Witch (15 page)

Ophelia

She woke feeling cramped and sweaty. She looked down at her
clothes and sneakers. She had fallen asleep still dressed. She kicked her shoes
off and slid her jeans down. She pulled her t-shirt off and savored the night
air on her sweaty naked skin.

"I was going to do that, but I did promise nothing
creepy."

She sat up covering herself. Oliver sat in the chair next
to the window.

"You're really here?"

"Yes, and I really just saw you in your
skivvies."

She pulled the quilt up and covered up, "You need to
go back to your room."

He shook his head and stood from the chair. In the silver
moonlight his form filled the window. She watched as he unbuttoned a few of the
buttons on his shirt and then pulled it up over his head. She felt the breath
get sucked out of her chest. His tattoos were beautiful. The one that went up his
neck partway was a blade, the hilt of it rested on his heart. His stomach had
one on the side of it that dipped into his pants on his hip. It was a dark
shape with a word running down the side of it. His right arm had one that
wrapped around his shoulder and ran down his arm to his forearm. She looked at
it trying to see it in the moonlight but couldn’t. He dropped the shirt to the
floor. She pulled at the blankets. He looked twenty-two but she couldn’t get
past the feeling he was old.

He knelt on the bed. He bit his lower lip. She couldn’t
help but stare at it.

"What are you thinking?"

She pushed her thoughts at him. He grinned, "You
think I'm old."

She laughed.

He sat on the bed looking dangerous, like a boy her father
would have warned her about.

"Can you imagine what you'll feel like in one hundred
years Ophelia?"

She shook her head, "Dead. I guess."

"But you'll live forever. Human's age but they don’t
feel different. Ask any of them, physically they feel the age but mentally they
feel as they did when they were twenty."

"But you have always been."

He shook his head, "Not so. I had a birth. It just
wasn’t like yours. I was born in the night sky. I've always been made of magic.
I'm not so different from you."

He took her hand and placed it on the hilt of the sword
where his heart beat. It was lazy compared to the rabid beat of her own.

"My heart beats."

She left her hand over his heartbeat but instead of laying
it there she traced the tattoo. He closed his eyes. She leaned into him letting
the covers fall. She climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his
waist.

He opened his eyes. She pressed her hands on his chest
feeling the heat pour from his skin.

"Why do I feel this way with you?"

His arms wrapped around her back, "Every soul has its
mate. You are mine."

"How long have you known?"

"The minute you uncloaked yourself. I sent a friend
to check on you."

She pushed back, "The wolf who tried to eat me?"

He shook his head, "No, what wolf?"

She watched his face, "The one who tried to eat me but
was thinking disgusting things about me. His mind was easy to read."

Oliver grabbed her shoulders, "What wolf? What did he
think?"

She shook her head, "He kept saying he liked witches.
He was excited I was a witch.
 
I'm
not repeating the rest. It was sick."

Oliver sighed, "Jon."

"Who?"

"Have they told you about Aleks yet?"

She nodded, "Yeah Ari told me. Sad story."

Oliver held her tightly, "Did they tell you
everything?"

She shrugged, "I don’t know. They told me about his
dad being a cursed shape shifter werewolf who, oh my god. You think it's
him?"

Oliver nodded.

"Why?"

"Because of what you are. Jon killed a girl, before
her powers hit yet. She was a typical witch, her powers never hit when she was
young. Her father was a very important man. He was from the pure lines of the
Fae. His mother was the daughter of Lillith who married the elf."

"You know this sounds like lord of the rings."

"You know the guy who wrote Lord of the Rings knew
about us all."

She rolled her eyes, "Figures."

"Anyway the daughter who stayed with the elves,
Marianne, she gave birth to twin boys. Henry and Ethan. Henry never married but
Ethan married a witch. She gave birth to a girl. The girl was Ethan's life. He
taught her everything he knew about the earth and magic. He loved her more than
anything. Being such a close part of Lillith and part witch, she attracted
attention. She was beautiful. Jon watched her, a lot. He waited for his chance.
He captured her and did unspeakable things to her. Then he murdered her."

"That’s horrid."

