by D L Blade
I sat at the center of it as he instructed. He grabbed a few candles from his backpack and placed them around the circle, lighting each one of them.
He grabbed his phone and checked the time. “The spell to make you immortal will take place immediately after your Awakening, which is just a few minutes away. Are you ready?”
“I’m scared.”
“I’m right here. Close your eyes.”
I did as he instructed.
He spoke in a language I didn’t recognize. A gray cloud then formed under my eyes and parted, leaving an image before me, just like I had seen during the spell in the witch shop.
In the scene before me, a woman was cooking something over an iron stove. The room was lit by candlelight. The stove wasn’t like anything that we have in modern day. This was my old home.
The woman turned around and looked straight through me. “Mercy, go to your room. I need to speak with Caleb.”
I heard a voice behind me and when I turned around, I saw a girl about my current age, with my face, but with red hair and blue eyes.
“Mama, I want to hear what he has to say.”
She slammed her hand on the counter, “Go, Mercy. Now.”
“No! I am more powerful than you. You cannot make me do anything anymore,” she told her mother defiantly.
Caleb was there and was dressed in black slacks with a white shirt under his long coat.
He took a few steps toward the girl and grabbed her hand gently, still facing her mother. “We are doing the ritual tonight. She and the rest of us will become immortal because it’s the only way she will be safe. Look what happened to your husband. He could be dead, for all we know. And what about your other daughter, Faith? She needs her sister to protect her. Mercy will be able to protect you both. It is a witch hunt out there, Mary. Why would you not want this for her?”
“Roland lied to you, Caleb. Your father knew more about this prophecy than he shared with us. You will never be safe. If vampires knew she was immortal, knew any of you could not die, they would take you and torture you. They would feed on you over and over again. Not to mention, Mercy’s blood will allow them to walk in the light and that will put us all in danger.”
“I will protect her. We all will protect her.”
Caleb approached Mary. He placed his right hand on her shoulder and squeezed without her fighting back. She was already in a trance before he touched her. He was chanting a spell. She didn’t scream and she didn’t look like she was in pain. She just stood there with her eyes closed and then collapsed to the floor.
He turned to the girl. “We need to leave as soon as the ritual is done. It will not take long before the vampires know what we have done. Go grab enough clothes for a few days and meet me at the barn. I need to go find the others,” he instructed.
After Caleb left the house, she ran upstairs and stuffed a bunch of clothes in a sack. She picked a book from the dresser and a few small blankets and stuffed them into her bag. She then stopped by her bed. Was she having second thoughts? She heard a knock at her door. “Mercy?”
A man walked in, but it wasn’t Caleb.
“Dorian, what are you doing here?” A handsome man with dark brown hair and brown eyes ran into the room. He was built like Caleb, strong, tall, but pale and perfect-looking, not rugged, no five-o-clock shadow. It was then I recognized him. He was the man who had been visiting my dreams before all of this happened. He was the one who kissed me under the moonlight night after night, who had suddenly disappeared when Caleb walked back into my life. He wasn’t a dream. He, too, was a memory.
He stopped by her bed. “Your mother is right. You cannot allow Caleb to turn you immortal. They know you are doing the ritual tonight. I came here to warn you. They are on their way. Once the ritual is done, they plan to take all five of you and keep you as slaves. I am not a strong enough vampire to stop them. You saved my life once. Let me save yours.”
“I am dead either way.” She grabbed his hand and placed it over her heart. “Do you feel that? My heart is steady, I am not afraid. At least if I were immortal, I would be stronger. I could fight back, and you would not have to protect me anymore.”
“I would rather you be dead than be tortured by them. At least if you are dead, you will be free,” he said.
“We will be apart, either way.” She squeezed his hand.
Did she care about this vampire? She was a hunter, well, I was a hunter, and I wasn’t trying to kill him. Was I not the ruthless vampire hunter I thought I was? These memories weren’t like the ones I had after looking at the symbol on my hand. These were more like watching a film, where the others were actual memories coming back. I didn’t feel emotion, I just watched. I had to have met this vampire between the age of thirteen and eighteen, as I had no recollection of him from when I did the memory spell.
She grabbed his hand and placed it gently on her cheek, closed her eyes tightly, and took a deep breath in.
He also closed his eyes, but hesitated on pulling her closer to him. It was clear now. He loved her.
“Goodbye, Dorian.” She let go of his hands and walked out. I watched as she left the house and looked around.
Dorian moved with lightning speed toward her. “Mercy.” Her hair flew up like wind blowing by from the speed of his movements. “You do not have to do this. You can choose death. If the vampires catch you after you become immortal, you will want to die, trust me.”
She looked into his eyes and tears fell down her face. They both didn’t speak as she closed her eyes tightly. She knew what he was saying was true. She gave him a nod, threw her bag down on the ground, and spun around. “I love you, Dorian.”
She fell to her knees and put her hands up in the air as a crowd of angry villagers formed around her carrying ropes and lit torches.
She had chosen death. I had chosen death.
Dorian backed away from her, blending in with the crowd, unable to hold back his sobs. It was clear he didn’t want her to die, but he must have known it was the only way she’d be free from the endless torture that awaited her.
