AUTHOR'S NOTE: Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are celebrating today! I know it's a holiday but I wanted to publish a chapter today (it's not very long) to acknowledge that it's the anniversary of when I published Charlie's fic in 2016! THREE YEARS AGO, can you imagine?! When I first got the idea for Charlie's story I had no idea that it would go on for so long and be enjoyed by so many people, and I love that y'all are still here with me! So a huge THANK YOU to everyone who's been reading and following along this whole time- it kinda feels like we're family!

Tamilyn313, AshtynnAlba, GuestG, MariaKata, huhchuh, sueturpen, chilena354, stacey40, Claire, Lexie Lou, NoilyPrat, EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester, elliesamdeangirl, wandamarie, and guest, thank you for your comments, and you know I always appreciate them!

I've been doing lots of research on seances and prayers and light working and spirituality and I've even done some translating into Latin! So the next chapter is when Charlie and Imani will be "going into The Veil" and I hope to have it published soon, since I already have parts of it written.

~ ~ spn ~ ~

Grandpa John looked at Daddy. "I want to say the Orationus Praesidium over her."

"The what-y what?" I asked.

"It's a prayer that will protect you." Grandpa John explained. "It should...keep the old woman's spirit away from you for now."

Daddy nodded. "Okay." He put his arm around my shoulders. "Can you stand up? We're gonna go over to the couch."

He helped me stand up and guided me over to sit down. Grandpa John put everything back in the duffle and left the room.

Daddy pushed my hair out of my face. "How are you feeling, Charlie?"

"Um, my head feels kinda fuzzy, and my chest hurts." I rubbed my eyes.

"You let me know if you start feeling off, okay?" His voice was serious.

"Okay, Daddy."

Grandpa John came back into the room with a wooden box and a small canvas bag. He set them down on the coffee table and began to remove things from the bag- a thick white candle, a small metal bowl with symbols etched into the sides, a box of matches. He lit the candle and then opened the small wooden box.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"Shh, you have to let him concentrate." Daddy said.

Grandpa John removed a couple of small glass bottles. "This is holy oil, I'm going to mix it with some herbs, and after I say the prayer I'll put some on you."

"Put oil on me?" I asked curiously.

"Just a little bit, I'll use it to draw protective sigils on your skin." Grandpa John smiled at me.

"All right, shush now." Daddy said.

Grandpa John bowed his head, closing his eyes for a moment. Then he let out a big breath, and raised his head. He crumbled some dried herbs into the bowl, and then poured a little bit of oil in and mixed it with his finger. He picked the bowl up and passed it over the candle flame, chanting something in another language. Then he held the bowl in one hand and dipped his finger into it.

"First on the forehead, then the hands, and feet." He said to me. He leaned forward and traced something on my forehead while chanting again. The oil felt cool and slimy on my skin.

Then he did the same with the backs of my hands and my feet, drawing a symbol on my skin while chanting.

He set the bowl down and then put his hand on my head, chanting again.

It felt like a breeze blew through my head, and the fuzziness was gone! He took his hand away, and I looked up at him. "I-I feel-"

Grandpa John raised his eyebrows. "Yes-?"

"I don't feel-my head feels better! Like before, it felt all fuzzy and jumbled, but it feels-like, clear now!" I exclaimed.

Daddy exhaled. "Hopefully that means it worked."

Grandpa John looked relieved, and cupped my cheek with his hand. Then he blew the candle out and began to put the bottles back into the box.

"Let's get you back to bed." Daddy said.

"But I don't feel tired now!" I protested.

"Well, you need to be well-rested if you're going to take part in sending the spirit over." Grandpa John said.

"Okaay." I agreed with disappointment. I stood up and walked over to hug Grandpa John. Daddy followed me upstairs, and we went back into his room. He tucked me into bed.

"I'm going downstairs for a minute, I'll be back." He smiled at me.

I wanted to talk to him and ask him about what was going to happen, but I fell asleep before he came back into the room.

~~ spn ~ ~

"I wanted to sleep more!" I complained as Grandpa John served some eggs onto my plate. I had woken up in Daddy's bed in the morning and he'd made me come downstairs with him.

Daddy took a long drink of his coffee. "I know Dad did the protection spell on you, but I just want to have eyes on you at all times until this is over with."

"What does that mean?" I took a bite of eggs.

"It means I want someone to be with you...watching to make sure you're okay." Daddy picked up his fork.

I sighed. "Okaaay."

Grandpa John sat down with his mug. "We'll be doing the ritual tonight, so it won't be for too long."

Daddy yawned. "After this is done I'm gonna sleep for a couple days straight."

We heard the front door open and Uncle Sam called out, "Anybody up?"

"In here," Daddy responded.

Uncle Sam came into the kitchen carrying a plastic bag. "How is everyone?"

"We had some adventures last night with Charlie, I'll fill you in later." Daddy told him.

