by Marcus Brown
“It is good to see you again, child.” Bridget embraced her and kissed her gently on the cheek. “Blessed be.”
Chapter Twenty-four
“She must be in there,” Rigby said. “It’s the only unlocked door down here.” He stormed toward the open door.
“Wait for me,” Sandison called, chasing after him.
He stood at the threshold of the door and stared into darkness.
“Boss,” he called as Sandison caught up, “are you in there?”
“Something very weird is going on here,” Sandison said. “I’m scared.”
Rigby turned to look at her and shook his head.
“Come on, Libby, get a grip, will you?” he said, “We need to find the boss.”
Just as he finished his sentence, he felt as though he was being pulled inside the room. He grabbed hold of Sandison and seconds later, feeling disorientated, they found themselves standing in a dark room.
“What the hell just happened?” Sandison asked, “I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
“I don’t know, Libby, but I don’t think we’re where we should be.”
*
“When you’ve finished, we have other, more important things to attend to,” Abigail said.
“The book,” Tabitha replied. “Bridget, do you know where it is?”
“Yes, it’s on the upper floor,” she answered.
“Jeremiah went out a short time ago, so we should be safe to sneak up there and get it before he returns,” Tamara added. “When he gets back, we’ll be waiting for him and can send him home.”
“That’s a good idea,” Talia said.
“Come on, whilst we still can,” Abigail urged.
They exited the room and climbed the staircase at the other end of the corridor.
Carefully, Tabitha pushed the door open and stepped into a beautifully decorated corridor that led to a bright hallway.
Abigail and Bridget followed close behind, flanked by Tamara and Talia.
“Where are we?” Bridget asked.
“I don’t believe it,” Talia replied, leading them all to the hallway.
“The book said Jeremiah hid in plain sight and it was right.” Tabitha told the gathering.
“We’re in the Lodge.” Tamara stated. “How did we not know?”
“And he’s been hiding here all this time, under our very noses. But how did he know the Lodge was here. Humans aren’t supposed to be able to see it.”
“He’s not entirely human anymore,” Tabitha reminded them. “That’s how he managed to leave the parcel on the doorstep. He was already hiding out in the grounds and used the room in the Manor to get in.” Tabitha had to give him credit for ingenuity.
“Never mind that now,” Abigail said, “he could be back any minute.”
“How haven’t we seen him come and go?” Talia asked.
“I have my own ways and means, Witch,” Jeremiah said, as he stepped out of a mirror hanging on the wall. He had the book in his hand. “You didn’t think I knew you were coming?” He laughed. “My book sensed the presence of its former mistress and warned me.” He kissed the front of the Grimoire.
Chapter Twenty-five
Rigby grabbed hold of Sandison and pulled her out of the room.
“Come on, I can hear her voice upstairs.”
“We need to call for back up,” she replied. “Now.”
“Back up to where exactly? We both know we’re not where we should be. How are we gonna explain that?”
“I think we should wait,” Sandison stated.
“There’s no time. The boss might be in trouble.” Rigby was definitely in the mood to argue.
“Okay, but you owe me for this. I don’t know what’s going on here, but you’re writing the report.”
“Oh, come on,” he said, impatiently.
He walked toward the staircase and pulled the baton from his belt.
“What are you gonna use that for?” Sandison asked.
“I don’t know, do I? I’d still rather be prepared. I’ve got a feeling our illustrious boss is involved in something she shouldn’t be.”
“You think she has something to do with the murders, and her own sisters kidnapping?”
“Not directly, but I think she knows more than she’s letting on.”
“I hope not.”
“Well, how do you explain what just happened?” Rigby asked.
“I can’t. I don’t even know where we are,” Sandison replied.
“It’ll all become clear soon enough. Come on, we need to get upstairs and make sure Worthy is unharmed.”
“Take it easy though, Nathan. Don’t rush in all hot headed. Let’s just get to the top of the stairs and listen to what’s going on.”
“Ssssh, do you hear that?” he whispered, holding his finger to his lips.
“What?”
“There’s a man up there with them,” he said, quietly.
“Maybe Worthy’s found our killer?” Sandison surmised.
*
Bridget Bishop glared at him.
Abigail, Tabitha, Tamara and Talia stood close to one another.
“Jeremiah Blackwell. How dare you take what doesn’t belong to you. Give it to me -- I want it back.” She held her hand out. “Book, come to me.”
Jeremiah cackled. “You don’t have enough power, Witch. You’re a ghost, don’t you think I know that?”
“But I do have powers,” Tabitha said, stepping forward and with a wave of her hand, she catapulted Jeremiah into the wall behind him.
He hit the wall with the force of a speeding train and lay unconscious, a trickle of blood running from the side of his mouth.
The book lay open at his side.
“What are we going to do with him?” Tamara asked.
“Send him back to 1692 and let Cotton Mather and the village elders deal with him,” Tabitha replied.
“What about Bridget’s book?” Tamara asked.
“I entrust it to your care, my child,” she said to Tamara. “I could take it with me, but I always considered you a daughter and I know you will use it wisely.”
