Spellbound

by Samantha Combs

  I shut off the car and they awakened immediately and followed me out. Charlie fetched something from the ground and handed me the newspaper. Well, I thought. At least the North Woods Journal still got delivered. The normalcy of it calmed me.

  Walking into the house with the dogs and the paper, I made a mental decision not to tell my mom about anything that happened.

  I purposefully walked in thinking of a nursery-‐‑school rhyme so my mind would be occupied, just in case Elizabeth or even my mom tried to mindjump me. I needn’t have bothered. No one was home.

  Hopefully, Elizabeth had taken my mom across the street. She needed the company of Serena and Eden’s coven-‐‑sisters. I took a quick glance around and that confirmed it. Sheba seemed to be gone too, which made me sure that’s where she went.

  I sat down at the kitchen counter and unraveled the newspaper. At first, I thought I was must have been tired. I knew that wasn’t it. The Council had taken over the paper too. Oh, it had the appearance of being laid out correctly, the pictures were all in place, the bylines were there, and even the headlines were in the right size typeface. It just wasn’t readable. My grandma would have called it ‘gobbledygook’. My name for it? Gibberish. Evenly spaced, perfectly paragraphed gibberish. Page after newspaper page of it. I’d have bet I was the only inhabitant of Lancaster, New Hampshire who found anything wrong with it. And then only because I read my paper in a spell-‐‑protected house, on a spell-‐‑

  protected street, in my spell-‐‑protected world. I knew that all over houses in my town, newspapers had been spread across kitchen countertops and dining room tables and diner surfaces and the good people of Lancaster, NH were happily reading the news. At least, they thought they were reading the news. Because they didn’t know it, but a black pall had settled over us and I didn’t know if there would ever be a way out or if things could be the same again.

  A wave of fear and concern washed over me momentarily thinking of my sister and Sully. I balled up the newspaper and stuffed it far down into the trash. My mom did not need to read this garbage.

  Whatever the Council tried to engineer, it now seemed to include the entire city of Lancaster. I said a silent prayer, one of a million I had tried negotiating with God in the last few days, and then the dogs and I left to go across the street.

  Chapter Twenty-‐‑One

  SERENA

  I came out of the latest meeting with Eden’s coven-‐‑sisters feeling drained of all my energy. It had been a week and a half since Logan’s sister Jade and Sully had disappeared from the deserted drive-‐‑in. Since then, it seemed like so much had happened. Had it been only a couple of months since I met Logan and started school at White Mountains High? It felt like a million years ago since I had been a teenager, going to school dances and worrying about getting to class on time. I missed those times.

  And then, in a way I didn’t. I felt as though I had evolved into someone I knew Elizabeth would be proud of and I believed my mother would have absolutely been proud of. Eden, I could tell, had pride for my transformation. I could read it in her eyes. In the beginning, I felt her subtle prodding to step to the front of our meetings, to voice my suggestions, until I felt more secure to take the lead on my own. When I finally did take the helm, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. I needed to get our coven complete and together because we had the most important tasks of our lives ahead of us. We were going to overthrow the current Council. And we were going to free Jade and Sully. I had to do that for Logan. I would do that for him or I would die trying. I loved him that much.

  Eden had had several talks with me about the development of my powers. I had only told Logan so much, but I felt myself becoming quite powerful. Soon I would take over Eden’s role as the leader of our coven. With all of us present, we had enough to become a much-‐‑empowered group. Only together, with our numbers equaling the magical number of thirteen, would we be strong enough to fight the malevolent forces of the Council. And only when we conquered the Council would we be reunited with Jade and Sully.

  Lily spent more time with us now, too. Elizabeth had always been such a wonderful caretaker; it seemed natural that she would become Lily’s closest friend and confidante during this terrible time when her daughter had been kidnapped. She and Lily had become close and it gave me and Logan such relief that his mother had someone so caring and nurturing to lean on when she was so painfully weakened by her grief and worry. Logan, normally so kind and good with his mom, had been crippled with his own grief and guilt.

