Embrace

by Cherie Colyer

  “And you were sleeping,” Isaac added. “Remember?”

  Mrs. Bishop sat down and closed her eyes.

  Josh headed for the door, but Isaac grabbed his shoulder, stopping him before he could open it. “We can’t carry her out of here. The nurses will call security.”

  I didn’t see why not. “Can’t you do whatever it is you just did to Mrs. Bishop to the nurses?”

  “I can’t cast a confusion spell on the entire floor. Josh, put Kaylee down and create a glamour.”

  “A what?” I asked.

  “A glamour,” Isaac said as he bent down to pick up the necklace. “It’s like an illusion, only a glamour is done on a person to change their appearance.”

  “Babe,” Josh whispered in Kaylee’s ear. “I need you to walk. Can you do that?”

  “I shouldn’t leave.” Kaylee’s eyes met his. “They’ll kill me. They said they could find me wherever I go.”

  Oh my God, she still thought demons were after her; we were too late. My vision blurred, and I had to wipe my eyes. Josh kissed the top of her head, looking like he was on the brink of tears himself.

  “You’re safe now,” he said, “and I will do everything in my power to keep you that way.”

  He put her down so that she was standing next to him. He kept an arm around her waist and closed his eyes. Kaylee’s pajamas were replaced with blue jeans and a white sweater. Sneakers covered her once bare feet. Her hair was combed back, her eyelids were brushed blue, and her cheeks had a healthy glow to them.

  My mouth fell open in awe.

  Isaac nodded in approval. “We need to be quick. Madison, count to thirty before following us; this way the nurse only sees three of us walking out of here.”

  I met them in the lobby. We walked casually out of the hospital to Isaac’s Jeep. Kaylee kept looking nervously over her shoulder mumbling, “They’ll find me.”

  As soon as we were in the Jeep, I asked, “With the necklace destroyed, shouldn’t she be better?”

  Isaac started the engine, then looked over his shoulder at Kaylee. The glamour was gone. Her hair hung limp around her pale face, and she was wearing the pajamas her parents had brought to the hospital. “We need to get her something to eat and somewhere she can rest.”

  Something to eat ended up being a burger to go from the first fast food restaurant we passed, and a place to rest turned out to be Isaac’s house, in his basement. He gave me a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt before the guys went upstairs to grab drinks. I helped Kaylee to the bathroom and started a warm shower.

  She grabbed my wrist. “Don’t leave me.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  I found a clean towel and washcloth under the sink. I handed the washcloth to Kaylee in the shower and took a seat on the toilet, lid down.

  I had to know if this was over, if Kaylee was back to herself. I filled my lungs with air and prayed destroying the necklace had worked. “Do you feel better?”

  “You know, it’s weird, but I do,” she said, and I released the breath I was holding. “As soon as I was in Josh’s arms I felt safe. Crazy, I know, but the demons don’t like him. They tend to leave me alone when he’s around.”

  It wasn’t crazy. Josh had destroyed the onyx charm and enveloped her in his powers. I knew how it felt to have someone else’s power wrapped around me.

  “The demons didn’t come until I was strapped to the bed, you know,” she said. “The doctors made me an easy target. I couldn’t run. Couldn’t move. I begged the nurses to untie me. They wouldn’t, and my parents wouldn’t. Do you think the demons got to them too? Maybe that’s why they left me tied up. Maybe the demons threatened them. I’m lucky they didn’t get to you or Josh.”

  Kaylee reached out of the shower curtain. I handed her the towel.

  “I knew they had to be demons by the dreadful things they did,” she continued. “Once I was tied down, they sent more than just spiders and snakes after me. They’d run their hands and tongues over my arms and face. Their saliva burned too.” She looked at her arms as if expecting to see welts or scorched skin. “They were getting ready to do worse.”

  My God, what did Mark do to her? My eyes were wide and my mouth open in silent horror as Kaylee described what she’d been through. Tears ran down the length of my cheeks and onto the floor. How do you tell someone the past few days didn’t really happen? How do you tell them that they were under a curse that caused hallucinations?

