by J L Collins
I could feel her eyes burning a hole in the back of my head but I refused to look back. It was no secret that things between Fi and I had been strained since she found out I’d been lying her entire life. We got through it but I wasn’t delusional. She had every right to be angry with me and it stung her each time my big lie was brought to life again.
Heavier footsteps drew closer to me, and for a second I thought the girls were trying to catch up. Instead, Sully took a couple of long strides until he was walking along right next to me. He cleared his throat.
“This whole thing is . . . I mean,” he began, staring straight ahead. “I don’t really know what to say.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to say anything,” I said quietly. I was all too aware of how sad my words sounded. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him nodding.
“It seems too big of a thing not to say anything about, though. You’re a Witch. Wow. That does not sound any less crazy, out loud. Gwen, I . . .” his voice trailed off before he cleared his throat again. “Sorry. It’s a lot to take in.”
All I wanted was to skip the small talk. If I could just get to the gateway, this whole conversation could be over and I wouldn’t have to deal with Sully’s apparent revulsion of me. If only.
“Look, Gwen. I don’t know what I believe here, or what I saw earlier. But I do trust you. Call it a hunch, but you aren’t the type of person to lie about this kind of thing.”
Was he serious? “Except for the fact that I am. I mean, I lied to my own daughter her whole life. I’ve had to lie to anyone I’ve ever met since I’ve been here in your world. I lied to you. There’s no version of this where I’m the innocent one.” The bitterness in my voice surprised even me.
“But you didn’t have a choice. You said so yourself. You were just trying to protect your kid, and keeping something like this from everyone else isn’t really a lie. More of an omission. People are crazy out there—if I had something like this up my sleeve, I sure wouldn’t spill it to anyone either. Half the people in Midnight Pitch probably believe in the Boogey Man,” Sully paused, turning to face me and walking sideways. “Which isn’t real, right?”
Despite the tightness in my chest, I laughed anxiously. “No. At least not to my knowledge, anyway.” Both of us smiled, and for a moment my chest unclenched and I didn’t feel like I was bogged down in regrets.
Birds called out to each other from the treetops above us. “So, you don’t think I’m some kind of freak?” I finally asked. It was probably a stupid thing to say, especially since I wasn’t guaranteed an answer I wanted to hear.
“Freak? No. Unusual? Yeah, sure. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Take it from a guy who works with dead people for a living . . . being normal is overrated.”
My cheeks burned. I’d take unusual over a science experiment needing to be examined, any day. I glanced at my watch—anything to make me forget just how well he was taking this all in stride. And it’s not like I’d imagined telling him about me and the Other Realm, but I never figured he would be this understanding. It coiled the knot in my stomach even tighter.
“What isn’t overrated though? A pair of good hiking boots.” Sully winced as he paused to inspect his foot. “Sneakers probably aren’t a good choice for roughing it.”
Instinctively I wanted to pull out my wand and fix it for him, but I knew there was no point. Even with the random magic leaks, that’s not how magic worked in the Human Realm. It would have to wait until we got to Spell Haven.
“Sorry about that. I might be able to fix that up for you when we get to where we’re going.”
His dark eyes met mine again and for a moment I thought I might be sucked into them. But he looked away, nodding and walking on as I bit my lip and continued walking after Erie too. Behind us, the girls were whispering.
I had to admit… it was nice being one hundred-percent honest with him. It gave me the slightest bit of hope that the real me was something maybe Sully could handle, though it was just in vain. I pressed on deeper into the woods, not wanting to spend another minute of my time on what-ifs.
Once the cabin was in view, Erie threw me one last backward glance as if to make doubly sure I wanted to do this. I gave a nod and pointed out the cabin to everyone else.
To no one’s surprise, Marina screeched. “Oh my god, are you serious right now?”
