Haunted

by Sammantha Lewis

  "it was lonely... I was pretty normal until I was 13. I was living with an elderly couple who wanted to adopt me, but then when my powers came in all of a sudden- I lost control and-" I had never told the story out loud before... and saying the words were proving to be difficult .

  "i hurt someone, Ash- so they sent me away." When I finally did... I felt the tears form and threaten to spill over. I quickly wiped my eyes and looked over at Ash. The look of shock on her face would haunt me.

  "Your foster mom... the one who died? I though she dies of a heart attack." She asked me, wanting to here a more direct answer. Yet my silence said it all as it resonated with her.

  "For the next two years I was I shuffled around. each one ending the same. they always though I was a freak, dangerous, one family thought I was possessed." When I was finally done telling her my story, I wrung my hands nervously, waiting for her to say something. But she never did.

  "I'm not meant to be normal, am I?" I asked her. She was silent for a longtime.

  "All I can tell you is, your meant to be so much more then a face in the crowd."

  "But after everything, that's all I really wanted." I said in a whisper. The tears were over flowing now, but no matter how much I wiped them away there always seamed to be more.

  "Is it really? Do you really want to be invisible? Unnoticed? How is that any better? Maybe being normal isn't what you really need." She slowly looked up at me. her brown eyes boring into me with so many emotions. Then she wrapped her arms around me and brought me towards her chest. I clung onto her shirt and just cried.

  "Avery, I know you feel hurt, alone, unloved, and have been constantly abandoned. But you don't have to any more.You wont be abandonment anymore. I know it's not conventional, and until a few days ago, you didn't think it was possible, but Jericho wants to love you unconditionally. You have friends and an entire family who will do nothing else but be there for you. we will never leave you because we're tied to together by something far more stronger then emotions. So no more. No more being alone." She rubbed my head and tried to sooth me. Her words shook me to core., and in that moment I realized I wasn't so alone anymore.

  "I don't know anything. I don't know what's fiction and what's not. I don't know if my powers are a blessing or a curse. I just hate not knowing anything any more. just want to be human. that's all. I just want to far far away. I feel like I might shatter any minuet." Between the sobs the words were hard to get out. Almost as if they wanted to stay hidden. Yet when I did say them, I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

  "You're so much more. you're so important, and you can't even see it. I know it's hard burden, and I don't know how you can do it on your own, but you don't have to now. Avery, sometimes it's good to go into the unknown." She brought me tighter into her embrace.

  "Okay." I said. I was final willing to leg go.

  Into the Veil

  ASHLIN

  I walked into my room caring a basket of laundry. As I set it down on the bed I started to fold it.

  "ashlin...." I felt a chill in the room and everything went silent. I watched as the light flickered on and off. I could feel a presence behind me, but I was to afraid to look. I looked over at the mirror and say that there was no one behind me. I looked over me shoulder."

  "Jesus Christ!" I screamed out and fell onto the pile of laundry on the bed, and clutched me chest. There I saw the faint figure of a young girl. She was barely there, and was struggling to manifest her self. She looked tired and desperate, and that was when I recognized her.

  "Angela?" I said in disbelief. I watched as she tried to speak, but no sound came out. She was flailing her hands around in frustration, but to no avail could I hear her. My eyes flickered to my bookshelf filled with my mother's tomes and I had an idea- a stupid one, but it would work.

  I Walked over to the shelf and took out the deep purple tome, encrusted with jewels. It was my mothers research on the paranormal, and spells and rituals dealing with spirits. I had never practiced any of the spells before, because this tome dealt with dark magic.

  From what I understood the world of the spirits and living were separated by a thin veil, and people like Avery had the ability to break it. As I looked over at Angela's panicked specter, I knew what spell I needed.

