by D.L. Miles
Chapter 21
I stood, yet again, on Yamuna’s front steps. I felt like I was always there, and being there gave me such a dark feeling. The guilt I felt over hurting Violet’s feelings wasn’t helping me either. I was a little glad she had left, though she didn’t take the uncomfortable tension with her. At first I had thought she was leaving because she couldn’t stand the sight of me, but she had received a phone call prior to arriving at Yamuna’s; it was clear that whatever the person wanted, it was more important than finding the killer.
She had given me the blood, barely saying two words to me and sped off down the street to an unknown destination. The blood was in my hand now and all I had to do was knock on her door and she would show me how to do the spell. Simple, oh so…simple. I sighed and lifted my hand to knock.
“Wait!” called a voice from behind me. I turned to see Dr. Wineman rushing in my direction, with Luke just behind him. He pulled me down the stairs by the wrist. “You can’t have her do the spell!”
Luke stood behind the doctor, his eyes serious but not exactly agreeable.
“She wasn’t going to do the spell,” I said, pulling out of his grip gently. “I was.” He didn’t seem to like that.
“But you’re not a witch,” he said, as if that would matter, “you’re not even Eidolon; you can’t do magic.”
Oh. I didn’t say anything, understanding what he meant.
Only Eidolon’s could do magic then? So why did Yamuna say I would have to do the spell? Old questions that I had long forgotten bubbled to the surface of my mind when the door behind me creaked open and we all faced the witch in her home.
“Did you get the blood?” she asked, not caring about Dr. Wineman or Luke. The doctor pulled me further away and spoke to me in a whisper.
“You don’t want to have her do this,” he told me, “she has a…history of betrayals.”
“Liv,” Luke came into the conversation, replacing the doctors hand with his own, “I know you don’t like leaving things alone, and I know you’re just trying to help in your own way…but if he says it’s too dangerous for you to do it, then don’t.” His eyes pleaded to me.
“If I can’t do it alone, then why don’t you help me,” I said to him, holding back my tone, “and how do you know that this thing is so innocent? How do you know we’re wrong about it?” I turned to the doctor and waited for a response. He seemed to be at a loss for words.
“You have to trust me,” he said, “you just have to trust me.” I shook my head, resisting a bitter laugh.
“No,” I said and tore my arm from Luke’s grip, something I had never done before with such seriousness, “I won’t let any more women die like Charlie did. I won’t let there be any more victims even if I have to kill this thing myself.”
“Tick tock,” Yamuna chimed from her porch, waving her fingers to the beat in her head. I turned and walked up the steps to the witch, showing the blood to her with an open palm. “You know I could do the spell for you.”
“I thought you didn’t want to,” I asked, confused. “You said it was too dangerous.”
A smile spread across the witches face, her white teeth showing through; with an expression so sinister I felt she needed fangs. She had wanted me to ask her to do the spell. She had planned all of this to happen.
“It comes at a price,” she said, plucking the vial from my hand. “But you can afford it.”
“Do not make a deal with her, Liv,” Dr. Wineman stepped forward, to the edge of the steps. He tried to move closer but couldn’t, an invisible barrier keeping him out. “Whatever you do, do not make a deal.”
Yamuna laughed. “I’ve learned a few things about fences, Dick,” the witch said, “and I might not be able to get out, but I certainly can control who comes in.” She touched the vial of blood to her cheek, pride flowing off of her for being able to keep him out.
“Except for Jared,” the doctor said, and Yamuna grimaced.
“Well,” she began, “exception that proves the rule, I suppose. Come inside, we’ll talk.”
She glided into her prison, and I stopped myself from looking back at Luke clenching at my sweaters sleeves. This wasn’t just about him anymore; it wasn’t just about proving his innocence. With a deep breath I stepped across the threshold, making my decision in that very moment about making a deal with a witch.
Yamuna was in her kitchen, lining up all the ingredients on the round table; the mermaid’s scale, the pixie’s dust, dragon’s venom and finally, the blood of the most recent victim. All of our hard work was set out for me to see and could fit into the palm of my hand.
“Where’s Jared?” I asked, my mouth feeling dry. I knew I was avoiding the topic at hand, and that I didn’t have any time to waste, but I still wanted to know. I still wanted to stall.
“Oh, Violet took him away,” Yamuna said waving her hand at me, “as lovely a lawn ornament he made, he was an eyesore to the neighbours.”
I imagined the entire house was an eyesore to the neighbours, but it was rather isolated for anyone to care. The nearest houses looked exactly the same as hers.
Yamuna continued, “You can ask your little friend out there, I believe he sent my girl on a mission to get the cure.”
“Your girl?”
“Violet and I made a deal,” Yamuna said, sitting down, “like the one we’re about to make.”
“What kind of deal?” I asked, not even sure which one I was talking about; mine, or Violet’s.
“I do the spell, summon the creature from the Shade,” she waved her hand in a circle, “and you give me eternal servitude.” Oh, was that all?
“Eternal? As in forever?” I stayed at a safe distance a few feet away, though I knew it wasn’t going to help much. She was probably capable of killing me with just a look.
“Just until you die,” Yamuna giggled. “It’s not so bad, Violet made the same deal after all.” She leaned towards me in her seat when I began to hear Dr. Wineman speaking to Luke through the open door.
