Mawmaw heaved a sigh. “I suppose.”
Ophelia decided not to elaborate on her tiger showing up right before Delphine’s death. Her grandmother may act like a hardass, but Ophelia knew that Mawmaw loved her deeply, and she’d worry too much.
“So…magic is real,” Ophelia stated. She was still skeptical, but it did make sense in a way. The logical side of her brain was struggling to believe it, though.
Mawmaw hummed in agreement.
“Am I allowed to talk about it? What about being a Traiteur? Can I tell the family? Can I tell my sisters about the magic part, too? Let them know it’s more than just Catholic prayers?”
“Oh, Lord. Okay, you are very much overthinking this.” Mawmaw paused and took another sip of tea. “How do I put this? I grew up not knowing about magic. Just treating. As I got older, I met more people, and the scope of my little world widened, and I met people who were clearly…different. With my Traiteur gift, it just slowly made sense to me that others may have gifts as well. It was never this big unveiling, like it may feel to you. Also, my world is Oakdale, hun. I didn’t grow up in a big city or connected to the internet like you. It seems that it’s become more of a tangible secret. I always understood that not everyone knew or believed in magic.”
“Okay, so there’s not some secret society of witches and wizards that govern us?” asked Ophelia in jest. Sort of.
Mawmaw guffawed. “No. No. Definitely not. People with gifts are just that, people with gifts. Everyone has a touch of magic. Some choose to recognize it and hone it, and others don’t. As for your family, tell them what you want. But treadlightly. You don’t want to just tell people you have magic. They’ll think you’re loony.”
“True.” She could definitely talk to Jade about this when she was ready. If any of her friends or family had magic, it would be Jade, and even if she didn’t, she’d still understand.
Mawmaw tapped a rhythm with a bony finger on the kitchen table.
“Ophelia, dear, there is so much to teach you, and we have very limited time. But the first thing you need to understand is that treating is aboutsensing. Trusting your instincts, your gut, as they say these days.” Mawmaw held her stomach as if it were a weapon. “So, while you do have much more than that to learn, you should regard it as the foundation of treating. Second is learning how to clear your mind. Some call it praying or meditation. Call it what you want, but you must master it.”
They moved back to the parlor to practice. Once they were seated in their chairs, Mawmaw instructed her to close her eyes again, and she began to guide Ophelia through the how-tos of clearing her mind. Mawmaw explained that this was always the first step before treating. Clearing the mind allows the Traiteur to tap into their gift, their magic, and identify the type and location of the patient’s pain. The Traiteur then pushes their healing magic to that area, letting it treat.
Ophelia was exhausted after thirty minutes of attempting to clear her mind. It was incredibly difficult for her not to let extraneous thoughts take her down a rabbit hole. She had just learned that magic was realandthat she was somehow connected to a serial killer. No big deal.
But each time her thoughts began to wander, Mawmaw would notice and make her start over again.
“You need to work on clearing your mind more. Practice every day,” said Mawmaw sternly. “Next, you’re going to learn how to pull your magic up and out through your hands. Laying your hands on the sick is key to treating.”
Ophelia nodded.
“Let’s try. I’m going to guide you through this process, too.Since you don’t have the gift yet, the gift won’t feel as strong, but you, my dear, have it in you. I can feel it. You just have to tap into it. Now, place your hands in mine.”
Ophelia laid her hands palm down upon her grandmother’s.
“Close your eyes. Clear your mind. Imagine that there is a string tied to your soul. Maybe your soul lives in your chest, perhaps your head. Wherever it is, pull on that string. Bring forth that energy and place it into my hands.”
Ophelia envisioned her soul as an ethereal light inside her heart. Twine wrapped around the steadfast bloody organ, and she mentally tugged on it. Her soul, that ethereal light, responded to the pull and began to slowly twist around the string, traveling up and through her arms into her hands.
“Good,” whispered Mawmaw. “Very good. What does it feel like?”
“If you could feel a wind chime’s music or feel light twinkle across water…it would feel like this,” she said with a sigh.
Mawmaw let out a low but sweet chuckle. “You’re a poetic one, that’s for sure. You can open your eyes now.”
Ophelia did, and the tingling sensation retreated effortlessly into her body. She smiled at her grandmother in complete awe at what she just experienced.
“That is what you need to practice over and over again. I’m shocked you got it this first time since clearing your mind has been such a challenge for you.”
“The visualization really helped. I imagined the whole thing happening within my body.”
Mawmaw hummed in understanding. “Once I pass the gift to you, you’ll be able to seek out another’s pain by placing your hands on them. Only with their permission, of course. That’s another code I live by. You never want to take away pain from someone who wants to keep it. You’ll find that some people’s pain is an important reminder for them.”
“In a weird way, I completely understand that.” Ophelia thought back to her darkest days in New York. At times, she hadwondered if she liked the pain that depression brought—without it, she would have been wholly numb.
“Good. So you lay your hands on them, clear your mind, pull on your magic, and push it through them to their source of pain. That pushing part comes very naturally. At least it did for me, my sister, and my mother. I wouldn’t worry too much about that piece now because you can’t even practice it till I pass the gift on.”
“Got it. I can’t believe both you and your sister had the gift.”
