanse me for the ceremony tonight." He thought aloud again to himself as he started taking off his clothes and getting into the bathtub. As he started laying in the tub he visualized in his mind's third eye that negativity, tiredness, and sickness were leaving his body and renewed energy entered into him. The bad energy he visualized as snakes slithering out into the water and being destroyed and the good energy he visualized as electricity energizing him.

Thirty minutes passed before he got out and started drying off, thanking the goddess and god and the element of water for their power assistance in the cleansing. It felt good to him to have bathed and soaked all that time. He really felt rejuvenated from the experience.

Placing the towel around his waist he combed his hair, shaved, and brushed his teeth. He put his dirty clothes in the laundry room before he finally went to his bed room to stash his gun and holster in the closet, and placed on a robe and pentacle. Looking around his room he remembered that it had been a few days since he watered his plants. He took thirty more minutes examining, watering, and caring for his plants. After finishing he went back to his bed room to prepare for the ceremony he was going to perform tonight.

It was getting a little hot in his apartment, so he turned on the white swivel fan in his bed room before looking under his bed, in which he found a folder and notebook. On both were written "Steven's Book of Shadows" in black ink. Flipping through them he found what he wanted and read for several minutes.

After he finished reading from the folder and notebook, he looked up at the marble table in the middle of the east wall under the window. This was his personal alter dedicated to the goddess and the god. It was laid out with two statues made of wood, which he had made and carved himself a long time ago.

One was a robust celestial goddess wearing a crescent moon upon her brow and forehead, hands spread, hair flowing around her head. She was standing on a sea shell rising from the sea. A glass candle holder was embedded in front of her, and embedded in front of the candle holder was a clear tumbled quartz crystal that was round and smooth.

The other was a bearded and muscular horned god holding a spear in his upraised hand and a set of pipes in his lowered hand. Oak leaves curled around his face and trailed out from his mouth, and he had goat legs like a satyr. A bull and stag were on either side of him. A glass candle holder was embedded in front of them, just like the other statue of the goddess, but instead of a clear tumbled quartz crystal imbedded in front of the candle holder, there was instead a clear quartz crystal that actually looked like pointed crystals.

An incense holder (censor) sat on the table slightly in front and in between the statues with another candle holder slightly before it. Two wooden bowls sat directly in front of the statues. The one directly in front of the goddess statue contained water, and the one directly in front of the god statue contained salt. In front of the bowl of water sat a silver chalice, which he saved several months for and had specially made, along with the silver wand with a tumbled clear quartz crystal on its top and magical symbols engraved in its sides, and a silver bell, all three of which were in a line from front to back of the table directly in front of the goddess statue and water bowl.

In front of the god symbol and bowl of salt were two double edged knives. The first knife, closest to the bowl of salt, was black handled, called an atheme, was used to draw energy to cast the circle. The other knife was white handled and used to cut herbs and prepare spells, and was called a bolline.

In front of the censor and candle holder was a third wooden bowl for offerings to the goddess and god, and in front of the offering wooden bowl was a pentacle made of wood about a quarter inch thick. It was round and flat with a five pointed star surrounded by a circle engraved on it. In front of the pentacle was a small black cauldron that when filled with water could hold up to a gallon.

Beside the marbled alter table was a small straw broom, which was the first thing Steven grabbed. With the straw broom he swept the air around the whole area he was about to cast the circle in. This was not to actually clean up dirt from the area, but rather to remove negativity and harmful energy from the circle's area. After finishing he placed the broom back against the wall.

Underneath the table, was a small chest, in which several candles (of all sorts of colors) and holders, along with other magical supplies, were stored when not in use. Since it was the Summer Solstice he pulled out seven candles and four more candle holders. The candles he pulled out were: a brown candle and a candle holder for the north to represent the element of earth, a blue candle and a candle holder for the east to represent the element of air, a red candle and candle holder for the south to represent the element of fire, a green candle and candle holder for the west to represent the element of water, a white candle for the candle holder in between the statues of the goddess and god to represent spirit, and since it was Summer Solstice he pulled out a green candle to place in the god candle holder, and finally a blue candle to place in the goddess candle holder. He pulled out the table from the wall, and placed the candles and candle holders in the proper places.

