Immortal Slumber (The Crawford Witch Chronicles Book 1)

by S. L. Perrine

  I ducked down and moved back to the side of the house, looking behind me to make sure no one else was there. I could hear Chester yelling directions to Chad over the sounds of bodies struggling inside. More crashing, and then a different set of growls came from the opened door. Chester must have had the opportunity to shift as well.

  One man screamed. It was blood curdling and pierced through my head. The sound of a large object thumped the floor, and the man’s screams became pleads of fear. I stepped behind the porch and looked through the wide-open door. The curtain laid on the floor with the broken dishes and pans, scattered about the room. I could see Chad and who I guessed was Chester, a large black bear, wrestling a man on the floor. Chad had his assailant by one leg and was dragging him towards the front entrance of the house.

  I didn’t think, but jumped onto the porch and went inside. I placed a hand on the wall and words I had never heard before came out of my mouth.

  The bear that was Chester looked up at me and Chad stopped moving. As I spoke, Chad started to come at me, as if he were going to stop me from using my powers when I had no clue what I was doing. I probably would have attacked me too, had I not been overtaken by the magic. When Chad got as far as the kitchen, Chester stopped him. Obviously, he had more faith in my abilities. I could see what was going on through my own eyes, but it was as if someone else controlled my body and my words. I reached towards them, cupping the palm of my hands. A vibrant blue flame ignited in my palms and flowed to the ceiling like a serpent, searching for its victim. It traveled across the ceiling and down the walls. When it found the first man, it coiled around his body and pulled him to his feet. The flame then broke off from my hands. It was done.

  The next flame, red this time, snaked its way to its victim, curling around the man that Chad once held by his foot. It twisted around him, pulling him up to his feet. More words I didn’t know came from my mouth and then I was back to being myself. Chad and Chester had both left the room and returned in their human form, each of them wearing just a pair of jeans.

  “Could someone please explain that?” I went to the table, which had been the only thing untouched by the recent struggle in the kitchen, and leaned on it for balance.

  “That was . . . nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Chad said, walking over to me.

  “That was your magic,” Chester said, pulling the two men, who were bound by glowing magic, to the hall between the kitchen and the living room.

  “I feel so weak.” I rested my head in my hands.

  “You need to eat. Chad, grab her something not smooshed to the floor.”

  Chad went to the refrigerator, grabbed a small bottle of orange juice and a banana, and handed it to me.

  “Thanks,” I said, and wasted no time with either of them. My head was fuzzy and I felt weak in the knees, so I turned and slid across the table to sit in the middle. I pulled my legs into an Indian-style position and rested my head in my hands. “Who are they?”

  “They are here looking for Gwendolyn and Silas. They tracked Gwen’s blood to this town. They followed me back from the hardware store this morning. After you two left, they showed themselves and asked for a look around.”

  “So what do we do with them?” Chad asked his father.

  “I don’t know. I guess we move the meeting to the house and my coven will figure that out. We can’t send them back now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Chad, they’ve obviously experienced Crawford magic,” he said, pointing at the coils wrapped around them, and then back at me. “They can see her. You two don’t know it yet, but Elyse is the spitting image of Gwen.”

  I looked at Chad, then back to the two who were bound together and being held against the wall. I had no idea how I managed that much magic without completing the blood ritual, but Chester had an idea. He said that my family magic has always been the strongest he had ever seen. It wasn’t a surprise to him that I had exhibited more magic than the average witch before the ritual. He also told me I would more than likely develop more before the ritual took place. Once we were bound by blood, our coven would be whole, and we would all be at our full power.

  Chester made the necessary phone calls while Chad and I started to clean up. Chester saw to the two goons who were tied and told me to stay out of their direct vision. There was a chance that with the struggle, they hadn’t actually seen me. Even if it was a long shot, I did as he asked. He moved them to the living room, out of sight from the kitchen, and tied a scarf around each so they wouldn’t be able to see any of the members of either coven once they got there.

  “So, do we know who they are and who sent them?” Marcus asked when everyone had arrived.

  We gathered in the kitchen first to speak in private amongst ourselves while Chester explained the events that occurred. He managed to leave out the part where I had inadvertently used magic to bind the intruders.

  “I believe they were sent by Sigmis.” As Chester spoke, the members of the older coven all glanced around the room and their eyes came to an unsettling stop on me.

  “How do we know it was him and not a Crawford?” Elle asked with an accusing glare in my direction.

  “For the simple fact that Elyse just met with Barnaby this morning. These two jumped out at me after Elyse and Chad left for that meeting. If they were after her or Gwen, they would have followed her when she left. No, they were waiting until I was alone.”

  “Ok, so what do we do with them?” Marshal stood with his arm wrapped protectively around Clara. They had been the last to arrive, and were standing by the still-open back door.

  “I don’t know. I thought we could all figure that out together.”

  “Excuse me,” Clara spoke up and moved away from her father, “but why do we have to do anything with them? Just make them leave. They can see for themselves that your high priestess and her husband are not here . . . so why do we have to do anything with them?”

