Skeptic

by Denise Mathew

  Atticus went to his knees at Elise's side, and laid the athame next to him on the floor. He gazed down at her, and for a brief moment, wanted to grab the athame and cut her tethers and flee, but he knew that the thought wasn't his, and he forced it out of his mind. He moved the silky fabric of Elise's gown enough that her collarbone was exposed, and he placed his hands gingerly on her chest, and began chanting the Opening spell that would crack her aura, wide. As he said the words of the spell repeatedly, his eyes locked on Elise's.

  The spells effect was almost immediate, and the slightest tingle of energy, soon turned into a surge that had him struggling to keep his hands on her body. The stronger the flow grew, the more lifeless Elise became. With every passing second, she withered, her breathing slowed and her eyelids fluttered closed, and through it all Dakota attempted to force Atticus to stop, but for once Atticus was strong enough to resist the urge to obey. Sparks of electricity snapped all around him, and everyone in the room trilled with near hysterical excitement, until, with brutal force, his hands shot off Elise. Atticus drew in an exasperated breath, and the frenzied atmosphere quieted a little.

  "Finish it Atticus," Mira moaned.

  "Finish it, finish it," voices all around him ordered, and he used everything he possessed to press down, but his hands wouldn't budge, always maintaining a few inch distance from Elise's chest.

  "Damn you," he shouted, losing what little control he had managed to retain.

  Mira slipped in beside him, her face a mask of concern. She roughly shoved her good arm beneath Elise's back, and as much as the tethers would allow, jerked her up to sitting. Instead of making contact with Elise, Atticus's body recoiled violently.

  "No," he hollered, spittle flying from his mouth.

  His face burned with fury; he was too close to chance losing everything now. The people that had just moments ago urged him to complete his task, now grew restless. Whispered comments, too low for him to hear, filled the air, and he knew they were losing confidence in his ability. If someone told him that stabbing himself would rid his body of the vile thing called Dakota, he would have gladly plunged a knife into his guts, but he knew that the solution wasn't that easy.

  Before he could regain his control, he heard a resounding crack of splitting wood. The Aswang hissed in tandem, and a few witches shrieked, before a wave that felt like an electric current, swept over him, through him, and even seemed to pulse in his veins. The force of it threw him flat on his back. It took him a moment to regain his bearings, and by the time he was back on his feet, he had forgotten everything, but the magickal power that filled every crevice of the house. The magick so potent, so complete, didn't seem possible, wasn't possible, he reasoned, because nothing like that was supposed to exist anymore. In fact the only being ever to have possessed the perfect balance of magickal force, had died before she had reached the age required to use it to open the Cauldron of Magick.

  Atticus slowly turned, more terrified than he had been in his entire life, because he was about to come face to face with the most celestial powered being that had ever walked the earth, and she had every reason to kill him on the spot.

  She stood there facing him, just as she had that night on the porch, when he had been in prison looking out of Dakota's eyes. Even then he hadn't known her. Her flaxen hair flew around her head like the rays of the sun, and her icy blue eyes were so luminous, that he shaded his gaze from the glare. He saw so much of Elise in her, the shape of her mouth, the cast of her eyebrows, but unlike Elise, this woman was a true source.

  "Jade," Nanny Flo gasped, and her one word confirmed everything that Atticus already knew.

  It had all been a lie, she wasn't dead, and now the day of reckoning had arrived, and they would all die. But he wasn't ready, in fact he would never be ready, because the Elder witches would be waiting for him in the Underworld.

  "Yes mother," she said, in a voice that burned with wrath. "It's me, and I will not let you harm my child."

  26. ELISE

  The Aswang cornered me, grabbing at me from all sides, then dragged me out of my room. I knew I had no hope of escaping; still I refused to go willingly. I wiggled and kicked blindly, managing to connect a bare foot with the right side of Tyanak's cheek. Unfortunately, her jaw felt like solid steel, and pain from the impact, buzzed up my shin, making me cry out.

  The discomfort distracted me long enough for Tiktik and Wakwak to manacle my arms and legs, and carry me out. They moved me from my room, and out to the kitchen, and I thrashed like a fish on a line. I hollered obscenities, my voice echoing through the house, and Mira, who I hadn't seen since morning, appeared with Nanny Flo by her side. Her stare was icy, her smile cruel.

