Ensnared

by Sian B. Claven

  Amari deeply sympathised with Kiara. Although Amari felt trapped in her own way she knew what love was because her parents loved her deeply. The least she could do was help Kiara. Once Kiara was out she could explain to her parents and then, maybe, Kiara could live with them, and discover what love was. She smiled to herself. Trapped but loved, better than trapped in a book.

  She closed her eyes and cleared her mind.

  I’m going to free you, Kiara. I found the book and I am going to help you out of yours. You are going to be free!

  Amari opened her eyes to find Kiara’s book open, with the following writing across it:

  Thank you, Amari! You are a good friend! I hope to one day repay your kindness.

  - Kiara

  Amari looked at Raven’s book. She ran her fingers over the cover lightly, as though she was scared it would shock her. It felt like lightning before, she thought, like it was alive and full of energy. Maybe she had imagined it, but when she reached the centre of the front cover where a small gem had been sewn in, she felt it again. The book did feel alive, and it was full of energy.

  Swallowing, she slowly lifted the cover and let it fall open.

  SLAM!

  The window in front of her desk banged open and the wind swept her hair away from her face, and the stinging cold caused tears to form in her eyes. She stood up quickly and closed the window, locking it. Wiping her eyes, she gazed at the farm down below. In the distance the sun was about to dawn, the sky a beautiful orange and red tinge on the horizon.

  Did I really spend all night cleaning? I’m going to need to sleep for a year after I get Kiara out.

  Amari smiled at the thought. A good night’s rest sounded amazing and she intended to have one by the end of this day, with Kiara sleeping soundly in a bed as well.

  As she was about to sit down again she saw a shadow downstairs and leaned closer to the window. She couldn’t make out the face, but from the shape of the shadow she knew who it was.

  Raven.

  Amari sat quickly and started flipping through the pages of the spell book. Some of it wasn’t written in English and she hoped to God that the one she needed would be, because it looked like Latin or something really old. Her window shuddered slightly, but she didn’t pay any attention to it, knowing Raven was trying to stop her and Amari would not let her. She flipped through the pages a little more haphazardly, accidentally tearing a few in the corner as she did so. The window started to shudder continuously, softly at first. She clenched her jaw and read the titles of the spells at the top of each page, as swiftly as she could.

  She paused on one titled, UNINTERRUPTED SPELL CASTING, which had a notation underneath that read, Blocking other spell-casters from interrupting your casting.

  Amari glanced at what was on the back of the page and, after making sure it wasn’t the one she needed, carefully tore it out. This would probably help her prevent Raven from stopping her.

  WHACK!

  Something hard struck the window and bounced off. Shakily she leaned forward to look down. Raven stood there with her head tilted up towards Amari’s room. That was when another black bird hit the window, causing Amari’s heart to practically leap out of her chest. She stepped back, watching as the bird dropped away and disappeared.

  She shook, but reached for the book again, just as another bird hit the window. Raven was determined to stop her, but some dead woman’s determination would not outweigh Amari’s own resolve. Amari watched the window before quickly grabbing both books and taking them to her bed. She climbed onto it and sat cross-legged, setting Kiara’s book on her bedside table and opening Raven’s in front of her. She found the place where she had torn out the spell and continued to read.

  The window stopped shuddering and there was no sound of birds hitting the glass. Amari took a steadying breath but didn’t dare look up, in case she saw something else that Raven was doing to scare her. She flipped through the book, the house around her silent and still.

  BANG!

  The attic door bashed against its lock. Amari looked up briefly, listening to see if it was her parents. If they found it locked they would call her so she would get up and open it. The door banged against the lock noisily again and Amari turned her attention back to the book, ignoring the sounds. Around her things started to slide around, drawers opened and closed on their own, her closet door rattled. She ignored it all, although goosebumps did quickly form along her arms and her legs.

  With every page she turned, the noises, shuffling, rattling and thudding got more and more violent, until suddenly everything just stopped. She found the sudden quiet more unnerving than the constant rattles and thuds. Everything was in its place, so at least she didn’t have to clean again.

  Amari looked back at the page she had just turned and her eyes widened. She flipped the page back to read the title of the one before it - Binding People to Objects. Her heart raced; she had found the spell that Raven used to trap Kiara. She turned the page again and read the next one, a small triumphant smile crossing her lips as she read the title. Breaking Enchantments. It was exactly what she was looking for. A well-rounded spell that broke any enchantment.

  She read to herself quietly.

  Breaking Enchantments

  This spell can be performed to break any enchantment by any caster. With the correct combination of ingredients listed below, the right purpose and correct space, any enchantment can be reversed. This spell is particularly useful for breaking curses and hexes.

  Ingredients Required:

  Rosemary

  Garlic

  Fennel

  Chamomile

  Mint

  Crush a handful of each ingredient together in a bowl made from wood and repeat the spell below. Once completed, light the ingredients on fire and allow the smoke to rise to the clear skies.

  For maximum results complete this spell near or in the place the original enchantment, curse or hex was performed.

