Witch (13 page)

Ophelia

The alley was dark and yet somehow the eyes of the wolf
next to her glistened.

She patted the fur on his back, earning her a snarl. She
pulled her hands back, “I just thought maybe you would like being patted or
something.” She whispered.

Ari laughed, “Oh my god that was awesome. He only likes to
be patted by me and even then I feel like I’m pushing my luck.”

“Why are we here?”

Ari pointed to the apartment above them, “We need to see
if the man who lives there is alive or not. This is an area where the dark ones
live, nice and close together.”

"What city is this?"

"Rome."

She couldn’t hide her feelings of excitement. She had
never left her state before, let alone the country. She was in Rome. She
sniffed the air and let the excitement build. She wished she could see more
than just the balconies in an old alley.

"My sister is going to freak when she hears I came
here. We have this plan for when we are both graduated. Back pack Europe for
the summer."

Ari looked sad when she smiled, "I'm sorry. I know
how it feels for all of this to hit you. It' not fair. Not even a little."

Ophelia dismissed the tears in her eyes and turned her
face up to watch Lorri again. She flashed onto the small metal deck. In the
dark her bright red hair looked black.

She crept inside of the apartment through the glass door
and disappeared in the blackness of it.

Ari walked along the brick wall, but kept her eyes on the
other patios and decks facing the alley.

Ophelia felt uneasy. Her fingers made small sparks from
the nerves. The flashes made slight amounts of light in the alley. Lucas looked
back at her and shook his wolf head. She clenched her fingers into balls,
“Sorry.” She whispered into the silence.

A hand brushed along her back, “You are more powerful than
any of us here, just try to remember that.”

She turned to see Aimee forcing a smile. She nodded and
smiled back.

There was no way she was as powerful as any of them.

Ophelia looked to the right. Lucas sniffed the air and
suddenly Ari made a half scream and vanished.

Her scream continued on a rooftop above them, as abruptly
as it had stopped. Ophelia felt her stomach twist as she looked up at the
pointed rooftop where Ari stood alone. A pair of feet hung over the edge next
to her.

Aimee smirked and in a flash Ari was standing back beside
Ophelia.

Aimee was gone again as Ari’s feet touched the ground and
instantly she was standing next to the man's feet. Ophelia watched in horror as
Aimee put her hands on the man. His feet twitched for a second and then lie
still again.

Ophelia looked up at the silhouette of Aimee on the rooftop.
Her long lean body was outlined by the stormy night sky. Her blonde hair blew
in the wind and her eyes glowed like platinum. She was the scariest thing
Ophelia had ever seen.

Ophelia felt her right arm grabbed, a sharp wind in her
face and an abrupt stop. New smells filled the air around her. A forest and
dead leaves mixed in the cool night air. She stood alone in the forest.

"Hello sister."

She turned to see a guy standing beside her. His breath
was visible like smoke in the damp forest.

"Where are we?"

"Ireland. It will take them a minute to find
you."

She felt her hands trembling, "Who are you?"

He laughed and stepped into the light of the moon, he
looked almost exactly as she did. Dark hair, one light eye and one dark and
pale skin but with one difference, he had fangs in his smile. Her stomach
dropped seeing them. She gasped and stepped away.

He laughed, "Thorry they're new. Father had Daniel
turn me latht week. I am having a hard time. They jutht pop out."

She remembered Giselle and started to laugh. The fear she
felt melted away.

"How is this all possible?"

He closed his eyes for a second as if concentrating.

He looked up at her and smiled a bright white smile minus
the fangs.

"You grew up in a normal family. I keep forgetting
that."

His face made her heart ache, "Have you always known
about me?"

He nodded in the moonlight, "Always. I thought that
you were dead for a while but the balls of light told me you had to be
alive."

"Is it all true?"

"There are things you can't imagine. Werewolves, vampires
and witches are just the fun stuff you see daily. The Fae are a broad spectrum.
Siren's, Elves, Goblins, whatever you can imagine."

She looked around, "This is so weird."

"We only have a minute before they get here. We need
to help each other. I don’t want to die. I'm sure you don’t want to. I sent a
friend to help you. His name is Oliver. He has a plan to get rid of father.
It's the only way any of them will leave us alone."

She gulped, "Have you seen mother?"

He shook his head, "Never. Not even a glimpse. He
keeps her trapped in this ungodly tower, like a fairytale."

He took a step toward her, "Please Ophelia, trust
Oliver. He's there to help us. Father killed his son." Tears filled his
eyes, "He was my best friend."

