Witch (Cursed)

by Brown, Tara

She nodded and bit her lip.

  "What do I get out of it?"

  She gulped, "My gratitude."

  "I want undying love and physical appreciation."

  She laughed nervously, "I want world peace."

  He shrugged, "What do I care about the world."

  "It was an expression. It means we can't always get what we want."

  He pushed off of the tree and walked across the rocks and dirt slowly, "I get what I want. And if you want world peace so badly all you have to do is wish for it. Witches wishes and such."

  He stopped walking directly in front of her. She looked up at him, "Will you do it?"

  He looked in her eyes, "I want one thing."

  Her eyes narrowed, "I'm not the kind of girl you think I am."

  He bent and brushed his lips against her cheek. His warm breath whispered into her ear, "I know what kind of girl you are."

  He was gone.

  She looked around, "Oliver you never said what you want." Nothing moved. The garden was silent.

  "Oliver?"

  She put her hands over her eyes and muttered, "Shit." She pulled the cell phone Lorri gave her, from her pocket.

  In an instant Aimee stood across the grass from her. She looked different. Relaxed.

  She beamed, "Hey. You rang?"

  Ophelia smiled, "Oh my god is Giselle better?"

  Aimee shook her head, "I don’t think so. Blake never sent me a message about her changing. He's there with Alise. I'm heading there now."

  "You look weird and you got here fast and you're cheerful."

  Aimee blushed, "Oh uhm it was, well, I had a good night."

  Ophelia laughed, "Oh gross sorry. I didn’t mean to like, pry."

  Aimee shook her head, "No it was fabulous." Her grey eyes sparkled with life. "I never knew what happened when supernatural people, uhm, did it."

  Ophelia felt her face getting red, "Oh. Cool."

  Aimee put her fingers to her face and smiled. She was remembering the night before. Ophelia felt awkward.

  "I asked Oliver to save Giselle."

  Aimee's face dropped, "What?"

  Ophelia nodded, "Yeah. I did. I think he might."

  Aimee frowned, "What did Jonathan say he made again?"

  "Succubus."

  "What is that?"

  Ophelia tried to remember, "I saw it on Charmed I think they suck your life force and you die. Like a vampire."

  Aimee nodded, "Oh okay then we should be fine. As long as Giselle gets to suck something she should be fine. Wait die? Can she suck only a little at a time?"

  Ophelia shook her head, "I don’t know. On Charmed they sucked you dry."

  "Sweet fuck. Lets hurry."

  She grabbed Ophelia's hand and flashed them into the room. Oliver was bent over in an embrace with Giselle. His hands slid up into her dark hair. Her hands rubbed the back of him.

  Ophelia stopped herself from leaping forward and ripping them apart. Watching them make out was killing her slowly.

  Her heartbeat quickened. She looked down at the floor. She turned away from the scene.

  Aimee cleared her throat.

  Ophelia walked out quickly. She ran down the hall.

  "Ophelia wait."

  She pushed her legs hard when she heard his name. She shot the glass in front of her with a fireball. She dove out the window.

  The air rushed across her. She screamed seeing the ground flying at her but she knew. Her instincts felt it. She blew hard at the ground and slowed her decent. She floated to the ground. Her legs hit the pavement running.

  "O."

  She looked up to see him standing on the sidewalk in front of her. She stopped.

  "Running from someone like me is a bit pointless."

  She screamed. A fireball ripped from her fingers. He flashed and it hit a black SUV, exploding it on contact. She watched the vehicle burn.

  "That’s how we change them…"

  Her eyes shot behind her where he stood. A fireball was soaring at him before he could finish his sentence. It hit a corner of a small building and exploded it into shards of wood and glass.

  "O. The humans. Stop."

  She swung both her arms at once and fireballs shot from both hands going in a circle as she spun. She fired like a Tommy gun.

  She looked around her to see a wall of fire around her. She saw a figure on the other side of the flames. She walked through. She knew it wouldn’t burn her. Oliver stood on the lawn of the hospital with his arms crossed. His arm muscles bulged in his rolled up white dress shirt. She tried not to notice. She felt the fire rising inside of her. She felt something bite into her arms and suddenly she was standing in the garden at Marcus's. She turned to see Aleks. He held her out to assess the damage, "You okay?"

