After the Summerland (The Witches of Spring Hill Book 1)

by Patricia Proctor

  Chloe feels the butterflies start up in her stomach when she notices how Cian is looking at her. She has to ignore it for now, although she can’t help but recognize the desire she has for him. Just being near him reminds her of the feeling she gets when she sinks into a hot bath when she’s cold. The warmth spreads over every part of her body, awakening her senses and bringing her back to life. She knows that it is not natural to feel this way for someone she just met, but her soul recognizes his soul on a much deeper level that transcends the human experience. It is as if her soul recognizes him from times before and has only been waiting to meet up with him again.

  She comes back to the present when she hears her sister ask, “Chloe? Do you want to take it from here?” She knows Rowan was going to explain how they recently learned about their history, and even though she has no idea what her sister just said, she begins telling them about the Scott sisters who lived in the house before them. She continues the whole story just as her GG Peter and Grandpa Marcus explained to them. She waits for their reactions before continuing with what they discovered in the books and grimoires left for them.

  Brianna is the first to respond, “Wow. That is… amazing. I have never even heard about the Summerland before now and we’ve been doing this for five years. Have you guys?” she asks Cian and Xavier.

  They are both surprised at their sister’s admission of practicing for five years, but shake their heads no and Kaiden asks, “Well, why do you do what you do? What motivates you?”

  “Mostly, Aunt Selene,” Brianna answers honestly.

  “So if she didn’t explain to you about the Summerland, what did you think was the purpose of all this? Of life?” Chloe asks Cian.

  “I guess I never really thought about what the purpose is, instead I was just focusing on how to do the things I’ve learned without considering why I am doing it,” Cian answers honestly.

  Xavier sits quietly listening to the conversation going on around him, taking in everything being said. Hearing that everything he does in this lifetime will affect his next reincarnation, he can’t help but reflect on some of the things his aunt has made him do. Fortunately, it has not gotten to the point where he has hurt anyone; but the lies he has told, the way he casts spells to manipulate minds… that can’t be good.

  “But how can you live a fulfilled life without purpose? How will you grow and learn in this incarnation if you don’t even know that there is a deeper meaning behind your being here?” Rowan asks. She’s surprised that their aunt Selene hadn’t told them the most important part of their existence, the part that resonated with her the deepest.

  Brianna says, defensively, “How can we live a fulfilled life when we are just trying to survive living with our aunt?”

  Everyone is quiet as they think about the implications of what Brianna said. Finally Kaiden says, “That’s why we want to get to know you guys. We want to help.”

  “And we want to protect ourselves from whatever your aunt is planning,” Chloe adds, surprising them all with what she implies in that statement.

  Before giving them a chance to reply, she moves on quickly telling them about the clearing, which is what makes their land so sacred, the books and grimoires left for them and all the history it explains, and what little they know about their own abilities. She explains that so far she is the only one of the three of them to start showing her abilities. Before she can continue, Kaiden interrupts and explains that actually he has started to as well. He doesn’t go into detail so Chloe refrains from explaining what she has discovered about herself since spending time with Cian. When she finally finishes, she looks around at everyone and waits for someone to reply.

  Xavier surprises everyone when he is the first to speak. He explains that up until recently, he has just been doing whatever his Aunt Selene has been telling him to do. She teaches him how to cast spells and oftentimes, he doesn’t understand why she wants him do something. Though lately he is finding clarity, which has made him question his actions more. He has decided it has something to do with this town, and more specifically this land.

  Brianna, surprised and encouraged by Xavier’s honesty all night, explains that she, too, has just been following her Aunt Selene’s orders, but the one thing her aunt didn’t teach her, which is her own, is her intuition about other people. She explains how her abilities are getting stronger and besides understanding someone’s intentions, she can now hear people’s thoughts, just like her Aunt Selene, apparently.

  “Ahem,” Kaiden says, clearing his throat, “Have you heard any of my thoughts?” he asks nervously.

