Chapter 23
Prim stood in the middle of a pentagram in Bethany Befana’s garden with her three sisters surrounding her. Their magic pressed on her from all sides as they chanted for the goddess to help them refill Prim’s well.
Prim held her arms out, ready to receive all they had to offer, but instead of the magic seeping into her like it usually did, there was resistance. Almost as if Prim had a shield up. Only she didn’t. Prim didn’t even know how to do that.
“This isn’t working,” Indigo said.
“Nope,” Sage agreed.
“Why though?” Lily asked.
“No idea.” Indigo took a step closer and took Prim’s hand. “What’s going on, sis?”
“I’m not sure,” Prim said. “I’m open to receiving the magic, but it just won’t flow. I feel like I’m wearing some sort of magical raincoat.”
“Maybe you need to go skyclad,” Bethany Befana said as she appeared from the shadows.
All four sisters groaned.
Bethany laughed. It was an old joke that their grandmother had been torturing them with ever since they’d discovered her casting spells under the moonlight in the nude.
She’d told them she connected with the goddess better that way.
And while Prim figured she’d been telling the truth, casting spells in the nude with one’s sisters was just not something they were interested in.
“Any other suggestions, Gran?” Sage asked.
“Sure. You can try some wine to open up Prim’s senses. Or a shot of bourbon, whichever she prefers.”
“No booze. I have to drive after this,” Prim said.
“I guess that leaves out any mind-altering substances,” Bethany said, clearly amused at herself.
“It does,” Prim said, shaking her head at her grandmother.
“Fine. How about you just smudge Prim first? See if that clears the air, so to speak.”
It was decided, and for the next twenty minutes, Prim stood in the circle, hacking while her sisters smudged her energy with sage sticks.
“You smell like lasagna,” Lily said.
“Funny,” Prim shot back. “You smell like feet and cheese.”
The four of them cracked up, recalling an old taunt they used to use on each other when they were kids.
Bethany grinned at them. “Now try your recharging spell.”
“I know what you did there, Gran,” Sage said, referring to the fact that all Bethany had done was find a way to get them to relax. Especially Prim. Their spells always worked better when the four of them felt connected.
“I’m sure you do.” Bethany waved at them as she disappeared inside.
Her sisters started chanting again, and this time their magic started to flow into her and help refill her well. It wasn’t easy, and Prim decided it felt a little like molasses, but at least once they were done, she was no longer suffering bouts of nausea or lightheadedness.
When the magic faded away, Indigo frowned. “That was a little rough. How do you feel?”
Prim shrugged. “Better, but I agree, that was harder than it should have been. Maybe I just need a good night’s sleep.”
“Or a massage,” Sage said.
“Or some Dante,” Lily added.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Prim scolded them, but she couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips. “You people don’t need to be discussing my nighttime activities.”
“Oh, we’re discussing it,” Lily said with a wink. “We’ll just do it behind your back.”
Prim rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I need to get going and meet Dante at the hospital. His mom is conscious now.”
“Need a ride?” Indigo asked. “I think Niko is going to head down there in the next hour.”
“No, I’m going to grab some food and take to Dante and Mateo. Thanks though.” Prim hugged each of her sisters and then went in to say goodnight to her grandmother. She found her in her herb room, tying up bundles.
“Feeling better?” Bethany asked.
“Somewhat. Thanks for your help.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Prim shook her head. “Sure you didn’t.” She kissed her grandmother’s cheek and said, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Wait.” Bethany tucked a small sachet of herbs into Prim’s pocket. “It’s just an emergency protection spell, meant to ward off any unexpected attacks. If you think you’re in trouble, don’t hesitate. It will stop them in their tracks just long enough for you to hightail it out of there.”
Prim pulled the lavender silk bundle out of her pocket, ran her fingertips over it, feeling the faint pulse of her grandmother’s magic, and then tucked it back into her pocket. “Thank you.”
“Be safe,” Bethany called as she headed out.
Prim hurried to her little Mazda X5 and locked the doors as soon as she was inside.
Her grandmother’s protection spell had reminded her that she wasn’t exactly safe by herself with Shari on the loose.
Once she pulled away from the curb and was on the road, she started to relax a bit, happy to be on her way to see Dante. But first she needed to find some food.
The Black Kettle drive-thru was miraculously free of cars when Prim pulled in. She ordered three roast beef sandwiches with homemade chips and three waters, just to keep things simple, and was back on the road in less than ten minutes.
Since the Black Kettle was a slight detour from the highway she needed to take to the hospital, she set her GPS and let Google tell her where to go.
