by Emily Walker
“Dark and harmful magic inside this girl’s mind, reverse your evil ways and help her rewind.” She touched Deidra’s head and they watched as she passed out on the couch.
“When she wakes up, she should remember,” Regina said happily and they both waited.
Deidra didn’t wake up right away and Brent figured it had something to do with the Xanax. After twenty minutes had passed, his grandmother said, “Oh dear, do you think I killed her?”
She sat up a minute after that and looked more awake than he’d ever seen her. “What the hell happened to me?”
“You were unblocked, so to speak. It should be in your mind now, the memory you couldn’t remember,” Regina told her and watched her face as it went back to the sleepy slack look Deidra had perfected.
“I do remember. I went to the back of the house and saw Ash taking guns inside the house.”
“What?” Brent said. That didn’t sound right.
“Yeah, I asked him where the hell Layla was, and he said she wasn’t home. I asked him why he was putting weapons in her house if she wasn’t there, because it seemed weird. He jumped at me and knocked me to the ground. He held me down and talked right in my ear about forgetting and dark magic, and then I was back home.”
“Layla’s place, the one near the university?”
“Yes,” Deidra said. “Can I go now?”
“Yes, you can go, thank you. Thank you, Grandmother, now we’re getting somewhere. I don’t know where we’ve gotten, but it’s somewhere.”
Ash was still sitting with the gun to Zazie’s head, so Chloe wasn’t really sure how they were going to get out of the room. She’d done a quick little inventory of the room and noticed Layla had next to nothing that could be used as a weapon in their defense.
“So there’s a couple of things you need to know about my plans for the day,” Ash said like they were just talking about going to dinner together and not his psychotic plan to kill shifters and expose them to the world.
“What could we possibly need to know that you haven’t already told us?” Chloe said, starting to get irritated with his penchant for sharing with them things they didn’t want to know of.
“The festival is today and I happen to know two people who will be there.”
Chloe’s heart sank. She’d completely forgotten all about the festival. Her dad entered into the craft fair every year. It was mostly for people who collected junk and sold junk. It was called a festival because they had it catered by different vendors and could justify it that way. She should have paid more attention. The weird soup he made was probably for the festival. She could have warned them Ash was coming. She should have given them the heads-up.
“What are you going to do to them?”
Ash pulled out two pistols and strapped them into the holsters on his pants, then pulled out a shotgun as well. It seemed like a lot of fire power for a guy holding two women hostage.
“I’m going to scare them into shifting.”
“Not everyone has such a lack of control like I do,” she said. “It won’t work with everyone.”
“Maybe not, but they do have that self-preservation instinct, and when I kill a couple of people, they will indeed shift to save their skins.”
“You’re crazy,” Zazie screamed at him.
“You’re going to leave us unattended and go shoot up the square? The police will have you in seconds.”
“I have an escape plan, and I have someone to watch you.”
A girl younger than him came in. She had dark black hair and black clothes. She already had a gun in her hand and pointed it at them, smiling.
“Meet Sarmia, my little sister.”
“What?” Zazie looked at the girl in shock. “She looks just like her.”
“I know. Mother dearest and Father had one more child after they brought Samuel into our lives and she’s just as evil as Mother was. She doesn’t even care about my goals,” he laughed, “she just likes that someone will die.”
“Why can’t we all just get along?” Zazie asked.
“Are you going to start singing, Zazie? My father didn’t care when he ripped my mother to shreds.”
“Maybe she deserved it. She sounds like an evil bitch.” Chloe barely got the last word out before pain exploded in her cheek. Sarmia had hit her with the butt of her pistol right beneath the eye.
“You don’t get to talk about my mother like that, you stupid shifter.” Chloe felt the blood run down her face warm and past her lips. She probably should have kept her mouth shut.
“So I’m off to do the deed, love bug.” He kissed Sarmia on the forehead.
“God’s speed, dear brother.” Chloe thought whatever he was going to do had nothing to do with God. Her poor parents had no idea what to expect.
Ash walked out whistling and Sarmia turned back to the two of them. “I’m going to have fun with the two of you. You’ve ever seen black magic used to torture a person?”
“No, and you shouldn’t be using that stop, child, you’re poisoning your body.”
Sarmia laughed loudly at Zazie’s attempt to lecture her. Chloe had a feeling they were in for a bad time. She stood with the gun still pointed at Zazie’s head and closed her eyes.
“Oh, power within me, cause the unseen things to terrify the blind.” Whatever that meant sounded horrible, but Chloe wasn’t sure it meant anything until she blinked and couldn’t open her eyes. She tried but no matter what she couldn’t pull them apart. Then she felt it. There were tiny little legs moving over her legs and arms, hundreds of them that she couldn’t see. It was horrifying and there was nothing she could do. Her arms were still tied to the chair.
Her shift started, the air around her moving.
“No you don’t, you change and I’ll blow her brains out,” Sarmia said. She couldn’t see her but something in the way she said it told her she certainly wasn’t joking.
So she just had to take it.
“You’re handling that better than I thought you would.”
