True Majik
By
Sheena Bandy
Copyright 2006 Sheena Bandy
Chapter 1
In a matter of hours, Maji would be a virgin sacrifice. They picked out one newcomer each year, one who'd never done ritual magic, to tribute for the city's prosperity. The first time for her blood to spill on the altar and she would belong to the spirits forever. She listened to the crickets chirping outside.
'Is it worth it?'
She crawled out of bed, pushed her nightshirt back down from where it had ridden up throughout the night, and ambled over to the window. The night air was still cool but had lost most of its chill from spring.
Maji could see the city's halo through her window of her cabin near the sanctum. There had been many virgin women who'd taken the knife before her. The city had grown tall into the sky and the people had become more cynical.
A precious few still believed in the rites that had brought them such good fortune. It would be a thankless and probably unnecessary ritual. She was only here for the monetary reward anyway.
'Back out.' a voice in her head offered.
Maji crawled back between the covers and traced her fingers along her unblemished stomach. It would be covered in a telling scar soon, like the bodies of all the other women who'd made the sacrifice before her. A tattoo but more painful.
'Is it worth it?' She asked herself as she slowly drifted off to sleep again.
The alarm went off and Maji sat upright in bed. She turned it off and gave a good scratch to the healing sunburn on her scalp. She had given herself plenty time this morning to prepare for the ceremony, roughly four hours. When the time came, she would be led into the Circle and placed on the altar in front of the coven that founded New Salem.
'I hope it doesn't hurt too much.' She thought to herself before plopping back into the pillows. Who was she kidding? She was gonna lose it in front of everyone. She had been so ready for this a few days ago. Why did she have to get cold feet now? She sighed and rolled over, pulling the sheets around her. It wouldn't hurt to stay in bed just a little while longer. She could think just as well there as she could sitting on the porch swing or at the bar in the parlor.
"Marjorie! Wake up!" came a frantic echo through her sleepy haze, "Yer gonna be late!"
Maji fell from the bed and ran straight into the shower, tripping on the mat and tumbling into the tile wall. She turned on the tap and washed as quickly as she could in the still cold water. She pulled the shampoo from the showerhead basket and poured some in her hand. She skipped the conditioner and turned toward the spray of water, washing the soap off. The priest wouldn't care either way but she cared. A lot.
When Maji got out of the shower, she dried herself off and walked into the living room. Jakob waved to her and led the way to the Circle.
'It's worth it. It's worth it. It is worth it.' Maji silently chanted to herself. It wasn't working. She saw the gathering around the circle waiting for her.
"You'll do fine." Jakob said over his shoulder. The way he said it, it sounded more like
"Try to keep up." Maji breathed deep and walked up to the altar.
The altar was cold despite the early summer sun. She reached out and was given a quick squeeze to her hand.
The chatter around the circle wasn't as distracting as she'd hoped it would be. And it started to quiet down the closer they came to the ceremony. It had become a countdown of sorts. She squeezed the hand that held hers and waited.
She rolled her head back on the stone altar. She was ready to be cut open already. She wondered how the others could make this look easy. Of course, the ones she'd seen had been experienced. She was a Virgin Sacrifice. She had never been sacrificed before.
"It won't be long, now." Jakob said. She followed his gaze and saw the priest coming toward the Circle.
'Oh God.'
"You'll be fine."
The priest approached the altar and looked Maji over. Looking for doubts, she guessed. He nodded and took the tools from the table behind him. In his left hand, he held a silver goblet, and in the right hand, he held a crystal knife. She'd heard that it would hurt.
Seeing the knife in the priest's hand, she didn't doubt it. She leaned her head back and calmed her breathing. If she panicked, she'd bleed more.
Several members of the crowd started yelling encouragement. They couldn't know they were making it worse. The priest held up his right hand, knife shining in the sunlight, and signaled for quiet.
She took several deep breaths and forced her body to relax. The priest wouldn't be aiming to hurt her, right?
Wrong.
Maji threw her head back in agony as she felt the blade ripping through the flesh of her stomach. The stream of blood ran down her side and into the goblet. She may have blacked out for a moment, but soon a bandage was applied.
She saw the priest step away with the goblet held against the sky.
"Our city will be prosperous for another year!" The priest proclaimed. The crowd began to cheer. Maji looked at Jakob, who had not left her side, and at the man who was holding her hand. She realized she'd never seen him before.
She watched as the man reached into his jacket and pulled out something small and black. She was too deep in her haze to recognize it until he pointed it towards the priest and it exploded with sound.
She screamed and rolled away from him.
Jakob caught her before she hit the ground. The cup fell to the floor and rolled towards the crowd. She could see her blood streaked in the dirt and wondered what would become of the city without it.
"Did you really think we would let you perform such a horrible act against God?" The man said quietly, "Ruining one of God's lambs with your black magic!"
Another shot and the knife shattered into a million pieces. Shards scattered, some covered in her blood. The priest backed away, staring at the gun-wielding man. His gaze shifted to Maji, still crouched on the ground in Jakob's arms. His eyes dug into her and she knew what was coming next. One more shot rang out and the old man fell to the ground, his own blood mixing with Maji's.
