Zodiac's Grimoire and Diary

[Zodiac]

Volume 8. Pg 76
5/20/2013 3:29 AM

The web does not hold.
Some lines begin to snap now. One here and there as things slowly begin to unravel. I take no delight in sadness in these things at all. I foresaw some of this coming to pass, I warned and was ignored, so my part is played and that is all I can do now.

Spiders working within the webs of other spiders.

I cannot fathom it, personally.

On brighter notes, 'The Eye' has been open for 10 days now, and is slowly building itself to a positive. Some will think me insane for having mortal staff here, just as some have questioned why Jennifer is still among the living. Every night the issue bothers me a bit more. If she knows, she has never said a word or judged me for it. The same smile, eagerness to help me make things a little bit better. Now I have Paladins. Paladins! Working for me. Two of them. I had a long in depth discussion with each before the contracts were signed. Lines were drawn and agreements made between us. You no bother the staff like me and they no bother you. Do your jobs and you get paid. Now, I cannot be held responsible for the more 'night feeding' clients I have, so that is a point to consider I guess.

As always, I consulted the expert on such things. Ginny seemed quite at ease with them both. She is usually my personal 'alarm' when it comes to someone wishing to do me harm (as my dear friend Dulce found out-quite painfully-once before she became a dear friend) but she did nothing but sit there and let herself be petted.

Oh well.
No one else was banging down the doors.

Spiders and webs and shops and paladins-

oh my.

I guess I should drop a few lines in on a subject I have been avoiding for a time. A shadow is lurking behind me now. No, not some vampire, but a silent threat now. A situation that never seems to get resolved or fixed no matter how many times I try. Something always interrupts.

Or just silence to my words.

I suppose I could force the issue and get it over with, which in one way is as smart as saying 'Oh look, a wood chipper is blocking my way so the best way to go is right down its throat'. Plus I would have no assurance one trip down the 'chipper' would solve anything at all. I don't know. All I can do is keep moving along.

That and hire some flying monkeys.

[Zodiac]

Volume 8. Pg 84
6/7/2013 6:29 AM

(taken and copied from the Harper Rock News 'Letters to the Editor' section)

Dear Auntie Kitty,

Grandma read what you wrote. She said you very smart and you doing good by not letting people stop
you. I can't find you... so I am sending this picture of me given you hug but NOT the mean kitty!

-Snow

Made me cry. In the good way. I am sure Ginny will survive not getting hugs.

[Zodiac]

June 23rd 2013. 11:49 PM

More careful than a surgeon, she spooned the liquid from the small caldron to the waiting funnel and watched the clear liquid begin to fill the glass vial she held in her other hand. In ways, the liquid was more precious than gold. Only under the light of the full moon in Litha's season could this be made. Granted in a year she could make more, but this moon was different. So much closer to the Earth than normal this time. Perhaps because of her new found state of continued existence she might live long enough to experience this again, but she still thought in the terms of mortality at times. Any mortal witch who worked this night was brewing a once in a lifetime (or several lifetimes) potions of their own. Something more intense and powerful than the normal variety they might achieve under this moon.

Once the vial was full, Zodiac carefully plugged it and laid it in a box with others. She paused to wrap the vial in cloth to prevent it clicking against the others to avoid them breaking by accident. Another empty vial was selected and she began again.

Her Nana had called this an Elixir of Awareness. When she worked under her grandmother's tutelage, she had been taught how to make this and once she was old enough, to experience how it worked when drank. Only a few drops were needed, so a vial could go a long way if one was careful. According to Nana, it helped open the mind to awareness when one was faced with an issue or problem or even in a time of reflection about the hows and whys of ones self. One had to be sure of where they were and who they may be around in doing this and most important-when. There were times of the year this was the last thing one should use, considering what outside influences might be about ready to press in against an open mind. She had some intense revelations and feelings in the times she had done this and learned things about herself she still could not accept as the truth.

