Summoning Annika_The Viking Witch Trilogies Read online

  Parker stood there panting, trying to catch his breath, “What? he gasped finally,

  “Quiet? What the fuck, Mike. What is happening? Your call, you sounded like something...”

  Parker stopped ranting and looked at Michael, who was calmly pointing at the table.

  “Look, something is definitely happening.”

  Parkers expression turned from one of sheer panic to one of anger as he walked into the dining room, “It fucking better be good or I’m going to wring your…Holy Shit” and he stood there staring.

  There, in the newly rendered circle, along with the original pieces, were two new ones. All of the pieces had again grown in size, but Michael pointed to the new pieces. “Look where they showed up.” The two new arrivals had positioned themselves at the North and South points that Michael had noted earlier that morning.

  “Well, now that is interesting. What the hell is going on?”

  “Yeah!” said a familiar female voice from behind them, “What the hell is going on?”

  The boys spun around to find Katie leaning on the door jam of the apartment. Parker had left the door standing wide open.

  “Katie… Hi, um, oops,” for once, Parker was at a loss for words.

  “Jeez, Parker, you just about run me down in the hall, you’re hollering for Michael, I’m getting ready to call 911 and now you’re standing here having a little chit chat like nothing happened?”

  The three of them just stood and stared at each other in silence. “And you think girls are dramatic.” She drew out the last word for emphasis.

  Michael spoke up, “Katie, I’m sorry, it’s my fault really. I called Parker to tell him about this proje…this prop, that I’m working on and I guess I got a little excited and I accidently hung up on him, so he thought I was in… trouble? Maybe?” Michael winced a little as he said it.

  “Yeah,” seconded Parker, “what he said. I am so sorry for almost bowling you over.”

  “I would hope so,” she sniffed, but her tone changed. “Props? For the geek party? Cool. What are you working on, can I see?” and she moved toward the dining room.

  “Whoa,” cried Michael, “secret stuff here, no peeking.” He moved in front of the table to block her view and that stopped her in her tracks.

  “Oh, fine. Keep your secrets. As long as everything is ok with you two? I’ll just head back down the hall.” Katie grabbed the door handle to close the door as she left, “You guys just keep playing with yourselves,” she smirked as she closed the door.

  “Funny,” Parker called after her. He turned to Michael, “it was, actually.”

  “That was close,” Michael reasoned, “she could have seen something.”

  “Seen what? A bunch of junk on the table? Other than the sketch part, nothing would really look like anything and, now that you told her we have secret stuff for the party, you’d better come up with something cool. You, sort of, raised the bar on yourself.”

  “Yeah, I realize that, with only a few days now to dream something up. Great.”

  Looking back at the table, Parker asked, “Tell me what happened, how did this show up?”

  Michael thought back, “Nothing happened really, it just showed up. I had just finished eating and I was in the kitchen and then I heard my protractor fall on the dining room floor after the thunder happened. Did you hear it? Weird, huh?”

  Parker just looked at Michael, “Hear it? I just about saw it. We were downtown for dinner. It hit the railroad tracks about a half a block from the Antique store we were at the other day. Louder than shit too.”

  Michael nodded, “I called you about a minute after the thunder, it must have been the same one I heard.”

  “Well, maybe,” Parker reasoned, “There was another strike about a minute after we heard the first one. Farther away, though.”

  Parker looked at the table. “This is nuts, Mike. We need to go talk to the old guy at the antique shop. Maybe we aren’t supposed to have this stuff.”

  “Yeah, I thought about that, but he gave me the boxes and knew there was stuff inside them. I can’t imagine he wouldn’t be aware of something this weird.” Michael looked at his watch, “Let’s do it tomorrow. Let’s give this one more night and see what happens.”

  Parker had an incredulous look on his face, “Well, how about that? I’m usually the one to act foolishly,” he said laughing. “Ok, so if we get slaughtered by aliens tonight, I blame you.”