"It was. When Aleks, who was thirteen at the time,
found his father in the woods with the dead girl he took her body and hid it
and covered up the murder. He never told anyone what he'd done. Ethan looked
everywhere for his daughter. Finally he traded his goodness to the taint. He
used dark magic to find out the truth of the matter. Destroyed by the fact she
was dead and so badly used he lost his mind. Instead of killing Jon he cursed
him. Ethan assumed the towns people had known about what had happened and helped
Jon cover it up. Ethan made him into a monster that would kill all of their
daughters. He would destroy all of their lives and never be able to be killed.
He then cursed the young boy who had helped cover it up to clean up after his
father everyday of his life. He made it so Aleks was an immortal who would rise
when killed and forever find his joy in life feeding off the pain and misery
his father's acts created."

Ophelia shivered, "That’s sick. Why didn’t he just
kill him?"

Oliver looked down, "The darkness is strong and when
you let it get a hold of you it makes your choices for you. More chaos comes
from the decision made to create a monster instead."

"Where is Ethan now? Maybe he can fix Jon."

Oliver pulled the blankets off the bed and wrapped them
around her, "No he died. Henry killed him."

She snuggled into his chest feeling all of the sexual
energy gone, "He killed his own brother?"

"Yes. He took his power. He had to. Ethan had become
dark. The darkness ate him up and nothing of the kind shaman was left."

"That’s a sad story.” She yawned.

He lifted her up and laid her down on the bed. He lay next
to her and wrapped himself around her, "No sadder than the others. Each of
the Roses has a story that can parallel it."

She closed her eyes and savored the heat coming off of
him, "But Aleks died, never killing his father or redeeming himself."

"Yes, but at least his curse was lifted."

"How?"

"Henry."

"Henry the brother?"

Oliver nodded against her head, "Dorian went to Henry
and swore to him that he would kill Aleks's father and end the pain caused. He
also swore something he will never be able to give."

She tilted her head up, "What?"

"That he would get Lillith to bless the remains of
his niece and save her soul. The victims of Aleks's dad are haunted. When Ethan
made the curse upon Jon he never realized his daughters spirit walked the earth
still. He cursed his own child to a lifetime in the in between."

"Aimee's mom."

Oliver nodded, "There are hundreds of them. A lot of
them are witches who have yet to reach their age of power. He loves
witches."

She shook her head trying to fight the memory of his
muzzle trying to leap through the door at Jake.

"I will convince my mom to save them all."

Oliver kissed the top of her head, "Uh huh." She
tried not to notice the patronizing tone he took as she drifted off to sleep.

Sam

Seeing her wrapped up in his arms, made him notice the
emptiness. He should have been angry that she was sleeping with the fallen. He
wondered if she was using her body to trick the angel into giving away from the
secrets of the frozen fortress.

He cleared his throat.

Ophelia looked up and fixed the blankets. She blushed
looking up at the half naked man in her bed.

"I'll wait for you in the kitchen."

She nodded.

He left the room missing the feeling of being
uncomfortable.

Giselle was staring out the window in the hallway. She
looked classic leaning against the massive window, hiding from the light.

"You can go out. The sun won't burn you."

She hissed at him, "Says the boy who has never been
burned by the sun."

He rolled his eyes, "How's the kingdom going?"

Despair crossed her face, "Not great. I wish Marcus
was back. I hate this. Yesterday I had to kill a little boy. He was like three
hundred years old and he was this little brat. Anyway he murdered three little
girls. Drained them completely."

Sam nodded, "Yeah doesn’t sound great."

She shook her head, "I miss Lydia's. I miss
Annabelle. She used to give these baths."

Sam held a hand up, "I know, I know."

She sighed, "I just want to go home. I don’t like it
here. Jeeves is sassy too."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Giselle, his name is Hamish for
the millionth time. No wonder he's saucy."

She turned her back on the curtain and waved, "Peace
out bitch. I'm going to bed."

He shook his head and turned and walked to the kitchen.

Ophelia came running in pulling her shirt on over a tank
top.

"What's up?"

"We need to go to Alabama."

She frowned, "What? Why?" She grabbed a bag of
marshmallows and started eating them.

"That’s disgusting." She stuck her tongue out.

"Anyway."

He looked out the doorway to the massive kitchen and spoke
in a hushed tone, "We need to go find the black witches of the south. They
live in some place called Lillian.”

