Stir Until Petrified

by Theda Vallee

  I didn’t want to see my face. The damage sounded gruesome. Even if I looked like Two-Face for the rest of my life it’d been worth it. People would live because I’d done what needed to be done.

  I’m going to check on the summoning. Be right back.

  Luc held the paper up briefly before leaving to ensure everything was going well with the next stage of our plan. Summoning a demon was easy. The banishing spell was the hard part. I watched him walk away, grateful that I had all these people here to support me.

  Straining my eyes, I looked for Nerina across the room. She must be so nervous right now. Picking her out, I watched as she spoke with a self-assurance I’d never seen. She was directing Aunt Sophia and Gia like a born leader.

  I jolted up, despite the room spinning like a carousel from hell. What the fuck were Aunt Sophia and Gia doing here? They weren’t part of the plan! As a matter of fact, having Aunt Sophia involved instantly spelled disaster. Everyone in our household knew she was an absolute train wreck when it came to spell work. Why would they even think this was a good idea?

  I stood up, swaying on my feet, determined to put a stop to this. If there was a lack of spellcasters we’d just have to wait. It would be dangerous for everyone in a coma, but we’d have to take that chance. The loss of life if Charna got out would be catastrophic. My legs wobbled, unable to walk in a straight line. My equilibrium was jacked.

  Vee came over, putting her arm around my shoulder to steady me.

  “Vee, what are they doing? Aunt Sophia can’t cast spells. What happened? Why are they here?!”

  I stared at her realizing the paper was back on the cot. I swung around, haphazardly lunging for the small bed in hopes Vee would keep me upright. She grasped me, trying to hold on, but all the blood coating my shoulders made it impossible. I slid forward, slamming face first into the cot.

  Pain flared through my entire cranium reminding me that I wasn’t in good shape. Despite the agony, I rolled over, thrusting the notebook towards her.

  “I can’t hear. You have to write it down.”

  There was an emergency. All the spellcasters were called to banish harpies in downtown.

  Harpies in downtown? That seemed very suspicious. “We can’t let them do it. This isn’t safe, for anyone,” I said.

  It’s too late. They’ve already started.

  “Well, stop them! It’s not too late. They can stop,” I screamed, struggling to get myself back to my feet.

  But it was too late. As I struggled to drag myself up, the lights overhead began to sway, flickering as energy surged through the room. The smell of sulfur stung my nose. Underneath me the floor trembled.

  Charna appeared in the circle surrounded by my family. She rose to her full height, unfurling wings I hadn’t seen in the school. A sheer membrane covered her wings, gray and molted. Just as she had done when we met her, she stomped her hoof on to the ground menacingly.

  “Vee, is there anything on the medical cart that will help me get up on my feet? I need to get over there now!” I demanded, sliding in the pool of blood I’d created on the floor.

  She stared at me for a moment, her face conflicted. Resignation settled in before she took off for a backpack across the room. I watched as she dug in the bag, searching for something. When she pulled out her hand it was wrapped around a glittering vial.

  I fought my body as it tried to shut down. I’d been flopping around too much for my damaged head. I could feel my eyes rolling back as unconsciousness threatened to claim me. Vee’s hands pried open my mouth, dumping the contents of the vial down my throat. My throat constricted, choking on the grainy substance.

  “What is this? What did you just give me?” I choked out weakly.

  Her answer was lost to me. Within seconds of swallowing, I felt my body react. My heart sped up, slamming against my chest. The muscles in my body swelled, filling with strength. Jolting to a stop, the world around me came into focus, no longer spinning. Best of all, the sound of the world around came roaring back, amplified like a rock concert.

  “Holy shit. What did you just give me?” I asked, blinking as everything came into hyperfocus.

  “Pixie dust. The fae take it as a recreational drug, like humans with cocaine.”

  “Is it safe?”

  “Nothing is really ever safe,” she said with a shrug.

  Jumping up from the ground in one easy movement, I ran towards my family intent on helping however I could. The succubus had been summoned successfully. Maybe we’d underestimated Aunt Sophia.

