Damn, I thought to myself.
The doctor clapped his hands together to be rid of the moment. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes. There are many sensory nerves in the face and neck that will need to be addressed here first. After that we will have to install the contraption pack in the base of her spine. We will feed the cord up her spinal cord, and then we will move into the base of her brain to connect it.” He was pointing to the said parts on my body as I jimmied around and tried to break free, mumbling into my mouth gag. “Now this gets tricky, as we may need to remove a section of the cerebellum in order for it to fit. While we are in there, we will compress those trigger points I mentioned earlier. Now, we will have to leave the brain exposed for some time as we watch and study how Nicole responds to treatment. I am already betting on the fact we will have to remove portions of the temporal lobe, as this is the centre for…anyone know?” He looked around with his lips pressed in a line, as if he didn’t want the answer to spill out. One small nurse held up an eager hand.
He pointed to her.
“Intellectual and emotional function?” She couldn’t have been more proud of herself, I thought, and the doctor nodded in approval.
“Is this clear to everyone so far?” He looked around and everyone nodded, eyes fascinated as if ready to be witness to this unsolicited surgery. “Now, we will start with decompressing the peripheral sensory nerves from her eyes…”
With absolute horror, I let their intentions sink in. This was the procedure Dr. Flam had told me I needed all those months ago. This was the reason I had come to Shadow Hills: to let them do this to me. At the time, I had thought it was my only hope for recovery when I was so sick, but now, after having met and lost Beth and witnessed such horror, after hearing exactly what was entailed in this procedure, I knew this was not the option for me. Especially since it would completely destroy me. Losing all hope in using magic again was one thing, but losing myself? I couldn’t let them do this to me. Not now; not after everything that had happened here.
I thought about Jasper and his warning. I had to be strong, I had to think! I promised him my complete recovery, and instead he would probably never know what happened to me or my body if I let this happen. I thought about the soft fur and loving eyes of my dogs, and how I wished I was snuggled in deep under the covers with all of them now. The doctor and nurses surrounded me then and began prepping me for their treatments. Tears splashed out of my eyes as I cried, mumbling frantically to tell them not to do this. I tried to fight them off as well as fight the impending drug one nurse was fitting into my new IV stand. If I let it take me over, I was surely done for.
I thought about my family and the impending war with Lou.
No. I had to get out of here, and with whatever magic I still had in me. I had to finish what I’d set out to do the day I left Autumn Moors.
But what could I do? I tried to bring Fire back, but I was so exhausted and weak. I was losing consciousness. I struggled through the loud wave of the drug’s force, soaring through me and over me, pulling at me to drag me down to the depths of unconsciousness with it.
Jasper.
I felt deep, crazy, hard sorrow begin eating my guts. I was going to let him down again. I was going to let them all down.
I heard banging then and the students and doctors cursing in question. It was probably Lady Veronica coming to watch the show while I literally lost my mind.
I was wrong.
Someone had broken through the door with an axe. He was semi-crouched and had cuts on his arms, dark blood against his dark skin. He stood there, unmoving, but ready for an attack. It was Jones.
I looked at him quizzically, as did the nurses. The last I had seen of him was when the guards were taking him away after Beth was murdered. What was he doing now? He couldn’t save me from the hordes of staff at Shadow Hills, if anything he should try to save himself.
Then I felt it.
Something was coming behind him.
And it wanted in this room.
Chapter Twelve
A storm—no, a whirlwind. A change in atmosphere that was so significant that in my drug-induced state I could only understand that something had come in and had taken over this room. I watched in awe with foggy vision and a drooling jaw, trying to understand, but also wondering if this was real.
The evil doctors, the sordid nurses, and the deluded students all fell back and withdrew their claim on this space. They protested none; they accepted defeat with terror and in its place tried to hide or be absorbed by the walls. A shape stood in front of them and pressed on as they backed up as far as they could. There was a wave of an arm, and the room grew cold. The medical crew all stopped in their tracks, frozen by a spell. I trembled with cold and fear.
Suddenly, I could feel a warmness. I could feel good magic in the air.
I could vaguely feel it as I searched with my witchy senses. Something was awesome—something so powerful and edged in goodness—but not without a strong offence.
A shimmering light was waved over my face, and I sneezed and spit profusely. A gentle hand brought a soft handkerchief and wiped my face. I blinked and could see the room come into view. The effect of the drugs had been all but cleared away from me.
There were three women standing around me. The doctors and nurses were frozen in time, staring with dead eyes. I glanced at Jones; he had been taken in by the same spell. I felt bad for him.
I knew in my heart that these women had come here to save me, and I also knew that my life would never be the same. I felt I should be honoured, but I still didn’t know for sure what they wanted. What was their end game here?
These ladies looked totally different and sounded completely different from one another, but they shared some similar traits as they danced around each other in such synchronism and with the same unique spirit. I imagined a rainbow streaming from them and wrapping them up in gentle ribbons as they moved through the world. They had golden auras, when I looked closer. That was also when I noticed that they were a three-generation coven.