  "Hold her still," Mira said, stepping closer.

  She pushed a cup of bubbling greenish-amber liquid toward me, and I immediately clamped my jaw shut. It took just a second for Tyanak to pry open my lips, and Mira poured the entire contents of the cup into my mouth. The liquid was vile, and before I could spit it out, Tyanak plugged my nose, and mashed my lips together. Left with the options of swallowing, or suffocating, I allowed my throat to open, and the horrible liquid to drain. Like too hot coffee, it seared all the way down to my stomach. As soon as it was down, Tyanak let me go.

  A moment later, though my mind was fully alert, I felt paralyzed.

  "Let go Elise," Nanny Flo said in what I knew was supposed to be a soothing tone, and I hated her more than I thought possible.

  I rolled my eyes, the only part that could still move.

  They carried me to the bathroom, the air smelled of salty water. They stripped off my clothes and carefully slid me into the claw foot tub, filled to the brim with steamy water. As soon as I was in the tub, Kikik and Wakwak let me go, and I helplessly slipped under. For a fraction of a second, I thought they were going to let me drown, but just before I ran out of the air, Tyanak pulled my head to the surface, and I drew in a shuddering breath.

  Then their hands were on my body, and despite their long nails, they massaged my skin gently. Pins of current crackled and sizzled against my flesh, as their hands made contact with me, as if I had a constant supply of static electricity at my disposal. Mira and Nanny Flo stood back observing, both wearing smirks, and I wanted to slap their satisfied expressions off their smug faces. I didn't know if it was the heat of the water, or the drink they had given me, but soon my eyes grew heavy and I passed out.

  When I came around again, I detected the smell of hot wax, and incense and heard the murmur of many voices, deep in conversation. I cracked open my eyelids, and immediately tried to sit up, but when my shoulders were only inches off the floor, I was pulled back by the long pieces of white cloth that snaked around my bare wrists and ankles. I glanced up at the ceiling, and noticed that a gaping hole had been ripped right through the roof. The moon, reddish-orange with a glowing ring of scarlet, shone high above us.

  Strangers, both male and female, of all shapes and sizes, who were dressed in full-length black hooded gowns, milled around the room, seemingly oblivious to me. My head still swam with confusion, and was interspersed with moments of clarity, and I knew that whatever Mira had given me hadn't completely worn off yet.

  "Help me," I said, but my voice was weak, and all the noises in the room easily drowned out my plea.

  I sifted through the blur of strangers, but didn't see Nanny Flo or Mira. The Aswang however, stood perfectly still in a line against a far wall, their eyes red and glassy, as if they were in stasis, their lips were covered with blood and their hair was black as pitch. Given their feral appearance, I wasn't surprised to see that all the others in the room gave the three a wide berth.

  Without warning, silence swept through the room, and everyone formed a perfect arc at my head, then faced the doorway leading to the outside. Even the Aswang, who had previously been inert, animated, and came to stand with the others. Mira, stark naked, knelt beside me, and with a malicious grin, squeezed my mouth open, and poured more putrid liquid from a jeweled
goblet, into my mouth. Too weak to fight, I swallowed the fluid dutifully.

  Even before I swallowed the last drop of the potion, Atticus swept into the room. He was garbed in a long black gown, and the skull headdress he had worn years before. His smile was dazzling, almost cheery, and he seemed completely at home being the center of attention. At that point, my consciousness began to teeter into an abyss, and I welcomed it, because at least I wouldn't have to witness whatever atrocities they had planned for me.

  Mira didn't move from my side, and despite my drugged stupor, I saw the hunger for Atticus in her eyes. I blinked a few times, fighting to steady my wandering thoughts long enough to take in what was going on around me, but it was a losing battle. Chunks of time were snipped away, and everything seemed to move too fast.

  Atticus was at the door, then he loomed over me. Whatever I could see of his face was pleased, but then he scowled. There was a flash of metal in his hand, then voices rose in urgency. The Aswang shrieked, and then there was a thunderous crash, screams pierced my ears, and I knew something was terribly wrong, but I couldn't focus long enough to see what it was. I thought I heard someone say Jade, but I knew I had heard it wrong, because that was my mother's name and she was dead.

