You eye Umeko and then the Candyland box with suspicion. A tutoring session? For what? "I don't see what a board game is going to teach me," you say dryly.
"It's not... Look Will, just open the box, okay!? Jeez!"
You want to laugh at having rattled her but decide that's likely not a good idea so you simply lean forward, lift off the top of the box and... "What... the hell is this?" you ask.
You see two objects in the box and gingerly reach in to grab one and pull it out. It's about a foot long and made of wood. There was some obvious carving going on because one end is almost like a grip while the other end is knob shaped. In fact if you didn't know any better you'd say that it and its companion in the box are both rather phallic. A pair of long wooden dicks.
"Uh..." you blurt out as you hold up one of the wooden dicks.
"They're wands, Will. For meditation." she insists as she reaches into the box and grabs the other one. She then grabs tightly near the bottom with one hand while taking the other and firmly grasping the... well the shaft, you suppose. "They're for focusing. I made them last week and since we're finally slowing down a bit I had my pedisequos, uh the one that's currently being Sydney McGlynn that is, bring them and some other things by earlier." She takes and then releases a breath. "Anyway you hold it tightly like this and then you concentrate."
"On...?"
"Whatever," she answers bluntly. "Whatever it is that needs to be concentrated on. In this case it's all about Baphomet of course and sort of synchronizing your thoughts, synchronizing you, with the plane where he, you know, dwells." With that she shrinks back a bit. "At least that's what my dad's notes said if I read them right."
"They're not straightforward or something?"
"They are but there's also room for interpretation. Not everything is totally spelled out." She then stands up and beckons you to follow her. You head down the hall and into Zoe's bedroom where she opens up the closet and parts some of the clothes. She points out the otherwise empty wall.
"Okay?" you ask confused. "That sure is a wall."
"It's not a wall, Will. It's a door."
"Really? Looks like a wall to me."
"But it's not. It is a door," she insists. "It's a door for Baphomet. See a lot of this stuff is all about belief. You can't summon Baphomet if you don't accept him. You can't accept him if you don't believe that he's real."
"And this door does that?"
"It's part of it, same as the wands," she explains. "Basically it's like this: if I told you that Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States you'd believe that, right?"
"Well duh, that's a fact."
"So you have fact-based belief. Something you believe because it's a universal truth. Water is made out of two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. Things like that. But there's another kind too so let me ask you this. A month ago, if I'd told you there was a book that allows you to make masks that you can use to turn into other people, would you have believed me?"
"Probably not," you say.
"Because that's absurd right? But now you believe it don't you? You look at yourself and you look at me and it's impossible to deny that it exists, isn't it?" She looks mighty confident in herself. "That's the other type of belief. The kind that is so in your face that it's not a simple matter of fact but a case of it being undeniable no matter how ridiculous. That's the kind of belief you need to have to accept Baphomet."
"Okay," you start, "so I have this belief and the wall is a door. Then what?"
She takes her wand and touches it to the wall. "The wand makes you focus and meditate, helps you secure your belief in Baphomet. It's also used to draw the door. You trace it along the wall--"
"I don't see anything."
"Because you're not making anything visible, Will!" she responds and sounds just a little indignant. "Again it's all about belief. You trace the door and the shapes and symbols that go around it and you believe it's there and you believe in Baphomet and little by little he comes through the door and makes himself known to you. Even if you're not fully aware of it."
You give it a moment of thought. "This all sounds really Jungian," you state to Umeko's confusion. "You're not taking psychology classes? Umeko never took them? Well Lina did and read up about it a little more out of vague. Drawing mandalas, tapping into archetypes within the collective unconscious. Is Baphomet just your Philemon then?"
"I... I don't know, Will. I don't really know what any of that means. I only know what was in my dad's notes, okay?" She then heads out and you follow her back to the living room. There's another box on the coffee table that she opens. She pulls out some papers and hands them to you.