They couldn’t have known Dorian was a vampire because they ignored him as if he were just part of the crowd. They were focused solely on her.
“Witch! Witch!” one called out.
“Hang her now!” another shouted.
Two men, each grabbing a different arm, held on to her tightly and dragged her across a long field. Once they reached the main quarters, there were ropes hanging from a tall tree and people screaming and chanting, “Hang her! Witch!”
I watched as they pulled her on top of the ladder and could now feel their hands on me like it was happening to me. The rope was placed around her neck and I felt it around my own.
I didn’t understand why I wasn’t using my powers to stop them. True, death was better than being sucked dry for eternity, but I could have at least fled. Fled the ritual, fled this town. I, this girl in front of me, apparently didn’t care anymore.
I was now standing on the ladder with the noose around my neck. I was no longer viewing the memory, but I was the girl in the memory. I could smell horse manure and the sweat coming from the man who tied the noose around my neck. I saw Dorian in the crowd and whispered to him, “I love you.”
I watched Dorian in the crowd as tears flowed down his cheeks, faster than my beating heart.
“Witch!” they chanted in unison.
“Hang her now!” a man bellowed.
I turned to the man that was about to kick the ladder from underneath me and gave him a warm smile. “Thank you,” I whispered.
Everything went black and my eyes popped back open.
I was back in the room with Caleb, in real time. My throat felt like it was closing; like the noose was still choking me. I coughed over and over again, and Caleb held on to me, comforting me. I looked up and his face was pained.
He must have seen my memory.
“Yes, you loved a vampire,” he said. “I didn’t know he was in your room that ni
ght. I didn’t know you gave yourself up.”
“You saw?”
He ignored my question. “We have to continue. It’s almost your Awakening. We have only a minute.”
“Why did I see that memory?” I asked.
“I needed to bring you back to the moment you died. I needed to see what your heart truly desired.”
“You’ve had the power all along, didn’t you? To bring back my memories?”
“Some memories are better left in the past.”
“Where is he, Caleb? Where is Dorian?”
He shook his head. “He attacked us that night and Simon killed him.”
My heart crumbled into a million pieces from those words. “Dorian wouldn’t do that! I felt the kind of man he was.”
“He’s a vampire, not a man. And yes, he would kill.”
“There are good vampires out there, Caleb. I didn’t feel threatened by Dorian.”
“We did what we had to do.”
Caleb lifted the dagger he was holding and slit the center of my hand. I winced.
“Did you change your mind?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“The Awakening will happen in thirty seconds. The blood needs to be drawn to be linked to our coven. It’s going to bind you to us. We will become one. This will sting just a bit.” He squeezed the skin around the wound and blood dripped down to the center of the circle.
It was happening, and it was happening now. He began chanting while squeezing my hand and he allowed the blood to drip by our feet. He released my hand after he got enough blood. My blood swirled around like a tornado forming from the ground and wrapped around my body. I felt warm, and then hot, like my body was melting, but at the same time, the warmth was comforting and pleasurable. I closed my eyes as it continued to wrap around and swarm my body. A huge burst of energy flooded through my chest and I fell to the ground. The moment didn’t last long, but my body felt like it had been running for hours. The blood dissipated all around me and I felt like my whole body was about to explode. It wasn’t painful, just overwhelming.
The next moments were much different. Caleb now had his hand on my forehead, speaking words again I didn’t understand. Every part of my body was now feeling like it was being ripped apart. I screamed in agony and my nails scraped across the floor. The pain I was experiencing felt like a wave crashing hard against the rocks of a shore. Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed my stomach. I looked down and Caleb had stabbed me with the dagger right in the gut, but I knew he wasn’t trying to kill me; this was part of the ritual. I didn’t scream, but the pain was excruciating. He removed the dagger and I healed instantly. I fell to the floor and everything went still.
“It’s done.” He gently helped me to my feet.
We both stood up from the circle.
“What now?” I asked.
But before he could answer, we heard the elevator ping. When we looked in that direction, Abigail emerged from the shadows.
“Thank you, little nephew.” Her grin was sinister, and it made my skin crawl.
“Abigail, what are you—”
Before I could finish my question, fangs protruded from her mouth.
A vampire, of course.
“Step back, Abigail. You’re not touching her,” Caleb commanded. But his commands meant nothing to her. She wanted my blood.
“I just want a taste.”
“Caleb, tell her to put her fangs away before I kill her.”
“I only need a few drops. It’s not like you would die. I’m just so sick of staying inside during the day. Let me have a taste and I’ll be on my way.”
She lunged toward me, but in an instant, I felt my body being pulled back through a thick wall, thrusting me forward toward the ground. I got to my feet, looked around the room, and realized I was standing in Lily’s kitchen.
Whoa. Did I just teleport? I looked up and Joel was standing in the kitchen staring at me wide-eyed.
“Mercy, thank God you’re alive,” Joel cried.
“That was wild,” I said, completely astonished. I glanced at the table behind him, which was covered with candles and burning sage. “What’s going on, Joel?”
