by Celeste Raye
As soon as he realized that the two Stein witches were, in fact, in his home, all he could think to do was go upstairs and keep Connie safe. He was not thinking about his pack at the moment. He was thinking about her.
He had a realization that his brother was right. He did not want Dennis to be correct, but it was hard to prove otherwise in the midst of it.
Frank passed by Dennis on the stairs, and he saw the accusation in his face.
“Where are you going? The danger is that way.”
Frank didn’t answer. His eyes flicked up the stairs, hoping that she was safe and wanting to go nowhere else but up to her.
“Is there somewhere else you need to be?”
Frank shook his head even while he was cursing Dennis for standing in his way. He was taking away the option from him to do the right thing. He did not want to do what was right for the pack; he wanted to do what was right for the woman that he loved.
Frank went with Dennis into the front room where all of the noise and commotion was coming from. Frank was on high alert, but it wasn't enough. He was immediately thrown backward by one of the women. He had no idea what was going on, though it wasn’t hard to guess. They were there for Connie, and he couldn’t let them have her.
He didn’t have very long to worry about it before he was out. The last thing that Frank remembered was the feeling of failure that swept over him in a crushing manner. He had promised to keep her safe, but that was a promise that he was not going to be able to keep.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Connie woke up out of a dead sleep and knew that something was wrong. She wasn't sure what it was, just that something had happened. Someone was in the house, and she did not want to meet whoever it was. An image of the two dusty witches that had come for her before came to mind.
For a minute, she forgot that Denise was gone and she looked over to find her. She was relieved to remember that Denise had left. She did not want her around for such nonsense, knowing how afraid she was.
Connie did not get much time to wait around and see if somebody was there. There was this feeling that came over her. She needed to get out of there immediately. It was all she could focus on. While she did not know what was going on, she did know that whoever it was meant her harm.
Connie did not understand what exactly was going on, but she moved forward anyway. She had to get out of the bed, and before she could get her head on straight, she could hear someone coming down the hallway.
Two people, and that was after a loud crash. It sounded like someone had been hurt, and she knew that it was all because of her. Instead of running away, something that everybody told her to do, she went to the door and opened it.
“You are looking for me, right?”
The two witches came up the stairs and turned to see her. She wanted nothing more than to run away but she knew that it was no use. If she ran, all it meant was that they were going to attack more of the people that had taken her in when they didn't have to. She was scared, so much so that she was shaking, but she needed to show them, and maybe herself, that she wasn't going to be so easily deterred.
“Are you here for me?”
The witches were surprised to see her, and it took them a moment to pull the look of shock from their faces. One of them seemed to be happy that she had popped up, but the other one was not happy at all, and it made her wonder why.
“Connie, what are you doing?”
The woman next to her smacked the other woman on the chest.
“What are you doing, sister? You know that it'll just make it harder if you try to build a relationship with her. That is why it has always been better that you stay away. Now we need her, and the best thing you can do is remember that.”
Connie was confused, but something that the woman said rang true to Denise’s comments. She had to know.
“Are you my mother?”
Linda stopped and finally looked at the baby that came out of her so long ago. She didn't know what to say to her but found her head moving up and down anyway.
“Yes, Connie, you are my daughter.”
“Why did you leave me?”
Linda made a motion towards her sister, Connie’s aunt, and didn't have to say much more than that. It was obvious that her mother had tried to keep her safe from her aunt.
“It was not something then I had a choice in. If I wouldn't have sent you away, something bad would have happened to you.”
Marl had had enough of her sister talking, and she waved her hand over her mouth to silence her. Linda’s lips shut together tightly, and she made a frustrated sound like it had happened before.
“I think that is enough talking for now.”
Linda fought the spell and managed to get a few words out, but was far from unencumbered by Marl’s enchantments.
“No, sister, I think that it's time that we finally got this all out. This is my daughter, and I’m not going to let you hurt her.”
“Now, sister, why do you act like you have a choice? You never did, and you know it. Tell the girl why you hid her from me for so long.”
Connie was confused, and she could see some of the shifters moving towards them. There was no fixing whatever it was that she was experiencing.
Her aunt moved towards her and started to repeat words that Connie had heard before. It was the same ones that had been said over her body, but now she realized that it was done not to take her soul, but take her powers. She tried to resist it, but couldn’t.
She could feel part of her leaving, and she understood why it felt like her soul. It certainly felt like she was losing far more than she was able to give up. She could feel that whatever they were taking, she was not going to be able to survive without it.
Connie did not know enough to stop what was happening to her. She waited for the same burst of fear and then the power that came from it. This time, even though she was scared, there was no surge of power to save her. It was all going out of her very slowly.
