The full moon hung bright over the water, casting everything in a ghostly glow. Daniel and my friends sat around the living room with various glasses of liquor in their hands, not really drinking. Nobody wanted to be tipsy when this happened. The mood was as surreal as the glow from the moon. They wanted to argue with me some more about doing something awful to Alma, but I couldn’t bring myself to go against my powers. At the same time, I couldn’t imagine a world with that woman having these powers. It would be chaos.
"Do you have some spells ready?" I asked. "In case things go wrong." "Yeah, we've got a few things up our sleeves," Beth said. "I have an ancient spell of binding which would limit the activities Alma could partake in once I cast it on her.
Carol grinned. "I'm armed with a fetching spell. It's quickly forgotten by anyone who witnesses it yet still powerful enough for quiet attacks against unsuspecting enemies.
Deva handed out tiny candies. "These chocolates are potent. They'll give you clarity, speed of thought, and as much protection as I could muster. My magic doesn't work on command like yours, so I can't cast spells. I'll mainly be there for moral support." She nodded toward the candies in our hands. "Eat those on the way down to the beach."
It had felt wrong to not include them in this decision if they might be hurt by Alma’s powers too. The butterflies in my stomach doubled in size as I turned away from the moon. “She said all of you would suffer if I made the wrong choice.”
Deva smirked and lifted her glass. “Tell her to bring it, witch.”
Her words didn’t make me feel any better. “I’m serious. I don’t feel like I can hurt her. I also don’t feel like I can give her my powers. I might just wait and see what happens, as stupid as that sounds, but then if something happens to any of you I won’t be able to forgive myself.” My voice cracked as I spoke the last few words. "That's the thing. I wait, I risk you guys being hurt."
Daniel set his beer down and came to wrap me in one of his epic hugs. “I’m not worried.”
“None of us are worried,” Carol said from behind him. “Not about ourselves anyway. Do what you feel is best for you and the powers. Besides, this is probably what she wants, for you to believe you have to give them to her.”
For some reason, tears began to pour down my cheeks. Not full-on sobbing, but I felt the tears and my throat tightening as I tried to keep it together. To my surprise, everyone came to me, and then we were in a massive group hug. All of them were saying reassuring things, but the thoughts in my head were louder than their words. I wasn’t just putting myself at risk if I didn’t give Alma my powers, I was putting all these amazing people at risk. If I was wrong, and this was simply the way of Karma, I'd regret it for the rest of my life.
I thought back to the day I'd become Karma. Yes, I did something heroic. I'd pushed the other Karma out of the way of an oncoming car. We both could've been seriously injured. Back then I hadn't known about magic, or what I'd receive from saving her, only that on that day she gave me her powers. I remembered the smile on her face when she'd done it. There'd been no hesitation in her expression. Nothing to say that what she was about to do would change her life forever, much less mine.
This wasn’t like that. This was a woman who created a situation where she could be a hero. A situation where she saved lives to get something she desperately wanted. If Karma had passed on her powers in my situation, was this really the same? It didn’t feel the same.
Not that it really changed anything.
I pulled back from my loved ones and wiped the tears from my cheeks. “You guys are sure you’re okay with me taking this risk?”
“More than okay,” Carol said.
“Absolutely.” Deva brushed my arm.
Beth flashed me a smile that lit up her eyes. “Without a doubt.”
Daniel and Bryan grinned, but it was Bryan who answered. “One thing I’ve learned in life is that we have to do the right thing, no matter what, or the consequences will haunt us.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath and turned to the door leading to the ocean.
My heart raced, but I told myself to stand straight. It wasn't easy, as my head kept spinning with thoughts of everything that could go wrong. I forced those thoughts away for now and tried to tap into the power within me that connected us all—courage, strength, love—whatever it was about being Karma's successor that made this possible for me.
I had no idea what consequences would befall me if things didn’t work out in my favor today. There were too many variables at play. If Alma wanted something from me she'd have to earn it by proving herself worthy first. Taking a deep breath and standing tall I steeled myself before reaching for the door so I could exit and walk out towards the ocean and my fate.
Behind me, a door slammed open, and my heart stopped as I looked back. Henry and Alice hurried inside wearing matching t-shirts with video game characters on them. These were the shirts they wore when they painted their little figurines, so they were splattered with different colors. Anytime I saw them in these outfits, they looked relaxed, like they were having an awesome day, but not now, not tonight.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, Alma's hateful face crossing my mind.
Henry looked at Alice. “She had another vision. She’s actually been purposely trying to have a deeper vision, so she’s exhausted, but then it just happened on its own while we were painting.”
Alice did look tired as she shuffled closer to all of us. “I was able to see the full vision. The older woman I saw in my vision was the Karma who gave you your powers, not this horrible old woman.” She smiled. “The energy around her was warm and welcoming, just like it is around you.”
I was a little surprised. Alice was always polite to me, but I never got the impression she liked me like that. “Oh, okay.” What else could I say?
She continued, “Karma was warning you that Alma used to be Karma but lost her powers by abusing them.”
My jaw dropped open. At first I'd thought the Karma who gave me my powers was the one haunting my dreams and Alice's visions, returning for her powers. After we discovered Alma, I’d just thought she was a powerful witch. It seemed impossible that she could've once been Karma herself. Holy crap. Alma was trying to become Karma again after having her powers rightfully stripped away.
Alice took a deep breath. “There was a clear message in my vision. You can’t, absolutely cannot give that woman your powers. You just can’t. If you do, the consequences will be dire. That woman is unworthy of powers like yours.”
I tended to agree, but that didn’t change the situation. “What about the spell that I feel tightening around me?” Even at this moment it was binding, tighter and tighter.
Alice looked exhausted. “You have to have faith that the last Karma chose you for a reason.”
Such a simple thing to do to have faith in myself. Yet, I didn’t. I knew what I was going to do, I just wasn’t sure it was the right thing for the people I loved, so the decision hung heavily on my shoulders. Part of me wished I had more time, but that would just drag out the inevitable. It was time. Time to face the music.