Chapter Ten #2
It’s going to be hard to watch, but you need to make sure the parents allow Amy to work. Make sure Wendy and Ainsley know as well, you might have to hold back a couple of wolves. And when I say might, I mean you will.
Carl.
P.S. Tell Carly I love her. I don’t want her to ever forget it.
I had to swallow past the lump in my throat. Oh Carl. I put the letter away and looked at Toya, raising my eyebrow.
“We are ready. Your mom even got some rope to tie them down if we need to.” I nodded and then wiped my face.
“You got this Amy. We believe in you.” She rubbed my back and then walked over to the far counter, grabbed a small box, and then handed it to me.
“Go save that little girl.” I took the box, put it down, and then turned and hugged Toya. “What’s this?”
I sighed. “I just needed it.” I sighed as she slid her arms around me and supported me. “It’s been a rough day.”
She nodded against my shoulder. “Your mom heard from you, dad.” She rubbed my back. “It sounded horrible. But we can talk about it after we cure Abby, and then have porch wine.” I laughed.
“That sounds perfect.” I let go and stepped back.
She looked me over. “You look exhausted.”
I nodded. “I am, but I have enough for this.” I grabbed the box, then went back to the dining room.
Abby was staring up at the ceiling and doing her best to be strong.
I slid the box onto the chair. “This isn’t going to be pretty.
” I pulled out candles and placed them around her.
I started at her head and moved clockwise until I was back at her head.
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “This is going to be painful.” I looked at Shelly and Rick.
“It’s going to look like I am trying to torture her…
kill her. But I swear on the Goddess I am saving her. ” They both nodded.
Toya stepped up. “I know it is going to go against every instinct you have as a parent. This is your pup on the table. I’m not even sure what is going to happen, but the three of us are here to protect you from yourselves.
” My mom and Wendy stepped up beside them.
Rick looked down and my mom stepped forward.
“Hey Ains.” He was trying his best to seem strong.
“Hey Rick.” She smiled as she held out her hand to him. “You have grown up so much.”
He chuckled as he considered her words. He nodded and slowly held his hand out to her. “Yeah, a lot has changed since I was the little boy on your front porch.” My mom winked at him.
“Not as much as you think.” She nodded to Abby. “You have an amazing little girl.”
He nodded. “That I do.”
Wendy held her hand out for Shelly, who grabbed it without hesitation. “Thank you.”
“You are very welcome. And I know you will hate me pretty soon, but I won’t take it to heart.” She smiled. “But we are going to save your little family.” Wendy nodded to Toya. “Make sure she reads the note in the box before she starts.”
Toya snapped her fingers. “Right.” Toya pulled out a small piece of paper from the bottom and handed it to me. I quickly read the words and groaned internally, but I shook it off. We will figure it out as we had to. I pulled out the bowl and threw the cotton balls inside of it.
I laid out everything, then I heard the little footsteps and turned.
Carly was holding my Book of Shadows with her eyes a veil of white.
“You will need this Tri-spirit. Your work tonight will be long, but important.” She sighed.
“Vince did more than you think. Hidden runes, hidden curses. Tonight will stretch you to the end of your rope. But it will be your strength and determination that will make the final decision. Will you swing free from his manipulation or hang from it?” She trembled there and then dropped.
Alannah screamed as she dove to catch her.
“Is it always like this?” Her voice was filled with worry.
I walked over and took the book from them. I bobbed my head back and forth. “Kinda.” I smiled as I turned away, but my stomach was a twisted ball of knots. What the fuck is going on?
I walked back to the table and opened it to the one I needed.
I was reading the page when Carly came to.
“Wait!” She wiggled down from Alannah’s arms. “Amy, wait!” She wiggled harder and Alannah finally let her down.
She ran over to the table and climbed up to a chair.
She grabbed Abby’s hand and held on. “It’s okay Abby.
I’m here.” She looked up at me. “This is okay, right?”
I nodded. “It should be okay. But I’ll tell you the same thing I told them. It’s going to look like I am going to hurt her, but I’m not.”