She shrugged, "I'll do anything you want Sam."

He hated his effect on her. He nodded and put a hand out.
She touched it and suddenly they were standing in the yard of a small white
house.

He sighed when she saw them standing in the yard looking
puzzled.

Beth frowned, "Sam?"

He took a step forward, "Aunt Beth."

She hugged him tight, her hand shook slightly.

"Did you find her sweetie?"

"No. Jonathan has her still but the children are
safe. Lydia and Annabelle are spoiling them rotten."

She looked past him at Ophelia. He felt her stiffen.

"Why would you bring her here?"

Ophelia looked around, "You know the dark
witches?"

Sam held his aunts arms, "This is Ophelia. She
is..."

"We know who she is Sam. Why would you bring her
here?"

He sighed, "She's done a spell on me and I wanted to know
if any of you knew how to reverse it."

Beth felt him with her hands, she squeezed his arm. She
looked back at the others starting to come out in the front yard from the other
houses surrounding them.

"What have you done?"

Sam shook his head, "I made a mistake."

Beth looked at her, "You have the stain of magic on
you. A protection guard spell. Who did it?"

Ophelia looked confused, "I don’t know. I didn’t know
I was a witch until like two weeks ago."

"Sam her magic hasn’t come in yet. Why would she have
done magic on you if she has limited magic?"

He sighed, "She broke my match for me."

Gasps filled the air around them. Some of the women ran
back into their houses. The others held crystals and spoke in hushed tones.
Ophelia's face flushed. She looked embarrassed and confused.

"I asked her to do it."

An old woman he didn’t recognize stepped forward, "I
know how but it won’t be worth it to you."

He frowned, "Why?"

"You'll be enslaved to her. The only fixing it makes
you her blood bond slave."

He thought about Roland and the pain and anguish and shook
his head, "There is nothing else?"

"Not unless you go to the black witches. Even then
the only fixing it might end up with you matched with the witch who does the
spell."

He looked back at Ophelia. Was feeling love worth feeling
it for a girl who didn’t love him back but was fixated on him because of his
Siren call?

"Okay. Well thanks. We have to go."

He watched as the other witches looked in awe. The older
witch he didn’t know spoke to her, "Have you met the others?"

Ophelia shook her head, "What others?"

"Your sisters?"

Ophelia paled, "I have."

"I don’t envy you child."

Ophelia frowned, "Yeah it sounds like an awful lot. I
have to kill my brother and my mother, and my sisters will give me their power.
Only then can I help defeat my father and free the world from the evil. I feel
like Frodo."

A younger witch snickered. Sam smiled at her reference.
Aimee had forced the three movies on him a while back. He remembered the
feeling of liking them.

Ophelia glanced at him. He nodded, "We have to go.
She can't be out and about without attracting her father's attention."

Beth squeezed his hands, "I miss you son. Come home
more often."

He hugged Beth, "I will." He wanted to feel the warmth
of her. He wanted to enjoy the relief of coming home. But his heart was empty.

He took Ophelia's hand. She squeezed it. He squeezed back.
He looked deeply into Beth's dark brown eyes and smiled weakly.

 
The muggy
heat of Alabama hit fast and hard.

He felt the tension of the black magic in the air.

Ophelia

The feeling of nausea and disgust filled her as they took
their first steps.

"It's hot. It's too hot here. I feel something not
good Sam."

He nodded. She couldn’t help but love him in a messed up
stalker sort of way. She blushed watching him walk.

"Stay close. I need to be able to flash us
instantly."

She watched his lips move when he talked. They were
perfect.

"I think we need to go this way." He pointed to
a road.

She felt her stomach tighten. She wished Oliver were with
her. She felt safe with him, unless he was wearing a dress shirt or anything
that let the smallest slip of his tattoos hang out.

"You okay?"

She blushed and smiled at Sam, "Sorry."

He put a hand out, "I need to flash us forward.
Probably smart for us to hold hands anyway. Easier for me to flash us
home."

His huge warm hand closed around hers. Her heart jumped.

They flashed a few times but the dirty feeling in the air
was making her feel sick. She put a hand up, "I'm going to be sick if you
do it again."

He nodded, "Sorry I forget not everyone is used to
it."

She fought a puke shiver, "I will never be used to
that. So gross."