  I opened the book and found the spell with the "Broken Veil" ritual. It would allow me to pass to the other side of the veil for a brief amount of time. However if I failed to return to my body I'd be stuck in the world of the spirits. I knew the risks, but I also knew I needed to take it. following the spell I put my crystals in an ellipsis a I took the herbs needed and crushed them in a mortar. Pouring the elixir into a glass dish, I lit a candle and heated it slowly. I watched as the yellow substance bubbled and turn black.

  I placed the dish on the ground and took the salt, and sprinkled it around me as I said the chant.

  "Knasha Ver akamura Eno va tulla backyin, Ina ver Kusha ala Ahmid vore ... Ispania." I then lifted the elixir and drank it, trying not to wince at the bitter taist. I watched the Candel blow out and I looked at Angela with wide eyes. I let out a gasp as I felt my soul leave my body.

  I looked down at my body, still and unmoving. Not even the flutter from my lungs could be seen. I looked over at Angela, who was as shocked as I was. I saw the veil, it was a wave of purple light that stood between me and Angela, rippling and flowing on it's one accord. I took a step forwards and reached out my hand.

  When I reached the other side of the veil, I felt weightless, my wild hair floated in all directions and my clothes rippled around me as if I was under water. I looked at Angela with a wide smile and hugged her tightly.

  "I've missed you so much." I whispered. Because I was in the same realm as her, I could touch her, smell her, and hear her as if she was still alive, and I was over joyed. Growing up, Angela was like my big sister. A big sister that lost her life far too soon. It had been four long years, and I was finally able to hold her again.

  "You're so tall now!" She said as she smiled, and ruffled my hair.

  "But you're hair is as curly as ever." She said in a teasing voice.

  "I've missed you too, but I need you're help." she said as she pulled back . I nodded my head and took a step back.

  "Anything." I told her.

  "Avery she-"

  "Rejected Jericho? I know."

  "Yes, and that can't happen, I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't listen. Avery is extremely important, her duty is to help us spirits move on, she's our bridge. If she leaves, then we'll have to find someone else with a similar capability, that could take a week, a month, years even! And in that time, souls will become restless because they can't move on. Even worse they might- " She cut her self off as a sob escaped.

  "They might actually win this time." She whispered to her self. The word They echoed in my mind.

  "Who? Do you mean the black water pack?" I asked her. Yet I highly doubted she was referring to Marvick and his pack. Marvick might have been a nuisance, but for him to conniving enough to cause concern... it sounded ridiculous.

  "No- I can't tell you- I really can't. If I did it would change things terribly. .... All I can say is there's someone malignant at work. Jericho is going to need her as much as she'll need him. I can't tell you- I really can't- but a chain of events is going to happen. If she rejects him - what will happen will be terrible... and I can't let it happen to her- or any of you. So please, help me. " Her voice was heart breaking to listen to.

  "Alright, what can I do?"

  "She didn't listen to me, so just talk some sense into her. I know she wants a normal life, but she's to crucial, and her abilities are getting stronger every new moon. So just comfort her, help her accept things as they are." She then buried her face in her hands and let out another sob. I took a step towards her and reached out to comfort her, but the shied away from my hand and shook her head.

  "I tried to tell she didn't have a choice, but it only angered her- I approached it completely wrong- but yo
u and her are similar so maybe she'll listen to someone who's empathetic. " She said in a shaking voice. I was silent for a long time... deep in my thoughts. I milled everything around in my mind. With out hesitating I wrapped my arms around her and brought her towards me in a tight embrace.

  "I understand... I'll talk to her tomorrow I promise. I need to go though- before the spell wears off." I then released her from my grasp and walked over to the veil. Before I passed through it, I looked back at Angela.

  "Thank you." She said in a small voice, I then returned it with a small smile, and disappeared into the veil.

  When I re entered my body, I state up, gasping for air. I rolled over onto my side coughing, unable to take in enough oxygen to stop my lungs from burning.

  I looked over at the closet, and let out a sigh when I saw she had vanished. I stood there in shock as what just happened settled in and her words echoed in my mind.

  someone Malignant at work...