It took us a few minutes to get her calmed down and convinced we weren’t actually going to murder her for ‘knowing too much.’ Sully was relatively unfazed by the admittedly creepy old cabin as we approached it. Whether it was because he figured all of this was a joke, or he thought Witches and creepy old places went hand in hand—I didn’t know.
“All right. Follow me around the side,” I said, nudging Erie to continue on. “Trust me,” I quickly reminded her in her ear.
The soft rush of air and the infamous whoosh of the gateway was in the back doorway of the small cabin. The gateway bent the shimmering air around it, swirling it around within it. It was one of the most purely magical things you could witness, and while I definitely wasn’t a fan of the weird feeling of going through it, it was pretty interesting to watch both Marina and Sully’s faces when they rounded the corner and saw it. While the gateway used to be nearly invisible to the naked eye, with the MARC opening it back up, the magical energy within it had turned a vivid blue.
Marina gasped, frozen on the spot. Sully’s eyes were wide, the electrical light reflected in the lens of his glasses as he took a few cautious steps forward. Behind them, Fi stood watching their reactions.
“What is that thing?” Sully finally said.
I swallowed against the slowly-forming lump in my throat. “It’s a gateway to the Other Realm. Where I’m from. We can step through it and it’ll take us there.”
Marina stepped forward along with Fiona-Leigh. “You’re going to take us with you?”
“So you can see for yourself!” Fi said, excitement lacing her words.
She looked at me, her eyes shining bright. I hated how beautiful and happy she looked only because I knew it would turn ugly shortly.
I sighed, gesturing to Erie. “You can go through first and make sure we’re good to go before we send them through.”
Erie didn’t say anything but took the steps up to the gateway, stepping through it as if she’d just stepped out of sight and into another room. Barely a minute had passed before we saw an arm with a thumb’s up extended back through the gateway. I turned back to the other three.
“Okay. Fiona-Leigh, you and Marina hold hands and walk through together. Me and Sully will go last.” I skipped the part about having to hold hands.
I had to give Marina some credit—as utterly terrified and amazed as she looked, she walked along with Fiona-Leigh without another word, except for mouthing something to Fiona-Leigh who laughed.
“Don’t worry. Splinching is not a real thing. At least . . . I don’t think it is. You ready?”
Marina quickly nodded and Fi pulled her through before she could say anything.
Watching them disappear, Sully let out a breath he must have been holding. “I still feel like I’m going to wake up in my bed any moment now . . .”
“You never know.” I smiled, pointing to the gateway. “Ready to take on some new science?”
He chuckled, his face pale. “Science? I thought this was magic?”
“What else is magic, but a new type of science? It’s just learning how to manipulate the energy around us.” I held out my hand as we walked up the steps together.
Sully took it, his palm just as clammy as mine. I guess to him, he had a lot more to lose.
“Ready.”
Spell Haven’s breeze caught my hair, blowing it all around the both of us as we made it out through the other side. The overhang of rock that helped to hide the gateway’s alcove cast a long shadow under which Erie and the girls were standing, waiting for us. Beside me, Sully sucked in a shallow breath before letting it back out, laughing. I pulled m
y hand away, not wanting to kid myself any more than I already had.
“That was amazing!”
“Right? It was like whoosh, and then bam, we’re in a totally different place! Like someone just beamed us here or something,” Marina said, throwing her hands up into the air. “I can’t believe we just teleported here! Show me everything, Fi. This place is crazy! I mean, look at those cool flowers there. Is that actually smoke coming out of them?”
Fiona-Leigh giggled, leading her over to more of the smoke petals.
“We’re here. Now what?” Erie asked impatiently. She folded her arms across her chest.
I turned to Sully. “I’m so glad you didn’t freak out. It . . . means a lot to me.”
Confused but still in utter awe of Spell Haven’s fairytale-like landscape, he placed his hand on my shoulder. “I should probably be thanking you. This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
Sighing, I nodded. “I know. And I’m sorry.”
With his head tilted to the side, he frowned at me. “Sorry? For what?”
