by Celia Crown
The doctor had wanted to test something out, and her magic made her hand turn green when she edged toward Jesse. She wasn’t able to touch him because Charlotte’s head had snapped towards the door, and the color in her eyes changed.
It was a brief moment, but the temperature turns frigid, white puffy air comes from our mouths, and the long lines of black cracks form on the doctor’s hand. It’s a defensive reaction, and Charlotte had felt that Jesse was in trouble, so she acted in a way that she thought was appropriate.
“Shit,” Jesse breathes in shock, “Your arm, doctor…”
“I’m alright,” she said, exanimating the black lines. “The fact that her magic can go through the anti-magic room…”
For someone who just got attacked by magic, she is oddly calm when she can’t heal the wound with her healing magic. She hums and touches the lines to see the extent of her injuries. I can feel the phantom pain in my hand.
I still remember the first time I felt it. It was a dry burn that scorched the skin to the point where I couldn’t tolerate the pain. I thought my hand was going to be useless forever at that moment, but all I could do was think about helping Charlotte out of her trance.
“You have it too,” the doctor points to my hand, “This isn’t the first time she did this.”
“No.” I shake my head.
“When did it start?” She asks.
I glance at Jesse, and to Charlotte, who has the deeper color back to her eyes. She looks confused and concerned. Other than that, she hasn’t moved at all. Her dainty, little feet still dangle in the air, and she swings her head to the other side to look at the wall.
“It was nighttime. I don’t know how it started. I felt the notion of black magic, and when I came out of the room, she was in the middle of a trance, and I couldn’t get her out of it. It was when I touched her that I got these.” I lift my hand up to show the doctor.
“It’s not as severe as mine,” she nonchalantly glances at hers, “She either doesn’t see you as a threat or the manifestation is not fully there yet.”
Jesse’s head jerks back. He spins around and furrows his eyebrows. “Manifestation?”
The doctor cocks an eyebrow, “Did you see anything else?”
I try to think back and find any minute details that I missed, but I couldn’t think of anything. I was too focused on the fact that Charlotte was not herself, and I needed to get her back without hurting her.
“I didn’t think anything of it at first,” Jesse slowly comes out of his thoughts, “The first time it happened, I saw thorns.”
My eyebrows curl in confusion as I occasionally make sure Charlotte isn’t going into her thoughts again. I need to go back inside before the voice starts acting up again. I promised that I would be back quick, and this is taking longer than I expected.
“Tell me about them,” the doctor rolls down her sleeve, “Where were they?”
Jesse said, “They’re black like the lines on your arm. They weren’t too noticeable when I saw it. They were near her heart, just coming out of her shirt. It was gone the moment Charlotte snapped out of her trance.”
The witch nods along with Jesse’s information. I mentally beat myself up for missing this big piece of information. I wonder how I could have possibly missed something like that when I was right there with her. I’m trained to be on the battlefield, and my eyes have to identify everything to calculate the best tactical strategies in improvised situations.
The doctor nods and holds her chin in a thoughtful expression, “I see.”
“Do you know what’s wrong with her?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest to stop them from crushing the monitoring equipment around us.
“It’s a Black Dalilah.”
Jesse and I share a look before he speaks up, “Black Dalilah? The California murder in the late nineteen-forties?”
The doctor sighs, sparing Charlotte a glance before turning her attention to the monitor. There is no difference as I also looked at both to make sure that my eyes are tricking me into thinking she’s safe.
“Black Dalilah is a symbol of death. It’s rare for it to manifest and even rarer to see a witch with her struggles to be alive right now.”
“What do you mean by that!” Jesse shouts. His defensive level rises, and mine is reaching its peak.
“It’s a bud of darkness that blooms into veins, and a Black Dalilah grows. Corrupt magic starts from within, and it will continue to grow with the lack of connections and bonds.”
Charlotte doesn’t have lack of bonds, she has Jesse and I. We’re her everything, and she has gotten better at opening up to us. She’s doing better now.
“The voice is Death; it feeds off the darkness in her heart.” The doctor shifts her weight to her other foot.
“How do we get rid of it?” Jesse frantically asks, a crazed and desperate glint in his eyes.
“By understanding why she practiced black magic in the first place.”
Jesse growls, “She doesn’t do that. She knows better than that. Our parents fought and died for the rights for her to live in this world. She would never desecrate their hard work.”
The doctor abruptly stops her words and changes her tone to a deeper voice, “They died.”
“Yes, what’s that got to do with anything?” Jesse hisses; aggression rolls out of his shaking body.
The doctor crosses her arms, “You don’t know.”
“Know what?”
She takes no offense in his clipped tone, “Witches are an intimate species. We need relationships, family, foundation, connections— we need someone to continue to live.”
“It’s in books. I have read them.”
The tension in the room thickens, and I keep an eye on Charlotte just in case she feels the shift of the magic in the doctor. She might feel it as a threat to her brother.
“Then, you are blinder than I thought.”
