Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice

By Jij Berg

Humming to herself Lilith, placed a crown of flowers on her head. Adjusting it carefully in the mirror, she was pleased with how the daffodils accentuated the purple and pink strands in her silver grey hair. With the latest fashion trends I don’t even need to dye her hair to blend with the youngsters, she thought with confidence. Her curls and concealer hid the crow’s feet around her eyes, she looked closer to thirty than forty. She hated looking old. Jinx jumped onto the sink, craving attention. She patted the black cat on the head and scratched behind the ears.

“You have to stay home tonight,” she said. The cat swept one of her mascara tubes onto the floor.

“Now, now,” she said, with an edge in her voice, and the cat slunk away into the living room.

She pulled the red and black flannel shirt over her white top and rolled the sleeves up to her elbows. With worn jeans and sneakers, the look was complete. She turned and twisted and checked herself in the mirror. Like a second hand thrifter with a miniscule carbon footprint. Perfect! she thought. She despised the lack of respect for the occasion, but she had to blend in.

Moving into the kitchen, she frowned at the plastic container of tomato and olive salad she had prepared. She rummaged for the right bottle before finally finding it behind the others. She held the green bottle to the window. Half left. Enough for four shots. The label said ‘Jägermeister’ and she was pretty confident that nobody would ask for seconds. She packed her faded blue nylon backpack with the salad, the bottle and small plastic cups. Finally, she added half a bottle of clear liquor and a bottle of wine.

Slinging the backpack over her shoulder she left the apartment and headed down the stairs. She had never come to terms with the concept of elevators, she was thankful for the fresh evening breeze when she left the building. She preferred the cool temperatures of the winters here. It was a short walk along the bike path to the stadium. A man with a dog came the other way and he had difficulty controlling the bitch as it barked at her. It jarred her to be reminded that even in a civilized city she was never safe. Quickening her steps she crossed to the other side of the path and hurried towards the stadium. Crossing the parking lot she caught up with a few people heading to the park and entered the forest. This section of the park was surrounded by huge beech trees, and the dry leaves crunching underfoot followed her as she left the path and headed straight for the centre. She emerged on to ‘the plate’ from the south. It was a grass field, two hundred meters across, perfectly circular. Three roads cut through the forest to field from exactly due East, West and North. An odd design someone might think, but not for those who knew. The architect who designed it, he knew, she thought.

The setting was staggering. The place, the day, the time. Everything was perfect. Here and there people had gathered for picnics to celebrate their day off during this the longest day of the year. As far as her nose could tell nobody had brought that foul smelling fermented herring. Or is that for another occasion? I can’t keep track of these Scandinavian traditions, she thought. The schnapps was flowing though, she could see multiple groups downing their shots. She scanned the groups one by one, until finding one where a man played the guitar while the others sang. She studied them as she approached, a few couples and several single men and women, all in their mid twenties.

“Mind if I join to enjoy the entertainment?” she asked, when the song finished.

“The more the merrier! My name’s Marcus,” the guitar player replied.

“Jasmine,” she smiled back. He was good looking and smiled broadly at her. No doubt he could charm a few of the single women in the group, yet he welcomed her so easily. Sweet! she thought, almost forgetting to hide her grin. She sat down quickly and turned her face down, in an attempt to appear shy.

On her left a brown haired woman in a leather jacket had introduced herself as Maria. She and her blonde friend, Linn, were both recently graduated teachers. On her right sat a young man named Mats, an IT worker. Magnus sat next to Mats, who followed every move of the captivating Linn. They included Lilith in the discussions of everything from when and where to have the next party to the importance of teaching your children to swim. It was a bit difficult for her to capture all the references to places and events she wasn’t familiar with, but she did her best to keep up. Occasionally she was lost on topics about some friend that wasn’t present. The use of very odd nicknames didn’t make it easier to understand, but she got several giggles as the group was happy to share the funny stories behind. She had been very lucky to pick a group this friendly, with a sting it reminded her that she needed to go out more.

It was nearing midnight and they had all finished their food. One of the couples had left earlier to relieve their babysitter, and another to walk the dog. She made her move and poured four cups from the green bottle. The two women were celebrating the start of their vacation and were already half drunk. They were drinking in the Swedish way, starting in a bad way and progressing towards worse. They would not say no, and the two guys would not miss a chance to toast and flirt with the women. She passed two each for Mats and Maria.

“What is it?” Maria asked. Lilith displayed the label of the bottle, and Maria frowned a little but kept a cup and passed the other to Linn who gladly accepted it. Mats and Magnus already held their cups ready, and a beer in the other hand.

“Cheers to new friends,” she said, holding up a cup of wine.

