Unbound (25 page)

“Not warlocks?”

“Not unless they’re evil.”

“I hope I can remember all this.” Somehow I knew I would.

***

“So what exactly is a demon?” I asked. I was still at Ethan’s and everyone was sitting around the table eating pizza and drinking beer. Even Sam had one, though I swear she couldn’t be twenty-one yet.

“The term is actually misused,” David stated. “Let’s hope to God we never have to face a true Demon. True Demons are direct traces of the Devil himself. In all actuality, it is hard for them to materialize in our world. They appear as shadows, whispers, influential feelings… Anyway, anything evil can be called demons. Kappas, Windegos, the Pricolici of course, could all be called demons.”

“Things we kill,” Ethan simplified.

“And I’m guessing that they all have to be killed differently.”

Ethan nodded. “Though you’d be surprised how effective cutting of the head can be.” He smiled. “Works almost every time. Well, if the thing is corporeal that is. If not, well that’s an entirely different story…”

I certainly had my homework cut out for me. There was just so much to learn. One thing at a time, I told myself. Like our current issue of who was sending the Pricolici and why. I thought it was an obvious why; they wanted me dead. Despite my long nap earlier today, I was feeling really tired again. Thankfully Ethan asked if I wanted to go up to his room and watch TV.

 
He turned on the TV and a ghost hunting reality show was playing. We looked at each other and burst into laughter. After much channel surfing and persuading, I got Ethan to agree to watch a documentary about the endangered Black Footed Ferrets on Animal Planet. I only stayed awake for the first half though. With Ethan on one side and Hunter on the other, I felt so safe and at ease that I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

I spent every waking minute possible with Ethan the next week. We were afraid of retaliation; whoever sent the demon dogs would probably be really pissed that I killed that demonic man, their master, as Ethan speculated, and that Hunter killed the actual Pricolici. Since Ethan picked me up from school every day, I rode with Harrison in the mornings again. On Tuesday, he told me that we needed to get to school fifteen minutes early tomorrow because he had to meet with one of his teachers about a bad grade he got on a test. I groaned at the thought of getting up extra early but agreed anyway.

So when Wednesday morning came around, I rushed to get out the door. Instead of setting my alarm a few minutes earlier, I decided to forgo doing my makeup and put my hair in a messy braid. Harrison was really quiet the whole way to school. He must have done
really
badly on that test. But instead of going the opposite way down the hall to his locker, he followed me to mine. Laney was already there. Ok, what was going on?

“Hey Laney. You sure are here early.” She gave me a weak smile and looked at Harrison. I opened my locker and threw my coat inside. They each stood on either side of me, blocking me in.

“Annie,” Laney began. “You know we love you and that is why we’re doing this. Please don’t be mad.”

“And don’t even try to deny anything,” Harrison said sternly.

“Ok, guys, what is this?” I looked from my brother to my best friend.

“An intervention,” they said in unison.

“What?! Why?!”

“Come on, Annie,” Laney pleaded. “You haven’t hung out with me in like a month, you stopped dressing up, you never wear makeup anymore and when I do see you, you barely talk to me and you seem so distracted. You’ve even cut down on your barn time.”

“And don’t think I don’t hear you at night. You’ve been up till two AM almost every night for the last week,” Harrison added. I didn’t say anything. Should I feel honored to have such a caring friend and brother?

“Please.” Laney sounded close to tears. “What’s going on?”

I leaned back against my locker and slid down onto my butt. “You guys might want to sit down for this.” I debated what to say in my head. “Ok, I know this is going to sound crazy…” I hesitated. “Oh God, please don’t think I’m insane. But, I’m a witch.” Harrison and Laney stared at me without blinking. To my surprise, it was Harrison who spoke first.

“Like a Wicca witch or…”

 
I knew what he meant. “Like the other kind.”

He nodded. Laney was looking above me, her face muddled with confusion. “What?”

“A witch,” I repeated. I knew how this sounded. I would have a hard time believing it too, unless— “I can show you.” I looked around for something I could use. “Give me your coffee,” I instructed to Laney. She slowly slid her half-empty coffee cup in front of me. “It’s cold, right?” She looked at Harrison, hoping to get an answer from him. He mirrored her bewilderment. “Just wait and you’ll see. But both of you, feel the temperature. It needs to be warmed up.” I made them touch the cup to prove my point. Carefully I popped off the lid and put my hands over the cup. I’ve never tried this without the candles but I felt confident. I took a deep breath and focused. Within seconds the coffee started to steam. A few seconds more and it was boiling.

“Holy shit!” Harrison exclaimed so loudly that he got a stern look from a passing teacher. Laney made a little squeaking noise.

 
“H-how did you do that?” she stammered.

I tried to control my smile. “Magic.” I beamed. “Though, I admit that’s kinda strange magic, but it’s still magic. A more classic spell would have been better to start out with.” Neither of them said anything, or even moved, for that matter, for probably a good two minutes.

“What else can you do?” Harrison asked eagerly.

“I don’t really know,” I answered honestly. “I guess anything, as long as I have what I need.”

“How long?” Laney’s voice sounded hoarse.

“What do you mean?”

“How long have you been a witch? Have you been lying to me for years?” She looked up at me, hurt in her eyes.

“No! I promise. I just found out. I guess I’ve been a witch my whole life, but I didn’t know I could actually do magic until recently.”

“So that’s what you’ve been doing at night,” Harrison said. I nodded.

