by Rose Pressey
She nodded and glanced at Annabelle. “It’s down in the basement, but only witches are allowed in the room. Follow me.”
I frowned. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go into this place alone. Especially since I found out it was in the basement. Sure, stick me down in the creepy basement all alone. There were rumors that the place was haunted. That was the last thing I needed—more ghosts.
“Here’s the room.” She gestured as she opened the basement door.
“I’ll just wait upstairs,” Annabelle said, rubbing her arms and looking around the dimly lit space.
I frowned. I shouldn’t have been surprised since we all knew that Annabelle didn’t deal well with the paranormal or any creepy situation for that matter. I wondered if part of Annabelle’s aversion was her unwillingness to deal with the growing suspicion that she actually might have some paranormal skills.
The librarian’s eyes widened as if she didn’t want to hang around the basement either. She stepped away from the door and motioned for me to enter. “Let me know if I can help.”
By the way she was distancing herself from the basement door, I wasn’t sure if she was sincere about her offer. She turned to walk away before I’d even had a chance to reply.
“Well, there is one thing you can help with.” I rushed my words before she had time to get away.
“What’s that?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.
“I’m looking for a book that has information about the witch coven from 1785.”
She twisted her hands nervously, then said, “The years are marked on the shelves. You should be able to find all the information you need on that year.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
I hesitated and looked back as Annabelle followed the librarian up down the hall. It was just me now. Or maybe the ghost I’d often heard about. I inched my way down the steps. Overhead fluorescent lights blinked and buzzed at the back of the room. Couldn’t they have replaced the bulbs?
On my right was a room. Oddly enough, the door was clearly marked with the word ‘Witchcraft.’ I stepped into the cramped pea-green-colored room and looked around at the books. How would I find the specific one I was looking for among the crowded shelves? The librarian had been right; the years were marked on the top of each shelf. But I had no idea what to expect.
It was a strange collection. One thing I noticed right away was that the books only went back to 1785—the year the coven members claimed they’d died. That was odd. I stepped over to the section and scanned the spines lining the shelf. Each book had a different topic—one for spells, one for rules of witchcraft, even one for hiding witchcraft. Of course these weren’t original books from the 1700s, but it would be fascinating to read about what was going on back then.
Finally, I reached a book with the title Enchantment Pointe Coven on the spine. I grabbed the tome from the shelf and pulled out the chair next to the small table in the middle of the room. I was anxious to read what it said about the coven members. Was their magic just as bad back then?
I flipped through the pages, but none gave me much information. Just as the witches had said, they had been hanged for practicing witchcraft when their coven had been discovered. But when I turned another page, I was shocked to discover my great-great-great-grandfather’s name. Rebecca had said she’d known him.
As I read the page, I soon discovered that he had been instrumental in getting the witch-hunting madness stopped, but it had been too late. He had risked his life for the women, but the women had died anyway. Maybe that explained why my great-great-great-grandfather had gone missing. The book gave a description of the women, but it didn’t exactly match the women who were in my home.
The women had formed the first coven in Enchantment Pointe, although apparently there had been plenty of women and men before them practicing their magic. The formation of that first coven had been an important part of the development of Enchantment Pointe. Maybe that was why they had been called back to help me. They were there from the start, but did they have the answers I needed? On the first page I noticed the symbol that had been sewn on the witches’ skirts. I had to ask them what it was for.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t take the book with me. I’d have to confront the women with the information that I’d found. Whether or not I would get answers was a whole different story. None of the other spirits I had reanimated had ever been truthful with me, so I didn’t expect that to change now.
After placing the book back on the shelf, I hurried out of the room and up the stairs as if something was chasing me. I didn’t really think anything was chasing me, but it was the power of suggestion, right?
Annabelle was sitting at one of the tables when I returned. She was looking at the newspaper. “What did you find?” she asked as she pushed to her feet.
“Not much,” I said around a sigh. “We’ll head back to the manor and I’ll tell you what I found.”
“Sounds good. This place is creepy.” She shivered again as we headed toward the door.
“Thank you for everything,” I said to the librarian as we hurried out the door.
Chapter Sixteen
Annabelle and I arrived at LaVeau Manor a few minutes later. The place loomed over us as I parked the car out front. It was as if the house was saying, It’s about time you came home. When I’d first gotten the manor I’d had no idea what I would do with it. How would I ever fill up the rooms? Now it didn’t seem as if I was having a problem filling up the place. They just weren’t the type of guests I’d expected.
Trees surrounded the property on both sides of the manor. A long pebble driveway led to the house and a large iron gate with stone columns stood at the end. The veranda stretched the width of the house.
The manor was three stories. On the top floor was a small window which lit the attic. I stared up at that little window and thought about how the discovery in that small space had led to all this craziness in my life. What would have happened if I’d never found the book? Something told me that wasn’t possible—it was fate that I’d found the book. But now the book was being taken away from me.
