7. Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Evie
I look down at the bitch who thought she could worm her way into my life and steal from me. I’m curious what she thought she was going to do with a piece of a crystal, but honestly not enough to ask.
The money pisses me off, but my grans crystal bothers me so much more. I knew everyone wanted the grimoire I found. It’s unlike any other I’ve come across. It’s definitely one of the oldest and most thorough I have ever seen. I know the initials on it belong to my father, but I also know that this grimoire was created by someone who came way before him.
Complex, yet simple spells, incantations, potions, and science, if you get the logic behind it. What most people don’t understand about magic is the science of it all. The problem is, it’s all darker magic than I have ever personally practiced.
I kneel down and remove the ridiculous pink fluffy ears from Brook’s mouth and take the headband off of her completely. She gags and squirms on the ground, spitting out a very large wad of lace.
I chuckle slightly when I realize it’s a black thong. I look back at Liam and Noah who can’t contain their laughter, shaking my head trying to hold in a smirk.
“You are going to pay for this, all of you! Do you have any idea who I am?!” Brook screeches, writhing in the dirt, like the little snake she is.
We all start laughing, except Liam. He just looks pissed and surprised at the same time.
“Bitch, do you have any idea who we are?” Liam raises an eyebrow, staring her down.
I quickly place my hand on her forehead, only for a moment, and see all the horrible things she has done to get ahead. She would steal from the devil himself if given the opportunity.
I feel her emotions and chuckle a bit as I move a piece of wet hair away from her eyes, “Oh, bless your little heart. You think you are going to survive the day. How sweet. Newsflash bitch, you stole from the wrong witch! Mommy dearest can’t save you now! No one can, the ancestors have spoken, and you have been sentenced to death for all those you hurt in this life!
“Are you insane? The ancestors haven’t spoken to anyone in years! The ancestors are a fucking myth that we will never get the chance to see in our lifetime! The voices in your head aren’t real you stupid freak!” She speaks frantically, clinging to some crazy notion that she can talk her way out of the situation she ultimately put herself in.
I grip her hair at the scalp, yanking her face closer to mine, “See, that’s where you’re wrong. They haven’t spoken to any of you because they finally had enough of your family’s bullshit! They have always talked to me. I’m just doing their bidding. You will see the ancestors soon. I can’t wait to hear about what they do to you once you make it to the other side! Blessed be bitch!”
I release my grip on her head as I come around with my fist, connecting with her nose, breaking it all over again. She cries out choking on her own blood as it pours out of her nose.
I go back to the car and get my bag, dropping it on the ground next to Brixon, “Can you get the douche bag from the other trunk please? I want to play a game.” I ask giddily as I look up into Brixon’s eyes and smirk.
He leans down giving me a light pec, leaving me wanting to taste his lips again as he backs away, quickly moving back to the other car.
Brixon is back within minutes dropping Jeff next to Brook. His head hits the ground, the silver tape wrapped around it making the thud a little louder than it should be.
He groans slightly as he bounces off the dirt, now sprawled out on his side. I’m glad I wrapped his face with duct tape just in case he really is a Saint, and he knows the boys, not being able to see his face gives me a leg up.
I reach down and open my great big bag of goodies. I pull out a large, curved dagger that I have had in the shop for a while. It’s just a decoration in the store, not for sale. I sharpen it after every use, making it the perfect weapon now.
I found it in my grans attic here in the bayou house a few years ago and it just called out to me. I love how the gemstones on the handle shine in the sunlight, hell it’s even more beautiful in the moonlight! When I would normally do this kind of thing. There is just less of a risk of getting caught at night.
“Look familiar?” I ask as I stalk towards Brook. She made a big deal about how it must be worth a fortune when she first started at the apothecary.
“Please! Genevieve, come on, you aren’t a bad person! You can’t kill me!” She begs as I stalk towards her.
I stop next to Jeff and put my boot up on his hip pushing him over onto his stomach. He moans slightly but is still down for the count. I take the blade, placing it just above his ankle and slice down until I feel bone.
“Can’t run if your Achilles tendon isn’t attached anymore!” I almost cackle as I cut the zip tie from his wrists, making sure to cut into his skin in the process.
Jeffs muffled screams fill the silence as Brook starts trying to slither further away. He can yell, cry, and widen his eyes all he wants, no one can understand him. Hell, we can barely hear him.
“Oh good, you’re awake!” I shout, kicking the fucking asshole in the side of his upper thigh before I turn my attention to the ultimate reason we are all here, Brook. She’s sobbing now, finally seeing who I really am, and I think maybe realizing for the first time it’s over for her.
This is always my favorite part. When the villain finally gets a taste of their own medicine and realizes that they are now the prey. It’s always interesting to see how the person reacts when they know they are about to die.