  “Kaylee, what do you know about magic?” I asked.

  She pulled the sweatshirt over her head and asked innocently, “You mean like abracadabra and I-put-a-spell-on-you type stuff?”

  “Sort of, yeah,” I replied, realizing she didn’t get that I was implying magic was the cause of all her problems. I tried to think of a delicate way to explain everything to her.

  “I know it makes good movies,” she said.

  Screw being subtle. “Kaylee, you were under a curse. No one is after you. There was nothing at school or in the hospital. It was all an illusion created by magic.”

  Kaylee giggled nervously. “And they said I was crazy.” But she looked as if she was giving it serious consideration.

  Josh knocked on the bathroom door. “How are you doing in there?”

  Kaylee flung the door open and threw her arms around his neck. “Thanks for getting me out of that place.”

  Josh smiled the first real smile I’d seen from him in days. “Don’t mention it.”

  “What should I do with her pajamas?” I asked.

  “Give them to me.” Isaac held out his hand. “I want to burn them. She doesn’t need anything to remind her of the last few days.” Isaac took the pajamas and disappeared back up the stairs. I wondered if he was actually going to burn them.

  Kaylee’s eyes darted around the room, and for a moment I thought she saw her demons.

  “Where are we?” she asked, her voice soft.

  “Isaac’s house,” Josh said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Tired and hungry.”

  Josh took the burgers out of the fast food bag and handed one to Kaylee and one to me. We sat on the floor to eat, the bag torn open so that we could share the fries.

  “Did you save me one?” Isaac asked when he rejoined us.

  Josh handed him a burger.

  Kaylee was halfway through hers before she said anything else. “They’ll come for me. They’ll find me and then they’ll punish me.” She bit her bottom lip nervously.

  Please, don’t let us be too late. The fact that she hadn’t begun to scream hysterically since Josh had crushed the onyx charm, however, gave me hope.

  “Kaylee, you have to listen to me.” I put down my food and took her hands. “Nothing is coming for you. It was all a hallucination. What you saw at school. What you saw at the hospital. None of it was real.”

  “But the spiders in the classroom, they crawled out of my backpack. Hundreds of them were coming after me.”

  I shook my head and gripped her hands tighter, willing her to believe me. “There were no spiders.”

  Kaylee looked at Josh.

  “Nothing was there,” he confirmed.

  Kaylee’s brow furrowed. “And you didn’t see those people at the hospital? The ones with red eyes and the markings on their skin?”

  Josh shook his head. “They weren’t real.”

  “How do you know?” Kaylee asked, her whole body trembling. “They spoke to me. They said they’d find me no matter where I went.”

  Kaylee looked around the room. It was like we’d lost her, like she’d never be the same person.

  “Nothing can get to you down here, not with my wards in place,” Isaac said.

  “Your what?” she asked.

  Isaac started at the beginning and explained about his powers, about Josh’s and mine too. He even produced blue flames in the palm of his hand to show her. He then explained how he had different wards guarding his room. How no one who intended to harm us would be able to come down the stairs.
How outside forces wouldn’t be able to feel our magic.

  “You haven’t seen any spiders or demons since I crushed that necklace, have you?” Josh asked.

  Kaylee shook her head.

  “That necklace was cursed,” he said. “As long as you had it on, it controlled your thoughts. It made you see those things.” Josh placed a hand under Kaylee’s chin. His powers rippled through the air.

  Kaylee touched her arms. “Are you doing that? It feels like being wrapped in silk.”

  Josh grinned. “That’s me.” He removed the metal cross from around his neck.

  “Another necklace?” I asked skeptically.

  “I’ve put some of my magic into this one.” Josh put the necklace on Kaylee. “As long as you’re wearing it, no one will be able to put you under another spell.”

  Kaylee ran her thumb over the cross. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t take it off,” Isaac instructed. “There’s too much power in Gloucester. If the person who put the curse on the onyx necklace realizes Josh has powers, that we all have powers, and that we interfered with their spell, they may come after you again.”

