The Witch Within

by M. Z. Andrews

  I patted Jax on the back. “Take her away, Detective. Please? Jax shouldn’t have to see her anymore.”

  We watched as Detective Whitman handed Stella off to one of his officers. While we waited, we quietly explained to Jax and Reign what had happened on our last little adventure. Finally, when Stella was led away, Detective Whitman approached us. His face was somber. “Reign, Mercy, girls, do you mind telling me why I wasn’t informed about all of this when it happened? Though she caused some problems in my relationship with Linda, SaraLynn was an old friend of mine, and I would have liked to have been involved in catching her murderer.”

  “We knew you’d want to be involved, but there was no way you’d have solved this one with forensics and normal detective work,” I said. “It literally took us going back in time to solve this case.”

  “Regardless, we should have had SaraLynn seen by the medical examiner by now. This isn’t the right way to conduct an investigation. This will really muddy the case against Ms. Blackwood. And then there’s her funeral arrangements. Have her brother or sister been notified yet?”

  Jax shook her head sadly. “No, I haven’t told my aunt or uncle. Unless you guys did?”

  Reign frowned. “No, we were holding off.”

  Detective Whitman stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and rocked backwards on the heels of his shoes. “Mind explaining why?”

  I shrugged. “Sure. We were holding out hope that maybe we’d be able to bring Sorceress Stone back to life.”

  “Bring SaraLynn back to life?” breathed a voice behind us.

  We all turned to find the Great Witches Council dressed all in black robes behind us.

  “Is that why you wanted to keep the portal open?” asked Gemma.

  “Well, yeah. I mean, that’s part of the reason. Sorceress Stone was our friend’s mother. We couldn’t let Jax lose her mom, no matter how terrible Sorceress Stone has been to us this past year,” I admitted. “But, honestly, we also wanted to get Jax her powers. Today’s her eighteenth birthday. Before she was born, a curse was put on her family. We tried reversing time, but…”

  “But you discovered that reversing past problems created future problems?” asked Gemma.

  We all nodded quietly. I prayed they wouldn’t ask what had happened. I really didn’t want to get into all that. It was too humiliating.

  Thankfully they didn’t. Instead Poppy looked over at Jax fondly. “You’re SaraLynn’s daughter?”

  Jax nodded.

  Poppy put an arm over her shoulder. “We’re so sorry for your loss, sweetheart.”

  Jax’s bottom lip quivered. “Thank you.”

  “Listen, girls, and, uh… fellow,” said Daphne, pointing at Reign. “We don’t have a lot of time right now, but we did want to take a minute to thank you for all the trouble you went to to solve SaraLynn’s murder. Not only did you put a deeply disturbed woman in police custody, but you also proved our innocence. And for that we’re eternally grateful.”

  “Not only that, but you did all that just to help your friend,” added Elodie. “That’s a pretty special thing.”

  “Especially for a witch,” added Poppy.

  Daphne nodded in agreement. “A witch’s coven is everything to a witch. And to know that you were all willing to go to the ends of the earth to help a witch in your coven, it… it’s simply a beautiful thing.” Daphne batted at a stray tear that trickled down her cheek.

  Jax shook her head as her own tears began to course down her cheeks. “But don’t you understand? I’m not a witch! I can never be part of their coven! And now my mother is dead, so I can’t even be part of a family!”

  Reign pulled a distraught Jax in against his chest. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed.

  The Council all eyed each other. “Witches, a moment?” asked Poppy, beckoning the rest of the Council to speak privately.

  When they stepped away, Detective Whitman patted my shoulder. “It looks like you have a lot going on right now. I need to get Ms. Blackwood booked down at the station. If you could all just stop down after the graduation ceremony to give statements, that would be great.”

  We all nodded.

  “Thank you, girls.” Detective Whitman and the rest of his men left the quad as the Council reunited in front of us.

  Gemma pursed her lips and stepped forward. “Perhaps I was the biggest naysayer in the group. I didn’t believe that a couple handfuls of inexperienced witches could solve a mystery that I didn’t even think that I myself could solve. But you did it. And you did it for your friend. We discussed this in private and have agreed that we’d like to do something to not only thank you for your commitment to solving SaraLynn’s murder, but also to make amends for not believing in you as we should have.”

