Authors Note: Ive spent four chapters trying to build a world and I know in that time I've lost many of you. I think the world is built now, the board is set. This is the best chapter so far.

Just to a quick synopsis: It's 1994, ASHTON is a 20 year old college student in a small town. His best friend, GARRETT is a geek who is interested in esoteric knowledge and magic. At a party they met MARIE, 24 and JESS, 20. MARIE was looking for people she might recruit to her circle.

After the party a local loser, RICK, holds a satantic ritual to curse a local preacher. MARIE pulls ASHTON from the ritual and he has a weird vision. It's hinted that something happened, but no one seems to remember it.

A few days later on a date MARIE reveals that she can sense things about people and she knows that ASHTON can sense things about objects. They both have "THE SHINING" to borrow from S.K. Oh and also Marie's a lesbian. She wants ASHTON to come to her house.

Finally we find that GARRETT is drawing closer to RICK, who has invited GARRETT to join his hardcore perverted D&D game. Drugs are taken.

Chapter 5 - The Babydoll
Ashton

Ashton pulled his Dodge Neon out of the driveway and down the street. It was a big step up from his first car, a 1986 Chevette his Uncle sold him for $500. Sure he got some flack from people for driving a chick car, but it was a great deal, and he didn’t need a truck, most guys didn’t either if you thought about it.

That was the kind of thing that Ashton thought about.

He drove past the practice yard where 50 high school freshmen were sweating their asses off getting ready for football. Their bodies looked so small with those giant helmets and shoulder pads. At a stop sign he saw a small boy get plastered into the grass by a much larger one. Everyone stood around laughing for a few seconds before they finally helped him off the ground.

Ashton and Garrett had been two of a handful of boys who didn’t play football their Freshman year. Since they didn’t do a sport they were put in a regular PE class instead of sports PE and the only one was mostly Juniors and Seniors. Ashton remembered taking a punch in the face when he stood up to a Senior named Able Wilson who was giving his friend Kyle a hard time about a volleyball score. Kyle and Garrett had disappeared, Ashton held his ground, took the hit and stood there, too scared to run away and too scared to punch back.

Able was always trying to recruit people to join the klan. Said his grandpa was a grand dragon or something.

Able was a county deputy now.

Ashton continued on past the field, on the far end the cheerleaders were practicing, pom poms, kicks, short skirts. “Big Dogs, Little Dogs!” Ashton heard the cheer through his window and rolled his eyes. How do they smile like that? He thought.

He rolled through town up to Main street, past the shiny murals, and through the revitalized downtown. A tour bus was in the city parking lot, and older folks milled about. He noticed several leaving the new antique and gift shops that filled the store fronts of what used to be, “Book Cellar, Main Street Fashion, Parker’s Drugs, and Broadway Records, those are just the ones he remembered from childhood.

Ashton saw the people all waiting to get back on the bus. No shopping bags, no one had bought anything. Garrett was probably right, how many people would keep coming here, and what did it matter if they were just window shopping anyway?

He parked at the Salvation Army Store, and rolled his eyes. I can’t believe she asked me to do this.

Twenty minutes later he arrived at Marie’s house. He was a few minutes late, two cars were already in the driveway. He very strongly considered driving on by, but parked and walked up.

The narrow, two-story farmhouse was white at one time, but more grey now, the paint peeling in long curls. The ruins of an old barn were out back. Piles of old black wood collapsed under its own weight. There were a couple sheds, a chicken coop, an old truck up on blocks.

Several raised beds filled the front yard, a wide range of plants that looked nothing like the flowers Ashton’s grandmother planted. Bundles of dried herbs hung from the porch, off to the side a small tree filled with hanging cobalt blue bottles. .

Jess opened the door for him, behind her he saw clean wooden floors, candles and well worn furniture. The house felt warm and inviting, but Jess looked annoyed. She was wearing a loose peasant dress, her hair was pulled up in a messy bun. Ashton smiled. “Sorry I’m late.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “Did you get it?”

Ashton lifted the plastic shopping bag and she snatched it. She pulled out an old slightly beat up baby doll, a stained prefold cloth diaper with nursery duck print, a receiving blanket and a clear plastic baby bottle. “These will work, good job.”

Ashton threw his hands up, “Work? Are we baby sitting or something? You know how stupid I felt buying that stuff?”