The stranger ran and jumped into a car that was waiting nearby. Maji looked at the blood on the ground. She wanted to believe that the cutting was enough for the city's protection but the gunman had already proven her wrong.
The crowd started shouting, screaming, crying. Their words were lost to Maji. She felt Jakob lift her up and carry her back to her house. He locked the doors and windows, closing the curtains.
Jakob took her hand.
"We need to leave here." He said. "They're saying your blood was cursed."
The Coven held her responsible. Maji felt her stomach turn. She had failed to protect the city with her blood. Her ceremony had brought this tragedy.
"Don't worry." Jakob said, "They won't catch us."
'So we are running away.'
"I'll have you somewhere safe before they can think of what to do. I'm sure they haven't noticed we're gone."
Maji rushed into the bathroom and promptly ejected the meager contents of her stomach. She'd eaten nothing but raw greens for days and she'd had nothing but water to drink. The acid burned her throat on its way back up and Jakob pulled her hair back in time to save it from being soaked.
She was led into the bedroom and Jakob resumed pulling things out of the closet for her. She sat on the bed and it creaked. He stilled. Maji could tell he was drawn up and ready to strike.
"You should go pack your own things." Maji said.
"I'll stay here with you." He answered.
"But your things?"
"Don't need 'em."
Maji watched the man shuffling through her closet. The ceremony had gone so well until the end. Her sacrifice was in the goblet. She had done her part. It just hadn't been e
nough to protect them.
"Are you alright to run? It is a fair distance to the station." Jakob zipped up the bag he'd packed for her. When he joined her on the bed, he pushed her hair away and kissed her lightly on the temple. She sighed and leaned against him. He had a gift for making the endangered feel safe.
"You live on the way." Maji said, "We can pick up your things."
He didn't reply. It seemed they would have a shorter run, a short rest, and another run. Maji tried to ready herself for it but the longer they waited the more her head spun and the more she feared she wouldn't be able to make it.
"I'll make sure everything's clear." Jakob said.
He opened the door and looked out. He took a few steps out and looked around. Maji peeked through the open door and saw that he Circle had been evacuated. All was quiet in the Coven. The city would be mourning the death of their leader for some time. Maji hoped they would be prone to overlooking their disappearance.
"Are you supposed to be detaining me?" Maji asked.
Jakob's mouth twitched. "I'm supposed to be protecting you."
She stepped out and stood by Jakob's side. His cabin wasn't too far and it was fairly out of the way from the city proper. They would have a safe path there. It was the run to the station that Maji was worried about.
"Alright?" Jakob asked, looking at the skyline in the distance.
"Yeah." She touched her stomach where the knife had cut her. It still hurt but she didn't think that would stop her.
"There's no one around." Jakob said after a pause, "I think we can walk to my cabin."
Jakob started down the hill and Maji followed. The only sound for a while was the crunching of dry grass beneath their feet. The road stayed empty and the city silently mourned.
When they reached the cabin, Jakob opened the door and picked up a bag from the entryway. He had already packed.
'How did he know we'd be leaving?'
"I always leave after the ceremony." Jakob said.
"Every year?"
"Since I came here." He wiped some sweat from his lip, "I only stay long enough for the ceremony. If it were in the Fall, I'd be gone all summer."
"So you're gone from July to October?" Maji asked. She knew he was back by October. He had been there the night she arrived.
He opened his back and checked its contents for the last time.
Though they knew they would not be back, neither brought anything personal. Since the move, Maji didn't have anything to bring. But Jakob had plenty of things he was leaving behind. He insisted they would just slow them down. Maji didn't argue.
Jakob shouldered both their bags and headed toward the station. They would be there in short order if they ran. She brought her pace up to a light jog and soon Jakob was following her lead. She wasn't quite burdened and her legs were just as long, so she was somewhat faster. But she was tired and out of shape. She slowed her pace a little and they jogged side by side until they reached the station.
The station had been evacuated and there were no trains leaving that day. Jakob took across the tracks and down the hill to the service booth. A small dirt road ran a little ways away and then descended through a tunnel in the next hill.
"What is this?" Maji asked.
"It's the underground road. The built it so the soldiers could cross the border."
A remnant of the last war. Maji didn't know much about it and had only ever been to the station. Jakob led down the road and into the tunnel a ways and pulled her to the side of a railway car.
"Get in." He said.
Getting in the cart was not an easy task in the darkness. Maji strained her eyes and felt with her hands. Suddenly, she could see. Maybe Jakob had turned on the lights. But he was still feeling his way around for the switch. She reached over and turned them on for him.
The lights came on and the car started to move. They were well down the tunnel before Jakob broke the silence.
"Can you see down here?" He asked.
"My eyes adjusted."
He just kept his eyes on the path ahead of him, because that's where the light was.
"Not perfectly." Maji amended. "Just shadows. Enough to get by."
The darkness at the edge of the headlight said there would be some ways to go before they got out of the tunnel. The shaking of the cart on the old rails made her heart pound and her head spin. But she could feel the adrenaline fading and the rune on her stomach start to burn.