Uncle Sam set the bag down and removed a couple of pieces of paper. He set one down next to my plate. It was a computer printout of a document that said "Certificate of Death" across the top in fancy lettering.

"I thought you should get acquainted with the old lady since you're going to be helping her." He said. "Her name was Hazel Marie Morris, and she was 94 years old when she died." He turned the paper towards Daddy. "She lived with her daughter, Mallory Stillson, and the daughter and her husband Dave Stillson were the ones who ID'ed the body."

Hearing that sparked a memory in my head. "Yeah, Mallory was one of the names she kept saying...Mallory and Jeff and...Sharon, I think?"

Uncle Sam scanned the top paper he held in his hand. "Yeah, she had a son named Jeff too, and a bunch of grandkids...but I don't see any Sharon." He looked at me and shrugged. "She did have dementia, so maybe she was thinking of someone else." He picked up the paper and then set a different one next to me. "This is the prayer you're going to have to say, to send her over. You're going to have to memorize it, and be able to speak it clearly and with proper pronunciation."

I looked down at the paper. The first line was 'Anima receperint in paradisum'.

"Uh- anima-re-receipt-"

Uncle Sam chuckled. "No, it's reh-cheh-per-int. Can you repeat that?"

I repeated what he said, frowning. "That's gonna be hard!"

"Nah, you're a smart kid, I think you'll get the hang of it." Uncle Sam ruffled my hair.

"But what if I forget? Or say it wrong?" I worried.

"Imani will be right by your side, and she knows it already, so she can help you." Uncle Sam told me.

"Why don't you finish up breakfast so you can concentrate on memorizing?" Daddy tapped the table next to my plate.

Grandpa John stood up. "Sam, you want some eggs?"

Uncle Sam shook his head. "No thanks, I already ate."

"How's Imani?" Daddy asked.

"She's good, she's spending some time in meditation today, before we get to the main event." Uncle Sam picked up the bag. "She said you're to take a bath, Charlie, and she gave me some herbs to put in the water."

"What will that do?" I stood up and carried my plate and fork over to the sink.

"The herbs will help cleanse your energy and add a layer of protection." Uncle Sam explained. "We'll do that in a little while. Come sit down with me and I'll help you with the pronunciation."

I followed him into the living room. "Uncle Sam...do I have to do my school work today?"

He gave me a look. "Well...I guess you can have a break today. You're not behind on anything and I know you'll catch up once all this is finished."

We sat together for a while, with him saying the words and me repeating them back. Uncle Sam explained about praying out loud and said it was different than just reading words. You had to put the words into a rhythm when you spoke, and that's what made it sound like chanting. So I worked on trying to do that too.

Grandpa John and Daddy came in to the room. "Let's hear how you're doing so far." Grandpa John said.

I said the first two lines, just like Uncle Sam had taught me.

Grandpa John smiled. "Good pronunciation and cadence, I think she's got your aptitude for languages, Sammy."

"Sounds good." Daddy agreed.

Grandpa John leaned down to look me in the eyes. "Charlie, I wanted to tell you that I think you're very brave to do this."

Uncle Sam turned to me. "You are, Charlie. How are you feeling about everything?"

I looked at him and then Grandpa John. "Um...kinda nervous. But excited too!"

Grandpa John touched my cheek. "You're gonna do just fine." He straightened up.

"Well, don't get too excited. This is a one-time thing." Daddy said.

I looked over at him. "But-but what if I'm good at it? Then maybe I can-"

Daddy held his hand up flat, palm out. "No. We are not going down that road right now."

I sighed and dropped my eyes to my lap, feeling disappointed.

"Hey, let's concentrate on giving Charlie all the support she needs today." Uncle Sam nudged my shoulder and I looked at him. "Good vibes only. You got this, right?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah!"

He set the paper down on the coffee table. "Let's take a little break, I'm going to take a quick shower. Can one of you keep working with Charlie?" He stood up.

"I'll help her." Grandpa John said.

"Can I play a game on my touch pad for a little bit?" I stood up.

"Yeah, bring it in here and sit next to me." Grandpa John sat down on the sofa.

Uncle Sam and Daddy left the room, and I played the puzzle game. Grandpa John was looking through his journal and marking pages with paperclips.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Marking prayers that I have written out. I should probably gather them all into one place."

"What for?"

He glanced at me. "Just in case we need one. There's always a chance that-well, it never hurts to be prepared, right?" He smiled.

"Yeah."

He closed the book and leaned forward to set it on the table. "Let's work on the prayer some more now."

"Okay, lemme finish this level." I finished my game, and then shut it down and turned off the touch pad. After I set it next to his journal, he held up the paper.

"Can you remember what you've already worked on?"

I closed my eyes and tried to remember. I said the lines, and opened my eyes to look at him.

He was smiling broadly. "Good job, kiddo!" He set the paper on my lap. "All right, let's go over the next line now."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Orationus Praesidium means Protection Prayer, and the line of prayer 'Anima receperint in paradisum' loosely translates to "Welcome the soul to Paradise".