Witch (17 page)

"Have you ever again?"

Aimee shook her head, "Nope. I've only killed what
deserved death. Her face haunts me."

Ophelia shivered, "The look in Sam's eyes, it was
madness. He wasn’t himself. My magic has ruined him. He was a bright beautiful
person and I've ruined him."

Aimee nodded, "You will never forget that pain
Ophelia. I swam all the way to Portland the morning I murdered her. I was
terrified to be with my family. I crawled from the harbor and slept amongst the
homeless and disgusting garbage of the city. Lydia found me one day. She sensed
me. I was starving. She used magic to hold my hands at my sides and brought me
home. She locked me in a room and once a day she would unlock the door and put
a bad person inside. I would kill them and then she would take them out. She
did it for two months until I'd gotten to the point I could talk again. Then
she forced Dorian to help me get it under control. Aleks came everyday to check
on me. I killed sixty-one people in two months."

Ophelia watched her relive the moments. Her face softened,
"Everyday I imagined what it would have been like if none of it had
happened. What university I would go to and what city I would live in. What my
husband would look like and my kids. I imagined the Christmas holidays and lazy
summers. I imagined what the girl who I murdered would have done with her
life."

Her eyes flickered at Ophelia, "There is no fixing
what we are but there is learning to control it. Take the pain and make it the
parameter that you never leave."

"What am I going to do about Sam?"

She shook her head, "We have to focus on the big
stuff Ophelia. I need to rescue my sister, you need yours and we need to stop
your dad. We don’t have time to worry about that right now."

Sam

Shame and pain battled for the top spot in his heart. He
was mortified at his actions. It was hazy. His Siren side had taken over and
nearly done something he would never be able to take back. He wanted nothing
but to touch her and tell her he was sorry but he knew she would be terrified
of him.

He paced his bedroom at Lydia's. He flashed instantly to
Giselle's. He stood outside in the woods looking at the windows.

He felt the air stir and looked back at Oliver standing
behind him.

He lunged at him but Oliver pulled him in and hugged him.
Sam felt the warmth of the embrace and collapsed. Heaving, crushing sobs shook
his body.

"I didn’t know Sam. I didn’t know." Oliver
chanted, holding him tight.

Sam felt the energy and anger rush from him as sorrow
filled him up.

He was lost in a sea of hopelessness. The emotions and
loss caught up with him.

Oliver pulled him to the ground and cradled him against
his chest. Sam tried to ignore the shame he felt for crying in front of the
man.

"What are you guys doing here? Get off him."

Aimee was on her knees shoving Oliver away and pulling Sam
down into her embrace.

"Sam, it's not your fault. She knows it's not. She
knows." She whispered into his ear and ran her fingers through his hair.

He felt himself stiffen against her, "Aimes I can't
do this. I need to spend some time away from you guys. I can't do this."
He looked at Oliver and nodded, "I know you didn’t know this would
happen."

Aimee stood up looking defeated, "I love you
Sam."

He felt the breakdown coming again, "I know. I love
you too Aimes. I just need some space okay."

She bit her lip and was gone in a whirl of the wind.
Oliver smiled at him and followed Aimee out in a whirl of wind and color.

He flashed home again before anyone else saw him.

He collapsed onto his bed and waited for the darkness to
take over.

"Sam."

He looked over at Annabelle sitting next to him on his
bed.

She looked at his face and ran a ghostly cold hand across
his cheeks, making him shiver.

"I knew your momma Sam. She is a good woman. She
would be proud of the man yous become. I knew your daddy too. He was a good
man. The things about his death that you knows, about miss Lorri. Theys true.
She had a moment likes yous having now. She never meants it. She loved him like
a brother. She aint never been the same since then."

Sam shook his head, "Not now Annabelle."

She looked him in the eyes, which was creepy considering her
eyes were a ghostly grey. "Now is the only time I gots. You all gots to go
tonight. I needs you to go back to the mansion and tell thems that Jonathan is
going to try to kill Lillith. Them blue ghost girls aint been here in a week.
They been stuck over there. He gots them all drained. Ophelia don’t know it but
her brother gots their magic. She done lost the fight."

He couldn’t care about the news. He couldn’t force
himself.

He looked at her and nodded, "I'll go tell
them."

Annabelle smiled, "You gotta save your momma Sam. She
will die in there if you donts free her."

He nodded again and flashed into the living room at
Giselle's. He felt naked when he saw Ophelia. She was changed and her dark hair
was wet. She looked pretty but to his heart she was stunning. He couldn't fight
his feelings for her.

She flinched when she saw him. His heart broke.

"Your brother has the magic of the other six. Your
dad made him take it today. They'll try to kill Lillith tonight
apparently."

