“He’s safe with Shannon, don’t worry.”
“I’ll text you the stuff to bring. I’m heading home right now,” she explained, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as she waited at the red light. “I’ll figure out what to do when I’m in a calmer state of mind.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” he replied, letting out a small breath. “I’ll meet you there, then. I love you.”
“Love you, too,” she whispered.
Once the call ended, she tossed her phone into the cup-holder and focused her attention on the road. She tried to ignore the hopelessness beginning to pool in her chest, blinking away the tears as she continued her way down the road.
HER KEYS CLATTERED in the dish. Her limbs were heavy. And as she slumped into one of the seats in the dining room, she realized that the silence of the house was almost deafening. Ever since Shannon told her news about Granny’s true involvement with the rebel group, Thea had been on the verge of crying.
She was close to breaking down completely. However, small footsteps strolled into the dining room and she remembered that she wasn’t completely alone. Sybil pounced on top of the table, greeting her with a purr.
“I know this isn’t the best moment to talk about heavy stuff,” the familiar said, her tail resting on one of Thea’s arms. “But I’ve been thinking.”
“Alright,” Thea replied, beckoning her to continue with a nod. “I’m listening.”
“We both know that the scrying ritual won’t do anything to help us in this situation. We already tried it and it failed. But the memory ritual could still work. It was one of the things Granny wanted to teach you.”
Thea’s eyebrows furrowed together. “I don’t understand. How is that relevant to everything going on?”
“Well... sometimes, the ritual can be used to relive memories that you may have forgotten or suppressed.”
Thea blinked. Sybil’s whiskers twitched.
“I want you to use the memory ritual to revisit the night your parents disappeared. What if five-year-old you was able to see something important?”
“I don’t know, Sybil,” she said, taking a glimpse around the house. “I mean...”
As Thea thought about it, she figured that she was being driven to a dead-end What other options did she have, anyway? Scrying wasn’t going to work. She didn’t have any artifact to focus her energy on. Not to mention, she had talked to everyone she needed information from and she was still empty-handed.
Sybil’s idea seemed like a last ditch effort. Although she was ready to throw in the white towel, Thea figured that it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“You know what?” Thea met the familiar’s eager gaze. “Let’s do it.”
At that moment Blaine walked through the door. “Just in time,” Thea said. “Sybil and I are going to try a scrying spell.”
“Let’s get to it,” Blaine replied.
With Sybil’s help, they managed to gather the same materials that Granny used. She prepared the ritual in a similar manner, in the middle of the living room where they had ample space to work with.
“So how do I do this?” Thea asked, once the two of them finished setting up everything accordingly. “Do I need to focus on anything in particular?”
“Try to think about anything from the night it happened. Or maybe even the days afterwards. That would be good enough,” Sybil said, standing tall on the armrest of the couch.
Letting out a small breath, Thea closed her eyes and scraped at the walls of her mind in an effort to try and remember. Eventually, an image came to her and it soon materialized in the ritual circle in front of them. A soundless scene, depicting various people. There were some she was able to recognize, while there were others she couldn’t remember.
A young Thea was gazing curiously at them all, until Granny came along to pick her up and carry her away.
“You’re doing well,” Sybil encouraged. The familiar was proud. “Go back to the beginning of this memory.”
Thea wasn’t even quite sure what the familiar was asking her to do, but it all made sense once the image started to reverse itself. She was doing it. She was going backwards.
“Keep going,” the familiar whispered. The two of them stared intently at the ritual circle. “You’re almost there.”
Eventually, the image began to get blurry. Static appeared, which made Thea feel as if she were doing something wrong. After a while, the circle remained dark.
Her jaw clenched. “Am I doing this correctly?”
“Of course you are,” Sybil reassured. “Just keep going backwards. You can do it.”
Despite the doubt lingering in her mind, Thea did what she was asked. She was getting dangerously close to losing hope in the ritual, until she saw flashes of color emerge. This happened various times, which made Sybil let out an excited noise.
“Focus on the flashes, Thea. Focus on what you saw that night.”
Taking a deep breath, she did everything in her power to remember. It was difficult, but the ritual circle facilitated the process. The images that emerged before her did more than enough to jog her memory.
The events of that night came back to her like a gust of wind. The shiver that coursed down her spine soon followed.
She was so young, then. She and Sybil were together, wandering down the hall towards the bathroom. The both of them paused abruptly once they heard a noise coming from her parent’s bedroom. A figure soon emerged.
Thea’s heart lurched, watching as her younger self called for her mother. A heaviness rose in her chest, a mix of confusion and fear.
The figure turned around, and although she expected a monster or a demon of some sort, the despair was only amplified as she recognized the face.
Tiegen.
With a rug bunched up under her arm and an orange crystal glowing in her hand, Tiegen mouthed a few words to her. She was then picked up and returned to bed, the image fading away the farther she moved.
The last thing she was able to make out was Tiegen sending her a small wave. Although the ritual circle went black, that final visual became etched in Thea’s mind.
Even when she closed her eyes, she could still see Tiegen. The feigned smile. The half-hearted wave. The glowing crystal. The memory was haunting.
