Page 49 of Found in Obscurity

He’d been hoping, but he hadn’t thought it would work.

He shook his head, bringing the flame to the wicks and lighting them one by one until the room was bathed in orange, flickering light.

Okay.

A mason jar.

He found one sitting on top of a shelf in the corner of the room, dusty and barely see-through anymore, but empty. He grabbed it and then started looking for the things he needed to layer inside the jar.

Black pepper to banish negative energy.

Salt to absorb the banished negativity.

Rosemary for protection.

Lavender to soothe the spirit.

Amethyst chips to drive the spirit out.

A black or gray candle to light the spirit’s way out of his home.

He located the herbs and spices easily enough, stored on a shelf in clearly labeled glass jars. He layered them into the mason jar one by one, careful to keep the amounts as similar as he possibly could and the layers as neat and visible as possible.

The amethyst chips put up a fight, making him go through each little box and pouch he found along the way until he finally found some in the last drawer of the table, tucked at the very back. There was barely a handful left, and he placed them inside the jar, on top of the other ingredients, hoping it was enough.

There was a box filled with half-burned candles on one of the shelves, and he rummaged through it, locating a dark gray one. It was half gone and wonky, wax gathered on one side of it, distorting the initial shape until it was unrecognizable.

Lorin brought it all back down to the living room with him, putting the lid on the jar and closing all of the ingredients inside. He took a deep breath and with a shaking hand lit the candle, tilting it over the lid and letting the dark gray wax drip onto it, covering the silver surface as he spoke.

“Leave me alone.

Away with you.

Let this spell give me peace,

And solitude.

Away and leave.

So mote it be.”

His voice shook as he recited the simple incantation, his fingers stiff as he snuffed out the candle, took the jar and gave it a firm shake.

The ingredients inside mixed, a potent scent bursting from inside the jar. The wax on the lid spread and sealed it completely. A light came out of it, spreading through the house like lightning before fading out, leaving Lorin standing there alone, holding the jar, shaking like a leaf.

Had it worked?

He had no idea. His house felt exactly the same as it had before. He looked around, trying to figure out if anything signaled the banishment of the spirit. He half expected claw marks on his floors and footprints leading out.

There was nothing though. Just him and a soundly sleeping fox.

Lorin sighed, looking down at the jar and catching sight of his fingers in the low light.

He brought his hand up and stared at a fresh, dark mark covering the skin just under the nail of his index finger. It looked like a rune of some sort. Two little triangles touching at the tips and a line with a little arrow running through the point of contact.

His brows pulled in, a weird mixture of pride and dread spinning in his chest. His first recognizable mark. The first with a shape to it.

He’d actually done a spell.