“Yeah,” I said quietly. “We’re almost there.”
“I can’t do this,” Andrea said in a panicked voice, dropping the rest of her sandwich on the ground. “I can’t do it!”
Monica grabbed Andrea by the shoulders and shook her. “You have to,” she said, glaring fiercely. “You have to do this!”
Andrea shook her head and cried out loudly in fear. The sound of Monica’s hand smacking her across the face echoed through the trees. Andrea gasped and held her face in shock, staring at Monica with her eyes wide.
“Sorry,” Monica said quietly. “But you can’t leave, Andrea. Remember the flames.”
Andrea shuddered and shivered. After a few seconds, she nodded. “Okay,” she said quietly. “Let’s go.”
Monica led the way. The woods were thinning and soon, we emerged at the familiar magical clearing. Ligeia was standing there, smiling coldly.
“We’ve been waiting for you,” she said, looking right at me. “For a moment, I did not think you would honor your promise.” She walked closer, inspecting Andrea closely. “Ah, the vessel,” she said. “You have brought her.”
I cleared my throat and stepped forward. “Ligeia, it’s going to be me. I’ll be the next protector of the soul of Prudence.”
Ligeia nodded approvingly. “I’m glad you’ve come to your senses, child,” she said. “Come, all three of you.”
My legs felt as heavy as lead as I walked forward. Ligeia led us through the clearing, past her series of huts, and into a small wooded area. She took my hands and led me to a tree. I could feel the soul of Prudence – still asleep, but vigilant all the same. Her heartbeat resonated in my chest and I shuddered, wondering if I’d ever be able to escape her.
Henrik appeared from behind a tree and smiled. “Ah, you have returned,” he said. “And Monica, child, you have come as well. I thought you missed your own world?”
Monica smiled. “I missed the coven,” she said, lying through her teeth. “I’ve found the real world is no longer to my liking.”
“I see,” Henrik said. He smiled and I shuddered at the cold gleam in his eyes. “Well, child, perhaps that will change very soon, as you know.”
“What is he talking about,” Andrea asked.
Everyone ignored her.
“I’m ready,” I said nervously.
Ligeia stepped closer and stripped my sweater. I shivered even though the air was no longer cold. Ligeia took her athame from her robes and held it to my chest, pointing the tip at my heart. I shuddered as the tip of the knife pierced my skin. It hurt, but I tried not to cry out as blood dripped down my chest, soaking my bra and stomach.
“Prudence Arrowsmith,” Ligeia called. “You will inhabit this woman.”
I closed my eyes, pretending to lean into the ritual. But I wasn’t going to let that bitch inside of me. Instead, I willed the protection of the earth, of the sun, of the moon and the sky. Keep me safe and whole, I prayed silently. Keep me free of Prudence.
Ligeia smiled. “It is complete, child,” she said.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you,” I said, looking down. “I am honored you have chosen me.”
“Yes, child, you have done very well,” Ligeia said.
I could barely keep from grinning in relief. You stupid witch, I thought, biting the inside of my cheeks so I wouldn’t smile. It didn’t work!
I glanced at Monica. She nodded. This is it, I thought as I stepped back. May the earth be on our side.
“I’m sorry, Andrea,” Monica said. Andrea barely had time to react as Monica grabbed her and threw her to the ground. Ligeia turned and spun in horror, crying out as Monica grabbed the athame from her hands and sliced Andrea across the chest.
“You will inhabit this woman!” Monica screamed. A loud wind blew through the woods and the sky darkened as a rush of purple smoke disappeared inside Andrea’s chest. Her eyes glowed bright for a second, then faded.
“What is the meaning of this?” Ligeia shrieked. “Henrik! Henrik! Something’s happening!”
“Shut up,” Monica growled. She darted towards Ligeia, clutching the athame. Ligeia’s blue eyes began to glow and Monica flew backwards through the air, her small body smacking against a tree and collapsing to the ground. She didn’t lose her grip on the athame, even as Ligeia fell upon her.
