Formidable Magic: Myrtlewood Mysteries book 7, page 11
I've been holding this secret for so long, holding myself back from speaking, remaining silent, even though it almost killed me at times to do so…
As Rosemary read on she began to cry. It was a heartfelt confession. Herb clearly loved Marjie very much, and yet he was confessing to killing her childhood best friend.
The reason became clear as she continued reading.
Herb's mother had been dying, and the only way he knew of to help her was to take a blood oath to a certain secret society that was only too familiar to Rosemary. He didn't name it, but she was sure from the way he described it in his letter that it was the Bloodstone Society.
After taking the oath, his first task had been the very worst thing he could imagine: the worst thing he'd done in his entire life. He had to lure or chase a girl to the forbidden cave where she would be sacrificed.
Herb had only been seventeen years old, and the girl had already been pre-selected. He had no choice in the matter. The blood oath compelled him to do it, otherwise his life and all his family's lives were forfeit.
He didn't know Grace well; they'd been at school together but in different years.
It was a demon’s bargain, and he'd hoped that the gods and goddesses would take pity on her, and that the girl would survive.
Years later, when he met Marjie, he hadn't realised at first that she'd been the best friend of Grace.
He'd figured it out over the years. He'd always loved Marjie. He'd always tried to protect her, but he'd also been a card-carrying, blood-oath-swearing member of the Bloodstone Society all that time.
He confessed that many of the model train conventions he'd gone to were actually Bloodstone Society gatherings.
He'd done some terrible things, or at least participated in them, although he'd always kept very quiet and pretended to be rather stupid, so that they didn't ask too much of him. And that had paid off. He'd been able to avoid the worst of their requests with strategic incompetence.
Rosemary could imagine him standing there in a hood when the Bloodstone Society was attacking Thorn Manor, not long after she was first in Myrtlewood. Perhaps he was even up on that hill at the Summer Solstice Festival, one of the robed men who got away…and there it was, staring her square in the face.
"I couldn't tell you because the blood oath forbade me," it said in the note.
That was what killed Herb! Old magic in more ways than one. A blood pact, Rosemary understood, was a kind of magic that dated back many thousands of years, and Herb had taken the oath when he was a mere teenager, decades earlier.
No wonder there was no trace of the culprit in the house.
Herb, himself, was the one who had chosen to take that oath, even if it didn't feel like a choice at the time.
Not only that, but as the note revealed, there were thousands of others like him, bound to the Bloodstone Society through a demon’s bargain.
It was no surprise to Rosemary that the same society who had murdered her own grandmother also preyed on the young, especially teenagers, before their brains had fully developed, getting them to tie themselves into their dangerous magical cult for life.
"How awful," Rosemary muttered. There was a sound behind her and she jumped.
“Only me,” said Neve, coming in. "Did you find anything?"
"Yes," said Rosemary. "What about you?"
"There’s nothing to speak of in the house. The cupboards are full of Marjie’s old business adventures, like the recycled toilet paper scheme and the pot painting shop supplies. What's that?" Neve asked, pointing to the note.
"A full confession from the murderer," said Rosemary.
“What?” Neve’s jaw dropped as she read the note. "So, it was Herb who killed…Herb.”
“But not in the way you’d expect,” said Rosemary.
"Let's not get into that right now," said Neve. "It’s making my brain hurt.”
“This should be enough to let Marjie off the charges, I hope," said Rosemary.
"It certainly should be," said Neve. "I'll file the paperwork before I let Perkins know.”
“Can I come?” said Rosemary. “When you tell him? I want to see his expression! It would make my day."
Neve rolled her eyes and chuckled. "You really are incorrigible sometimes."
"Hey, life is all about enjoying the small pleasures, like the suffering of one's enemies.”
They made their way back out to their cars.
Neve sighed. "It’s strange, you know. This is good news, in theory.”
“But it doesn't feel that way, does it?" said Rosemary. "I mean, good that Marjie is off the hook…but what about all those others? The Bloodstones have been conscripting an army this whole time, secretly…Young people who have no other options – or think that they don't – sign up for the promise of power or salvation and then they’re trapped for life…” Rosemary had another thought. “Oh no!”
"What is it?" said Neve.
"Athena thinks that Elise is cursed. She's got strange powers.”
“You don't think?"
"I don't know," said Rosemary. “But I better call Athena.”
"Alright," said Neve. "I'll take the letter in to the station."
"Wait a minute," said Rosemary. "Before you do that, let me take some photos.”
“You don't trust me?" said Neve.
"It's not you," said Rosemary. "It just that it seems like too much of a vulnerability. Marjie’s life – her fate – could lie in this one fragile piece of paper."
"Fair enough," said Neve. "I'll do the same."
Rosemary sat in her car and called Athena. There was no answer, but Athena texted back:
In class but don’t worry, everything is fine.
I'm worried, Rosemary replied, and then proceeded to type out a message explaining the key points of what she’d just learned.
We've got this, Athena replied.
Twenty-Two
Athena cupped the smooth green-and-red apple in the palms of her hands.
