Practical Demonkeeping

a man. Trading soft caresses with Bella, she didn’t care if she was ever again.
    When Rachel was back on her feet, Bella introduced her to a group of women who met at Bella’s house once a week to perform ceremonies and rituals. Among these women Rachel learned about a new power she carried within herself, the power of the Goddess. Bella tutored her in the machinations of white magic and soon Rachel was leading the coven in rituals, while Bella looked on like a proud mother.
    “Modulate your voice,” Bella told her. “No matter what you are saying it should sound like a chant to the Goddess. The coven should be taken with the chant. That is the meaning of enchantment, my dear.”
    Rachel gave up her apartment and moved into Bella’s restored Victorian house near the U.C. campus. For the first time in her life, she felt truly happy. Of course, it didn’t last.
    One afternoon she came home to find Bella in bed with a bald and bewhiskered professor of music. Rachel was livid. She threatened the professor with a fireplace poker and chased him, half-naked, into the street. He exited clutching his tweed jacket and corduroy slacks in front of him.
    “You said you loved me!” Rachel screamed at Bella.
    “I do love you, dear.” Bella did not seem the least bit upset. Her voice was deep and modulated like a chant. “This was about power, not love.”
    “If I wasn’t filling your needs, you should have said something.”
    “You are the most wonderful lover I have known, dear Rachel. But Dr. Mendenhall holds the mortgage on our house. That loan is interest free, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
    “You whore!”
    “Aren’t we all, dear?”
    “I’m not.”
    “You are. I am. The Goddess is. We all have our price. Be it love, or money, or power, Rachel. Why do you think the women in your exercise classes put themselves through so much pain?”
    “You’re changing the subject.”
    “Answer me,” Bella demanded. “Why?”
    “They want a sound body. They want a strong vessel to carry a strong spirit.”
    “They don’t give a rat’s ass about a strong spirit. They want a tight ass so men will want them. They will deny it to the death, but it’s true. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you will realize your own power.”
    “You’re sick. This goes against everything you’ve ever taught me.”
    “This is the most important thing I ever will teach you, so listen! Know your price, Rachel.”
    “No.”
    “You think I’m some cheap slut, do you? You think you’re above selling yourself? How much rent have you ever paid here?”
    “I offered. You said it didn’t matter. I loved you.”
    “That’s your price, then.”
    “It’s not. It’s love.”
    “Sold!” Bella climbed out of bed and strode across the room, her long gray hair flying behind her. She took her robe from the closet, threw it around herself, and tied the sash. “Love me for what I am, Rachel. Just as I love you for what you are. Nothing has changed. Dr. Mendenhall will be back, whimpering like a puppy. If it will make you feel better, you can be the one that takes him. Maybe we can do it together.”
    “You’re sick. How could you even suggest such a thing?”
    “Rachel, as long as you see men as human beings, we are going to have a problem. They are inferior beings, incapable of love. How could a few moments of animal friction with a subhuman affect us? What we have between us?”
    “You sound like a man caught with his pants down.”
    Bella sighed. “I don’t want you around the others until you calm down. There’s some money in my jewelry box. Why don’t you take it and go down to Esalen for a week or so. Think this over. You’ll feel better when you get back.”
    “What about the others?” Rachel asked. “How do you think they’ll feel when they find out that all the magic, all the spiritualism you preach, is just so much bullshit?”
    “Everything is true. They follow me because they admire my power. This is part of that power. I haven’t betrayed anyone.”
    “You’ve betrayed me.”
    “If you feel that way, then perhaps you’d better leave.” Bella went into the bathroom and began drawing a bath. Rachel followed her.
    “Why should I leave? I could just tell them. I know as much as you do now. I could lead them.”
    “Dear Rachel.” Bella was adding oils to her bath and not looking up. “Didn’t you learn anything from killing your husband? Destruction is a man’s way.”
    Rachel was stunned.