She put her head down on the chair and closed her eyes.
***
The setting sun was right in Maji's eyes when she opened them. No longer in the cart, though she didn't remember waking up to get out. She looked over at Jakob, focused on the road ahead of them. She sat up in the passenger seat and he gave her a side-glance. Investigating the source of the movement. She smiled but he'd already looked back to the road.
Maji pulled down the visor and closed her eyes. The wind was blowing through the window hard enough to whip her hair around and ring in her ears but she could still hear the birds settling down to roost and the radio that Jakob had turned down so she could sleep.
They kept driving until the sun had long since passed beneath the horizon. Maji kept expecting Jakob to stop for the night, but he just kept driving with determination.
Occasionally, he'd get cross eyed and pull over and walk around the car he'd or stop at a gas station to fill the tank and relieve himself. He didn't stop at a rest site until the next morning, when the sky was getting lighter with the dawn.
"The safe house is another ten hours from here." Jakob said quietly, "Let's get some rest."
"Yeah, I don't think they'll catch up with us now." She said.
"We weren't being hunted or anything." He said. "You'd be exiled at worst for what happened."
Maji stopped. "Why'd we run, then?"
"I needed you to the tunnel before the adrenaline wore off." He said.
Jakob went to the door of the little cottage and knocked lightly. When no one came to answer the door, he pushed the welcome mat aside and pulled out the key. She looked around the small cottage and noticed the lack of personal effects. Jakob put their things down by the door and turned on the lights.
"Whose place is this?" Maji asked.
"Road house." Jakob answered, "Free territory."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Travelers can stay here as long as they share."
Maji looked around and felt how small the place was. There was no way they could comfortable house more than five people.
"Not many people take this road so it's not crowded here."
"Is it out of the way?" Maji took her own shoes off and sat down on the large single bed.
"Not really." Jakob joined her on the bed and let himself fall back on the bedspread,
"Maybe ten minutes..."
Maji was going to ask where they were going but he'd started to snore and she was still just too tired. She moved him onto the pillows and curled herself up next to him.
When she woke up, Jakob had apparently kicked his clothes off during the night. She left the bed and took a cold shower, rinsing the heat from her skin.
Maji finished her shower and realized too late that there were no towels here and her clothes were by the front door. She went into the main room to shuffle through her bag. Jakob was awake, gathering his clothes from the floor around the bed.
"Sleep well?" She pulled out her panties and put them on.
He grunted. "You?"
She hummed and continued dressing.
He found the last of his clothes and and went to the shower.
When Jakob got out of the shower, she was standing outside in the warm morning air.
They'd only slept for a few hours, and the sun hadn't had time to heat the air yet.
She went back inside when she heard Jakob messing around in the kitchenette.
"We'll stop for breakfast on the road." He said, putting two cups of water in the coffee maker.
Of course.<
br />
"We'll stop at a real restaurant." He said, "I'm sick of gas station food."
When the coffee maker finished, Jakob handed her a paper travel mug full of coffee. He fixed his own and started putting everything away in their bags. She rushed over and snatched her toothbrush and toothpaste from her bag before he got a chance to take it out to the car.
He was waiting on the bed when she was done.
"Ready, now?"
He'd already put all their things in the little silver car. Maji looked it over for the first time in the daylight. It wasn't a model she recognized, and it was only big enough for two.
Their bags went in the back seat. She could still see the discoloration on the back end from a wreck it must have suffered years ago. One of the tires was newer than the rest. So was one of the blinkers. Paw prints from animals of various sizes walked across the hood, rusted from sitting out in the rain. The car was not impressive but it might get them where they were going.
Maji got in and buckled up. Jakob checked a few things around the cabin and turned off the electricity and water. No sense running up the bill of whoever was paying for that haven. When he got in the car, he took one more sip of his coffee before putting it in the cup holder and pulling out.
It would be ten hours before they reached their destination. Jakob drove for another few hours before they came to a town and stopped for breakfast. Maji looked at the menu, sickened by the smells from the kitchen.
"I'm not hungry." She said, putting the menu down.
Jakob ordered more than she thought he could eat and pulled her close to him in the booth. She hadn't wanted anything, but when the food finally came, she dug in with him.
There was more than enough to fill them both. Maji felt her strength coming back as she finished three eggs and a couple waffles. Trust Jakob to know what she needed.
Shortly, they were on the road again. It took longer than he'd guessed with a stretch of construction and a drunk driving checkpoint. They'd also made a few fuel stops and some breaks to stretch their legs. Just shortly before sunrise, they made it to the house.
Chapter 2
The house was hidden in the middle of a man-made wood. The largest trees were all planted in a grid around the property and saplings sprouted in the spaces between. The house itself was small, though not as small as the cottage. Maji carried her bags inside while Jakob walked around to the power box. She heard the air conditioning turn on and turned on the lights.
Jakob followed her in and carried his bags into an adjacent hallway. He put them down inside the door of one of the rooms and opened the door across the hall. Maji followed him inside with her own bags.