Her heart was pounding in her chest. Suddenly she felt a
slice like a knife cut across her hand. She went to pull her hand from Sam's
but his grip was intense, "Don’t let go."

She looked up to see a group of women walking toward them,
stretched across the road.

'Lillith's daughter, interesting thing to find on the road
so far from anywhere.'

She shivered as the voice rolled through her mind like the
thunder in the clouds above that had come from nowhere.

'Why have you come, daughter of Lillith?'

She stopped and stood her ground, "Uh look my name is
Ophelia. You can call me O or some variation of that but I'm not digging
Lillith's daughter much. I'm here for a spell."

"You bring a Siren with you?" A dark haired
woman with black eyes asked.

A blonde chubby lady next to her laughed, "Not just
any Siren, sister. He is Nephilim if I'm not mistaken."

"I can smell that in the air. He smells like sex and
chocolate. How can you stand to be near him?"

"I'd eat a tasty little treat like that."

They laughed.

Ophelia looked at him and smiled. She couldn’t fight the
blush that crossed her cheeks even though she was terrified of the black
witches.

They didn’t look like black witches. They looked like a
group of nice ladies, except that their eyes were filled with black. No whites
and no colors, just black.

They wore regular clothes and had their hair done nicely.

Sam squeezed her hand.

She turned and focused on the women.

"I need a spell."

The dark haired woman stepped forward, "You have no
business here."

Ophelia felt her skin shiver. The threat lingered in the
air.

"I need something, surely you have a need."

The dark haired witch cocked her head and smirked at Sam.
Ophelia felt her inner rage starting to rise up.

"He is not a part of any bargain. What else can I
give you?"

"Blood."

Ophelia frowned, "What?"

Sam shook his head, "No not her but you can have
mine."

The dark haired woman glanced back at the other twelve
women. She sucked her teeth and nodded, "Deal."

"I'll tell you the secret to the spell after we get
the blood. You need to absorb the broken ends of the match. The other person he
was in love with needs to be present. She has to offer you his blood and him
hers. They need to offer you the blood bond. It must be done in a dark room or
outdoors, where no guard is present. The shadows must be able to reach in and
touch your soul."

The chubby one grinned, "Risky move for a pure little
girl like you. Your full magic hasn’t even come in yet."

Ophelia felt Sam's grip tighten again. His fingers were
cutting the circulation off.

The dark haired woman pulled a vial from her handbag and a
knife from her huge hair. She said something over the vial. It swirled red, as
if blood were already inside. Then suddenly it was clear again.

Sam put his free hand out for them. She gripped it like a
snake striking. She rubbed it over her chubby sweaty face. Sam looked ready to
gag but he held himself straight. She pulled his hand down to her level. She
licked his palm making him flinch. She dragged the knife across his hand and
then closed it tight into a fist. The blood dripped out quickly in the vial she
held below.

Her smile grew wicked and crazed as the blood filled.

"You fucking idiots."

The blonde hissed and stepped back.

Ophelia looked to see Oliver walking down the road. She swooned
seeing him in a white dress shirt open slightly at the top revealing a lot more
tattoo and faded jeans. He wore his same weird loafers but somehow they made
the outfit look classy. She looked up from his chest, and tattoos that teased
her from beneath his white shirt, to see an angry face.

"Give him back his blood."

His English accent wasn’t helping Ophelia focus.

Oliver looked at Sam's hand over hers and growled,
"Give him back the fucking blood witch."

His gaze could have ripped Sam apart, "You never give
your blood to anyone freely you idiot. She could control you."

The dark haired witch smirked, "Dark brother what say
we share them. You can have the girl and we take the Siren. No one needs to
know."

Oliver took a step toward her. The confused look on her
face spoke volumes. She was doing magic on Oliver but it wasn’t working.

He snatched the blood vial from her hands. She quickly
licked at the spilled blood. It was disgusting to see."

Sam looked calm but Ophelia knew he would be freaking out
if he could feel anything. She was freaking out. Oliver angry was hot and
scary. She couldn’t take the situation seriously. Between Sam and Oliver she
was a mess. She noticed the other witches were the same though. They seemed to
be affected as she was.

They were more than taken with Sam. They were desperate to
have him and his blood.