  Oh my god- Jericho! I turned to run out of my room but be for I even could make it to the door Allan walked in. It didn't take him very long to notice how frantic I was. There was no doubte in my mind he could hear my hammering heart. His perfect chocolate eyes narrowed at me as he studied me intently.

  "Why do I have this feeling you just did something you shouldn't have." he tried to peer over his sholder, but I blocked his view. He noticed this and took a step forward trying to get around me.

  In a panic I threw my self at him and wrapped my arms around him.

  "What are-" But before her could say anything I crashed my lips against his, catching him off guard. He let out a growl and wrapped his arms around my waist and melted into the kiss. As he passionately kissed me, and fought for dominance, I shifted us back towards the bed. I then kicked the grimier under the bed. I fell back onto the bed and pulled him down with me. He rotated me on top of him never breaking our sensual kiss. I then broke away and bit his earlobe.

  "Sen vaniaj" I whispered into his ear, and watched him slip into a deep sleep. I hopped off the bed, knowing he was going to be furious with me. I groaned and dragged my hand down my face,

  I just used a sleep hex on my great... Perfect!

  Walking over to the other side of the bed, I cleaned up the ritual circle and poured the left over elixir into a vial and placed it on my dresser.

  * * *

  After School the next day I walked into my room fuming mad. I felt relieved Avery had complied, but Allan's questions were starting to agitate me. He was always like this. I tried not to be mad but it was difficult to stay leave headed with him. If it was up to him he'd make me give up the craft all together. He never said it but I could see it in his eyes- he knew what happened to my mom- and he was scared the same thing would happen to me.

  Slamming the door shut, making the walls rattle, I let out a scream of frustration.

  "Dammit all!" I shouted as I swung my fist and knocked a stack of books off my desk. I trusted Allan.... I loved him so damb much it hurt... but there were things I couldn't tell him. There were things about my mothers death that would keep me up at night. For a witch like her to be killed by her own spell... It didn't make much sense. But if I expressed this to him I knew that it would just reaffirm his fears. He'd tell me to stop searching for answers. He'd tell me to stop practicing the craft. But I couldn't- it as much as part of me as his wolf is to him.

  I felt a presence in the room and with out even turning around I knew it was her. walking over to my dresser, I picked up the small vial and brought it to my lips.

  I did what Angela needed me to, now I might finally get my answers.

  I felt the familiar rush as I left my body as I passed through the veil. I came face to face with Angela. Neither of us said a word, we simply held each others gaze and shared a moment of understanding.

  "I can't thank you enough." She said.

  "Now I need your help." I told her. She gave a curt nod.

  "Anything."

  "My mom died a while ago, A spell went wrong and she died of an illness. But the thing is non of it makes sense. It was her own spell- she created it- so it doesn't make sense for it to poison her that badly- and nothing we tried help. "

  "So why do you need me?"

  "Because I think she was cursed... Angela, I need to see my mom." I told her. Her face fell slightly at my words.

  "Ashlin... I'm not sure I can. She might have moved on already. To find one wondering spirit- even if they were powerful- It's difficult. It takes time." She said as she turned to leave, but I ran after her before she could vanish and grabbed her wrist.

  "Please... I'm begging you. I'm scarred- every since she died, I've been having these terrible. If someone did curse her I'm worried they could come after me. If I die Allan dies! So please help me." I begged her, letting all my fears show. Her eyes softened and she was quite. She looked back over her shoulder, as if looking for something, and let out a sigh.

  "Okay... fine... fine I'll help." She said as her sympathetic eyes bore into me.

  I felt relief wash over me, thinking I would finally have the clarity I sought. Then the tears overflowed, as I felt as if a wieght had been lifted off my shoulders. Never in my life had I felt such ovewhleming releief.

  " Thank you." I said as I ran to her and wrapped her in my arms.