  Then a woman was over me, and her unearthly beauty drew the breath from my lungs. Her fingertips were satiny against my cheek, and there was so much love in her eyes for me.

  "Sleep my sweet," she whispered, and I obeyed, somehow knowing everything would be okay.

  27. ATTICUS

  All hell broke loose, and Atticus was shoved aside by the crush of bodies, that charged at Jade. The Aswang however had other plans. Bent on protecting the prize they had thought they had lost, the Aswang intervened before anyone got within even a foot of Jade.

  "Keep away," the three hissed, their talons clawing the air in front of them.

  They ripped open their gowns, partially transforming into their beast forms, with only their wings still retracted. Atticus, as much as the rest of them, lusted for the power radiating from Jade, but he abruptly stopped, having enough wits about him to know that when in their true form, the Aswang were lethal.

  Not everyone had the same control he did. A sandy haired woman, who he recognized as a Wiccan leader, seemed too drunk with need to stop. She dove headlong at Jade, and even before she had made it within five feet of Jade, the woman had been eviscerated, and Wakwak was nibbling on a rope of her intestine, slurping it down her throat, as though it were an oversized piece of spaghetti, then with preternatural speed, the three fell on the fallen Wiccan. Atticus was thankful that he was far enough away from the feeding frenzy, to avoid witnessing the carnage.

  When they had finished, the Aswang stood back, and all that remained of the hapless woman was a pile of cleaned bones. Mollified by their meal, the Aswang's eyes flashed red, then turned to the more human shades of blue, brown, and amber. Their bodies followed suit, transforming into the naked frames of adolescent girls. They plucked their torn gowns from where they had dropped them, slipping them over their skinny bodies, then glared at the rest of the people in the room, daring anyone to breach the line again.

  No one moved.

  Nanny Flo, who had disappeared in the fracas, pushed her way to the front. The Aswang separated enough so that Jade was once again visible. She stared at Nanny Flo, with unmistakable abhorrence.

  "I've come to make a deal," she said evenly. "I offer myself for my daughter."

  "Yes," the Aswang said together, their voices high with delight.

  "No," Nanny Flo said. Her face went bone white.

  "No," Mira echoed, shoving her way through the crowd.

  Jade gave Mira a scathing glance, and snorted. "You don't make the decisions here, the Aswang do, and they've agreed."

  "You can't Jade, I won't let you do this. We don't need you to open the Cauldron. It could kill you, like it did the others..." Nanny Flo said, clasping Jade's hands with her own.

  Atticus was almost certain he saw tears glittering in the old woman's eyes, and her emotion was as unexpected, as it was odd.

  "It's a chance I'm willing to take," Jade said, angling her chin in defiance. " For my whole life you've taken everything from me, I won't allow you to decide when I die too."

  "There is another way. The girl and the druid can be sacrificed, and the Aswang will have all they need to release the Cauldron. We can do this without you."

  The desperation in the old woman's tone was shocking, and Atticus was more than a little intrigued as to why she was so adamant that Jade not be used to open the Cauldron of Magick. Jade's magick surpassed Elise's by a hundred fold, not to mention that she'd already had experience with the Cauldron.

  "There is no other way..."

  Nanny Flo shook her head vehemently.

  "I thought you were sick, the power was too great for you..."

  She broke off, and stared blankly at Jade.

  "It was all a plan to escape from your smothering will. I planted what I needed to make you believe I had died."

  Nanny Flo stumbled forward, reaching for Jade, but Jade stepped out of her path.

  "I saw your body, it was real..." Nanny Flo said, her voice cracking with emotion.

  "Oh mother, you have no idea the tricks I can play," Jade said.

  "I don't care, that's all in the past, now you're back, and we can..."

  Nanny Flo moved fast, grabbing Jade tight against her chest, but Jade shrugged her off.

  "Don't touch me, you're not even my mother, why do you care if I live or die. It's always been about the magick and nothing else, hasn't it?"

  The room grew so quiet that Atticus almost forgot that it was filled with people.

  "Let us make the trade," Tyanak said in a shrill voice, and shouts of ascent rang out. Nanny Flo sprang forward, and went to her knees in front of Jade, wrapping her thin arms around Jade's legs and holding fast.