Another vial was filled. 17 of them sat wrapped in the box now. Down in the caldron, only a small bit remained. She sat a final vial up and then lifted the small iron pot up and tipped it. Carefully, almost desperately, she coaxed every last bit of the elixir from the pot and into the funnel. When she was finally satisfied she could get not a scrap more out, she plugged the vial and slipped it into her dress pocket. She relaxed now and leaned back, taking in the view above. She recalled the one time her and her childhood friend, Mary, has snitched some of the brew and had used it in a private ritual of their own. They were only 14, and her Nana had nearly beat her bloody when their act had been discovered. She realized before the beating what the woman had meant when she said she had to be ready and old enough to understand and control herself when using the elixir.

It was the best damn buzz she ever had. She felt stoned but without all the altered perceptions she did when she tried hard drugs. Nana had said it would open her mind but she had not expected such clarity. She felt like she suddenly had the answers to things she had always been blind to and it was the first time she admitted to herself she had feelings for women. Mary and her had not gone all the way, but their reactions suggested if they had not been discovered they truly would have. Sadly, whatever insights she had gotten vanished under the length of Nana's cane. Since then she had made and used the elixir again with various results.

But never such a concentrated batch as this. Her fingers pulled the half vial back from her pocket and held it up so Litha's light could shine through it. Her eyebrows raised as she realized what she was considering at this moment.

Consume it now? Under the same light that made it? Such a rush could blow the locks off every inhibition, phobia, fear and limitation she ever had and more. She knew how the elixir could fool you into feeling invincible, when in truth it simply opened you past your fears. Besides, since being turned, not all her potions worked as they once had-at least when she consumed them. Some did nothing at all thanks to the changed nature of her body while others that should have lasted for hours now only held for moments.

But this was different. She could feel it as she looked through the vial to the moon beyond. If some of her potions could be compared to explosives, this one would almost fall in the nuclear category. Potion of Mass Awareness?

"No,no,no." she thought as she dropped the vial back into her pocket and turned to pack the rest for safe travel back to her home. Just 2 or 3 drops and she'd be in a state that could last for hours-maybe more. She had not planned on such a thing when she came out here and this was nothing to do impulsively.

[Zodiac]

Volume 8. Pg 79
7/6/2013 4:29 AM

As much as I tried, he still would not listen to me. I can't blame him for it, of course. The wanderlust chews at my own heels some nights. Questions unanswered, goals unfinished, good byes to be said. My heart sympathizes with his. It does. But what he is choosing to do disturbs me deeply.

Neville Silvanus came into my 'un-life' by a simple twist of fate and at the wrong moment in time. Fate chose him to be the one who brought the news to me of Randy's murder, his carelessness caused him to misplace his appointment book, and perhaps destiny brought him back to me to inquire if I had found it in the middle of a Sysgany rage of pain that found the focus of it all on a boy who was so innocent, but at that point in time I could not see it. I lashed out and hunted him down when he ran for his life, and when I realized too late he was indeed innocent, I turned him to save what part of his life I could. I stole so much from him that night and what I gave in return was a pathetic replacement for life itself.

It took him time, but eventually he lost his fear of me and I began to teach him the ways of the night. He caught on quickly, to my surprise. Nev was a complication of sorts to me. I had no desires to have a male childer, so I was in a situation I had never considered. He grew, always taking the direct approach. I had to force him at times to accept my help when it came to money of things he would need and always insist on paying me back. My advice was always welcome, but freebies was something he could not fathom. Such habits are the carry overs from our original lives, and these clues and others told me the cut of his character. Some nights, after we had shared in his latest accomplishment or deed, I still wept for what I had done to him.

To say 'if I had a son, I would want him to be like' sounds like a bad movie quote, but in this case it is true. My 'boy child' (as I came to call him as a loving tease) always made me proud at heart, despite being a brat at times.

So when he came to me and told me his plan to leave Harper Rock, I was afraid. Myself and others have done such a thing, but only after careful planning. In truth, once I left on pure impulse but I was not alone and what was done that night was nothing to be proud of, but I knew the risks and still was careful. But what he told me was making his trip sound like a walk in the park. I warned him, made sure he knew the risks, tried to be sure he had thought of everything and was prepared, and in return I got that look he gave me so many times before. I admit, I am a fussy person, and he always considered my fussing a bit annoying at times. He never said it though. Never. Not that night anyway.