Jess put her finger to her mouth. “Shh, don’t be loud.”

Ashton nodded. “Okay but I have questions. What’s that for? Where’s Marie? What the hell is going on?”

“Marie’s with the clients,” Jess said as she looked him up and down and frowned. “You look like you’re going to a rock concert, not assisting a faith healing.”

“Is that what this is? I seriously have no clue what’s going on?” Ashton said.

Jess smiled. “OK, fine, come on.” She took his hand and dragged him out to her Toyota Tercel, opened up her back door and rummaged through waded up McDonalds bags, tennis equipment and clothes. She tossed him an off-white ribbed tank top.

“What?”

“Black is entirely the wrong energy for this. Take off your Pink Floyd shirt and put that on, we need to look natural, you know, not like stoners?”

Ashton lifted the garment up in front of him. “It’s a women’s tanktop?”

“Dude, fucking relax, it’s a tanktop. Just put it on.”

Ashton turned away from her, lifted the black shirt over his head, and pulled her tank over his shoulders. Ashton hadn’t worn a tank top since he was a kid, he hated the way they showed his body.

He turned around and lifted his palms. “Is that good?”

Jess started leading them back into the house. “Looks great, now listen. This wasn’t what Marie had planned for today, but you have to roll with it you know. Follow her lead, act like you know what’s going on. Just be cool.”

Once back in the front room she pointed towards an open doorway. “They’re in the kitchen, I’ll be down in a bit.” She dashed up the steps.

Ashton nervously walked into the kitchen. At the large round table Marie sat casually talking with a youngish couple.

“OK excellent, Donna, Kevin, this is Ashton. He is studying with me, and he is going to assist today,” Marie said. Ashton nodded like this all made sense. It’s just acting, I can act, he thought.

“Ashton, Kevin and Donna have been struggling with infertility for seven years of marriage. They’ve suffered and can’t afford to see fertility doctors. They reached out to me for help.”

Ashton nodded again and took a moment to study the two clients. They were typical Mud Creek people. Kevin had rough hands, a Farm Services Co-op hat, flannel shirt, worn work jeans. Donna, was slightly overweight, blond, might have been homecoming queen runner-up in 1982. They didn’t look like the kind of people who would go for a spiritual healing, but more than anything they looked desperate.

Donna spoke, “Hi Ashton, thank you for coming.” Kevin looked uncomfortable.

Ashton suddenly had a terrible idea, were they about to fleece these people?

“Please sit down Ashton,” Marie said. They all took hands and Marie began to lead a prayer.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. I ask Saint Gerard, who watched over mothers, to watch over this one. I ask Saint Anne, who waited long for her own child, to wait with Donna now. What is closed will open. What is stopped will be moved. What is owed, I'll carry it myself if I have to."

At that last line Ashton felt Marie’s hand tighten, he could feel energy stirring. Marie lit a bundle of herbs on a glass plate in the center of the table. She motioned for Ashton to stand. She handed him a wooden bucket.

“Fill this from the well out back,” Marie said pointing towards a door leading behind the house. Ashton nodded. And stepped out.

Throw the bucket down and get the hell out of here.

He spoke to himself as he approached the well. “Any sane person would. Any sane person wouldn’t be here.” But the old rusted pump intrigued him and he wanted to try it. The long handle squeaked and in a few pumps water gushed out. He filled the bucket and returned inside.

Marie took the bucket and dropped some herbs in. She took a seat next to Donna. She held two brown eggs in her hand.

“Before we go any farther, I have to tell you. There are no guarantees. The working will have true power, if you both open yourself to it. Belief is the ultimate power. I’m taking a risk helping you. Do you understand?”

Donna looked at Kevin, and he nodded. “Yes, we understand,” Kevin said.

“This is called an egg cleanse, the egg will absorb the negative energies from your body, the water will reveal them.” Marie began rubbing the egg on Donna’s body like she was scrubbing a dirty pot.

“Ashton would you begin the process with Kevin?”

Ashton nodded, tried to remain calm and took the egg she handed him. He copied her technique. Kevin closed his eyes, Ashton could feel him dying inside, but he played his part. Donna and Kevin were asked to stand and the egg rubbing continued.