Before beginning his ritual, he went to the kitchen to get some matches, some cookies in a wooden bowl for cake, and a container of orange juice for wine. The cookies and juice was for grounding energies after the ritual. He went back to the alter in the bedroom and placed the bowl of cookies and matches on the alter, and poured some orange juice in the chalice, and then returned the juice container back to the refrigerator before beginning the ritual. He was now ready to begin after shutting off the fan in his bed room, so that it wouldn't blow out the flames, or cause them to catch something else on fire.

He lit the three candles on the alter and the incense in the censer, and then said aloud, "Let it be known the temple is about to be erected; the circle is about to be cast." He picked up his bell and rang it three times, and then placed it back in its original position on the alter.

With the book of matches he went to the east candle and candle holder and lit the candle while saying, "Here do I bring light and air in at the east, to illuminate my temple and bring it the breath of life."

He moved around to the south candle and candle holder and lit it saying, "Here do I bring light and fire in at the south, to illuminate my temple and bring it warmth."

He moved around to the west candle and candle holder and lit it saying, "Here do I bring light and water in at the west, to illuminate my temple and to wash it clean."

He moved around to the north candle and candle holder and lit it saying, "Here do I bring light and earth at the north, to illuminate my temple and to build it in strength."

He then moved back to the east candle and candle holder, and then returned to the alter. Steven placed the matches back on the alter and picked up the atheme, the black handled double edged knife, and returned to the east candle and candle holder. Pointing the atheme towards the east candle and candle holder, he began to concentrate power into the circle. In his mind's third eye he envisioned a bluish white light emitting from the tip of the atheme that flowed into the circle's sides to form a sort of magical force field around the circle, as he began to walk south around the circle until he came back again to the east candle and candle holder completing the circled force field. After reaching the east candle and candle holder, he returned back to the alter.

At the alter he picked up the bell and rang it three times before placing it back in its place. With the atheme still in his hands, he picked up the wooden bowl of salt, placing the point of the atheme into the salt and said, "As salt is life, let it purify me in all ways I may use it. Let it cleanse my body and spirit as I dedicate myself in this rite to the glory of the goddess and the god."

Still holding the bowl of salt in his hands, he used his atheme to put three portions of salt into the water. He stirred the water with his atheme as he placed the bowl of salt back in its proper place. He continued to stir as he said, "Let the sacred salt drive out any impurities in this water, that I may use it throughout this rite."

Placing the atheme back in its proper place on the alter, but still holding the wooden bowl of now salted and purified water, he returned to the east candle and candle holder and began working his way south around the circle, sprinkling the water and salt mixture along the circle's edges, until he returned back to the east candle and candle holder. He returned the wooden bowl of water and salt mixture to its proper place on the alter, and then grabbed the censer and walked it around the circle in the same fashion, letting the smoke trail the edges of the circle.

He returned to the alter and placed the censer back into its rightful place. He again picked up the bell and rang it three times, before placing it back in its rightful place. After ringing the bell, he spoke aloud and said, "Let now the quarters be saluted and the goddess and the god be invited."

He walked over to the east candle and candle holder with his atheme raised, and drew an invoking pentagram (five pointed star) in the air and said, "All hail to the element of air, watchtower of the east. May it stand in strength, ever watching my circle."

He then kissed the blade of his atheme and walked over to the south candle and candle holder. He raised his atheme again and drew another invoking pentagram in the air and said, "All hail to the element of fire, watchtower of the south. May it stand in strength, ever watching over my circle."

He again kissed the blade of his atheme and he walked over to the west candle and candle holder. He was now starting to sweat a little from the effects of all the work he was doing, the candles burning, and the heat in the apartment and not having the fan on. He wiped sweat off of his brow before he raised his atheme again and drew another invoking pentagram in the air and said, "All hail to the element of water, watchtower of the west. May it stand in strength, ever watching over my circle."

He again kissed the blade of his atheme and he walked over to the north candle and candle holder. He raised his atheme again and drew another invoking pentagram in the air and said, "All hail to the element of earth, watchtower of the north. May it stand in strength, ever watching over my circle."