“Are you sure? I don’t want you to do this just because I want to. I want you to want it too.” My heart raced while I waited for him to answer.
“I want to see what the possibilities are, and I want to know what would happen if we chose to do this.” Sebastian’s light eyes stared deeply into mine as he responded.
“Okay, then we should probably set up a time and place to do this thing.” I rubbed my hands together anxiously.
“We should do it in the place where we called upon the gods before. And we should probably talk to Arina at the Wiccan shop in Brooks.”
“Okay, let’s go. Right now,” I prompted.
“It is a little late to be consulting with the gods and a seer. You need to get inside and get some rest. I will be back to stay tonight. And, before you ask, we will be going to school tomorrow. Any u da yv la dv that is there needs to see that nothing has been affected. They need to see that we are not weak.” He leaned over and kissed my head. When he pulled back he held my face in his hands, and I saw the emotions in his eyes. I reached up and squeezed his hands. We were going to get through this thing together, with or without the blood rite.
“Sebastian, I love you. We will be okay. I know we will,” I said.
“I know we will. I love you too.” Sebastian kissed me softly one more time before shooing me toward my house.
The soft breeze outside was calming. I walked a little slower than I should have, but I knew Sebastian wouldn’t leave until he knew I was inside. Even though I had a baggy sweater on, the air still chilled my skin. Goose bumps crept along my arms as a large bird soared overhead, scaring me. It landed on Sebastian’s car. Black wings spread out wide, loud caws and squawks flew through the night air. Feeling the hairs all over my body stand on end, I watched the bird sit there. It was mocking us; at least it felt like it was. Beady eyes narrowed as its screams tore through the night air. Just as quickly as it had appeared, it left, the echoes of its call ringing into the dark sky.
Seconds passed until the night was silent once more. No more birds flew around; no creatures crawled through the grass. Nothing. I turned back toward my house and continued my walk up to the front door. With my body now frozen and cold seeping to the core of my soul, I walked more quickly. I felt a need to escape the moon and its beautiful glow. Something seemed too eerie and strange about the black bird; it had ruined the fresh evening air and its calming effect. Once I was inside the house, I relaxed a little. Then, everything went to hell.
The ground shook and loud explosions filled my ears. Trees were falling to the earth, screaming in pain. No plant or animal life was safe from this. As the world was torn apart, screams of everything and everyone ravaged the air. Smoke billowed and ash dusted the earth. They were finally breaking free. They were strong enough to begin a takeover. No one was safe anymore. This, this is what my training had prepared me for. I was the one who had to save the planet from this. I was the one who had to send these creatures back to hell.
Creatures. That wasn’t even the correct word for these things. No one had told me they looked like this. All I knew was that they were evil, very evil. You couldn’t change them for anything. But that wasn’t what was so disturbing about them. I knew they were called the Cherokee word for
shadows
, u da yv la dv. Yet, they actually looked like shadows. They slithered, shimmied, danced, and moved with stealth. And their eyes were so big and empty. When they looked at you, they looked through you—into the very being of your soul. And if they liked what they saw, they either changed you or killed you. Both choices were equally terrible.
My brain went into overdrive. Save friends and family, as well as anyone else you can find who can still be saved. Protect innocent people. Save whatever life I could. Be sure to watch my back and save myself before anyone else. Wait, that wasn’t right. Why did I have to do that? Hang on. There was something missing. Part of me wasn’t all there in my mind. I looked up. There were dozens of shadows screeching and howling. They crowded around me. Officially pissed off at these things, I pushed all of my power out and into every u da yv la dv surrounding me. Nothing happened. Cackling. There was cackling from one of them. Then they all started. The sound sent massive amounts of chills up and down my entire body. My head hurt. Why did my head hurt? Something was seriously wrong. Memories, dreams, important information was being drained from me. My name, what was my name? Where was I? What was I? Then, nothing. There was nothing but blackness for miles and miles.
“Is she okay?” my mom asked in a frantic voice.
“She is. It was just a vision. She is coming back from it right now.” It was Sebastian telling my mom I would be okay. I would be okay.
“Why does this happen when she gets these visions?” More concern from my mom.
“They can sometimes be too strong or too negative so that they have a major impact on her body.” He sounded so cool and calm.
“What kind of impact?” Worry this time.
“Her body may shut down for a few minutes. That’s why you found her so cold and with a faint heartbeat.” Still cool and collected.
“What do you mean ‘shut down’?” Fear and anger.
“Please, calm down, honey. You know she’s tough.” My dad this time. But I could hear something in his voice. Was it worry, fear, anger, or all of the above?
“Exactly. Your daughter is supernatural. Our bodies have the ability to do these kinds of things. They can sense when they need to react a certain way. In her case, when visions are important and strong or negative, the body senses the need to shut itself down. Not completely, but enough to preserve energy and strength for when she wakes up. She will be a little tired and need rest and some food to replenish the energy it has taken, but she will be perfectly fine.” Sebastian explained it so simply and easily that I heard both of my parents take deep breaths and relax a little.
“About how long until she’s fully conscious again?” my dad asked.
“Any minute now, actually. She is starting to wake up. In fact, I would not be surprised if she could hear everything we are saying right now.”
“Auby, baby, we love you,” my mom whispered softly in my ear. In a strange way, I felt like I was waking up from a monthlong coma. It was weird; my body tingled as I woke up more and more. That had never happened before. I supposed it was something to ask Sebastian about when I could finally move and talk. “If you can hear us, will you wiggle something or move your eyes behind your eyelids?” Warm hands stroked my face and hair. Focusing really hard, I tried to move my fingers. That didn’t work. Instead of still focusing on moving limbs, I tried to open my eyes—some kind of movement to let them know I was there and listening.
