Witch (Cursed)

by Brown, Tara

  Lydia opened the huge dusty old album, filled with grainy black and white photos.

  “This is the only set of pictures ever taken of your mother. You see, you are identical to her in every way.”

  She couldn’t believe what she saw. It was as if she stared at herself in an old white gown. It was the woman in the snow globe.

  "Where is this picture taken?" She touched the picture. It seemed older than Lydia.

  "She got away once. The picture was taken at a Rose residence in Italy."

  ‘Mother’

  Ophelia looked back to see the six balls of light. She frowned and looked at Lydia, who frowned at the balls.

  “How is it that they follow you?”

  “I don’t know. Who are they?”

  Lydia raised an eyebrow at her, “You don’t speak to them?”

  She shook her head, feeling the blood drain from her face, “They only arrived after the Ouija board incident. Very frightening actually. They just started yelling at me and I’m pretty sure at one point they froze Jake. I think they’re evil.”

  Lydia laughed, “They look exactly like you firstly and secondly no evil may enter my home. Just like your home was, I presume.”

  Giselle, who had been tapping her toes annoyingly, sighed again, “Lydia I need to ask you something.”

  Lydia looked impatiently at her, “This is really important Giselle. She has weeks before she must face her father.”

  Ophelia’s head spun. “What? You know where my parents are? Do you know where my sister is? No one will tell me anything about her.”

  Lydia shook her head, “Not the humans, but I know where your real parents are dear.”

  Giselle made an exasperated noise and walked from the room annoyed, "Fine whatevs."

  “Sweetie I will chat with you in a minute. I need to sort this out before she has an aneurism.”

  Giselle waved a hand in the air and rounded the corner out of sight.

  Lydia rolled her eyes, “Look dear your parents are different like the rest of us. We sort of need you to get up to speed immediately. This is your mother. The blue balls of light are your sisters and your father is a very bad man.”

  Ophelia shook her head, “Who are the people who raised me?” Her chest was tight. She couldn’t draw a full breath.

  “No clue. Not important people to our cause.”

  O felt the white-hot rage fill her instantly, “THEY’RE IMPORTANT TO ME DAMMIT! I NEED TO FIND MY SISTER!” White lightning shot from her fingertips across the kitchen. The lightning hit the cupboards above the sink and blew bits of wood everywhere. Ophelia ducked at the sound of the explosion.

  Her fingers burned where the fire had come from them. She lifted a trembling hand up to her face, “Wha- what was that?”

  “Bloody hell.” Lydia whispered, looking around at the wood particles floating in the air.

  Annabelle poked her head through the massive hole in the wall where the cabinets and counter had been, “I be telling you. I be saying it. She be trouble. My guards can’t even keeps her magic in check. She aint even had her birthday yet. You bes asking for trouble.”

  Ophelia watched as Lydia frowned at the ghostly maid, “Annabelle you have to help us. You swore an oath.”

  Annabelle crossed her arms, “I aint helping and I aint teaching no demon witch how to kills nobody. Oath or no oath I's already dead. What's the Witch gonna do to me now? I's already in hell. You aint looked outside lately has you? No. Miss Lydia you gots bigger fish to fry. The guards is weakened from miss thang here and we be surrounded by a thousand of them fanged devils.”

  Ophelia trembled, “How did-why-what am I? Did she say demon witch? Oh my god it's the Ouija board isn’t it. Someone has possessed me.” She looked at her fingers again, still in shock.

  Lydia sighed and rubbed her temples, “Ophelia you are driving me insane. Let me finish a sentence for the love of god. Annabelle what are you talking about?”

  Annabelle pointed to the front hall, “There be a thousand of them night walking blood suckas out on the street Miss Lydia. They gots us surrounded. They come for Giselle.”

  Lydia covered her hands over her eyes, "Where is Lorri?"

  Ophelia shook her head, “It’s me isn’t it? They’re here because of me. The wolf brought them here for me. Everything is trying to kill me. I’m dreaming I’m sure of it.” She felt panic build inside of her.

  Giselle stormed in to the kitchen, “Not everything is about you princess. That is what I was trying to tell you about Lydia. Those things have been following me all week.”