Oliver shot daggers at Sam, "The castle."

He never even got the sentence out and the three of them
were standing in the front foyer of Giselle's.

Ophelia looked at them, "We never got the
secret."

Oliver seethed, "Are you trying to get yourselves
killed. I told you to find them. Not to give them your blood."

Sam shrugged, "They wouldn’t give us the spell
otherwise."

Oliver raised an eyebrow, "That would be why I said
wait till I could take you."

"What is going on? Why is he not chained up?"

Oliver burst out laughing at Aimee's confused face,
"You don’t really believe those stupid chains would hold me do you. I came
here to help and that’s what I'm trying to do. If you can stay alive long
enough for me to be of some help." Oliver stormed off into the mansion.

Aimee watched him walk past, "He let us think that
would hold him? Where have you two been?"

Sam looked at Hanna walking up to them, "Trying to
fix my little problem."

Ophelia felt defeated, "We never found out the end of
the spell Sam. I can't do it."

Sam looked at her, "We scry."

He continued to hold her hand and dragged her down the
hallway. If she didn’t know any better he was feeling something. He seemed
annoyed or defeated.

He dragged her to her room and started lighting candles.
She dug out the purple bag where she kept the scrying plate. The bag that kept
it had to be purple for protection. She thought maybe white, but Annabelle
laughed at her and handed her the purple bag.

She placed it on the table where the chairs were by the
fireplace. Sam closed the curtains and flashed in front of her with a glass of
water. She poured the water and knelt before the plate. She let her mind clear.
Oliver attempted at climbing into her thoughts but she pushed him away. When
her mind was blank the bottom fell away from the scrying plate. She watched the
water start to churn. The waves grew and started lapping over the edges of the
plate, spoiling onto the wooden table. A mist covered the plate, as if hiding
the answers from her. She blew the mist aside to reveal a crystal clear
picture.

Three women sat in a small clearing. They looked up to a
full moon. One woman pulled a small blade from a sheet she had wrapped with
tools in it. She dragged the knife across each of the other people's hands and
poured them into a goblet. She poured red wine into the goblet and cut her own
hand. She squeezed her hand over the goblet. She dragged the bloody hands
against each other and squeezed. Blood droplets fell onto a red pillow.

They each took a turn with drinking from the glass. The
flames of the candle rose with every sip of the goblet of blood and wine. The
woman with the knife placed the knife on the red pillow and wrapped it up again.
She lifted the package up and walked away from the two women sitting in the
clearing.

The picture turned dark and fuzzy for a moment. Then it
showed the woman holding the wrapped sheet with the pillow and the knife. She
was in a dark cloak with her head down. She walked with purpose while trying to
remain hidden. She looked around as she walked to a window of a house on the
side of a street. Inside of the window a young man and woman were kissing and
holding a baby.

She watched them for a moment and then took the sheet to
the front door of the house. She knocked at the door and placed the sheet on
the ground. She ran and hid in the shadows. The man came to the door and opened
it. He looked around and picked up the sheet. She unwrapped it to find the knife
and the pillow. Suddenly he looked lost. He looked back at the door and closed
it. He walked away from the house carrying the pillow and the knife. He left
his wife and his baby. Ophelia knew that was what was happening. The water went
choppy again.

"We have to sacrifice a happy love to save you."

"What?"

"The secret is that we have to take the things we use
for the spell and leave them for an innocent couple to find and ruin their
love."

She looked back at Sam who nodded and flumped into the
chair next to her, "Christ. That’s bleak. Whose lives do we chose?"

She shook her head, "No clue."

She watched him, "You know you will love me though
right?"

He looked at her, "I'd rather love you, even if you
don’t feel the same, than be this. I feel nothing beyond a bit of confusion or
frustration at times." He ran a hand through his hair making it spiky. She
smiled at him. She could think of far worse fates than Sam being madly in love
with her forever.

"When is the full moon?"

He blinked at her, "Tonight."

She laughed, "Of course it is."

"What do we need?"

She shrugged, "Knife, goblet, sheet, red pillow, me,
you, and Hanna."

He nodded, "I'll get everything. Meet you back
here?"

She shook her head, "The big rock garden."

He was gone before he could answer. She felt empty. She
wasn’t sure why.