Bloodstone

by Sydney Bristow

  My soul vibrated with rage. I turned to Celestina, hoping she would see me, as though my anger would somehow make my soul visible. It didn’t. At least, she hadn’t noticed me. Then how had both she and Zephora seen me while astral projecting in the past? Had I done something different this time around?

  “I am sorry,” Zephora said to Celestina, “but your aunt has been lying to you.”

  My niece hit her with a cynical gaze.

  “It’s true,” Alexis said. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I know how much you care for her.”

  I shook my head, unable to believe my sister would purposely try to bend the truth. No, wait. Bending the truth gave more credit to my sister than she deserved. She’d deliberately lied to my niece. How could a mother be so duplicitous? I hadn’t given birth nor had I been a mother, but regardless, I wouldn’t have lied to my child.

  “Aunt Serena wouldn’t do that. She’s good.”

  Her comments pushed away some of my anger and relief spread through my non-corporeal form. To hear my niece defend me lifted my spirit in a metaphorical way.

  Zephora met Celestina’s eyes with a hard-set expression. “Your mother informed me how your Aunt Serena abused her. Did your mother attack your Aunt Serena?”

  “No, but—”

  “Is it permissible for one sister to assault another?” Zephora asked.

  “No, but—”

  “You punished her for that action, did you not?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Sisters are often closer than other familial relations,” Zephora said, pausing to let her words take effect. “From time to time, they may have disagreements, but they should never resort to violence. Your Aunt Serena did just that…because your mother did not agree with her. Does that seem right? Does that seem fair?”

  “But Aunt Serena was right. Granny wasn’t Granny anymore. You were inside her body.”

  “Is that any reason to hurt another person? Because she disagreed with her?”

  “No, but you don’t understand. She—”

  “Do not apologize for her,” Zephora said. By pinning your Aunt Serena to the wall, you obviously felt it necessary to show her not to use violence against another family member. You did the right thing. You did not hurt her, but you made your Aunt Serena consider the consequences of her actions.”

  Confusion folded Celestina’s brow. She hung her head.

  Of course, Zephora hadn’t lied, but she’d left out details that added up to the bigger picture. Knowing nothing I could say or do would make a difference, I concentrated on remaining calm and absorbing as much of the conversation as possible, so I could respond to each of these points with Zephora later.

  “Do not be ashamed,” Zephora told my niece. “You acted like an adult. Your aunt acted like a child.”

  “How did Aunt Serena lie to me?”

  “She said I planned to hurt others.” Zephora scoffed. “Tell me, have I done so?”

  Celestina shrugged.

  “Look into my eyes, Celestina.” When she obliged, Zephora’s gaze turned furious. “Have you seen me harm another?”

  My niece shook her head.

  “Have you seen me use magic in any way?”

  Celestina shook her head again.

  “I loved Darius, but he was a vampire. He was immortal, whereas I was merely human. Love should not be separated for eternity. And yet, I was subject to precisely that simply because he could not die. Could you blame me for wanting to reunite with him? So yes, I admit it. I took advantage of every chance I had to return to Earth. I needed to be with him. Do you understand?”

  Celestina nodded and…even smiled. Apparently, Zephora’s tail of true love conquering space and time had appealed to her. Who could blame her? Zephora told a great story, but she didn’t expound on the real reason she returned to this dimension.

  “Aunt Serena may have made mistakes…by keeping the truth from me, but you don’t expect me to hate her, do you? Because I won’t.”

  Zephora permitted a fragile smile. “Of course not, child. Everyone makes mistakes.”

  As I did my best to cap my anger at how Zephora had warped Celestina’s reality, I admired my niece’s virtue. Although hanging tight to an incorrect understanding of the facts, Celestina wouldn’t give up hope on others. In stark contrast, however, Alexis had thrown in with Zephora for only one reason. The sorceress could help her amass more magical power, and my sister had obviously disregarded whatever morals she had in order to attain that goal. Given those circumstances, I now had to regard Alexis as an enemy.

