by Sara Stone
"We should be able to look at it then without being cursed ourselves, right?" Ronan asked.
Rose nodded before turning to me.
"Who do you think is compromised?" She folded her hands in front of her, her delicate hands turning white with the pressure she was putting on them. She was just as worried as I was.
"Judson, Hattie, and possibly Ulric," I said. Her eyes grew large, and she stared at me like I had lost my mind.
"I don't know that for sure, but they are all acting strangely." I shook my head.
"Well, let's check this thing out," Ronan said, reaching into the circle for the jar.
Before he could open it, Rose snatched it away.
"We have no chance of containing you if you end up cursed," she said. Containing him? I was missing something. I was okay with leaving that tidbit alone until we got out of this mess.
"Okay, so who is going to do it?" he asked, looking back and forth between us a few times.
"I will empty it out into the circle. That way, if I end up cursed, I am stuck in there as well," she said before stepping into it.
She slowly opened the jar and reached in to touch the pouch. When nothing happened, we all simultaneously let out the breath we were holding. She held the bag in her hand. I was watching for any type of change in her. The pouch was cursed to hide from those being condemned and the ones trying to stop it. When it didn't disappear, we knew that it wasn't still an active spell.
She knelt and slowly poured the contents into the jar, covering all the bases. A small stone, the size of my fingertip, clinked into the bottom. It was smooth and gray. Seemed to be an ordinary rock. She shook the little pouch a few times, but that was it. A tiny little rock with the capability of making a big mess of people's lives.
Holding up the jar and gazing at the stone, she shook her head before looking up at me.
"This is blood magic; it's as evil and as dark as it comes, meaning the caster is immensely powerful."
"Blood magic and black magic aren't the same things?" I asked, feeling stupid for needing to ask such a question.
"Not necessarily. It is very much about the intention behind it. There are consequences for using your blood in a dark curse such as this. Who we are looking for is slowly draining away their own life force in exchange for this magic, if they have a life force to give." No life force to give? What did that even mean? I hated being so ignorant of all the possibilities. Regardless slowly killing yourself for power to hurt others. The risk versus the reward just wasn't there.
"There's more to the curse," Rose said, hesitantly.
I wasn't sure I could listen to her. It already seemed impossible to help them, and the news she was about to tell us wasn't going to be good. I was already floundering in the information we had. I had no clue how to find the bag on them without them wanting to fight back, let alone how to get it off them without cursing myself.
"The stone drains one's elan vital, the very essence of one's being. That is why the caster loses their own, as a payment to cast a curse such as this."
I felt the blood drain out of my face. The other issues seemed so small in comparison to this. If my friends were dying because they got close to me, that was more reason to do anything I can to stop it. Rose looked visibly upset, and Ronan cursed under his breath. We stood there in silence.
"We need a plan. There's no way I can let them deal with this alone. Even if I must take a chance of being cursed myself," I said, surprising myself that I said it out loud, sounding confident that I was going to take a chance.
Rose nodded, and Ronan half-smiled at my declaration. They were still new friends as well, so they understood what I meant, that even though I didn't know them long, I would make that sacrifice to save them. I didn't want to, by any means, but the options were slim as to what we could do.
Now that Rose had told us the curse, while they discussed possibilities of what to do, I rechecked the book of spells. I searched for anything from taking a life essence to stone magic. I didn't find that spell or anything to help against it. It was clear that in all my ancestor's years, they had never come across it. I was busy looking for protection again curses when Ronan interrupted me.
"I have an idea, but you won't like it," he said, shrugging. I could appreciate his honesty. It was better than him just throwing it out there like it wasn't a big deal.
"What if we take out enough of my soul, only for a few moments to grab the pouch?" Oh Lord have mercy; he was talking about killing himself to try to save our friends. That couldn't be what he meant. Take out a part of his soul?
"Is that even a thing? Can you do that without dying?" I asked. My eyes had grown to the size of saucers, and I held the book up like a shield. What he was saying didn't make any sense to me, and I wanted to do anything else.
"It's possible. We would be on a time constraint, but yes, I believe Ronan has the right idea," Rose said, nodding and mumbling to herself.
This was not good. The thought about being spelled to walk around nearly dead to grab these little pouches was not something I even could imagine being possible or something I could even help in.
"I need to go home and prepare a spell. I believe I have one that would work in a pinch. Give me a few hours, and then come to my house," Rose said, giving me a quick hug and rushing out the door.
Ronan stood there with a blank look on his face, and I had to keep taking deep breaths. Before Aldon brought over the pouch, I thought things couldn't get any worse. I was out of a job, all the friends I had, and Gram, were gone. Yet here I was, waiting for Rose to spell another friend, or someone that could be my friend, into giving up his soul.
Ronan walked out of the room without a word. Great, he knew what was coming and decided it wasn't his cup of tea, leaving me hyperventilating. I sat down in the chair and pulled my knees to my chest. I couldn't let my friends die. Ronan would step up if I had any clue as to who he was. I had the potential of losing another person to this black witch. My world seemed to spin as my mind couldn't focus on one thing at a time. All the bad things that could go wrong screamed at me, twisting my belly into knots.