Eventually Jess entered the kitchen and was asked to recite prayers during the process. Jess filled two simple glass mixing bowls with water from the bucket. Marie cracked the eggs and poured them to flow into the bowl.

“Ahh yes, Ashton, you see, you see that gap there?” He nodded enthusiastically. Jess, Ashton and Marie huddled together for several minutes while Marie discussed various shapes of egg yolk.

Kevin’s chair slid back abruptly and he stood up, “Allright, honey, can we go? This is stupid.”

“Donna, how much do you drink?” Marie asked.

“Umm, I… I just…” Donna stammered.

“What the hell did you ask that for? We have a few drinks now and again, not that often. It’s none of your business” Kevin said.

Marie walked over and sat down near Donna and took her hand. “It’s important you tell the truth, do you drink every day?”

Donna shed a tear and nodded and turned to her husband. “I drink almost everyday while you’re at work.”

Kevin sat down, “Wait what.”

“I have been for years now, not alot, just a few drinks, help the day go by,” Donna said and turned to Marie. “I’m a nurse aide, I work nights. You could tell I… from the egg.”

“Yes,” Marie said. She turned to Kevin. He was looking at his wife in disbelief. “Kevin, you have a poison affecting your body. Do you work with poisons?”

Kevin shook his head, “No, I work at the Co-op.”

“What do you do there?”

“I handle chemicals, work on the silos, and maintenance.”

“Chemicals that kill pests, weeds, bugs? Do you spray those chemicals in the silo?”

“Yeah, sometimes.”

Marie turned and looked at Jess and then Ashton. Then turned back to Donna and Kevin. “If you want to have a baby then there are two things you must do. Donna, you must stop drinking, completely. And Kevin, you can’t work with chemicals anymore.”

He shook his head, “But that’s my job.”

Marie gave him a sad smile. “You’ll have to find another. The chemicals you work with are poisons for your body. And Donna, the alcohol is poison to you.”

Donna nodded. Kevin sat in silence.

“Now there’s one other thing,” Marie said and turned to Jess. “Do you have them?”

“Yes,” Jess said and took a bundle she’d left in the living room and sat on the table. The stuff Ashton had bought wrapped in the baby blanket.

“Donna, these items are from a mother who was blessed with great fertility. She donated them to me to give to a woman like you. Jess has been praying over them and blessed them. There is a tradition found in many cultures for a woman wishing to be a mother to carry the representation of a baby and items needed to care for that baby.

Kevin and Donna’s eyes were wide as they watched Marie take the objects and lay them out in front of them. “This may sound stupid, but take this baby and these items everywhere you go, carry with you, the more open you carry it, the more power it has.”

Ashton watched in disbelief as Jess took the doll in her arms. She had roughed it up, wrote on it with a magic marker, cut it’s hair and damaged its dress. Jess held it like it was real then passed it to the woman, who took it and held it like a real baby. Ashton was certain a film crew would bust in any minute to tell them they were on candid camera.

“I can’t take it to work,” Donna said.

“Take it in your bag, check on it on your breaks, sleep with it in your bed. It should be the first thing you see when you wake up,” Marie explained.

Marie took a pair of kitchen scissors and cut the receiving blanket into three strips then knotted the strips together. “Tie this around a tree in your front yard. As it rots the poisons in your body will rot with it and leave you. In time you may be blessed with a child.

She gave Donna a packet of herbs and taught her to make tea from them. Donna and Kevin stood in the living room, Donna holding the doll like it was a real infant and Kevin standing there with the cloth diaper and baby bottle in his hands.

“What do we owe you?” he asked.

Marie smiled, “That remains to be seen doesn’t it? My assistants have traveled here today at their own cost, perhaps something for them?”

Kevin nodded and took out his wallet. He gave Ashton and Jess both twenty dollar bills. He took another one and held it out to Marie.

“I cannot take your money, it is against my tradition. But perhaps there is something you could trade?”

Kevin looked around and saw a small stack of firewood. “Do you use a fireplace in winter? I could come out with my saw, cut down some trees back there and stack up some firewood for you. Maybe clean up some of that brush back there?”

Marie smiled, “That would be very kind of you.”

The three of them saw Kevin and Donna to their car, The summer sun beat down on Ashton’s bare shoulders and he remembered he was wearing a tank top, a women’s tank top.