Chloe felt them start to move over her face and her lips. She really wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. They would go in her mouth. If she could just stand it for a little longer surely Sarmia would get tired.
“Let’s see how you handle this. The unseen things are moving in spades. Now let’s see what they feel like inside of your brain.”
Chloe was able to open her eyes and there weren’t any bugs on her skin, but she still felt them crawling all over her. It wasn’t long before she could feel them in her head. It was painful. It was unimaginable that bugs could be inside her skin. She told herself it was not real, there was simply magic making her think it was, but it didn’t stop and then they started biting. She passed out from the pain and wasn’t sure how long the torture continued.
Finally, when Sarmia grew tired of her game she stopped and Chloe sat with the pain of the bug bites throbbing from the inside of her body.
“Now it’s your turn, Zazie. I’ve got a fun spell for you.”
“Bring it, bitch.” Zazie was so brave, Chloe thought. She was breathing hard from the pain and worried for her.
“Burn burn from within, where the fire touches no eyes have been.”
Zazie moaned and squirmed in her chair. She looked completely normal except for the agonizing look on her face. Her features were twisted and her eyes squeezed shut. “I’m on fire, Chloe, I’m on fire.”
“You’re not, Z, there’s no flames.”
Sarmia cackled loudly in her face. “The flames, like the bugs, are on the inside.” She lifted a hand and waved it slightly. “Let’s turn up the heat.”
“No, too much,” Zazie screamed and her skin started to turn red. Chloe wished she could help her, but she didn’t know what to do. She just hoped Sarmia couldn’t hold onto the magic for long periods of time and would stop soon.
“Zazie, you should be able to handle the heat, it’s just a little pain.” Zazie screamed again and her head dropped to her chest. She’d passed out from
the pain.
“Stop torturing her, Sarmia. We haven’t done anything to you.”
“Do you think I care that you’ve done nothing to me personally? The fact my brother doesn’t like you is enough of a reason for me.”
Zazie woke back up and started screaming again. It was horrible to listen to her torture her and not be able to help. Chloe would peck her eyes out if that gun pointed at Zazie’s head didn’t stop her from shifting.
How were they going to get out of that?
“You can’t just go in there without a plan!” Regina was yelling at Brent because he was trying to go to Layla’s without knowing what he was running into.
“Grandmother, he’s going to kill her, or Z.” His grandmother hadn’t informed him that Zazie had gone with Ash willingly when he told her he knew where Samuel was, but she couldn’t interfere anymore and had to come with him. He wasn’t sure why she hadn’t started with that when he came in, but he didn’t ask questions.
“Okay, but we need to see what we’re up against before going in blind.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“Oh!” she said like a thought occurred to her. “I’ll send my familiar.”
“Your what?”
“Send a familiar, you know, like how the crow spied on you. I’ll send mine. She’s a sweet little field mouse with red eyes.”
“That sounds creepy as hell,” Brent said.
“Petals is not creepy,” she said as she went outside. Brent saw her draw something in the dirt that looked like a star and wave her hands around before she came back in with a tiny field mouse in her hands. “I can see through her eyes and she can see for me so I don’t have to go there.”
“How is she going to know that it’s from us?”
“I’ll put your voice in it. She’ll only hear it, and if she puts two and two together, she’ll know it can get me a message.” She went back outside and came in with some type of flower. She held it up to his mouth. “Say Chloe, it’s me, tell the mouse what’s happening.”
“Chloe, tell this rat what’s happening, it’s Brent,” he said.
“Close enough, she’s a mouse, not a rat,” Regina said and sat the mouse on the ground in front of her. “Go, little Petals, see what I see.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I can see through her eyes and she can see through mine. I just pictured where she should go in my mind and she’ll go there. It will take her a bit to get there, but I’ll be able to see when she reaches her destination.”
“What if a cat or an owl gets her?” Brent asked and got a horrible look from his grandmother. “What I’m saying, it’s just a mouse.”
“That won’t happen,” she said, but Brent could see she never thought of that before and it made him a little nervous about her plight.
“Come in here and sit while I watch where she’s going. You’ll see a mouse is a lot more resilient than you think, young man.” Brent followed her inside.
“I feel like I should be there for her, Grandmother. I don’t want to let that crazy man hurt her.”
“I know that, son, but you can’t help her if you are taken out the minute you go into the house.”
She had a point, but it wasn’t in his nature to wait while his Chloe was possibly in serious danger. They sat for a long time while Regina seemed to just be staring into space. Finally, she sat up a little straighter and seemed to see something. He was scared to say anything because he didn’t want to miss anything important.
“Oh, my darling, they’ve been tortured rather badly, I’m afraid,” she said.
“Tortured?” His heart started to beat faster. He’d been sitting there waiting for a mouse to get to her and she was being tortured? It was hard for him to sit still. “What’s going on? Tell her to tell me.”
“Okay, she just heard your voice. I hope she has the strength to tell us what’s going on.”
Brent leaned forward and waited to hear that she was okay, his chest getting tighter by the minute as his grandmother stared into space once again.
