Elsie shrugged in response, giving an apologetic smile. “I don't know. I'm sorry. Maybe once you die, it just all makes sense.” she reasoned. “I definitely didn't know this stuff while I was alive. Maybe I'm channelling all of my past lives at once?”
That made sense. They all knew that when you died, you moved on – not always immediately, but eventually you would be born into your next life. Though she'd never really thought about it before, each and every one of them had probably been a witch like Beth at some point, able to access all of their powers at once. Being able to tap into all of that after death almost made her less afraid that it was exactly where they were headed. At least if they failed, it wouldn't necessarily be the end of them.
Lila hadn't even really noticed that Liam had started driving again, so it was a huge surprise for her when the car suddenly stopped near the centre of Waterloo. She hadn't noticed the change in landscape or in the way she felt like she had last time – either she was simply too distracted, or the fact that the whole world felt like death and unnaturalness simply blanked out the link to the natural world. “Where are we?” she asked, surprised.
“Somewhere in Waterloo. No idea.” Liam sounded like he was grimacing while speaking. “The car died. The sat nav, too.”
Troy looked alarmed. “Seriously? How can that happen?” he asked, pulling out his phone and glancing at it. It, too, was completely blank. “I charged this just last night..” he mumbled.
“Dead zone.” Elsie answered, and Lila laughed before she realised that Elsie was serious.
“Seriously? The place where the original ritual to break down the spiritual barriers is a dead zone? It sounds like a complete and utter cliché.” Lila's eyes were wide.
“And yet.”
“You know what? I am really starting to hate cliché. Seriously. I swear, if we make it out of this alive, I'm going to start avidly protesting every little cliché I see in every single meaningless soap I'm going to watch to remind myself how absolutely brilliant it is to be bored.” she huffed, slapping her head down on to her hands. Elsie reached out to pat her head and she yelped – touching the dead girl's spirit was like touching damp wallpaper, wet with the sensation of paste under some semi-solid but extremely fine paper. “Please don't do that again.” she begged.
“Sorry.” Elsie answered, frowning faintly as she pulled her hands back. Lila stood up, jumping down and moving round to the front seat to check on Sadie. Adam grabbed Liam's bag before helping Rose down, then Elsie followed.
Sadie was still unconscious, and none of them could agree on what to do with her. Leaving her behind was just as potentially dangerous as taking her with them, while taking her with them could slow them down. In the end, Liam took control, barking at them all to step back before laying his hand over Sadie's forehead and hovering the other just above her chest. Closing his eyes, they all waited, frowning in confusion.
“He's bringing up her body temperature and speeding up her heart rate to wake her up.” Elsie explained, though no one asked. They were all grateful to know what was going on, however.
Moments later, Sadie coughed as if her lungs were full of water, before scrabbling at the seatbelt strapping her in. Leaning in, Adam unclasped it, giving her a smile which was stretched thin. Glancing at the witches outside of the car, Sadie was quiet for a long minute before she spoke up softly.
“Uh, I don't mean to be rude... but who the Hell are you guys?”
Chapter Eighteen
Not being recognised by Sadie was a very odd experience for all of them, but as it turned out, there was one person she did remember. Lila had almost forgotten that Sadie and Liam had met before, but she couldn't doubt it after the way she saw Sadie latch on to him like a lifeline.
The blonde girl listened to them avidly as they explained everything that had happened in the last week, and Liam filled her in on everything which had happened to him since he'd last seen her. Introductions were made, and Lila coached her – and everyone else – through how to safeguard their bodies from spirit attacks. While the technique was pointless at the moment, they had no idea what would happen if they managed to tip the scales back into their favour. Every little helped, after all.
Once they were prepared, or as prepared as they would ever be, they all began to head down the high street, mentioning once or twice how grateful they were that it was the middle of the day and not the middle of the night. That being said, it still felt like a very odd time to be stopping the end of the world, or dying trying. Weren't these things meant to happen in the dead of night, around the witching hour or something like that? Maybe the universe was finally listening to Lila's repeated requests for the cliché's to end.
Relying on Sadie's directions as the only one who had actually been to the coven grounds, they became moderately lost more than once, always managing to find their way again but making Lila feel less and less like the conquering hero as time passed by. Weren't the heroines in this kind of situation meant to know exactly what they were doing by now? One thing was for certain; She didn't. Did she even deserve to lead this group?
Insecurities were rife amongst all of the witches, not least in Sadie, who clung to Liam's arm as she led the way, unwilling to let go of the one person she truly knew. It was an odd sensation, really – to have someone with you that you had known but who was no longer that person. It made Lila think of her grandfather, who had completely forgotten everything about his life after dementia had truly gotten its claws into him. People always said that a person was the same at their core, but as anyone who had suffered through the mental decline of a loved one could state, in the end they could be entirely different from the way they were before.