  She shook her head, "He, was, he, her." Her face fell into her hands.

  He pulled her in, "You can’t light a whole neighborhood on fire honey."

  She smelled him and memories flooded in. He sat in her window. Memories of him and Sam melded. She knew him. She knew him well. She hated that she was attracted to him.

  His huge arms wrapped around her.

  "Tell me what happened."

  She sniffed, "I asked Oliver to save Giselle. I caught them making out in the hospital room."

  He hugged her tighter, "O that's how we make a demon."

  She looked up into his blue eyes, "What?"

  He nodded, "You ever hear of the kiss of death?"

  She nodded.

  "That’s where that came from. Angels give humans the kiss of death. Mix their blood with human blood and swallow."

  She wiped her face, "Well that’s gross. You guys are disgusting."

  He laughed.

  She understood how Aimee loved him so much. He was the sweetest guy in the world. Not like Oliver. She didn’t care how it was done. He had said he loved her. Her skin crawled seeing it play over in her mind.

  "We need to get you back." She nodded. He flashed her. The air filled with warm wind and suddenly she was back at Lydia's and he was gone.

  She looked up to see Ari going over an old book on the table. She looked up and smiled, "Hey. You okay?"

  Ophelia shook her head, "No. I think I just destroyed a parking lot."

  Ari laughed, "Oh well at least it wasn’t everyone's lives."

  Ophelia sat beside her, "You know it wasn’t your fault. Aimee was dying. I would have done the same thing."

  Ari looked at her and smiled, "Thank you."

  "Hanna told me that this has happened to you lots, the change thing."

  Ari sighed, "Yeah."

  "How did you deal with the old memories and feelings?"

  Ari shrugged and drank from the mug in front of her, "Still haven’t."

  Her dark eyes filled with sadness, "I killed every one of those little kids. Sarah, Dawn, Danny. Their faces float in my mind. Sam was like a brother to me. He and Lucas were brothers. Lucas cries every day. He can't even be grateful that his real brother is alive because his heart is broken."

  Ophelia felt like her heart was on fire. She wrapped her arms around herself, "I'm sorry Ari. I'm sorry for it all. My family is the cause of it all."

  Ari shook her head, "Ophelia my dad is nightmare. He's my nightmare but somehow he has a way of screwing with everyone's lives. It's insane. Lorri is no treat. I've known her now for a while, just found out she likes chicks. Totally thought she was straight. She doesn’t let any of us in. She's all about the plan you know? Lydia is so busy worrying about everything that she misses a lot of things." She puts her arms out, "One day this will be ours to run and you know what, we'll be no different from them. We'll think it's for the greater good or see the bigger picture and forget about the small details. They have too much at stake."

  Ophelia sighed, "We need the next Nephilim to be able to freeze time so we can take a year and live in Barbados."

  Ari pointed at her, "Now that’s the spirit. Make it a witch wish and make it happen."

  Ophelia lau
ghed.

  Lydia walked into the kitchen and smiled, "Good to see you girls coming around."

  Ari shook her head, "It just gets easier to live in constant disappointment."

  Lydia sat down at the table with a coconut cream pie and three spoons. She passed them out, "Yes I suppose. I think also that Sam would have wanted us to be happy. He would want us to make sure Hanna finds happiness."

  Ophelia scooped a massive spoonful of pie, "He would want us to kill my father and Daniel." She shoved the sweet pie in her mouth and moaned.

  Ari nodded, "Cheers to that." She clinked her spoon against Lydia's and Ophelia's and shoved it in the pie. She put a massive bite in her mouth. Her eyes softened, "Oh my god." She spoke with a full mouth.

  Lydia laughed, "It is an old family recipe of Annabelle's mom."

  Ophelia looked at Lydia and wondered if she was full of regrets. She married a regular man, she tried to have a baby, and she tried to seek out a normal life. It all ended when her best friend sacrificed her life for her and made the guards. Her baby died because of the darkness that was in her from trying casting dark magic. She shoved her spoon in the pie and took a bite.