  Brianna smiles shyly at Kaiden and instead of telling him that there must be some spell protecting them, which is the truth, she teasingly says, “Yes. Yes, I have, and I definitely want to hear more.”

  Kaiden blushes and looking directly at Brianna sends one clear thought directly to her that she can’t miss: ‘I can’t stop thinking about you.’ She blushes in return and lowers her eyes from the intensity in his.

  Cian says teasing, “Okay, you two… Really? Inappropriate. Pull yourselves together.”

  Brianna replies, “Oh please, Cian. I know you’re not talking. No one said anything when you and Chloe made eyes at each other for like ten minutes. Acting like no one else was even in the room. Whatever.”

  Xavier looks over at Rowan and shaking his head says, “They are obnoxious.” She can’t help but laugh, and he leans back in his chair and raises his eyebrows, “Whoa, did we just have a moment?” She laughs again, feeling good as she lets go of her obstinance.

  “Okay, okay,” Cian says, moving on. “My abilities are also getting stronger. I have always been able to see a little into the future, but since we’ve been here, I am able to see further than I ever have before and I can pick up emotions as well as actual events. I can sense whether something will be good or bad and can make decisions based on the feeling I get.”

  Chloe gasps, “That’s one of my abilities, too, but I only get my visions after I sleep.”

  “That’s how mine started, too, Chloe. You’ll see that eventually it will get so you can simply close your eyes and a vision will come to you on command,” Cian explains.

  To Chloe, that statement makes all the risk of having them at the house worth it. We are being honest and we are learning from each other, the way I saw it was going to be, she thinks to herself.

  Noticing that Rowan hasn’t said anything about her abilities and the way she is just looking around at them, Xavier asks, “What about you, Rowan? What are your abilities?”

  She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. “I don’t know, I mean, nothing has happened, yet,” she replies, unable to hide the disappointment from her voice.

  “Mine took a while, too,” Brianna says. “Both Xavier and Cian started right away and gradually built up their abilities, but mine came in all at once and have only been getting stronger since I’ve been here. The same will probably happen to you.”

  Rowan nods, relieved that Brianna went through something similar. She was surprised to hear that Kaiden’s abilities are manifesting too, leaving her as the only one of the six of them who is not showing any signs of special abilities.

  “Thanks,” she says to Brianna, grateful to her for putting her mind at ease. “I’m relieved that it’s not totally weird that I haven’t shown anything yet.”

  Brianna smiles in return, “No worries. I know how you feel. I hated that they were all gifted and I wasn’t. It’ll happen for you, though.” Looking at Kaiden she asks, “So, what’s your ability, Kaiden?”

  Looking uncomfortable, he says, “Um, well, I can’t see into the future or anything like that, but I just learned I can do this…” and pointing toward the hearth he waves his hand and suddenly the smoldering log becomes a roaring fire.

  “Whoa!” Xavier and Cian say at the same time.

  “Fire is your element,” Brianna says, in awe of his gift.

  “Kaiden! When did you discover that?”
Chloe asks, shocked.

  “When I lit the candles and fire tonight,” Kaiden replies. “I was just as shocked as all of you!”

  “Ok, so now that we’ve told each other everything about ourselves, what about your Aunt?” Chloe asks.

  “I don’t even want to talk about her,” Brianna says. “I feel like just talking about her will wake her up.”

  “I agree,” Xavier says. “Let’s just say that her abilities are very strong. She’s mastered all of the elements, she has several psychic abilities, and she has a hard-on for your land.”

  “What do you mean, Xavier?” Liam asks, catching the last part of what he said.

  “Mister Alexander, sir, excuse me, sir.” Xavier says, not wanting to be caught speaking like that in front of him.

  “It’s Liam, Xavier, and it’s fine. Why is your aunt so interested in our land?” Liam asks.