  Marshal grabbed his daughter and swung her around. “You will soon come to learn that being a part of a coven means entering into a second family. It’s not about who you like anymore. These four people will be an extension of yourself, and protecting Elyse and her parents means the same as protecting your mother or myself. When you understand that, then you’ll be ready to be a part of a coven,” he said with mild discontent at his daughter.

  It was plain to see that Marshal Blackwood did not harbor the same feelings towards me as his daughter. I could tell by the expression on the rest of the rents that they, too, felt a sense of family when it came to protecting their own coven. The exception was Elle, who had remained quiet with arms folded protectively around her daughter.

  “I don’t think I can do this,” I heard myself say. “I mean, I don’t even know them, and neither do any of them.” I pointed to the rest of my friends. “Why do we have to be a part of this?”

  “You’re a part of this . . . we are not,” Clara spoke up and pulled herself from her father’s hold. “I’m sorry, but you’re their spawn . . . even if they did throw you to a gutter and leave you to be someone else’s problem. They put a target on your back the minute they said ‘I do,’ and ran for the hills.”

  Everyone looked from Clara to me, and at that moment, my life suddenly became a fast running picture show inside my head. I had never really thought of the way they had given me up, even after I found out they did it to hide me. It was their way of protecting me on some unselfish level. If I were going to help protect them, I would have at least liked to have known what and who I would be up against. Clara obviously felt it wasn’t her job, and I was beginning to wonder why it was mine.

  “So, then we won’t do the blood ritual,” I said, even before I knew I was going to.

  “What? . . . No! You can’t say that!” Chad yelled at me.

  “Why not? Do any of you want to have this burden? I don’t even know them, and yes, the idea of being a witch with powers sounded great for a minute . . . but what happens when my father’s family fi
nds out about me? We will all be in danger, and I don’t like the implications of that.”

  “So, what you’re saying,” Marshal began as he stepped forward, and with him, the rest of his coven members, “is you would rather lie down and give up? Because I can assure you, they will not stop looking for your parents. Eventually, they will figure out who you are. The older you get . . . wow . . . you’re the spitting image of your mother, Elyse! They will not stop looking for her, and when they find you instead, they will not stop trying to use you to get to her, or worse.”

  “Worse? What are we talking about . . . really? Are you saying they’ll kill me?”

  “If they think you are her . . . yes, they will. This is not some TV show. They are out for blood.”

  “But why?”

  “I think we should tell her. She needs to know.” My eyes shot out to Elle, and for the first time in my life, I thought I could like her.

  Crystal pulled Matt and Chad to the back and started whipping up some sandwiches from the contents of the sparsely filled refrigerator, while Elle took it upon herself to clue me in. My father’s family was not just upset by the loss of their son to light magic, but because they had set him on a course that was supposed to get them the magic of the Crawford line.

  The Crawford line was traceable, back to the earliest time of witches recorded. Their magic stemmed from the center of the earth, which all believed to be the greatest gift the goddess of the earth could bestow upon anyone. This meant that the Crawford line was the strongest and purest power any one family of witches could possess. The Sigmis family was also very powerful. There are only about three other families that matched their power, but they wanted more.

  Silas was set on a course to make Gwen fall in love with him, and when she least expected it, he would lead her astray. He had planned to make her use her magic, subtly of course, in a dark way. Over time, her magic would be turned. He would then marry her, and she would join with his family. Once they had a child, that child would be the strongest dark priest or priestess for his family to use as they would. However, his family had not foreseen that he would fall in love with her, nor that he could be swayed to disown his family and heritage, completely severing ties with them. He had even convinced his coven to merge with Gwen’s, to give them the strength, they thought, to protect them all from the Sigmis family. Over time, Gwen had foreseen that Sigmis, Silas’s father, would overcome them and their entire coven. She saw the shadows of all their deaths, even mine.

  “That’s why they left, to protect all of us.”

  “Wow, Elle, to hear you tell about it . . . almost sounds like you care again,” Marcus pointed out.

  “I’ve always cared. It just so happens I’ve been busy as well. Things have been calm for seventeen years, and I guess I was just hoping it would stay that way. I happen to enjoy life without the threat of a supernatural death looming.”

  “Why don’t we just put Gwen’s spell back on the girl?” Marshal asked.

  “Because, it’s not possible to hide her powers. Their only chance is for them to complete the ritual. So, let’s figure out what to do with these two and get to the training portion of this meeting . . . shall we?” Chester said in an all-business attitude.

  The rents decided to spell the men. They would never remember finding Chester or the attack in the house. They definitely wouldn’t remember the magic used to bind them. Once the men were sufficiently stripped of their memories from the last week, they were driven ten miles in the opposite direction and dropped off. With any luck, Chester figured, they wouldn’t find their way home for a day or two.

  Chester walked us beyond the line of trees behind the house. Nestled in a thick part of the woods was a clearing, a circular clearing. We each took a place around the circle, watching as Chester set up an altar and cast the circle around us. He then instructed me to remove my family grimoire from the large leather box. The book looked as it had before, like every touch would send pieces of it into a pile of ash. I noticed there seemed to be more pages to it than before. When I opened it, I saw the pages inside that I had constructed in my own Book of Shadows, which remained in my closet.