At one point, she was high in the air, but then quickly she found herself on the ground. No longer did she have any energy to keep herself upright.
Connie could hear people talking, but they seemed to be so far away, that she could barely understand anything that they were saying. It all sounded garbled.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Linda finally got control over mouth again.
“How many times have I told you not to do that?”
“How many times have I told you to stop being so weak?”
“This isn't weakness, sister; this is my daughter.”
“She is a daughter that you don't even know. How can she be that important to you all of a sudden? I never heard a peep out of you about her.”
Linda did not know what to say because all of the accusations were true. She had given up everything, and one of those things was her daughter and her right to know her. She had been convinced her sister would never let her live.
What Linda was now seeming to understand was the fact that Marl had done all of it for a reason. She wanted Connie to be someone she could find later. She had known somehow that one day, she would need her, and now she had her. The power that was flowing through her was untapped and untainted. Marl had been planning it all along, and the realization for her sister Linda, was hard to except. She knew that Marl was capable of many things, but this one was so selfish that it took her breath away.
Linda repeated the freeing spell a little louder and was able to take control of her body as well. Her sister was wearing herself too thin, and Linda knew that she had to do something while Marl was distracted. Her sister had always been so much stronger than her, but maybe, if she didn't see it coming, Linda would be able to do what was needed.
She looked over and saw that her daughter was becoming powerless, and Linda knew that she didn't have much time left. She quickly started to repeat a spell that she had heard her sister use several times before. Linda had thought it was horrible, but now found herself using it on her own
sister.
Only when Marl started to feel the effects her sister’s words had on her, did she suddenly care. Marl stopped sucking Connie dry and looked over at her sister. “And what do you think you're doing?”
“Something that I should have done a long time ago, Marl. You convinced me to hurt all those children; you're not going to be able to convince me to hurt my own. You should have died so many years ago.”
“If I had, sister, then you would not have the power to live anymore either. It is only because of our bond that we're able to do these things. You know that. That is why you stayed this long.”
“No, I stayed because I've looked up to you since I was a little girl. You helped me when I was younger and mother went crazy, and I’ve looked up to you since. Now I realize you are just like her.”
Linda knew that she had upset her sister. Their mother had been the abusive sort, and the sisters had bonded together because of that. It was that single deed that made the Stein witches so strong: the killing of their own mother. They took her power and split it amongst themselves. They had way too much power, and it all went to their heads.
“So, you will give up everything? You will give up our immortality to save a girl that you don't even know?”
“Yes, immortality was not to be ours, sister. We stole it, and we need to give it back now.”
Linda turned from her sister and continued to speak the spell that would end the Stein witches for good. She was not just going to take away her sisters’ immortality; she was going to take her own immortality as well. Linda was tired, and she had lived too long. No one should live as long as they had.
Marl screamed in frustration and went towards her sister. She literally jumped on her in a fit of rage and went for her throat. She could not stop her in the middle of a spell, but she could stop her body from being able to utter the words. Marl had not been paying attention, but now she realized that it would only be one more recitation of the spell before it was complete. Then their sister-bond would be fractured forever—and all of the benefits with it.
Linda was unable to finish the words that she so desperately needed to speak. She looked up at her sister, unable to utter the last few words. She smiled anyhow, because she knew that she had won. Marl wasn’t there yet.
Once Linda died, her power would go to her daughter: Connie. The sister-bond that gave Marl the ability to stay alive for so long was gone. Once Linda died, there was no other sister to keep the bond. Marl had lost.
Marl stood up when it was over and looked to the young woman on the ground. She tried to suck her powers from her as she had before, but the spell did not work. Marl no longer had her sister’s powers, and she felt empty inside.
Frustration ran through her, and instead of attacking Connie, who was quickly going to realize that she was far stronger than before, and even stronger than Marl, she started to run away. Nothing had gone to plan, and Marl could already feel the ravages of time taking over. Every bone and joint in her body was sore, and she knew that it wouldn't be long. She had to find something, or she was going to die just like her sister.
Dahlia came from one of the rooms and quickly sent her sprawling into the hallway. Marl remembered her from the attack on the orphanage, and she thought of the blue bottle that she had seen before. Marl had done some looking, and if she was correct, it was exactly what she needed. Her only hope.
“Ah, little witch, I remember you.”
“I remember you too. You’re the one that eats children.”
“That is such a simplified way to describe what I do, but close enough. You took that easy living away from me, as well as my sisters. You are going to give me everything back that you stole, and then some. It will be a very high price that you and your loved ones pay.”
“Without your sisters, you don't have immortality, so you have nothing left. You can be mad at me as long as you want, witch, but it doesn't matter now. Your days are numbered.”