  Amari read through the words of the spell quickly and it was easy enough to say, although it sounded like a silly rhyme out of a children's book to her. She was confident she could do it.

  She then looked at the page she had torn from the book and inspected it carefully. There was no spell to say, but it had a list of things you could do to ward off spirits or other casters so that you could cast in peace. The ingredients were Juniper, Mugwort, Fennel, and Sage. If she had read this a few weeks ago she would have thought it a load of nonsense, but having seen what she had seen, she knew it would work.

  Shutting Raven’s book, she pushed it to the end of her bed. She stretched her legs out and glanced around her room sleepily. She would have to get everything she needed for the spell and for warding off Raven, but she couldn’t go anywhere until her parents were awake. Amari was a bit worried about falling asleep, in case Raven tried to attack her again, but she could barely keep her eyes open. She curled up in a tight ball in her bed and closed her eyes, falling asleep quickly.

  When Amari woke up a few hours later her bedroom was bright from the sunlight filtering in through the window. She sat up and stretched, still exhausted from the last two days. Glancing at her bedside clock, she realised she had been asleep for three hours solid. It felt like she hadn’t slept at all.

  Getting up, she picked out her clothes for the day, deciding on something comfortable and easy to move around in. The baggy tracksuit pants and shirt were loose enough to be comfortable and, if needed, she would be able to run away without getting snagged on anything. She wanted to be prepared for any eventuality.

  She took the clothes downstairs to the bathroom, greeting her parents cheerfully as she passed their bedroom along her way. Jono and Sashqua greeted her back as she shut the door to the bathroom.

  Once showered and dressed, without incident, Amari headed downstairs to breakfast. Sashqua was seated at the table busy with her knitting between eating her toast and sipping her coffee. Jono wasn’t anywhere to be found and his place was not set, so she assu
med, correctly, that he had already left to start working on his lands. Her spirit lifted, like her whole being was ballooning with hope now that she had found a way to free Kiara.

  She started buttering a slice of toast for herself, glancing at her mother fondly.

  Sashqua looked up at one point. “Something up, kid?” she teased playfully, setting her knitting down to pay closer attention to her breakfast.

  Amari shook her head. “Not at all, mom, I’m just really happy that, you know, you and dad are my parents.”

  Sashqua raised an eyebrow as she buttered another slice of toast for herself. “What do you want?” There was a trace of humour in Sashqua’s voice.

  Amari pouted. “Can’t a daughter pay her parents a compliment without wanting something?”

  Sashqua smiled. “Of course a daughter can, I just know our daughter rarely does that, if ever.”

  Amari laughed. After everything that had happened over the last while, she felt so close to the end of all the fear and anxiety that she was happy, hopeful.

  Sashqua studied her daughter. “You look … different.”

  “How?” Amari asked.

  Her mother shrugged and stood, picking up her plate. “I don’t know, happier, I guess? You have this excitement in your eyes.”

  Amari grinned as she finished her toast. “Mom, when are you going into town?”

  She took her plate to the sink, rinsing it off once Sashqua was done with hers. Sashqua went back to the table with a cloth and started to wipe it down.

  “Oh, I don’t know, honey, maybe we’ll go tomorrow. Why? You’ve never wanted to go into the town before. If I remember correctly, it was too dingy and boring for your tastes.”

  “Yeah, it’s not a great town or anything, but I wanted to give it a try. Is there like a nursery there?”

  Sashqua looked at her curiously. “Like a school?”

  Her daughter giggled. “No, as in plants. I’m more interested in herbs and stuff.”

  “Ah, I see. So you want to go to town with your amazing parents and go get some herbs and stuff?” Sashqua inclined her head. “Okay, if you want to start your own little herb garden, why not? I just hope this hopeful happy version of my child lasts.”

  Amari grinned and said, “Oh, you have no idea, mom. Everything is just … great. I think I’m going to go up and study for a bit before I head out to help dad.”

  She left the kitchen, not noticing how her mother stared after her with a smile.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Amari slept right through the night. The last few days’ lack of sleep really caught up with her, so she wasn’t surprised that she slept through the destruction of her room - no doubt another attempt from Raven to deter her resolve. She didn’t even bat an eyelid as she picked up her bits and bobs and put them back in place. Raven became more destructive the closer Amari came to releasing Kiara.

  She jumped when her closet door slammed open after she closed it. She didn’t think Raven could truly hurt her or she would have already. It still unnerved her though. She shut the door and locked it, staring at it for a moment as though daring it to open. When it didn’t, she moved to clear up her desk. Once done, she turned around to find her closet door open again and she sighed, giving up and going downstairs for breakfast.

  Sashqua was already eating when Amari joined her. Jono was nowhere to be seen again, so she asked, “Dad go out early again?’

  Her mother smiled. “You have to admire his dedication to this whole thing.”

  “I think it’s nice, I can’t wait until we have our first harvest.”

  “I didn’t actually think you cared?” Her mother passed her a bowl and the cereal from her side of the table. “I didn’t even think you noticed.”

  Amari smiled brightly at her mother as she prepared her cereal. “I have and of course I care. I just needed time to adjust to … everything.”