I pulled my wand out, pointed it at him and quietly muttered my incantation, not wanting to startle anyone—especially Marina. “Calming lavender and willows that weep, let him fall into the forgetting sleep.”
Erie was behind Sully in an instant, my intentions dawning on her. He slumped back into her arms slowly, his gaze unfocused behind his glasses.
Holding my wand steady and making sure no one else was watching, I took in a deep breath. “Forget the images, forget the memories. Hear only my words as I speak to thee . . . Sully, when you fully awake from sleep, you will be in your bed after a long day of working on your truck. You finally fixed the timing belt but went to bed early after dinner. Marina is home and in bed after spending the day at the mall with Fiona-Leigh. You never saw me or my cousin today. I never introduced you to my cousin. You will forget everything you saw and heard and experienced after working on your truck. Forget the images, forget the memories. You’ve heard only my words as I’ve spoken to thee.”
Thin white threads of magic shot out of my wand, attaching themselves to the space above his eyebrows, we Witches knew as the third eye. His gaze remained the same until his eyes shut, his body heavily slouching back against Erie behind him. She grunted with effort at trying to keep him somewhat upright.
“What happened?” Marina came careening back into the alcove, looking down at her uncle with terror in her eyes.
“Oh my god!” Fiona-Leigh shouted, running up behind her.
Erie was quicker on her feet than I was this time, she pulled out her thin wand, speaking the incantation directly into Marina’s pale face until she had the same unsteady look. I caught Marina as she collapsed forward.
Fiona-Leigh gasped, her head whipping between me and Erie. “Mom?”
“Forget the images, forget the memories. Hear only my words as I speak to thee . . . Marina, when you fully awake, you will be in your bed after a day at the mall with Fiona-Leigh. Your Uncle Sully made dinner for you after you got back. You never saw me or my cousin today. I never introduced you to my cousin. Everything that happened after 11:00 AM this morning did not happen—you did not see, hear, or experience any of it. Forget the images, forget the memories. You’ve heard only my words as I’ve spoken to thee. Okay, here we go,” I said, carefully picking her up. Luckily, she was a tiny thing, but Erie was definitely going to need some help with Sully.
“What am I supposed to do with him?” she hissed, still trying to keep him semi-upright.
I frantically looked around, trying to think on my toes. “Oh! Aunt Bee has one of those dumpster bins! It’s big enough that we can fit them both in it and move it through the forest without too much hassle . . .”
“A garbage bin?” Fiona-Leigh whispered.
“Without too much hassle? Are you kidding me, Gwen? That’s going to be a huge hassle! Really thought this one through, have you?” Erie said sarcastically.
“What? What else was I supposed to do? We can’t have them remembering what happened with my wand, and it’s not like we could just perform the memory redactor spells there in his house! I had to convince them to come all the way out there somehow.”
Fiona-Leigh slid down against one of the large boulders making up the alcove. “I can’t believe this. After all of that . . .”
I knew I shouldn’t, but I looked at her standing there. Her eyes were full of tears threatening to fall and her face was screwed up in a quiet sort of anger as she stared straight ahead.
So much for winning her trust back.
14
Memories of the Hiker
The door nearly slammed in my face. I growled, pulling out the foot I’d shoved in between the door and threshold before Fiona-Leigh could shut it all the way behind her.
“That was unnecessary,” I called out.
Fiery red bits of hair trailed behind her as she rounded the corner heading straight for her room. I swore softly, wishing I could think of something better to say on the spot. Jax, whom I took back home before we left for the gateway earlier, whined at my feet.
“It’s okay, buddy. She’ll come out. Eventually.”
I bent down to pick him, needing a little love myself. Oisín was nowhere to be found and for once I didn’t care. He knew how to take care of himself, even with his penchant for dramatics. He’d come back home for breakfast at least.