  Suddenly the spiky redhead flashed in to the kitchen with a dark haired man.

  “Lydia we have a problem.”

  Lydia pointed to the hole in the wall Ophelia had made, “I have enough problems Lorri. These are Roses problems. I want them gone from my street.”

  Lorri sneered, “It’s her, they came for her.”

  Arguing erupted in the kitchen, “She is the heir.”

  "This isn’t my problem Dorian. Jesus. Deal with your own problems and let me deal with Ophelia."

  "She is the queen Lydia. This is everyone's problem."

  Lydia looked like she cracked. She started to laugh uncontrollably. She sank onto the debris-covered floor, laughing in sobs.

  Ophelia looked back at her fingertips and shook her head. She walked from the kitchen, “It’s too much. It’s all too much. I need this dream to be over.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sam

  His phone vibrated as he tore the head from the vampire body. His strength, when he let the fire take him, was unmatched.

  He felt the black blood spray, covering his forearms.

  He glanced back at Aimee and grinned savagely. She was surrounded by ten of them, just how she liked it. Her hands moved faster than the human eye could catch. She had learned how to rip the souls from them in one swipe. She didn’t need to channel the energy. Dorian said she was the best death dealer he had ever seen. Watching the black blood spray from their bodies before they even got within an arms reach of her, proved that to be true.

  Sam shivered watching the blood shed. Aimee could shut herself down emotionally.

  Lucas dove at one of the undead surrounding Aimee and ripped its head off with one huge bite. The crunch from his massive jaw would have made Sam sick, if he hadn’t been in such a foul mood.

  He wiped the blood from his hands onto his jeans and pulled the phone from his pocket.

  “Gotta Go. Lydia’s.” He cried.

  Aimee was gone before he got the sentence out. Lucas leapt through the crowd of monsters. Sam flashed them as his hand made contact with the fur.

  The muggy cool air of Portland hit instantly. They had been in Madrid where Aimee had heard of a blood bar. Normally they didn’t do much in Europe but sometimes Lorri needed them. The European Roses had incredibly strong ties to Daniel. Lorri had been forced to kill many of her own. The vampire den they had just slaughtered had been one of Daniel’s splinter groups.

  Sam felt his feet squish into the wet lawn, as he rounded the corner of the house with Lucas. His stomach felt heavy seeing the hoard surrounding the yard.

  He looked at Lucas, “Vampires?”

  Lucas nodded his wolf head and gave a low whine.

  “Pretty sure we’ll be needing some backup on this one buddy.”

  Lucas whined again.

  He couldn’t understand how so many had gathered or why they stood outside Lydia’s house.

  Sam noticed a female tilting her head and smelling the air in his direction. He looked down at the blood covering his clothes and gave her a goofy grin.

  She started to whisper to the man at her left side. The man gave him a deadly cold stare.

  Sam felt the hair on his arms begin to lift. Under their scrutiny, he felt himself growing angry again.

  Lucas nudged him and looked at the front of the house where Giselle walked down the front steps alone. She looked uneasy, glancing back at the peopl
e inside of the house.

  Sam raised an eyebrow at her. She looked terrified and cleared her throat.

  “Uhm thanks for coming. Apparently we have a small problem. Uhm I’m not sure how this happened but I'm your new leader.”

  Sam looked down at Lucas and frowned, “Oh shit. This is going to be bad.”

  Giselle glared in his direction. He smiled at her and shook his head, "You got this."

  She looked back at the massive group, “Uhm is there anyone who has any questions?”

  They group began to laugh and heckle her.

  Sam watched the undead roaming the guards. They looked ready to cross the line any second and kill everyone. His skin felt alive as he paced the yard with Lucas. He was ready for a fight. Vampires were the easiest things they killed in a week.

  He looked down at the wolf, “This is not good. They will never follow her.”

  The wolf snorted. Dorian appeared behind them, “She needs our support not our criticism.”

  Sam looked back at Dorian, “How could you tell Aleks that it was a good idea to have Marcus turn her? Everyone knows his vampires are the royalty of the vampires.”