The moment the car pulled down the driveway he turned to the women. “What the hell is going on?”

“I’m going to go pick tomatoes,” Jess said and shot off behind the house.

Marie went back on her front porch and sat in her swing, motioning for Ashton to follow.

“How? I thought you were trying to fleece them, you know, like some kind of scam, but you didn’t even ask for anything?”

Marie smiled, “Oh but I did. Firewood doesn't cut itself, and if they have a baby I will ask for even more. That couple will be in our debt.”

Ashton through his hands up. “But, how? How did you know? And the egg thing, that was bullshit right?”

Marie placed a hand on his shoulder, “Was it though,” she said and then looked across her yard. “I told you I know things about people. Just like you know things about objects.”

Ashton got up and paced, “Okay, can you explain what just happened though. More importantly why did you invite me?”

Marie nodded, “Back in Louisianne my grandmother was something called a traiteuse, it’s creole, from the past. She was a folk healer. She was supposed to pass the knowledge to my Dad, but he wasn’t interested in the past. So she broke the rules and taught me. That’s when I learned about my… talent. Since then I’ve travelled, studied and expanded things a bit.”

Ashton sat back down on the swing. “Allright, so you’re like a voodoo faith healer, What does that have to do with me?”

Marie shook her head, “It’s not voodoo, its rooted in Catholicism and the natives that lived there.” Marie grabbed Ashton’s arm, “Listen, when I sent you to the Salvation Army store, and you looked at all the dolls they had, why did you pick that one?”

Ashton shrugged, “I don’t know, I just picked it?”

Marie looked him in the eyes, “Tell the truth.”

Ashton felt something shift, he took a deep breath. “It – it was lonely, it had been part of a big family I guess, been passed down.”

Marie smiled, “I would imagine that diaper you picked out was the same, all of it.” She looked down at her feet and her voice was lower. “I didn’t send you for those items by chance. It would have made more sense for Jess to get them.”

Ashton didn’t respond but he pulled back from her slightly. “Was it a test? Are you trying to humiliate me, what?”

Marie looked up, Ashton was slightly taller, “When you were little a baby cousin came into your extended family. You felt jealousy at Christmas. She got dolls and you got a football.”

“Wait..” Ashton said but Marie cut him off.

“As she got older you wanted to babysit her. When no one was around you sang little songs to her, but you were embarrassed. Boys don’t babysit.”

Ashton stood up, he took a few steps back. His mouth hung open. No one, not one person in the world knows this about him.

“You’re crazy, I don’t know what you’re talking about?” the words came out too high, too sharp.

Marie stood up. “I’m sorry, I’ll never tell anyone, I promise. I wish I didn’t know this. I tried not to listen, but with you it's so loud that I can’t ignore it.”

“I sang to my baby cousin, that doesn’t make me a freak. Anyone could have done that.” Ashton dashed down the steps towards his car.

“Wait,” Marie rushed down the stairs following him.

“You’re a con artist, you don’t know a thing about me,” Ashton said as he grabbed his door handle.

Marie touched his shoulder again. “I know you’re wearing Jess’s top, and you wish you were wearing her dress.”

Ashton turned back towards her, his face melted. He furrowed his brow and spit out in anger, “I’m not a freak.”

Marie grabbed him and hugged him tight.

“You’re not a freak,” she said and squeezed him tight. “You’re not a fag, your not a boy who wants to wear a dress and play with dolls. You’re a girl. You’ve known it your whole life and it’s crushing you.”

The world grew silent and was distilled down to the embrace. Marie knew everything about her, things that Ashton wouldn’t even admit to herself. A warm feeling spread from her chest into her arms and down into her legs. She returned the hug and cried, then she sobbed like a child. Years of feeling completely and utterly alone, like a prisoner in her own life. Making deals with herself, with God, with anything to feel normal.

For the first time in her life she was feeling with her own arms, and being felt. She knew that she needed to get away, that what she was doing wasn’t safe. Her muscles were tense, knotting, fighting between pulling closer and pushing Marie away. Marie rubbed her back and whispered to her, “You're okay, you're going to be okay.”

Eventually she was. “I have to go,” she said.

Marie nodded. She dropped her arms to her side. “Call me. When you’re ready.” she said after Ashton opened her door and sat down. She wiped her eyes and drove o