  "Look at you greedy women eating that pie I made for everyone. Shame on you all." Annabelle laughed floating in the kitchen. She looked at Ophelia with her creepy ghost eyes, "Now that Mr. Oliver be in the street calling for you. He been there about an hour and he be getting on my last nerve."

  Ophelia glanced at Ari who smirked, "Yikes. That’s a bad situation."

  Lydia shook her head, "No you stay in the house. He's trouble. I think we all learned that the hard way."

  She took a bite of pie and looked at Annabelle who crossed her arms, "You all can't hear him but I can. Now somebody best be getting rid of him."

  Ophelia stood licking her spoon, "Don’t eat it all. I'll be back in a minute."

  Lydia smiled, "Fine but you hurry. We need to talk about a certain ring of fire in the hospital parking lot when you get back."

  She grimaced and turned and walked out of the kitchen that suddenly seemed cozy again. With so few people it felt half its size.

  She walked through the front door and the porch door, trying to control the anger that was building.

  He was over where the vampire war had been, back when the world made sense.

  "I need to talk to you."

  She watched his face. He seemed genuinely upset.

  "Why?"

  "Because I want to explain."

  She shook her head and walked down on the steps, "Why did you do it?"

  He threw his hands up in the air, "You asked me to, you insufferable girl."

  She cocked her head, "I never asked you to do it quite so, vigorously."

  He laughed, "Jesus save me. Look Ophelia that’s how it's done."

  She snapped, "I'M PRETTY SURE YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO COMPLETELY CHEW ON HER FACE!"

  He crossed his arms and paced in front of the guard, "Don't make me come in there. Please."

  She could see the dark shadows swirling around the ground outside of the guards.

  "Is that your darkness?" She pointed.

  He looked around, "What? Where?"

  "There. The swirling shadows. You're evil and you bring darkness with you."

  He looked around, he never looked on the ground.

  "I don't see it. Is it behind me?"

  She raised an eyebrow, why couldn’t he see it?

  "O I don’t give a shit about the swirls of evil. I need you to hear me. I never would have done it if you hadn't asked me to. Please listen to me."

  She walked across the yard, "You are honestly going to tell me I asked you to fucking make out with her like it was an Olympic sport?"

  "Yes. No. Wait? What?"

  She nodded, "I watched you. I saw you. Your hands were in her hair and her hands were all over your back."

  He pointed at the old house and spit his words in fury, "You're dating that fucking dog. Behind my back, you're dating him. I've said nothing because I know it's part of the other world. But you could have broken it off by now."

  "That is besides the point. Wait you're spying on me and making out with her. Oh my god."

  He raked his hands through his hair, "You're going to kill me. I'm going to actually have a heart attack."

  She crossed her arms, "You have to have a heart."

  He looked up at the tops of the trees and screamed.

  She watched his bright red face ripple. He stepped across the boundary. He screamed in pain and dragged her across it. She looked at the shadows on the ground around her.

  He flashed them, as they crossed the guards fully.

  She pushed him away when her feet touched the dirt.

  She was horrified, "You crossed the guard?"

  He looked psychotic as he leaned into her, "I love you. I told you I love you." His breathing was labored.

  "You crossed the guards."

  He grinned, "I can do that."

  She took a step back, "You made out with my friend."

  He pinched the bridge of his nose like Lorri did when she talked to her. "It is NOT what you think it is. I am NOT attracted to her."

  Ophelia cocked her head.

  He laughed bitterly, "Well fine. She's attractive, but she isn’t my type."

  "She is everyone's type. There are blind people who can sense she is their type. She's my type and I'm not gay."

  He laughed again, "I mean, you are mine. You are the one that matters to me. I want you. The kiss meant nothing. The only type I have is you."

  She watched his face, "You set a trap and almost got Aimee killed."

  He pointed, "Not in this lifetime and you're bringing up old shit."

  She laughed, "Stop making me laugh. I'm mad at you."

