Crossroads

by Nicole Coverdale

  “Well, hello to you too,” Sky said, eyeing Julie as he took the vial. This can’t be good, he thought. “What happened?”

  “A freaking bird fell out of the sky!” Julie snapped, still not quite believing what she had seen. “It was struck by lightning, Sky! Lightning!”

  “I’m sure it was just a fluke.”

  “A fluke? Did you just say a fluke?” Julie asked in disbelief. “Dammit, Sky, I told you guys I didn’t want to go to church! There are things in my life. Things I’ve done that—”

  “The next time I ask you to do something, can you do me a favor, and just do it!” The door slammed shut below, interrupting her, and Julie winced as feet thumped up the stairs angrily. “I asked you to do one thing, Josslyn! One thing! And that’s to freeze the damned bees so I could get the honey!”

  “But I couldn’t freeze them!” Josslyn cried, hurrying after Jasmine. “They were moving too fast! I couldn’t do anything!”

  “Uh huh. And instead, we both got stung!” Jasmine shouted, turning and pointing at the pink marks on her arm. “You’re just lucky we’re not allergic to bees, or we’d both be dead!”

  “I said I was sorry!” Josslyn cried.

  “Hmph.”

  Sky sighed, staring at the two. Why is it these Morgan women didn’t know how to control their anger? “Welcome home,” he said, faking a smile. “It looks like you two had fun.”

  “Fun? Fun?” Jasmine swung around, her eyes narrowing. “We did not have fun!”

  “So much for enjoying some time together,” Josslyn muttered.

  Jasmine swung toward her. “Well if you would…”

  “Jasmine, stop!” Sky snapped, rolling his eyes. “Stop acting like everything is everyone else’s fault for Christ sakes! Josslyn can’t control what she can freeze, any more than you can control what you can move. It’s part of the cycle of magic, so be nice to your sister!”

  “Well, I wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you!” Jasmine snapped. “If you hadn’t given your damned heart away, none of this would be happening!”

  “I didn’t give my heart away, it was a requirement of the job.”

  “And now, because of you, we’re putting our lives on the line!”

  “Jasmine.” Julie sent her a look. “Get control of your temper.”

  “She’s not the only one who needs to control her temper,” Sky muttered under his breath.

  Julie glared at him. “I heard that.”

  “Right.” Sky raised his hands in surrender. “My apologies.”

  “That’s a crappy apology,” Julie muttered. “But I’ll accept it, since I do need to get control of my temper, as do you.” She glanced at Jasmine. “What is your problem?”

  “What’s my problem? Everything!” Jasmine cried. “It seems that no matter where I turn, something is going wrong. The man I’m dating, doesn’t have a heart, Julie! A heart, and because of that, we have to go up to heaven to get it! That’s crazy!”

  “Jasmine.”

  “I know. I know. Control my temper,” Jasmine muttered. “But I’m so tired of everything going wrong in our lives! First it was that trip to the past, then it was Jade turning into a spider, Josslyn dying, me losing my powers. We couldn’t even enjoy Halloween without something going wrong, and I love Halloween! Everything is just a complete disaster!” She flung her hands up, the boxes on the far end of the room dumping on the floor. She sighed. “But I know it isn’t your fault, Joss. Or yours.” She glanced over at Sky. “And I’m sorry if it seems like I’m constantly blaming you for the things going wrong in our lives, but I’m just so damned sick of it!”

  “Oh please! Don’t apologize, Jasmine,” Josslyn said, waving away her apology. “It is not the first time I’ve been yelled at by someone in this house, and it surely will not be the last. And I get it. We have gone through a lot since becoming witches, but it’s just the way our lives are now. We just have to learn to deal with it.”

  “Easier said than done,” Jasmine murmured, silently relieved that Josslyn had been so forgiving of her temper. She crossed the room to Sky, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “And I’m sorry I yelled at you too.”

  “I guess it’s just one of those things I’m going to have to get used to,” Sky said, smirking.

  “You better!” Julie cried. “I mean, you are in a house full of Morgan women, but first, we have to get you better. Hopefully you’ll be back to normal soon.”