  Michael shrugged his shoulders and grinned, “We both watch too much TV, but now that you mention it, I have been taking notes about what’s happening so if we do disappear…”

  “Not funny, Mike,” but Parker was trying not to laugh, “Ok, one more night. We’ll see what happens.”

  Michael moved everything off the dining table except for the cardboard with the pieces on it. He left that exactly where it was.

  “I have an idea,” and he left the room to come back immediately with a video camera, “Let’s hook this up to film the...” he hesitated, “what do we call this thing anyway?”

  “How about the Eighth Portal of Hell,” Parker dead-panned.

  “Ok, now you’re the one not being funny. I don’t think the devil is moonlighting as an antique dealer in downtown Fargo,” admonished Michael.

  “Probably not, but I have started playing back every scary movie scenario I have ever seen in my head thanks to you rummaging around in that store. Can you set the camera up to record with a motion detector?” Parker was getting into engineer mode.

  “I can,” replied Michael as he set his webcam up on the top of his monitor screen. “Hang on, duct tape,” and he fastened a sensor to the edge of the dining table. “Parker, move your hand across the top of the, um, project, I guess we call it that for now.”

  Parker complied and with his hand moving across the metal pieces it triggered the camera and Michael’s phone beeped at them. “Cool, surveillance, I like it.”

  He reached over and turned the camera sensor off. “Yep, I’m going to work on party props for a while. I’ll turn the camera back on when I’m done in case anything happens later tonight.”

  “Good, maybe we can get a decent night’s sleep. I’m gonna call it a day.” Parker walked into the bathroom and walked right back out.

  “Ok, I just looked in the mirror and I half expected something else to be looking back at me. Thanks for that, asshole.”

  Michael had to laugh, “Parker, did the big alpha male get a little spooked? I thought you were fearless. You do watch too many movies.”

  The hours flew by as Michael finished up a wide array of props for the upcoming party. Communicators and blasters, a couple of small swords, it was quite a diverse collection of genres. It was fun and creative for him, but he would constantly look over at the table to see if anything was happening. He had even fashioned a small necklace using a chain and several small pieces of hardware. Maybe something Samantha would like? It didn’t look very witchy, however.

  It had been a quiet night.

  Michael shut the light off at 3 AM, settled into bed and looked at the ceiling. He fantasized a little about leading an ‘away team’ into uncharted territory with Samantha as his science officer. He smiled and hoped when he drifted off to sleep, he could continue that thought in his dreams.

  The dreams didn’t last long.

  At the end of the block, a bakery truck had just pulled away from an early delivery at the corner gas station. The driver pulled out onto the street when his engine died and the lights went dark. He reached for his key to start up the truck.

  He felt the hair on his arms and neck stand up. Again, straight down from a cloudless early morning sky, the bolt struck the street about fifty feet away from him. The jagged shard of light blinded him for a split second, the image of it reversed as a blue spot behind his closed eyelids. He instinctively shielded himself as the roar of the lightning enveloped the sleeping neighborhood and reverberated off the apartment buildings. The truck shook from the shockwave and then it w
as silent.

  Michael looked at his alarm, 4:14am.

  At first, the sound fit in with the dream he was having, but it was just so loud it didn’t really make sense. It was so close to the apartment building that it rattled the windows.

  Michael opened his eyes and without thinking called for his roommate, “Parker?”

  “I’m awake” was the response from the other bedroom. “The whole neighborhood is awake now. It was the end of the block, really close to us,” as he walked into Michaels’s room, “Again”.

  Parker pointed to the nightstand, “Michael, your phone!”

  With the commotion, Michael hadn’t realized the alarm on his phone was blinking. He must have inadvertently put it on mute. The two young men looked at each other with a mixture of excitement and fear.

  “It can’t be a coincidence,” they scrambled down the hall toward the dining room

  Parker snapped on the dining room light.

  They were not disappointed.

