Beauty from Ashes: Authors & Dancers Against Cancer Anthology

by Vera Quinn

  Liv’s eyes pop open as large as they will go. Her skin goes cold and her blood stops flowing all together.

  The sisters both sigh. “I didn’t mean stop it from flowing at all. I only meant don’t mess with my spell. Your mom and I are witches. So are you and your brother. Your brother has been practicing ever since he came here for his alcohol problem. We were able to help him and teach him and now we’ll help and teach you.”

  Not only did the blood start flowing again in Liv’s veins, but it started racing through her veins. All traces of Serena’s spell were gone. With this new information, Liv’s mind was replaying scenes with her brother and seeing them in a new light. She jumps up from the couch and runs out of the house to her safe place. The one place she has always felt safe and at home—the beach to watch the ocean waves roll in. It has always calmed her and helped her center herself and put her thoughts in order.

  The sisters watch her for about an hour, giving her the time she needs to process the information they had given her. Then Della goes down to talk to her daughter. “How are you feeling about all of this?”

  “I don’t know, Mom. You hiding it from me, I can understand, but Logan? How could he keep something this huge from me? Then looking back on so many things, how could I have been stupid enough not to figure out something was going on? If Logan and I are so close, why didn’t I see it or he tell me?”

  “Hey, baby girl, don’t start questioning your relationship with your brother now. He wanted to tell you right away. He wanted you to start training. We had to explain to him that you weren’t ready yet. If we brought you in before you were ready, you would not take it as seriously. He thought you were ready, and it took a lot to convince him to wait. It was an ongoing argument. He hated to keep anything from you.”

  “Well, at least someone had faith in me. I don’t know what would have changed from then to now except my getting cancer. Are you trying to say that I wasn’t ready until I had to be healed from something?”

  “There has to be an opening for the magick to enter your system. You also have to be open to accepting it. It can’t be a cold or something like that. It has to be something serious so you’re willing to accept the magick to heal you and become part of you.”

  “How did Aunt Serena put the spell back on me? I can feel it. My blood is sluggish again. What does it do anyway? Freeze the cancer cells and the regular blood to try to flow around the frozen cancer cells?”

  Serena sits on the other side of Liv. “That’s exactly what it does and you know that because I didn’t cast it again. You cast it on yourself this time. You aren’t going to need much training at all. You are a natural witch and apparently a very strong one. I did that spell on you once and didn’t tell you how and you replicated it perfectly. That’s almost impossible to do. I can’t even do that. I’m so proud of you. You are going to need that for what’s coming.”

  “And now we get down to it. The treatment for my cancer. I know I promised I would keep an open mind, but do you really think this will work for something as big as this?”

  Serena’s heart aches at the forlorn tone of Liv’s voice as well as the possibility that she might not have the power to fix this. “Only time will tell, my dear. It helps that you have so much power and your mother is here with you. We’ll be starting first thing in the morning. If you want to do your float, I would suggest you get that done this evening before dark.”

  Della laughs and Liv’s face instantly brightens. “You remembered. I didn’t think I would have time or be calm enough this trip. I’m going to go change.”

  “Your bags should be in your room and I put a towel on your bed. Your mom and I are going to sit here on the beach until you’re done then we’ll get some dinner.”

  Liv isn’t sure how she knows where to go but she goes directly to her room. Serena had decorated it exactly how she would have. Liv smiles at her aunt’s thoughtfulness. She quickly changes and grabs the towel and rushes back to the beach. She tosses the towel to the laughing sisters as she runs past them to the water.

  As soon as she steps into the water, she feels a difference. She never noticed before that when she gets in the ocean, she calms and relaxes. She walks out to about waist level, lies back and starts to float on top of the water with her eyes closed. This always makes her feel better no matter what is going on in her life. She can feel the negativity leaving her body. It feels like the ocean is pulling toxins out and cleansing her, leaving her lighter and cleaner.

  She never focuses on one thing during her floating. She lets her mind wander wherever it wants to. Today, it doesn’t ever really form a thought. It just spins with all the information she received today. This is what she needed to fully process everything. She didn’t even realize when the tears started streaming from the corners of her eyes. After a while, her heart feels lighter, and she feels better about her situation. She knows what she wants to do now.

  She swims back to shore, wraps herself in the fluffy towel, and sits between her mom and aunt again. “The doctor told me to take a couple of days to let everything sink in, then make the appointments. I’ll use that time to try the family way. If it doesn’t work, then you will support me in using the medically conventional way to treat the cancer.”

  The sisters beam and let out a sigh of relief. The tension releases from their shoulders and the knots in their stomachs untie. They had both been worried Liv would simply reject the magick and go home to the doctors.

  Serena puts her arm around Liv. “I can agree to that. However, it might take more than a couple days. Can you agree that if you’re feeling better and seeing progress, you’ll stay and continue?”

  Liv stares out at the ocean and realizes this feels right. “I can agree to that.”

  Chapter Six

  The next morning Liv stays in bed when she wakes. She is nervous about letting her mom and aunt know she’s awake. She has no idea what to expect today. She really wishes Logan had been able to be here.