It sent her down a long residential road that mostly had large lots with houses set back from the street.
During the day it was beautiful with lots of trees, but at night it was just dark and hard to see when the lights of an oncoming car flashed in her eyes.
By the time the GPS told her to turn, she let out a sigh of relief and veered right, only to be told she’d turned too early.
“Son of a… Why didn’t I just go the way I knew to go?” Prim asked herself as she tried to make a three-point turn. As she was in the middle of it, headlights flashed twice, blinding her, and then a vehicle came to a screeching stop right in front of her.
Prim immediately tried to back up, to go around the vehicle, but she rammed into another car that was parked on the street, causing her brake system to lock up and then stall the engine.
Before she could orient herself, the door was yanked open and Shari stood there, her eyes wild as she yelled, “Get out of the car!”
Prim reached for the protection spell, but before she could grab it, something hot sparked against her skin and Prim jerked, her limbs suddenly becoming paralyzed.
She tried to open her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.
She just laid there on the street, staring up at Shari as the other woman dragged her to the van that was blocking her car.
Shari grunted and swore at how heavy Prim was as she lifted her into the van, dumping her in the back. Once Prim was in, she was lying at an odd angle, one arm pinned beneath her.
“Behave, or you’ll get that treatment again. Understand?” Shari asked.
When Prim didn’t answer, she said, “Blink once if you heard me.”
Prim tried to blink but had no idea if she actually had.
“That will do.”
Shari got back in the driver’s seat and took off, driving so fast that Prim was thrown around multiple times, causing her to collide with the sides of the van, no doubt leaving bruises all over her arms and legs.
Just when Prim thought she was going to be trapped in the van forever, it jerked to a stop and Shari reappeared.
She yanked Prim out of the van and hauled her by her feet up to the small house where they’d arrived.
When she got to the steps that led inside, she asked, “Can you crawl yet?”
Prim still couldn’t feel her limbs.
Cursing, Shari lifted her up by her armpits until Prim’s butt was on the step. She did it one more time and then hauled her into the house just far enough to slam the door shut.
“You need to lose some weight,” Shari said, sitting against the wall as she tried to catch her breath.
“You need a swift kick in the crotch,” Prim said, shocking herself when she heard her voice.
“I’d like to see you try,” Shari said. Then she got up and kicked Prim in the ribs, making Prim grunt. She still couldn’t move her limbs, but the feeling was coming back and it wasn’t pleasant.
Shari left for a moment and then returned with some large zip ties. It didn’t take her long to bind Prim’s wrists and feet. Once she had her restrained, she rolled Prim deeper into the living room and then propped her up against the couch.
“Welcome to your new home,” Shari said. “I did my best to make sure you’ll be comfortable here.
” She flipped the light on, revealing the most disturbing decor that Prim had ever encountered.
There was a naked baby clock on the wall, an entire shelf of porcelain dolls that were staring right at her, and a large clown that was bending down and holding it’s hand out as if to greet a child, only it had a sinister grin that was straight out of a nightmare.
Beside the clown was a mangy taxidermized mutt with only one eye and a bald tail.
“You’ve lost your mind,” Prim said.
“You don’t like it? I made sure you had something of yours here.
” She waved to a photo on the wall that was of Prim and her sisters.
They were all in their teens on a party boat out in the canal, laughing at something one of them had said.
It was the only normal thing in the room full of horrors.
Was she trying some sort of association technique designed to make Prim terrified of her own family or something? It wasn’t going to work.
As Prim looked around the room, she began to realize that all the furnishings were familiar too.
The chair across from her was a replica of one in her own bedroom, only instead of the pattern being hydrangeas, it was a thorny vine.
The area rug was the same color as the one in her living room, but instead of tiny flowers it was covered in spiders.
“I wanted you to feel at home.”
Grim realization started to wash over Prim. No one knew where she was. And she was bound and trapped in a house of horrors with a complete psycho. “What do you want, Shari?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Dante is never going back to you. He’s done. You get that, right?”
She glared at Prim and barked, “Shut up! This isn’t about him. It’s about you and me.”
“What about you and me?” Prim asked.
“You’re going to help me get what I deserve.”
“Which is?”
The door smashed open, and a petite brunette stood in the doorway. Her hair was flying behind her and the pentacle hanging from her neck was lit with magic.
Shari bolted to her feet, reaching for what appeared to be an amulet that was lying on the counter, but before she could reach it, a bolt of white light cracked through the room.
Prim watched as Shari fell to the floor. Then she turned her attention to her savior before the familiar woman said, “Sorry, Prim. I have no choice.”
White magic hit Prim, sending her into complete darkness.