“Well, she isn’t your daughter,” Abigail hissed.
“I-I can’t take your book. Its power isn’t meant for me,” Tamara protested, ignoring her mother.
“Then, if you won’t take it, burn it. It has caused enough trouble,” Bridget replied.
“I have a better idea,” Abigail said, stepping forward and crouching down beside Jeremiah.
The sisters were too late to stop her as she drew a blade from inside her dress and sliced it across Jeremiah’s throat.
“Mother, no,” Tabitha screamed.
She cut through his windpipe. The blood ran down his neck and pooled underneath him on the floor.
“Ah, it brings back memories of my own glorious death.”
Bridget could do nothing to help and looked on.
Tamara and Talia stood with their hands pressed against their mouths.
Abigail grabbed the book and cackled. “It’s mine now, and all the power contained within it,” she cried.
“You promised,” Tabitha said. “I gave you some of my own power. Wasn’t that enough?”
“No,” she answered.
“If you do this, you’re out of our lives forever,” Tabitha warned.
“Do you really think I care? My perfect daughters who locked me in a dark and dirty room for over seventy years.”
“The Goddess will make you pay for this treachery, Abigail Crockworthy.” Bridget Bishop crossed her arms and bowed her head.
“There is no longer any need for you to be here,” Abigail said. “Be gone.” She waved her hands and Bridget’s form began to fade.
“Blessed be,” Bridget whispered as she disappeared.
“Now she’s out of the way, what am I going to do with the three of you?”
“I can’t let you take that book,” Tabitha threatened.
“Only two more deaths and the book will surrender to me,” she said, grinnin
g. “Then after all these years, I’ll be as powerful as I was before and nothing will stop me.”
“What’s she talking about, Tabi?” Tamara asked.
“Eleven people are dead now, and for the book to give up its power and secrets, another two people must die.”
“The book cannot take souls,” Talia scoffed.
“It can once its nature has been subverted, and because of Jeremiah, it wants its freedom and will ally with anybody it thinks will give it what it wants.”
“We won’t let you do this, Mother,” Talia warned. “We’ll fight you if we have to.”
“Then be my guest, daughters, and let’s fight it out.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Rigby looked at Sandison. His mouth was agape.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he whispered.
“Yes, but I wish I wasn’t,” she responded.
“Who the hell is going to believe any of this?” he said.
“I don’t believe it myself, and I’m standing here watching it.”
*
Abigail looked past her daughters and clutched the book.
“I believe we have company.” She pointed to the basement door.
Tabitha, Tamara and Talia turned to look.
“Who’s there?” Tabitha asked. “Come out,” she demanded.
“Do as my daughter says. You don’t want me to come and get you.”
The basement door slowly swung fully open.
“By the Goddess,” Tabitha said. “Rigby, Sandison, how the hell did you get here?”
“We might ask you the same question, Boss.” Rigby said.
They moved away from the basement door and stood under the archway leading to a corridor off to the left.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Tabitha replied.
“Don’t pander to the humans. Have I taught you nothing?”
“Shut up, Mother,” Tabitha barked.
“Mother.” Sandison asked. “How is that possible? She looks younger than the three of you.”
“Hmmph.” Talia made a noise as though offended.
“Not now, Tally,” Tamara said, prodding her sister gently.
“Rigby, listen to me,” Tabitha said, moving towards them. “There are things you don’t understand, but nobody else can find out what took place here. The killer is dead. We can call it in and it’ll all be over with.”
“And how will we explain how we ended up here? Wherever here is?”
“We’re in the Lodge -- in the same grounds as Moonlight Manor.”
“But how did we get here?” Sandison asked.
Abigail turned to face Sandison. “By magic, you stupid girl. Haven’t you worked it out yet?”
“There’s no such thing as magic,” Sandison replied.
“Well, allow me to give you a tiny demonstration.” She pointed at Sandison and cried, “Mortuus.”
“No,” the three sisters cried in unison, but it was too late.
Libby Sandison was blasted off her feet, and flew backward several feet down the corridor. She hit the ground with a thud and lay silent.
“One more to go,” Abigail singsonged, cheerily, “and I’ll be unstoppable.”
Rigby ran to Sandison and dropped to the floor, but she was already dead.
The invisible force Abigail hit her with had left a smouldering patch of skin on her chest.
“Mother, what did you do?” Tamara said, sobbing.
“What I had to,” she replied.
Rigby didn’t move, but the Crockworthy sisters stood protectively in front of him.
“We won’t allow you to harm anybody else.” They held hands and spoke in unison.
“Even collectively, you’ll have a hard time stopping me. Bridget Bishop was the most powerful Witch of our time and her power is flowing through me. Just one more life and it’ll all be mine.”
“We don’t want to kill you, Mother, but we will if you don’t stop and surrender to us,” they said.
“Surrender. Never,” Abigail shouted in reply.
“Then we won’t be responsible for our actions,” they told her as one, “Book,” they cried, “hear our call and come to us in our hour of need.”