  Her phone dings. She laughs when she reads the text from Logan. Stop stalling. I know you’re lying in bed. It’s not that bad. They can help and you have to come back, you promised. Leave it to Logan to know exactly what she’s doing. She gets up, gets dressed and heads down to meet her mother and aunt for breakfast.

  The part she doesn’t know is that Logan is watching her. He’s staying in their aunt’s house a small distance down the beach and while out for a morning run down the beach, had snuck a small peak at his sister to see how she’s doing. It lifts his spirits to see her laugh at his text. The boulder that had taken up residence in his stomach and the anxious feeling that has his hands constantly shaking both still remain, but he won’t let her know how worried he is.

  When Liv gets downstairs, she looks around the dining room with her mouth hanging open then starts laughing. “When Logan and I were kids, we always wondered what it would take to get you to serve pancakes or something good for breakfast instead of always having to eat fruit. Now I can tell him all we have to do is get cancer.”

  Serena tries to hide her smile as she tries not to laugh. Della narrows her eyes at her daughter as the color drains from her face and she grabs the back of a chair to keep herself standing as her knees threaten to give out. “This is nothing to joke about, young lady!”

  Liv waves a hand at her mom nonchalantly as she grabs a plate and starts to load it up with pancakes, bacon and sausage. “Oh, calm down, Mom. I have cancer. It’s not a dirty little secret. We’re going to try to reverse it with magick. Now that might be a dirty little secret, so I won’t say that part outside of the house.” She giggles as she continues, “But if that doesn’t work, I still have the medical options.”

  Serena can’t take it anymore. She starts laughing. When Liv winks at her, she has to sit down before she falls because she’s laughing so hard tears are streaming down her face.

  Della is not impressed by her daughter’s new attitude. All she feels is the anxiety of the possibility of losing her da
ughter. She feels like her nerves have been electrified and are jumping around under her skin. “And what if neither of those work?”

  Liv lets out a long and dramatic sigh as she makes a big show of putting her plate down on the table. “Well then, Mother, I guess it will be proof that it’s my time to go. If we can’t fix it with the family magick or with medicine, then there’s nothing we can do. We will do everything we can. I will fight with everything we have, but when or if it becomes apparent that it won’t work, then that’s it.”

  Della stares at her daughter with wide eyes. “I don’t accept that.”

  “Then you better hope that one of these treatments work. Mom, I know you don’t like this. I don’t either, but we have no control here. All we can do is try to see what happens. I have to keep my spirits up. I have to joke and have fun with it. It can’t become all about the treatment and surviving. As soon as it does, then it breaks me and it wins. I still have to be me.”

  Della and Serena’s hearts break at this. They knew there was something behind her new attitude but they never imagined it was something like this. They can feel the added pressure. It feels like time is pressing in on them. It makes it harder to breathe, like the air is thicker and giving a sense of urgency.

  Della walks around the table and takes Liv into her arms. “Okay, baby, I get it. You do what you need to and we will do what we need to.”

  Serena had already loaded her plate while they were talking. “Della get your food so we can eat and get started. We have a lot to do today. Liv, I wanted to explain a couple of things to you so you understand what is happening today. Yesterday, when you cast that spell on yourself, you drew energy from yourself. While that worked for one small spell, that generally is a very bad idea. We draw our energy from the surrounding plants. You are more connected to the water than anything else. You will probably be most comfortable drawing from the ocean since you have been doing it since you were little. You perform your cleansing in there every chance you get and you always pull from the ocean to do that—”

  Liv interrupts, “Wait, are you telling me that isn’t something that I’m imagining? I’m actually using the water to remove the negative from me? That’s why I always feel so much better when I’m done and why I can work through my problems when I do that?”

  Serena smiles sweetly at her. “Of course and it’s beautiful to watch. Yesterday I saw so much more removed from you than I have ever seen. I think you bought us some time for the cancer. You may have made it possible to fix it with magick by doing your cleansing. I was worried, but I wasn’t taking you into account. You have so much power yourself.”

  “I’m glad I get to participate. I was afraid since I wasn’t trained at all that I was going to be told you two would be doing everything, and I had to just sit here. I want to be able to fight this thing too. It’s invading my body after all.”

  Della cups Liv’s cheek. “Oh no, darling, your participation is critical. You’re the one that will be doing the most. We’re going to be adding to what you do. It’s up to you to fight this off. If it all goes as planned, you’ll be back at the studio and dancing again before you know it.”

  Liv gets a wistful look in her eyes as her heart aches. “That would be amazing. I feel like I’ve lost a piece of myself. I haven’t gone a day without dancing until now since I was little. I don’t have the energy right now. The energy I do have, I have to conserve.”

  Serena looks at them. “Now that we’ve eaten a good breakfast, it’s time to get started. Liv, we’re going to do this on the beach so you’re closer to the ocean to draw from the water. We want you to be able to draw as much energy as you need.”

  Liv is watching her aunt and mom closely. She notices that both of them have shaky hands and neither of them will look her in the eye. They are fidgety. She noticed that earlier which is what caused her to start watching them more closely. She realizes they’re nervous or scared about what is going to happen.