Ophelia frowned, "But Lydia said it would be my
birthday."

Sam shrugged, "Guess something is up. We have to go
today."

Aimee walked into the massive room, "You're back.
What's going on Sam?"

He flinched. She didn’t trust him alone with Ophelia. He
didn’t trust himself.

"We need to move tonight. They'll kill Lillith
tonight."

Aimee pursed her lips in thought. She pulled her phone and
sent texts.

Sam glanced at Ophelia watching him nonstop. He felt sick
seeing her face.

"I'm sorry." He spoke low.

She nodded, "Not as sorry as I am." Her face
flushed as a tear slipped down her cheek.

Her face was covered in guilt. He didn’t even know how to
respond. How could she feel guilty over his attacking her?

Oliver walked in and stopped.

Sam felt his gaze upon him, "Jonathan will kill Lillith
tonight."

Oliver's eyes widened. He thought for a moment and then
looked like he'd been hit with a dose of obvious, "Oh shit. The
sisters."

Sam didn’t follow along. Dorian appeared out of nowhere
just ahead of Lorri.

Sam had thought that Ari had planned on the mission not
involving Dorian or Lorri.

Lorri looked at Oliver, "What's he doing wandering
about?"

Oliver laughed, "Lets focus Lucifer, Jonathan will
kill Lillith tonight. He can use the sister's magic if Tristan can hold
it."

She frowned, "He can't hold it until they turn
eighteen."

Oliver shook his head, "No. They can wield it any
time. The other sister's are eighteen. Once they take their power it pushes
their age. They could have taken the power at birth if they could have cleansed
the sister's spirits."

Lorri turned to Ophelia, "Holy shit. Have they been
around to see you?"

Ophelia turned her head, "No. They haven’t. I haven’t
seen them in days."

Lorri grimaced, "Fuck. Okay. We need to go now."
She turned to Dorian, "Get Ari and Luke. I'll get Brandon and Giselle.
Aimee we need Lydia and Hanna."

They were gone leaving Oliver and Sam standing facing each
other with Ophelia in the middle.

She flushed and looked at Sam. He went to open his mouth
but she put a hand up, "I know. If I could take it all back Sam I would. I
would rather die than hurt you."

He shook his head, "Then you understand how I
feel."

She swallowed hard, "I do."

She looked at Oliver and then him again.

Sam knew he had lost her. No matter what he did he
couldn’t compete with what she felt for Oliver.

Aimee appeared with Hanna and Lydia in tow. Lydia ran to
Sam and hugged him into her, "My boy."

He wanted to cry again but fought the urge. Hanna stayed
back watching him.

He could feel her feelings for him. He wished he could feel
what she felt. He wished things would be normal again.

He looked at Lydia and whispered, "Is it possible to
take the feelings Hanna has and mirroring them so I feel what she feels instead
of what I feel?"

Lydia brightened up, "I believe there is." Her
face sunk again, "But then you'd lose your emotions again."

He shook his head, "I want things to be normal
again."

Lydia squeezed his fingers, "I think we can make it
work. I can't believe I never thought about that. When we get back okay?"

He nodded, "Okay."

He let go of the older woman and walked to Hanna. He
looked down at her fingers and slid his hand around them. He felt her shiver.

Hanna smiled at him as a blush crossed her ruddy cheeks.

He smiled back. He forced his eyes to remain focused
instead of wander and look at Ophelia. He made himself see Hanna. It hurt.

He realized how hard it would have been for her mother to
force the love and why she would have been so broken from it. He promised
himself he would love Hanna more than anything again, soon.

Lorri flashed in with Giselle and Brandon. Sam smiled at
him.

He raised an eyebrow at Sam, "You okay?"

Sam laughed.

Dorian appeared with Ari and Luke.

Luke looked at Hanna and Sam and raised an eyebrow. Sam
shrugged.

"Giselle you need to compel everyone so that if Ari
accidentally pushes a human, you still remember everything the way it is
now."

Giselle gave Lorri a dirty look, "You just barged in
on me and my fang bang and now you are going to boss me around?"

Lorri growled at her.

"Fine whatevs. God. Take a chill pill." She
walked up to Sam first and winked, "I want you to remember this in case
Ari pushes a human. Ari's magic doesn’t work on your brain. Remember everything
up to the point Ari pushes. Also I want you to unbutton your shirt and..."

"Giselle."

Sam felt his fingers slip up to the buttons on his shirt.

"Sam, stop it."

He heard it but he couldn’t stop his fingers. They
unbuttoned the first one.

"Stop dicking around Giselle."

"Sam stop trying to take your clothes off."