I scrolled through what felt like an endless, monotonous list of movies on Netflix, nothing really catching my interest. Even the bowl of oatmeal with a coma-inducing amount of sugar had no taste. I slumped back on the couch, feeling just like the oatmeal sliding down my gullet.
It wasn’t like I meant to get her hopes up about telling Marina the truth. I didn’t really have time to tell her what my plan was and I wasn’t sure she would’ve reacted so positively to it even if I had. What Fiona-Leigh wanted more than anything—aside from being able to do magic herself, of course—was to spill the beans about Spell Haven to her best friend. And I completely understood where she was coming from. I wished I had someone I could tell about Spell Haven the entire time I was here in Midnight Pitch before she found out.
The door to Fiona-Leigh’s bedroom creaked open and she was quietly sliding out to go into the bathroom. I turned when I didn’t hear the bathroom door shut, and found her standing halfway between the living room and the kitchen, gripping the wall of the hallway.
Her eyes were red. “Mama.”
I twisted until I was all the way facing her. “Yes?”
“That was a terrible thing to do to them.”
Straightening my posture, I prepared for whatever words she was ready to hurl my way. “No. It was the right thing to do, Fi. I have a duty to protect those here in the Human Realm from finding out about the Other Realm. Spell Haven is no place for humans.”
She pulled herself away from the wall. “I’m a human.”
“I know, sweetheart. That was why I kept it all from you for so long. I did it to protect you. But bringing in others . . . that’s not only against Spell Haven laws, but it’s dangerous to the town. Humans have a long history of punishing what they do not understand.” My stomach was heavy at the thought of all the years of human history I’d read up on. Genocide. Wars. Religious uprisings pinning one group of beliefs against another… It was a bloody thing to read about, much less experience.
And the idea of Witches in the Human Realm (at least those enlightened individuals who practiced a form of energy manipulation, anyway) wasn’t welcome throughout most of history, either.
She bent her head forward, sighing. “I just hate keeping this from her so much. It’s not fair. She would keep the secret—I know she would! And look at how well Sully seemed to be taking it! What if we could try again, maybe this time—”
I stood up. “No. We will do no such thing. You have to promise me that you will never tell them, or anyone, about me or about the Other Realm. We can’t risk the consequences,” I said firmly, wishing there wasn�
�t this huge wall between us. “You’re right. It isn’t fair. But I can’t very well erase your memories, nor would I want to. It’s something we’re both going to have to bear, living here in the Human Realm. It seriously sucks, yes, I know.”
Fiona-Leigh slipped into the kitchen. Turning back to the Netflix queue, I tried to clear my own head.
But she was back with a glass of water, staring at me as she took a seat on the recliner. Jax bounded up into her lap, oblivious to any tension in the house whatsoever. She scratched him behind his ears.
“You want to help me find something to watch?” I asked, wondering if maybe a light-hearted comedy wouldn’t help diffuse the situation some. My skin itched at the thought of sitting here with Fi, neither of us talking.
“No. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.” She stated this calmly, sipping her water as if she were another adult.
Well. This is going to be a fun conversation. I turned the tv off, frowning as a small knot wound inside my stomach again. “What’s up?”
“If we’re going to be these so-called crusaders of protecting magic or whatever,” she began, sounding more like herself, “then we have to be totally honest with each other, right?”
I wasn’t liking where this was going… “Uh-huh. That was the deal.”
She drew in a deep breath and I steeled myself for whatever was about to come out of her mouth. “Then I’d like you to tell me about my father. The whole story. You’ve been putting it off ever since I first found out about him.”
That knot of dread spread out, thinning out into something more malleable, coating my insides. This was not what I was expecting her to say. She sat back easier in the chair.
“Uh. I guess we could, um . . . talk about that.” Honestly, I’d rather be back in the woods than have this talk with Fi. No amount of waiting was ever truly going to prepare me. “What do you want to know?” I would’ve been fine with never having to talk about Adam again, quite honestly.