“Haven’t had this since the last ski trip,” Linn smiled, and swept the contents in one go. Maria and Magnus followed instantly. After a second of hesitation Mats swept his cup quickly to avoid awkwardness.

“Oh, it’s worse than I remember it,” Maria said coughing and laughing at the same time. Mats chimed in, nodding and coughing.

“That thing is best served ice cold, I think,” Magnus said, frowning badly at first, then hiding his reaction quickly when Linn glanced at him.

“Or not at all!” Maria filled in, pounding her chest lightly. They all laughed.

“I have wine too,” she offered, and Maria and Linn extended their cups to flush it down. Mats and Magnus were already drinking beer again.

Marcus started playing something distinctly Swedish about a dog going to heaven, and the group joined in. She didn’t know the words and instead joined the grove by swaying her upper body. She tilted her head to the ground and lowly mumbled the words she had learned so long ago.

The effect came like jolt, she could feel the surge of power. Taking in all emotion from the four who had taken her concoction, the world turned bright and noisy. It was almost overwhelming at first. Their joy and anticipation. Their unlimited optimism for the future. It was so much to take in at her still fragile state. She was connected to them now, and they were young and drunk. The sensation was intoxicating. They were still singing and could not resist her. She reached out with her soul and pulled the life energy from each of them. Slowly at first when they still struggled, then faster as they gave in to her rising power. She took what she had come for. Half a decade of force from each of them, they wouldn’t even notice the loss. It was overwhelming for a moment and she looked down and leaned her head in her hand, pretending to sip at her wine. High on the sensation of regained vitality, she considered calling it a night.

But she wasn’t satisfied, the sweetness of power made her urge for more. She inhaled, made up her mind and exhaled slowly. Then she pulled deep from the sources and took another decade of their life force. Mats and Magnus hunched forward and fell asleep, still holding their beers. Linn, the strongest of the four, yawned from the  fatigue of losing fifteen years of her life in a few minutes. She leaned on Maria, who could barely sit upright herself. Lilith let go of the guys, who stirred briefly without waking up. But unable to resist the temptation she reached out towards the teachers. She took another decade from Linn, and five more years from Maria, before they both collapsed on each other. Lilith faked a yawn and excused herself. She rose with ease, despite sitting on the ground for hours her body felt like soaring. She left behind the half bottle of methanol that would be found by the police, in case any of them died. She hoped they would survive, deaths brought unwanted attention from authorities. But it wasn’t guaranteed, she had taken so much, especially from Linn.

She headed for the East exit and left ‘the plate’ when the first hints of morning light could be seen in the sky. Power raged within her, she had never been stronger. Chuckling softly to herself, she felt a century of life force pent up inside her body. Her fingertips tingled and she smiled as she felt them by softly rubbing her thumbs against the fingers. Then her joy vanished as she was put on alert. From the corner of her eye, she saw a woman cutting her off from one of the many paths crisscrossing through the forest.

The woman carried a long tube on her back, commonly used for carrying a rolled up yoga mat. But there was something wrong with her, the tube was quite a bit too long for the width of a yoga mat. Intuition told Lilith the woman didn’t belong there. Her eyes were unnaturally yellow, like those of a tiger. Lilith looked the other way to avoid eye contact. There were rumors of people who could detect witches at a distance. Friends of her had been killed. Memories of persecution from half a millennia stirred. Evil memories. Lilith regretted not putting the dagger in her sleeve before leaving the apartment. She could feel an itch on the lower left arm, where it should have been strapped. Feeling the hilt of it had been a comfort. All she had was a cutlery knife in the backpack. Useless! The woman paused ten meters before the intersection, observing her by moving her head, like a cat following its prey. In one fluid motion the woman unslung the tube from her back and held it in her right hand. After passing her, Lilith heard how the woman followed her a few steps behind. She increased her pace. The woman did too. She was nearing the end of the forest, her last chance to confront her follower while protected by darkness. Lilith realized her opponent wasn’t hindered by darkness, she maybe even preferred it. Lilith was strong, but unarmed, and she was desperate to get rid of her follower. If the woman stalked her after the park, she wouldn’t be able to head home. Out of the forest they would be visible, that would be safer. Less than fifty meters left to the open.

Emerging from the forest Lilith continued along the path, disturbing a group of seagulls resting next to the pond to their left. A few of the birds took flight and started circling low, drawing attention towards them. Lilith turned right and exited the park, crossing the road to her apartment block. The woman continued left along the path. Lilith saw her circling the pond and once the woman was out of sight she ran home. She ran like she had never run before and didn’t stop until the door to her apartment was locked behind her.