Carahya had stayed awake all night and well into the morning reading McBride’s book on demons in the comfort of her own bed. Though she had been exposed to the existence of demons before, she never had as much information about how to fight them as she had at her fingertips. She had not slept a minute when the alarm next to her bed went off, and she sighed and slammed her palm down on the “Off” button.
“Another day of caffeine…” Carahya groaned as she made her way to the kitchen of her small apartment. Though she moved between houses every so often, this one was the most like a home to her. Though her grandparents’ old homes were roomier, this was the home she grew up in, where she spent her childhood with her parents. It held value to her that neither of the other estates could replace.
She made her coffee quickly, and downed it even faster. Carahya found that the more quickly and efficiently she did things, the easier it would be for her to put off the inevitable grief she would feel from the deaths of the Fortiers. She curbed her hunger with a packet of store-brand toaster pastries and grabbed her old canvas rucksack from its hook in the hall. In it, she stuffed her wallet, a few bottles of water, and the white-covered book that McBride had given her. With a final quick look around the apartment, she grabbed her jacket, gloves, and helmet and went out to her bike, locking the door behind her.
After a fifteen minute ride, she parked the Ninja outside of McBride’s shop. She took a closer look at the outside of the small shop, set into a brick building. The sign above the door was made of stained wood and hung from a worn, wrought-iron frame bolted to the wall behind it. It bore the name
Meath Olc
Natural and Supernatural Remedies
The letters were carved into the wood in soft swirls of gentle handwriting, and were painted black. Carahya walked in with the chime of a little bell on the door, and asked Mr. McBride, “Meath Olc… sounds like a strange name for a shop. What does it mean?”
McBride turned around from the shop’s till and said, “Well, now. Look at who’s finally starting to notice details. It’s Irish, girl, and it means ‘Demise of Evil.’ Take another look around there, girl, and tell me what else there is in this shop that you see.” She looked around her at the rest of the shop, which she didn’t have time enough to notice before. His displays were mainly of oils, dried herbs, incense, and stones and crystals, though he did have a small bookcase display of old books, covering topics from Irish Druidism to folktales and fairy tales. A throw rug bearing an Irish knot design covered the old, creaky hardwood floor, and sitting in the back corner of the shop was a coffee table and two comfy-looking armchairs. Hanging above the till was a small plaster plaque, bearing gold-inscribed words: “May the grass grow long on the road to hell for want of use. –An Irish Blessing.”
“This place is very Irish, Mr. McBride,” Carahya said with a chuckle.
“A very Irish shop for a very Irish man!” he replied with a laugh. “It is missing a few things to make it truly a “very Irish shop”…though I’m sure potential customers would frown upon me having a good Guinness or two in here during store hours.”
Carahya shook her head with a smile on her face. The man knew how to laugh, it was certain. A bright and friendly face was what she needed right now, to keep her mind off of…Fortiers. Demons. Death. Her smile fell, and her eyes grew dull as she stared at the ground. McBride stopped laughing and gave her a questioning look. “You all right there, lass? Something troubling you?”
Carahya glanced at her newfound teacher and sighed. “Do you want to know why I was so desperate to learn more about these beasts?” After a small gesture from him telling her to continue, she did. “The only people I’ve ever been able to call family have all been killed by demons. My parents died four years ago, and now, just recently, I found out…” She faltered, and sighed, looking to the ground again. “They were so kind to me. I never expected to care about any of them as much as I did. Justin was the first guy I ever dated, and I babysat his little sister after school, and his parents were incredibly supportive. They took me in, even though they were struggling to make ends meet, even though I barely knew them. I was just starting to become a part of their family and…” The tears she had been holding back since seeing the Fortier family dead finally started to flow. Her sobs were not audible, but Mr. McBride could easily see the involuntary shake in her shoulders. He walked out from behind the counter and led her to the armchairs at the back of the shop, bathed in sunlight. He sat in the other chair himself, and waited for her tears to slow.
“Now, Carahya,” he said gently, “I think today you just need some rest. If you’d like to go home, then go home, but you are welcome to stay in the shop. You can relax in the armchair, even curl up for a nap if you’d like, but today I don’t think we’ll be going over anything that’s more important than you taking time to deal with what you need to handle. All right?” Carahya managed to nod before curling up in the armchair and closing her eyes.
“Thank you…” she managed to stutter before the tears returned. McBride stood up again and walked to his displays. He retrieved a stick of incense, placed it in the carved stone burner on the coffee table, and lit it to smolder.
“Myrrh,” He said as he walked back to his station behind the counter. “Incense for protection, healing, purification and spirituality. Perhaps the scent will help you.”
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