As promised, Sam had prepared the charmed apple. They’d handed it to Athena before school.
It seemed like a perfectly ordinary apple in almost every way, apart from how unusually light it felt.
It was morning break by the time she had the chance to offer it to Elise.
"You're not eating," said Athena, approaching Elise, who was sitting alone in the courtyard.
"I forgot to bring my food,” said Elise, her tone flat.
Athena was sure that was a lie. Fleur always made sure Elise’s lunchbox was full.
“Here," said Athena. “This is for you.”
She held up the apple, feeling a little bit like the wicked stepmother in Snow White. “You should eat something.”
For a moment she was worried that Elise would get suspicious or just not take any interest in the apple at all. But, to Athena’s relief, Elise absentmindedly held the apple up to her mouth and bit into it with a crunch.
Elise stood up, chewing thoughtfully. "Tastes funny," she said and wandered away, dropping the apple into the rubbish bin.
Athena followed after Elise so as to make sure she didn’t see anything suspicious. Sam – who’d been keeping an eye on them – was rifling through the trash.
Elise was not particularly good conversation, and after a moment Athena gave up and returned to the friend group who were sitting in their usual spot.
Her friends’ expressions were all grim.
"Is it red?" Athena asked Sam. "Come on, tell me how bad is it?"
She had expected the apple bite to have turned a shocking blood red and was alarmed when Sam held it up in their palm.
"Blue!" said Athena. "What does blue mean?"
“Sam’s trying to remember,” said Felix.
“Remember?” Athena said. "Can't you just look it up online?"
Sam shook their head. "It's not like that. This is serious folk magic."
"So of course there’s a nursery rhyme," said Deron.
“I think I’ve got it,” said Sam, and began to recite:
A charmed apple, the truth shall reveal,
Beware, a secret it shall unseal.
This fruit, a window to the soul,
Its magic, knowledge shall unfold.
Red, a curse, beware its spell,
Green is from illness, rest and be well.
Yellow, a plague of emotions to rise,
Blue is possession, seek aid, be wise.
“Possession…Yes, of course," said Sam.
"Elise is possessed?” said Athena, “Oh my Goddess. That's not what I thought at all.”
“You thought she was cursed,” said Ash.
“Or that she'd taken some kind of blood oath…" said Athena. “That’s not related to possession, is it?”
"A blood oath? Sounds cool!” said Felix.
"It is very decidedly not cool," said Athena. "If anyone ever asks you, do not take a blood oath! Not even if they offer you something amazing."
She explained what Rosemary had told her.
"That sounds awful," said Ash. "All those teenagers trapped into some kind of cult they can't break away from."
"Yeah, that's right,” said Athena. “Although, now that I think of it, I do know somebody who left the Bloodstone Society." She quickly texted Rosemary.
Her response came a moment later: I had exactly the same thought…Great minds!
Athena turned back to her friends. "So, Elise is possessed?"
"Well, you learn something new every day,” said Felix darkly.
"Possessed by what?” Deron asked. “It is a ghostly time of year…"
"I thought you were possessed," said Sam. "Isn’t that what Elise said, when we were at the ghost house? That Felix might be possessed…"
"Do you think that could have been when it started?" said Ash in a hushed whisper.
Athena thought back to that day. "That might be the case…That was when Elise first started acting strange, and then she's been kind of in-and-out of being herself ever since. In one minute, she'll be staring off into space, the next minute, she'd be back to being her normal, cheerful self again."
"Could it be part of the blood oath?" said Deron. "You know, like maybe that was the sacrifice she had to make to get power."
"Why would she want power, though?" asked Ash.
Felix laughed. “I can’t believe you’re asking that question. It shows how different we are!” He folded his arms. “Of course Elise wants power. Her girlfriend's probably the most powerful fae witch in the world. Imagine comparing yourself to that all the time.”
Athena sighed. “She has been doing her tarot readings a lot lately. And talking about how she'll never be as powerful as me…maybe it's all part of it. But I don't think she'd ever do that. Take a blood oath.”
Sam shook their head. “I don't think so either. I'm pretty sure whatever is affecting Elise is not something that she's chosen.”
Twenty-Three
“You can pick her up this afternoon; the paperwork's all through.”
Rosemary felt the tension leave her shoulders at the news from Neve's phone call. “Thank you so much.”
Rosemary arrived at the police station ten minutes later to find Perkins looking disgruntled. "She's still a suspect, you know," he said. “A threat to society.”
"You are.” Rosemary scowled at him.
A few moments later, Marjie emerged into the waiting room where Rosemary was sitting impatiently.
Marjie looked tired, pale, and somewhat bewildered.
"Oh, Marjie," said Rosemary, giving her friend a big hug. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all this."
"It wasn't me," said Marjie, baffled.
"No, I knew it wasn't.”
Marjie smiled weakly. “You always believed in me...even when I didn't believe in myself. I just don’t know how…"
"We'll talk about it when we get home," said Rosemary.
They arrived back at Thorn Manor to find Athena making tea in the kitchen.