I grabbed Andrea’s arm. “Fight,” I growled to her face before shoving her towards Ligeia and Monica. The two women tussled, rolling on the ground, biting and scratching and fighting like cats. Monica was shrieking at the top of her lungs, thrashing under Ligeia’s grasp.
Ligeia wrestled the knife away and made a plunge towards Monica’s body, but Monica rolled out of the way. I ran towards them and grabbed Ligeia, trying to pull her away from Monica. Ligeia growled and spat, cursing under her breath. A sharp pain filled my body from head to toe but I tried to push past it, willing myself to move past the agony.
Ligeia’s face was twisted with anger and rage as she wrestled out of my grip, spitting and yowling. I tried to push her backwards but she was too strong, and I cried out in pain as she shoved me hard into the ground.
“Traitor,” Ligeia hissed. She raised the athame high in the air and I gasped and screamed as she plunged it downwards, into my chest.
For a moment, I couldn’t move. I’m dying, I thought as I looked down, expecting to see a torrent of blood gushing from my chest. Instead, Ligeia had vanished. I rolled over and got to my feet, brushing my hands off and looking around in a wild panic.
Andrea had Ligeia pinned to a tree.
“Sister,” she hissed in a strange voice, almost like a whisper. “The time has come for me to destroy you.”
For the first time, I saw fear spread across Ligeia’s face.
“You have come to kill me,” Ligeia said, narrowing her steely blue eyes. “You have always wanted to kill me.”
“And you have always wanted what was beyond your reach,” Andrea growled. She raised her hands to Ligeia’s throat and began to choke her. Ligeia was spitting and cursing under her breath in a strange language. Her face turned purple and blue as Andrea squeezed her hands around her neck.
Henrik came barreling into the small clearing, shaking with rage and anger. “You!” Henrik screamed, running towards me. “What have you done, child?” He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me close, leering into my face angrily. “What have you wrought?”
“Let me go!” I shrieked. “You’re hurting me!”
“I’m going to kill you,” Henrik growled. “You and all of these bitches! What were you thinking!”
Henrik pushed me back to the ground, kicking me hard in the ribs. I cried out as pain shot through my body. Henrik stood over me, looking down and glaring. Suddenly I felt a burning sensation all over my skin, like I was being lit on fire. The sensation changed from irritating to pure agony and soon I was screaming and clutching at myself, desperate for anything to make the pain stop.
Please, please, I prayed silently. Please don’t let me die. Please let Andrea win, let her kill them both for all I care!
The pain intensified yet again and I yowled, sobbing uncontrollably as the pain paralyzed my whole frame.
“Wench,” Henrik growled.
“No!” I shrieked. “No!”
Just as I was ready to give up, to surrender myself to the pain, it vanished. I lay there, dazed.
“Elizabeth!” Andrea was shrieking my name. “Elizabeth, get up!”
I was still breathing hard, choking and coughing on the pain. Still, I managed to roll over and haul myself into a sitting position, moaning as the air rushed back into my lungs.
Henrik was lying on the ground, Ligeia’s athame sticking out of his chest. Andrea was staring down at him. I could still sense Prudence inside of her, but Andrea looked calm and collected.
Monica was a few feet away, binding Ligeia with leather cords.
“Give me that,” she said, jerking her hea
d towards the athame handle sticking from Henrik’s chest. “We have to work quickly.”
My legs were as weak as jelly as I stepped forward and grabbed the athame, pulling it out of the gaping wound. Henrik’s eyes were still open but I could feel the life leaving him. The air was filled with a sour, musty smell as I passed the knife to Monica.
Monica stared at Ligeia for a long time before stabbing her directly in the chest. She grunted, moving the knife down, until I heard the crack of ribs.
“Help me,” Monica grunted. “I can’t do this on my own.”
Gritting my teeth, I stepped behind Monica and wrapped my arms around hers, gripping the knife under her hands and pulling it down. For a moment, the wound was a glistening slit of pink organs. Then the sides collapsed, and guts spilled from Ligeia’s body, as rank and foul as that of a freshly-shot deer.