  “Why didn’t the necklace affect me?” I asked. “I’d worn it too.”

  “The curse could have needed to be triggered,” Josh offered.

  “Or your powers provided a level of protection,” Isaac said. “Like the difference between a table made out of pine and one out of oak. The oak is naturally stronger. Had you worn the necklace longer, though, I’m sure it would have gotten to you too.”

  I couldn’t help realizing Kaylee was the weakest person in our group. She couldn’t protect herself from outside forces. Not that I knew how to protect myself either yet. But I had powers in me. I could learn. I would be able to protect myself. I could even do harm to anyone who tried to hurt my friends or family.

  Just knowing this warmed my blood. It filled me with the sort of anxious energy I got before parties or festivals. I felt as if I could transfer my energy into a tangible form. Without really thinking, I held the palm of my hand up in front of me. The air above it sizzled and hissed. My powers moved down my arm to my fingertips like millions of army ants marching away from their colony. The taste of copper filled my mouth. Then, almost as quickly as this wonderfully delectable feeling came, everything stopped, and a sharp sting burned my outstretched hand.

  Isaac—eyes narrowed and dark—frowned at me. His expression scared me, and I looked away.

  “That wasn’t nice,” I told him. My fingers curled into a fist trying to block the pain.

  “That wasn’t me,” he replied. “That was your powers yielding to the promise you made.”

  Damn, my hand stung. Imagine holding your palm over a lighter, and when you can’t stand the heat anymore, you leave it there. Geesh! A little warning about the consequences of breaking my promise would have been nice. I’d just figured it meant I shouldn’t do spells, not that I wouldn’t be able to. A, Hey, magic will be painful if you try to use your powers before I show you how, would have been nice. And it was true: if he had told me even accidental spells wouldn’t work but would leave a wicked sting, I might not have made the promise.

  Give me a break; I couldn’t control my emotions one hundred percent of the time, let alone the powers I unleashed.

  Sorry, I should say the powers I embraced.

  What was more annoying than my throbbing hand was that Isaac seemed to be able to read my mind.

  “It only stings because you used your anger to fuel the spell,” he said.

  “I—” I was going to say, I did not, but Isaac fixed me with a shrewd glare—one eyebrow raised. “I didn’t do it on purpose,” I snarled instead.

  “Control,” Isaac said. “You must be in command of your thoughts when you cast.”

  “He’s big on that.” Josh handed me a bottle of water. Its coolness felt good against my skin. “But I know how you feel.”

  “Thanks.”

  Kaylee couldn’t stop looking around us. Yet no screaming at least meant she didn’t see her demons, the spiders, or maybe something worse. “Why me? What did I do for someone to—” She didn’t seem able to say the word curse.

  “They weren’t after you,” I mumbled.

  To think I’d almost ruined my best friend’s life. Not that I’d known anything about the powers before this morning or that I had done it intentionally, but I should have told Mark no when he gave me the necklace. What had I been thinking? Then again, I never would have guessed Mark could be so cruel. So evil. It wasn’t like we’d gone out and I’d dumped him for Isaac. There never was a Mark and me.

  Never.

  “There was no way Mark could have known I’d give Kaylee the necklace.” I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my shins. “That curse was meant for me.”

  “Mark has powers?” Kaylee asked. “He’s so, I don’t know, average.”

  “He must,” I moaned into my legs. “I’m so sorry, Kaylee.”

  “Don’t be silly,” she said, stifling a yawn. “You didn’t know the necklace was cursed.”

  “That weasel,” Josh growled. “What are we going to do about him?”

  “March up to him and punch him in the face,” I said, pounding my right fist into my left hand. “Hard. And I want to be the one to do it.”

  “We bind him.” Isaac reached into his pocket and pulled out what remained of the onyx necklace. “This will be the base of our spell. Using an item he put his own powers into will make our spell stronger. We’ll need some of his hair, and a piece of his clothing would help.”

  I smirked. “I’ll gladly yank out his hair and rip off a piece of his shirt, right after I hit him.”