Carly nodded. “I saw.” She looked up at me with haunted eyes. “I saw it all. That’s why I’m here. Abby is my best friend, and I want her to know I’m here.” I nodded once, then looked back at Toya.
She smiled. “She’s like us. Bonded in a flash and completely devoted to her friends.” Toya walked over to Carly and kissed her temple. “Our girl has been talking about her best friend since she came last time. She even told her dad about her.”
Abby’s hand tightened around Carly’s. “You are my best friend, too.” Carly’s smile was big as she leaned in.
“Don’t be afraid, okay?”
Abby nodded. “I trust you guys.”
I had to clear my throat. I don’t know why, but I started to feel choked up.
“Okay.” I stepped back to the bowl and lit the cotton.
I added the herbs I needed. Dried acorn for protection and personal power.
Adder’s tongue for healing. Ague weed for hex breaking.
Bamboo for hex breaking and protection. The pit in my stomach grew bigger.
So many of the herbs were for protection, healing, and hex breaking.
Usually, only one herb for each would have been enough, but there were so many layers.
“Focus girl.” My grandmother’s voice jolted me from my worries.
“Add the Barberry.” I grabbed the handful, but she snapped a hand out.
“Cleansing her soul from Vince’s manipulation is needed.
But only one.” Her eyes met mine. “You have a few souls to disentangle from his strings.” I nodded as I dropped one into the bowl.
“Basil, to exercise Vince from her soul ties. One is enough. Hold off on the benzoin until the fire dies down. The smoke from it will help purify her. Add in the hydrangea to help with the end of the hex. Lastly add in the lady’s slipper to stop anyone from attaching to her again.
” She nodded as I finished. The fire burned down and then she nodded.
“Add the benzoin in now. There. Now use the feather to fan it over her.”
I grabbed the burning bowl, feeling the heat of the flame, and hissed.
“Amy?” My mom stepped closer, but I waved her off.
My grandmother turned to her. “When casting, if there is going to be pain inflicted on the victim, the caster also needs to feel it. We do not do unto others without taking it on ourselves. It’s a balance.” My mom nodded, but I could see she was worried.
I moved to Abby’s head and started. I fanned the smoke over her with the pure white feather of a barn owl.
I walked around her three times. The fire burned brighter with every step.
The flame was now fueled by my magic, the golden flame now a deep blue.
I placed the bowl by her head and sent a steady stream of magic to the fire to keep it burning.
I grabbed the bottle of water that was in the box and poured it into a cup.
I sprinkled in a few of the herbs that I used in the fire and helped Abby sit up enough to drink it.
She coughed a little, but swallowed it down.
I poured the rest of the water into the bowl, keeping the flame burning as the water took on a blue sheen.
I bent over and rolled up Abby’s shirt, bearing her stomach. Rick’s brow furrowed. “What are you doing?”
I dipped a cloth into the burning liquid.
Then I wiped down Abby’s stomach. “I’m trying to cleanse her body.
I’ll focus on her stomach, chest, and the brand.
But the stomach is first.” I wiped her down, dipping into the bowl periodically.
I turned back to the bowl and slid a small dagger into the bowl. To purify it.
Rick growled when he saw the knife, but Shelly took a step. “Amy?” Her voice was confused, but I quickly wiped down Abby’s chest and then turned to the brand that Vince burned into her skin.
I cleansed the brand, earning a few pained whimpers from Abby. “Are you okay?” She met my eyes and nodded. “Are you ready?”
She took a few deep breaths. “Will it hurt?”
“I won’t lie to you. It’s going to hurt like a bitch, but we need to purify your soul. The brand is the entry point. Your heart is the pathway, and the soul is settled somewhere around your center.”
“My tummy.” I nodded. She closed her eyes. “I’m ready.”
I took a steadying breath. This was the part I hated the most.
Then I slammed the dagger directly into her heart.
Her eyes flew open, but Rick and Shelly screamed.
