Author Note: I would like to thank everyone for there reviews, you guys rock!
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the Midnight, Texas series.
Chapter Two – Bad Moon Rising
"I'm not going to say anything," Winnie announced. She stood staring at their house which was now infested with ghosts and an evil entity that kept growling, "Not a word."
"I appreciate that," her brother replied before heaving a huge sigh and entering the RV.
Winnie watched the house for a few more seconds and could only shake her head.
"Not a word," she reminded herself and stepped into the RV.
Manny was guzzling down a beer when Winnie spotted him and she knew he had taken one of his pills. She has an identical bottle with her name on it, though she takes them less often than her brother and only when necessary, but never with alcohol. Thanks to an experience while still a teenager, Winnie is careful when it comes to drugs, legal or illegal.
"Bad night," asked Xylda from her place on the bed.
Manny didn't say anything right away, instead sitting down on the bench seat and finishing his drink. Winnie sat beside him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
When Manny finally spoke he sounded almost annoyed, "Go to Midnight, you said. Small, out of the way place. Nice folks. Just lay low, work, make money." He shook his head the whole time he was speaking.
"So that's a yes," Xylda interpreted.
"That house is infested," Manny answered waving his hand in the direction of said building, almost hitting his sister with his flailing limb, "Ghosts and whatever the hell's growling in there. Oh, and I just promised the town I'd help with—" he was interrupted by his phone ringing.
"Hightower's been calling all night."
"Remember what you used to say? When the going gets tough…" Manny began, he and Xylda finished together, "We live in a house with wheels."
Xylda chuckled, "I know. But that was before I died. You don't have me anymore, Manny. You still have Winnie, but the both of you need people."
"It's a lot more than I signed up for," he admitted.
"It'll be worth it. Midnighters protect each other."
"Sure, great, kumbaya."
"You saw it with your own eyes."
He took a deep breath before facing Xylda. "I don't know if I can handle going back in there."
"It's Midnight. You don't need to pretend you're normal. Let your freak flag fly," was the vehement reply from the ghost before her voice changed to a gentler tone, "Tell 'em what's up."
"You'll always have me," Winnie said, squeezing his shoulder before moving her hand to rub circles on his back, "but it never hurts to have other people you can rely on. That's family, and we're gypsies. We need family."
"Alright," he agreed with a nod.
They went to the pawn shop, hoping to find Lemuel there, and were surprised to see Joe, the reverend, Fiji, Lem and Olivia having a meeting.
The female psychic opened her mouth to get the others attention but her brother beat her to it.
"I need help," Manny said.
Winnie was a little surprised and proud of him for admitting it.
"That's an understatement," Olivia said snidely.
The brunette twin glanced at her but didn't respond, "Here's the thing, my place is overrun with ghosts and all sorts of evil crap."
"Crap?" Fiji questions him with raised eyebrows, "Can you be more specific?"
"Poltergeist," he throws out, "Demonic entity, maybe."
"Uh, more than likely, demonic," Winnie adds.
"Well that should be taken care of," Lem responded.
Joe turned to the siblings with a questioning look, "What makes you think it's demonic?"
"The growling, for one. It's evil as—" Manny started to answer when Olivia interrupted him.
"Sure you're not trying to weasel out of keeping your word?"
"Watch it. That's my brother you're talking to," Winnie said moving toward the other woman, but was only able to take a half-step forward, since Manny had grabbed her arm.
"No," he said quickly, "I—I want to get answers from Aubrey. I'm just saying the chaos back at my place will make it hard. I need back up."
Lem was the first to speak. "The sun will be up shortly. I'm out." The vampire looked over to Fiji who nodded her head.
"Whatever you need," the dark-skinned woman assured, "I know my way around haunts."
"I'll go," Joe said, "I'm curious."
"You know CPR?" Manny asked and receiving questioning looks he explained, "Just in case it doesn't go well."
Winnie let out a gloomy chuckle and shook her head. "When does it ever go well," she said, the words causing her brother to look over at her pensively.
"Maybe you should—" Manny started to say but the finger that was suddenly in his face silenced him.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," she told him icily. "When you refused, I accepted Bobo's request to find Aubrey—"
"What? When did you do that?"
Winnie continued, speaking over her brother, "and now it's my responsibility to find out what happened to her. You're not the only one who has agreed to help, now we're both in this, so shut up and let's get a move on."
With that the female psychic turned on her heel and walked away. Manny looked to the others and raised an eyebrow and a smirk. "Guess that's our cue," he said before his face became slightly worried, "Seriously though, we better hurry before she starts without us."
When they arrived back at the house, the sound of flies buzzing was so loud it could be heard from outside. Inside was swarming with flies and it was cold enough to see your breath. Manny and Winnie preceded the other two into their place.
Fiji shuddered and started rubbing her hands together as she stepped through the door. She walked to the other side of the living area taking in the space. "You were right."
"Some seriously bad mojo," the tattoo artist said after closing the door behind him.
"Do you see any ghosts now?" the Wiccan asked the siblings.