  My moment of peace was short lived though. Angela asked me to tell her everything I knew about my mom- anything that would help her find her. the words flowedout of me andI told her everything. Her favorite places, favorite childhood memory, where she grew up,where she died- and where she was barried. Itold her how she ided- I rememed it like it was yesterday. I was still struggling to accept that it all happed almost two years ago. Yet talking to Angela, and talking about her and remembering her- instead of trying desperately to forget her- that helped me more than any therapy session.

  When I finally finished telling her everything I could, I hugged her one last time and turned to leave. As I walked towards the veil, I couldn't stop the smile pulling at my lips. It felt strange. It felt surreal. That was the first time that I felt my grief dissipate- just a little- and the memories of my mother were finally becoming beautiful memories. For the first time in a long time I had hope.

  Yet when I tried to pass through the veil something felt wronged. The veil stretched with my hand, but never let me pierce it. It snapped back into place like a sheet of gelatin. I looked over and my body, still unmoving. Then the panic settled in.

  I took to long...

  I was trapped with the spirits- unable to get back- and sure how too. I cursed under my breath and gripped my hair, trying to think of any spell that could help.

  But nothing came to mind. My mom- hell even my dad- would know... but no matter how much I tried to denied it... I wasn't her. My abilities as a witch couldn't even hold a candle to hers.

  "Angela!" I franticly shouted. My voice was hoarse with hysteria and sheer fear. With in a heart beat she appeared next to me and tried to coax me into a calmer state. She repevily asked me what was wrong, but the shock was still settling in- making it hard to talk.

  "I- I can't get back- I'm trapped!"

  * * *

  AVERY

  It wasn't long until I found the days pass by. I found my self alone and simply drifting through my daily life in a daze. I would wake up, go to school, work at the bookstore, and go to sleep only to repeat the same thing. I had returned to my life before Jericho came crashing into my life. I never realized how alone I was before, but with Angela's absence, I was even more alone then before.

  After talking to Ashlin, that night I called Jericho, but he didn't answer. I texted him, but he didn't reply. Then I didn't see him at school. The truth was I didn't see any of them at school, it was like they had all vanished. It's been almost two weeks and no sign of any of them.

  I shifted down the hall and towards my locker so I could head home, but then I saw him. I saw him coming towards me, shoving people out of the way. Jericho's gazed was strained on
me as if I was the only thing he saw. That was when I started running towards him. I collided into him and wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his chest. I realized in that moment how much I had missed him.

  He engulfed me in arms and brought me tightly to chest, until there was no room between. I closed my eyes and finally released the breath I had been holding in for the past week. Then I felt him burry his face in my hair and breath in. I smiled widely felt my face heat up, and was thankful he couldn't see it right now. We stayed like that for what seamed like forever, standing in the middle of the hallway, oblivious to the others around us.

  I finally broke a way, and looked up at him in a panic, with the sudden urge to tell him everything.

  "Jericho I'm s-" But before I could say a single word he cut me off.

  "That's fine. Just get in the car for now, I can explain the rest on the way." He said as he walked around to the other side. The frustration was clearly visible on his face. He racked his hands through his hair right before he opened the door of the car and slide in.

  I didn't say a word as he started the car. I simply waited with a bated breath, waiting for him the brief me.

  "I don't know why, but Ash started meddling with one of her mom's old tomes- we should have burned that book a long time ago. Anyway here-" He started to talk, but cut himself off when he reached back into the back seat and picked up a large book and handed it to me. He spoke as I examined it. The book was this- easily 500 pages or more. It was bound in in a dark velvety leather, and encrusted with glistening gemstones. I was careful when I opened the large tome to where a marker had been placed. The pages were yellowed and frayed,but I noticed that it was handwritten.

  I Dragged My hand over the elegant writing and found myself being sucked into a world of my own. In the vision I could see the author. She had flaxen colored hair that fell in wild ringlets that she had pulled back. I could see her eyes vividly, they were warm like honey with flakes of green and blue, they seemed as vast and endless as the ocean, and lost in thought. But it was her eyes who told me who the authore was- it was ashlin's mother. But just as quickly as the vision came, it ended.