“We have to build a fire,” Monica said, looking over her shoulder at Henrik. “He’s not dead yet.”
I shuddered. “I’ll do it,” I said. “Just keep watch.”
Glancing down, I almost shrieked. My clothes were soaked and stained with blood – and the wound on my chest was still gushing. I touched it and winced in pain, wiping my hands on my jeans. It didn’t matter – my jeans were covered in blood, too.
With Andrea’s help, we gathered enough kindling and sticks for a fire. Monica tossed a lighter from her pocket and I caught it, gently blowing on the wood until a thick grey column of smoke was rising to the heavens.
“Help me,” Monica grunted. She was kneeling over Henrik once again, sawing at his chest with the athame. The sight was enough to make me sick. Almost over, I thought as I forced myself to walk closer and kneel by the side of the nearly-dead man.
Using Ligeia’s athame, Monica and I cut Henrik’s heart from his body and tossed it on the fire. It smoldered and stunk of death, rot, and decay. But the flames were more powerful than the heart of an old warlock, and soon the heart was nothing but ashes.
“Andrea, watch the fire,” Monica said. Andrea was sitting there, frozen. She looked horrified.
“Andrea,” Monica snapped. “Listen!” She snapped her fingers in the air. “Watch the fire, okay?”
Andrea managed a nod of her head. I walked to Ligeia and grabbed her body. For such an old, frail woman, she was almost heavy and I winced as I carried her bleeding corpse to the flames. Setting her down on the ground, Monica and I cut out her heart and held it over the greedy flames.
“It’s over,” Monica said softly as she lowered the heart into the fire. “It’s finally over.”
Andrea wrapped her arms around her legs and began to shake. She seemed practically catatonic as Monica and I hauled the bodies of Henrik and Ligeia to the flames and burned them, filling the sky with an acrid smoke that stung my nose and mouth.
Monica held the athame in the flames until the tip was red-hot. She then laid it in the grass, wiping both sides clean of blood and grime.
“Andrea, come here,” Monica said. “We’re going to release the spirit of Prudence.”
Andrea got up and walked closer. She looked shell-shocked, horrified.
“I killed someone,” Andrea whispered.
“No,” Monica said sharply. “You didn’t kill anyone, you understand? It was Prudence,” she added. “Prudence is the only person strong enough to take Ligeia down. You did it,” she added. “I’m very proud of you.”
Andrea nodded, but she looked no less unhappy than she had before. At a gesture from Monica, she lay down on the grass and closed her eyes. Monica held the athame over her chest, pointed at her heart.
“I command the spirit of Prudence Arrowsmith to the afterlife,” Monica said solemnly, scratching the surface of Andrea’s skin with the blade of the knife. Andrea winced and screwed up her face, but didn’t try to push Monica away.
Beneath my feet, the ground began to rumble and shake. Terrified, I looked around. The trees were whipping and waving in the breeze, and a sudden gust blew the flames out. The sky darkened to an inky hue, but there was no sight of the moon or stars.
“I command you to leave!” Monica shouted, straining to make her voice heard above the wind. “I command you to be free, to leave! You are done here, Prudence Arrowsmith!”
A loud rumbling sound filled the air and I trembled as the ground beneath me shook harder than before. Andrea’s eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out as a wisp of silvery smoke emerged from her chest and floated high into the air.
Monica threw the athame down on the ground and I watched as it bounced over the grass. In the sky above us, thunder rumbled and bellowed.
And then, just like that, it was over. The sky returned to a normal blue shade, the grass stopped shaking and waving, the ground stopped shaking and moving beneath my feet. Andrea sat up and opened her eyes.
“It’s gone,” she said softly, looking down at the superficial wound on her chest. “It’s really gone!”
“I told you,” Monica said.
A rush of pure energy zoomed through me and I let out a wild whoop before wrapping my arms around Monica and holding her.
“I can’t believe it!” I exclaimed loudly. “I can’t believe we did it!”
Andrea climbed to her feet, grinning broadly. She threw her arms around Monica and me, hugging us tightly and dancing from side to side.
