Inherited Magic (14 page)

“I did not get this far or become
this powerful by being easy to kill.”

Allison tried to pull her arm out
of his grip but it was paralyzed. She looked across the yard and could see
figures moving in combat, though it was hard to make out what was happening.
Allison wanted to get back to the others and make sure Ruby was okay. The
paralyzing effect of Jackson’s grip was spreading through her body. She tried
to say something but her lips failed to move. Jackson pushed her, releasing his
grip; and she could do nothing but fall. While she fell, she realized where she
was headed, into the pond.

There was a splash and then she was
submerged. She could feel herself start to panic, trying to move any part of
her body. Her mind flooded with thoughts of her family, friends and all the
things she still wanted to do. She was certain she would die here in this pond
and she could not help feeling guilty. She felt guilty because she had failed,
guilty that her death would bring such heartache and pain to those she loved
and guilty because she knew that everyone she loved may die today, too. Her
chest was beginning to burn as every cell in her body screamed out for oxygen.
She thought of her mother, the one bright spot in all of this. If there was an
afterlife, maybe she could see her again. She closed her eyes and imagined her
mother’s face.

Out of nowhere, there was a white
light surrounding Allison and then she was spinning, faster and faster. Allison
could not believe it; she was no longer in the water, she was some place
beautiful. Allison was standing outside in the twilight and she noticed a
round, ornamental platform. While she stared, a light appeared in the middle of
the platform; it swirled around and then a figure appeared. At first, Allison
thought it must be an angel, but then she realized it was something even
better, her mother. She could see Maria’s face, full of life for the first
time.

“Is this Heaven?” Allison asked,
sure that it must be.

“No, this is the meeting place,
where those who are no longer living can speak to someone who is still alive. There
is not much time; I just brought you here to tell you to keep fighting. You
have to try harder against his magic.”

“I am trying,” Allison said.

Her eyes were pleading with
Allison, “You can defeat him. You are stronger than he is because his magic is
stolen. Yours is inherited. It’s your birthright.”

Allison had a million questions for
her mother, but before she could ask anything, there was a blinding flash of
light and she was back in the water. Try harder? She couldn’t even move.

“You are stronger than he is.”

Those words rang out inside her
head. She had to believe. Everyone kept talking about her inner magic and her
natural abilities, her gift. Allison had to keep trying as long as she was
still conscious, which did not seem like it would be much longer. She would
start small. Allison pushed everything out of her mind, and concentrated on the
muscles in her fingers, willing them to move. Nothing happened.

She tried again, concentrating
harder. This time she felt a small twitch. That was enough to build her
confidence. She kept working, willing her arms to move and then her legs. She
opened her eyes, breathing out a final breath before emerging from the water,
dagger still in hand.

Jackson was unaware, standing on
the edge of the water. She buried the blade deep in his abdomen before he could
react. He collapsed, while placing his fingers on his forehead.

“What did you do?” she asked,
worried he had just commanded the other members of The BC to attack her.

He just smiled at her, “I can’t
believe you were strong enough to break the paralysis. How I wish I could have
bled you dry.”

Allison cringed at the thought, but
realized that she could not worry about him any longer. She had to go back and
check on everyone. She sprinted across the yard, not knowing what to expect,
but she had her dagger ready just in case.

When she reached the spot where she
had left them, the distant figures began to take on familiar forms. From the
looks of things, all of the BC was dead or gone.

“You fought them off?” Allison
asked.

“They fled,” Vinnie said, his face
was streaked with tears.

“What?” Allison asked.

It was all she could say before her
voice cracked and stuck in her throat. She already knew. Ruby was lying on the
ground, Ursula and Cain bent over her.

“She’s gone?” Allison asked.

“Her heartbeat grew weaker and
weaker, and then it just stopped. We tried CPR,” Cain said.

“No! It can’t just stop. Do something.
Take her to the hospital, do magic, do something.”