I whistle loudly as I bend down to taunt her a bit more before I unleash what will technically be her ending. She is right, I don’t technically kill anyone. I mean one guy died before Bo Jangles got to him, but it was an accident.
I kneel down, allowing my lips to brush against her ear, and whisper, “Will he smell your fear or his blood first?” I taunt the little thief as my buddy, Bo Jangles, emerges from the shadows cast by the dark, gnarled, cypress trees draped in eerie moss, where my land bleeds into the bayou.
My oldest gator steps into the sunlight, showcasing his majestic form. He’s blind—always has been. I don’t know what happened to him, but when Acadian brought him in, he was a different creature entirely, worn and battered by his past. I must have been seven, but he trusted me that day when I offered him marshmallows, forging a bond that feels as ancient as the murky waters surrounding us.
To this day, I am still the only person Bo Jangles has ever let touch him.
This is always my favorite part. He will take his time trying to sneak up on his prey, using his sense of smell to guide him.
Then I see my pretty girl join him.
“Oh, this should be interesting. He brought his mate!” My smile widens as I watch Brook’s face morph from scared to all out terrified.
“What the fuck, he is still alive after all these years?” Liam shakes his head with a scowl on his face, probably remembering how my gators used to scare the shit out of the big bad Saint Liam Vandever. He had always been king shit until my gator let him know he is just flesh and bone like everyone else. He barely scratched his calf one time with his tail.
“They have a much longer life span than a human. He will probably outlive us, especially since I have been feeding them so well lately!” I smirk.
“You should make it more even, he is bleeding out, and her nose pretty much stopped, so it’s obvious they’re gonna go for him first.” Noah chimes in, always one for a fair fight.
“We need a piece of her to consecrate.” The ancestors echo in my head in unison.
I look around to see if anyone else heard them. They never do, but when they talk, I listen. It would be nice if they talked to me like this more often. Here lately it’s been jumbled.
“Fine!” I stomp over to the stupid bitch, who has literally fucked her and her mother’s way up the chain, stealing from every witch they have ever come across trying to find the trinity.
I grab her by her hair again, making her roll back to her stomach. I put my knee in her back and cut the zip tie, uncinching her wrists as she begs me for mercy. I grab her by the back of her shirt, hearing it rip as I drag her closer to her boyfriend while she kicks and screams.
“Please! Stop! Don’t do this! I’m begging you! Evie, I swear I’ll change! I’m so fucking sorry!” Brook screams and thrashes.
I ignore her apologies. Her pleas to let her go only enrage me more. I keep dragging her, stopping in front of Brixon, out of breath.
“Grab her arm and hold it out for me. We are gonna play this out the old school way. You get caught stealing, you lose a hand.” I look at Brixon and shrug my shoulders.
He moves into gear with zero hesitation. He grabs her arm, holding it out flat against the dirt, while holding her face down with his knee in her back, and his other hand pressing down on the back of her neck. He makes her watch what I’m going to do to her.
“Stop! Oh shit! Please! I’m sorr…” Brook’s words are cut short as her voice takes on a silent scream.
I’m so exhausted and out of breath, I look down at where I cut and realize I missed my mark, taking fingers instead of the whole hand. Blood pours out of her missing digits mixing in with the dirt beneath her.
Oh well, that will have to do.
“It’s enough.” The voices of my ancestors reassure me.
“Lucky for you this is sacred land, blessed by all of my ancestors, the first witches of our kind in New Orleans. All consecrated here. You will not be stuck in the void, no, that would be too easy for you. I will consecrate what’s left of you. Say hello to my family!” I walk back over to the car with the boys, as ready as they are for the show.
Witches have been searching for the fucking trinity for centuries. It’s a myth. Even if it wasn’t, the ancestors would never allow the thieving whores in that coven to get their hands on it, let alone give them the power to use it, even if they did find it.
We all move out of the way, sitting on the trunk of the BMW, as Bo Jangles and Miss Minnie Pearl move in to stalk their meals.
Pearl moves towards Brook, while Bo Jangles leaps towards Jeff taking his shoulder, and part of his chest. I hear the crunch of bone as the big old gator’s mouth comes down around him, biting a few times to get a good grip on him before taking off with his lunch. Jeffs muffled screams drown out quickly to nothing as the blind gator takes off with him back into the dark covering and protection of the bayou.
“Fuck, he is faster than I remember!” Liam shouts, slapping his thigh, smiling like a goofball.
We all watch intently as Pearl keeps toying with Brook, smacking her with her tail, leaving large gashes in her wake. The one on her thigh where her jeans are ripped open looks pretty deep, but you can’t tell with all the blood pouring out of the gaping wound.