The bright sun shimmered down across the landscape and white fluffy clouds dotted the endless blue sky. The day had turned slightly cooler and I was thankful for the relief from the heat. Liam would be there soon with the other witch. But for right now, I had to find the coven members. For one, to make sure they hadn’t cast more spells, but most importantly, I wanted to ask them about the information from the book. I’d also ask the women about the coven member who had showed up at Liam’s front door.
“It’s quiet around here. It spooks me out when it’s quiet like this. I need noise,” Annabelle said with wide eyes.
To be honest everything spooked her out, so I didn’t comment.
When we stepped inside, I noticed the same type of heavy silence that Annabelle had noted while we were outside. The only noise was from the tick-tock of the grandfather clock.
“Where are the coven members?” Annabelle asked as she eased into foyer.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Like I said, I left them in the kitchen baking more cupcakes.”
Something seemed off about the place, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was exactly. The feeling was probably just anxiety about all that was going on; it was enough to cause panic attacks. I walked across the rooms and made my way to the kitchen. There was no sign of the women, but a strange feeling hung in the air; I might even say that it whirled around the room.
“Does it seem strange in here to you?” I asked Annabelle.
“It does seem a little stranger than usual. And that’s saying a lot.” The whisper of her voice tickled my ear. She stood behind me so closely that she was practically on my back.
“You feel that vibe too then? I’m not imagining things,” I said.
“No, but it’s always really weird in here so that’s not saying much,” Annabelle said as she looked around.
I stepped into the space, then walked over to the cauldron. It looked as i
f it had been used recently. What kind of spells were they casting this time? It wasn’t as if I cared if they used the cauldron, but after the other spirits I’d had around, I’d lost my trust in the reanimated. Besides, I didn’t want to enable their bad behavior. I touched the inside of the cauldron to see if I could figure out which herbs they’d used. But I soon realized that there were remnants of so many it would be impossible for me to know.
The doorbell rang and Annabelle jumped again, clutching her chest. I hoped that it was Nicolas or Liam. Although I’d told Nicolas he didn’t have to ring the bell anymore.
“That scared the hell out of me,” Annabelle said.
She followed me as I went back across the house and to the front door. I peeked out the door. Liam’s handsome face was the first thing I saw. I let out a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived because I remembered that he had this random witch with him. I had no idea what to expect.
“Is that Liam? Is she with him?” Annabelle asked as she strained to look over my shoulder.
I cast a look to the right of Liam and saw the woman standing beside him. Her big brown eyes were rimmed with thick lashes. Her cheeks had a natural pink hue and her brown hair shone in the sunlight. It looked as if she’d just stepped off a retro Eighties movie set. She wore a white blouse with wide shoulder pads, electric blue stirrup pants and matching cobalt-colored plastic jelly sandals. She had a giant lace bow in her hair.
I opened the door and smiled at Liam and the woman. She didn’t look anything like the other coven members, so I figured that there was no way she was a part of their coven. Based on the clothing, she had to be telling the truth about being from the 1980s.
I opened the door. “Please come in.”
“It’s good to see you,” Liam said as he stepped close and placed a kiss on my cheek.
My heart sped up and I felt as if I’d been poked with an electrical cord. “Thanks for coming,” I said softly.
“Hallie, this is Kelley Killebrew.” Liam gestured toward the woman.
“Nice to meet you,” she said sweetly.
I thought I detected a slight Southern accent, but I wasn’t sure. Maybe as she talked more I would figure it out. Was she from around here?
“Won’t you please come in? We can sit in the parlor and talk,” I said, motioning across the foyer.
She nodded and smiled. “Thank you.”
I looked at Annabelle. She shrugged and whispered, “How weird is that?”
“I’m getting used to it at this point,” I said.
We followed Liam and Kelley into the room. The silence of the room made the sound of our footsteps echo even louder and only amplified the strangeness of this whole encounter.
“Please have a seat anywhere you’d like.” I gestured.
Kelley looked around, then eased down onto the sofa. Her back was ramrod straight as she leaned back onto the cushion and her hands were placed on her lap. She sat there with a big smile on her face. I stared for a moment, not sure of what to say.
“So, like I said, Kelley showed up at the plantation and she doesn’t know why she was there,” Liam offered, breaking the silence.
I guessed now was the time that I had to talk to her about what I’d done.
“Kelley, do you remember anything about what happened?” I leaned forward in my chair so that I wouldn’t miss a word she said.
“I remember that I was a witch with the coven here in Enchantment Pointe. I was killed in a car accident,” she said softly, then looked down.
My eyes widened. “Here in Enchantment Pointe?”
Was I bringing back all former coven members from Enchantment Pointe? And if so, why? At least that answered my question about where she was from.
“I’m sorry that I accidentally called you back. It was just a spell gone wrong.” I flashed a small smile. “I occasionally have problems with my spells.”
Annabelle coughed. Yeah, I knew it was more than occasionally, but Kelley didn’t have to know that little detail.
She waved off the apology. “I’m glad you did. This gives me a second chance to make things right.”
Uh-oh. What was I going to do with this woman? And what did she mean that she wanted to make things right? What had she done wrong?