“Lily was taken,” he said, and my stomach instantly twisted in knots. I looked more closely around the kitchen and there was broken glass everywhere. Wine covered the tile from the refrigerator to the hallway.
“After we got your text that you were with Caleb, Lily had a bad feeling, so we came home to grab the items we needed for the locator spell in order to find you. Lily was in the kitchen having a glass of wine to calm her nerves. When I came back in the kitchen, she was gone. I didn’t even hear a scream.”
“No, this can’t be happening. We have to find her,” my voice cracked and my hands became unsteady. I felt my powers climb to my fingertips and Joel placed his hands on mine to help calm my nerves.
“Easy, Mercy. I know it’s hard to control your powers right now, but take a breath.”
I steadied my breathing until I felt the energy subside. “Let’s do the locator spell,” I suggested, looking over at the candles and sage again on the table.
“I’ve been trying but it’s not working. Something is blocking me. Her car is missing, so there might be a chance that she escaped the intruder and took off, though she would have reached out by now if she were safe.” He placed his hands on the table and picked up the sage. “Were you safe? Did Caleb hurt you?”
“No. Caleb did take me but he didn’t hurt me. He helped me through my Awakening. I’m immortal now, too.”
“Mercy.” He was now gripping the sage, crumbling it in his palm.
“I didn’t have a choice, Joel.”
He shook his head. “We always have a choice.”
“Let’s focus on Lily right now,” I said.
“Do you know who could have done this?” he asked.
“I have an idea, but I don’t know who they are. Someone has been following me and they went as far as possessing my friend to hurt me,” I explained. “Our guess is that it’s a witch who has a personal vendetta against me.”
He grabbed Lily’s truck keys off the key ring. “We need to find her. Now. Is there any place you can think of that they could have taken her?”
“I don’t. I’m sorry.”
We were interrupted by my phone ringing. I didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Mercy.” A low and eerie voice rang on the other end of the line.
“If you hurt her, I swear I will rip your head off.”
Laughing on the other end of the line pierced my ears.
“Where did you take her?” I asked, my jaw clenched.
“It really is beautiful out here. I can see why you come out here to think and relax all the time. The moon reflecting off the water, the gorgeous trees, and the peaceful silence … is simply breathtaking.
“I’m on my way.” I hung up.
I banged my fist on the table and looked up at Joel.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“Goddard Park. Let’s go.”
Joel created a portal that teleported us to Goddard Park. Seconds later, we headed toward the bench where Riley and I had sat the other night when I had met Caleb. I saw Lily’s car and spotted her brown hair shimmering in the moonlight.
“Lily, we’re here!” I shouted as we both ran toward her.
She didn’t move. When we were in front of her, I saw her eyes closed, hands and feet tied, and mouth taped shut. Before I could remove the tape, Joel collapsed behind me. Caleb stood behind him, holding a bloodied rock in his hand.
“Caleb!” I wondered how he had gotten there so fast and why he would knock out my uncle.
I now noticed his eyes were black and his face expressed pure evil. I’d seen that look before in Cami’s eyes. He was possessed. Caleb was my stalker’s new puppet.
“Whoever you are, get out of him now. If you want to fight, fight in person, and stop using my friends.”
&nbs
p; I grabbed a large rock from the ground and threw it with every amount of strength I could muster. I hit Caleb’s head, barely grazing the side. But it was enough to make him lose his balance and topple over a large branch behind him. I quickly turned around and ran toward the forest. Before I reached the trees, a blaze of flames lit them up in front of me. I halted and swung around. Caleb’s hands were raised, but only for an instant, then brought back to his body. Without hesitation, I held up my hands toward the water and Caleb stopped moving. He laughed and threw his head back.
Ignoring his mockery, I used the power from my right hand to pull Joel closer to the bench and used my powers to pull one of the tree branches toward his feet, wrapping them tightly around his ankles and to the bench, keeping him secure. The branches reached for Lily’s waist and secured her to the bench. Caleb looked at me curiously, tilting his head, and moved toward me again. I had to act fast. My hands flew up toward the water, and with my mind, I commanded the waves to pull in toward the forest and wipe the flaming trees with water. The water did as I commanded, pulling up onto the park and sweeping away the flames around us. It reached only up to our ankles and I knew it wasn’t enough.
Caleb was quick to approach me and pushed my arms to my side, keeping me secure in his grasp.
“Too late,” I said calmly as water came crashing down over our heads like a massive tidal wave.
Instantly, Caleb lost his grip on me. I held my breath as the water pulled us under. We were being pulled farther into the cove, but I was able to make my way to the surface as the water started to calm down. Caleb was already on me and grabbed my hair. I spun around and punched him straight in the face. I had never punched anyone before, but it felt liberating.
“Bitch!” he screamed.
I was hoping my punch would slow him down, even for just a moment, so I could escape. I quickly swam to the shore, which took every ounce of energy I had, but before I could reach Joel and Lily, Caleb was behind me, grabbing me by the waist. I kicked my legs in the water frantically, trying to get away. My resistance didn’t slow him down as he pulled me out of the water and toward Lily’s car.
He laid me down on the passenger seat and we looked out toward the water. My heart was pounding. I didn’t know what he was going to do.