  Serena and Della lock eyes. Both of them are scared about messing with something as big as cancer. The one thing they didn’t tell Liv is that magick has a cost. Everything you do, you have to pay a price. They don’t know what the price is going to be for something like this. They’re willing to pay, but they don’t know if it will be their price to pay or Liv’s. They’re willing to risk it though to save her life.

  They walk down to the beach in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Liv wondering what her mom and aunt are so scared of, Della going over everything in her head to give her daughter the best chance to come out of this cancer free, and Serena second-guessing their decision not to tell Liv about the cost of magick. Then they reach the beach and it’s too late to change anything. It’s time to get started. They can all feel Liv’s energy waning from just that small walk.

  Liv sits on a boulder, looking up at the blue sky as she catches her breath. Della and Serena close their eyes and pull the energy from the nearby plants. When they can feel themselves full with the magick and energy from around them, they open their eyes and look at Liv. She’s staring at the ocean and seems to be lost in her head. The sisters realize she’s doing the same thing they had done, but she doesn’t realize what she’s doing. They can tell when she’s done because she snaps her head over to them with a smile on her face. “You two done?” She doesn’t realize she’s been out of it for a time.

  They decide not to tell her right now. That’s a conversation for another day. Serena takes her hand. “Yes, dear, we are. We need you to sit on the sand over here closer to the water.”

  They position her where they want her, facing the water so she can draw more energy if she needs to and they sit on either side of her facing her.

  Liv takes one of each of their hands. “Can we wait a few minutes? I want to enjoy this view for a couple of minutes first.”

  Serena pats her hand. “Okay, honey.”

  Chapter Seven

  They give her five minutes, then they start directing the energy they’re holding into her with the instruction to destroy the cancer cells. They feel the energy mingle with the energy she had drawn in from the ocean and flood her body.

  They try to let go of her hands. They had not intended to flood her body like that. They wanted to gradually introduce the energy, so they didn’t overload her body. It must be the energy from the ocean taking over.

  Her hands lock down on theirs and they are unable to let go so they stop sending the energy. She starts pulling the energy from them. Della looks to Serena with panic. Her heart is racing. Her breathing is so fast, she’s at risk of hyperventilating and she feels like she might vomit.

  Serena has the same feelings, but she is able to control her breathing. She connects eyes with Della. “Control your breathing. Slow, breath in and out.” When she has Della breathing more steadily, she’s able to talk her out of her panic. “I didn’t realize the ocean power was a dominant power. I have never used it like this before. We used the plant life that depends on the ocean to survive. We have no chance of overpowering the ocean with that.”

  All of a sudden Liv starts to shudder all over then she goes limp and falls back unconscious. The sisters stare at her with gaping mouths. They have no idea what happened.

  They are so focused on Liv they don’t hear Logan approaching. His face is white with no color at all. The boulder in his stomach is gone but only because his stomach is in his throat as his heart races, pushing his blood through his veins at impossible speeds.

  “I knew you two would do something stupid and old school. You can’t treat cancer like you would any other illness. It’s a good thing I was watching and I know how to fix this, otherwise you would have just killed her!”

  Della turns to her son with confusion. She wonders if she is having a hallucination due to her shock. “Logan, are you really here or am I imagining this? Were you watching us or something? You weren’t supposed to be here unless we called you.”

  He doesn’t answer her. He simply scoops his sist
er up and runs for the ocean.

  The sisters scream in unison, “No!”

  He ignores them and runs into the water until he is waist deep and then holds his sister in the water, floating on her back. She starts to breathe easier and seems to relax a little. He watches as the water around her turns black and then washes away.

  He starts to whisper to her, “I’m here, Sis. I didn’t leave you. I followed you. I’m a water witch too. We’re in the ocean. Pull what you need. Pull from the water, pull from me, I’ll be fine. I’m in the water with you and I can pull what I need. Do whatever you need to. Find the Water King if you have to. I’ll wait right here for as long as it takes you. I won’t let go. I got you.”

  Della reaches him by the time he starts talking. “The Water King? Who is that? What are you talking about? You two can’t be water witches because I’m not one.”

  Logan glares at his mother. His worry for his sister and the anger at his mother and aunt are warring inside him. The anger is not helpful for his sister so he needs to release it and he can only do that by dealing with it. “Mom, you and Aunt Serena didn’t know what the hell you were doing when you got into this. Why do you think I was so insistent I was here? I told you she needed me not you two. You wouldn’t listen to me. No matter what I said, you thought you had it under control. You don’t know as much as you think you do about magick. You know what was passed down to you. There is so much more out there.”

  Serena had reached them before Logan had started his angry tirade. “He’s right, Della. That’s why I had him a couple of houses away. When he called me and told me that you wouldn’t listen to him and that she would need him, not us, I wanted him close. I know he’s been doing research and meeting others of our kind. Remember that morning we found him on the beach in the water?”

  Della puts her hands on her hips and angrily glares at her son. “Yes, he still won’t tell me what that was about.”