Brook screams out with every slash of Pearls tail, seeming to get weaker and weaker by the second. Pearl usually likes to play with her food, making a spectacle of it. She is so pretty as she curls her tail and then swats her captive with it over and over again.
I love watching the damage the tiniest gator like Pearl can create so easily.
She finally gets bored, and frankly, I think tired of the annoying bitches squawking, and bites her ankle making a loud cracking sound. Brook screams out again, only even more shrill this time.
She lets her go and moves to her bleeding hand, or what’s left of it. Pearl swats Brook with her tail a few more times before she finally gets ahold of her arm, locking her jaws, then drags her the same way Bo Jangles took Jeff.
It takes a little longer for her soft screams to die down, I’m guessing Pearl stopped to play with her some more before they hit the water, until it finally falls silent once again.
“Another one bites the dust.” I chuckle as I turn to the guys and see Brixon holding Jinx, smiling along with the other two stooges. That cat always finds me.
“You haven’t changed a bit pipsqueak. I knew the day you beat the shit out of Kacey Rushford your sophomore year for touching Brixon that you were always going to be the one to be the most terrified of!” Liam jokes.
“What about the time she scared Alissa Worthington so bad she pissed herself before Evie even touched her for texting Brix her tits!” Noah keeps them laughing.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s go get cleaned up and get their cars back to his place. We can stop back by the shop and grab y’all’s cars since it’s walking distance from the shop, that way their GPS and phones show they were together. You guys get the cameras fixed to show we were never there. Sound good?” I look at the boys, who all look stunned at the fact that I thought this whole thing out.
Ha!
Now they know I’m not just a pretty face, maybe a bit psychotic when it comes to killing people, but I have skills that are helpful as well now. I won’t always have to sit on the sidelines anymore, like when we were kids and the boys had a task to fulfill.
“I need y’all to give me a few minutes. I need to bury her fingers and do the consecration ceremony, and there are a few things in the house I need to pick up.” I explain.
“Go ahead pipsqueak, Noah and I will head back and meet y’all at the house. You should probably wash the blood splatter off your face to.” Liam shakes his head, watching me head towards the old white rundown Victorian style farmhouse.
“Duh Thor.” I holler over my shoulder.
We had been working on the old house, but lost focus recently. Emily and I have been DIYing everything in this house, and the one in town, after binging Fixer Upper. I’ll get back to renovations out here when I’m done with my own tasks from the ancestors.
Can’t exactly bring people out here to torture when there is a crew working on the house.
Brixon pulls up in front of our houses, stopping in front of mine. I laugh at the fact that he bought the house next door, to be close to me.
“Give me an hour to shower and just take a little time to myself to think and ya know be a girl. Do you want me to come over to your house or are you coming to mine?” I ask him, hoping he still wants to spend some time with me.
“I’ll come to you if you will send Emily over to Liam, that way we have the whole house to ourselves, for a little while at least. If that’s okay with you?” He sounds as nervous as I am, not knowing what to say.
“I’m sure Emily will be ecstatic to spend some time with Liam after the way she gushed over him this morning over coffee. Maybe we can all go to dinner together tonight?” I offer, trying to gauge what he is thinking.
“I was hoping we could make something or order takeout. I honestly want to spend the rest of today and tonight just being with you. We can all go to breakfast tomorrow before you go into the Apothecary. You have to keep things as normal as possible. The sign on the door keeping the store closed today for inventory made it look like you were there the whole time and leaving all our phones there along with our cars, was brilliant.”
“I honestly just watch too much true crime TV. No one is going to miss them, for a while anyway. They booked flights to the Poconos this morning, while Brook tried to rob my store, so everyone will think that’s where they are.” Brixon’s eyes go wide giving me a questionable look. “What? I saw it on his laptop that he conveniently left open on his coffee table.” I wink at Brix.
“Should we have taken their cars to the airport?” He asks, suddenly concerned.
“Nope, he had already ordered an UBER to pick them up at three pm.” I explain and watch his face relax.
“I just want to make sure they can’t ever be traced to you, that’s all. Even if they could, it wouldn’t matter, I would fix it. I’ll see you in an hour my little witch.” He says sweetly before cupping my face and giving me a soft kiss. He releases me way too quickly for my liking and leans back in his seat with a small smirk, waiting for me to exit the car.
“Actually, no body, no crime, but thank you.” I turn and give him a wicked smirk and wink at him after exiting the car before I shut the passenger door.
Brixon moves the car fifteen feet before he slams on the brakes and kills the engine. He gets out, running frantically up to his porch pointing at his watch, making me laugh. He turns to me and winks before going inside.