  Michael saw what he wanted to see, “West, it’s here now.”

  Parker’s voice sounded more cautious, “There is a lot more than that now. Holy shit!”

  The space that had Michael had marked for the ‘west’ piece had, indeed, been filled in with a new section, but in addition to the new directional marker, there were two more segments in the arc, a new section appeared in the center of the growing circle, and a T shaped tab had been added to the original piece. All larger, all taking up more space on the table.

  Michael picked his notebook and started sketching, “What is this? It looks like a T or a strap?”

  “I think it’s a spoke, like it will connect to the center hub. This is nuts.”

  They were both in such shock about the new additions, they forgot about the playback on the camera.

  “Playback, crap. Do it,” Parker’s usually deep voice sounded like was suddenly ten years old again.

  Michael set the camera to play back to the computer monitor. They sat back to watch.

  “Oh my god, did you see that?”

  “Duh, I’m right here, play it again.”

  They reset the camera and played it again. And again.

  “Unbelievable, this can’t be happening, Parker.”

  “We need a second camera.” The camera had been set flat on the tables’ surface so the project appeared flat. The angle only allowed for a single view of what had happened.

  “Can you download this and play it back frame by frame?”

  As they watched the enhanced playback, the bright lens flare was diminished enough to make out three distinct parts of the lights. First, and overall burst of blue light, then a second pulse of four smaller beams but the last phase didn’t make any sense to them. It appeared as if the light had spaced out or gotten spots in it.

  “That must be the camera, it’s not a very good one, we need better stuff.” Parker lamented. “Really amazing though.”

  Michael winked, “I know someone who can hook us up with state of the art gear,” and Parker way ahead of him, “Oh, no. No, no no, please not Mac.”

  “You know he is the best on campus, right? He’s a nice guy. C’mon.”

  “He is two steps beyond geek, he makes nerds look suave, please no,” but Parker knew he would be the right choice, “Crap, I’m in. I’m not going to be nice to him.”

  Michael knew the correct response, “Well that will work out fine because you’re not nice to anybody unless they are female.”

  “Point taken. I’m nice to you, right?”

  “Most of the time, yes, but that only took twelve years to accomplish. We don’t have that kind of time here.”

  Michael showed Parker his sketch, he had drawn a couple of different versions of the completed project.

  “I’m guessing, but if the pieces continue to show up as they have, the circle will be complete in about a week, then what?”

  “What about the new stuff that showed up tonight?”

  “Well, who knows. We have to visit the antiques shop again asap.”

  Chapter 15

  Marci saw the boys walk across the parking lot toward the antique shop, “Mr. G, you have important visitors approaching.” He just nodded and began making his way slowly toward the front of the store.

  Parker opened the door and Michael followed behind with his notebook in hand.

  Mr. Goodmund took up a position behind one of his glass display cases and acknowledged them, “Gentlemen, what treasures do you seek today?’

  To Parker’s surprise, Michael began the conversation, “Hi, Mr. Goodmund, I’m glad you’re here today. I, er, we have some questions to ask you.”

  As was his way, the old man took off his glasses and began cleaning them in a most nonchalant fashion, “Sure, boys, fire away. I’m happy to help.”

  “Good, I mean, I hope you can, Well... you remember we were in here last week and I bought some stuff for the geek party, right?”

  “Sure, I do, there have been lots of kids in here this week doing the same.”

  “Ok, well I had asked for some boxes to carry some of the stuff in and you fixed me up with a few, remember?”

  His old eyes twinkled, “I sure do. This is the part where you ask me if some of the pieces in the box weren’t supposed to be in there, right?”

  Both Parker and Michael were completely taken by surprise, “Huh?”

  Parker seemed a little perturbed by the old man’s candor, “You mean you knew he had them? That doesn’t seem right.”

  Mr. Goodmund stuck out his right hand, “I don’t believe we’ve met, I’m Alec Goodmund.”