Allison realized she was yelling
but she did not care. She could never go on without Ruby.

“I don’t have any magic that can
bring people back from the dead. There’s nothing we can do,” Ursula said.

“Maybe there is a way,” Cain
mumbled.

“How? Whatever it is, I don’t
care,” Allison said.

“You know how I told you I stole
magic from innocents, but don’t use it out of respect? The woman was a healer.
She had ways of bringing the deceased back if the death was recent enough. She
could restart the heart and lungs, even make them stronger. I’ve never tried it
except for one time, with your mother.”

“And it didn’t work.”

“No. But she had been dead a long
time before I got there. They attacked her while I was away.”

“So do it,” Allison said. “Maybe
that’s a better way of respecting those you took magic from, by helping
people.”

Cain nodded and placed both hands
on her chest. Everyone watched in silence, no one seemed to be breathing.
Cain’s eyes were shut and he began moving his hands up and down Ruby’s chest,
right above her heart. Seconds felt like hours, the wait was torture. After a
few moments, Cain lowered his hands back onto Ruby’s chest and looked up with a
tentative smile.

“It’s still weak, but it’s beating.”

Allison gave a faint laugh before
breaking down into tears. She hugged Vinnie in celebration. They held each
other, crying and laughing at the same time. When Cain rose to his feet,
Allison released Vinnie and walked over to him.

“I can never thank you enough,” she
said before throwing her arms around his neck.

He hugged her back, speechless.

Allison remembered someone else,
“How is Walter?” she asked.

“Stable. He’s not conscious, but
he’s okay. I’m going to mix some good herbs for Daddy and Ruby after we get
them into bed.”

Allison nodded, wiping tears from
her cheeks. She looked down, noticing Dru for the first time.

She was curled up across Ruby’s
legs.

“Where did she come from?”

“I guess she heard the commotion
and came to help,” Vinnie said, “She clawed up at least one guy’s face.”

Allison smiled down at her
familiar.

It was late evening before they got
Ruby and Walter both into beds. They were weak but recovering. Ursula stayed by
their sides, making sure they were okay while everyone else attended to other
concerns.

Cain, Vinnie and Allison went out
on the grounds, searching for bodies left by The Blood Coven. They placed them
all into one pile. When Allison helped move Adam, she felt a pang of regret.
They never would have worked out, but she was still confident he did like her
underneath it all. 

The three of them walked over to
the pond to grab the last body, Jackson. While they approached, Allison became
fearful. She didn’t see him.

“Where is he?” she asked, her voice
had an edge of hysteria.

He was gone.

“Are you sure you killed him?” Cain
asked.

“He was dying. I stabbed him. No
one could lose that much blood and survive. He did do that thing where he
touches his forehead with his fingers.”

“That was probably the time when
his surviving members retreated. They wouldn’t want to leave his body to his
enemies. They must have taken him; and leader or not, they will bleed his body
and take his power.”

Allison sighed, “I’m sure you’re
right.”

Once the bodies were all gathered,
they performed something called a removal. It was an ancient way that people
used to dispose of their attacker’s remains. Cain poured a purple substance on
top of the bodies.

He then said the following
incantation, “Doing harm to us was their hearts’ intent, but we fought back
until their lives were spent. Now we ask that you take away, the corpses left
behind this day. No violence or murder did we seek, and we ask this favor with
spirits meek.”

Vinnie and Allison watched the pile
disintegrate into nothing.

“Wow,” she said, “That’s great, but
what if murderers used it on their victims?”

“A few did try that in the past,
but they didn’t like the results. See, this is only meant for those who acted
in self-defense. Anyone else would walk away with a permanent mark. The name of
the one they murdered would be forever etched onto their face.”

Allison and Vinnie stood silent,
processing the information. After a minute, Allison spoke up again.

“How are we supposed to find Sam?”

“I tried to get it out of one of
the members, but he would not talk. You are going to have to try and find
them.”

