Page 48 of Stronger Than Blood

Chapter forty-four

Mick

With Granny back home, the world around the monster shifted back to how it’d been before she’d had her stroke. Now though, I enjoyed thinking of the son of a bitch hiding in the corner, afraid of what she was going to do to him.

Kalinda pulled the floorboard up where Granny had told her she stashed the angry mojo bag.

After replacing it with one that Kalinda assured us was more aligned with our goal of removing him from this realm to the one he should’ve already passed into, she went out behind the home and created a ritual fire pit.

“To be honest,” Kalinda told us, “I can’t guarantee this won’t be intense. Destroying a mojo bag that’s held that thing captive could release him, but it could also be what is needed to pass him over. Just be prepared.”

I swallowed hard, fearing what releasing him would mean for me. Still, Kalinda had told us repeatedly that allowing the jackass to remain locked with Granny’s angry mojo bag wasn’t good for any of us.

So, with Kalinda’s guidance, we all bathed using oils she’d prepared, which were designed to protect us. She also hung several wind chimes made of bottles and other odds and ends in the trees around the house.

If anyone asked questions, Kalinda told us to tell them they were simply wind chimes because Granny had liked the ones she’d had outside her room at the home.

“And that’s sorta true too. There were chimes outside my window, and I liked them… when they weren’t keeping me awake.” We all laughed, including her.

“Well,” Kalinda said, smiling, “speaking of that, as annoyed as the chimes made you, that’s exactly why we are hanging them in your yard. Spirits hate the clanking of glass, so this should help deter him from sticking around.”

“Hopefully,” I said. “I don’t fancy having that thing coming at me ever again.”

Kalinda reached over and took my hand, and Granny took the other. Rory looked on with sympathy. At that moment, I knew these people had my back.

Before the fire was started, Kalinda began to chant, pouring her oils in a spiral from the fire around us and the firepit. Then she poured the rest of the oils onto a cotton cloth, which was bunched up under the woodpile.

Granny was sitting in her favorite rocking chair, which we had brought from the front porch. The rest of us sat on the hodgepodge of chairs Granny had scattered around her yard. “Repeat after me,” Kalinda ordered.

Leave us! Go, and don’t return!

We cast you out with this bag we burn!

We all practiced saying it a few times until we knew the words, and then Kalinda struck a match.

Fire burst from the match to the cloth, almost as if it were chasing gasoline. I knew, somehow, it wasn’t a fire attracted to a normal fuel source. No, as it burned blue and green, I could tell it was a fire designed for the ritual we were conducting.

We quietly repeated the chant over and over as the fire caught the logs and began to burn brighter.

When it was starting to create coals, Kalinda stood and reached her hand out to Granny, who looked up at her, then over to me and nodded before pulling a dusty old bag out of her lap and handing it to Kalinda.

“Ida Jamison, do you renounce the anger you used to create this mojo bag?”

Granny nodded, looked at me again, and then said, “I renounce the anger but not the intention. That bad man needs to leave.”

Kalinda smiled but nodded.

“So be it, we renounce anger, but we stand together against that which wishes us harm.” She looked at me then and clarified, “That which intends Mick harm.”

A cold, angry breeze blew past us, and Kalinda’s eyes slitted. “Leave this realm, spirit. Move to the afterlife!”

The malice began to grow quickly. Kalinda shook her head, turned, and forcefully threw the mojo bag into the fire.

At first, it was as if the entity was shocked she’d followed through with it. A wind picked up, fanning the flames, which caused the mojo bag to burn faster. Then there were screams. I somehow knew we were hearing the voices of the victims of the ghost who haunted me.

I put my hands over my ears, but Kalinda quickly came over and gently tugged my hands off. “No, hear them, they are calling to you. Hear them,” she beseeched, and I could tell it was important that I did.

I dropped my hands and felt the hot, angry tears roll down my cheeks. “Fuck you, you asshole!” I said, and immediately, I felt the entity. I realized my anger was giving him strength, just like Granny’s had when she created the angry mojo bag.

So, I concentrated on the screams, imagining the spirits of those who were wailing.

Immediately, my heart lost its anger, and I felt pity, empathy really, for those who had died at the hands of that nasty creature.

I felt the words form in my mind before I began to chant them.

“Peace be with you, who have suffered at his hands. Peace fill your souls and take you to a better place. Peace carry you home.”

I repeated that several times, my eyes clamped shut because I wanted… no, needed to be there for them, for his other victims. Slowly, the screaming stopped, and when the last of it had dissipated, I opened my eyes to see Granny, Kalinda, and Rory staring at me.

At some point, I must’ve stood up, and my hands were outstretched.

What shocked me more than anything was that the fire, which had been blazing under the wind the entity had created, was completely out.

Nothing remained in the fire pit. No coal, no wood, no mojo bag. Not even smoke rose from the ashes.

“W…what happened?” I asked.

“You released his victims,” Kalinda said.

“What’s up with the fire? We haven’t been here that long.”

She nodded. “It took a lot of energy to do what you did. I think your granny’s mojo bag helped with that. Destroying it was like a sacrifice that helped his victims cross over.”

“Him?” I asked, but Kalinda shook her head.

“No, I felt him return to the house. He’s licking his wounds, but he’s still here.”

“Shit,” I said and looked at Granny, whose eyes were huge. I immediately knelt next to her. “Granny, are you okay?” I asked.

Slowly, she began to grin. “Oh, that was so amazing. You’re amazing, Grandson. Your grandmother would’ve been so proud.”

“Oh, um, did she pass over?” I asked, hoping, but then a little sad that Granny wouldn’t have been able to spend time with her. She’d said that’s what she’d wanted.

“I believe all his victims crossed the veil tonight,” Kalinda said. “But that doesn’t mean they have to stay on that side. I suspect your grandmother, Ida’s daughter, will be back.”

Granny looked up at Kalinda, who knelt next to her.

“Your loved ones are gathering, Ida. I’ve felt it since the moment I met you.

I’ve even seen and had a few conversations with your brother, Eddie.

I suspect your daughter has a role to play here too.

” She looked at me, then back at Granny and continued, “I suspect Mick’s releasing her will be what she needs to fulfill her duties to you, but we’ll have to wait to see what happens. ”

“W-will I know?” Granny asked.

“If she returns?” Kalinda asked, and Granny nodded.

Kalinda shrugged. “No, not necessarily, at least not until it’s time for you to see them. However, know that tonight, thanks to Mick, your daughter is free.”