“What is that supposed to me,” Jesse snaps, his nostrils flaring.
The woman continues her questioning, “Do you see your sister?”
I would be offended that she is asking these questions without giving us straight facts, but I wait until she is finished to get the whole story. I don’t want to add gasoline to the fire. I need the solution to help Charlotte as quickly as possible. Arguing with the doctor won’t help. It’ll only hinder the process.
“I see her all the time.”
There’s an emphasis in her words, “No, do you see her?” Jesse tries to calm down by clenching his jaw. My eyes sweep over his impatient frame. “What are you talking about? Say something that makes sense.”
The witch stops for a moment before saying, “If you do not see, then you are an unfit brother.”
He is standing in front of the doctor while I uncross my arms as my body gets ready to step in if it gets physical.
“Don’t fucking tell me what I am! Charlotte is my sister, and I am her brother; a stranger can’t say that I’m unfit! Everything I do is for her!”
“Does she know?” It’s a rhetorical question that makes the doctor snort, “Of course, she doesn’t. She wouldn’t be in her state right now if she knew you cared.”
“She knows I care. I don’t know what the hell you are yapping about,” he sneers.
“Your sister is dying.”
My shoulders lock, pulling on the taut muscles of my back as I freeze. Jesse is in complete shock as his jaw drops, sputtering incoherent things before he gets his mind back.
His hand shoots out and grips the white coat, “What— what the fuck did you say?”
The doctor knocks his hand away, brushing and smoothing down her coat. “As I have said, witches need connection and relationships. She has been in isolation for years; her body had deteriorated by the corrupt magic for far too long.”
“Do something! Go back in and save Letty. Don’t fucking stand here and talk!”
I should have seen this. I should have known. The moment I told the doctor about the years of solitary of Charlo
tte’s life, I should have picked up on the severity of my words. The military requires in-class sessions about witches, and bonds are a constant topic.
Fuck, this isn’t good. I pinch the bridge of my nose, closing my head to cease the migraine throbbing in my temple.
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not? You save witches all the time,” Jesse seethes, jerking his head back to look at his sister sitting there with her innocent glow.
I look over too.
God, she’s so beautiful. So young, so vulnerable.
The doctor states, “She can’t heal if no one reaches out to her.”
“Reach out?” I blink, waiting for her to respond to make sense of what she said.
“Form a bond.”
Jesse jumps in hastily, “She has a bond with me—”
“What you have and what you gave her is attachment. She still believes you are here for the sole purpose of completing your duty as a big brother,” the woman cruelly points out.
“Duty— why the fuck would she think that! We have been through so much. She knows that she is all I have, and I never stopped loving her!” Jesse screams, the vein on his forehead turns red.
“How do you know what she believes,” I comment plainly, I would get angry, but it won’t solve anything.
“Because,” the woman sighs, “Ms. Charlotte won’t be here if she believes otherwise.”
She waves her hand and takes a step back, “Look, I’m not interested in your reasoning. I only care about my fellow witch, so I will help you.”
I want to know every process of what’s going to happen from now on. I have been too oblivious to her pain, and I missed the biggest clue that could have saved her sooner.
Those fucking thorns. I haven’t seen them, but I already hate them.
“How do you plan on doing it?” I question, it’s more confrontational than I intended to.
The doctor sighs again, her eyes turn dim with tiredness in them. “There are no documented cases for the past several decades on something like this, but I do know the only case about Black Dalilah.”
“What do you have to do?” Jesse asks in a pitch lower.
“Black Dalilah infects the soul and body, I need to separate them to do the surgery,” she explains.
I swallow, my mouth feels dry as my feet want to drag me back into the room with Charlotte. She must be terrified in there by herself. I count down every second in my head to see when the voice would come back.
It’s already back. Her mouth is moving, and her body language is coming more agitated as she talks to herself.
“Tell me everything about Black Dalilah and the case of it,” I order her, and my status outranks her, and she knows it.
However, this is her territory, and she is the boss here. She doesn’t try to contest me on my authority, but she glares at me with a warning.
“The first case off Black Dalilah goes back years, but the important things we learned from the patient is that her heart had thorns wrapped around it and her soul had been deteriorating. The witches at the time separated her body and soul to perform a simultaneous surgery since Black Dalilah needed to be destroyed at the same time.”
Jesse and I process the information the best as we could while trying to believe that this is far worse than we thought. I don’t know how to handle this. I want to lash out at the unfairness that’s put upon Charlotte. She’s in constant agony and turmoil while being such a young girl. She didn’t have the chance to be a child before she’s forced to become a surviving adult.
“The patient,” Jesse gulps anxiously as I watch him sweat a little, “She’s good, right?”
“No,” the doctor closes her eyes and opens them, “She passed away.”
It’s like cold water just splashed on me. Everything in me goes numb as I hear the news. I look away from the glass box with Charlotte in it and stare blankly out into space; my heart pounds at an increasingly rapid pace.