Both psychics nodded and Manny spoke, "Oh, yeah." Ghosts in the form of dark clouds were everywhere, including on the ceiling, and there were so many it was almost hard to see the rest of the house.
A growl came from the floor startling everyone in the room and causing Fiji to step back.
"Oh my goddess," the dark-haired woman exclaimed.
"Whoa," Joe said in surprise.
Manny looked at them. "You saw that too?"
"That definitely feels like some sort of demonic spirit," Fiji confirmed.
That was when Manny noticed Aubrey in the kitchen.
Seeing that something had caught his attention, Fiji watched Manny and then asked, "What is it?"
"Aubrey's here." Manny started toward the kitchen, Winnie beside him and Joe moving to stay behind the two.
"Are you going to talk to her?" the blonde man asked.
"Yeah, something like that," Manny replied before holding up a hand to signal the other man, "Just, uh, stay back."
The siblings moved even closer. "Aubrey? We need your help," the brother said.
It seemed like the ghost was trying to reply but just like the other times, only a gurgling sound could be heard over the water coming out of her mouth.
"Bobo's in jail," Manny explained, "So if he didn't do it, I need you to show me who did."
Aubrey's expression grew worried and more water rushed from her mouth as she struggled to communicate.
"It's okay, we know you can't talk," Winnie said trying to ease the spirit.
"You can, uh…" he paused and swallowed, "borrow my body. Show me what happened."
When Aubrey's ghost took possession of her brother, Winnie moved to support him. Manny's hand gripped hers and Winnie was reluctantly pulled into the vision as well.
Scenes played out before their eyes, starting with the fight between Aubrey and Bobo. They could feel what she felt during the attack; the fear, the pain that she was in, and finally drowning; Aubrey showed them everything that happened before her death.
When Manny started coughing up water the feeling of liquid on her arms caused Winnie to come out of the trance, the suddenness leaving her disoriented. Joe and Fiji rushed toward them as she continued to hold up her brother.
"We need to get him out of here," Joe said taking Manny's arm and throwing it over his shoulders to support him, "Come on."
Fiji opened the door as Winnie and Joe dragged Manny out of the house.
"She's not letting him go," Winnie stated her voice a few octaves higher with panic.
"Take him to my house," Fiji instructed, "Ghosts can't enter."
Minutes later, all four of them rushed into the woman's house/shop. Manny gasped as Aubrey's spirit was repelled at the door, but he continued to cough up water before passing out.
Joe took most of Manny's weight and lowered the other man onto the couch. Winnie moved in to check his breathing. Finally able to relax when she found him breathing normally.
"He's alright, just asleep," she said quietly. She looked to the other two people, "Thank you."
Joe placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder and Fiji gave her a kind smile.
"You should sit down," Fiji told her, "I'll go make some tea."
This time it was Winnie that needed help walking. The emotional transference from the vision, then the sudden absence, plus the previous panic, had left her feeling emotionally drained and lethargic. She tripped over her own feet and if Joe hadn't been there to catch her she would have kissed the floor, painfully.
"You alright?" he asked while leading her to the nearest chair.
"I'll be fine. I'm jus' a little drained," she tried to reassure, even as her eyelids became heavy.
He pat the crown of her head in a soothing manner as she fought unconsciousness. "Then you should rest too. Your brother looks like he'll be out for a while."
"Yeah," she said the word as more of a sigh before her eyes closed and didn't open.
There was a sensation that woke her from her sleep, which was anything but peaceful as she relived the vision she had shared with her brother.
"Winnie," Manny called.
When her eyes opened she saw Manny standing next to her with a hand on her shoulder, he was obviously trying to wake her up. She took a deep breath and stretched.
"What's up," she asked sitting up from her slouched position in the chair.
"Joe is driving me to Davy. I need to go talk to the Sheriff, and I figure that with what happened last night, it would be better if you stayed here. While I'm gone, Fiji's going to get everything ready for an exorcism. Maybe you can help her out."
"Yeah, sure, I'll see you when you get back," she said. He nodded and started walking away when she remembered something, "Oh, don't forget to give him the watch."
He chuckled and responded before he left, "I got it."
Fiji came in a little while later and added more things to what had been gathered on the table.
"Alright, that should be the last of it," she announced, "Now we just need to get this over to your house and get it set up. Ready?"
"As ready as I can be," Winnie responded while reaching up to one of her pendants and running her thumb over the engraved metal.
When they arrived at the house it was the same as before. Ghosts everywhere, but this time they seemed to be more and more agitated as the two women brought in everything Fiji had gathered.
"Whoa!" Winnie exclaimed as two ghosts, lunged at her.
"What?" Fiji asked in alarm.
"The ghosts," she started, "They're not happy."
"No, I suspect they wouldn't be," Fiji acknowledged.
Winnie's eyes strayed over to the glowing floorboards. "Are you going to put up a barrier around that, just in case it tries to attack you during the séance?"
There was a hint of haughtiness in Fiji's smile as she replied, "No, the goal is to banish all of the entities from the house at once. A barrier would be too much of a hindrance."