  “How?” I looked up at him and saw the smile he boasted.

  “It’s magic,” was all Chester would say. He saw the delicate handwriting and must have known it didn’t belong to my mother. I wondered for a moment if whatever my mother wrote in her book, wherever she was, would be added to this one. I decided I would like to sit down with it sometime and learn more. Not just about her, but my entire family.

  The circle consisted of various topics, from how to cast a single circle to how to cast a protection spell on your belongings. Marshal had also showed us how to cast a spell of protection. It could be placed above a doorway to keep harm from anyone who entered it, but it would only work on that one entrance. We could also place it on an object or a non-magical person, without their knowledge. I thought on that for a minute and made a mental note to ask Chad to help me place one on Helen and Michael, and maybe even Michelle. I wasn’t sure what was going to come after me at this point, and if I was found while at home, I didn’t want anyone to be harmed in the process.

  As the circle was broken and everyone gathered up their belongings to leave, Chester made a point to say that he expected us all there at the next meeting. They would no longer be having it at Marcus’s body shop. It would be difficult explaining why children were there. More importantly, it was too public, and they wanted to keep me hidden. Marshal agreed and said they should have it at his house. He had a fully furnished basement that would work well for the entire group, and after that, they could take turns hosting. It was suggested, however, that we join them until the ritual was completed, and we would start training for the ritual next Sunday.

  “Try to stay off the big-bad’s radar for the rest of the week, and don’t go out alone,” Elle said sympathetically.

  “Or do,” Clara was nice enough to add, since my getting caught out alone would mean the end to all of this trouble, without her having to lift a finger to help.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  With each passing day, the night’s air became cooler. It was a sign that snow would be falling soon. Most kids looked forward to the snow, since it usually meant a couple snow days. The sooner snow fell, the sooner the winter solstice would be here, and I was not looking forward to either.

  “They should be here.”

  Chad threw the twig he’d been toying with. “Who?”

  “My parents. I would have thought that once my powers came with my eighteenth, they would show up to help. I don’t get it.” I kicked at the twig and missed.

  “Well, you shouldn’t dwell on it. They’ll show up when they need to be here. Maybe they figure being here before you’re able to protect yourself would only put you in more danger. I doubt they know what’s going on here . . . wherever they are.”

  “I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but they’d better have answers the minute they show up.” I gave him a quick hug to say good night. “Thanks for everything.”

  “What? I didn’t do anything.” He hugged me back.

  “Yes, you’ve been looking out for me all this time, and I never even knew. You calm my nerves just by holding my hand, and make me feel safe.”

  “Well, you know . . . it’s my job and a little magic.” He laughed. I gave him a playful punch to the arm and a quick kiss on the cheek before running up the front steps.

  I stopped on the other side of the door after closing it and let my body lean against it. With all that had happened in the last seventy-two hours, I didn’t know the direction our relationship was going. At that moment, I thought I would like to see if it could grow beyond a friendship. Sometimes, the way he looked at me made me think he had been in love with me for years, but I knew what he said was the truth. Keeping me safe and being by my side was his job. What if I had been reading him the wrong way?

  I shook my head, released the door handle I had been
squeezing far too tightly, and looked to the top of the stairs. Clara was standing there, staring at me with such a look I thought she might like to burn a hole through my head. Knowing that she very well could, and the fact that she didn’t, was a bit unsettling.

  Michelle came bouncing from her room and up to where Clara stood. She took one look at me and moved past Clara to make her way down the stairs.

  “Don’t worry, we’re leaving,” she said as she rolled her eyes, almost to the back of her head.

  “I wasn’t worried in the least. Go, stay, makes no difference to me,” I said as I headed to the kitchen, and then added, “Hi Clara, see you at school tomorrow.”

  I couldn’t help but giggle under my breath a little. She would have some explaining to do to my goodie-two-shoes sister, and I would be able to relax some just knowing she wouldn’t be having a nice night. If there was one thing I knew about my sister, it was her complete inability to let anything drop without explanation. She was like a dog with a bone, and would hound Clara for hours.

  Since I ensured the rest of my night would be a good one, I started to rifle through the refrigerator for some actual food. Helen liked to leave us single servings of leftovers to pop in the microwave for lunch on the weekends. I found a small square covered bowl with the last piece of veggie-lasagna and grabbed a fork. I didn’t want to wait for it to warm up in the little box, so I headed upstairs with it cold.

  Placing the small bowl on my desk, I opened the closet door, but then thought better of it and headed to the lock on the door that led to the bathroom. I also shut and locked the door to the hallway, just in case Helen decided she needed another mother-daughter bonding moment.

  The black box was still where I had left it, neatly shoved under a couple old shoe boxes on the floor of my closet and covered with a blanket. When I opened it, the hinges complained as if they hadn’t been moved in a few hundred years. I took the note book out, grabbed my cold lunch, and plopped onto my bed to insert the story of what happened that day. I wrote about the fact that I didn’t feel like I had control, over myself or over what had come from my hands to wrap around those two men. One flame was blue, and the other was red. I needed to do some research into why they came out different colors, if there was a reason for it at all.