  They’d already started chanting the banishment spell. Charna screamed in fury. “You little bitch. You think you can banish me and make this all go away? This is just the beginning.”

  “Care to elaborate? The beginning of what? As far as I can tell, you’re stuck in a circle, and about to be slammed back into the pits of hell,” I said, walking slowly around the circle.

  “Just you wait. When this is over, your soul will be so tarnished you’ll have a suite right next door to me. I will relish tormenting you for eternity.” Charna rubbed her hands together gleefully at the thought.

  “Etta, don’t engage her. Let them finish the spell and be done with this,” Luc admonished, coming up next to me. “How the hell are you standing right now?”

  “Drugs,” I snarled at him, the pixie dust feeding my anger.

  Begrudgingly I kept my mouth shut. I watched impatiently as Nerina chanted in time with my Aunt and Gia. Magic swirled around inside of me in anticipation. The effects of the pixie dust curled around my magic, making it swell within me amplifying it a hundredfold.

  How much longer was this damn spell? It was taking every bit of restraint I could muster to keep Stella from leaking out of my body. We both wanted to take our aggression out on that damn succubus. After what I’d seen in Holly’s mind, I was terrified to think about what had been happening inside of the other victims head’s. If they all lived, they’d be dealing with the repercussions of this for a very long time.

  I was sick of her cryptic shit. As a matter of fact, I was getting sick of everyone’s cryptic shit. What the hell did she mean my soul would become corrupted? I was a good Catholic girl who loved her family. The worst sins I’d committed in my life were a few lies, and premarital sex. I’d confess my sins next Sunday, say my rosaries, and be as good as new.

  Charna smiled at me from the circle exposing her yellowing fangs. Without a care in the world she walked the circle, eyeing every inch of it. What was she looking for? The circle was intact. She would’ve known already if it wasn’t.

  After completing a stroll around the circle, she stopped in front of Aunt Sophia. A smirk playing across her hideous face. She looked back at me and winked. Then her face contorted into something that was beyond nightmares. Turning towards Aunt Sophia she lunged forward.

  “Don’t move! She can’t get out!” I shouted, realizing what she was doing too late.

  Aunt Sophia screamed, shuffling her feet trying to get away. The circle broke, her feet kicking up a few small particles of the salt in her panic. She wheeled backwards, tumbling to the ground as Charna stepped out of the circle towards her.

  Within seconds, Charna was surrounded by agents. Someone swooped in, dragging my aunt to safety. I ran forward, grabbing on to Nerina and Gia. Lifting them up with the strength of Pixie-PCP, I ran to the other side of the room. “Leave now! We won’t be able to get her back in the circle. You need to be as far away from here as possible,” I barked at them.

  Without waiting to see if they’d follow through I turned and ran back to the fray. Bodies flew through the air as Charna mowed through the agents like paper dolls. Fuck. What did we do now? We couldn’t kill her. Banishing her wasn’t going to happen with her loose. Now that she’d been summoned, she could walk the earth doing as she pleased until someone sent her back to hell.

  So many people were going to die.

  A body sailed past me, limp and broken. I had to stop her somehow. I released the cap I had on
Stella. We needed every bit of juju we could muster.

  Stella was ready to go. We were amped on adrenaline and pixie dust. I pooled my magic slamming it into Charna. Her body lifted off the ground with the force. She slammed back down onto her hooves, barely phased. She slashed out in every direction with her claws spraying blood on contact. The ground around her quickly becoming slick with it. Body parts lay strewn around her like a macabre garden.

  A claw caught my cheek, slicing it deep. One more thing to add to my growing list of facial damage. The tang of blood filled my mouth. I couldn't even feel the pain.

  My whole team stood side by side, lobbing magic at her. It looked like a laser light show. Nothing had any effect. She’d falter for a moment, but then she’d keep coming.