Maybe you really can fall in love with the first boy to give you flowers. The boy who gave you all of your firsts. He is my love story.
I love a good dramedy, but most of them are not realistic. That’s the beauty of fiction. Look at the unrealistic expectations movies like, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, Sweet Home Alabama, and Practical Magic give us.
It’s also the reason we go back and watch those movies over and over again.
For the love story. It’s what we all strive for.
What if I don’t get the happy ending though?
What if all the time I have with him is cut short for reasons that I may never understand?
But… What if I can change things and have a happy ending?
I think all of these thoughts before I even enter the house where I’m bombarded with a confused and worried looking roommate.
“Where have you been? I went to the shop to bring you lunch, you were nowhere to be found! The apothecary was locked up tight. I saw the hot neighbor’s cars there though! Spill the tea sis!” She is overly excited at the thought of me with any guy at the moment. I typically don’t give many guys the time of day.
Jeff, I went out with him to make sure he was a decent person, and I’ll admit that he had me fooled for a second. That won’t happen again. There haven’t been many guys, but a few over the years.
“I had to go out to the bayou to get rid of some things, I was out of Manglier again. You know the headaches have been insane lately!” I tell her as I twirl my hand at my head, hoping she lets it go.
“You’re lying! Not exactly lying, because I know the headaches have been killer for you, but you did something, and where is the Manglier?” She knows better than anyone how to read me!
Damn it! Emily can read anyone! She is what we call a true empath. She picks up on things very quickly just by reading your emotions. She also has very little control over it.
I try to stay calm, but I can’t help it. I spew everything gauging her reactions as I keep word vomiting all over her!
I stare wide eyed at her, waiting to lose my best friend.
“Well, I’m not gonna say the fuckers didn’t deserve it. If I’m being honest, I knew a long time ago what you are always up to in the bayou. I was just waiting for you to tell me. I mean I saw Bo Jangles and Minnie Pearl eat like twelve people while we were living out there. Next time let me help you. Brix is hot girl, get it! He better be the best guy in the world for you! Ancestors! right? We will come back to that.” She barely reacts other than to me being with Brix, throwing her hands up like, what are ya gonna do, shrugging her shoulders!
I mean I knew she wouldn’t hate me or anything, or I hoped, but I figured she would possibly be against murder. I was wrong. Here I thought she was just a very heavy sleeper all this time.
Hmm… I count my victims from that time frame in my head. Thinking about how many sinners I took out to the bayou while Emily was there. Twelve just seems like a low number.
“So, you have known the whole time? Seriously!” I ask still kind of in disbelief.
“Well, yeah. I talk to the ancestors too, sometimes, when they let me in. They told me all the things that happened with your mama and gran. I get it. Just know you have someone here to help you if you need it.” She smiles as she curls up on the couch with her blanket with Lily James’ latest book Fallen Secrets next to her on the couch.
“So Brixon and I are like a thing, thing… I know you aren’t going to believe this, but have you ever heard of the butterfly prophecy curse? It’s time I read my mamas letter and see if I’m right before I get to far gone with this notion.” My thoughts are so scattered with everything that has happened. How do I tell her I’m in love with a guy she has never even really heard of?
“The butterfly prophecy is more like an old wise tale that our grandmothers told us to scare us into keeping our legs closed or we would be cursed. You don’t think... Wait, are you telling me that Brix and you are like star crossed lovers brought back together from a past life?!” she asks excitedly.
“No, not exactly. When he touched me today, I remembered everything about him, us, from when we were kids. I haven’t known him in ten years. He says a spell was broken keeping us apart. I believe him, but I need to read the letter if I’m really going to understand this. I hope this is what the letter is for anyway.” I give her a small smile.
The doorbell rings and I realize I have sat here the entire hour talking to my best friend. I jump up and run upstairs to get in the shower while Emily rolls her eyes giggling all the way to the front door.
“Oh, you are supposed to hang out with Liam tonight at their place by the way!” I yell back down the stairs at my best friend, knowing she is now doing an all-out happy dance before opening the door.
I rush into my bedroom and grab my robe off of my bed. Shit. Shit. Shit. My room is a mess. I run around like a crazy person picking everything up and throwing it in the hamper and make the bed! I don’t know why, but I don’t want him to think I’m this messy.
I quickly run into the bathroom and run back to get my robe again. Oh my god, I’m so nervous. I hurry back into my on-suite bathroom, turn on the shower, and clean up in here as well while I strip my clothes off waiting for the water to get hot. It takes a few minutes in these old houses.
I think about everything as I frantically shave my legs.
Is this all really happening? I can’t remember ever feeling like this with a guy other than Brix. It’s like I’m eighteen again about to lose my virginity.