  “No one will be punching Mark,” Isaac said.

  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t,” I asked. Seriously, I wanted to see Isaac stop me, and I already knew not to promise I wouldn’t.

  “If he knows we’re onto him, he’ll do everything in his power to stop us, including a spell to keep others from binding him,” Isaac said. “I know I would, if I were in his shoes.”

  Kaylee shuddered. “I don’t want to see him. I can’t handle it, not yet.”

  “That’s not a problem,” Josh said. He looked sideways at Isaac, who wore an apologetic expression. “We didn’t exactly ask permission to take you from the hospital. I’m pretty sure the nurses have noticed you’re gone by now.”

  Kaylee’s bloodshot eyes grew wide. “My parents will be worried sick. I should call them.”

  When she looked to her right, I knew she was looking for her purse, which was still at my house on the floor next to her backpack.

  “You can’t,” Josh said. “Isaac and I already talked about that. Your mom won’t remember we were there. The hospital won’t know exactly what happened to you. We’re hoping the doctors think your mom undid the straps to make you more comfortable and that you just wandered off. They’ll search the hospital first. It will buy us some time.”

  “What happens when their search comes up empty?” I asked.

  “They’ll contact the police.”

  Kaylee giggled under her breath and stifled another yawn. “I’ve been kidnapped.”

  Isaac’s bedroom would make the perfect place to hold someone prisoner.

  “In the meantime, the safest place for you is here,” Isaac said. “My parents have wards on the house. Their faith ward will be to our advantage. Even if the police come to the door, they’ll believe what I tell them. If I say I visited you at the hospital and left when you fell asleep, they’ll nod, jot it down in their notepad, and leave. My wards will help keep others with powers from sensing you’re down here, and if they try to come down to take a look for themselves, they won’t be able to. At this time, looking for you is the same as intent to do harm. As long as I believe that, it shall be, and my wards won’t budge.”

  Kaylee nodded.

  “You need some sleep,” Josh said.

  “I don’t want to sleep.” Kaylee moved to the
foot of the bed and curled up. “I’ll just rest here while you guys come up with a plan.”

  Kaylee was asleep almost as soon as she lay down.

  And the planning turned out to be the most fun I’d had in days.

  Chapter 11

  Fire and Water

  JOSH TOSSED WHAT REMAINED of our dinner away. He came back and stood a few feet from Isaac. With me a few feet in front of them, we formed a loose circle—triangle really, but in magic you always draw a circle, so if you connected us with lines, they’d have to be curved.

  “Where do we begin?” I asked them.

  “With your powers,” Isaac said, “you don’t have to be in our coven. Josh and I discussed it already, and we would welcome you if you chose to join, but it is your choice. I’ll show you how to use your powers no matter what you decide.”

  Josh was like a brother to me, and Isaac and I had a connection, one I hoped went beyond powers. Together we could stop Mark from hurting anyone else. “I want to join.”

  Isaac nodded.

  Josh closed his eyes and shook his arms the way a person does when he is trying to relax.

  “You want to clear your mind before practicing magic,” Isaac explained and copied Josh.

  I did the same, although I peeked a few times just to make sure I wasn’t taking too long to clear my mind. I opened my eyes when I heard Isaac’s sangfroid voice.

  “You will be our air and Kaylee our earth.”

  I’d read about elements on the Internet. When I had tested my own powers, I’d had something representing each element in my circle: the wine glass for water, candle for fire, salt for earth, and knife for air. The website mentioned that covens often assign each member to an element.

  “Kaylee doesn’t have powers,” I said. “How can she represent earth?”

  “Magic is at its strongest when all the elements are represented,” Isaac explained. “Kaylee has an emotional bond to you and Josh. By her representing earth, she will help to ground us to the here and now. By her being a part of our coven, when she’s strong again, we can transfer some of our power to her. She won’t be helpless to defend herself from magical forces.”

  “I thought if someone who’s not a natural witch called upon outside forces, they would call upon demons or something dark.”