  I poured magic out, willing it to become a stream of lava. A hot river of liquid fire coated the beast, pouring down from her head to encase her body. As soon as the lava had covered every inch of her, I willed a wind to cool it. The lava froze her in place, giving us a few precious seconds to run, if that’s what we wanted to do.

  “We have a minute, maybe less. If we’re going to run, it’s now or never.” I looked at Luc.

  “Where would we go?” Brady asked giving me a sad smile.

  “All we can do is buy everyone a little more time.” Luc reached out to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. He leaned forward lightly pressing his lips to mine. “I hope I find you in the afterlife.”

  I kissed him back desperately, not wanting this to be the last kiss I had on this earth.

  “You’re going to use your last few seconds on earth to suck face? Priorities, people.” Leontyne said rolling her eyes.

  The rock crumbled away from Charna’s form slowly like a terrifying striptease. We began volleying magic at her again, valiantly trying to stave off the inevitable.

  “You little whore. I’ve had enough of you,” she hissed in fury as the rock fell from her face.

  She swung her tail around swiping at us. Brady was caught up under his knees and tossed through the air like a ragdoll. I tried to send magic out to cushion his blow, but I wasn’t fast enough. His body landed on the floor with a sickening thud, his limbs twisted in too many different directions.

  My anger welled up, exploding into a magical attack that I no longer controlled. I felt disconnected from my body as I watched my hands move independently. I was a conductor in an orchestra that had no idea what song they were playing. The onslaught of magic slammed into Charna in an unrelenting swell. I hit her over and over again. Everything I threw at her did nothing. I needed to conserve my energy. Despite how good it felt to slam her with everything in me, I needed to be smarter about this.

  I pulled back on the magic with every bit of strength I had. Stella fought me like a wild stallion. She’d been let loose to do as she pleased. She wasn’t willing to cooperate so easily. As I fought with myself to restrain the magic, Vee screamed my name from across the room. I turned to see Brady convulsing on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.

  I felt a cold scaly hand circle around my neck. Sharp claws dug into the tender skin near my clavicle. I looked down the length of a blue veiny arm covered in black hair. Cold black eyes stared back at me. Rage was plastered across her features. She lifted me from the ground drawing me closer to her face.

  “All it takes is a moment. One little moment of not being present, Etta. Your giant friend is your undoing.” She laughed, grinning at me. “I’m not supposed to kill you, but I’ve decided, fuck the man. I’m a demon. I don’t give a shit what mortals demand.”

  With each word she shook me, as if using my body for punctuation. Claws dug deeper into the tender flesh on my neck.

  The room was silent. Luc had stopped his attack, terrified of hitting me. Vee stood by Brady, her fear and guilt coating the room. I wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault. I should’ve stayed present. In the moment. Focused and driven. None of this was her fault.

  I closed my eyes. I pictured Carina. Her red ringlets framing her face. Ocean blue eyes, a mirror image of my own, staring back at me. Chubby little baby hands wrapped around my finger. If this was my last moment on earth I wanted to remember every precious second I’d had with her. Nothing would ever be like that love. It was pure. It was perfect. If I had to die today, I wanted that love to be what I carried with me into eternity.

  I opened my eyes, at peace. I didn't want to die, but I wasn't going to beg this bitch for my life. The pressure on my throat increased as she drew me towards her. Her mouth opened wide. Flames licked at the corners of her lips, flickering in and out like a hot serpent's tongue. She locked her lips over mine breathing fire into my body. My breath was instantly gone. My body instinctively gasped seeking oxygen to fill its depleted reserves, finding more flames instead.

  I waited for the pain. Any moment now it was going to hit me. As wonderful as the pixie dust was, there was no way I wouldn’t feel flames from hell pouring down my throat. Desperately I dove down inside, searching for Stella. She was nowhere to be found. I was on my own.

  A low humming sound startled me. My eyes searched for the source of the noise. The humming turned into a melody. A glorious melody that would put all other songs to shame. It was as if music was alive in the room with us, breathing itself into existence with each note.