Of course, the circumstances were entirely different when it came to Sadie – while a dementia patient lost their memories, Sadie had at one point lost her entire soul. The body could retain enough of an imprint to make it easier for a spirit to mimic her personality, but her memories were her own. Perhaps a more apt comparison would be to liken her situation with a transplant recipient, in those rare cases where the patient picked up certain habits, likings for certain foods or songs, which seemed totally out of character but could easily be recognised by the donors family. It made it easier for the spirit to fake being the person whose body they inhabited.
A thought occurred to Lila and she looked up, realising that she'd been watching Adam's shuffling walk in front of her. “Hey, Sadie?” she asked. “You said you'd been here recently, when exactly did you go?” It couldn't have been the last time they were in Waterloo, and it couldn't have been after the death of her parents – since it was the spirit possessing Sadie which had murdered her parents. It begged the question of when she'd been there, and why the spirit had been given the opportunity to murder their parents.
Sadie had the grace to look guilty, biting her lower lip in worry over her words. “Samhain.” she admitted, and Lila's eyes widened. “No! Not like that.” she added hurriedly. “I drove out to the edge of the coven grounds in the morning and stayed in the car. I wanted to see if being near to their workings on the day the veil was thinnest would let me access the spirit power easier. I didn't count on just how easy it was and then I couldn't get back in. I saw what it did, though.” she shuddered, looking upset. “I'm really sorry.” she sounded young, and afraid.
Lila sighed. “Look, it wasn't the smartest move, but we all make mistakes. There's no guarantee that, y'know, maybe I would have gone over there and lost control, or brought something back with me which could have done it. There's a million and one reasons, but the one we have to remember most is that the Goddess decided it was their time – probably to bring us all together.” she forced a smile, and Sadie looked grateful, relaxing her grip on Liam's arm.
“You know that you have to take the position of coven leader now, don't you Liam?” Elsie's voice even sounded haunting. There goes that cliché again, thought Lila. Liam raised an eyebrow, humming as if he were simply going to ignore the question.
“Liam. You must.”
“You really think that any of them are going to want a known witch hunter as their coven leader?” Liam answered dryly, pausing in his tracks.
“I think that they will want you, once you explain that you're simply after the evil ones. After all, isn't it about time the witches started policing themselves? It's not as though we do anything about the witches who go off the rails – that tends to be left to the civilian police, and they're simply not equipped to deal with us.” Elsie argued, and Liam's lips pressed together until they were surrounded by white. Lila followed the example of the others, pointedly looking away from the two who were engaged in a battle of wills.
Secretly, Lila had to agree with Elsie – perhaps if they paid more attention to the little problems within families in their communities, then Sadie's possession that day wouldn't have gone unnoticed to the extent of getting their parents killed. That failure had to be on Sadie's parents – there was no way that they paid enough attention to their daughter, or it wouldn't have happened.
“Liam, please don't ignore me.” Elsie insisted. “We don't have time for this.”
As if realising once more that his sister was dead and that this was her spirit talking to him, Liam looked up guiltily. “Sorry.” he murmured. “I'll think about it.”
Somehow, Elsie knew that this was the best she was going to get out of him. Dropping the subject, she looked around until she spotted a small alleyway, heading up it before pausing once more.
“We're here.”
No one questioned how she knew.
Chapter Nineteen
Somehow in all their assumptions, they had never considered the possibility that being 'there' wasn't the one-on-one battle they'd expect. The coven ground was littered with hundreds of spirits, including their parents. It was enough to make them retreat before they were spotted, clinging to the shadows as they desperately tried to come up with a plan. As it turned out, they needn't have bothered.
“Lila Raegan!” came a sharp voice, hissed in a quiet urgency, and Lila spun around, both hands up as if she were preparing to go ten rounds with a spirit. Instead, she came face-to-face with Gloria, who promptly clipped her round the ear then gave her a hug. “I told you to check in before I had to send a search party.” she grumbled, but she didn't seem particularly angry. It was clear that they knew something big was going on, and their instinctive reaction had been to head to the coven grounds. She was incredibly grateful that her aunt had assumed interim control over the coven in her absence – despite them not being related by blood, she still couldn't think of anyone better to hold that position.
Gloria turned to the others, making introductions. She embraced Adam and Rose, bypassed Elsie's hand with an apology (of course she sensed that the coven leader was dead), patted Sadie on the shoulder sympathetically after hearing her tale, then scolded Liam about his duty and where she'd kick him if he tried to take anyone from her family to the hunters. Liam smirked, so Lila knew he wasn't offended. Troy was last on her list, but she took an instant shine to him and sat down to chat.
The lack of movement confused Lila; weren't they meant to be moving into an epic battle? “What are we waiting for?” she asked, glancing over her kin curiously as if one of them could answer.
“Why, for the others dear.” Gloria chuckled. Lila continued to look confused until she caught sight of what must have been thousands of witches walking towards them from all directions. As she gaped, her fellow coven leaders ran to their relatives, their friends and their magickal families. Elsie's coven wailed softly as they saw her state, but quickly calmed under her instruction, the last one she would ever give. Determination flooded eyes all around her, and Lila knew that now was the time.