Now he is gone. I hope he finds what he needs to be complete out there and manages to return one day. Some miss him already, I know, and I do too and I will seek them out so we may comfort each other. He was never in my face all the time, but I knew he was here. Nearby somewhere in the darkness. Now that feeling is gone.

I can only hope he survives what he must do. Farewell, my child. Adio, iubirea

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been,
the foresight to know where you're going,
and the insight to know when you're going too far.

May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow.
May the soft winds freshen your spirit.
May the moonlight brighten your heart.
May the burdens of the night rest lightly upon you.
And may the Goddess enfold you in the mantle of Her love.

[Zodiac]

Volume 8. Pg 92
7/29/2013 5:46 AM

A Day (or is it Night?) in the Life (or is it Un-life?)

I am falling into patterns again. It is not a bad thing in ways, I guess. Especially if things play out well. I am slowly getting things to where I want them to be, and all the time, effort and hard work are finally paying off, but patterns disturb me at times as well. Get too comfortable in them and you panic when they suddenly change without you wanting them too.

Each evening I rise up feeling a bit more improved. Always a good thing. First thing I do after putting my slippers and robe on is peek out the front door and watch for the mail carrier. He or she always has a smile for the girl in the purple bathrobe, sweat shirt, magic cow pajamas and mystic kitty slippers. I get my mail, flirt a bit and give them a 'kiss'. I guess I should feel bad for the others in the building, because it takes the mail person awhile to find their way back to the complex after one of my 'kisses'.

Mail in hand and 'breakfast' finished, I flop in front of the computer and let it power up as I sort the mail. Filed in boxes Today, Whenever, and the ever popular File 13, I log in and check the daily (or is it nightly) business indexes. Ginny jumps in my lap and I love on her as I check how my babies did during the day, then log into each. There is always something going on and more often or not, I manage to hit on the right answer for the issue of the moment. I am so blessed with the people (mortal or otherwise) who work with and for me. Another feeling that I am just getting better at this. The business courses and my right hand, Jennifer, help a lot.

Next up, breakfast for my real babies. Feeding time around here is a process, but soon Ginny and the others are purring and munching away. A quick tour of my garden as the tub fills up and then I am back at it. Not everything I do is legit. I will be the first to admit that much. Who knew that little bits of information liberated from systems could be worth so much money? I relax in the bath and let my mind play among the ones and zeroes for a time and then begin to wash up as another feeling of accomplishment washes over me.

No time to loaf now. make up, dressed and out the door. Off to the pawn shop in the Magic Bus. We on a first name basis now there. The odd bits I have downloaded, bought, traded for, got on the cheap or liberated are exchanged for folding money. A quick hop to the bank and then I start evening exercises. I may have an eternal body, but I got to keep it all moving along, right? A few visits to my favorite places and some more liberations are accomplished. I have noticed as of late people have begun to use my smoke bomb trick. Hey, it always worked for me in the past, so someone must have seen me do it and decided to spread the word around. Before being turned it was part of my acts, but now it is even more vital and useful. Those poor rent-a-cops as I wave bye-bye as the smoke hides me from view. Almost feel sorry for them, but at least they get to go home when their shift is done.

A small break now. So much to do still, but I need a quiet moment. One of the cafes or the Met. Sometimes a new place all together. I relax and take account of my progress so far and watch the world go by for a short while. I also consult my appointments log. Readings scheduled to be done as well as rituals or sales meetings. Prepping for a binding. My travels take me between both Pandy's and the Eye (depending on what is going on where) and various stops in between.

Monsters and mobsters can drag down your night seriously. I usually find them and I 'dance' for them. More items for tomorrow's visit to the pawn shop and the town made safer by yours truly. Somebody stop me. Then I finally do my visits. All kinds of friends in this place. As of late, most of them are hiding in Swansdale in some un-winnable raid. I come check on them and sing for them, do a bit of bashing of my own, and then move on.