  “I hope so,” Sky said, wincing as another wave of pain rolled through him. “Because this freaking sucks. Does anyone know where Jade is?”

  “Here!”

  A reign of color suddenly filled the room, and they all blinked, shielding their eyes as Jade appeared before them.

  “Oh my goodness! That was so much fun!” she cried, bouncing around in excitement.

  “What was so much fun?”

  “I got to meet leprechauns!” Jade cried. “And look! They fixed my leg!” She pointed. “I can walk again!”

  “Leprechauns? You got to meet leprechauns?” Josslyn’s mouth dropped open. “What did they look like? Were they small? Did they have long white beards? Green hats? Green shirts? Talk with an accent?”

  “Yes. Yes. Yes, and yes,” Jade said. “And I even saved them from a monster!”

  “Sweet!”

  “A monster?”

  “What monster?”

  “This big worm thingy they cursed years ago! It was so cool!”

  “Jade, can we do the whole sharing thing later?” Sky asked, holding a hand to his chest. “I’m kind of on the clock here.”

  “Oh. Right. Sorry.” Jade looked at him sheepishly. “Here. One coconut and a four-leaf clover.”

  “Perfect! Come on. Let’s get to the attic!”

  “The attic?” Jasmine glanced over at Sky, worry etched on her face. “Sky, I don’t like this. This whole going to heaven thing, it just feels wrong. And can you even make it to the attic? Look at you! You’re panting, and your face is pale.” She touched a hand to his cheek. “I don’t want you getting any weaker than you already are.”

  “Jasmine, would you stop worrying?” Sky asked laughing. He touched a hand to her cheek. “Although it is kind of sweet. You worrying about me and all, but I’m not walking there.” He winked at her, taking her hand. “And neither are you.” And they disappeared in a reign of yellow lights.

  “Sure. She doesn’t have to walk up the stairs,” Julie grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest. “But I have to.”

  “You’re also not dating an angel,” Josslyn said, elbowing her. “Come on. Let’s get moving!” They hurried out of the room, racing up the stairs. They walked through the door, grinning when they saw Jasmine and Sky laying together on the couch. “Ah, Jas. Are we interrupting something?”

  “No!” Jasmine jumped up from the couch, glancing at her sisters, her face full of worry.

  “Jasmine, what’s wrong?” Jade asked, knowing that look all too well.

  “I’d say she wants some time alone with the angel,” Josslyn teased.

  “Joss, stop!” Jade snapped. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it, Jasmine?”

  Jasmine nodded. “Yes. It’s Sky.” She turned, gesturing to where he was lying on the couch. “I think he’s getting worse guys. That teleport took a lot out of him. He’s so pale and he can barely move.” She crouched next to him, squeezing his shoulder. “Sky. Can you hear me?”

  “Yes, I can hear you,” Sky muttered, struggling to breathe as he stared up at her. “But we have to hurry. We don’t have much time left.”

  “Then let’s get a move on this spell!” Julie hurried across the room, grabbing a cauldron. “Okay, here we go. Holy water. Honey. Hey, can someone open that coconut?”

  “Ahh. How do we open a coconut?”

  “Just crack it open, Jade!”

  “Oh. Right. Because that makes all the sense in the world.” Jade slammed it down on the floor, watching it
break in half across the wood. “It really worked!”

  “Of course it did! Bring it here!”

  Julie scooped the coconut out from the shell, adding it to the cauldron. “Now all we need is the four-leaf clover, and the feather.”

  “Put it in?”

  “Put it in.”

  Josslyn and Jade stepped forward, adding the ingredients.

  “Oh man! That smells wonderful!” Julie cried, sighing. “Coconut and honey, hmm. Sky. Jasmine. Come quick! It’s time.”

  “Thank God!” Jasmine cried, wrapping her arm around Sky’s waist and pulling him to his feet. “Come on, Sky, we have to go. Just think, soon we’ll be up in heaven and you’ll feel much better.”

  “Man, I hope so,” Sky said, gritting his teeth against the pain as he walked across the room. “Because this pain is ruthless! I’ve never felt anything like this before!” He stopped in front of the cauldron, putting his arm around Jade. “So, are you ready, Jade?”