  “Honestly, we don’t know,” Cian answers. “We just know that she moved us here because she wanted to buy this house. She was going to offer you money until she found out you were the chief of police, and then, for some reason, she wanted us to get to know you better so that we could come between you.”

  Liam thinks about that for a moment, wondering what would make someone want to break up a family. Interrupting his thoughts, Brianna says, “Things are getting weird with her. She’s even more moody and more aggressive than usual.”

  Xavier adds, “She’s becoming more dangerous. We were all shocked when Chloe told us what she did to them in the car. And, even though I knew beforehand she was going to Peter’s house, I swear I didn’t know she was going to do what she did. She implied that she had an appointment with him, but nothing about this makes sense. I don’t know why she would cast a spell on him and I don’t even want to think about what she was planning to do to you guys the other night in the car. I’ve actually wondered what stopped her from going further since she is obviously out of control.”

  “It might have been the protection spell,” Chloe says. “The night after we discovered we were witches, we cast a spell out at the clearing and that night as she seemed about to run us off the road, I held my necklace and repeated the spell. Then just as suddenly as she approached, she backed off.”

  “That has to be it,” Xavier says. “You need to keep it up, all of you. When she wants something, she won’t stop until she gets it.”

  The room goes quiet as everyone absorbs what has been said, but the fire popping brings everyone back to the moment. Liam says, “I better get you back to town before it gets much later.”

  Looking at the clock on the wall, they quickly say their goodbyes, suddenly aware of the risk they took tonight to be here. Cian promises Chloe he’ll text her as soon as he gets home and tells her not to worry. The mood is much more somber departing than it was when they were arriving.

  As Xavier, Cian, and Brianna walk out the door, Chloe remembers the rosemary. “Wait!” she calls and runs out the door after them with the flashlight. In the garden, she picks four sprigs of rosemary and runs back to the jeep. She hands one to each of them, “For protection,” she says, before she runs back into the house.

  Most of the drive back to town is quiet, with each of them in their own thoughts until Liam breaks the silence by thanking them for telling him about their aunt. He promises that if they have any trouble with her, he will do whatever is needed to help them. Liam reluctantly drops them back off at the school. He hates leaving them to walk the three blocks home alone this late at night, so doing his civic duty, he parks a block from their house and watches for them to come down the street.

  Their house looks dark, which hopefully means Selene won’t realize they were out. He is relieved when he finally sees them walking down the street. He waits a few moments longer just to make sure they get in the house, but he loses sight of them when they walk around to the back and go through the wooden gate.

  No longer able to see them, he drives home thinking about the note left at Gramps’ house and what he learned from Xavier tonight about Selene’s wanting the house and land. He puts the two together and for a moment, he wonders if, for some reason, Selene thinks the land belongs to her. How can that be? Liam thinks to himself and starts working through other possible scenarios in his mind.

  On the walk home, Xavier concocted a story just in case Selene was awake. They agreed to say that they went to a party at Tyler White’s house, but since they didn’t have a clue where he lived, they hoped she wouldn’t be awake so they wouldn’t have to answer any questions. Brianna tells Xavier to think of his mind as a steel trap and reminds him that as soon as they get in the house she’ll give him the amulet he needs to keep Selene from reading his mind.

  The house is dark and quiet from the outside and they soundlessly make their way onto the back deck. Just as Xavier is about to pull the sliding glass door open, he notices the red light blinking on the alarm pad in the kitchen.

  “Damn!” he whispers, “The alarm is set. We’re screwed.”

  “What are we going to do?” Brianna whispers back.

  “I don’t know. Did anyone happen to leave their window unlocked?” Xavier asks.

  Both Brianna and Cian shake their heads.

  “I just want to be back in that warm kitchen,” Brianna says. “It’s so cold out here.”

  “Well, going back is not an option,” Xavier says.

  They nearly climb out of their skin when, out of the darkness, Selene steps and asks, “Where would you like to go back to, dear Brianna?” Without waiting for an answer, she asks, “Where the hell have you three been?”