  "Please, I beg you, reconsider."

  Tears spilled down her cheeks, and once again Atticus was stunned.

  Two men and a woman from the group came forward, peeling Nanny Flo from Jade and even as they pulled her away, she clawed at the air for purchase.

  "No, Jade, no, please, I beg you, don't do this."

  Jade turned her face away.

  "Stay her tongue, or I will pluck it from her head," Tyanak said, her eyes alight with fury. Mira stepped forward, with the same goblet in her hand that she had used on Elise. Though the old woman was well advanced in years, she darted to the side in a bid for escape, but was soon cornered by the beautiful Strega witch, the Voudon priest and the Feri witch. Even when they had her, she fought with such ferociousness, that they struggled to maintain their hold.

  "Keep her still," Mira ordered.

  Atticus almost laughed at the absurdity of the scene. What had started out as a solemn ceremony, had quickly devolved into a circus, and he was pleased that for once he wasn't the main act. Mira forced Nanny Flo's shriveled lips apart, and it warmed Atticus to see the bossy old bitch finally get what she deserved.

  Nanny Flo spluttered, then spit the potion out, but when her eyes went glossy, and the fight slowly drained from her, Atticus knew she'd had enough. When she went unconscious, the Feri witch gathered her into his arms, where she looked more like a wizened doll, than a woman, and he carried her out the front door.

  Mira, her skin gray in the candlelight, her face a picture of tension, stood naked in the center of the room. She pressed a trembling arm across her breasts, as if just realizing that she was nude. She backed into the crowd, almost tripping over Elise, who was still spread eagle in the center of the room.

  "Untie my daughter," Jade hollered, and when the Aswang nodded approval, three women scurried forward, releasing the ties binding Elise.

  When Jade moved past Atticus, he got a whiff of sage and lemon grass, and the aura of Jade's power washed over him like an unrelenting blanket of heat, searing through every part of his being. He took a step forward, but when the Aswang gro
wled, he leapt back.

  Jade continued forward, her posture regal, her moves confident. Atticus was amazed at how relaxed she appeared, considering she had just exchanged her life for Elise's. She kneeled beside Elise, and whispered into her daughter's ear, and when she did, Jade's blonde hair brushed Elise's cheek, and Elise's eyes fluttered open.

  She smiled as if in response to Jade's words, then closed her eyes again. Kikik scooped Elise into her arms, and carried her away. Jade stood in the spot Elise had just occupied, and Atticus's heart thrummed in anticipation.

  "Carrier come forward," Tyanak ordered.

  Mira tentatively stepped away from the others. There was absolute terror in her expression, and she brought her broken arm protectively across her torso once again, before coming to stand beside Jade. Atticus couldn't help but revel in Mira's obvious discomfort at being close to Elise's mother.

  "Open a vortex to the Cauldron," the Aswang said, when Kikik had rejoined their ranks. Knowing he was just moments away from seeing the Cauldron with his own eyes, Atticus's chest seemed barely able to contain his hammering heart. For his entire life he had waited and planned for this very moment, and it was almost too much to take in.

  "Stop," Jade ordered, and cast her stare at Atticus. "I want him here with me, before she opens the vortex," she said.

  Atticus took a hasty step back; the last thing he wanted was to be anywhere near Jade when she attempted to open the Cauldron. Unlike her, he was quite sure he wouldn't survive exposure to its enormous power. But before Atticus could escape, hands shoved him forward, and into the center. Mira shifted a little away, giving him space. She kept her eyes focused on the floor, and away from his.

  "Kiss me," Jade whispered, so softly that only Atticus could hear her.

  He tilted his head to the side, unsure, but then knowing he would be punished if he didn't obey, he pulled off his headdress, and pressed his mouth lightly against hers. On contact, a blast of energy stung his lips, and he pulled away. With their faces a few inches apart, it was difficult to maintain his restraint. Jade's whole being pulsed with energy so heady, that he wanted to lay hands on her right then, and feel its full force course through him delectably. He slanted a look back at the Aswang, ready for the backlash for getting too close, but they were frozen as if they were mannequins. When he chanced a look at everyone else in the room, he realized that everyone except he and Jade, were motionless.