“Ha,” Abigail cried, “the book won’t allow you to harm me. I’m still a Crockworthy.”
“The book will do as we wish it to. We are its Mistresses, not you,” they said.
“We shall see…” Abigail turned and watched as the book flew from the basement and into Tabitha’s hands.
“Rigby, go now,” Tabitha ordered, twisting around.
“Not a chance in hell, Boss. I’m not leaving the three of you with her,” he replied. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but…”
Abigail shot a ball of fire in their direction, causing the sisters to scatter. Tabitha fell to the floor, but kept tight hold of the book.
Rigby was at her mercy.
“Mother, no, you can’t,” Talia shouted, but it wasn’t enough to stop her.
Abigail sent another ball of fire flying toward Rigby, but he wasn’t quick enough to get out of the way. He stood up and ran toward the basement door, but the fireball crashed into him, right between his shoulder blades.
He was knocked off his feet and fell face first onto the floor. His head cracked against the floor, his blood splattering the walls and floor around him.
Abigail jumped up and down on the spot, clapping her hands manically, obviously excited by the unfolding events.
Tabitha jumped up and ran to her fallen colleague. She knelt and felt his carotid artery. “He’s still alive,” she said, “girls, come to me, quickly.”
The other two rushed to Tabitha and stood as one again.
Abigail looked shocked. “It’s not possible,” she said, “That blast should have killed him.”
“Maybe your powers aren’t as strong as you thought they were,” Tamara hissed.
“Impossible,” Abigail screamed.
“Book,” Tabitha said, “stop Abigail Crockworthy, once and for all,” she commanded.
The book opened, its pages flicking faster than ever before.
“You can’t win,” Abigail said, softly. “Why do you have to fight me? I’m still your mother, and if you stop this, I will forgive you all, and it can be just like it used to be.”
“You’re a poor imitation of what our mother used to be,” Talia roared. “I hate you.”
“Such harsh words, Talia. Come, let me console you, just like I used to do.”
“Don’t come near me,” she spat, “or I’ll rip your throat out with my bare hands.”
Abigail laughed. “Such venom, Talia.”
The pages of the book stopped flickering and settled on a spell Tabitha had seen before.
Chapter Twenty-seven
The sisters looked at one another.
“Tabi, we can’t,” Tamara said, “She’s still our mother.”
“We don’t have a choice, Tammy,” Talia replied. “It’s her, or us, and you’ve seen what she’s capable of. We would never be safe. She’s taken human life…”
“Ah, but so have the three of you, my dears, or do you forget your time locked away in Germany.”
The sisters stared open mouthed.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tabitha added.
“Don’t insult my intelligence, or my abilities. I can read your mind, just like I always could. You dare to stand and accuse me of taking human life when the three of you have done the same.”
“That was different,” Talia said. “It was him, or us. You took human life for your own gains.”
“You’re splitting hairs, my children.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Tabitha interjected. “We have to get Rigby to a hospital. Let us be rid of her once and for all.”
“Your sisters won’t condemn me to death, will you?” She looked at Tamara and Talia.
“We won’t condemn you to death, but we will put you somewhere you can’t hurt anybod
y else,” Tamara said, her voice cracking with emotion.
The sisters stood side by side.
“Book,” they cried, “Send Abigail Crockworthy into darkness, and for an eternity, ensure she thinks of the crimes she has committed against humanity, and her own kind.”
A black swirling vortex appeared before them, pulling pictures off the walls, lamps from tables and curtains from the windows.
“No,” Abigail screamed, “you can’t send me there.” She wouldn’t let go of Bridget Bishop’s Grimoire.
“It’s more than you deserve,” they replied.
Abigail gripped hold of the bannister, trying to fight against the pull of the vortex.
Tabitha waved her hand and the spindle Abigail clung to, cracked in half.
Abigail screamed as she dropped to the floor and was pulled kicking and screaming toward the vortex, the book still in her hands.
The sisters watched in tears.
“Please, don’t do this to me,” Abigail screamed as a ghostly form emerged from the vortex and grabbed her ankles.
The sisters gasped in shock.
“Numen, my old friend,” Abigail called. “Help me, and together we will take our revenge.”
“Book,” the sisters cried. “Stop Numen, he must not be allowed to escape.”
The pull from the vortex intensified as Numen crawled over to his former mistress and out of the blackness.
Moments later, he was standing mere feet away, his form solidifying before them.
Abigail screamed as she put up a last-ditch attempt against falling into the darkness.
Numen turned and reached for her, pulling her away from the vortex.
“Thank you, my old friend,” she said.
“Use your Grimoire to fight them,” he ordered.
“Book,” Abigail cried. “Stop the Crockworthy three.”
At that moment, the book flew out of her hands and hovered in mid-air.
At the same time, the Crockworthy Grimoire flew out of Tabitha’s hand and crashed into the Bishop Grimoire.
There was an almighty crashing sound and the hallway was drenched in a blinding light.
The sisters were sent flying across the hallway.
When the light dimmed, Tabitha forced herself into a sitting position and looked around.