Chapter 25
The spell ended swiftly, once Thea snapped out of her daze. When the ritual circle emptied, she realized that Blaine and Sybil just witnessed the same scene as she did. Their mouths, like hers, were left ajar.
Blaine pointed a weak finger at the circle, still processing what he just saw. “Was that... Tiegen?”
She nodded, unable to truly believe it. There was no denying that the figure she saw exiting her parent’s room that night was her aunt. The image continued to flash in her mind periodically, making her feel nauseous each time.
“We’re going to need some help,” Thea announced as she began to clean up the ritual circle’s spell components from off the floor. “A lot of it.”
While Blaine and Sybil exchanged wide-eyed looks, Thea called Shannon. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears as she dialed the number and placed the phone against her ear, with her hands shaking every step of the way.
“Thea, what’s going on? Find anything useful.”
“I remember. I remember everything.”
“...Remember what, exactly?”
“The night my parents disappeared,” she explained. “Tiegen was responsible for it.”
There came a noticeable pause. It took Shannon a few moments to form a coherent sentence after the revelation finally hit her in full force.
“You mean... your aunt was the one responsible for your parent’s disappearance? She was capable of doing that to her own brother?”
“And to Granny, too,” Thea mumbled in response, contempt lining her words. “Blaine and I are heading to town hall in half an hour. Bring as many people that are willing to come. We’re going to need your help.”
“On it, Thea. We’ll be there so
on.”
Once her conversation with Shannon ended, the next person that crossed her mind was Pippa. She and Jesse needed to know what happened, as well. And at the prospect of Thea needing some help, those two would jump at the opportunity.
“Pippa. I know everything now. Tiegen was the one responsible for my parent’s disappearance.”
“What the–”
“Wait, what?!” That was Jesse’s voice. Thea wasn’t surprised that Pippa put her on speaker.
“I need you guys to find out if there are any shifters willing to come to town hall in half an hour. Blaine and I are going to talk to Tiegen, but we’d prefer if we weren’t alone.”
“O-Of course! Jesse and I will start calling people right now,” Pippa replied shakily. “H-How are you so sure? What’s going to happen now?”
“I performed a ritual with Sybil that helped me remember what happened the night my parents disappeared. Tiegen was involved,” Thea explained. Having the details reemerge in her mind was painful. “I hope that my aunt is willing to answer our questions calmly, but we need to have a back-up plan, just in case. She’s a powerful witch. Either she works with The Sorcerer...”
Thea’s eyes shot up to meet Blaine’s.
“Or Tiegen is The Sorcerer herself.”
“We’ll be there as soon as possible, Thea. Don’t worry,” Pippa replied before the call ended.
“I-I can’t believe it,” Sybil managed out, tail wagging apprehensively. “Could that have been a disguise? A rouse, maybe?”
“I don’t think so, Sybil. But honestly, this is all starting to make a lot more sense. I’ve always felt like there was a piece missing in all of this. Something that I wasn’t seeing properly. I can’t believe it had to involve my own family member,” she admitted. Her attention shifted to Sybil, who knew much more about the spell than she did. “Can the ritual produce false memories?”
“No, I’ve never heard of that happening,” the familiar replied. Her whiskers twitched in frustration and her pupils narrowed. “I can’t believe I didn’t remember a thing, either.”
“That explains the unexpected spa day,” Blaine pointed out, arms crossed. “She wanted to get us out of the way at a certain time. She needed a window of opportunity to get Granny alone.”
Thea grimaced. She didn’t want this to be true, but the evidence mounted against Tiegen was staggering. Living with magic in a mundane world was difficult enough. Family betraying family was a line that should have never been crossed.
By the time the three of them made it to her car outside, Thea’s phone started to vibrate. When she noticed the caller, her breath hitched in her throat. Tiegen.
With a deep exhale, Thea accepted the call. It took a bit of coaxing on Blaine’s part to get her to do so in the first place.
“Thea, I just heard the news about Freya. Are you alright?” Tiegen asked frantically, but Thea could see through her act like a piece of looking glass. “Every word hurts to speak right now.”
“I’m fine,” Thea said, devoid of any inflection. “But we need to talk. When I get to the town hall, I hope you’ll be there.”
Tiegen went quiet, probably noticed Thea’s odd tone. However, she eventually agreed.
“Alright then. I’ll see you soon,” Tiegen replied. Thea could have sworn she heard a smile to her words.
“SHANNON AND PIPPA REALLY came through for us,” Blaine commented as Thea parked the car in front of the town hall.
Various vehicles lined up and down the street with people waiting inside of them. Some shifters emerged from their cars and positioned themselves out of sight, in case anything were to go wrong. Foxes and wolves alike.
“Go talk to them,” Thea said, nodding in their direction. “Tell them the plan and make sure to give them a signal to use in case we need help inside.”
Blaine was swift in gathering up as many people as he could to tell them what was going on. While some shifters were worried about what they were getting into, the overwhelming consensus was that they would be ready for anything. Thea and Blaine had helped them before. It was time to return the favor.