  She started to eat immediately, suddenly feeling like she was starving. She set her spoon down and reached for a glass to pour some juice. Sashqua was busy reading a recipe book and wasn’t paying any attention to her or what she was doing.

  Amari sat back with her glass of orange juice to find her bowl empty and her spoon missing. When she looked around the table she found her spoon in the jug of juice. She picked up another spoon and fished the original one out. She sighed and Sashqua looked up.

  “Finished already?” she asked.

  Amari shook her head. “No, I’m still hungry; can I have a little more?”

  She didn’t think she could find a way to explain to her mother how her cereal had suddenly disappeared. When Sashqua nodded, she prepared another bowl of cereal and settled back to eat. She was halfway through this bowl when the front door, and the windows in the living room and the kitchen, slammed open with such force that it sounded like a few of them shattered.

  Both Amari and Sashqua screamed and jumped at the sudden noise. Sashqua got up and quickly went about shutting the door and windows.

  “Amari,” she called. “Please can you get the broom and pan, let’s clean this up. That was some gust of wind.”

  With no other way to explain it to her mother, she simply got up and got what her mom needed. They cleared the glass up and once done her mom went to the kitchen and fetched some garbage bags and duct tape. Carefully they covered the three broken windows, taping them shut to keep the wind out.

  After they had completed the last one, Sashqua muttered, “I guess that will have to do.”

  She took the stuff back to the kitchen with Amari following close behind. While her mother washed the dishes Amari leaned against the wall. “So are we still going to town today, mom?” she asked.

  Sashqua smiled. “Yes, love.”

  All colour drained from Amari’s face. The sink where her mother washed the dishes was right in front of a window overlooking the land. Raven was out there staring at her mother through the window. Amari shivered, Raven looked scarier than before. Her hair was blowing up and around, like when you hang upside down on the monkey bars during a storm, only she was upright. Sashqua didn’t seem to notice the ominous figure in the lacy black dress, full black eyes and crazy hair right outside the window.

  Sashqua glanced at her daughter and frowned. “Are you okay? You look a little peaky.” She noticed that Amari was staring out the window and looked out as well. “What are you looking at, baby?”

  Amari glared at Raven, who was staring unblinkingly at her, and then glanced at her mother. “You don’t see it?”

  Sashqua frowned and leaned against the sink, her face almost pressed against the window, a mere few inches from where Raven’s face was.

  Amari swallowed hard, wanting to get her mother away. “It was a giant rat, mom,” she commented quickly, making Sashqua recoil.

  “Oh, that’s disgusting.”

  Amari pursed her lips and nodded. “Sorry, mom, why don’t we get going?”

  Her mother grimaced. “Joys of living on a farm, I guess.” She wiped her hands on a cloth and headed out the kitchen.

  Amari moved to follow her, glancing back once to see that Raven was no longer there. She let out the breath she didn’t realise she had been holding in, the initial fear she felt quickly replaced with anger. Raven could attack her all she wanted, but it wasn’t fair that she would threaten her mother. That was what Raven had meant by appearing by the kitchen window like that.

  Sashqua got her handbag and they both left the house and walked towards the car. Sashqua called out to Jono that they were leaving and he waved them off.

  Amari climbed into the passenger seat and strapped in. “I’m so excited to see what they have. I have made a list of herbs I’d really like to get, please.”

  Sashqua strapped herself in as well. “I’m glad you’re taking such an interest in growing things, it’s going to turn out great, honey; I just know it is.”

  Smiling, Amari looked out the window. She caught sight of her father in the side mirror of the car and gasped, seeing a dark fi
gure standing just behind him.

  Sashqua looked at her. “Forget something?”

  Amari spun around in her seat to look back at her father and saw that he was alone, so she shook her head. “No, mom, sorry, I thought I … I thought I saw that rat again.”

  “I didn’t realise that rats bothered you so much.”

  Amari shivered and said, “They do, remember that one from when we first moved in?”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, I guess I get that …”

  As they passed the boundary wall Amari saw that Maggie was sitting there, kicking her legs as usual.

  Once they were on the road, most of Amari’s fear melted away. It was refreshing to finally be away from the farm for a bit and she briefly wondered why she hadn’t gone into town with her mother before.

  They drove for about an hour before she saw the dusty buildings that indicated the start of the small town closest to their house. She leaned forward slightly, not noticing the smile on Sashqua’s face. Amari looked around and, although it was as small as she imagined, it felt a little magical after being cooped up so long.

  They passed a grocery store and then a hardware place, and what looked like a clothing shop, with smaller stores and houses in between the bigger ones. On the sidewalk there were stalls, mostly farmers, set up for the day. The stalls seemed to be run by women, the wives and daughters Amari assumed, and everyone seemed happy and contented.

  Amari briefly thought about doing this for their first harvest, coming into town with her mom and setting up a little store. She and her mother could make friends with the other wives, trade stories and wares, and maybe during planting season she could travel around a bit. She never thought she would be easy with this sort of simplicity, but Amari felt like she was finally starting to find what she wanted to do.