  “To go up to heaven?” Jade asked, laughing. “Not in the slightest!”

  “Just wait until you see it,” Sky said, winking at her. “It’s like nothing you’ll ever see. Josslyn, can you grab that paper off the table for me?”

  “Sure.” Josslyn glanced down at the scribble across the page. “You wrote a spell?”

  “Just because I’m an angel, doesn’t mean I don’t know a thing or two about writing a spell,” Sky said, gasping. He clutched a hand to his chest, handing Jasmine the spell. “Here. You have to say it. Do it quick.”

  “As if I would do anything but,” Jasmine muttered, taking the paper from him and glancing down at the scribble on the page.

  “Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.” She balled up the paper, tossing it in with the potion. “Through realms of hope, take our parting gift…” Smoke rose up from the potion, and she reached a hand forward, sprinkling a handful of the potion up through the air. “And welcome us through the golden gates of heaven.”

  Boom!

  The ground shook, and Josslyn gasped. She grabbed the table next to her, teetering a little, watching as smoke filled the room. She coughed, fanning her hand and raced across the room to the window. She opened it, the cold breeze whipping through the room, and she glanced over at Julie as the smoke disappeared. “Well, looks like it’s just you and me, Jules,” she said, gesturing to the spot where Jade, Jasmine, and Sky had been standing just a moment ago. “They’re gone.”

  “Yup. They are,” Julie said, her voice sounding odd and Josslyn swung around. Her heart skipping a beat, as she stared at Julie. Her blue eyes, turning black as night. “And so am I,” she said as she disappeared in a scorch of flames.

  “Julie? Julie!” Josslyn raced forward, staring at the flames as they disappeared out the window. “Dammit, Julie! Get your ass back there!” she shouted, slamming her fist into the wall next to her, fear racing through her. What the hell was that? Why did her eyes just turn dark? And her voice… was she evil?

  “No!” She shook her head, refusing to believe that. Julie was not evil! She was good! Hell, she was better than her or Jade combined!

  “Please tell me this isn’t happening,” she whispered, spinning on her heel and racing across the room. She grabbed the book, flipping through the pages, her gaze landing on the incantation at the bottom of the ‘heaven sent’ spell.

  Caution. This spell is to be used in a case of dire emergency! For once the spell has been cast, the gates to heaven will open, and one soul that has been tempted by evil, will turn to the dark side. But if more than one is welcomed through the gates, all hell shall reign down on earth and bring forth the apocalypse.

  “Tempted by evil?” Josslyn frowned, then she gasped, her thoughts going back to Halloween. Julie had had all of their powers! Had it been too much power? Had it tempted her?

  She slammed the book shut, growling. “You know, I was really, really hoping at least one of these spells we cast wouldn’t backfire on us!” she shouted, staring up at the skies. “Thanks for the warning, Sky!”

  As if on cue, the ground suddenly shook underneath her, and Josslyn gasped. She grabbed the edge of the table, and outside, she heard screams. She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening as the skies turned from gray to a bright red. Yellow lightning streaked across the sky, shooting downward, and striking the earth. A huge crack spreading across the ground.

  And here comes the apocalypse, she thought, seething. “Great! Just great! Just what I freaking need! The end of the fricking world!” She growled, turning and racing out of the room. She jogged down the stairs, grabbing her coat, and raced out into the chilly day. “Just what I wanted to deal with, and to think, that I thought I was going to have time to search for my child!” she growled. “Okay. First, we’ll find Julie. Who knows what kind of mess she’s creating. Then I’ll deal with the damned apocalypse!”

  “This is heaven?”

  Jade squinted as they appeared in a reign of yellow light. She shrugged out from under Sky’s arm, stepping forward and staring at the buildings around them amongst the clouds. “It looks just like St. Paul!”

  “That’s what it looks like to you,” Sky said, walking forward. “To someone else, it might look like Atlanta, or San Diego. Everyone’s perspective is different.” He gasped, clutching his chest. “One thing is for sure though, I’m running out of time. Come on. Follow me.” He turned, pushing through the doors to his left. “Marco.”