  My soul hurt at the prospect of treating my sister as someone who would harm anyone who attempted to remove Zephora from this plane, but she left me no choice. Alexis had made up her mind.

  “So now what?” Celestina asked Zephora. “If Aunt Serena sent Darius away, what’ll you do now?”

  Tears appeared in Zephora’s eyes. “I…I don’t know.” Her lips quivered and her head sagged. “I suppose I could commit suicide.”

  “What?” asked Celestina. “You can’t do that.”

  The sorceress lifted her head. “But your Aunt Serena murdered the love of my life. What reason have I to exist?”

  She sounded like a horrible actress on a poorly written soap-opera. Only someone young and inexperienced would have soaked up such melodrama.

  “You can’t give up,” Celestina told her. “I won’t let you. There has to be another way, right? With magic, there’s always another way. If you were able to come back, why can’t he?”

  “No!” I shouted to Celestina, hoping she heard that single refrain. But she hadn’t. “Zephora’s lying. You can’t trust her.” Of course, my warning fell on deaf ears.

  “You’re supposed to be the most powerful witch ever, right?” Celestina continued. “Well, you must know how to bring him back.”

  Of course, Zephora had lied in an attempt to win my niece’s affection and support. Based on Celestina’s determination to help her, Zephora’s plan had worked. I couldn’t blame my niece for her compassion, since I cherished that attribute in her. Zephora had preyed on Celestina’s naiveté, and the only way my niece could overcome that shortcoming, unfortunately, was if someone she trusted broke her tender nature by betraying her. And I had no doubt that Zephora would do just that.

  Zephora considered her words. A warm smile appeared on her face with more ease than could be expected after supposedly contemplating suicide. “I suppose you are right. Thank you, Celestina. You are not only a powerful witch, but a kind and loving soul.”

  Alexis smiled at the prospect of having raised Celestina. “Come on, you should get to bed. It’s getting late.” She slung an arm around her daughter’s shoulder, but at that moment, Celestina’s body quivered and lost control. Her mother, having dealt with this predicament countless times, corralled her arms around her daughter’s shoulder and pressed her tight against her.

  Celestina had fallen asleep. Since most people didn’t fall asleep at a moment’s notice, I suspected a vision had gripped her mind, resulting in her brain shutting down her body, so she could absorb whatever prophecy corkscrewed its way into her.

  How had she received these images? They couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere. Someone had to have put them there. But no matter how much attention I gave to the matter, neither she nor I had been able to uncover that mystery.

  “One mother shall perish,” Celestina said in her sleep, “but another shall replace her.”

  What did that mean? Whom did she refer to? Alexis? If so, it occurred to me that my sister would die, leaving Zephora to take her place. The idea of such a power hungry monster guiding Celestina, corrupting her mind and destroying her goodness, leaving only a bitter, cruel shell of her former self in its place left my soul vibrating with anger and anxiety. Then I realized I hadn’t considered that my sister would die. For someone who pushed her life to the limit, it shouldn’t have surprised me that she’d potentially soon perish. Even worse, for the briefest of moments
, I was relieved that Alexis might leave this world. After the idea passed, however, I cursed myself for such damning notions. I attributed those repugnant thoughts to Alexis’s misguided approach toward parenting. After all, what kind of person – and sister, no less – wished her other half would end up six feet under? Perhaps a sister who had died at her hands?

  Celestina yawned, her face taking on a sleepy look, but after plugging her fingers into her eyes and rubbing them, her eyes snapped open. “Oh sh—…” she stopped speaking, as though realizing it best not to mention a word of the images had flashed across her mind.

  “What does that mean?” asked Alexis. She pushed her daughter up to a standstill position, so she could walk of her own volition. “One mother shall perish? Do you mean me?”

  “I…I…”

  Alexis shook her shoulders, making Celestina rattle around as though she lacked the ability to control her movements. “Out with it! Did you mean me? Am I going to die? Is that what you saw?”

  “I...” Tears rimmed her eyes. “I don’t know.”