By now I am getting tired, so I head back home and lay back with my planner. Checking messages and plotting the next day. A mental meeting with Jennifer on what's going on and what we are planning next. Gotta keep it all rolling along. Once that is done I finally get a chance to meditate before Dahlia insists I continue my lessons in real matters. She is right, of course. Some nights the mundane keeps me from working on the mystical stuffs. A witch's work is never done. Once my drill sergeant is happy, I can finally relax.

Back in the pajamas and sweats. A few convos with close ones. Maybe a visitor or 2. Depends. Or else I invest some time in here or record my progress on more esoteric matters, or drag my almost forgotten guitar out and play for awhile. Not much else to do at 4 AM. Regardless, soon sleep will call to me. Ginny will be waiting and curl up beside me as I think of all the fun in my life now.

When did all the fun vanish, I wonder.

[Zodiac]

Volume 8. Pg 97
8/6/2013 2:16 AM

I am beginning to wonder if the 'turning' has not stopped turning me yet. The last few days I have noticed an interesting development that is not in the norm for me at all.

Everyone can get 'spacy'. At least that is what I call it. Moments so absorbed in thought, you are disoriented when you snap back into reality. It happens to everybody-some more than others and a few seem to live in such a state full time. (Yes, I mean her)

But over the last couple nights, I seem to be finding myself being 'pulled away' mentally from things, only to be confused when I focus again and see more time that I thought has suddenly passed. It is annoying at best, but I have never done this before to this degree so I am concerned now. It's not daydreaming or deep thinking, but is as if I am suddenly getting a glimpse of something else. Like reality clicked a notch on my perspectives and I am seeing something else instead of where I am now physically in relation to the Multiverse.

I have heard too many descriptions from others to doubt I was not seeing into what some call the Shadow Realm one evening. Such a broken wasteland stretching all around me. I saw no wraiths or spirits or other exiled vampires, but the sense of despair and hopelessness sank into my bones as I tried to get my bearings. Suddenly I looked up from my copy of The Victorian Academy of Magicks I had been reading and found myself sitting in my parlor again. I had not moved physically, but for 2 minutes I was elsewhere.

The Shadow Realm is not the only place these moments of 'shifting' have allowed me to see. I wish I could be more specific on where I may be seeing, but the glimpses are so brief when they happen. I have tried keeping notes when I 'return' from these unscheduled little trips, but evidence is gathered slowly and, so far, I am just a phantom observer in these trips. I am not sure what good some of this will do in the long term. I take too long to 'adjust' to what has happened to learn anything of merit when I can focus.

So far, a 'trip' lasts around 2 minutes at the max, but the amount of them is beginning to grow. I have gone from one isolated vision to 3 this night. I have to find a way to control this or else I could zone out at the wrong moment badly. Driving the mini bus, in the middle of a ritual, or even in a matter where focus is imperative to success this could happen. There is no rhyme or reason to when it happens. It just does. I need to seek others more experienced than to see if this is something normal in this new aspect of existence or is it unique to me.

So far, they have not forced me awake when I sleep. Thank the Goddess for that much.
Speaking of, I need to feed and do just that.
Sweet sleep. Early night for me.

a view of the development of the Temporal Disruption curse in Zodiac.

[Zodiac]

Volume 8. Pg 99
8/10/2013 1:03 AM

Well now, Will this be a scene from 'Brave heart' or 'V for Vendetta', or a normal night at the comedy club?

I got my invitation to the meeting earlier. I am not sure why Habren decided to invite me, to be honest. My little bloodline does not add up to much compared to the monster lines in place already, so what we may think of things is debatable at best. Regardless, I have not seen or talked to Habs since her binding (you think the honeymoon might be over by now?) so I will go if for nothing else to see and speak with her again.

