“Hey Babe, wake up. I’m hungry.”

“You can eat by yourself.” He groaned slowly. 

I gave a side eye to nowhere in particular. 

“Yeah, right. Wake up and let’s go.” 

He groaned again this time rolling over and pulling off the sheets. 

We were in all matters of morning disarray. Bedhead, puffy eyes, generally feeling swollen and dehydrated. Nothing a good breakfast and restful afternoon couldn’t fix, I thought. Last night had been a good time, even if a bit messy. Dinner and drinks, club, another club, messy uber ride back. Hard make-out in the doorway, and then ya know. I’d give it all a solid rating. Honestly a long time coming. 
Jason had made his way to the shower and I was brushing my teeth, Fleetwood Mac playing against the sound of the falling water. 

“Can you pass me my face wash? I think I put it next to my toiletry bag last night.” Jason called from the shower. 

“Yeah, one sec.” I responded as I rummaged around for a bit trying to locate his bag. 

While Jason was organized, in spur of the moment situations, there was no telling where he’d end up. I finally pulled up the shirt he was wearing last night. It looks like it got snagged on something, but underneath it was his bag with the face wash. But as I pulled the shirt up I heard something small fall to the ground, right next to the toilet — gross, why is it always next to the toilet? I handed Jason the face wash and went back to pick up whatever had fallen. But as I knelt down to grab it, I saw it. A small makeshift burlap doll with a small piece of fabric wrapped around its neck. Dark hair, dark eyes, tanned burlap, and unmistakably the torn fabric from Jason's shirt. My eyes widened. Panic set in. 

“Jason… what’s this?” I said, voice beginning to shake. 

“What’s what?” He called from the shower, light in his confusion. 

“Jason, you need to come look.” I pleaded to him, as my fear continued to rise with my voice.

“Are you okay? What’s going on?” He said, his concern growing. He could feel my panic. I pointed to the doll on the floor. His eyes widened, eyebrows furrowing. He also knew this was not good. 

“I’m going to light a candle— or two.” I exited the bathroom but he grabbed my arm. 

“We need to call Mariame.” He said concerned but firm. 

I nodded, my heart racing. And two knocks came on the door, our heads turned. I grabbed his hand and put it to my chest. When the divine comes knocking, best to leave your door shut. If it needs you, it’ll find the way in.

“Hey Mariame, it’s Jason. When you get the chance can you give me a call back? Thanks.” He hung up. 

“Do you know what two knocks means?” I asked. “It means something is trying to cross the threshold. I mean politely cross the threshold, but yeah it’s something.”

“Sapraesdium vocātur, sic est.” Jason casted. 

“Protection won’t do anything, Jason, not without the coven. We need to wait until Mariame calls us back.” I retorted. 

Jason began to bounce his leg, a tension creeping into his shoulders and up his neck. I proceeded to finally light my two candles. One black and one white. One to absorb any negative will and one to guide the divine light. 

“Though, thank you for invoking a protection spell. It will help the divine light protect us for the time-being.” I comforted. 

Jason walked over to me on the bed, still only wrapped in a towel, and leaned in and gave me a kiss on the head. 

“I’m sorry for all of this. I thought we had finally made it through.” He almost wept. I knew how hard this all had been for him. It was hard on me too. But we had made it this far. I could feel it was all nearly done. Mariame and the coven will help, I thought. Whatever it was was weak and on its last string, if not already fraying. We would snuff the last of it with a witches snap. Sic est. 
I let the words ring true in my mind and wove it into the folds of the universe.  Now, all we could do was wait for Mariame. 

——//—--

Jason was rattling his knee again and along with it biting at his cuticle — my least favorite of his nervous ticks for some reason. The quiet shaking of his knees made my chest just grip ever so slightly, as if to quicken the tick of the clock. We had made it through more than this. A voodoo doll was nothing. 

“Jason, while we wait for Mariame, can we try a time holder spell?” I asked. 
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Let me grab my athame and my sandbag.” I got up and went to his tote. No clue where he was getting the sand, I forgot it was part of the spell.

Jason was a talented witch. When we had first met in elementary I had not sensed his power. Nor had much interest in him, neither of us were even gay yet. Though that all changed for the better at some point. But he was always naturally good at hiding behind his own eyes. Which he took pride in. 

He was a strong portacognate, meaning he was strong in matters of the mind or perception. He could hide in plain sight but also he was intuitive about information. Spell work came naturally to him, always remembering the parts. 

I, on the other hand, was just highly intuitive with the divine. And because the divine is transcendent, magic spilled out of my seams. I could easily weave my truths into the divine fabric. Though sometimes conventional spell casting was not my strong suit. I could carve my own paths. Following those left behind was much harder. My mother felt I was destined for a trial, as some witches were. I think she was right. While a witch’s life is typically not easy, my time with Jason had seen obstructions of other proportions. 