  “Admit it!” Alexis shouted. “You saw it. Admit it, dammit!” She jerked her daughter back and forth as easily as she might have shaken a snow globe.

  “Stop,” Celestina said, cringing as tears spilled down her cheeks. “Please stop!”

  Seeing Alexis once more demand answers from my niece while attempting to physically force her to speak, I stormed up to my sister while energy pushed out of my body, rather than toward it. “Let her go!” I shouted.

  A gust of wind blasted against my sister and Celestina. Alexis, shaken by the unforeseen response, released her daughter and backed up as though the air preceded a hulking monster that would soon bust down the door and attack her. Celestina and Zephora, however, drew back, but only for a moment, as though the interruption hadn’t surprised them. Maybe they hadn’t reacted because they were more attuned to magic disturbances than Alexis?

  “That’s enough,” Zephora shouted at my sister. “Leave. Now!”

  My sister hustled Celestina toward the door, obviously thinking the sorceress had whipped the air against her face. A couple seconds later, they vanished from the room.

  I turned back to Zephora, eager to spew a heap of curse words at her, only to find that…

  Zephora stared back at me as a smile hovered on her lips.

  I drew back, startled. In contrast to when she’d stared through me a short while ago, she now looked directly into my eyes. Surely, I’d seen incorrectly. She hadn’t acknowledged me the entire time I’d stood in her vicinity. I blinked and set my gaze upon hers once more to determine if I imagined her staring at me.

  That hideous grin grew wider, peeling back her lips from white teeth. “Hello, darling. Did you enjoy my performance?”

  CHAPTER THREE

  I awoke and kicked my legs in bed. Drawing myself against the bed board, I placed a hand to my chest, glad that I hadn’t punted my dog, Lulu, off the bed and into the hall. As I worked on regaining my composure and slowing my fluttering heart, I looked around for her, but didn’t see her anywhere. I must have been talking in my sleep and disrupting her sleep cycle. I almost chuckled at that since most dogs lounged around every day.

  More likely, she’d gone in the second bedroom to visit my best friends and bandmates, Kendall and Brandon. They were staying over until the insurance company sorted out their claim and determined how to settle considering nearly all of their personal belongings had been destroyed when Darius’ crew of vampires ignited a bomb that blew up their apartment.

  I looked to the floor on my left, expecting to find Nolan there, even though he’d only stayed one night. Since he had his own home and we were no longer fearful that Darius or his vampire minions might attack, he’d returned to his house. Still, it would have been wonderful to wake up and see him.

  “Hi, Serenity!” said Grams from the foot of my bed.

  I checked that direction and saw my grandmother’s spirit standing a few feet away from me. “Grams?” I asked, unable to wipe the smile off my face. “Is it really you?”

  “Who the hell else would it be?” she asked with an irritated expression. “Of course, it’s me. What’ve you been getting mixed up in?”

  Even though she’d scolded me, I felt tingly all over and happiness swelled inside me. “Grams?” I still couldn’t believe that she’d visited. “I’ve—”

  Her severe expression vanished, replaced by a kind smile that made it clear she missed me as much as I’d missed her. “I shouldn’t even be here, but it’s lovely to see you.”

  I scrambled across the bed in order to reach her. “It’s so great to—”

  “I’m afraid this isn’t a social call.” She glanced on either side of her as though expecting someone or something to arrive any second and drag her away. “I can’t stay long, but I needed to visit to say—”

  “But you can come whenever you want,” I said, wishing she’d appeared in physical form so I could embrace her. It had been so difficult without her these past few days, and seeing her now fully aware of her surroundings and no longer stricken with Alzheimer’s made tears slip down my cheeks. I wiped them away but more immediately replaced them. “You can always visit.”

  “And that’s why I shouldn’t visit,” she said with a hurt expression. “You need to grow and move on, and the only way that can happen is if I allow you to live without me.”

  Hearing those words made it feel like someone had grabbed my heart and squeezed it with all their might. “Then why are you here?” I asked, unable to prevent the hurt from reaching my tone.