* * *
Chloe heard Brent’s voice and thought she was hallucinating. She looked over to see a small white mouse in the window. It said it was him, but that couldn’t be, could it? Sarmia didn’t see it nor did she seem to hear the voice, so she looked over and watched as the mouse stood on its hind legs and then sat back down, waiting for her to say something to it. It nodded its head at her and she realized it could get information back to him and maybe she could stop Ash.
She wasn’t sure her voice would work after the extreme pain that still radiated through her body. Sarmia had finally taken some time off burning Zazie, but she was breathing shallowly and Chloe was worried about her.
“So Sarmia, when your brother goes to the festival and starts shooting people any minute now, why do you think he’s not going to immediately be taken down?”
“You’re stupid, girl, He’s not going to be taken down. He’s going to shoot quickly and get out of there as soon as he’s seen that the people have changed. That’s all he cares about, the change. I personally would kill as many people as possible, but he doesn’t share my passion for death.”
“Clearly, he just killed Layla by accident or something.”
She laughed long and loud, so long it was awkward. Chloe didn’t know why she was laughing. She looked over at the mouse and mouthed to it. “Go to the festival, we’ll be fine.”
Sarmia continued to laugh and Chloe wondered how her hand wasn’t tired as she’d been holding it pointed at Zazie the whole time. The mouse was still there, so she wasn’t sure that it had actually heard what she’d said.
“So when your brother goes to the festival and starts shooting people, probably already there by now, what if no one shifts when he shoots people?” She said loudly and saw the mouse stand again on its hind legs and then run away.
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you repeating stuff over and over? Is someone listening?” she asked. Man, Sarmia was smarter than she thought she was. Holding the gun where it still pointed at Zazie, she walked across the room and looked out the window.
Chloe had a feeling if she saw the mouse, she would know exactly what was going on, but hopefully it was out of sight. She watched her look out the window and didn’t see any indication that she’d heard or seen anything out of the ordinary.
“Okay, now we’ll switch the fire and the bugs. Sounds fun?” Sarmia laughed and bounced on her feet, switching the gun to the other hand. Chloe had been working on the ropes that tied her legs since the bugs had stopped biting and she’d almost gotten them free. The moment Sarmia switched the gun would have been the perfect moment to attack her, but they weren’t free yet.
She tried to measure the amount of time it would take her to shift out of the ropes and back into herself in front of her to take her out, but it was too risky. Her finger was on the trigger and Chloe had a pretty good idea she was itching to use it. She’d have to endure the burning and Zazie would have to endure the bugs and then she would try again.
Hopefully Brent was on his way to stop Ash no matter what he had to do. She also hoped he was being really careful.
“Oh, power within me, cause the unseen things to terrify the blind.” Sarmia raised her hands above Zazie, and she started screaming.
“What’s happening, Grandmother?” Brent was convinced she’d gone into a trance. She hadn’t spoken or moved. Suddenly, she stood and started to gather her things.
“We have to go to the festival. Ash is going to shoot people to get the others to shift. He’s probably already there waiting for his moment.”
“What?” Brent was confused.
“Ash is going to the festival with a gun to shoot people. We have to go and stop him. Petals will find her way back and go into her little ground home. We have to go.”
“You can’t go, you’ll get hurt!”
“I’m going with you and only interfering if I have to. I want you to figure out how to handle it.
My power is much stronger than yours if you get into trouble. I’ll stay in the car and watch, though, because I know you’ll handle it.” Brent really wasn’t sure what he could do since he didn’t know how to use magic, if he even had any.
“That sounds insane,” he said, but she was already moving toward the door and he had a feeling she wouldn’t be stopped simply because he didn’t want her to go.
“What was happening with Chloe? Shouldn’t I be going to rescue her?” He was completely torn between saving the people in town and getting her to safety.
“She was very clear with Petals.” His grandmother was so calm it was making him nervous. “She wants you to go to the festival and stop Ash.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
They jumped into the truck and pulled out, driving toward where the craft festival was set up. He knew there would be a lot of people there because it was the only thing going on for that day. It was unclear how many people Ash would actually shoot once he got started. He wasn’t stable.
“I don’t have a gun. Should I go get a gun?” Brent asked her as he drove, trying to be cautious while hurrying down the road.
“Where would you get a gun?”
“I guess I’ll have to steal one,” Brent said.
“No, you’ll know how to stop him once you get there. I know you will,” she said.
Brent really wasn’t sure how the hell he would stop an armed man who was also a dark wizard, but he had to try. Chloe was counting on him.
They pulled up to the festival on the far side. He didn’t know where Ash would be, but he wanted to have the element of surprise. He had no clue how his grandmother was going to see what was going on, but he really didn’t want her to have to get involved.
Moving along the side of the festival, he was able to duck behind booths and try to blend in the best he could.
“You want to buy a bird house? I make them out of old soup cans.” A little old lady caught him behind her booth and started to walk over to him. Glancing at the birdhouses, he saw they had the tops sticking off of them.