  I had watched over him the past couple days and knew he carried so much guilt over what happened it nearly broke my heart.

  I knew he cared for me, but those two, his sister and his best friend; it must be ripping him halfway apart. I don’t know what he thought he would have been able to do. He only truly learned about the two of them that afternoon. The timing couldn’t have been worse! But men were men whether they had a witch gene or not, and pride would be pride. I knew he thought that he should have done something, or tried to stop what was happened, or just have been there. When I mindjumped him, I understood that a large portion of his guilt had to do with being the one there for Jade when their father died. I got a picture of him carrying her up the aisle in a crowded church at his father’s funeral, cradling her in his arms, while her long, coltish legs wrapped all the way around his body and she clung tight to his chest like a spider. In his mind, I felt his anguish and his perceived failure at protecting her, from something he could barely even name.

  And what about Sully? Sully had been one of his best friends for more years than he could even remember. Right before the kidnapping and even now, after it, he had actually come to terms with the pairing of Sully and his sister. He’d come to a place where he could accept and perhaps even give his blessing to the union. He genuinely liked Sully. The more he thought of the two of them together the more he thought he could get behind the match-‐‑up. He had as much concern for the safety of Sully in the hands of the Council as he had for his sister. We continued to monitor Sully’s parents and make certain our spell remained intact both with them and with the school so the absences were neither felt nor questioned. In this we were successful. We weren’t sure if Sully had confided in anyone else with regard to Jade. Logan had suggested not. He said that Sully had always been a pretty solitary person and besides, usually he himself had always been Sully’s only confidante.

  Just then the front door opened and closed and Charlie and Sage could be heard bounding into the front of the house. I waited.

  That usually meant Logan wasn’t far behind. Sure enough, a few seconds later, he rounded the corner into the front living room, where I had been enjoying my quiet moment alone.

  “Hey stranger,” I called out to him, pleased he’d walked in.

  We hadn’t had near enough time together recently, with all that had gone on.

  “Hi, Beautiful.” Logan slid down onto the couch next to me and hugged me. He seemed so tired, so weary. Charlie lay down at his feet and Sage went to stretch out near Zena, who sprawled across the room.

  “Wow, Logan. You seem so tired. What’s up?” Logan gave me a brief run-‐‑down of the events of his drive. He related everything in a just-‐‑the-‐‑facts-‐‑ma’am voice, but his eyes told a different story. Despite all the supernatural craziness he had been subjected to, and everything we had asked him to take at face value, his eyes still gave him away. He could make it sound as commonplace as he wanted to, but his eyes told the truth; this still freaked him out. I became overwhelmed with a tidal wave of love and understanding for this boy, no, this man I loved, for what we had put him through, for what we were about to put him through, and as I reached out for his hands and held them tight in my own, two visions overtook me.

  In the first vision, I divined a bride and a groom. The bride shined as a beautiful picture, resplendent in a white lace gown. The groom, nervous, pacing, in a powder blue tuxedo, fumbled in his pockets for the ring he
had put there. Found, he laughed out loud, relieved, happy, for today he would marry the girl of his dreams.

  The sky so clear, no clouds in the forecast, the day, photograph-‐‑

  perfect. The wedding in the vision is being held in the courtyard of a lovely garden and the flowers along the walkway are in full bloom. The colors are glorious. I held on to the vision as long as I could, but as the bride walked toward her groom, the vision faded and I couldn’t make out their faces. Had it been Logan and me? It had to have been, right? Everything ends perfectly and everyone lives happily ever after, isn’t that how it’s always supposed to be?