Swallowing down her own fears and irrational stage fright, Lila stepped forward, allowing herself a breath before she let her magick flow over them all, acting as a dampening barrier so that no one could hear. It took a lot of power, and she felt herself wavering for a second until first one hand, then another found hers. Before she knew it, all coven leaders were standing together, and it felt right. Rose and Elsie stood to one side, and for the first time Lila realised Elsie must have passed her power to her brother, who was at her right.
Looking up, she watched a web of purple tinged spirit mist cover their people, before water laced through it, air secured it, earth grounded it and fire defended it. All around, the covens linked hands with their neighbours, disregarding which coven they were from. Somehow, Lila knew there would be a change in the covens after this day regardless of the outcome.
“Witches!” Lila spoke plainly, her voice amplified in the bubble yet contained so that it didn't reach the outside world. “In our generation, in a hundred generations before us, we have never faced a threat like this. I realise that many of you will be scared – many of you have brought your children because their homes are no longer safe... and I understand. However, all I have to say is look around you. Look at our numbers, look at the strength your fellow witches contain.” she continued. “For hundreds of years, witches have been segregated.. for one reason alone. Combined, we are a terrifying force. Combined, we could shake the world from its axis if we chose. We fight for the living – every living thing on this Earth, the civilians, the animals, our brothers and sisters who haven't yet been reached by this wave. This Earth is for the living, so let's mend the barrier and put things right!”
She hadn't expected applause; she wasn't much of a speaker, and yet she received yells of support, what could only be described as battle cries and applause so loud she wondered if it would trigger an Earthquake.
“Your job is to fight off the spirits. In our realm, they are susceptible to all elements – they have a half-form like Elsie here. They will have powers reminiscent of their lives, though without a completely physical body they are weaker. Our numbers are equal, so they have no advantages over us. Children, stay with Rose here, it is guarded and -”
Instantly Rose protested, and Lila knew she wouldn't accept no for an answer. In the end, they picked three of the oldest children to guard the young ones, and Lila manipulated the shield to only cover the children, revealing the large force of witches. Mustering up courage she didn't feel, she yelled, “Who's with me?!” and received a yell in response before they all ran on to the coven grounds, startling many of the spirits who weren't prepared for the attack. Before the coven leaders could follow, Lila grabbed them.
“All this means nothing if we don't find Beth. She'll have the athame, and we need that to end this. It's the binding agent, so if we stab her with it, the spirit realm will return and we'll be able to exorcise the spirits.” she explained. Of course the athame would have to be melted down, but they could worry about that later.
They all nodded, then there seemed to be a collective intake of breath. Everyone ran together, ran so hard that Lila felt her calf muscles, still weakened by the car accident, burning with acidic pain. Pushing past it, she threw herself into the fray, surprising herself with the shock of icy, clammy collisions which made her gasp. Using her spirit power, she disrupted their shape enough to slide past, searching for one particular spirit.
She went down, gasping as she experienced the sense of being drowned on dry land. Behind her, she heard a yell, and one of Adam's Earth witches appeared, huge mountainous spikes of packed dirt appearing either side of her, cutting off the spirits who had been attacking her. Wasting no time, Lila jumped to her feet and yelled a thanks before looking around frantically.
Behind you. Lila's intuition kicked in mere seconds before Beth launched at her, standing atop the dirt piles like a conquering queen. They collided, Lila having had enough time to spin and see her attacker. Her power recognised the evil witch from the rite before. She lashed out, deflecting her slashing motion with the athame which dragged across her palm viciously. Muttering a spell for strength, she allowed her blood to soak the ground, using Beth's tactics against her.
Renewed in strength, she grabbed the d
eceased witches wrist, ignoring that awful chill, the sense of pressing her hands into filthy, algae-riddle water, managing to get on top and holding her wrists down. Panting, she paused to look the witch over. In death, her features were muted, but she could tell enough that the witch had once had rather plain features, but she already knew she more than made up for it in power. Ordinary brown hair hung limp, her eyes a particularly unspectacular shade of brown. There was nothing to indicate the immense power the spirit contained.
“Are you going to do something, or simply gawk at me all day?” Beth growled, then Lila felt roots wrapping around her arms, yanking her back and then into a suspended position – she'd lost her upper hand.
Beth stood, brushing herself off as if she were material enough to have accumulated dirt, then smirked at Lila. When she was in control, her entire face changed, her slightly long nose nothing in comparison to those large, determined eyes, lips pursed as she contemplated what to do with her kill.
“Not so fast, you bitch!” the yell came from Rose, who swiped her hand to the side and Lila fell hard on her backside, no doubt bruising it. It hardly mattered. Righting herself, she saw that all of the coven leaders had come with Rose, and Sadie looked particularly angry.
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