Winnie gave a tight smile, "Right. Then I'll go wait outside and let you do your thing, but…you should seriously consider protection," she said, then started backing toward the door while raising her hands in a non-confrontational gesture, "Just saying."
"Alright," Fiji said warily, "We're done with the hard part. I can finish the rest."
Joe dropped Manny off just before sundown, and soon after both psychics stood on the porch looking through the window while Fiji took care of their ghost problem.
"I don't know why but I've got a bad feeling," Winnie muttered to herself before turning to her brother.
"So how did it go with the Sheriff?" she asked quietly.
"I'm not sure. He was glad to have his watch back, but it was hard to tell if he believed me or not. We'll just have to wait and see. Apparently Joe has faith," Manny finished with a grin.
"I'm sure you did your best, and that's all anyone can ask. You stuck your neck out," she bumped him with her shoulder, "I'm proud of you."
There was a noise in the distance that made them turn around.
"Was that a scream?" Manny questioned.
She gulped before replying, "It sounded like one."
He started moving toward the direction of the noise and his sister followed closely behind him.
Winnie saw the cruiser. "What's the Sheriff doing here?"
Manny just shook his head as his eyes scanned the other side of the street. Seeing something he crossed the road and stopped under a tree. He heard his sister gasp as they both got a closer look at the body in the tree. It was the same deputy that had talked to them after Aubrey's death and had come to arrest Bobo the night before.
"She's dead. Why is she in the tree? Wait, why is she even in Midnight?" Winnie wondered.
"I don't know but we need to warn everyone, right now," he said heading down the street to the restaurant.
"Where closed," the female owner said as they walked through the door.
Manny headed straight over to Madonna, who was whipping down the bar.
"You can't let anyone leave," he whispered.
She gave him a half-confused, half-annoyed look, "I can't?"
"Something's out there," he began explaining, "Something strong enough to kill a person and hoist 'em up a tree."
"It's a full moon," she murmured and blinked a few times before turning to the diners still eating, "You know what? Just scratch that. You can stay as long as you need."
Manny began looking around but then asked, "Where's Creek? She said she was working."
"She is, just not here," Madonna answered as she placed her phone to her ear and walked away with dishes in her other hand.
The siblings looked at each other before simultaneously heading for the door and to the Gas & Go.
"Creek!" Manny started calling out from the street, but it sounded like music was playing in the store and he knew she wouldn't hear him. They had just reached the space between the gas pumps and the door when the music turned off.
There was a noise and the twins looked to their right to see a large figure heading for them. Grabbing Manny by the back of his jacket, Winnie yanked her brother out of the way but still heard the sound of cloth being shredded as a large animal ran passed them.
"Ah!" Manny cried out. His left hand went to his side to clasp the wound.
Manny and Winnie ran inside to get away and Creek must have seen what happened as she beckoned them in, "Come here! What was that."
"It's a tiger," he answered.
And Winnie added, "A huge one."
"What?" Creek squeaked in disbelief. "Come with me." They rushed to the maintenance bay in the back, "This way here," she said pointing to an open bay door but the tiger was already making its way inside using that door.
"Not this way," Manny said grabbing Creeks arm to tug her after him and pushing Winnie back the way they came.
They ran out of the garage. Thinking fast Creek took a wrench and broke the car lift causing a vehicle to drop on the tiger.
Manny turned back once they made it out causing the women with him to stop.
"Why the hell are we stopping?" Winnie questioned.
"Why the hell is there a tiger?" Creek asked at the same time, sounding out of breath.
Manny looked up from checking his wound, "I think it's the Rev."
The growling in the garage grew louder and they all looked to the building.
"What? Is he okay?"
"He'll be fine. Let's move, now!" Manny replied. He grabbed both his companions' hands and started running not letting go until he knew the girls were keeping up. Manny led them back to the RV and held the door open as they got inside then quickly shutting it behind him.
"How bad is it," Creek asked as Manny finished climbing the stairs. She found a light above the bench and turned it on.
"Ah," he grunted as he raised the shirt to reveal three long scratches on his side.
Creek gasped as her hands went to cover her mouth, "Oh, my—it's not that bad."
"Never play poker," Manny told her.
"Sorry, sorry." She turned to try and find something to help and found a rag, "I just need to apply pressure."
He gasped when he pressed the rag to the wound and the girl gave a sympathetic wince.
"Does that hurt?" she whispered.
He tried to smile flirtatiously but his forehead was still creased with pain, "Less so at the moment."
"Well, good. It's the least I can do."
"Just so you know, once I'm not bleeding, I'll try for that kiss again."
"Well, just so you know, a little blood doesn't scare me," Creek countered, and they both started to lean toward each other.
Winnie was not about to watch her brother kiss the waitress so she turned away to look out the window. She let out a scream when the RV was hit.
Manny scrambled to the cutlery drawer and handed Creek a chef knife, "Here take this."
She took it, "Huh? Nothing with bullets?"
"I'm new to Texas," he told her, "Winnie?"