“I have a feeling that I was brought back for a reason and I plan on finding out what that reason is,” she said softly.
The doorbell rang and broke up our conversation. We exchanged looks because I knew they were all wondering the same thing as me. Had another reanimated witch shown up at my doorstep?
I hurried over and peeked out the front door. Jon stood on the doorstep. He was just the man I wanted to see. Since Annabelle hadn’t been able to get any real answers about the bartender, I would have to ask.
I opened the door and stepped aside so that he could enter. “Hi, Jon.”
“Is Annabelle here now? I hope she didn’t leave without me,” he said with a smile.
“We’re in the parlor.” I motioned with a tilt of my head.
Jon followed me back to the room. He eyed Kelley, probably wondering where the costume party was. Annabelle jumped up and kissed Jon.
I decided not to waste any time asking Jon about Kevin. “We ran into that friend of yours,” I said, watching him for a reaction.
“Which friend?” he asked casually.
“The one who was just here at LaVeau Manor. He said his name is Kevin Wallace.”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? Where did you see him?”
“Apparently he works at the Bubbling Cauldron. And he was practicing some pretty powerful magic too,” I said.
“You all were at the Bubbling Cauldron?” Nicolas asked from over my shoulder.
I spun around. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
Nicolas kissed my cheek. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. So, you were at the Bubbling Cauldron?”
I realized that it seemed a bit out of character for me to go to a bar in the middle of the day, but it wasn’t that crazy. Everyone was staring at me for an answer. Annabelle flashed a sympathetic grin.
I pointed to Annabelle so they would know I hadn’t been alone. “We went there to speak with Misty Middleton. She was there talking to that new guy. He claims he is new in town.”
Liam and Nicolas exchanged a look.
“There’s a new witch in town? That never happens,” Liam said.
“What’s this guy’s name?” Nicolas asked.
“Kevin Wallace. But you should ask Jon, he said he knew him.” I pointed toward Jon.
Jon held his hands up. “Hey, I haven’t known him that long. He started talking to me the other day when I stopped in there. He seemed like a nice enough guy and I figured I would help him out since he is new in town. I told him about a guy who has a motorcycle for sale. He met me here so that I could give him the number.”
“This guy might be on the up and up, but it wouldn’t hurt to check him out. We don’t need any more problems,” Nicolas said.
“Let’s go,” Liam said, jumping up from the seat.
Jon looked hesitant, but he finally joined them.
“What are you going to say to the guy?” I asked Nicolas as he stopped to kiss me goodbye. Liam looked at us, but turned away and headed for the front door.
“We’ll just let him know that he has to be a little more forthcoming.” He touched my cheek. “We don’t want vague answers.”
“Do you think this could be in relation to Giovanni?” I asked.
Nicolas gave a quick nod. “Anything is possible, but we’re not going to take a chance.”
“Let me know what you find out,” I said.
I wanted to go with the men, but I had more to do here. Namely, I needed to figure out what the newest reanimated coven member wanted and where the other coven members had disappeared to. I knew there was no way that they’d gone for good. I could never be that lucky.
Nicolas turned and walked toward the door. I hoped they got answers from Kevin. If any
one could, I knew they would. I watched from the window as Nicolas and Liam headed down the driveway.
After they disappeared from sight, it was just Annabelle, Kelley, and me. For a few seconds, we just stared at each other. I had no idea where to even start. What would I do with another coven member?
“So you are prepared to stay around then, huh?” I asked.
Kelley smiled softly. “Oh yes. I can’t wait. I have a lot to do. I have to find my friends and family members, although my parents are dead. I need to talk with you about bringing them back. I mean, I’m sure you can’t bring everyone back, but I’m sure you can make an exception in this situation. I noticed the clothing styles have changed. Shoulder pads are out, right?” She stared at us.
She sure did talk a lot. I felt bad that she missed her parents, but there was no way I could bring them back. I wouldn’t tell her that just now though.
“Yes, the style has changed, but some Eighties fashions have made a comeback,” Annabelle said.
“What about leg warmers? Can I still wear them?” Kelley looked from Annabelle back to me.
Annabelle and I shook our heads. “No, not unless you’re dancing,” Annabelle offered.
As much as I wanted to talk about fashion—and believe me, I did, because I hadn’t been able to talk about anything normal in ages—I couldn’t make the time for it right now. My status as leader was at stake.
Chapter Seventeen
A loud bang sounded out. Annabelle and I hurried over to the foyer. The gang of coven members rushed through the front door like they were being chased by a crazed clown carrying a chainsaw.
“Where have you all been?” I crossed my arms in front of my chest. I felt like I was their mother asking why they’d been out so late.
“We’ve been busy exploring the outside of the manor.” Rebecca motioned over her shoulder.
I eyed them all suspiciously. “Well. Okay. I guess that’s okay. Did you all do anything in the house while I was gone? It looked as if you used the cauldron in the kitchen.”
“Oh, was that not okay?” Rebecca asked.