The oldest one wore a long shift of a dress, not fancy by any means, that almost looked as if it were made from a light canvas cloth. She wore a wool shawl and clog-like shoes. Her hair was so silver it shone and played off her bright blue eyes that were sinking into her wrinkled skin. She was a beautiful woman, and I guessed her age to be around seventy.
The youngest had long, brown, wavy hair. She was thin and light on her feet. Her smile was infectious and made me feel like I was safe. The next woman I assumed was the mother of the youngest, and she was short and stocky with lovely rosy cheeks. Her hair was an ashy blond, cut into a bob.
The whirlwind they had entered with had ceased, but they still spun around my bed, chattering incessantly, all the while looking up and around and flicking at imaginary flies with their long, jewel-adorned fingers.
“Oh, honey, your aura is spitting out super bad energies as much as it can, but it is seriously choking your life force,” the mother stated sadly.
“Well, it’s not a wonder if the rumours are true.” The grandmother had a tinge of dislike for me in her voice, if I wasn’t mistaken.
“Yeah, it’s so weird! I have never seen anything like it. It’s almost like a bright yellow, then it goes to rainy blue, and then smoky grey with black streaks at the edges.” The daughter was almost intrigued, but I could tell she was a little concerned about getting too close to me. She reached out and was poking at invisible auras around my face.
I recalled Hayden mentioned to me before that my aura was black. Hadn’t changed, apparently.
I began to feel weak from the aftereffects of the drugs.
“Okay, okay…who are you people, and what are you doing here?” I waved the daughter off of me.
“We were called upon and sent by Hayden, a healer from your coven.” The mother spoke with her chin up. I was again amazed. Hayden had never mentioned she had dealings with other witches. “When she told us where you were staying,” she opened he
r arms and looked around, “we knew we could waste no time. So here we are.”
“Yes, and in the nick of time, for sure.” The daughter nodded in agreement and looked with scared eyes at the scalpels and drills sitting innocently on the tray.
I looked blankly at them. The daughter laughed.
“Sorry; I am Anna Belle. This is my mother, Katerina, and her mother, Laura.” She pointed at them in turn. “And you are Nicole.”
I nodded. She clapped her hands and danced, little sparks fluttered on her fingers. She reminded me of Piper a little.
“These monsters, posing as doctors,” Laura was nose-to-nose with one doctor, who was unmoving in the wraps of a frozen spell, “they tell the world this is a place to help people like you and make you think you have a problem. They are convinced it’s psychosomatic and needs to be cut out like a gall bladder of a goat.” She spit on his cheek, the spray staying put for now because he was frozen and couldn’t wipe his face.
Katerina followed Laura to the table with the instruments. Laura nodded at her, and in one single moment, all of the tools of torture rose in the air and bent inward on themselves, rendering them useless. Laura patted her daughter’s back. She was pleased. Laura then picked up the machine they were intending to insert in my spine. “Well, you are not a computer, and we ain’t making no pâté.” The machine fell to the floor and smashed in a thousand pieces, like breaking glass.
“Pâté is goose liver, Grandma. Not goat bladder,” Anna Belle told her gently.
Laura smirked. “No difference.”
“But Jones!” I squeaked.
The three of them turned in unison and sighed. Katerina snapped her fingers, and Jones came to life like an animation, his axe swinging, unsure of where he left off. Anna Belle laid a calming hand on his shoulder in apology.
He smiled at her in relief.
“Jones helped us sneak in undetected until the most opportune moment. He is one of the soldiers of the covens.” Katerina nodded to him. “That will be all, Jones. Thank you, darling.”
He looked to me, and a great sadness came over his face. I’d had no idea someone associated with such goodness could live and work here. I felt so bad for not trusting him sooner. Poor Jones…what a tortured soul he must have been after being charged to watch and not act until he was directed. At that moment I owed him everything. He had led the witches here to save my life. I mouthed the words thank you. He nodded and backed up through the door. His part had been played; he would be leaving Shadow Hills and would be off to his next mission, the trio explained to me.
Who exactly directed him, who he reported to, was a mystery to me. I visualized a castle with thrones of witches of all ages looking down upon an army. I shook my head; I was still a bit stoned.
“Before I depart, ladies, I will do my best to ensure a safe departure.” He looked wearily over his shoulder. “I believe your deterrence has been found out.”
Laura nodded, and Katerina smiled warmly at him. No fear at all on their faces.
“Thank you, Jones.” Anna Belle kissed him on the cheek as if he’d just complimented her.
I stared in awe. I couldn’t believe all this camaraderie and magic at once. They were engulfed in power and knew exactly how to wield it. I felt a touch of envy. I had to learn from them. I prayed they would take me with them.
Laura seemed to read my mind. “Yes, yes; we have to take the girl too. No point in saving you if we are just planning on leaving you in the bushes outside!”
I blushed. Katerina came over to me, feeling my nervousness, and suddenly a shower of flowers came billowing out of her palms. She blew them like a kiss, their pale colours drifting around this hellish place like a miracle.
I let my fingertips gently touch their innocent white blossoms, each of their tiny fragile blooms representing a promise that life begins again.... even after the ravages of the cruelest winter, with all the bleakness that makes it seem like nothing else could ever prevail again. The spring reminded me to always take a look closer, because alas, even amid the stiff crackling thorns, something beautiful could grow there.