"Right here," she answered showing him the throwing knife she had pulled from its hiding place.
They went quiet everyone looking out the windows.
Creek turned to Manny. "Where is—" her whisper broke off into a gasp as the tiger growled and claw marks appeared in the roof of the RV.
"Any ideas, Grandma?" Manny asked looking toward the front seats.
Creek, who thought he was looking at and talking to her asked, "Grandma?"
"She's dead. I see her."
"Stop talking and run," Xylda answered from her place in the driver's seat where she was turned around watching them.
"Bad idea," Winnie protested, "I'm not running out there so I can get eaten."
That was when the gunshots started. They could hear the tiger growl and felt the rocking of the RV as it jumped off, and then a thud as it hit the ground.
When the shooting stopped they exited the RV to find Olivia and Lem standing in the street.
"You let him out didn't you?" Olivia accused Manny, jabbing in his direction with the barrel of one gun.
"No," he told her before nodding his head down the street, "she did."
Everyone made their way to the tree were the deputies body was.
"So, if it bites you—" the brunette man started to ask.
"You're born a were, dimwit." The blonde answered.
"Not exactly common knowledge," Lem admitted, "Weretigers are rare nowadays."
"So the Rev did that?" Creek asked.
"Such a waste," the vampire said in a slightly longing tone before taking a deeper breath and turning to the male psychic, "You're bleeding, aren't you?"
"A little."
"More than a little," another inhale, "Smells fresh."
"I got it Uncle Lem," Creek said with a wary glance at the bald man, "Here, have Madonna take a look at it for you."
Creek and Manny headed into the restaurant before Olivia turned to Lem, "I need ammo." Was the only thing she said before turning away and going back toward the pawn shop.
Winnie was left on the side walk. She glanced up at the tree one last time before letting out a sigh.
"And I need Strength(*)," said the gypsy girl walking away.
Her first stop was the RV once at the top of the stairs she looked for her grandmother, who appeared in one of the seats at the table.
"What's going on, now?" asked Xylda in concern.
"I need to hurry, but I have a question," Winnie stated.
"Well, what is it?"
"How exactly do I invoke the power of my name?"
They stared at each other, Winnie will a steely determination in her eyes and Xylda with shocked surprise.
Finally the ghost answered, "Right. Well first…"
Two minutes later, the young psychic exited the RV and went to her trailer.
After unlocking the trailer, she went to a tall cabinet on the right and opened the doors to reveal a small wardrobe. Reaching in she quickly pulled a white dress from one of the hangers and threw it over a shoulder, then grabbed a cloth bag before slamming the doors closed.
Pulling open a draw next to the wardrobe revealed different pieces of cloth; long strips of cloth, handkerchiefs and scarfs. She dug deep and pulled out a white triangular shawl that was large enough to wrap around her body.
She moved to the other side of the trailer to open yet another drawer, inside were stones of various size and color. She removed eight of the largest white stones in her collection and placed them in the bag. Gently closing that drawer, she went to get the last things she needed.
In another cabinet full of bottles, she pulled out three different ones. Carefully wrapping the bottles in the shawl she left the trailer so fast she had almost forgotten to lock it behind her, but quickly turned around and secured the trailer.
It had been a few minutes since she last saw Olivia and Lem. Winnie ran to the pawn shop and through the side door leading to the apartment above.
Without knocking she rushed inside and found Olivia in a hidden room full of weapons with a rifle in her hands, Lem seemingly waiting for her.
"Good, you're still here," the girl said, slightly out of breath from her dash.
"Yeah, and you shouldn't be," the blonde protested with a hard glare.
"Sorry, but I need to borrow your bathtub."
Expression going form annoyed to confused, Olivia asked, "What?"
"My house is currently being exorcised so I can't really use the shower there, and if I'm going to perform the ritual I have in mind, I need to prepare. The first thing I need to do is 'cleanse my body and mind' so I need to borrow your bathtub," the psychic quickly explained and then finished with, "Please."
"What kind of ritual?" Lem asked.
"I'll explain after, right now all you need to know is that it will help the reverend." She turned to Olivia with a pleading look, "I know you don't want to shoot that tiger. If you give me a chance I think I can help, and I need to get started as soon as possible. But, while I'm getting ready, it will be up to you to find him and bring him back."
"Oh yeah, and how do you expect us to do that?" the blonde woman asked waspishly, "Bullets won't stop it and we can't cage it."
"I trust you to figure that out," Winnie let out a deep sigh but caught the other woman's gaze, "Listen, I know you don't trust me and I'm not your biggest fan either. You're mean to my brother, you kidnapped him and you threatened to kill him. Not cool. But, I get why you did it. You want to protect this town and the people in it. I can help you do that. It is hours until sunrise. I don't have a cage, but if my idea works I can stop the tiger from killing without hurting it. Olivia, please."
"Alright," she agreed then gave the younger woman a hard look, "But it better work."
"It will," she replied, determination audible, "I'll wait for you at the church, it's familiar group for both the reverend and the tiger, so it should help."