  In the second vision, I had another gathering of family and friends. I’m there, so is Elizabeth, Eden, and Lily, the coven sisters, Jade, even Sully and our friends. But I notice we are all wearing black. Then I realize I can’t see Logan anywhere. In the vision I am running all over the room trying to find Logan. I’m calling out his name Logan, Logan, where are you? Then I realize the room we are in is a funeral parlor and at the end of the room is a casket and, dear Heaven, it’s open. I run to the end of the room and look in the casket and No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It’s Logan. Logan, my beautiful, sweet, funny, generous Logan is in that casket. When did that happen? How did that happen? Is it my fault? Then I turn around and everyone in the room is pointing at me.

  ****

  “Serena, Serena, wake up.” Logan gently shook my shoulder. Groggy, I sat up.

  “Logan?” I asked. “What happened?”

  “I guess we were both so tired, we fell asleep. Eden came by and found us and woke me up. It’s almost time for dinner.” He grinned at me.

  “What?”

  “You’re cute with your hair all messy.”

  “Oh, is it all sticking up?” Self-‐‑conscious now, I reached up and tried to tame my tangles.

  “It’s not that bad.” Logan said tenderly, brushing strands from my face. A loud crash from the kitchen made us we both jump. “Do you think I am ever going to get to be alone with you and not just somewhere in a dark corner of a house full of witches?” He sounded so serious I had to try not to laugh. He would never know it, but I would give everything I had to make the first vision my reality and the second vision would never, ever come true.

  “I promise to make it my goal in life.” I stood up and giving him my hand, pulled him to his feet as well. Charlie, Zena and Sage sprang to life as we did. “Now, let’s get these hungry animals into the dining room. And by hungry animals, I mean me too!” He laughed then, and it cheered me, not just the sound of it, but by the fact that in spite of everything, he still could laugh. He draped his arm easily around my waist and we walked together to the dining room. Later tonight, I had more duties with my coven sisters, but right now, being just a girlfriend felt good.

  We ate dinner with everyone again, but they weren’t like the fun, everyone-‐‑talking-‐‑at-‐‑once dinners we had before Jade and Sully were taken. Now dinners were somber affairs that passed quickly.

  Mainly, the only words spoken were to have food passed along, or to be excused from the table. The only other sounds were forks scraping on plates and the noise of dogs enjoying their plates.

  I wanted to spend more time with Logan, and I began thinking of a way to do it, but just then Lily stood straight up and knocked her chair over. I thought maybe she’d read my mind and began to be horribly embarrassed when I realized it wasn’t about me or Logan at all. It was about Jade. Jade had reached out to her.

  “Oh my spells! Oh my spells!” Her eyes were wild and she searched all over the room, trying to settle on one face. She finally found Eden, who had also picked up Jade and immediately got up and made her way over to where Lily stood. Logan was up and over there too, though he didn’t know why, same as my sister Elizabeth. Tabitha must have received something in her mind as well, because she had a terrified question on her face and had buried herself closer into Finola, next to whom she sat at the table. I got even more embarrassed when I understood that I must not have heard Jade because I was so busy scheming to be alone with her brother. I guess Eden knew what I had been thinking because as she passed by me, she placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. I glimpsed up at her and she winked. Busted, I thought. She continued on to Lily.

  “Lily, can you hear her? What is she saying?” Eden came up to Lily and placed a hand on her waist and another around her shoulder. In this manner, she guided her gently back to a sitting position. Everyone rearranged their seats and Elizabeth, Logan and I gathered around them. Everyone else strained around the table to hear. “I did. But she’s stopped now.” Lily cocked her head to the side and closed her eyes, intent on listening to the silence. She shook her head and tears started to fall from her eyes. They pooled at first at the corners, then fell in big, fat, droplets down her cheeks and right into her lap. She stared up at all of us. “Can you believe this? She told me she’s all right. She and Sully were out of it for a while, but she wanted me, and all of us to know, that they are okay.

  They’re not harmed, they’re being fed, given water, and they’re okay. And she wanted to know about Sage.” At the mention of her name, the fluffy-‐‑haired dog jerked up her head and barked.