  Jax’s shoulders stopped shaking as she pulled herself away from Reign’s chest hopefully. She wiped her eyes with the hem of her shirt, sopping up her tears.

  “And I think we’ve just been inspired as to what we can to do thank all of you. The four of us, with the help of the group of you, should be able to summon enough powers to offer Jax the opportunity to finally become a witch.” Gemma said it proudly and then looked back at all the other witches, who smiled happily as well.

  “What?!” breathed Alba. “You can do that?! That… that… that’s amazing!”

  “Jax! Omigosh!” squealed Holly. “You’re going to get your powers! Finally!”

  “This is incredible,” added Sweets, her face shining as bright as the sun.

  But as I watched Jax’s face crumple, I could tell that she didn’t think it was incredible news. Tears filled her eyes once again as she turned back into Reign’s arms.

  The Council all frowned, surprised that Jax wasn’t leaping with excitement. But Reign and I knew what was wrong. She wanted her mother to be alive.

  “You don’t want to be a witch anymore?” asked Poppy.

  Jax lifted her head. “No, I want to be a witch. But I want my mother to be alive more than anything. If there’s something you can do to thank my friends, it’s to bring my mother back to life. That’s the only thing I want. Please! Can you do that? Can you bring my mom back to life?”

  Poppy turned to face her peers. Gemma curled her finger, bringing the four of them into a huddle. They spoke in hushed whispers for a long minute, and then returned to the group.

  Poppy narrowed her eyes as she looked at Jax. “Sweetheart, are you sure that’s what you want? You’d rather have your mother’s death reversed than to finally become the witch you were destined to become?”

  Jax’s head bobbed up and down. “I’m one hundred percent positive!”

  “Very well,” said Poppy. She looked around. “Well, we’ll need her body.”

  Alba and Reign jumped to attention. “Got it! We’ll have her here in a jiffy!”

  They disappeared into Winston Hall to retrieve Sorceress Stone’s frozen body from the tower.

  “We’ll go gather our needed items,” said Poppy, leading the Council back into the dorm and towards Sorceress Stone’s office.

  While they were gone, Holly, Sweets, and I surrounded Jax.

  “Jaxie, you sure about this?” asked Holly. “Today’s your eighteenth birthday. If you don’t take their offer, you’re never going to be a witch.”

  “Yeah, Jax. Never,” echoed Sweets. “Maybe you should take a minute to think about this.”

  Jax looked at me, her face red and puffy from crying. She swiped her hand across her nose. “You think I’m doing the right thing, don’t you, Mercy?”

  “I’m not the person to say whether or not you’re doing the right thing, Jax. You’re the only person who can say that. You have to be the one to accept the fact that you’ll never be a witch if you do this. And you’ll have to go to normal college next year.”

  Jax’s bottom lip began to quiver. “I don’t want to go to normal college next year,” she bawled.

  I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. “I know, Jax. But it’s your mom. I know you. And I know h
ow much your mother means to you. You have to do what you think is best.”

  “Saving my mom is best,” Jax whispered, choking back a sob. “I know you guys don’t get why I love her. I know she’s kind of mean, but she’s my mom. You’d all do whatever it took to save your mothers. Even it if meant not being a witch.”

  Sweets nodded. “I’d do anything for my mom, for sure.”

  “Me too,” whispered Holly.

  “So would I.” I looked Jax right in the eyes. “So let them bring her back to life. It’s the right thing to do, Jax.”

  Jax smiled at me. “I know it is. I just wanted to hear you say it.”

  The four of us hugged it out and the next thing I knew, I could hear Alba and Reign’s voices. I rushed to open the door for them, and they carefully placed Sorceress Stone’s frozen body down on one of the tables in the quad. Libby and Cinder, now dressed in their graduation caps and gowns, followed them into the courtyard, followed by the Council members.