The gypsy girl sat her things down on the bed and started stripping her clothes, she didn't have time to care about the other two still in the room.
Olivia looked over at Lemuel, who was trying not to smile, and rolled her eyes, "Let's go."
"After you," he offered.
When done bathing with the mixture in the bottles, Winnie put on the dress, draped the shawl across one arm, and grabbed the bag with the stones. She returned to the RV to grab two metal spikes, a cord of rope, a broom and a small cushion.
"Good luck," Xylda called as her granddaughter left, to herself she added, "here's hoping you don't need it."
Once at the church, Winnie swept a large patch of the ground to clear away the loose stones before drawing a big circle on the ground using the spikes and cord; then she set the tools aside and placed the white stones evenly around the circle.
A breeze blew against her back and she shivered, her wet curls had completely soaked the material of the dress, and she quietly hoped she didn't get sick.
"It would be just my luck," she murmured.
As much as she wanted to, Winnie knew she couldn't let herself worry, about herself or her brother who was chasing a tiger. She needed to focus. The redhead picked the shawl up from where she had left it and put it on. Then, taking the cushion she placed it on one side of the circle and sat down.
There was no chanting or waving her arms around. She just sat, closed her eyes, and dug deep inside herself; no calling on spirits or power from an outside source for this ritual; she would be invoking the power that had been given to her at birth, a power that she has carried with her all her life, and one she has never consciously called on before; the power of her name.
Time passed slowly as she gathered her will and strength. Drawing on her own energy and centering her thoughts, Winnie soon felt a wash of calm come over her, it made her feel like she was floating, but she was still aware of her surroundings.
Actually, she was more aware of her surroundings than she usually was; her hearing and smell seemed sharper; she could even sense someone watching her from across the street, and the energy that moved around her. Shuddering, Winnie was glad that she had chosen the church because it was keeping dark and malevolent energies at bay.
As she thought about it her power flowed out of her and into the stones surrounding her, each of them began to glow and the energies that had been circling suddenly retreated in pain and fear.
Everything was calm, peaceful. Then she caught the sound of tires screeching and her eyes opened to see Olivia's jeep come into view. The blonde backed the vehicle into the lot and Olivia, Fiji and Manny got out. The back end was opened to reveal Lem and the tiger.
"Oh, wow," Fiji whispered as she took in the sight of Winnie in the circle of glowing stones.
Manny glanced between his sister and the others for a minute before he seemed to realize something. He told Lem, "We need to get the tiger into the circle, but I'm pretty sure we can't enter it. You need to let it go."
"What?" Fiji breathed her voice quivering with fear.
Lem seemed just as socked as the brunette woman, "Are you sure about this?"
It was Winnie who replied, when she did her voice seemed to resonate and everything went silent again, "I am sure. Let him come to me."
Lemuel got out of the back of the jeep, and as soon as he let go the tiger stirred. A second later, the animal was rising, growling, hissing, eyes searching for food and escape. But as soon as it's golden orbs locked on the girl in white it seemed to be struck and went still.
"Come," the gypsy beckoned and the stones seemed to glow brighter.
The tiger jumped from the back of the vehicle, its powerful legs sending it through the air and its paws landing almost silently on the ground. It moved toward the circle hesitantly and growling low a few times, appearing to fight with itself, as if it was moving against its will.
Once it crossed the edge of the circle it stopped vocalizing. The second the animals hind legs crossed the boundary, it slowly collapsed, the tigers head falling into the gypsy's lap.
Removing the shawl from her shoulders, Winnie draped it over the muscled shoulders of the tiger before starting to run her hands along its head and face.
Winnie's voice was quiet when she spoke, the cadence was hypnotic, drawing in everyone that heard it, and there was power behind each word, "I am Blessed Peace, and peace is what I offer all creatures, great and small. Come to me and let peace wash over you. Let it banish your hunger so that you may be full, and calm your rage so that you may know peace."
The tigers eyes slowly closed and it let out a great sigh, but the animal wasn't the only one affected. The four outside the circle had all sat down on the ground and become lost in the feeling that had come over them. It wasn't a leeching of energy like Lem's ability, Olivia and Manny could attest to that, the calm seemed to fill them up like a glass that was slowly filling until it spilled over.
Before anyone knew it, the feeling was slowly fading leaving them refreshed, and it was only a little while before the sun come up. Blinking open eyes that none of them remembered closing; the four outside the circle stood and stretched.
"It's almost sunrise," Winnie said as she opened her eyes to look at the vampire, "Good night, Lem."
The vampire nodded and with a final glance at Olivia, he was gone.
The other three stood waiting for the sun to come up. As the sun crept over the horizon, the glow of the stones faded. They all watched as light hit the animal before the figure of the tiger seemed to shrink and stretch, bones shifting as it let out small grunts of discomfort, then a breeze picked-up and drifted over the form, blowing away the fur and leaving the man behind.
Manny removed his jacket and covered the lower half of the nude man while the reverend pulled Winnie's large shawl tighter around him. The girl's fingers were still running slowly through his hair. Olivia knelt beside the man, caring warmth in her eyes as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You're back," she said quietly, "It's okay now."