She felt sick, "I will do whatever I can. I just
haven’t caught up on it all. I don’t know what I'm supposed to actually
do."

His gaze lowered, "They will explain it to you. Don't
trust them O, trust yourself and our sisters." He reached for her hand,
"It's good to finally meet you."

Ophelia felt a lump in her throat, "Again."

His laugh was weak, "I suppose it is again."

He was gone. He had called her O. Was it a message from
Abbey? How had he learned to flash travel?

A voice broke her thoughts, "Ophelia I got a text to
come and find you."

She looked up at Sam standing at the edge of the dark
forest.

"Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, "No. My brother came to see
me."

He nodded, "I've never met him."

She shrugged feeling lost suddenly, "He seemed really
nice."

Sam put a hand out for her and before she could open her
eyes from her blink, they were in Giselle's massive living room.

Lorri stormed across the room gripping her shoulders with
intensity, "What happened?"

She shook her head, "Nothing. My brother came to see
me. He seemed sad and alone. He wanted to talk to me. Alone." She didn’t
want to tell any of them anything.

Lorri gripped harder, "What did he say?"

"He said that he needed my help and that you would
explain what I was supposed to do."

Lorri looked annoyed. She processed the information and
let Ophelia go with a slight shove. She paced the huge room. Everyone sat in
silence spread across the grand furniture.

All eyes were on Lorri.

Lydia spoke after a moment, "It's time to tell her
what she must do Lorri."

Lorri snarled and continued to pace.

Ophelia looked around the room. Oliver watched her from
the corner. His eyes never left her.

Lorri walked to her and grabbed her arm.

Cold wind swept around her and when she looked down her
feet stood on rocks. The night sky was filled with stars. She turned to see
Lorri sitting on a rock outcropping. The night air was warm and dry compared to
where they had been in Portland.

"Have a seat kid."

She walked, trying not to look down the mountainside.

"Where are we?"

"Iran."

Ophelia frowned, "This is random, even for you."

"This is where it happened."

"What happened?"

"Where your mother lived, before we fell."

Ophelia decide not to ask any more questions. She sat on
the sharp crumbling stone hillside.

"Below us here is the original Garden of Eden as you
people have called it. It was the scared garden. God could speak to Adam and
Lillith there. He taught them how to garden and how to grow food. He taught
them how to build a hut. He tried to guide them with love and kindness."

"So much for that."

Lorri snorted, "You have no idea. Lillith was defiant
and obstinate. Adam was, well, he was a man. He thought with his dick. He asked
God for a companion. It was his only request. God told him his wife would show
herself to him. He misunderstood. He came upon Lillith bathing in the lake.
Anyway, the story takes a turn for the worse. Lillith erupted in rage, like any
woman would. She drew the magic from the ground and the garden in and cursed
him as he was inside of her. He got her pregnant. She had intended herself for
the king of the elves. She wanted the magic and purity of their life. In an
instant she was ruined. Adam impregnated her. When the King came she was
pregnant. As her babies grew so did her sadness and pain. When she gave birth
each of the children was already cursed. Not only with magic but also with
vulnerability."

Ophelia had no response. She couldn’t imagine such a
lonely and painful existence.

"When she took the magic, she stripped the garden of
its natural magic. She took it into herself and made it something corrupted and
polluted. She cursed the land and the garden. The Middle East has never
recovered. The strife here is the direct result of the anger and pain she
suffered. The land can never be at peace. Not while Lillith lives. She must die
to remove her stain on the world."

Ophelia felt her stomach twinge, "Die?" She
turned her head to see the hardened look on Lorri's face.

"Die. There is only one way to kill Lillith. All of
her children have a piece of her power in them. Once they die their power is
left behind. They are part of her stain on the earth. You have to kill your
brother and convince your sisters to give you their power. Then you will be
strong enough to kill her."

Ophelia frowned, "You want me to kill my own mother
after I kill my twin brother?"

Lorri swallowed, "What I am asking of you is a
sacrifice, obviously but no one is planning on letting this continue. Your
father is planning the same thing, only in reverse. He intends to have your
brother kill you and use the magic to strip your mother of her powers. Once
she's stripped he can kill her but maintain her stain and darkness. He can use
your brother so they can take over. Humans will become sheep."

Ophelia shook her head, "This doesn’t even make any
sense. So both my parents are evil?"