  “Let’s get her unthawed!” Libby rubbed her hands together and blew into them. Then she began to suck in the air around Sorceress Stone, just as she’d done to Holly only a few days before. Little by little, Sorceress Stone defrosted, until finally, she wasn’t a witch pop anymore, but a soft, fleshy dead witch. Libby stood back and gestured towards her. “There! She’s done. Ready to be brought back to life!”

  We all inadvertently took a step back, casting a wide circle around Sorceress Stone. Gemma took charge then. “We’ll need everyone’s help. Bringing a witch back to life requires more energy than one would imagine. Not only must we restart her life core, but we must call her soul back to her body. It’ll take a team of us to do it.”

  I looked around the quad. The rest of the members of the Witch Squad, not including Jax, my brother, Libby and Cinder, and the four members of the Great Witches Council. Altogether, there were eleven of us. That had to be enough. I’d never done a spell with so many witches. Especially so many senior witches.

  She pointed across the circle at Holly. “You. Here take this piece of chalk and draw out a proper casting circle.” Then she passed a basket of white candles to me. “Take one and pass it down. Everyone should have a candle.”

  I took a short, stubby piece of white wax into my hands and passed the basket to Reign. The basket continued around the circle until it got back to where it had started. Gemma took an extra candle and handed it to Holly once she was done drawing the casting circle.

  “Now, get in a circle. Spread out. Close enough that you can hold hands, but far enough away to give us some room to work,” she instructed. When we’d gotten into the proper arrangement, she took a deep cleansing breath and then said calmly, “Light your candles.”

  SaraLynn Stone slumbers in wakeless sleep.

  We ask to bring her back from the deep.

  Walk her through the spiritual door,

  Assemble flesh and soul, let her walk once more.

  Thunder grumbled overhead and the wind whipped up behind us, sending our hair up in rollercoaster waves around our shoulders. And then a single white bolt of lightning struck Sorceress Stone as she lay peacefully in the epicenter of our casting circle. Her body lashed against the table like a limp rag doll as electrical sparks crackled off of her fingers and toes.

  Jax screamed, “Mom!”

  43

  When the wind finally subsided and the sound of the grumbling thunder lessened to little more than a distant murmur, all eyes turned to Sorceress Stone. And just like a scene ripped right out of a Frankenstein movie, Sorceress Stone’s hand began to tremble ever so slightly. Eyes widened and jaws dropped as her chest faintly began to rise and fall.

  “Oh my God,” whispered Jax as she began to sob once again. When Sorceress Stone’s eyelids fluttered open, Jax rushed to be by her mother’s side. “Mom!”

  “There we are,” said Gemma, dusting off her gown. “Per your request. Now, I think our debts have been settled. We must get to the ceremony. We’ll see you there.”

  The Great Witches Council left the quad in a hurry, leaving the rest of us behind to stare at Jax, who was now sobbing over her mother.

  “Oh, Mom!” she sobbed. “You’re alive!”

  “JaclynRose,” whispered a hoarse Sorceress Stone. “What are you doing? Why am I on a table? And why is it so cold?”

  Through her tears, Jax blubbered incoherently. “You were dead, Mom. Dead! Stella murdered you and I didn’t know what I’d do without you!”

  “JaclynRose, you’re not making any sense. I can hardly understand a word that’s come out of your mouth. Why are you blubbering so?”

  Alba stepped forward then. “She’s upset. You’ve been incapacitated for a few days.”

  “Incapacitated for a few days? What do you mean?”

  “It’s a long story,” I promised. “But we’ll tell you after the ceremony.”

  “Ceremony? What ceremony?”

  “The graduation ceremony. It’s probably already started,” said Libby. She bobbed her head towards the Broomsgarden arboretum, where the ceremony was to be held. “We should probably get going Cinder.”

  Alba nodded. “Go ahead. We’ll catch up in a minute.”

  Sorceress Stone struggled to sit up.

  Reign pointed a finger at her and magically raised her to her feet.

  Sorceress Stone lifted a brow as she considered him for a brief moment. “Thank you,” she said curtly. “Now what are you all talking about? Graduation is on Sunday.”

  “Today is Sunday, Mom,” said Jax through a sniff. Her sobs had finally subsided, but her face was a slobbery mess of tears and nasal fluid.