The reply was equally quiet, "No, it's not. I know what I did."
"The tiger did, what animals do, you cannot blame a beast for its nature," Winnie stated. "None of this was your fault. The bull, the chains, you did what you could to prevent this. But if you can't accept that, then you will have to accept that what happened is just as much the deputies fault as it is yours. She came here looking for trouble. It was just her luck that she found it," her head drifted closer to him and she whispered her last words into his ear, "So don't you dare blame yourself."
When she was done speaking, the female psychic slumped forward before falling to the side. The last thing she heard was her brother's voice shouting her name.
Winnie woke up in the bedroom of their new house. She let out a groan when she felt how much her body ached, she didn't have the energy to move, and there was a painful pounding in her temples. The bed shifted next to her, then there was a rattling sound and someone was pulling her up before propping her against their body.
"Ow," she whined as her muscles protested.
"Here, take these," Manny told her and she felt something pressed into her hand.
She couldn't open her eyes, but she knew they were two of her pills. Popping them into her mouth, she waited until a cool glass was shoved into her hand before swallowing them down, the refreshing feel of the liquid causing her to sigh.
"That's much better," she said as the glass was taken away.
"Good," was the irritated reply, before she was suddenly thumped on the forehead.
"Ah, what the hell, Manny?" she cried as she rubbed the spot where her brother had just flicked her. She glared threw squinted eyes.
"That, was for not telling me your brilliant idea. You scared the crap out of me," he explained before moving her hand away and kissing the spot he had just injured. His annoyed tone turned impressed, "That, was because you are the most amazing sister in the world. Seriously, Winnie, that was pretty impressive."
He hugged her close and she soaked up the comforting embrace.
It was another hour before she could get up and start moving around, by then it was way past breakfast and her stomach was announcing its hunger, loudly.
She was searching through the closet for a shirt when she found one that made her giggle. She pulled the grey shirt off the hanger and showed it to her brother who was sitting on the bed, "I am so wearing this one."
He read the words and scoffed, in black letters it read 'I'm Like 104% Tired'.
"You've got to stop buying those shirts," he told her.
She looked at the shirt, then at him, and then back to the shirt before giving a confused shake of her head, "Why? My shirts are awesome."
"You have more than thirty shirts, all with different sayings, but only three pairs of pants."
"So, I have shorts too," she replied as if that made up for everything, "and two bikinis, everybody's happy." He started laughing at her smug look, which she rolled her eyes at and walked away, "Laugh it up. I'm taking a shower."
They went to the restaurant for lunch where Manny quietly filled her in on what happened in their house and then later when they caught the tiger.
"So it was a demon? Huh," Winnie said taking a sip of her water.
"Yeah. Good thing is it's gone."
"Right," she agreed with a smile, "You go, Demon-slayer."
"I had help."
"Whatever, you did good. That thing is out of our house and I, for one, am happy about it. Remind me to thank Fiji later."
Olivia and the reverend walked in a couple minutes later. The siblings gave twin looks of curiosity. Manny was the one to voice the question of their minds.
"I thought you usually eat alone."
"I do," the man agreed with a nod, "I just came to say thank you."
Winnie blinked in surprise, "Oh, uh, that's not necessary."
"Still, I meant what I said."
Everyone looked to Olivia, who hesitated before speaking, "Yeah, thanks."
"Anytime," Manny said honestly.
"So, what was that you did last night?" the blonde asked. The man beside her seemed just as curious.
"Oh—well, uh," Winnie started hesitantly as she glanced at her brother; he looked between the man and woman before looking back and giving his sister a nod. She tilted her head, one eyebrow rising as if to say 'here goes nothing', "There's this idea—belief—whatever you want to call it…anyway, it's the idea that words have power, even more so when it's a name.
"If you haven't guessed it, Manny and I are twins, so when we were born our names were chosen to reflect that bond, and they share a similar meaning. Translated, Manfred means 'Man of Peace' and Winifred means 'Blessed Peace'. So, I invoked the power of my name and used it to channel my energy to literally create feelings of peace. The circle concentrated that energy into one spot and was why the tiger conked out so fast, but it didn't hold the energy in and that's what you felt."
"And it was a stupid idea," Manny stated hotly.
"Why is that?" the reverend asked.
"Because…" Manny started.
"Shut up!" Winnie hissed but he didn't listen and continued talking.
"…there is a reason gypsy's don't draw on their own energy. It's limited, overtime it can be replenished but it takes a while, and if a person uses all of their energy in one go, it will kill them. This is why curses and hexes—stuff like that—always involves summoning spirits or gathering ambient energy. You use a little bit of power to summon the spirits, or get the energy flowing, but after that they do the work for you. We even use talismans because the really good ones can draw-in and store a lot of power to use later.
"When Winnie invoked the power of her name, it created a direct link to her and she couldn't use any power besides her own or it wouldn't work. On the flip side, because the energy came from her it was a hundred times more powerful but if she had used too much she could have died."
