A Wicked Beginning by Calinda B

appeared across his forehead, cheeks, and neck.
    “Let me help you over to the bed, Cam.” I put my arm around him and practically dragged him across the room, he was so weak. I had never ever seen Cam look like this. He was rarely sick. I hadn’t even seen him have a sniffle since I met him a few years ago. An amazingly healthy man with a robust constitution and a boat load of luck, he always managed to avoid illness or serious injury no matter how extreme the sport or how intense the play.
    “Jesus…this…hurts,” he managed to say through clenched teeth. “Chér, run and get Manoko.”
    I ran down the hall into the kitchen. “Manoko…!” I gasped. “The star dreamling…”
    The large metal spoon in Manoko’s hand dropped to the stove with a loud clatter before I could finish my sentence. He was already racing out of the kitchen, Severe in mad pursuit. When he got to the room, he looked at Cam writhing on the bed, looked at the door, back to Cam. He eased his immense bulk down to the floor next to Cam, held his hands near the gash, and started intoning words that made no sense to me. Severe sat next to him, very still and attentive as if she knew what was going on. Her golden-brown eyes were fixated on Cam. Without turning around Manoko gave me instructions in a fierce and demanding voice. “Chérie….walk down the hall to the door with the skull and crossbones on it... Be very conscious when you enter that room – that space is sacred, got it?”
    Scared as a rabbit in a field of circling hawks, I nodded, forgetting that Manoko’s back was to me.
    He barked over his shoulder, “Got it?”
    Oops, actual words were required. “Got it, Manoko…”
    “Okay. Then move methodically and deliberately towards the north corner. Be mindful of your every move.”
    I scanned my mind to figure out which was north. “Okay, got it.”
    “Reach down and pick up the carved box on the floor. Pick up the wooden staff next to it. You’ll see a red, wrapped bundle on the altar. Gently use the staff to push the bundle into the box. Do not touch the bundle. If you touch it you will desecrate it, got it, Chérie?” His voice was a low snarl at this point.
    “G-g-got it, Manoko.”
    “I wouldn’t ask you to go in there and touch anything , but I have to remain here and keep the star dreamling venom from entering Cam’s heart. It’s powerful. Now GO!”
    I ran to the room marked “Do Not Enter Under Penalty of Death” with the skull and crossbones leering at me. One hollow eye socket seemed to wink at me. Geez, the sign appeared to be alive. Gulping, I twisted the door knob and eased the door open to reveal a room as still and serene as a high mountain lake. It was breathtaking. A wash of serenity swept through me as I stepped past the door frame. A basic bedroom-sized room, the space here felt immense, like it stretched to the horizon. North , I thought. Stay strong-minded . With heightened awareness, I concentrated on each step, each foot as it touched the floor, each bend of the toes, the ankles, the knees, and each shift in the spine, the hips, and the shoulders. Manoko wanted conscious movement, Manoko got conscious movement. Reaching the beautifully carved box and polished wood staff, I carefully slid the bundle into the box and made the same deliberate, attentive steps until I’d reached the door to the hall. I took a deep breath, pulled the door closed. I held the box as if it carried the secrets to the universe and hurriedly made my way back to Cam’s room.
    I struggled for breath when I looked over at Cam. He laid still and pale, his chest barely making a stir. Manoko continued to chant in a deep melodious voice. The pulsating green arising from the gash continued to glow.
    “Over here,” Manoko whispered in a voice as gentle as a mother’s kiss. “Lay the box on the bed, Chér.”
    I did as I was told.
    “Now…you put your hands here in the same places as mine. We have to do this smoothly, without a