Cords of Fate (eBook)

Chapter 1

Paying Debts

For all of her features, Jennifer’s blue eyes stood out the most. Dark limbal rings surrounded azure irises with yellow inner discs that looked like burning suns in a clear afternoon sky.

My quickened pulse seemed distant. You’d think that after doing this enough, I would be ready for what comes next. I guess that even seasoned gamblers feel a rush of exhilaration when the cards are called. I could draw this experience out for a while longer, but it would only delay the inevitable.

She sat upright with her palms facing up and those stunning eyes staring ahead without any particular focus. I had placed a small table with a stack of cash before her. Four thousand dollars. I hoped that it would be enough. If it wasn’t, my gamble could go bad in the worst way. Beside the stack of cash was my ceremonial dagger, the athame.

We had broken into the abandoned warehouse just an hour ago. The place was empty except for pieces of rusted packing equipment and dust that never seemed to settle. These places were perfect for any anonymous activity. You would hope that someone would eventually find value in them, but too often they grew like cancers in impoverished neighborhoods.

I stared for a moment at her soft features and took a deep breath. I dabbed myrrh oil on my finger and drew a circle on her forehead, and I snapped my fingers three times. Her breath returned like she had been underwater and nearly drowned. She tried to speak, but her words were jumbled questions. I’m sure she intended to ask where she was and how she got there. In a few minutes, she would remember everything. I knew better than to wait for that moment.

“Take a breath.” My voice was weaker than I expected. I tried to sound more confident than I felt. “Now, take another one.” Her sun-fire eyes fixed on mine, settled down, then examined the dusty and dark warehouse. A new confusion and panic filled her. “Try to remain calm. You’re going to be okay. No further harm will come to you.”

“Further harm?” She found her voice. It was weak and a little broken. I could only imagine the possible scenarios running through her mind. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“You’re in a warehouse on the South Side of Chicago. You’ll remember me in a few moments.” I pulled up a chair opposite her and sat down. “Right now, I need you to understand that you’re going to be okay.” I waited for her to acknowledge me. She did with a stiff nod of her head and fresh tears. “Good, now please be patient, and allow me to explain why we’re here.”

“I can’t move my hands.” She tugged her wrists and ankles against the worn leather straps holding her to the chair.

“I know. I will take care of that in a moment.”

She nodded again. Her brow furrowed with skepticism. I smiled at her. She did not return it.

“I owe you a debt. I have committed a terrible crime against you, Jennifer.” Tears streaked her face.

“Did you...” She couldn’t finish the thought.

“No, I haven’t harmed you physically. What I have done to you is a different kind of violation,” I said softly. Those eyes darted frantically, looking for something surreal and imagined. Her memory would be scattered and fragmented for a while longer.

“What did you do?”

“I have stolen three weeks of your life. I needed your help, and I didn’t see another way around it.”

“How… how could… how did you…?”

“What’s more important than how is why. Do you remember a child that you had removed from his home a few weeks ago? Denny, about seven years old?”

“Kind of…”

“Good. Denny suffers from a condition that he would not get proper care for had he gone through your system. A condition that I can help him with. I took custody of him to get him the treatment he needed. He’s safe and will be okay. Do you follow?” She nodded. “Good. Since I am no doctor and have no rights to his custody, I needed you to put together the documentation and sweet talk some officials to make it happen.”

“Condition? He’s a nonverbal autistic individual with support needs. He needs to go to a proper facility.”

She was returning too quickly. I might have played this one wrong. If the entirety of her memory returned before her decision, this would get ugly.

“Denny’s diagnosis is woefully incomplete. His self-expression is being suppressed. He is trapped inside of himself and stuck in a sort of feedback loop that will go critical if we don’t address it soon.”

“You kidnapped him.” A look of disgust wrinkled her brow.

“No, you helped me become his guardian. And now he will get the help he needs.”

“Liar! Where did you take him? What are you doing to him?”

“That doesn’t matter now. Denny will be fine. He will live a better life than you would have chosen for him. He will be fine. You have to trust me.”

“Trust you? Let me go!” She struggled in her restraints. “Did you say three weeks? Do I have a job to go back to? What am I going to do? Did you really say to trust you? Fuck you! I’ll be reporting this to the police. We will find you and the kid.”

“That doesn’t matter. The info you have about me is false. I will disappear after today. No one will find us. It’s better to accept what has happened.”

She tested the straps on her wrists and ankles. The realization of her confinement returned to her. Veins darkened on her forehead, and her heavy breathing seemed more panicked by her eyes darting around the warehouse. I could imagine the multitude of questions, insults, and pleas that she wanted to scream at me. Her tears were leaving streaks down her beige silk blouse.

“What exactly did you do to me?” she managed. She stopped fighting against the straps.

I sat across from her with the cash and dagger separating us.

“I enchanted you.”

“What? How…”

“It doesn’t matter whether you understand or not, whether you believe me or not. Soon, you will remember that I came into your office inquiring about a young boy who was about to be removed from his home. His parents were absent and heavily involved in drug use. Your initial thoughts regarding his condition were neglect and special needs. I wanted to be involved in his diagnosis and placement.”

The sparks of memory were indeed coming back to her.

“You didn’t have any qualifications. You weren’t family. I couldn’t let you be involved in any decisions concerning a child you didn’t know. Some tattooed punk who showed up wanting confidential information? I wasn’t about to let you…” She stopped once she saw my smile at her assessment of my appearance. “I don’t remember much after that.”

“You will, but I’ll remind you so we can finish our business here. You dismissed me immediately and became upset when I persisted. You picked up your phone to call security or the police, and I cast an enchantment over you.”

“You’re kidding me,” she said.

“Believe me or not, that’s what happened.”

“But how?”

“It’s complicated. But don’t get caught up in the details. Basically, you were beholden to my commands until the time I set your mind free. Like I told you, I needed to put you through any actions that would release the child into my custody.” She pulled against the restraints chaffing and reddening her skin. “I gave you instructions to do just that. And I must say, you did an excellent job. I expected many more problems than we encountered.”

“I don’t believe you. You must have drugged me or something.”

“Like I said, you don’t have to believe me. It doesn’t matter.” I rose from the chair and unbuttoned my shirt. Jennifer wrestled in her chair with renewed vigor. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything to you. It is time for us to wrap this up.” I removed my shirt, folded it, and set it down behind me. I didn’t want to endure this part, so I delayed it, and the longer I delayed it, the chances increased for her anxiety and emotions to win out.

“Jennifer, are you familiar with concepts of karma?”

“Yeah, and you’ve probably got it bad!”

“You can say that. The magic I used on you requires balance. If I simply return you to your apartment, you will always worry and suffer greater than you need to. The magic will not be satisfied, and the continued karmic buildup will eventually find its way back to me. Make sense?”

She nodded uncertainly. Sunlight poured in, illuminating the dust in holographic columns across her pale skin. “You worship the devil or something?” She observed the various tattoos across my chest and back.

“No.” The light also shone on the table. The dagger glimmered in an eerie aura that gave me pause. “To satisfy the karma that I created with you, I have chosen a direct solution. I am going to give you a choice. Either one will be sufficient. Since the control I have exerted over you is dangerous and robs you of your free will, even if only for a short period of time, you must be allowed restitution.”

“How thoughtful of you.”

“Your decision will need to be made quickly, and in such a manner that you will owe no karma to me. Your choices are in front of you. First, is a monetary repayment. It’s four thousand dollars, more than you would have lost from the time, and to have...