I looked up to my new companions. The life coach, the healer, and the holistic leader.
We all smiled at each other, and I lay back, letting the petals lightly land on my cheeks, feeling at once new and beautiful again.
Katerina and Anna Belle delved into a conversation of where we would go and what they would do with me. Their voices were excited, and I don’t think they even stopped for a single breath. It all sounded perfect. We would go to their home in the country, nestled at the opening of a gigantic mountain range. They would heal me first, and then they would start on the training.
I grew excited too, but I was nervous to hold any semblance of hope in my heart for fear it would be dashed away. I wanted to keep listening to their plans, but I began to drift away again, and too fast, at that.
I dreamed of their words and their faces. I danced in my dream and felt hope and peace all around me. I felt healing in my heart, and I felt my soul thanking me—
Until I was abruptly woken up. I came rushing back and gasping as if I had been brought back to life, and it hurt. I was immediately reminded of the day Tracey pulled me from my coma.
Katerina was standing over me, her face tight with worry. “No time to rest now. We’ve got to move.”
Chapter Thirteen
Katerina was hissing at me with a small bottle in her hand that reeked of some acrid potion, which I understood was the cause of my rude awakening. She was staring at Laura with knowing eyes. I was trying to drag myself into the here and now. The lights were now off, and I could barely see Katerina in front of me. Anna Belle was listening at the door. There were steps running up and down the corridor. I could hear Lady Veronica barking orders out there. Great. All we needed. She sounded vicious with anger.
“Calvary,” Katerina whispered as she moved away from me. “They cut the power.” She stationed herself there and turned to Laura.
“Makes no difference.” Anna Belle suddenly lit up a flame in her hand, and the room was bathed in a warm glow.
“Okay, princess. You ready?” Laura asked me as she nodded at Katerina, who was standing with her back to the wall beside the frozen nurse students and the doctor, who still held a sharp scalpel. She regarded them blankly.
Before I could say, “Stop calling me ‘princess,’ and ready for what?” the door blew back off its hinges and teeter-tottered down the hallway with impressive force.
“What the—” I blurted.
Then the gunfire started.
The short flashes and shouting voices in the hallway stopped my heart. What was going on here? I heard Lady Veronica’s shrieking over the top of it all. Then, just like that, the gunfire ceased. There was whispering, and we all strained to hear it. Then there was a rolling sound as something made its way into our room. It was a small, round, metal object that rolled innocently to a stop in the center of the room. The three women slowly bent and leaned in closer in the darkness to see what it was. Then the top unwound itself, and a smoke began to fill the room. They backed away instantly, and we all began to cough as our eyes watered.
They were gassing us?
Laura covered her mouth with a handkerchief and rolled her eyes. Then we were off. Katerina pulled me so hard off the bed I thought my shoulder would dislocate.
Everything was moving around us so fast that it was like riding inside of a kaleidoscope. I was held fast in Katerina’s arms, and we all joined together in a mass that sprung through the open doorway. We flew down the hall.
We actually flew. Our feet were not on the ground!
We drifted through the crowd and heard the shocked voices of the guards. I began to feel nauseated. This was happening oh, so fast. I was praying this could slow down so I could at least be aware of my surroundings.
And just like that, it did.
The world around us slowed down to a crawl. I could see at least thirty armed men, all moving in slow
motion, their faces contorting to fear, arms and hands fumbling with guns at a slow-motion pace. Bullets left their pistols like a dream, rippling through the air so slowly the vibrations had colours. Doctors behind them were hollering, spittle streaming from angry mouths as they jabbed pointed fingers at us in hate. Lady Veronica stood at the far back out of harm’s way, her mouth opening and closing as she screamed orders to her underlings. I watched as Laura, behind us, rose in the air, speaking words in a different tongue, her voice formidable and loud. Our enemies slowly shrank back slightly, unsure of what was happening. Laura became surrounded in a tornado of ghostly winds that screamed from some other plane. They whirled past her and set off to terrorize the guards. Men ran off in the other direction. Some crouched down and covered their heads and eyes as the ghostly apparitions wrapped their energies around them. It dawned on me what this was.
Laura could conjure spirits.
I would definitely need to ask her about that later. If we made it out of here alive, of course.
Anna Belle shot out fireballs to our left from her bare hands. The slow pace of it was unreal; I could see her form the orbs in her hands out of nothing but tiny internal sparks that appeared on her palms. She rolled them around expertly between her fingers until they were substantial enough to make an impression. They glowed yellow and orange, shedding sparks in their wake until they met their mark. But Anna Belle was missing every target. The fireballs erupted overhead, to the sides, or on the floor between the guards and us. It dawned on me: she was not trying to hurt anyone. She was only trying to make good our escape.
I had never seen witches with such talent, so confident and sure with their magic. Every spell—every trick—was executed with precision and with doubtless ease. I knew I could learn so much here, but I couldn’t help but feel inadequate. Even when I possessed all of my elements, I could never amount to their equal. Now, with Earth gone from me, I feared I would be a waste of their time.
The Lightning Witch (Elements Book 2) Page 5