I confess, part of me is totally confused here with all of this. As I have said many times before, this situation is all our own doing to begin with. Vampires are worse than rival gypsy families. Everything the other says is suspect. If one group says we will all gain from this, the others wonder what kind of perks the others are getting that they will not. Sadly I have been to such conclaves before when I was alive. Even the children viewed each other as if monsters had walked into their ranks suddenly. (perhaps that is a twist more common with American gypsies. Since I never made it to Europe to meet ones there, I cannot say if this is common or not, but in America? We hate each other)

When a form of government was proposed (twice now) the masses shouted it down. Why? Simple, the same unreasoning distrust I saw among my own is amplified a hundredfold once one joins the army of the night. Perhaps in some cases it is justified. I cannot say I know the total history of the ones who started all this noise again and their pasts that fully, but enough evidence suggests they were not all one big happy then, so to assume they are now is a joke and a bad one at that. No one totally agrees on anything. Even if one said 'Hey, we are all vampires' at least 20 would begin to scream 'No way! Necro-rats and blood thieves aren't vampires!' and the whole argument would begin again. The point forgotten as all scream who is right and who is not.

To be sure, we have plenty among us who know what 'buttons' to push to keep everyone so off balance as well, and it serves their purpose to do just that. As long as you can keep mommy and daddy arguing with each other, they will have no clue what their children are doing until it is too late.

So I will do my civic duty later tonight and go and see what can or cannot be managed this time. Do I have the answers? Hardly, and if I did I would write them down and hand them to someone else to use and deny doing it. I don't want power. I have a few who care for me, successful businesses, a home, some money squirreled away and some of the nice things I always envied when I was mortal. What more do I need?

Guess I am not a 'real' vampire then. I knew I'd manage to **** this up somehow.

[Zodiac]

Volume 8. Pg 104
8/17/2013 1:03 AM

Loves ya, baby girl.

[Zodiac]

Volume 8. Pg 106
8/19/2013 10:03 PM


"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" Jennifer screamed as she cringed in the corner where the bookcases met. A hefty, hardbound book on Norse Mythology held in her hand ready to be launched like a misfired rocket at her employer, who stood there in abject shock. Her right hand hovering over her newest acquisition as the fingertips scratched its back gently.

"I MEAN IT!" The mortal girl lifted the book higher above her head.

"To coin a phrase- Jesus Christ, Jennifer. It's just a spider." Zodiac lifted her left hand into view to display the arachnid to her day manager.



"Isn't she beautiful?" she continued to dote upon the eight legged nightmare. "I found her at an exotic swap meet. Comes from Brazil or some place in South America like that. I saw her in her jar and it was as if she called out to me."

"It's a damn purple spider and your eyes got hooked!" Jennifer sneered. "I am surprised you don't have purple snakes yet!"

"Oh, I am looking. trust me," the mystic nodded. She held up the spider for Jennifer to see better. "You have to admit the colors are striking."

"You get that damn thing any closer to me and I will strike it good and flat!" The girl was almost trying to squeeze into the paper thin gap between the bookcases now. "Damn it, Zo, I MEAN IT!"

"What the fruitcake is your problem?" Zodiac rolled her eyes and turned to go into the work area of Pandora's. Behind her, Jennifer began to creep along to see what she was doing. On the work bench, a small aquarium had been set up to resemble a more tropical environment. "Let's go, Violet," she lowered her arm into the opening and encouraged the large spider to step off her hand. The giant walked slowly into its new home as Jennifer watched from a safe distance.

"Those things can jump, you know!" her voice still sharp in tone. The gypsy gave her a look as she sat the screen covered lip on top and used two small black bungee cords to secure it in place.

"Are you happy now?" she shot at the girl's thoughts. "What the hell? I seen you chasing all kinds of bugs-including spiders- out of our original shop, so don't give me that 'I am afraid' of them BS,"

Jennifer finally relaxed and laid the book down and retrieved her purse from her locker. She pulled out a Med Alert card from her wallet and handed it to Zodiac. "I am allergic to bee stings. A tarantula bite or a scorpion can have the same effect on me and in some cases worse." she admitted.

"Well Hell's teeth," Zo inspected the card. "I know I can read minds, but why the hell didn't you tell me this before?"

"You never dragged in no monster spiders before either!"