The thought of losing Charlotte is devastating; I don’t want to imagine the thought of it. A future without Charlotte isn’t worth it, but fear is already settling deep in my stomach.
“With better healing magic and the vast knowledge now, the chances are higher. However, I cannot guarantee anything because this has never been done before in many years.” The doctor pats Jesse’s shoulder.
“I will leave you to discuss it with the commander and your sister.”
She turns and leaves the room while leaving us in silence. Jesse’s deadly wide eyes look at me, and the amount of raging emotions is overflowing. I probably look like a mess too, but we don’t blame each other for anything.
We know that placing blames is going to hurt Charlotte in the end. We don’t want to put any more stress on her.
“I want her to have the surgery,” I say to him.
His eyes turn fiery, “No, she’s not going to have the surgery. We’re going to go home, and it’ll go away when we spend time with her.”
I ground my teeth, clenching my jaw painfully, “Do you hear yourself, Jesse! You want to keep her in constant pain?”
He shouts back, “She’ll die if she has the surgery!”
“She’ll die if she doesn’t!” my voice raises, but Charlotte can’t hear us arguing.
We let silence overcome us again. He rubs a hand over his face while I try to pull back the pent-up energy inside while I pace back and forth. We have to make a decision quickly. The way the doctor described the condition, it’s going to get worst for Charlotte.
“I don’t know what to do,” Jesse mumbles, his voice is small and afraid.
I swallow back my opinion on his matter because this isn’t just about Jesse and Charlotte anymore. I’m in this too, and I have the right to say what’s best for her.
“Let’s go see her.”
He nods and turns around to the door to lead up to the room. We make our way inside and change the solemn expressions to happy ones. The bright room makes me grimace at the pain in my eyes. The dull thumping of blood flows through the cracks on the back of my hand.
“Jesse!” Charlotte’s squeal of happiness ebbs away some of the dreadfulness.
“Letty!” Jesse chuckles back and picks up her when she throws herself on him.
I smile at their interaction as he walks over the table to set her down. I follow behind and watch them smile at each other. She then looks at me with those big, sapphire eyes and I know that she is the love of my life. I’m willing to take the risk of losing her in the surgery than not doing anything and lose her.
I want to take the chance that she’ll come out alive and well rather than regret not doing anything because I’m afraid.
“Hey, Letty,” Jesse clears his throat for her attention, and he nods at me too.
I step closer to listen. Her hand comes to find mine, and I curl my fingers around her tiny ones.
“Alex and I were talking with the doctor, and she believes that you have a chance of getting rid of the voice.”
Her eyes brighten in surprise, “Really? How?”
“Surgery,” Jesse has a hard time saying that word, so I step in to help him.
I don’t want to sugarcoat anything for her. I want her to choose her own actions; she has just as much say in this as we do. She should decide what she wants to do, but because I am a selfish man, I want her to choose what I want for her.
I explain to her what the doctor explained to us. There’s too much for her to process, and there are flickers of something crossing her eyes at certain points. I make sure to remember where her reactions are the biggest. I want to question her about it.
“You practiced black magic,” Jesse said, it’s a fact that she doesn’t try to deny.
“Yeah,” she licks her lips and blinks quickly, “I tried black magic.”
“Oh, Letty,” Jesse brushes her hair.
This is hard for all of us. He and I kill black magic witches, and she just admitted to us that she did black magic. The very thing that Jesse hates
because it’s also the reason why their parents are dead. Black magic witches are the driving force behind people who want to ban magic altogether.
It’s a crime that’s punishable by death, and she still did it.
“To bring mom and dad back,” she whispers, and I can see Jesse’s world crumble in front of me, “I thought maybe you’d come back if they’re home.”
He flings his arms around her and hugs her to his chest, murmuring apologies loud and clear for me to hear too. Charlotte hardens her grip on me, and she stares into my eyes, her lips drag a smile that isn’t of a fighter, but of acceptance.
She already made her choice.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jesse sniffs in her hair.
“Would you have stayed if I did?” She taps her head to his and smiles more.
“Yes!”
“I did it after you left, two years after they died. It was the anniversary.” Charlotte grins self-deprecatingly, and I want to kiss her better. I want to kiss her until she’s giggling freely.
“You wouldn’t have stayed.”
Jesse chokes, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Letty.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Jesse leans back to kiss her forehead gently and sighs. She interrupts him before he could blame himself even more. I become the silent comfort that will support her whenever she needs it. I don’t want to rush her into making a decision.
“I want to do the surgery.”
Chapter Nine
Charlotte
The hospital gown is too breezy. There is no protection from anything and thank goodness the doctor let me keep my panties. The bra is only one for now, and I have a feeling they’re going to cut it off when they start the surgery, which is in about ten minutes.
The doctor moved me to a different room, and it’s similar to a hospital room. Jess and Alex are right there by the bedside with their overprotective stance whenever someone comes in. The assistants would fix the IV drip on my arm to prepare my body to go under anesthesia. This kind of sedative is much stronger, so they have to cleanse my body for things that I can’t even pronounce.