  Parker was hesitant as he shook the man’s hand, “I’m Parker Ericson, Michael and I are roommates.”

  “Ah, Son of Erik, nice to meet you. This Michael, he’s a good boy, isn’t he?” he kept Parker’s hand firmly clasped in his. Parker suddenly looked oddly uncomfortable and tried to pull away, but the old man held him there.

  All Parker could do was nod his head, “Yes, yes he is.”

  Mr. Goodmund winked at Parker, “Let’s see that he stays that way, ok?” He released the boy’s hand. “Now, go bother Marci while Michael and I chat.” Shooing him away with his hand.

  Parker backed away slowly, spotting Marci as she walked between the displays. He smiled and backpedaled nearly knocking over a tall stack of Life magazines. Michael didn’t know whether to laugh or run out of the store while he had the chance.

  The old man waited until he thought Parker was out of earshot.

  “He’s kind of a douchebag. I bet he was a bully in high school, wasn’t he?”

  Michael almost laughed out loud, “As a matter of fact he was, Mr. Goodmund. How did you know?”

  “They are always the same, loud, shallow and usually responsible for getting the good kids to stray off the path.”

  “He is loud and shallow, but he’s so good at it.”

  The old man looked at Michael and laughed, “I was your age once, believe it or not, the rebel boys always look cool, not matter the generation. But enough about him. Tell me why you are here.”

  “The metal pieces in the bottom of the box, you knew they were in there?”

  “I did.”

  “They’ve kind of taken on a life of their own. I’m guessing you knew they would.”

  Mr. Goodmund nodded his head and smiled at the young man, “Michael, I can only tell you that if you are careful and use that smart head of yours, it is possible that you may realize your wildest dreams.”

  Michael’s eyes grew wide. That could mean so many things at this point in his life.

  “What do you mean, wildest dreams?”

  The old man scratched his chin for second, “Well, I’m going to guess you have seen some pretty unusual things in the last few days?”

  “Yes, sir, really unusual things.”

  He started polishing his glasses again and he chuckled, “Sir, you don’t hear that too much these days, do you? Here’s the thing Michael, for reasons you will someda
y learn, I can’t really tell you what’s going to happen. I can only tell you that you will experience things that will shape you for the rest of your days. Doesn’t seem fair does it?”

  “Not really, I guess. Are we in danger by doing this?”

  The old man sighed, “Boy, there is risk in everything, be smart and take precautions. That will help. I can tell you this. The unfolding events will offer you choices. Some choices are better than others. Think through the potential outcomes before you commit. Stay honest and true to yourself. It’s most critical.”

  Michael opened his notebook, “Here, let me show you what we know so far.”

  Mr. Goodmund pushed the notebook away with a sudden sweep of his hand, “No, I can’t see what is happening, in the event I influence the outcome. I really can’t say anything more, I’m sorry. You’ll need some science, and maybe just a little magic to reach your goal.”

  Michael looked at the old man. Mr. Goodmund looked calm and sincere. “I have two questions. I think you owe me that, at least”

  “I’ll try,” was the response.

  “Are the metal pieces and lightning related?”

  “Yes.” He answered without hesitation, “And the other question?”

  “Why did you choose me?”

  Chapter 16

  Michael caught up with Parker on the second floor talking with Marci. “Sorry to interrupt, we need to go.”

  Surprisingly, Parker quickly complied and started walking down the hall toward the stairs. Michael turned back to Marci and pointed at Parker as he left the room, his expression questioning. “Not a chance,” she mouthed with a wink, shaking her head.

  Parker was silent until they climbed into his car, “Dude, seriously, that was the strangest thing I have ever experienced. What did he talk about? Don’t leave out any details.”

  “Funny thing,” Michael began, “there weren’t any details at all. Just that the lightning and the metal thing are connected and that this is potentially dangerous but that we could realize our wildest dreams. You know, the usual stuff.”