Page 134 of Into the Mist

“I almost forgot,” Stella said. “What were you saying to Mercury back there in the rain about seeing something again?”

Karen looked at Mercury. “You didn’t tell them?”

“I thought it was your place to do that,” Mercury said.

“Tell us what?” Gemma returned and tossed a baggie of weed and papers to Imani.

“That the green fog did something to me, too,” Karen said slowly. She took a long drink of wine, wiped her mouth, and then blurted. “I can see things now.”

“Um, they need details,” Mercury prompted.

Karen sighed and nodded. The hand that wasn’t clutching the bottle of wine picked at the hem of her cardigan. “Okay, remember before we got to Madras when Mercury siphoned gas and then peed in the rain?”

Everyone nodded.

“She’d found a dead baby goat on the road and she did a quick little, um…” Karen looked at Mercury for help.

“I just said a simple prayer of release for its spirit and envisioned the little creature crossing over to the Goddess’s Summerlands.”

“Yes, that,” Karen said. “Well, I saw it. The baby goat’s spirit trotting through a glowing portal.”

“Holy shit!” Stella said.

“And then at the park last night, when Mercury and Ford were alone by the firepit, I saw something else.” Karen looked beseechingly at Mercury again.

“It was Ostara yesterday.” Mercury explained. “Ford and I did a mini-ritual, and toward the end of it, we pretended that we’d written blessings on prayer paper, lit them, and tossed them into the air.”

“Ooh, just like what we’d do at your Rituals back home,” said Stella. “It’s my favorite part.”

“In case y’all don’t know, prayer paper bursts into flame, floats up in the air, and extinguishes in just a few seconds,” Mercury added.

“That sounds cool,” said Gemma.

Mercury grinned at her. “It is. It’s also what Karen saw.”

Karen nodded. “Yes, even though they didn’t have any prayer paper.” She drew a deep breath and continued. “And it happened two more times. One was when Gemma was healing Mercury. Both of them glowed green—the same color as the fog.”

“Oh! Sorry to interrupt, but that just reminded me,” Mercury said. “Gemma, your eyes were green after you healed me.”

Gemma pointed to her eyes. “They’re always green.”

Mercury grinned. “No, not your normal greenish eyes. They were emerald—just like the fog.”

“Huh,” said Gemma.

“When was the second time?” Stella asked Karen.

“It was while Mercury and Gemma and Stella were dancing in the rain.” Karen’s eyes widened and she hastily added, “I wasn’t, like the kids would say, creeping on them. I was just watching the rain. Then something bright caught my eye. I could barely see the three of you through the trees, but as you twirled and danced, green light glowed all around your feet.”

“But the wildflowers were yellow and purple and orange, not green,” said Gemma.

Mercury smiled at Karen, “She wasn’t seeing the flowers. She was seeing whatever it is that gives us the ability to make them grow.”

Stella clapped her hands and grinned. “Mercury’s correct. Ladies and gentleman, Karen has been changed by the green fog. She can see the energy of the spirit realm. That’s really all our spirits, our souls, are—energy. Congrats, Karen.”

“But my blood doesn’t make anything grow,” Karen said.

“Well, it didn’t,” said Gemma. The teenager got up and went to the neat pile of clean dishes they’d stowed in a natural ledge of the curving cave wall and grabbed a knife. Then she took an apple from a brown bag full of them and returned to Karen. “Here ya go. Test your blood now and let’s see what happens.”