He called me downstairs, and I numbly went to see what he was yelling for. I walked into the kitchen, smelling pizza. He had reheated some slices for lunch.
"We both need to carb up for whatever is about to happen," he said, setting a plate in front of the chair I was standing by.
"When this is over, I'd like my sanity back," I mumbled. His lips perked up into a lopsided grin.
I sat down quietly in awe at his thoughtfulness. He seemed like a genuine person, and I wondered what friendship with him would be like. I could picture him taking care of Hattie. He would be her rock, and she would be his breath of fresh air. I smiled a bit at the thought.
We ate silently. The pizza should have been great, and I wanted to keep eating until it was, but it turned to sawdust in my mouth. I had a hard time getting it down after the first couple of bites. We needed to eat and not be distracted when we went over to Rose's place. There would not be an option to be focused on anything other than the life altering task at hand. I had no idea what to expect when Rose spelled him. Being inexperienced to all the this came at a price. I just needed it not to be all of our lives.
Chapter Fourteen
We ended up deciding to take separate cars. I couldn't help but drum my fingers on the steering wheel on the way over. I was a ball of nerves. I had my radio off as I couldn't seem to find any station playing something I wanted to hear. There was nothing worse than listening to music that made your nervousness worse.
I followed him into the parking lot that Judson had taken me to for the first coven meeting. I knew what to expect this time, so I braced myself as we walked towards her house. Nothing happened. There wasn't a creepy vibe or darkness there lingering like the last time. As we neared her home, I realized it was gorgeous. The shabby look was replaced with a spotless house with a new coat of paint. Her yard was in perfect condition. I was wowed b
y the difference. I couldn't help but look around, spotting all the things I hadn't seen.
Rose led us into her house, where her table was cluttered with ingredients. She had something cooking on the stove, and it didn't smell like dinner. In fact, it made me want to heave up my lunch.
"Don't mind the smell; it's the beginning stage of the spell," she said as I tried to carefully cover my nose without offending her.
"He doesn't have to drink that, does he?" I asked.
"No dear, no one has to drink it," she said, adding stuff to the concoction boiling away.
I took a seat at her table and watched in awe as she went about adding a bit of this and that with finesse. She did it so effortlessly. I would be reading and rereading the spell to make sure. She didn't even glance at it. Once she had it all put together, she asked me to stir it while she got a bottle cleansed. Ronan stood around with his hands in his pockets, his usual easy banter replaced by nervousness rolling off him in waves.
Rose went about blessing the bottle with holy water and then casting a protection spell over it. She explained that the essence would be kept in it, and it needed a strong protection charm so that nothing could happen to the bottle. It wouldn't be in anyone's favor for his essence to escape.
"I called them to come over, so we don't have to go looking for them. I based it on a cover story of a coven meeting. If they are cursed, the witch behind it might be using them for information," Rose said, finally done with her task.
We would have to complete the spell before they got here, or else they would know something was up. Rose said we had another twenty minutes to work it. The time before there started issues was only a short window of 30 minutes. When you put that into play trying to fix three people, it wasn't long at all.
Ronan would have to be quick about grabbing the pouches to put in a jar we could seal and bury. They would be cured of the spell, and no one else would get cursed in the process. It all seemed easy and daunting at the same time. Rose had no answers on finding them as no one could see them until the cursed or caster were deceased. A tinge of frustration coursed through me, knowing that whoever did this could create more. We had spent more time cleaning up messes than we did tracking whoever was doing it.
It was hard not to feel jittery with the anticipation. Rose seemed to know what she was doing, but I didn't. I hoped like all get out that I wouldn't be the one in charge of his soul. That was just too much responsibility for me to handle. Too many things could go wrong. I didn't even fully trust myself to light a candle with my magic.
"All right, Ronan. I have everything ready. I will get the circle ready, and you'll help me cast the spell. Lia, I need you in the circle."
"What?" We both looked at Rose like she had just escaped the looney bin.
"Ronan, with your history, Lia will have to be the one to do the hard part. We don't know what separating your essence will do to your body," she said, giving him a pointed look.
I was still missing something there but too shocked to say anything. I was going to be the one losing my soul. I didn't even understand what that meant. Ronan put a hand on my shoulder, which helped to stop the shaking that was taking over. Would I be considered dead?
"What happens if my essence doesn't reconnect with my body? What happens if this goes too long and I can't find them? Why me? I have no idea what I am doing." I squeaked it all out. There were too many worries filling my head to get my thoughts straight. Each thought scrambled to be noticed.
"You will be fine. We just need to make sure to get you back into the circle and reconnect with yourself on time. You will be you, but just missing your part of your soul. You will be alive, just not whole."
When she put it that way, it just sounded much worse. She didn't keep explaining, so I took it as she didn't know what would happen. Missing part of my soul. So alive and dead?
"I will need your amulet while this is going on. You created a powerful barrier when you made that. It could interfere." I lifted it off, and she placed it in her pocket. We followed her outside, and the shaking that had started at my core had spread to my head, making my teeth rattle.
"Lia, you will need to search them any way possible. You won't be able to see it, only feel it. The curse won't affect you until we reconnect your soul to your body."