  Dorian frowned, “I never told him that. Besides we've all assumed that there was at least a handful of his blood left.”

  Sam laughed spitefully, “Well that was a great gamble. You just made Giselle the Vampire Queen. Jesus.”

  Dorian growled at Sam. He stepped past him and addressed the crowd, “The new Queen has our support. Mine and Lorri’s.”

  A large man at the edge of the guard laughed, “Black Angel of Death, was it you who took our father?”

  Dorian shook his head, “It doesn’t matter who killed him. Your blood tells you who the rightful heir is. Her name is Queen Giselle.”

  Giselle blushed, “Oh uhm just call me Giselle.”

  A cry shot from the crowd, “We will not kneel before her. She is barely a week old.”

  Giselle looked insulted, “Hey I’m twenty-one asshat.”

  The crowd laughed, “Black Angel of death you can’t expect this to rule us for the next thousand years?”

  “Let us kill her and make our next ruler someone powerful.”

  “You angels overstep your bounds.”

  Aimee and Lorri walked from the front steps, stilling the crowd.

  “SHE IS A MURDERER. YOU HOUSE MURDERERS HERE. THIS IS A HOUSE OF HYPOCRISY!”

  “GIVE US THE DEMON!”

  Sam watched Aimee's eyes grow cold.

  The crowd erupted.

  Lorri put a hand in the air, “She works for me and is allowed the protection of my laws. The laws of the maker. Marcus lived by these laws and Queen Giselle will abide by them and enforce them as well.”

  “You have no rights Lucifer. You fell. You have no right to rein over us.”

  “Only our true ruler will rule over us.”

  Lorri rolled her eyes, “Fucking idiots.” She looked back at Giselle, “Be ready to kick some ass.”

  Giselle gulped, “I don’t actually know how to fight Lorri.”

  Lorri looked at Sam and nodded. Sam walked to Giselle, “A rage will fill you. Let it take you. The power is inside of you. Ignore everything but what the rage tells you to do.”

  Giselle frowned, “Dude look at me. I’ve never even had a sister to fight with. Nothing. I slapped a guy once. Like, I got nothing.”

  "Remember all the training you had? You did great then."

  "No I sucked. I was just fast. Remember when I ran away?"

  Sam wanted to slap her, "Giselle, you can do this. There is anger and magic inside of you. Let it rise.”

  "Like, my fangs."

  Sam winced, "No."

  Aimee stepped forward, "Okay you know when you're like tired from the stale air in the mall and then you drink espresso and suddenly you feel like you can shop some more?"

  Giselle nodded, "Oh my god Aimee have you been shopping without me? Are those boots new?"

  Aimee clenched her jaw momentarily, "No sweetie. The blood is like the espresso. You just need to ask it to come to you and it will. Close your eyes for a second and focus."

  She looked confused, absolutely gorgeous but confused nonetheless. Sam had zero faith in her abilities. He looked at Lucas and knew the wolf felt the same.

  "You got this Giselle." Aimee stepped to the side and watched the crowd. Sam knew her presence made everyone uneasy.

  Aimee looked fierce, her grey eyes were molten steel and already set on which vampire she would kill first. Her black tank top was stained in blood but was hard to see as she almost always wore black. She wore blood red leather pants and huge dark brown knee high boots. Black stains and dried bits clung to her everywhere.

  Looking at her, Sam had a hard time imagining her as Giselle remembered her. Sweet and nerdy. She seemed ruthless and violent.

  Lorri put a hand in the air again, stilling the frothing crowd of savages.

  “Bring a challenger. We will have a fight to the death for the right of royalty.”

  The crowd erupted. Part excitement and part argument over who was eldest.

  A man was shoved forward.

  Sam watched as Dorian’s jaw clenched seeing the man. He was tall and strong looking, but not muscular. He looked like a Euro trash vampire. They all did. Sam had no love for Vamps, other than Giselle. She looked like she was about to cry processing the statement Lorri had made, “The death?”