"Look," the female psychic suddenly said standing and squaring her shoulders, "I don't have a death wish. I knew what I was doing and it was my decision. You hear me? Was it dangerous? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. I was protecting my family, end of story." She paused and took a deep breath, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get a manicure. The last one didn't hold up in the bath last night."
"Did you do this on purpose?" Chuy asked as he looked at Winnie's nails.
The nails had been completely stripped by the mixtures she had used to wash with. The potions were designed to clean off anything that wasn't natural to the body and they certainly did their job.
"No, it was totally an accident," she intensely admitted.
"I guess you're lucky that whatever you did, didn't take your nail with it."
"It's specifically made not to do that," she informed him.
He raised his eyebrows as if saying, go on.
"Did you hear what happened last night?" she said then started chewing her lip.
Chuy's forehead creased a little but he neither nodded nor shook his head.
She sighed, "Long story short, a deputy came by, opened the church cellar and let out a tiger," noticing his look Winnie shook her head, "She didn't survive. Manny and I were outside the house when we heard her scream. He made sure that everyone stayed inside, went to find Creek, got scratched, then Olivia and Lem found out what was happening and the two of them plus Manny and Fiji went to find the tiger. I had an idea that I thought would help, so I stayed behind to prepare. Part of the preparation was to use a mixture to remove 'impurities'," she emphasized the last word while holding up her hands, "Luckily it worked and we waited for sunrise," the psychic finished with a shrug.
"Sounds like a long night," he replied. "So, what were you thinking about doing this time?"
She smiled and pointed at one of the polishes on the shelf, "I was thinking that color."
"No problem," he replied retrieving the metallic light-blue polish she had indicated and starting to work on her nails.
Winnie sat and let her mind wander from one thing to another, until she suddenly blurted out a random thought, "Even if he did try to eat us, that tiger was gorgeous, but now it feels weird having that orange and black stripped bikini. I mean, their horizontal strips so it's more like a bee. Still, you don't think the Rev will be offended do you?"
Chuy paused for a moment to chuckle, before shooting her a smile and continuing. "I'm sure he won't mind."
"Good," she nodded firmly, "There probably won't be a lot of opportunity for me to wear a swimsuit anyway but I was thinking about it. Manny and I were talking this morning about my choice in clothes, so it's been on my mind…Sorry if I'm bugging you with all the talking."
"It's fine," he smirked, "Talking with you is definitely entertaining."
She scoffed, "Crazy lives make for crazy stories. Remind me later, to tell you the one about the guy who thought he was being chased by fairies. Spoiler alert, he wasn't paranoid."
They shared a laugh and continued talking until it was time to leave. With ten dollars to the beautician and another hundred dollar bill in the tip jar, she walked out with a new manicure and whistling a jaunty tune.
Bobo saw Winnie coming out of Joe and Chuy's parlor when he left Fiji's and called out.
Winnie turned to see who said her name and spotted her landlord, "Hey! Good to see you. How are you doing?"
"I'm doin' fine," he said with a smile that turned into a curious expression, "Now, about what happened? How did you..."
She grinned sheepishly, "Gypsy secret. Let's just say, I made sure nobody could see you until I wanted them to."
"Well, it certainly worked. Now as a thank you, I have something for you and your brother. I think you'll like it," He said with childish glee, "Come on."
They went into the pawn shop and Winnie waited by the counter while Bobo went to get the gift.
He came back and held up an old sign that read "Palmistry: Psychic & Clairvoyant".
"Oh-ho, Manny is going to love that," Winnie commented with a smirk.
"Let's go take it over there," Bobo said.
Winnie opened the door to the house and called for her brother. Manny met them in the living room giving Bobo and the sign a curious look.
"What's that?"
Bobo walked to the fireplace as he explained, "My combo housewarming and 'thanks for saving my ass' gift."
Manny chuckled, "That's awesome, thanks."
"Oh, yeah," Bobo said as he sat the sign down and straightened it. "Fiji told me what you did." Bobo turned around and faced Manny with a look that said more than words.
"Um…" the male psychic began, "Aubrey, she—she wanted to tell you the truth. Her husband asked her to get to know you, but what she felt for you, that was…that was real."
"Thanks for that," Bobo said quietly, "But the woman I love, she didn't exist."
Winnie gripped his shoulder, "Word of advice, and it's going to sound ridiculous, but you need to find it in yourself to forgive her," she shook her head and continued with more conviction, "Not for her, but for you. People need both the strength to forgive and the humility to ask forgiveness."
"You're right," he agreed.
A knock came at the door and all three of them turned to see Creek poking her head around the corner.
"Bobo," the waitress said trying to hide obvious surprise with a smile, "glad to have you back."
She gave Bobo a hug as he responded, "Nice to be back." Afterwards he silently left.
Creek then looked at Winnie expectantly.
Winnie narrowed her eyes at the other girl before turning to her brother who also looked pleadingly at her. She pursed her lips together and felt her eyebrow twitch as she reigned in her frustration. It had been a long day, she just wanted to relax and spend time with her family, but instead she's getting kicked out of her own house!