“It’s a bit early for school to be out, isn’t it?” Rosemary asked.
"I wasn't feeling too good. Something went down with Elise."
Athena explained the situation with the charmed apple.
"Possessed? That sounds bad," said Rosemary.
Marjie shook her head and tutted. "Trouble is brewing."
"You can say that again," said Rosemary.
They sat on the window seats, sipping tea in silence.
"I'm so sorry about your friend," said Athena after a while.
"Grace,” said Marjie. “You know what? It’s actually good to talk about her. But tell me. Do you know what really happened? What happened to Herb?”
Rosemary shook her head. "Neve didn't explain the full story to you?”
“She didn’t say much at all,” said Marjie. “I’m ready to hear it, though. As much anger as I’ve felt at Herb recently, it’s almost made worse by the grief. We shared a life together, you see. So many little things keep reminding me of him. When they brought me breakfast in that awful cell, I’d think of the way he’d always burn the edges of the toast and cut them off before he brought breakfast to the table. I’d do a crossword to keep entertained and I’d almost see the kind of notes he’d leave me in the margins if he’d worked out the word. It’s been so awful – I just hating him so much, but also, he was my companion and losing him is like a part of me is missing too. I need to know what happened, Rosemary.”
Rosemary nodded. “I'll never completely understand it. But I do have this letter." She pulled out her phone. "Are you ready for this?"
"As I'll ever be," said Marjie.
Rosemary read the letter out loud, pausing every now and then to check her friend's expressions as they changed from curiosity to anguish.
“Keep going, dear.” Marjie was looking so distraught that Rosemary almost didn't want to continue, but she was urged on by the older woman. "I need to know the truth."
After Rosemary had finished reading it out, they sat in silence again.
"He loved me," said Marjie.
Athena nodded.
Marjie sobbed. "I always knew that, you know, and I always felt he was holding something back. I used to heckle him about it when we were younger, just like I heckled him about his trains. That maybe they were the only coping mechanism he had, the only escape…" Her fist was gripped so tightly around her teacup that her knuckles were white. "I can't believe he did that," said Marjie, unleashing a torrent of curse words, the likes of which Rosemary had never heard before.
"It's understandable to be angry," said Athena, looking impressed.
"Of course, I'm angry!” said Marjie. “I'm angry at him for everything, for what he did to Grace, for what he did to himself, and the lie that he lived – that he made me live with him – for so long. How dare he?"
Athena shook her head. "The whole situation is horrible. And you have a right to be angry."
Rosemary agreed.
Marjie burst into tears.
"You have a right to do that, too,” said Rosemary. “And don't you dare apologise.”
Margie wiped her eyes. “It’s just all a bit much.”
“It is," said Athena. "It totally is. We would understand if you want to keep cursing Herb’s name over and over. We can even make a dummy of him if you want to punch something."
Marjie’s face crinkled into a smile. "So sweet, my dear.” She sighed. "Enough of him. I'll think about him later, and the whole sorry mess. It’s a tragedy, isn’t it? That boy could sign his life away…but I have a lot of processing to do about all that later."
"Very well," said Rosemary. "What do you want to talk about? Or would you rather have a rest?"
"Oh no, I've been resting enough," said Marjie. "I’ve been bored out of my mind in that Goddess-awful place. I want to talk about Grace. Herb wasn't the only one bottling something up for all those years. I was too. It was too painful. And now that I can talk, I just want to tell you all about her."
"She was special," said Athena. "I can understand that.”
“The most special," said Marjie. "The day I met Grace Brashville—"
Athena gasped, putting her hand to her mouth.
"What?" Rosemary asked.
Marjie she looked at her.
"That's the name of the house,” said Athena. "The Haunted House.”
Marjie shook her head. "What are you talking about, dear?”
“For our school trip, we went to the house and Felix was sure he saw a ghost. And then I dreamed – Mum and I both did—”
“We dreamed of a girl running through a forest,” said Rosemary.
Marjie’s expression was stunned. “Grace?”
“I think so,” said Rosemary. “I saw the picture at your house: a photo of Grace that you put on your shrine, and she looked familiar. I couldn't place her at first. But I had my suspicions, and now it seems so obvious. She must have been the girl we saw in the dream – she looked a little different. She was kind of glowing, and her hair wasn't as dark. But actually…”
Rosemary reached into her pocket. “Where did I put it? It must be in my jacket. I'll go get it.”
“The photo?” said Athena.
"Wait a moment," said Marjie. "You think that Grace is haunting the house, haunting your dreams? That means she's a restless spirit!"
A shiver ran down Rosemary's spine. "That does not sound good."
"It is not," Marjie confirmed.
"Do you think we could talk to her?" Athena suggested.
"Granny's got an old Ouija board around here somewhere," said Rosemary.
"Oh no," said Marjie. "Absolutely not. It's dangerous, far too dangerous. A séance might be okay for a settled spirit, when it's gone beyond the veil of this world, but a restless spirit is certainly too dangerous. You've heard about poltergeists, haven't you?"