  He reached for her hand, "O you're mine. Even though you're foul tempered and jealous and still dating a shifter." He pulled her in and gently brushed his soft lips against her. The air filled with aftershave and him. "You're mine."

  She felt his big arms wrap around her. She wanted to push him away. She wanted to be angry about Giselle but she couldn’t. She had slept wrapped in Ben's arms the night before. She kissed him back. His tongue slipped into her mouth. His hands pushed up into her hair. He gripped it slightly and pulled her head back from his, "I expect you will deal with the young shifter."

  She looked into his blue eyes and nodded.

  He bent back into the kiss. His hands roamed her back until they reached her backside. He squeezed her butt firmly. She started to laugh. He looked at her. She squirmed, "I'm ticklish."

  He squeezed again, making her arms and legs go everywhere. She screamed at him, "STOP IT!"

  He laughed watching her flail, "You go into full defensive when tickled?"

  She pushed him back, "I hate being tickled."

  He laughed, "Your mother is like that."

  She paused, "You know my mother?"

  He shook his head, "No. No one knows your mother. Your father told me. Sometimes he binds her and has her tickled. It's the only time he hears her laugh or sees her smile."

  She felt sick, "That’s horrid."

  He shrugged, "Could be a lot worse." His blue eyes darkened, "Trust me."

  "Where is my brother really?"

  He looked around and sat on a log next to her, "Tristan is a prisoner. He's a sweet kid. He wants you to win. He wants to be free."

  She swallowed hard, "Where's your son?"

  "With Tristan. They're friends. Well that’s not entirely true. They're lovers. They want nothing more than to live together and be together in a sunny place where they never have to see Jonathan again."

  She felt confused, "Why would you let your only son live there? In those conditions?"

  He shook his head, "He wanted it. He knew early on Tristan was his."

  She smiled, "My brother is gay?"

  "Yeah."

  "Oh my god we have to save him. Is he cute? I could totally be a hag."

  Oliver looked
lost, "Look the plan is to save him."

  Ophelia sat next to him on the log, "What is the plan? What is your plan?"

  He rubbed her thigh, "I would very much like to make love to you for starters."

  Her stomach dropped, as he continued, "Then we need to rally the troops. That friend of Aimee's made the weapons for Jonathan with Marcus's hellfire. So at least he won't have that this time around. He sent a message yesterday that your brother was getting the powers. He assumed you would come to him. That's going to have to happen again but this time when I capture you with him, you will trust me. You come alone with me and let Lorri and Dorian go with the others. When he makes the trade for your sister for Aimee she can't fight. He will let her live if he has no means to kill her."

  Ophelia looked at him sharply. He put his hands up "As far as I know he doesn’t. I know his entire plan. I helped plan it."

  "What changed?"

  He bent and kissed her lips softly, "You."

  She shook her head, "No, there has to be something else?"

  He smiled, "Believe me O, you are enough of a reason. You've given me something I've never felt before."

  Chapter Forty-One

  Aimee

  She watched Giselle start to change. Her body was healing rapidly. The guards had let her inside. Giselle had cried for an hour being back at Lydia's. Her skin was glowing again, instead of yellow and clammy.

  Aleks walked in, "Hey. Oliver wants us to meet him and O. We need to go over the plan for tomorrow."

  She shook her head, "We shouldn’t trust him."

  Lorri crossed her arms, "You know I was thinking the same thing but he never told Jonathan about Ari. Jonathan was completely surprised by that one. He's on our side, he's just doing his usual bullshit."

  "What?"

  "He is the most selfish person ever, ever. He's doing all of this because he loves Ophelia. I never thought I would ever see him fall in love."

  "What about the mother of his son?"

  "Slave."

  Aimee scowled. Lorri shrugged, "They didn’t like the idea that we were to help the humans. They started to see them as weak and infantile."

  Aleks laughed, "Humans are those things."

  Lorri shrugged, "God loves them. He wants them kept safe. That was the mission. He never wanted them used for anything or abused by things they couldn’t fight off. He and Jonathan couldn’t understand that. They let the temptation in the air taint them."