“Look, she can hear us!” My mother’s voice was high pitched and excited.
“Of course she can, her eyes will open any minute now. But we should probably move her to her bedroom,” Sebastian said.
“Oh, right. Honey, would you? Oh.” My mom sounded a little surprised. I felt myself being shifted and shuffled upstairs. A few moments later, cold sheets greeted my back and I choked to get air. “Is she okay? What’s going on?” She was frantic once again.
“She’s okay. The cold sheets must have shocked her a little bit.”
“Then we shouldn’t have moved her. Shock is bad for her, for anyone.” Warm hands pressed against my forehead to check for some kind of sign or symptom of shock settling in.
“We needed to. She could not have made her way up the stairs on her own, even with help. When she awakes she needs to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible, with very little stress or strain, at least overnight.” The tone of his voice had caught my mother’s attention. I could tell because she was no longer pressing at my body or grasping my fingers.
Feeling irritated that I couldn’t sit up or look around, I moved my eyes back and forth so quickly that I started to become dizzy. Scrunching my forehead, I focused on wriggling my fingers and toes. Wait, my forehead, it was scrunched? I smoothed out the lines of my face before wrinkling them again. Excitement poured through my body. One more push and I was sure my eyes would open. Pushing and praying that it would work, I forced my eyelids open. When they did, everything was too bright. The lights were blinding and gave me a headache. In one quick motion, I threw my arm over my eyes and let out a small groan. It almost felt like the process before changing: painful, annoying, and exhausting beyond belief.
Of course, my mom being, well, my mom, she jumped up and turned the lights off, except for a small night-light from my bathroom. She then fretted over me like I was her first newborn baby. My dad looked at me with big sympathetic blue eyes and silently apologized. Thankfully, Sebastian stepped in and told my mom I was okay and that I just needed to relax and get some rest. A small amount of hurt appeared in her eyes, and I told her I wanted some soup and water. Immediately she perked up and ran out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. We sat there in total silence, then Helios jumped up, curled into my side, and licked my hands, letting me know he was trying to heal me. I reached up and scratched his ears to thank him. His soft purring started to lull me to sleep, but a timid knock made me jump up.
Melly was standing in the doorway with her little bear that was missing an eye. Her hair was still damp from the shower, and her big blue eyes looked too big and scared. “Daddy?” Her voice was so small it sounded like a whisper.
“Yes, baby?” He walked toward her and crouched down in front of her.
“It’s back. It’s in my closet again. I told it to go away and that it wasn’t real, but it laughed at me. Daddy, I’m scared.” Small tears came out of her eyes as she told my dad about the monster that had plagued her for years.
“Okay, let’s go tackle it together. We will send it away, once and hopefully for all. All right?” As my father reached down to take my little sister’s hand, she nodded and looked up at him with a glimmer of hope.
Once they were both out in the hall and on their way to her room, I looked at Sebastian. My heart broke. “I am taking them away from the two people in this house who need them the most.” Feeling utterly ashamed, I hid my face.
“That is not true, AubrieAnna. You still need them, and I think they know that you are not 100 percent well.” His voice was sad as he looked down at me.
“It’s scary. Honestly? I am terrified by how often I get knocked down with something small. I might not make it through saving the world.” There was something so brutal about what I said that I couldn’t look at him anymore.
“I won’t let that happen.” He stood up and spoke fiercely. “You need to rest. I will be back in a few hours. I need to go have a conference with the gods.”
“Wait.” I reached out and grabbed his arm. “I am coming with you. Do
not
tell me no. I can sit on the floor, and you can always use my help. Besides, you need my help—unless you have another witch friend somewhere.” Feeling a little smug, I stuck my chin up in the air and started to get up.
“AubrieAnna, you . . . ” Sebastian stopped talking when I glared at him. “Oh, all right. But you have to eat that soup. And drink water. Perhaps even some juice.”
“Fine. Now let’s go. And be a dear and help me down the stairs so I don’t fall.” I stood up and felt a little woozy. A chirping Helios jumped off the bed and followed behind us. We made it down the stairs with a few hiccups, and my loving cat waiting patiently at each step to make sure I was okay. By the time we reached the bottom step, my mom was already on her way with the soup and water. She looked at me in shock, then quickly composed herself and smiled at me.
“Mom, do you think you could put some juice in a bottle for me?” I sat down at the table and took a deep, exhausted breath.
“I sure can, sweetie. But why do you need a bottle of juice?” Her face became concerned.
“Please don’t get mad or yell. It’s something that we have to do. I’ll be okay, I promise.” I didn’t want to tell her, but I didn’t want to lie to her either.
“Where are you going and what are you doing?” Immediately her back went perfectly straight and her eyes glared into mine. I squirmed. “And so help me God, if you do not answer me, I will torture you and Sebastian until someone talks.”
“We are going to have a conference with the gods.” I stared at my soup as I answered her.
“And they can’t come do that here?” her voice demanded.
“Well, it isn’t exactly that simple, Mom,” I stammered.
“Then explain it to me, AubrieAnna.” I shivered at her tone. It had been a long time since my mom had talked to me like that.
“Well.” I swallowed hard. “Sebastian and I have to go to sacred ground. We have to call them down. It’s a ritual, and there are certain protocols we have to follow.” I shrank back into the chair, hoping if I made myself small enough she would forget I was there. It didn’t work.