  “Polo.”

  A large, dark-haired man dressed in white robes glanced up from the bar, his eyes narrowing as he poured himself a drink. “Sky?”

  “Hello Myron.”

  “What are you doing here? And with those two?” He jabbed a finger toward Jasmine and Jade. “It’s forbidden for them to be up here, Sky! You know this! Hell, I have half a mind to blow you to smithereens right now. That witch has been nothing but a bad influence on you!”

  “You touch a hair on his body, and you’ll be answering to me,” Jasmine said, jumping in front of Sky and glaring at the God. “Now, I know you don’t like me very much. I don’t like you either, but you do not get to be all high and mighty right now. We need your help. Sky needs your help, and you had better help him after all he has done for you. He’s dying!”

  “Dying?” Myron stared at her, then glanced over at Sky. His eyes narrowing on his pale face. “Sky, what happened?

  “It’s my heart,” Sky said, softly, struggling to get a breath out. “Someone has it.”

  “What? But that’s impossible! All the angel’s hearts are in safe keeping!”

  “Not mine. Someone has mine, Myron, and I need you to help me find it.”

  “Hmpht. And these two?” Myron pointed to Jade and Jasmine. “Why are they here?”

  “I couldn’t very well travel alone in my condition, Myron. I needed help, and Jade here needs to talk to Cynthia.”

  “Cynthia. Why?”

  “She needs help. Someone to talk to. I figured Cynthia could help her. She’s always been so good at helping people come to grips with their emotions. Where is she?”

  “Where she always is,” Myron said, turning, and swiping his hand. A door to the left swung open, and he gestured Jade forward. “Go on, Jade. The answers you’re looking for are in there.” He pointed. “But be warned. The answers you want, aren’t always the answers you can handle.”

  “Don’t worry. I can handle anything,” Jade said, swallowing, and glancing at Sky. “Is it safe?” she asked, gesturing to the door.

  “Do you really think that I would put you in danger?” Sky asked. “Go, Jade. She’s waiting for you.”

  “But how will she even find me?”

  “Oh, she’ll find you. She always does.” Sky pointed. “Look.”

  Jade glanced back at the door, her eyes widening as an arm reached out from the other side of the door. Its long fingers stretched toward her, wrapping around her waist, and pulling her toward the door. “Sky! I don’t like this!”

  “Let it take you, Jade. Don’t figh
t it. It’s taking where you want to go. For answers.”

  Right. Let the scary hand pull you out into oblivion, Jade thought, swallowing, as she neared the door. Disappearing through the door, the door slamming shut behind her. And there’s no turning back now.

  “And as for you two.” Myron turned, jabbing a finger at Jasmine and Sky. “I understand you two have broken the rules.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sky lied.

  “Don’t play coy with me, boy,” Myron said, narrowing his eyes as he brought the drink to his lips. “Because I have it on good authority that you are dating a witch!” He jabbed a finger at Jasmine. “That witch! A selfish, inconsiderate, little brat! Which as you know… is against the rules!” he shouted, air flying from his lips and rushing toward them.

  Jasmine and Sky gasped, stumbling back. They slammed back against the table behind them, and Sky reached out, wrapping his hand around Jasmine’s. “It’s okay,” he said, staring into her wide eyes. “We’ll be okay.”

  “So it’s true!” Myron shouted, his voice belting throughout the room. “You have betrayed us for the last time, Sky!”

  “For the last time? I’ve done nothing but help you, sir! I gave up my family. I learned everything I needed to know about being an angel. I’ve been in charge of dozens of witches. I’ve done everything you have asked, the only think I’m guilty of is falling in love. Falling in love, with the only woman, who has ever taken my breath away.” He smiled, glancing over at Jasmine. “A woman, who yes, has her faults. Has a temper that’s shorter then any temper I have ever seen, but she’s also the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. A woman with a kind heart, and who, I could never regret falling in love with.”

  “Y-you love me?” Jasmine asked. “But Sky! We’ve barely started dating!”

  “Let’s call it love at first sight,” Sky said, winking at her. He glanced back at Myron. “You can’t help who you love, Myron, and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to.”