"Here, it's the designs and symbols, uh mandalas or whatever you want to call them, for the door. When you get back do it in a place you don't normally look since, you know, it's easier to believe that something's there when you know there's typically not. That's what the notes said anyway."
"Alright. Is this all you wanted to show me?" you ask.
"Sure, I guess."
"Need me to give you a ride back to Umeko's?"
"No, that's fine," she says with a shake of her head. "I told Zoe to rent out some real practice space for the week so I'm holding down the fort here and doing research away from the prying eyes of her parents. I'll get a ride from them when I get back."
"Okay then. By the way we need to get around to making more masks. We've only got one left," you tell her.
"Yeah, I'll tell Zoe to grab some stuff on the way back," she answers. "You have any idea who you'll be getting next?"
"A few names. The ones we discussed earlier," you answer. "I'll give 'em to you since I've got Lina."
You're about to leave when she grabs your hand however. "Hey wait, before you go..." she starts and shuffles nervously. "I mean, we've got plenty of time until they're back so I was thinking, you know."
Your eyes light up and you allow her to lead you back to Zoe's room.
* * * * *
"You look like you're in a good mood," Melody greets you from the kitchen as you enter the apartment. "You meet up with your hippie boyfriend or something?"
"He's not my boyfriend," you sigh.
"Yeah? Because I heard you last week after you and him came home. For not being your boyfriend you got really into it."
"What can I say? He's a useless dickhead otherwise but in the bedroom..." you practically shiver. "Maybe I should set you guys up. He'd get you to loosen up."
"Gross," she replies while you laugh.
"So you making us dinner tonight?" you ask.
"Pan-fried garlic tofu if you want any."
"Gross," you say in imitation of her. "But I guess I'll have some. I don't really feel like going out again. So, everything go good with the professor today?"
"I didn't see him," she answers. "I guess he had something he was busy with. It was just Lucy and me today." She pauses and makes a noise. "God I'm glad she apparently had her own thing going on. I hate dealing with her, she's such a bitch."
That catches your attention. Not about Lucy being a bitch but just the name Lucy in general. You know from what Melody's said that the "Lucy" she's talking about is Lucy Vredenburg and if you don't remember Gwen ever going to Westside you certainly remember Lucy. She was the head cheerleader your sophomore year and was an object of desire for approximately ninety-nine percent of the school's male population.
She also happens to be Cindy Vredenburg's older sister so you're not surprised to hear that she's a bitch. Not because Cindy is -- though she has her moments -- but because from what you've overheard during the times where Cindy and Yumi and some of the other cheerleaders join Jenny for lunch she was one to Chelsea and they suspect that it's why Chelsea hates Cindy so much beyond just viewing her as a rival.
Anyway you're not surprised that she goes to Keyserling but you are surprised that she's working for this same professor that Melody is. You wouldn't have taken someone like her for wanting to do work for a middle-aged professor and his book collection though you suppose you wouldn't have taken someone looking like Gwen as wanting to do work in the university's musty old library either.
It does make Lucy an intriguing candidate for your coven however. With her it'd almost be like combining Gwen and Melody into one person. Okay well you wouldn't have Melody's smarts or language prowess but she'd put you close to Blackwell who Sydney seemed interested in and if she's the one getting the mask, well, you suspect she'd probably appreciate being someone like Lucy over being someone like Melody.
But Gwen herself is still a great choice too. You wonder what if there might be something of interest, something that could help you with the book, in that wing of the library. Plus Lina is pretty sure that she's a member of Alpha Theta Phi so get a mask onto her and you can use a few of the sorority members to fill the last few slots (by your estimation you'd have four left). Living in the sorority house would certainly make it easier for you and Sydney to keep in touch during the times you don't want to be K.C. or Jelena.
But the candidate that Sydney put forward, Charlotte Dahl, is intriguing as well. If she interns for one of the local media companies, if she's looking to get into the media business then she might be useful to have under your control, like a sort of Minister of Propaganda. Especially if Sydney hasn't actually been joking about things like subliminal messaging.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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