"Oddly... or maybe not so oddly... at the time, Gwen didn't let really on to me just how upset she was at Lucius," Cassie said.
-------------------
Foundry Cove, Willow Creek, 2000
"He's not going to help," Gwen said.
She'd spotted me waiting down the path, as she stormed away from that mysterious tree, and had come over to me. If she was concerned that I might have overheard her fight with Lucius, she didn't show it.
"I don't know why I thought he would," she continued. "He never does. I hope you've had more luck."
"Well... no," I admitted. "I couldn't find notes about this balancing ceremony."
"'You can handle it,'" Gwen said, mocking Lucius's tone. "How are we supposed to handle this?"
"Let's get the others," I said, trying to sound confident. "We'll figure something out. Like Guidry said, we're not an ordinary bunch."
Magnolia Park, Willow Creek, 2000
So, I called Carmilla and Molly and told them to meet us at the park right away.
If you're wondering, yes, by this point we were all skipping school. Saving the world seemed more important. You know how that is.
"So, to sum up," Carmilla said, "We've punched a hole into the Netherworld in Gramma D's sunroom. Cas has no idea how to do the balancing ceremony to fix it and Gwen's friend won't help. We are so completely screwed."
"No, we're not," I insisted.
"Ok," Carmilla replied. "So... can you explain to me exactly why we're not completely screwed?"
"Because we're awesome, powerful women," I said, "and we can do this."
"Much as I love seeing you connect with your inner goddess, Cas, I think we need more than confidence," Carmilla smiled.
"Goddess!" Molly gasped. "That's it."
"We find religion?" Carmilla asked.
"No," Molly laughed. "Well, kind of. Voodoo is a religion, after all."
"Maman Brigitte!" I gasped.
"Who?" Gwen asked, puzzled.
"She's a manbo... a voodoo priestess and medium," I said. "She runs LaCroix's. It's an occult shop down in Bridgeview."
"Not the best part of town," Molly added. "Mom really doesn't like me going down there, but it's an amazing shop. If there's anyone in town who will know how to do this balancing ceremony, it's her."
"OK," Gwen said. "Let's go."
"Hey, Cas. I want to tell you something," Carmilla said, holding me back as Gwen and Molly started toward the bus stop.
"What?" I asked, puzzled.
"It's not me," Carmilla said.
"What's not you?" I wasn't getting less confused.
"The girl Gwen's interested in," Carmilla said. "It's not me."
"I... what?" I stammered. I don't know what I was expecting her to say, but it wasn't this.
"I mean it," she continued. "She said that she wasn't sure if the girl she was interested in was interested back... and she knows I'm interested. I mean, I've done everything short of throwing myself in her lap, naked... and I've considered it. It's not me. Believe me, I wish it was, but it's not. I thought you might want to know."
I just stared at her.
"Come on," Carmilla smiled at me. "Let's catch up."
Bridgeview, Willow Creek, 2000
LaCroix's was a Willow Creek institution (and I assume it still is). If you lived in Willow Creek and were serious about your interest in the occult, you knew LaCroix's. You didn't necessarily go there, especially if you were a respectable teen girl from an aristocratic family, but you knew it.
Like Molly said, it wasn't in the best part of town. Rumor had it you could buy lots of things at LaCroix's... not all of them strictly legal. Rumor also had it that the police left the place alone for reasons ranging from well-placed bribes, to curses, to Maman Brigitte working with them as a psychic, all depending on who was telling the story. For all I know, all three could be true.
"What brings Cassandra Goth and her friends to my little shop?" Maman Brigitte asked in a musical voice.
I was surprised by how young she looked in person. There were rumors about that too.
"We're looking for advice," I said, "about how to perform a balancing ritual."
"Ah," Maman Brigitte said knowingly. "I wondered if someone would come in about that. The spirit world has been very disturbed of late. Come, sit and tell Maman all about it."
"Well, you do have a problem," Maman Brigitte said after we'd told her our story. "Handsome Guidry is right. I have felt the disturbance in the balance between the worlds... the passage to the Netherworld is standing open.
"It has already begun. They swarm through. The specters... fragments of forgotten dreams... so cute, but full of mischief and anger, they come to bring havoc. With them come the cursed objects of that haunted Otherworld, dark and wicked things made of old nightmares. With every one that comes through, the tear grows wider until...
"Oh, yes... I can feel her. A spirit... terrible, dark and full of wrath. She would throw the worlds into chaos for the sake of her jealous rage. She sets her will against the balance.
"This is a great and terrible thing," Maman Brigitte concluded. "It will take more than just a medium to restore the balance here."
"It will?" I said, worried.
"It will take a powerful witch," she smiled, "but fortunately, it would take a powerful witch to cause such a breach in the first place. So you, Cassandra Goth, must be a powerful witch."
"Um, what if there was another witch involved in the seance?" I asked, trying very hard not to look at Gwen.
"The one guiding the seance has the power," Maman Brigitte smiled. "Your friends here lend you their wisdom, their strength and their courage, but the power to break or mend... that comes from your heart alone, Cassandra Goth."
I took a deep breath. "Will you teach us how to perform the balancing ceremony?" I asked. "I... I can pay you."
"Pay what your heart says the debt is worth, Cassandra Goth," Maman Brigitte laughed. "That is how you will keep the balance between us. Now I will show you how to restore the balance of the worlds."
We spent most of the day at LaCroix's, learning (and maybe doing some shopping). It was getting late when we caught the bus back to Carmilla's.
We were as ready as we could be. I understood the balancing ceremony now and felt like I understood the Netherworld and my own magic better than I had before. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but I was still confident.
I was a powerful witch, and I had my friends, their wisdom, strength and courage, with me... and Gwen wasn't interested in Carmilla.