The redhead's face went stony as she spoke, "I'll see you in the morning."
"Yeah, goodnight," her brother told her as he gave her a quick hug.
Winnie reached the door before turning around. "FYI, I live here too," she then flashed a smile, "So heads up, I will be taking a shower in the morning, and I will be walking into the bedroom naked to get dressed. Goodnight."
She left, and shut the door behind her. The RV was quiet before she got inside, "Jerks!"
"What happened?" Xylda questioned her irate granddaughter.
"Manny always kicked me out of the hotel room when he had a client, and I understood it was because of business. But now he's kicking me out of the house, I mean, come on! He likes her, big deal. I should make them sleep out here."
"That's a side of my grandson I never wanted to see while I was alive, and I don't want to now. But Manny is a grown man, Honey, he needs to have a little fun."
"He wants to have fun, they should do it at her place and see how her family likes being kicked out of the house, so they can screw around."
"And I think it's about time you had some fun too," Xylda added.
Winnie turned to look confusedly at her grandmother's ghost, "With who? I'd have to go to the next town to find someone attractive and single. You know what, never mind. I'm tired. Night Grandma."
The redhead flopped down on the bed with a groan.
Xylda looked slightly shell shocked as she called back, "Night."
Alternate Ending: Saving the Sheriff
Winnie was stomping her way toward the RV, after leaving her brother and Creek in the house, when she was hit by a vision, this one lasting for more than a second and causing her to pause in her stride. Her eyes grew wide and once the vision was over she sprinted to her trailer.
Minutes later she was on her motorcycle and speeding down the road in the direction of Davy. She didn't know how long it would take to get their or where exactly she was going, other than the Sheriff's office, but she prayed she made it in time.
It had just gotten dark by the time she arrived. Pulling into a parking space and yanking out the key before jumping off the bike, Winnie ran for the doors and right into the person that had just exited.
Winnie looked up into the face of the Sheriff and sighed, "Thank god."
Livingston recognized the woman from the other night, and became worried at her behavior, "Is something wrong, Miss?"
"Not anymore," she continued but then quickly amended, "or at least there won't be if you stay out of your car."
"Excuse me," he questioned.
She winced, "This will be hard to believe, Sheriff, but my name is Winifred Bernardo and I just had a psychic vision that someone planted a bomb in your car."
His skepticism was written on his face before he even started speaking, "Ma'am—"
"Please, listen to me. You listened to my brother," she pleaded.
That made him pause, he still seemed hesitant to believe her but he nodded, "Alright, Ms. Bernardo—"
"Winnie," she corrected with a smile.
"Winnie. You and I are going to go inside and I'll get this taken care of, but I should warn you if this turns out to be a joke or—"
She interrupted him again, "It's not a joke."
He grinned in slight irritation, "Would you stop doing that?"
She pursed her lips together and didn't speak.
"Thank you. Now," he said turning around to open the outer door, "after you, Winnie."
To say the Sheriff was surprised when they did find a bomb would be an understatement, he was downright shocked.
Winnie waited in the Sheriff's office until he returned. The man glanced at her as he rounded his desk and sat down heavily in his chair.
He took his hat off and rubbed his forehead before taking a deep breath and finally looking the young woman in the eyes. "I have a few questions," he began and waited for her nod to continue, "You said you received a psychic vision?"
Another nod, "Right, and in this vision did you see the person that placed the bomb in my car?"
A head shake this time, and he breathed a heavy sigh, "Right."
"But, I think I saw who had it put there and why?" She said, finally speaking since entering the building, "Usually, my visions only last for a split second and it's just an image, but sometimes they last longer. This time it was longer, I saw you walking to the car and getting in, and then it exploded. Then I saw a bald man in a biker jacket and what looked like a jawbone around his neck, he said, "Shouldn't have let Bobo Winthrop out," and that was all I saw."
There was a contemplative look that flashed across his eyes before he sat up and picked up a file off his desk. He drew a picture out of the file and showed it to the girl, "Is this the man you saw?"
Winnie looked at the picture and recognized the man from her vision, "Yeah, it was him."
"And have you ever seen this man before?"
She shook her head, "Not before I had the vision."
A muscle twitched in the man's jaw, "If you see this man again—"
"I'll call you immediately," Winnie stated but then flinched when he shot her a mildly annoyed look for interrupting him, again, "Sorry, I won't interrupt."
He huffed, "Just be on the lookout, he's a dangerous man. And Ms. Bernardo," she opened her mouth and he was quick to raise his hand to stop her, "Winnie," he quickly added and then with sincerity he finished, "Thank you. You saved my life."
"You're welcome, Sheriff, I'm happy I could help," she replied with a genuine smile.
"Let me walk you out," the lawman offered.
He walked her all the way to her bike. "Good night, Ms.-Winnie. Have a safe trip home."
"Good night, Sheriff."
End Note: I left this mark (*) in the chapter next to something Winnie says. Ten credits to your awesomeness for anyone who can tell me what Winnie was referring to when she spoke.