My mom and Toya grabbed Rick. Wendy wrapped her arms around Shelly’s waist to keep her back.
Rick bellowed. “ABBY!” His eyes were a mix of rage and desperation.
He was desperate to save his pup. I felt the phantom kick from my own pup and knew I would have done the same.
“Amy, you were supposed to save her.” His voice broke.
“How could you do this?” Tears poured from his eyes.
“She trusted you.” He forced himself another step.
“We trusted you.” He bellowed again, eyes flashing.
“ABBY!” His pain was a bitter taste in my mouth.
I met his eyes. “You said you trusted me.”
That made him pause. “I did…I do. But you just killed-” His voice broke as he looked at the growing pool of blood under her. “You killed my baby.” He dropped to his knees and the sob that broke from his lips shattered my heart. “You killed my baby.”
Shelly just hung from Wendy’s arms. I expected to see hatred, to see fury, but all I saw was a broken woman. Watching me slam the knife home shattered something in her. Something that was so deep, so profound that I wasn’t sure it would ever be fixed.
“Shelly?” I called to her, but she was gone. But I needed her to snap out of it. I needed her to feel. I grabbed the cup that had held the water and I walked to her. I grabbed her face. “Shelly, I need you to look at me.” There was no response.
“Girl, you know you need to do it. You are running out of time.” My grandmother’s words were soft, but they gave me strength.
I nodded once, and then I pulled back and smacked Shelly across her face. Ternen and Alannah were crying, staring at me like I was a monster. And right this second, I felt like one. I looked at Wendy and she grimaced but nodded. I pulled the two to the side of the table, next to a crying Carly.
“Look at your daughter Shelly.” I grabbed her face and made her look at Abby. She still didn’t react.
Rick fought. His tears were streaming, but his need to protect his wife overruled him. But my mom and Toya planted themselves in front of him. “Trust her.”
“She killed my pup and is torturing my mate and you are telling me to trust her!” Rick screamed again. A gut wrenching sound that made Shelly twitch.
“You have to make her feel it.” My grandmother’s voice was soft. “She has retreated to the back of her mind, but she needs to see it, to feel it.”
I turned in to myself and Nix nodded. Get on. I jumped on her back and she ran through the forest. She ran for a few minutes when the trees changed. The trees that were lit by sunlight shifted into darkness.
“Can you see anything?” I dug my fingers deeper into her fur.
“No. But that’s fine, I don’t need to see. I can scent the trees and follow the crying.” Nix sounded confident.
“What crying?” I couldn’t hear anything.
“Shelly’s.” Nix sounded sad, but determined. We ran in the darkness for a few more minutes, but I couldn’t help the dread that was spreading through me. If we couldn’t get her to snap out of this, we were cooked.
And I had just murdered a child in front of her parents.
There, in the distance, was a clearing. Moonlight cascaded down on to a huddled form and I could hear the faint sobs of a shattered heart. The knife in my own heart twisted. I was the cause of this. But I couldn’t stop. We walked out into the clearing.
“Shelly.” I called out, and a wolf, blonde and pissed, popped up.
“You have no right to be here. Murderer.” She snapped at me. But we ran towards the pair.
“I have no right to be here? But your human is too weak to face her own daughter’s death?” I scoffed. The taste of bitterness coated my tongue.
The wolf, Shelly’s wolf, snarled. “Did you come to gloat?”
“Yes.” I smiled. I hopped off of Nix. “Look at how pathetic she is.” Shelly looked up, and I nearly stepped back from the hatred I saw in her eyes.
“What? You don’t like that?” I raised my hands.
“You can hate me all you want. But you are the one that ran away from her daughter’s death.
You retreated instead of fighting for her.
And you call yourself a mother?” I scoffed.
“I might be evil, but at least I cared enough to stay present when my pup died. You came in here. You ran. Leaving her to grow cold. Alone.”
Shelly screamed at me. But I think my words finally hit her. And she was gone.
I hopped back on Nix, and we fled back to my body.