They walked back to the house after
disposing of the bodies, and checked on Walter and Ruby who were sharing a
room. Allison bent over her grandmother, kissing her forehead.

“Allison,” she whispered, grabbing
for her hand.

“I’m here.”

“I’m so proud of you and I love
you.”

“I love you, too and I saw Mom, I
think. I was somewhere called the meeting place.”

“Oh, Allison,” her voice trailed
off. Ruby did not seem happy with this information.

“What?”

“It just scares me, that’s all. The
only people who can be called there are those who are close to the veil; on the
cusp of death.”

Allison felt a chill. She knew that
it had been a serious situation, but she hadn’t realized she had been so close to
death.

When everyone was in for the night,
Allison grabbed the bottle of liquid and began repeating the words she had
heard so much growing up. She touched the liquid to every window, every door
leading to the outside. She was not taking any chances, though it did not seem
like the BC would be concerned with them right now. After losing their leader,
she assumed they would have other things to worry about. 

Everyone settled in for bed,
exhausted by the day’s events. Allison hoped the BC did not take their failure
out on Sam and Jane. While the others slept, Allison concentrated. She cleared
her mind, trying her best to see them. She tried for almost an hour with no
success. Her eyes wanted to remain closed. The physical and mental exertion was
beginning to take its toll on her now that the adrenaline in her body had
subsided.  She fought sleep, fought to focus. In the end, her eyelids were too
heavy.

It was not until she was sleeping
that she could see Jane and Sam in her mind. They looked exhausted and dirty,
but alone in the dark woods. They were still tied to the tree. Allison scanned
the area, looking for anything. She spotted a blue outhouse off to the corner.
It was unusual because she had never known of anyone making an outhouse so
decorative. On the other side was part of a rubble wall. It was just a small
section.

Allison woke in the floor, still in
the sitting position she had been in before falling asleep. She hoped someone
else was awake. When she got to the kitchen, she realized that she had been the
only one still sleeping. Even Ruby and Walter were up, looking much better.

“Mamaw, Walter. You both look so
good.”

“Thank you,” said Walter, “I’m
sorry I wasn’t more help last night.”

“You were great,” she said, “I
think I could see more of where Sam and Jane were. They’re in the woods, tied
to a tree. This time, I could see there was a royal blue outhouse and part of a
broken, cobblestone wall. Can anyone think of a place in the woods back home
that would have something like that?”

“That place isn’t in Mason Springs,
it’s nearby,” Ursula said, “Maybe a mile from here.”

“I don’t understand. Why would they
bring them here?” Allison asked.

“They knew we would come here.
Maybe they thought you would figure out where they were, and go off looking for
them alone. It would have given them the chance to ambush you in the woods,”
Cain said.

“What if they’re still waiting?”
Ursula asked.

“Now? That will be the last thing
on their minds. Their leader is dead and they lost several other members.
They’re gone. They’ll be too busy regrouping and choosing a new leader. I would
say they left Sam and Jane out there to die.”

“Let’s go find them,” Allison said.

“It will have to be on foot,”
Ursula said, “I’ll take you.”

“I’ll go too,” Cain said.

“Vinnie, do you mind staying here
with Ruby and Daddy?” Ursula asked.

He looked disappointed but agreed.

They took water and set out into
the woods. They assumed the girls would be dehydrated. The mile seemed to take
forever and Allison grew more anxious with every step. She was not sure how
Ursula could find anything in these woods. Every inch looked the same to her.

Allison’s face lit up when the tree
with the two girls came into view. Sam looked up when she heard the noise.

“Allison?” she asked.

Allison broke into a run. She bent
down and began working her dagger, cutting through the ropes. Jane was looking
at her, watching her cut the thick rope.

“Please take your time. We’ve only
been tied to this tree for days,” Jane said.

“Maybe I’ll untie Sam and just
leave you here.”

“No, okay, I’m sorry,” she said,
her voice panicked, “I’m just tired and cold and hungry. I’m sorry.”