“Ready?” Jason asked athame in one hand, a small bag of sand in another. 
“Yes.” I brought water, and laid my hand bare. He cut a line in it and I let my blood drip from one hand, pooling into my other, and lay the water still into the floor. Blood slowly dripped out of my hand also onto the floor. Jason stabbed the bag, sand pouring out.

He spoke, “Duforma invotatum vi temporum, sangre immotus, aqua stagnata, terra temporum, epodium, epodium, sic est.” 

For a second, our breath stopped, silence. Stillness descended. 

“It worked, Jason.” 

We bought ourselves some time, so long as we stayed put, so long as we did not cross any threshold. Within our space, time would stand still. The world would go on around us, giving Mariame time. She knew what to do. 

——//—--

“Okay, now what?” I complained looking up from the bed. 

Jason laughed, his side on mine, “We need to stop stealing moments from the universe. It’ll catch up with us sooner or later.” 

I snickered too. I still wasn’t sure how divine I was. “Let’s take what we can get. Okay?” 

I awkwardly rolled onto my side and kissed him half on the cheek. He turned a bit. Feeling his face toward me still gave me butterflies in my stomach and I kissed him on the mouth. His hand moved behind my head to down my neck and his lips moved on mine sharing breath. He rolled onto his back and in the same motion rolled me on top of him. He took my hands to his, down at our sides. And I closed my eyes.
 
We both lay in bed again, no clothes, again. My stomach growled.

“Dangggg, we forgot to get food before doing the timeholder.” Jason said. 

“Ugh we were supposed to go to drag brunch too!” I lamented. 

We had been on a small trip prior to the doll showing up. Visiting a bit, on a break from our adventures. Mamá Mari Elena gave us a blessing for protection at least four days ago. Which is why the doll was a shock, we had 24 hours left on our little bender and Mamá Mari Elena’s blessing. So for something magical to show up means it was powerful. Which is why Mariame was called. Voodoo was her specialty. Mama Mari Elena would not be happy with interference of whatever entity brought the doll to us. It was still in the bathroom where it had fallen during our morning activities.

My stomach growled again. 

“Maybe this airbnb has oatmeal?” I said. 

“Where do you plan on getting the water?” He retorted. 

Ugh he was so right. Water, obviously, can’t run during a time holding spell. 

“Nooooo, can we use the water from the spell?” I asked. 

“I love you a lot, but sometimes you say stupid things.” He sighed. 

I rolled my eyes mockingly. He was obviously right. Items used in rituals were sacred offerings to the divine, best to leave them to rot back into the universe.
We were staying in a single room airbnb. It was pretty nice. But we had barreled in last night and didn’t have a full chance to explore the room before going out to dinner and the club. I lay back down lamenting my current state. 

“Hey look there’s a pantry, and I found granola bars!” Jason had actually been productive while I lay in my hunger induced malaise. 

“Oh heck yeah! That’ll work.” My stomach still growling. “I knew I liked you.” And I gave him a kiss on the cheek and grabbed the bar from his hand. 

We were a great team. I wouldn’t have it any other way. By no means were either of us perfect. But together I could feel like my full self. And while I don’t know fully, I think he felt the same.  Jason was more stoic than me at times. But I remember the first time he brought down his portcognate. When he had let me see him for the first time. –  To be seen, and willingly let yourself be seen. – That was something I understood. 

We munched for a bit enjoying ourselves. 

“How long do you think it’s been?” Jason asked. 

“The sex skews my sense of time, but probably like two hours. Maybe three?” I said. 
He nodded. 

Time had been getting to him more lately, beyond the appearance of the doll, as if he was waiting for something, worried. 

“Why?” I asked. 

“I’m just curious when Mariame will get here.” 

“She’s coming from Mendocino county. It’ll be the better part of the day.” I reminded him. 

He nodded again. “Do you think we should examine the doll ourselves?” 
This twisted my stomach. We were a good team, but when we examined things without consent from the coven, or their protection by that matter, it typically did not go well. Romania 2022, stands out in my mind.

I looked over at him with a side eye. 

“Romania 2022?” He said. 

“Romania 2022.” I said. 

“Yeahhh. Forget I asked.”

And so without the ticking of the clock, our time wore down.

——//—--

Four Knocks. 

“Mariame!” Jason said wide eyed. 

He rushed to open the door. And there she was in all her glory. Dressed in a golden head dress and long robes shining with sanguine and golden auras. Her presence was one of comfort and command. She had yet to cross the threshold and our spell already yielded to her. She carried the spirits of our ancestors.

“A time-holder spell? Really? You two really are just two horny boys sometimes.” She said flatly. She waved her hands and the spell on the room fell like a stone in a lake. 

Her dark eyes lined in kohl burrowed into me.

 “And I blame that one most of all.” Pointing at me. 

I let my mouth drop.

“Put your tongue back in your mouth, Leo. Now show me this doll, boys.”

TO BE CONTINUED