  Xavier says, “Jeez, Aunt Selene, you scared us half to death!”

  “I’ll only ask one more time… Where. Have. You. Been?”

  “We went to a party. This kid from school, Tyler, was having a party and we thought it would be a good way to get some information,” Xavier responds.

  “So why didn’t you tell me about the party earlier?” Selene asks.

  “Can we go in and talk about this, Aunt Selene? I’m freezing,” Brianna says.

  The slap came so fast and hard that no one was able to react until it was too late. Brianna fell back against the railing, hitting her head on the brick wall.

  “What the hell, Aunt Selene?” Cian asks as he reaches out to help his sister up. “Why are you freaking out?”

  “Why am I ‘freaking’ out? Why am I freaking out!?!” Selene asks. “You’re kidding, right? I wake up to find the three of you gone. No note, no text, no call — nothing. Then when I ask where you were, I get lies.”

  “We’re not lying, Aunt Selene. We went to a party. That’s all. I got a text about it at 7:30 and you were already asleep. We didn’t want to wake you and we didn’t think it would be a big deal,” Xavier says.

  “I might be more inclined to believe you if you didn’t smell like rosemary. Why do you have rosemary on you?” Selene asks.

  “Obviously not for protection from you,” Brianna responds sarcastically, holding the back of her head.

  “Don’t push me, little girl. Don’t push me,” Selene threatens.

  Cian jumps in, “I thought it would be a good idea to have some in case the Alexanders were there.”

  “And were they?” Selene asks Xavier.

  “No, they weren’t,” he responds. “But we figured after what happened today, we shouldn’t take any chances. C’mon, Aunt Selene. You’re making a big deal out of nothing. Can we go in now?”

  She stands staring at Xavier for a moment, then says, “Fine, let’s go. But this conversation is not over and if you ever sneak out of the house again or don’t tell me where you are, there’ll be more than just a slap. Understood?”

  They all said they understood and walked around to the front door behind Selene. Xavier suspects Brianna’s suggestion to block his mind worked. Selene would never have let them off so easy, had she known where they spent their evening. She stopped them at the door, leaving them outside on the porch. Only after she put in the alarm c
ode, did she come back to let them in. Oh yes, Xavier thinks, she is definitely getting more paranoid and much more dangerous every day.

  Chapter 26

  After getting caught trying to sneak in, Xavier, Cian, and Brianna lay low for a while and avoid meeting up with the Alexanders other than at school. At home, they don’t talk to each other about anything they learned from the Alexanders — just in case Selene had the house bugged. Occasionally they text each other, but eventually decide that even that much communication isn’t safe. They stay with Selene at home when they aren’t in school so they won’t cast any more suspicion on themselves.

  It is clear to all of them that Selene is building her energy for something, but even Xavier has been removed from her innermost thoughts. He knows it will take her a long time to ever trust him again, if ever. He suspects she tried to read his mind the night they got in; but when she failed, she knew that he was blocking her in order to keep something from her. Brianna gave him an amulet that he wears all the time, even when he’s not around Selene. She’s distanced herself from them emotionally and although he has tried to bring up the Alexanders on more than one occasion, Selene only half listens and eventually walks away from the conversation, sometimes when he is still in the middle of a sentence.

  Every day is a challenge and they know for sure she is planning something, but have no idea what it is. She spends a lot of time locked in the back room that only she has access to. They know when she is practicing magic, because the energy inside the house pulsates, but so far they haven’t seen any evidence of her spells.

  Cian and Brianna press Xavier, urging him to remember something, anything that will help them find out what Selene’s plans are for all of them. Xavier explains that anything she told him was strictly for whatever she was working on in the moment. Selene never told him her long-term plans, other than getting the house on the hill, which they all already knew about. They pressed him about the day she went to Peter’s, but again, he insisted he didn’t know what she was doing there, only that she was going.