  Vee screamed. I almost didn't hear her over the rapture the music had induced. Someone tugged at my feet, pulling my shoes off. Why would they take my shoes off? The music swelled sending waves of euphoria through my body. I felt my pants being tugged off. I wanted to respond, to stop them from stripping me down in the final moments before my death. The music was taking over though. I had no fight left in me. I only wanted to wrap myself in the bliss of harmony.

  The hand around my neck suddenly let go. Agony etched across Charna’s face. She pulled away engulfed in flames. I waited for the thud that meant I’d landed onto the ground. A held my breath but the ground didn’t come. It was a longer fall than I’d thought. I wasn’t falling. I was suspended in the air. Moments turned into minutes. The music swelled, building into a crescendo. I was floating on the waves of the music.

  I risked losing the euphoric feeling to glance down. Flames engulfed my body from head to toe. Yellow fire encased me, expanding out to orange. The outermost edges of the flame were a blinding white. My whole body was a torch. My flesh cracked under the heat of the flames. It fell onto the ground in a macabre pile of BBQed me.

  The brilliant white flames lapped out at Charna, consuming her putrid flesh greedily. Her wail of pain lost in the music.

  The music began to fade. Tears rolled down my face as I mourned the loss of the melody. My ears strained to pick up the last faint chords, greedily hanging on to every final note. As the notes faded away, my mind was filled with purpose. I suddenly knew what to do. I knew how to finish this. The universe opened wide pouring the knowledge into my head.

  Floating towards Charna, I brought my magic to the surface. Stella answered my call without hesitation this time. My hand glowed with fire as I reached out to touch her head. I lashed out slamming into her mind. We couldn't send her back to hell, but I could send her back to the person who’d originally summoned her.

  Magic ripped through her mind connecting me with the soul that had dared to bring her into this world. I pushed the magic down through the funnel, ripping into his brain. The tortured screams of the man on the other end echoed up through the channel as I sealed the demon into his body. I watched through her eyes as Father DeNazzi crumpled to the ground in the rose garden of his church, his body unable to withstand the demon burning inside of him.

  Chapter

  28

  The smell of sauce simmering on the stove wafted out the kitchen window, intermingling with the pungent bouquet of herbs growing in the warm sun. Nonna had refused to stay in the hospital for more than twenty-four hours after she had woken up. It’d only been a week since we brought her home, and she’d insisted on making Sunday dinner.


  Luc sat across from me lounging on the new patio table he’d purchased as a welcome home gift for Nonna. He was desperate to endear himself to her, so she’d let him back in the house. “Cariad, do you want to look at this later?”

  “Sorry, I was thinking.” I chewed on the tip of my pen staring at the forms in front of me.

  “Do I need to give you a penny for your thoughts?” Luc asked, nudging me under the table with his foot.

  “Dude, you’re rich. You need to be peeling off them Benjamin’s for her thoughts.” Brady wedged himself in next to me, shoving a glass of wine into my hand.

  “He has a point. A penny? How easy do you think I am?” I said taking a sip of the delicious wine.

  Luc smirked, lifting his eyebrow. “Do we need to bring up last night?”

  “Please bring up last night. Pretty please with sugar on top! Her lips are sealed when it comes to those lascivious details I’ve been craving. Spill it, Mr. Bossman. How kinky is our little Ms. Innocent here?”

  “Not going to happen, Brady. When I die you can read my journals.” I said nudging him over.

  “There’s a journal? I’ll be turning this house upside down to find it.” Brady grinned.

  He probably would too. Good thing I’d never in a million years write down anything in a journal. Living with Nerina had taught me well.

  I moved my attention back to the paperwork in front of me. I’d been putting it off all week. The Osservatori required a report on everything that had transpired in the warehouse. Writing it out somehow made it real. I’d fucked up. Father DeNazzi had been the strega we were looking for all along. He’d cast a spell that made him immune to the lie detector, but had we followed the normal process he would have been locked up the day we found him. I’d thought I was smarter than Luc and the whole damn Osservatori. If I’d let them take him in, he would have lost control of the succubus before Nonna was ever taken.