I just nodded, I was hearing her fine, but it was as if my mind couldn't process the information.
"Rose, she's going to go into shock. I'll do it," Ronan said, pulling his hand away from my shoulder, leaving me feeling alone. I appreciated him wanting to take my place. Rose was resolute in her decision. I trusted her to know what she was doing. I just didn't like that it was all on me.
"You cannot do it. I have searched for possible answers to what would happen if you did this, and it is not good," she said, shaking her head adamantly. I was itching to distract myself with whatever was going on with him. Neither one of them elaborated. Ronan seemed to take what she said to heart and slightly nodded in response.
I stepped out of my shoes and into the circle. Rose needed me to find my center, so I sat on the cool grass, trying to calm my thoughts. It wasn't working. No amount of Zen would keep me from being nervous. Time was getting short, and they would be here soon. That's all I focused on. This was my one shot to help them. I would hope they would return the favor. When I thought about all that had happened in the short time knowing them, they really had. All three of them.
As they closed the circle to begin the spell, it all felt final. There was no backing out or letting my nerves get the better of me. I had to do this. I still didn't want to, but there was no choice to make. I kept my eyes closed, still trying to focus on Judson, Ulric, and Hattie.
Rose started the chant, and it was a rhythmic melody of words I wasn't understanding. I moved my hand and touched a warm surface. She had at some point put that smelly concoction into the circle with me, but I had been too distracted to notice.
A wind picked up in the circle, swirling around me. It wasn’t cold on my bare arms, just a strong force, pushing me around. The white magic of the circle contained it. I held onto the bowl, as I felt there was going to be something I would have to do with it. Rose continued with the spell as my hair whipped into my face. Ronan yelled above the wind that I needed to light the concoction on fire. It seemed sketchy with the wind blowing around me.
I focused my energy and set it on fire. It burned red hot instantly. I had to set the metal bowl beside me so I wouldn’t burn my hands. The smoke rising from it encircled me in the wind. As quickly as the powerful current had picked up, it became still. Just an eerie calm came over me. No more chanting could be heard. Rose and Ronan were standing there watching from the outside.
The bowl and its contents cooled as the smoke slowly dispersed. I sat there wondering what was going on. It seemed that nothing had happened. I started to feel a small tug around my chest. It so was light I thought I was imagining things. I looked up at Rose to ask what was going on when it pulled harder. So hard I ended up sprawled backward onto the grass. This time it didn’t relent. The force was so strong I was becoming frightened. It felt like the weight of an elephant pinned me down as it pulled away pieces of me. The pieces as they went left a cold, dead feeling. I was void of magic, void of feelings. Just pure deafening emptiness was left behind.
I tried not to fight it, knowing this was the spell at work, but my self-preservation held tightly onto the last piece of my essence. The pain of it being ripped from my chest made any other pain I had ever felt feel as insignificant as a small bug bite. I felt the piece slowly let go from around the place my spark was. I trembled with the cold as I shouted for it not to take my magic. Rose and Ronan were yelling at me, but their words were muted inside the circle. I couldn’t make out what they were saying or respond.
Slowly I opened my eyes, the circle that had been around me was gone. Rose was holding the protected jar to her chest. It held a shimmering white cloud swirling around and it called to me. I wanted to get up and
open the bottle. I needed what was in there, but I just didn’t want to get up. Ronan picked me up and set me on my feet. I felt completely numb. My brain told me I should be yelling and screaming about it taking my magic with it, but my body just felt empty of caring. I just stood there looking at them, waiting for someone to tell me I could go to sleep.
“Rose, look at her! She’s practically a zombie!” Ronan yelled, picking up my hand and dropping it to my side, the resounding slap from my hand hitting my thigh caused me to jump a bit.
“She couldn’t keep her magic without her soul. That’s dangerous! Conditions like that create the potential to invite anything at all in to possess her body.” She reached into her pocket and held her hand out to Ronan. He slipped the necklace back around my head. It sat heavily against my chest. I longed to rub the stones and feel comfort, but the fatigue and cold that was consuming me made it hard to think. I couldn’t even get myself to move.
My mind scrambled to tell me how important it was that I get moving, that I concentrate on why we were doing this in the first place, but the urgency and feelings motivating me to try to save my friends left with my soul. Rose was concerned about getting inside before they came and protecting my bodiless essence. Ronan on the other hand just kept staring at me.
“Lia, you need to focus. We don’t have much time.”
Her words seemed important. I tried to find something in me that wanted to help, but I couldn’t. I was suddenly tired, bone-deep, drag out tired. Not the kind of tired you fixed with a nap. They were walking into the house, but I couldn’t get my legs to move. The grass just seemed like a good place to lie down. As I started to slouch down, just wanting to feel the cool blades against my skin, Ronan scooped me up and his big steps had us in her living room before I could process why I wasn’t lying down.
He sat me on the couch. He must have thought I’d have the energy to fight him because he sat next to me. He kept my hand in his. The touch was nice. It felt off though. It wasn’t comforting. I tried to think of reasons why I shouldn’t hold his hand.