  ‘I hope it’s not a trick, Eden.” She stared again at Eden, hopeful for words of encouragement. “I know what the Council is capable of. I know this could be a trick.”

  Eden addressed Logan’s mother with great thought. “I’m sure it’s not a trick, Lily. It’s your daughter’s voice. You alone would know if something were wrong. You could tell if something were there. You’d sense it. And you didn’t, did you?”

  “No,” Lily answered, more confident of it now, “I didn’t.

  That was her alright. Worrying about Sage? That was definitely my Jadie.” She sent her gaze around the table, stopping at Tabitha.

  Reassuring, now. “Yes, that was her.”

  “Absolutely it was. And if she reached out to you once, she will do it again. This means either they are not keeping a close eye on her, or they are purposely allowing her to mindjump. Perhaps this is a sign that their next contact with us is imminent?”

  Incredibly, she addressed me. Oh my, they were all looking at me.

  “Yes,” I replied, in a voice full of strength I didn’t know I had. “Yes, the next sign will come soon. We need to gather the full coven together tonight.”

  “It will be perfect, too, Serena,” broke in Eve, the elegant coven sister I had worked with for my astral projection training.

  “Tonight is the full moon, and soon we will be close to the Spring Equinox. I suddenly feel strongly that the Council is planning something to coincide with that special and magical time of year.”

  Everyone in the group seemed to agree. Nods of agreement and murmurs of assent all around followed.

  The dinner hour ended and we all began to disperse. Lily grew weary from her encounter with Jade. Elizabeth escorted her upstairs to rest for a little while before we gathered again later.

  Logan, too, seemed exhausted. The events of the afternoon and his drive had caught up with him and he appeared visibly fatigued. I walked him to the door and kissed him goodnight with the promise of more time together tomorrow. We agreed to meet early for a private breakfast. Logan headed out with Charlie and Sage obediently trotting after him. I watched him go and for the billionth time that I could remember I thought again of how much I loved him and how no matter how crazy everything seemed to be or could get, how much more I knew I would love him still. His face was engraved on my heart.

  Chapter Twenty-‐‑Two

  SERENA

  I woke up from a nice nap feeling rested and energized and ready for the evening. I missed Logan already and luxuriated in the fact that I could still smell a faint odor of his soapy, fresh Logan-‐‑

  smell on my sweater. I wrapped the sweater around myself, hugging myself with his scent. I lay there just a few minutes more before I reluctantly got up and headed downstairs.

  I found
most everyone in the kitchen, congregating around the counter, sipping coffee and tea, and chatting. A few were out on the back patio, Tabitha and Elizabeth were still out in the dining room with Lily, playing with Zena and River and watching the cats chase around plastic balls with bells in them. I peeked out the French doors into the crisp, night air. Someone, the twins likely, had lit the fire pit as they had on previous nights, and a nice fire burned, warming the whole conversation area surrounding the pit.

  We had candles too, and hanging lanterns, and the chairs had all been arranged to accommodate all of us later tonight. The whole area was warm and inviting and belied the true intention of its purpose. It made for a great place to have a late night wine tasting, not a gathering of thirteen witches bent on intense preparation for the confrontation of their lives. Once again, it reminded me of how looks could be so deceiving.

  As I stood admiring our outside patio, it served as a cue to the others, and they all began to drift outside to join me. Eden, Cordelia, and Finola came out first. They were followed by the twins, Aisling and Echo, laughing and bringing a youthful air along with them. Trailing behind them, the sisters of flight, Rochelle and Libby eased through the doors and took places around the fire ring. Prudence and Raven were next, talking animatedly about potions and spells and my sister quickly joined them and Lily, looking brighter and rested like me. They had all the dogs with them as well. Charlie and Sage were together, Charlie seeming to comfort Sage, who appeared lost without Jade. Zena and River were chasing each other and scampered around the patio, weaving in and out of chair and witch legs easily. I took a quick head count and realized we were all here. We were thirteen strong.