Lorri shook her head, "No Lillith isn’t evil. She
can't help what she has become anymore than you can. Magic was never meant to
be inside of you people. The Garden was the magical birthplace of your mother
and Adam and eventually Eve. The magic came from the earth. God didn’t create
the earth. That's a whole other story and I'm not giving a history lesson
because I like talking. God just needed a place to create, the birthplace of
creation needed to be strong and powerful. Lillith took the magic and the
power. That's why God needed Adam's rib to create Eve. He needed a place to
start the magic after Lillith took it."

"Why can't we just kill my father and free her?"

Lorri looked up at the starry sky, "I know this is
hard to hear kid but they both have to go. He's mine though. You wouldn’t stand
a chance. He would flash and be gone before you reacted. Your magic is
subjective to your circumstances."

"What about that Ari girl? She could push my mom or
dad and make them change their minds."

Lorri shook her head, "She would knock them out for a
bit. The soul has to be pure and intact."

"Oh."

Lorri pointed, "This place is a scar on humanity. It
is filled with sadness and pain. We need to go back."

Sam

"I have a plan."

"Sweet god, tell me it fixes home boy here. I'm
getting tired of his part in the coma patient."

Sam glanced up at Ari and Luke staring at him.

Aimee pulled her hair into a ponytail nodding, "Yeah
Sam this has to change. You're driving me insane." She turned and looked
at Ari, "Yesterday he slept for sixteen hours. Not even kidding. I thought
he was dead twice."

He shook his head, "I know I should be upset but I,
uh, just can't seem to be."

Hanna walked into the living room in a skimpy pair of
running shorts and small t-shirt. Luke made a noise low in his throat.

Sam pointed to her leg, "You have some dirt on your
leg."

She drank from the water bottle in her hand and looked
down at her leg, "I was running in the hills." She sat on the chair
opposite him.

Aimee looked hostile but Lydia had made her swear to be
nice.

Ari looked frustrated, "Anyway. I have a plan."

Hanna nodded, "I'm in." Her eyes bore down on
Sam. Her cheeks flushed as she watched him. She adjusted herself in her seat.
Luke made another low sound. Sam could feel her affects in the air but his body
couldn’t respond to it.

Aimee snarled, "Great."

Sam let his eyes linger on Hanna's face, "We can't
tell Lorri. She murdered my father on purpose."

Aimee's eyes flashed at him, "What?"

He nodded, "Yeah. She fell in love with my mother.
She felt the pull of the Siren. Oliver said my dad fell in love with my mother
at the same time and Lorri used the Devil's Roses to kill him. She used the
excuse that he mated with a mortal."

Ari raised an eyebrow, "But Siren's aren’t human. Not
really."

Sam shrugged, "Yeah. I never knew any of this. I
guess she was jealous that my mom chose my dad."

"You must be pissed."

He looked at Hanna, "Nope. Can't even get angry that
my father was murdered unjustly out of jealousy."

Aimee shook her head, "Lorri is a bitch, there is no
doubt about that but there is no way she murdered your dad. Where did you hear
that?"

"Oliver."

"He's lying. He's Jonathan's pawn. He's trying to
separate us from the Roses. He wants us on the dark ones side."

Sam shrugged, "Either way we need to keep the
management out of this mission. Lydia will tell Lorri. Lorri might not be on
our side."

"Lorri is a lesbian?"

Ari looked at Luke and growled, "Focus."

He shrugged, "What. It just explains so many things."

Aimee rolled her eyes, "Can we keep the lesbian
stereotypes to minimum and stay focused?"

Ari put her hands on her hips, "We tell no one."

Hanna nodded, "We tell no one."

"We need Ophelia's help. Her sisters and brother have
to help us. Plus we need to know how to get in, we need Oliver to tell us how
to get in."

Sam smirked, "He asked me about Ophelia a million
times. It got annoying actually. I bet she can weasel it out of him."

Luke raised an eyebrow, "Oh shit he's like Dorian
dude. You don’t want to mess around with them."

Ari frowned, "She is stronger than Annabelle and
Lydia. She could probably kill him."

Aimee smiled sweetly, "Sam she has a very strong
reaction to your Siren thing. You should be the one to tell her to go hang with
Oliver and get the way in."

Sam noticed the way Hanna's eyes flashed. She got up and
left the room. Aimee looked satisfied. Sam knew he should feel sorry for Hanna.
He could recall the pain she caused him. His body remembered the pain. It didn’t
register as pain, just a memory. He got up and followed her to the room.

"Hanna, wait up."

She turned wiping her face. He felt the slightest of
twinges in his stomach. It was the first thing he'd felt in days.