He nodded, "Okay." He felt foggy for a moment.

Giselle went around to each person and said the same
thing.

Lorri looked around and finally settled her eyes on
Oliver.

"We have no choice but to place our fates with
you."

He bowed slightly, "I am here to help." His eyes
darted to Ophelia. Sam felt jealousy raging through him as the fog in his brain
lifted.

"Oliver pulled his cell phone out and showed a
picture to them all. It was a small garden with roses and lilies.

"Flash here. It's the weak point. Follow me through
and we'll split up." He took Ophelia's hand in his and was gone instantly.
Sam flashed pulling him and Hanna through fast. His feet were in soft earth in
a warm garden. The smell of flowers filled the air.

Hanna gripped his hand before he could take another step.
She pulled him into her. Her lips met his with force. She kissed him
desperately. He let go of her hand and pulled her up into him.

"I missed you Sam." She whispered into his face
as she pulled back.

He hugged her tightly and smelled the scent of the strawberry
shampoo in her hair. He closed his eyes and let it be enough.

"I love you Hanna."

She rested her head on his chest.

"Sam." He looked up to see Lorri giving him the
evil eye from across the bushes and flowers.

Lorri pointed to the right, "Oliver says your mom is
to the right. She stays in a room that’s guarded." Her eyes flashed to
Hanna, "Nothing hurts you. You can get through."

Hanna nodded and squeezed his hand, "Okay."

He felt a twinge in his stomach as he started toward the
huge white metal door at the end of the room. He hadn’t seen her in years.
Would she remember him?

Aimee grabbed his arm, "Flash if you get into
trouble."

He winked, "You too."

She squeezed his arm. He pulled Hanna to the door and
looked at her. She nodded and they slipped out into the hallway. It was
freezing when they got out into the hall. The door sealed like a freezer door
would. It wasn’t that the hall was cold but that the garden was sweltering.

Sam pulled her along. She was watching their backs. No one
came. No cameras filled the halls. He was a ball of nerves. The huge white
hallway was silent.

"This is creepy." Hanna whispered.

"Yup. It feels like a trap." He followed the
hall and turned right at the end of it. The hall opened into huge great room
with a fireplace and couches. No one milled about in the beautiful room. It
reminded him of a hunting lodge or Luke's family's home.

He stopped and waited and when nothing moved, he flashed
them across the room to the hallway. It looked more like a house on that side.
The hallway seemed like a hallway in a house, not a fortress.

He cracked every door on the right and peeked inside.
Hanna peeked in the rooms on the left. Behind every closed door there was a
small bedroom or office. No one was in any of them.

"This is a trap Sam. We need to get the others."
He felt her skin ripple.

Sam stopped when he smelled something familiar. He'd
smelled before. He grabbed her hand and waited as a man rounded the corner. He
was a weretiger. Sam had met a few before.

The Were sniffed the air and then looked to where they
stood. A smirk crossed his lips, "Look at what I found. Both Sirens?"

Sam glanced at Hanna. She smiled as the shiver took over.
She stepped forward and sauntered to him.

The were looked around, "Did I win the lottery? Are
you real?"

She grinned, "Touch me and find out?"

He reached with his fingers but she had ripped them off
before it registered. No one expected Sirens to be able to defend themselves.

Sam flashed to him and had him out of the hallway and in Libya
in the middle of the desert before the first scream ripped through his throat.
Sam flashed back to the hallway.

Hanna was still holding his fingers.

Sam looked at them, "Put them in that plant."

She smiled and walked to the huge planter. She pulled at
the fake dirt and shoved the fingers into it.

She wiped the blood on her pants and they continued down
the hallway.

"It feels less like a trap now."

Sam smiled at her, "That was disgusting."

She shrugged, "Luke likes it when I do that."

"He is also disgusting." He spoke while still
looking in rooms and moving forward. He came to a room with the black obsidian
door, "Devil's rock."

Hanna looked at it and held a hand up, "It
stings."

"This is it."

Hanna looked at him, "You sure?"

Sam nodded, "I've seen a door like this before. Can't
flash in there."

Hanna turned the handle, crushing it in her hand. She
pushed on the door hard, ripping it off the hinges on one side. She kicked it
once making a huge bang. Sam put a hand on her shoulder, "Shhhh."

She glanced back and snarled at him. Her eyes looked wild.
The beast was fully there. She had let it take over. He hoped she was still
driving the bus though.

He looked around the hallway as Hanna demolished the stone
door. Her knuckles bled but she didn't stop. She made a throaty scream as she
passed through the entry into the room. Sam looked in at a large sitting room
with couches and flowers. It looked like a regular house but there were no
windows. A small kitchen sat at the back of the room.