“It’s kinda a long story, and I’ll have to give you the shortened version before Marie gets here. I don’t want to tell her yet.” They nodded, ready to hear what I had to say.

“Ok, both of you know about the ghosts, Harry I think you do more than Laney but that doesn’t really matter I guess. Anyway, you know I’ve never been completely normal, but it all makes sense now.” I explained about finding the spell books and magic supplies at Aunt Estelle’s house and about her binding spell. I told them about the pendent and the Coven and how spirits are more attracted to people like me. I left out everything about demons and dark forces. Witnessing proof of magic is enough to take in for one day.

“Ohmygod, Annie!” Laney exclaimed. “This is so cool!” She waved her hands in front of her face the way she does when she gets excited. I felt so relieved.

“I hated not telling you guys. I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”

Laney’s excitement was better than I imagined. Harrison still looked a little stunned.

“Hey guys,” Marie called. “What are you all doing here already?”

“Not telling secrets, that’s for sure!” Laney said with a horrible attempt at a fake laugh. With wide eyes I looked at Harrison.

“I was, uh, asking them for some girl advice. But neither of them were too helpful. Good thing you came, ‘cuz you’re the better one to ask.”

I mouthed ‘thank you’ to Harrison as he stood to ask Marie a made up question. I turned back to Laney. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I really wanted to, but I just wasn’t sure how.”

“It’s ok. I thought you were mad at me or something. This is the longest we’ve gone without hanging out.” She looked sad again.

“Hey, I know. Why don’t you and Josh come over for dinner tonight? Ethan’s coming over, and you’ve never really had a chance to talk to him. You’ll like him, I’m sure. He’s not at all like you’d think either, he’s surprisingly deep and sensitive.”

“We’d love to!” She beamed. Her face got serious. “Does he know?” she asked in a hushed voice. I nodded.

“He’s had some past experiences with this kind of stuff.” I left it at that. It was his secret to tell, not mine.

***

Everyone was getting along really well. After dinner the four of us went down into the basement to watch TV. Like Harry said, I’ve been staying up late so I was already tired. Being stuffed from dinner and cuddled up next to Ethan just amplified my sleepiness. The next thing I knew I was dreaming.

I was back in the Victorian. Something terrible had just happened, like an explosion or something. Shattered glass crunched under my feet.
 
A scruffy gray cat twisted around my ankles as I walked with my right hand held out to the basement door. Everything went silent again. A heartbeat pulsed throughout the house. It got louder with each step I took. Slowly, I descended the basement stairs and paused on the last step to listen.

Candlelight flickered against the dark brick walls and faint chanting could barely be heard. Three figures huddled around an altar. Carefully I came off of the last step. The people had on dark brown hooded robes. An upside down pentagram hung on the wall above the altar. One of the hooded figures picked something up from a box nearby and set it on the altar. The one in the middle picked up a decorative knife and the other a goblet. Out of the darkness someone screamed. The middle figure raised the knife high above his head.

“NO!” I screamed. My heart raced. White fear poured over my body. All three turned to me and let out evil hisses. They looked like humans from behind but when they turned around I screamed in fear. Instead of hands they had twisted talons. Instead of a nose they each had a sharp beak, black and pointed like a raven’s. Their eyes were sunken inside their heads. The one with the knife ran at me. I stumbled backwards on the stairs, about to get stabbed.

I shot up, wide awake. Ethan looked startled. “You ok?” he asked quietly. I shook my head. I ran a shaky hand over my face.

 
“Dream,” I said, just as quiet. He nodded and wrapped his arms tightly around me and kissed the top of my head.

As soon as Josh and Laney left, we went up to my room and I filled Ethan in on the dream. “You’ve never been to that house before you inherited it, right?” he asked.

“Never. I’ve never even been to Indiana until a few weeks ago.”

“Then it might just be a weird dream.”

“I’ve had that dream before.” Now Ethan looked really concerned. “It was a while ago, like a few days after I got back, I think. You were in this dream actually. I followed you into the basement but you disappeared and a ram-headed guy took your place.” I didn’t want to say ‘you turned into him’ for some reason. It was just too creepy, I guess.

“We need to go through your Book of Shadows and see if we can find anything about that. Maybe it’s all tied to the house somehow.”

“Can we tomorrow? I just want to lay down with you.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Ethan rolled over on top of me. The weight of his body on top of mine felt perfect. I kissed his neck and breathed in the smell of his cologne. Everything about him was so alluring. After several minutes of kissing, Ethan was eager to take things a step further. He took his time not to rush, wanting to make sure I was ok with the direction things were going (which was down…). It didn’t take long to convince him that I, too, wanted this.

Chapter 7 Good Times, Bad Times

“What’s taking so long?” Ethan asked impatiently.

“I need to fix my makeup. I look like a hooker.”

“Isn’t that the point of tonight?”

“No,” I said, sticking my head out of the bathroom to look at him. “Well, maybe for some people. But an Elven warrior is
not
a hooker. They are very important mythical creatures.”

“If you say so. But hurry up!”

“Oh, be patient. I’m almost done.” I inspected my reflection; I think I got the right amount of black eyeliner this time. I flipped my head over and choked myself on the amount of hairspray I used. But I got the results I was looking for; my hair, wavy from being in tight braids all day, was full and wild looking now. I stepped out of the bathroom. “Ta-da!” I spun around for Ethan to see. He motioned for me to come over to him. He put his hands on my exposed waist.