"So you act like I brought this in just to scare the hell out of you?" The girl washed her hands before approaching her friend. Gently she grabbed her by the shoulders. "I promised you, nothing of me or mine would ever hurt you."

"I know," the girl relaxed. "Just freaked me out is all. Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for. I just won't expect you to feed Violet is all."

"Awesome. By the way, what does that thing eat?" Jennifer asked. Zodiac looked to the counter where a small box sat wiggling from what was inside of it. The girl picked it up. "Mice? It's big enough I guess." Jennifer opened the lid and gaped at what was inside. "Oh come on! NO!"

"What do you expect me to do? Climb trees and steal baby birds from the nests?" the mystic grabbed the box that held 3 baby chickens inside of it.

"But...But they are Peeps!"

"No they are not made of marshmallows, they are chicks. You want a new job going out to find little birds for Violet to eat? I can arrange that."

[Zodiac]

Volume 8. Pg 127
8/30/2013 1:09 AM

A busy evening. New tomes discovered. My sources got me copies and I sent the last hour looking them over. As I suspected, they are growing in complexity and depth now. I do question the ethics of the 'magic' shop owners though. $75,000 for a pelt? I could buy a damn Polar Bear Coat for HALF that in the states! Probably isn't even real polar bear hide. Some dye job shipped in bulk from China or Singapore. Something. Poor Panda bears. Note: explore the black market for a contact in Alaska.

Regardless, we are in a state of flux now. New discoveries are popping up more and more now. My other collections are nearly complete now. The new property has been purchased and sits ready for the permits to come through. (swine bureaucrats!) It sits next door to my beloved Pandy's. A sneaky way to encourage customers back and forth between the two. (insert cackling here)

Sundial has left us. I wanted to cry. Sunny Boo and I have been through a lot and she was the first employee Pandy's had outside of Jennifer. Her new business occupies the opposite side of the street of my soon to be venture, so we got this whole end of the market to ourselves. I wish her the best, of course. We had some panic time trying to fill the spot she left. We are still trying to get back up to speed, but all is good. I never expected anyone to stay in my employ forever, but its still sad to me. On my most gloomy days, Sunny could make me smile with ease. Her and that little loon she has enthralled to her-Dandy. I hopes they sell tons of fish. Went through her new building and did the proper blessings for luck and prosperity for them.


And more new things present themselves to me now. At the risk of sounding vain here, which I am not, I seem to be getting..... offers? Again, no vanity implied, but some are flirting with me now. I consider myself a 'bound' person but the handfasting was never renewed between Tempy and I. (where the **** are you, woman?) Not appearing at the renewal is usually a bad sign. I saw it a couple times in the past when I assisted Nanna in such rituals. Most Sygany consider such a thing a total slap in the face. It's like showing up for your wedding but the other half doesn't. I knew she had things to attend to elsewhere, but this is insane. Not a word, note, message, text, carrier pigeon or messenger of any sort. Some have said she has been seen within the town. If so, it makes me wonder even more. I smile a lot and keep things light as I can, but it gets harder as time goes along.

New Code ~vs~ the 'Royals' ? I am not even touching this one. Bad enough some want me in politics now. Me! Me? Aw, man! No way! The first law of politics is lie your *** off on important stuff. Just look at any news source and you will see what I mean. Then guys and girls lie all the time and get paid big bucks for it too. Now, I am not against making big money, but what I have to do for it is the question. To me? Politics = Bad! It is just like the police. A Sygany will never get a fair shake in the process. I never have and probably never will. Always guilty. Even on the occasion I am not guilty. Politics caters to money and power, not the average citizen just trying to live a good, simple life. I am still debating if I would accept a nomination to the place some have suggested me for, because if I took it I would work it like I do myself.

I'd tell the truth, and that would probably get me killed within a week.

Oh well, we shall see.

One last side note. Ginny is looking fatter than usual. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later, but in all the traveling we have done in our time together, this is a first. Kittens? Yay! I loves kittens. Anti depressants with fur!

Something to smile about. Thank the goddess!