“Not if I get ahold of that little bottle of yours. Then I will have everything I need, and I will exact my revenge.”
Dahlia started to move forward, trying to conjure a power ball in her hands to throw at the Stein witch and end her for good. They had done enough damage in her life, and she wasn't willing to walk away from it.
Before she could throw the power ball though, there was a poof of dark smoke that engulfed Marl. She threw something on the ground, and it exploded into the black and purple mist in front of them. By the time it had dissipated enough to see, she was gone.
Justin came up behind her and asked her if she was alright.
“No, Justin, I'm really not okay. This is worse than I could have imagined. She knows that I have the potion, and she knows what it's for. We are never going to be safe until she’s dead.”
He chuckled and asked his wife if she was finally going to tell him.
Dahlia had been keeping it a secret for some time now, but she knew that she was going to have to pass on the responsibility. Connie was one of the strongest witches in the country, and it was going to have to rest on her shoulders now.
“The bottle is immortality, Justin. And we have to make sure that the last Stein witch does not get it. If she does, I fear there will be hell to pay.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
When the dust settled, all that was left was destruction all around her. Connie felt that her powers were back, and more than that, she had more than when she started. Connie had never felt so powerful in all of her life, but that realization came with understanding where it came from. Just from talking to Dahlia, Connie had come to understand that her mother was dead.
It didn't take but a moment to find her body on the floor. There was nothing that she could do, and there was nothing to be said either. Connie did not even know the woman, but Linda’s last moments had shown that she had a conscience. She wasn't like her sister. It was a small relief to Connie though, because her mother was gone.
Several shifters had been injured when the witches came in, but they already came to agreement that more would have been hurt if Connie wouldn't have faced the witches in the hallway.
She was being deemed a hero, but she quickly found out that it was Dahlia that scared Marl off. Dahlia came to her once Connie and Frank had assured each other that they were okay. Everything was happening so quickly, but Dahlia pulled her away into another room that was empty and quiet.
“We need to talk, Connie.”
“We do. I hear that I owe you some gratitude. You saved all of us.”
Dahlia waved her off and told her that if she wouldn't have done it, then Connie would have done it moments later.
“I don't think you quite realize how strong you are now. I can feel it coming off of you in waves.”
Connie had to admit that she felt stronger, but she did not know how that related to anything that mattered. What was the good of being so strong if she could not stop her aunt from trying to destroy the people that she had grown to love?
“I don't know what good it has done me. It hasn't stopped all this bad stuff from happening.”
“Well, it probably made less happen than you realize. This could have been devastating for all of us.”
Connie looked around the disheveled house and raised her hands to show that enough had happened.
Dahlia said a few words and moved her hands. The room started to fix itself, and she smiled at Connie’s reaction.
“Trust me when I say that this it’s no big deal. No one died on our side. I am sorry I can’t fix your mom.”
“I am just glad that it is over for now. Maybe Marl she will stay away for good. I hear that she will finally die.”
“If Marl Stein does not find a way to gain back her immortality, she will die.”
“Well, without her sisters to help her, how could she?”
“Her niece could help her.”
It took Connie some time to realize what she was saying, and she quickly refuted that option.
“I will never help
her. People don't need to live forever.”
“Well, there is another way, Connie. One that I didn't want to have to tell anyone about, but Marl knows about it, and it is important that you know all the facts. And I have a feeling that we are going to be tested rather soon, and I want you to know why.”
Connie did not like where the conversation was going. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck and arms standing up. Couldn’t she have just a short break from all the bad news?
“I have a bottle of immortality, and your aunt knows about it. She is going to come for it, and I am not strong enough to take her by myself. I thought that I would be the one to keep us safe, but I'm starting to think that maybe it is you, Connie. You are stronger than Marl. You're the one that's going to have to watch over it now.”
Connie didn’t know what to say, and before she could agree or disagree, Dahlia was putting something into her hand. She looked down at the little blue bottle and wondered what all the fuss was about.
“This is immortality?”
“Basically. The person who drinks it will live forever. And it's just that simple. Only one bottle was made, and it has never been used.”
“So how do you know that's what it really is?”
“This bottle has been passed down in my family for generations.”
“Then maybe your family is supposed to keep it.”
Dahlia shook her head. “I thought the same thing, but now I know that it's not to be. I am the last of my line. If I have daughters, there will be years before they are ready to protect themselves and the bottle. It is too powerful for any one person to live forever. We have learned that with the Stein witches. She wants immortality more desperately than anything else. You have to keep it safe. No matter what.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, Connie. Just take it. The rest will come to you, just like it has come to me. It doesn’t want to be used, so it will help you.”