  “Because you’re meddling with things you shouldn’t. Black magic, Serena?” She closed her eyes as though looking at me disappointed her. “And now with astral projecting so often—”

  “What’s wrong with that? It’s one of my abilities, and I’m getting better at using it. I thought you’d be proud of me.”

  “When you travel between realms,” she said, cringing as though it caused physical pain to explain the truth, “you welcome other elements into this world.”

  “Elements?” I asked, feeling my heart thud quicker at the word. “What does that mean?”

  “Those who once lived on Earth are drawn to those that are bound to Earth. When they sense a ripple of activity impinging on their world, they are eager to uncover the reason for the disturbance…in hopes that someone on Earth might be attempting to communicate with them.”

  “But I didn’t try to talk with anyone.”

  “That doesn’t matter. They can feel you. You draw their attention, and they latch onto you to visit this dimension. Each time you astral project, you’re straddling two realms, yours and that which is beyond the veil. But it’s even worse, now that—” She looked off to the side, unable to meet my eyes.

  I knew what she had difficulty addressing. My use of black magic. Seeing her disappointed expression made it feel like she’d caught me in a lie. That’s not how I wanted her to perceive me, especially now that I didn’t know if I’d never see her again after this visit. “But I needed to use it. I couldn’t have vanquished Darius without the power boost.”

  Grams sighed and nodded. “I understand, but in ending my daughter’s life, you cracked open the portal to the other side…at least, until Zephora inserted herself into Delphine’s body. By using black magic, you’ve just re-opened the door for every nasty creature to slip past the veil and enter this realm. You’ve accidentally begun unravelling everything our line has accomplished over three-hundred years of vanquishing evil entities. It’s the only reason I’m able to visit. Otherwise, you would need the ability to commune with those who’ve moved on that now reside in my dimension.” Sadness gripped her as she lowered her gaze and clasped her hands as though wishing she could help reverse the course I’d set in motion. “Unfortunately, now that you’ve opened the gateway, you can’t close it.”

  Oh, shit! My mind reeled at the implications. Guilt pecked at my conscience, but how could I have known? No one taught
me otherwise.

  “Thankfully,” she continued, “the fissure is not large. But now that you’ve dabbled in black magic, these monsters can partially detect your soul signature.”

  Fright clenched onto me and refused to let go. “What does that mean?”

  “It’s sort of like a radio station you can’t pick up with clarity. You can identify the song, but it comes with static. In this instance, those beyond the veil will gravitate toward you, but they won’t know exactly where to find you.”

  I trembled at the repercussions. “How?”

  “Like attracts like. You tapped into evil, and they’re evil, so they’ll be able to sense you.”

  Thankfully, those beyond the veil couldn’t enter this dimension unless one of their predecessors, who’d squiggled into this realm had perished. “What do I do now?”

  “Astral project only when absolutely necessary.”

  “But it’s the only safe way I know how to find out what Zephora’s up to. Besides, it’s one of my gifts. Are you saying it’s a curse?” Hadn’t I made that same claim to Alexis a couple days ago?

  Grams held my gaze with steadfast resolve. “Are you finished with your outburst?”

  “You know, I could have learned all this if you’d have just told me about it!”

  She closed her eyes and nodded, admitting her mistake.

  “I needed your help,” I said, feeling my voice crack. “You let me down. How am I supposed to defeat Zephora without astral projecting? My sister killed me, and now she’s buddies with the most powerful witch in history, and I’m—”

  “She has been vanquished three times,” Grams said. “If she was the wisest witch on the planet, how did those in our line defeat her three times?”

  “You expect me to send her to hell with what, help from my dog?”

  Mention of Lulu made her smile. “Didn’t she help you break Darius’s attempt to compel you?”

  “You saw that? How?”

  “Beyond the veil, we can see multiple threads of life in your dimension at the same time.”

  That made my heart speed up. “So you know what Zephora’s up to? What is she planning? How do I stop her?”