“It’s really over,” Andrea said. Her eyes were glistening with tears, but she was still smiling.
I closed my eyes and sighed, pulling away from my friends. “It’s done.” I shook my head and looked down at the grass. For once, it didn’t look like a magical place – it looked like a perfectly normal patch of grass, just like the back yard at my parents’ house.
“Monica?” Andrea asked softly. “Why aren’t you happy?”
“I am happy,” Monica said slowly. But when I looked into her eyes, I saw nothing but sadness and regret.
“Don’t tell me you’re regretting this,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder and squeezing. “After all this?”
Monica held my gaze for a long time before turning to Andrea. “Andrea, I really am sorry about everything that’s happened to you,” she said. “It’s all my fault. It never should’ve happened.”
Andrea looked perplexed. “It’s okay,” she said. “I mean, I get it. Kind of,” she added, wrinkling her nose.
My heart lurched to the side and I stared at Monica. “Monica, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”
Monica hugged me tightly.
“Goodbye,” she whispered.
“What?” I pulled away, holding her at arm’s length. “No, this isn’t goodbye,” I said. “Don’t you get it? This is the beginning!”
Monica sighed softly. “Andrea, would you mind giving us a moment, please?”
Andrea looked confused, but she nodded and walked to the edge of the woods before lowering herself down and facing away.
“What’s going on?” My heart was thudding in my chest and I felt a stab of fear – real fear. My whole body was trembling from all of the stress and tension that we’d just undergone, and I couldn’t believe that now there was going to be something else to deal with, something new, something unexpected.
“I have to leave you now,” Monica said. She sighed. “I can’t leave this place. I’m bound here, Elizabeth.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I countered. “Of course you can leave! You’re not stuck here for the rest of your life! Henrik and Ligeia are gone!”
“I know. That’s why I have to stay.”
“I don’t get it,” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t you want to come back? What about…what about David?” I asked timidly. “Don’t you want to live in the real world?”
Monica sighed. “What I want and what I have to do are two very different things,” she said quietly. “The coven needs a new leader. They need a witch who isn’t hungry for power, who doesn’t want to control the world. They need someone who espouses all the values we were o
riginally taught.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “And besides, how do you know that you’ll stay like that?” I shook my head like a dog shaking itself dry. “Monica, please!”
“I don’t know that I’ll stay the way I am now,” Monica said softly. “But I have to try. I have to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
“If it’s because you feel guilty, don’t,” I said. “Don’t even start, okay? You have no reason to feel bad. We fixed everything.”
“Yes,” Monica said. “I do feel guilt. I feel guilt for involving you, and Andrea, and for allowing myself to be misled and treated like a child by Henrik and Ligeia for so long.”
“But that’s no reason to isolate yourself forever.” By now, I couldn’t stop my chin from trembling. My eyes filled with tears and I glanced to the sky, trying to blink them away as quickly as I could.
“Elizabeth, you don’t understand.” Monica looked sadly into my eyes. “This isn’t something I’m doing to punish myself. I’m doing it because I have to, you understand?”
I bit my lip as hot tears began to fall down my face. “I can’t do it without you,” I said, wiping my eyes. “The seven years you were gone…I could barely get up in the morning! I missed you so much it hurt! And David…David knows he won’t ever get over you,” I said, sniffling and shaking my head. “He told me, years ago.”
“David will be fine,” Monica said. “The spells are gone. I have no power in the real world now, Elizabeth, I can’t do anything now that would affect you, David, or anyone else.”
I couldn’t stop myself from throwing my arms around Monica and holding her tightly.
“You can’t go,” I whimpered into her neck. By now, I was full-on ugly crying. Tears and snot were leaking down my face and I knew I was soaking Monica’s sweater. But I didn’t care. I held her tightly and sobbed into her neck. Monica put an arm around me and awkwardly patted my back, but she didn’t speak.
“Elizabeth,” Monica said gently after I’d been sobbing for about ten minutes. “You have to go back. You have to take Andrea home.”
Touch of Fire (Into the Darkness Book 1) Page 59