  Dorian took his turn at convincing her, “You have the strongest blood here Giselle. You have all of Marcus’s strength inside of you. Call to it. Ask it to assist you. That vampire cannot beat you no matter what. Marcus would have laughed at him. ”

  Giselle turned back to the front door and threw up in the bushes.

  The crowd laughed at her.

  Sam felt anger inside of himself. He was ready. He was dangerous when he was ready. He felt his fingers flex on their own. He began to think about Hanna. Her lips and eyes. His fingers running through her soft strawberry locks. The swell in her chest. The way she moaned when he licked along her throat. He had never waited for anything the way he had waited for her. He felt his energy seeping from him.

  He looked at the grin on Dorian’s face, “It almost feels like cheating having you here.”

  Sam smiled and tried to ignore the blush crossing his cheeks, “It is cheating there is no doubt.”

  He looked out at the massive group of vampires. The effect of his pheromones was hitting them. The eyes dilated first. They sniffed the air. Fangs began bursting everywhere.

  Lorri looked back sharply to Giselle, “Not you, you idiot. Keep those fangs in your mouth for the love of god.”

  Giselle covered her mouth, as a desperate look crossed her eyes.

  She took deep breaths and dropped the hand.

  The challenger frowned, “Is that a Siren?”

  Dorian laughed, “Where? Surely one of us would have eaten a Siren by now.”

  The male pointed at Giselle, “Is she a Siren and a vampire? Marcus has cursed us.”

  Sam laughed. They never would have assumed it would be him. Male Sirens with any sort of powers were never heard of.

  “Why do they think it’s me?” Giselle whispered.

  He smirked at her, “I don’t technically exist Giselle. They assume the Siren is the most beautiful girl here. If you are a Siren and the vampire queen then they will be as servants to you in every way.”

  Giselle looked lost, which wasn’t new.

  Aimee looked back, “Command them to kneel. We need to see how many will defend her, just in case.”

  Lorri looked back and nodded.

  Giselle cleared her throat again, “Uhm I would like it if you would kneel please.”

  Lorri rolled her eyes and grabbed Giselle by the crotch, “Like you have a set Giselle.”

  Giselle shouted against the assault, “KNEEL.”

  Several dropped to their knees but the others appeared to be fighting it. Their legs shook against her command. The tall Euro
trash stood freely smiling.

  "Enough with the theatrics Lucifer."

  Dorian nodded at Giselle, “You ready? You have to kill him. He's a traitor to your kind. I bet he's the reason Marcus's bloodline is dead."

  Giselle looked worried, “How did he kill them?”

  Lorri sneered, “He has an army that Marcus never knew about. I guarantee it. Marcus was so obsessed with other things he missed it.”

  Dorian laughed, “Like his cock.”

  Sam glowered.

  Giselle looked around at the group of people surrounding her and shook her head, “I can’t do this.”

  Lorri gripped her arm, “Do it or die. Those are your only choices.”

  A tear dripped down Giselle’s cheek.

  Aimee stepped in and wiped the tear and smiled “You can do this. I’ve got your back.”

  Giselle looked into her eyes and nodded, “You will help me?”

  Aimee nodded, “I will not let you die.”

  Giselle took a step forward and nodded, “Okay.”

  Sam looked at Aimee in protest, but she shook her head subtly.

  Lorri growled, “Stay.”

  Sam knew who she was commanding.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ophelia

  She knelt on the couch, watching the others on the front lawn and the hundreds in the streets.

  She looked back at Jake. He was still sleeping on the couch across from her.

  She glanced at Annabelle, who hovered next to her, “Are you dead?”

  Annabelle spoke but never took her ghostly eyes from the window, “I guess but I cants die. I’s like you. Miss Lydia protected me always when we was girls. Blacks was hated and treated badly. Miss Lydia always lied and said I was her slave.” She turned and smiled, “But I was always her friend.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Two hundred and forty six I thinks. Me and Miss Lydia was born same year under the same summer moon. Same moon as you. I be the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter too. My magic was always stronger than Miss Lydia’s. We lived in Georgia and spent our days learning the magic from my gran. We had to take Miss Lydia from her family. They was not the good kind. They was teaching her the bad magic. We moved from Georgia to here. We fled the hunters.”