She narrowed her eyes but sighed when she saw the blank
stare on his face.

"I don’t want you to hurt."

Her shoulders slumped hollowing out her shoulder blades
and throat, "Why can't you just undo it and love me again Sam."

He shook his head, "I don’t know how."

Tears streamed down her flushed cheeks. She took a step
toward him placing her hand on his chest, "I will love you as long as I
live. My heart will belong to you forever. Even when a thousand years has
passed and you don’t remember me, every heart beat will be for you." She leaned
in and brushed her soft lips against his cheek. She brushed past him and walked
down the wide hallway. He knew that deep down it hurt. His stomach ached in a
way he remembered being associated to pain. A tear found it's way from his eye.
He dragged his hand across his face. The simplicity of the tear was lost in the
abyss that had become his heart. He turned and walked along the hall in the
opposite direction. He needed to find Ophelia. He needed her to fix him. He
felt the black of the world swallowing him.

His feet walked, his mouth breathed, and his heart beat
but nothing felt real.

The fog in his head kept him preoccupied enough that he
nearly walked past Ophelia. She was curled up with a huge old book in the
library. He stopped walking and backed up to the doorway. He poked his head in,
"Hey can we talk?"

She looked up, but her brain took a moment to register
him. The book had pulled her in.

Seeing him, her cheeks flushed, "Oh hey Sam."

 
"I need
your help."

She looked lost when she looked at him. His Siren call was
worse since he lost his feelings for Hanna.

He walked in and sat in the huge over stuffed leather
chair across from her. He didn’t understand why she was staying at Giselle's
too. Everyone had basically left Lydia's in protest of Giselle's banishment.

In the dim light of the library she looked young. Her dark
hair and one dark eye made her look the way he'd imagine a witch to look. Her
light eye looked sick, like a cataract.

"I need you to get close with Oliver. Get some
answers from him. We are going on a rescue mission. We aren’t telling Lydia or
Lorri. Their agenda has nothing to do with your sister or Aimee's sister. They
just want the plan they have hatched to work, even at the expense of Alise and
Abbey."

She blinked, "Abbey." She spoke the words like
she had forgotten about her.

"Yeah. So we were hoping you'd get the way into the
Alaska fortress for us. Oliver knows it. We can't trust him so you have to be
sneaky. Can you do that?"

She nodded.

He forced a smile across his lips, "You can keep the
secret for us?"

She nodded again. She looked like a robot around him. He
couldn’t understand it. She would do anything he said.

He watched her eyes, trying hard not to focus on only one,
"I need another favor."

She nodded.

"I need you to find out about changing me back and
fixing my heart."

"Okay."

"Oliver said it was possible but you have to find
some dark witches to do it."

"I'll do whatever you want Sam."

He sighed. He knew it would be driving him insane if he could
feel anything. He was grateful for a moment that he was numb."

He got up from the chair, "Okay. Thanks
Ophelia."

She put the book down and got up from the chair. She
walked to the room, almost like following his orders. She turned and walked
down the hall in the direction of Hanna's old room.

He flashed into the kitchen. Giselle was sucking the neck
of a man against the counter.

Sam frowned.

She pulled away, "Derek I'd like you to meet Tham.
Tham thith ith Derek."

"Why are you eating your date?"

"It's my kitchen. I'll eat whoever I want." She
laughed.

Her blood stained fangs popped back, leaving her with
normal straight teeth covered in blood.

"Dude he has a blood disorder. He used to get bled or
leached. Like barf. Anyway Jeeves knew about him because of Marcus. Marcus
always had a few of them he kept around."

"Hamish told you he has a blood disorder."

The man spoke, "I do. I have hemochromatosis. I have
to lose a half liter of blood every week."

Sam nodded, "Sounds legit. Nice one Giselle. No more
bags for you then huh?"

She smiled her blood grin, "Dude there are millions
of these people. It's like the most common shit wrong with people."

"How did Hamish find you?"

The man shrugged, "My doctor. He was a friend of that
Marcus guy."

Sam nodded, "So you are part of the blood kept on
tap?"

"I wasn’t before. Marcus liked girls."

Giselle looped her arm in the man's, "Come on I'll
get Jeeves to take you home."

Sam sat at the table. He didn’t know why he was in the
kitchen. He couldn’t remember why he had come down there.

His phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket.

"Hello."

"Sam my boy Hanna has told me what you've done. Come
to the mansion right away."

Sam nodded, "Okay Roland." He flashed from the
chair before he even pressed end on the call.