“What are you talking about?” Luke asked the doctor.
“You have to go inside,” he told Luke, “she can’t make the deal. I’ll do the spell; just get her out of there! I can’t go in, but you can.” Yamuna flicked her wrist towards me and the front door slammed shut.
“Pay no attention to the purebloods,” she smiled, “just say yes, and it’s done.”
“If I refuse?” I gripped my phone in my pocket, as if it would actually help me.
“If you refuse then that’s your choice,” she rested against the back of the chair, attempting to mask her eagerness. “But you’ll have to figure things out on your own. So just say ‘yes’.”
“You said you would show me,” I pointed a finger at her, taking note of the difference while I could hear Luke trying to open the door. Yamuna leaned on the table, eyeing me.
“Liv come outside! Richard will do the spell!” he called and banged on the door. I had never heard the doctor’s first name before, but I knew that must be it. They had gotten close while I was away…
“Things change,” Yamuna shrugged and crossed her legs, triumphant. I could see now this was her idea ever since she told Jared I needed to be around; this was why she never gave him a choice. What I couldn’t understand was why me. Why would my specific “eternal servitude” benefit her?
Getting someone like Violet to make a deal made sense to me, Violet had skills. What did I have? I couldn’t think of a single thing and that made me feel a little worse than I already did.
“If I refuse, do I get to keep the ingredients?” I pointed at the table. The witch rolled her eyes and walked over to the stove in a fluid motion. She poured steaming water into a cup and stirred it as she turned to me.
“You collected them, do what you want with them.” Not asking anymore questions I scooped up the magical supplies and hurried to the door while Luke continued to call my name. Yamuna stopped me at the doorwa
y to the hall, appearing next to me in an instant and lifted my hands into hers. “Interesting…”
“W-What?” I asked, watching her eyes turn black as she stared upwards. Yamuna smiled again, just like before.
“You may want to hurry,” she warned, “your time is running out.” She didn’t need to say anything else to quicken my pace out of the house.
I tried best I could to not drop anything when I reached for the door handle. When I opened it Luke came running at me, prepared to smash the door down. He scraped his feet on the wooden floor before he slammed into a barrier in the threshold. Luke fell backwards and Yamuna chuckled as she stepped around the corner with a cup of tea.
“Luke…” I said, helping him to his feet.
“I lowered the fence for a moment, just for that moment,” she looked down into her tea thoughtfully and laughed. For a witch, she was fast.
“Splendid,” I handed Luke the pixie’s dust and blood, keeping the venom and scale to hold myself. Pulling him to his feet we walked down the steps to Dr. Wineman, who held his hands out to both of us. Once we reached him he breathed a sigh of relief, for reasons I was only beginning to understand.
“Good, good,” he said, “come on, I’ll take you home.” The crickets chirped around us, something I hadn’t heard in what felt like a lifetime. We walked the pathway back to his car and once we were safely inside I risked a glimpse backwards.
Yamuna wiggled her fingers at us, or more at me, to say goodbye. I had a feeling that her invitation to make a deal was always on the table, should the need arise. I hoped that need would never come up as it had for Violet. What did Violet want so badly from Yamuna, that she would offer eternal servitude to the witch?
“Jared,” I mumbled. He was the only thing I could think of that would make someone as headstrong as Violet sell her freedom for.
“Don’t worry about him,” Dr. Wineman said starting his car, “I called Violet earlier and she’s getting the cure for him.” He pulled away quickly and Violet’s haste made a lot more sense, and it was appropriate. I almost wanted to join her in her search for the cure.
“You’ll do the spell?” I asked from the passenger seat. Luke remained silent in the back and the doctor continued to drive. “You said you would.”
“I will,” he said, “but we do things my way.” He wagged a finger at me, something that seemed to be happening a lot. “You will do what I say.” I nodded, knowing it was either that or serve a witch for the rest of my life.
It was two in the morning and we still hadn’t performed the spell. I sat on my living room couch with Luke and… Richard with no action. Doing nothing was starting to take its toll on my body; I was finally beginning to realize how truly tired I was.
“Why aren’t we doing anything?” I said, standing in frustration and hoping to rid myself of my fatigue. “There could be more deaths while we just sit here waiting on…on what?” I brushed my hair backwards and then looked at my hand. It really was no wonder Jared did that so often.
“Well I’m waiting for the sleeping pill to take effect,” Richard said, crossing his legs. “Then we can talk in the morning, when you’ve actually had a full night’s sleep.” He took a sip of the tea he had made and I stared at my own cup.
After we had gotten home he had kindly offered to make us some tea and I didn’t think anything of it. As if knowing what he had done triggered effect of the drug I felt even wearier than I had before.
“Why…” I groaned and Luke seated me down onto our chair.
“You’ll feel better,” he told me, “you haven’t slept since this started.”
“But if we don’t hurry…someone might die,” I pleaded to Luke, hoping to get the message across. He sat down next to me in the chair, lifting me slightly into his lap like my father used to do when I was a child. As comforting as it was, I didn’t like it; it felt wrong for some reason. Luke didn’t feel like himself to me anymore.
Luke said something to me, but I couldn’t quite hear him. My eyes were closed and I was falling asleep. My dreams that night were filled with running through a forest, running from a clicking noise behind me but whenever I looked back all I could see was black.