Thea waited for him at the town hall’s entrance before they entered the building in unison. The inside was quiet, with no workers bustling around as they usually did. Their footsteps reverberated loudly throughout the structure.
Suddenly, the door to Tiegen’s office shot open. On instinct, Thea created a ward that surrounded the two of them. It would be enough to counter Tiegen’s when they entered her office. At least, that was what Thea hoped.
“Don’t be shy,” they heard Tiegen call out loudly, sensing their presence outside. “Come on in. I won’t bite.”
Thea and Blaine held each other’s hands as they made their way inside the office. Their palms were clammy, for good reason.
Seated in her usual spot was Tiegen. Her smile was wide as she folded her hands across her desk. A sense of pride and victory teemed off of her aunt, leaving Thea uneasy.
“Sit down,” Tiegen said, motioning towards the chairs. Her smile never faltered. “We have much to discuss.”
Chapter 26
“C’mon, you two,” Tiegen pressed, pointing to the seats. “You guys are going to stay standing? What if your legs get tired?”
“We know what you did,” Thea deadpanned. “We know everything.”
Tiegen let out a sigh as she relaxed into her chair. After a few moments, she managed a half-hearted shrug as she pressed her lips into a thin line.
“I figured that was the case. When you called me over the phone, I could hear it in your voice. Even still, you were going to find out about this eventually,” she reasoned. The smile soon returned to her face. “And I’m very pleased that you have.”
Thea and Blaine remained standing, watching in silent bewilderment as Tiegen pushed herself out of her seat and wandered over to one of her cupboards. With a gentle touch, she opened the cabinet and took out the same orange crystal that Thea saw during the ritual.
Her breath hitched in her throat. In person, the crystal glowed much more brilliantly. Tiegen tossed her a smug look. There was no doubt in Thea’s mind that the crystal was protected by magical attacks. Anyone who tried to use it would be seriously injured. Anyone other than Tiegen, of course. Thea knew of no one else who possessed the prowess to handle such a powerful weapon.
“I... I guess I should start at the beginning,” Tiegen began, returning to her desk. “I was trying to look after my brother. When Selena went to school in Chicago, I was able to relax for a while. I figured the distance would weaken their relationship and they would eventually break up.”
Eyeing Thea up and down, Tiegen laughed softly.
“Obviously, that didn’t happen. Alistair was starting to get influenced by some dangerous ideas. So, I went to Chicago to see what Selena was up to. I wanted them to finish their relationship, but I wasn’t as sneaky as I hoped. Selena found out what I was doing and she returned to Ardensville to be with my brother.”
Thea’s fists clenched tightly as her aunt continued. The blood was slowly boiling in her veins.
“When Selena came back, I figured that being away from those big city influences would do her some good and everything would return back to normal. And for some time, things were fine. However, I was always careful. I kept an ear out for any plots to reveal magic in Ardensville. At the same time, I was running for mayor. I didn’t want to let anything ruin my bid.”
Tiegen ran her fingers over the crystal, tracing along its jagged edges. A twinge of sadness glossed over her eyes.
“I was really sure that things were going to turn out fine... but Alistair came to me one night. Started talking about how they had a perfect opening to introduce magic to the mundanes of Ardensville. He wanted to use you, Thea.”
Her words were monotone and her expression was blank as the events from so many years ago played back in her mind.
“You were small, adorable, and harmless. Not only that, you were powerful. Summoning fa
miliars isn’t a skill most witches and warlocks learn to do until they’re well into adulthood, but you managed to do it as a child.”
Thea felt tears prickle behind her eyes, but she blinked them away and tried to keep a strong face. It was the most difficult task of her life, trying to keep her bottom lip from quivering.
“I knew that if Alistair did what he wanted to do, the town would be thrown into chaos. And that you’d be in the center of the destruction those two wanted to bring upon Ardensville. I wasn’t going to let that happen,” Tiegen said. Her attention trailed back to the crystal. “This was given to me by my father. He said to only use it in the most dire of circumstances and that situation fit the criteria almost perfectly.”
Blaine’s grip on Thea’s hand tightened as they watched Tiegen offer them the crystal. She cupped it in her hands, her eyes reflecting its orange glow.
“To protect the town and to protect you, I sent Selena and Alistair away. I didn’t want to do it, but they gave me no other choice,” she explained, tone softening as she noticed the disturbed expression on Thea’s face. “Believe me. It pained me to do it. I didn’t like having to do that to my own brother. My heart still breaks when I think about it for too long.”
Thea held back her scowl. Nothing in the world could have convinced her that her aunt was saying the truth.
“Over the last twenty or so years, I’ve had to do the same thing to various people. I was always able to think of an excuse to explain their disappearance. Anything from their extended family needing care to new job opportunities far away from Ardensville. There was never a problem with my method, even though I can acknowledge it probably wasn’t the best thing to do to people.”
Biting down on her tongue to prevent herself from throwing back a harsh retort, Thea controlled herself and her actions. An intermix of emotions bubbled up inside her. They ranged from despair to disbelief. At the very forefront was indignation, looming over them all.
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