  “No, it’s not. It’s Tuesday.” She looked around at all of our faces. “It’s Tuesday, isn’t it?” she asked Holly.

  Holly shook her head. “No. It’s Sunday, Sorceress Stone. You’ve been out for about a week.”

  “Out? As in unconscious?” asked Sorceress Stone, looking more confused than I’d ever see her before.

  Alba shook her head. “No. More like out as in dead.”

  Our headmistress pulled her head back. “Dead?!”

  “I told you it’s a long story,” I said. “But right now, we have to get to graduation.”

  Poppy Ellabee stood center stage at the podium and read the next name on her list with a deliberate slowness. “Adele Catherine Lowenstein.”

  The audience clapped for a slender girl with limp, wavy brown hair as she slid across the stage and took a spot next to Poppy. Poppy stepped sideways and let Adele have the microphone.

  “I presented my project on Thursday. I did a simple energy transference spell. Using only my mind, I was able to convert water into air, air into fire, and fire into rock. I didn’t use any spells or potions, simply the power of thought.”

  Poppy nodded and shot Adele a megawatt smile before taking the microphone. “Adele did very well with her project and has received a passing score. Therefore, Adele Catherine Lowenstein, you have met the necessary graduation requirements, and on behalf of the Paranormal Institute for Witches and the Great Witches Council, we hereby present to you your Powers Unleashed certificate!”

  As Poppy handed a certificate to Adele, the audience clapped. Several members of Adele’s family stood up to cheer and fist-pumped the air. Someone even let an airhorn blare, making the audience laugh.

  “And our final two candidates for graduation are Libby Anne Hafström and Cinder Ray Hafström,” said Poppy before stepping back and clapping with the rest of the audience.

  Holly, Jax, Alba, and I, all seated in a cluster in the back of the student section of the audience, hooted and hollered for them as the twins stood and plodded towards the stage. One look at their long faces told me that they weren’t looking forward to presenting Alba’s lame idea to the audience. Not only was the project late, but they were completely unprepared. We all worried the lack of preparation might very well cost them their Powers Unleashed certificates.

  When the applause died down, Libby was hand
ed the microphone. She looked at it uneasily before handing it to her sister.

  Cinder’s eyes widened. She cleared her throat. “We were unable to present our graduation project during the week, so we will present it for you now.”

  Standing in the wings, Poppy furrowed her brow. She scurried forward, covered the microphone with her hands, and whispered something to Cinder and Libby. They both looked shocked but nodded. Poppy stepped back into the wings of the stage.

  Cinder looked out into the crowd again. “I take that back. My sister and I presented our graduation project to the Council earlier today. Utilizing magnetic powder, the energy of a slow-moving river, and our powers of both fire control and water temperature control…”

  Cinder handed Libby the microphone and Libby continued Cinder’s sentence. “We were able to create a time portal. This morning, we transported the members of the Great Witches Council to a different time and location and returned them in time for the ceremony.”

  Before Poppy could even respond to that, gasps, followed promptly by applause, thundered around us. Libby and Cinder both smiled out at the crowd, pleased with the response their inadvertent project had garnered.

  When the applause died down, Poppy spoke. “These girls did absolutely amazing with their project. I’ve never seen such a big project come from a pair of second-year students, and as a former teacher at the Institute, I’ve seen many a graduation project. This one was by far the best I’ve ever seen. So, I’m very honored to present to both of you, on behalf of the Paranormal Institute for Witches and the Great Witches Council, your Powers Unleashed certificates!”

  “Woooo!” I screamed, clapping wildly, a huge smile across my face.

  Alba cheered next to me as she pounded the air with her fist. “Yeah!”

  The combination of the audience’s applause and cheers were deafening, filling my ears. I couldn’t believe it. Libby and Cinder had done it! They’d graduated from the Institute! It was a surreal moment, and for the first time since the ceremony had begun, it hit me that Libby and Cinder would be moving away and wouldn’t be returning in the fall. It was more than likely that this might be the last day I ever saw the Fire and Ice twins, and it made me feel a way that I’d never felt before. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the feeling, but I felt a lump in the back of my throat as I watched them holding their certificates high in the air before walking back to their seats.