“
I think I
’
m about to have a flipping heart attack, Dad.
”
Placing my hands over my pounding chest,
“
Don
’
t do that to me
.
”
S
tartling me, but once I see it
’
s my dad, my nerves calm down and my pulse resumes its normal rhythm.
He leans over with his hand under his chin, watching me.
“
I thought I would find you out here, how many nights has it been Alyssa?
”
I try to give him a confused look, but I know better.
“
I don
’
t know,
”
I sigh out,
“
Ok
ay
, every night I go through this, and every night I find myself out here
.
”
I w
av
e
my hands in the direction of the deck. He studies me for a few seconds,
and then
he stands up, grabbing my hand, leading me down into the backyard area.
“
You need to heal Alyssa,
”
my dad states as he sits me down beside the flowing river.
“
I am,
Dad
, I don
’
t hurt nearly as much as before, I
’
m moving around and...
”
B
efore I can say anything else he stops me
.
H
e
tenderly
places
his hand over my heart.
“
Not here you haven
’
t Alyssa, we are going to do a banishing spell.
There are two
reasons; O
ne
,
to protect you, so that you can rest, and accept your gift as a dreamseer. Two, is to bind forever Naomi
’
s negativity so she can not harm another.
”
“
Alyssa, I love you and I can
’
t sit by and watch you pretend she doesn
’
t still have a hold on you. I can see it.
”
He moves my chin up so
I will look directly at him, I know he can see my eye, which appears as just a small broken blood vessel, and what Velain had said before, a remnant of Naomi
’
s world still clings to me.
I sit in the reposing grass watching as
Dad
begins casting the circle,
when Marc comes bolting out,
my dad raises a hand and asks him not to enter the circle while he seals it. Marc stands off to the side for a moment, but begins pacing feverishly, just beyond the boundary.
He reminds me of a stalking, restless animal watching carefully as something he cherishes dearly, becomes threatened, diligently waiting for any sign of impending danger to suddenly arise, ready and fully prepared to take on whatever it may be.
I give him a hesitating glance, not quite sure how this will go. Part of me feels safe and
secure with
him there, but another doesn
’
t want him to see if it turns out ugly. I
’
m beginning to believe
the latter
when Velain brings an oblong covered mirror out to my dad.
They adjust the mirror just a few feet in front of me and my hands become instantly shaky and clammy. I know my dad wants me to overcome my fear and this is something I don
’
t really think I
’
m ready for. Marc
’
s stern voice starts questioning my dad, but my father quickly reassures him this is the best way to help me.
My father remains inside the
circle;
he stands right behind me which makes me feel so much better. His hands shoot out a stream of fire lighting the black candles which surround us and closing the circle.
He leans down next to my ear and whispers,
“
Cast your invocation Alyssa,
” I
clear my throat, and think to myself
now or never,
running my fingers nervously through my hair I begin my chant.
“
I am here to banish negative influences from my life. Right now, Naomi
Payton
is exerting an extreme dark force upon me. I only ask of the gods and goddess to assist me in banishing these forces and eliminating her destructiveness.
”
The wind picks up, blowing my hair in front of my face, the candles flicker back, but never waver away. My dad pulls the black velvet cover from the mirror,
it
’
s
about as tall as I am, and the wooden designs are embellis
hed with unique runic symbols.
My heart is pounding so hard I can hear it throbbing in my ears. He adjusts it, so that I can now see the reflection of us. I
’
m utterly petrified of seeing an image of
her
, forever flaming red hair and her demented blood soaked eyes staring back at me. My dad places a small bowl of salt water beside me and instructs me to dip my fingers,
“
Now sprinkle the drops over the mirror and recite after me
.
”
I do exactly as he ask
s
me, and begin to chant
.
“
In the name of the
l
ord and th
y
l
ady, I charge you to serve me within this circle, I clear you of all former influences and energies that you may fit for the workings of
m
agick herein.
”
Looking into the mirror I purse my lips together and blow cold air on it, I write Naomi
’
s name on the frosted glass,
“
Now I call upon thee, the image I see will not lie to me.
Bind the evil and unveil Naomi
’
s spell...
.
”
Before I can continue with the ritual the mirror before me becomes distorted and our reflections change. An image surfaces in the
limpid mirror.
Naomi, standing in her bedroom alone, candles scatter with a hazy glow filling the area, and she
’
s performing a black magick spell. Enthralled, I watch her remove part of the flooring, burying a picture of David and
me
, covering it w
ith dirt and chanting a spell.
As she stands up and walks back to the center of her circle, her footprints singe the wooden flooring with each step. As she continues her galling medley she opens up her book of shadows.
Her candles slowly
melting
away
, and the words and symbols that were carved upon them have
completely dissolved
as the hot wax flows down
ward
. I realize I
’
m seeing the past, as Naomi summoned the dark magick for her need in casting this particular spell.
I catch a glimpse of pictures in her room when she was much
younger;
an exuberant young woman at various different events, and one I could vaguely make out was of her and David together precisely taped to her mirror on a
vanity
. How could such destruction come to someone and totally devour them? I begin to understand why my father is encouraging me to do this, to let go of my fears and all the negativity.
My heart sinks as I watch the vision continue to unfold
, Naomi
stands up staring back into the mirror at me,
and I
can see pain filled tears silently stream from her evergreen eyes, stray down her beautiful porcelain face. The mirror actually starts bubbling up as if
it
’
s
submerged in fire. A glass vase and a single
red
rose sits on an edge of a table, which begins to melt along with the lamps, and everything else within the room.
Flames from the candles rise higher and Naomi pays no attention, she just seems so entranced in her own spell, mind numbing as I notice her take a tall slim glass of stygian liquid and in one quick drink she has it down.
The walls turn black and combust into red hot flames running down to the floor engulfing it with ambers of blazing fire. The bed, the vanity, the bookshelves, and all the pictures are swallowed up by the inferno. She remains in the center of the
fire;
one hand holds her only book, and the other reaching towards the sky, allowing the flames of darkness to consume her.
I feel as if I
’
m watching someone
’
s very soul die right in front of me, tears flow down my own face. At first it is two or three salt staining tears and then like a gate, it floods open. I cry for what I see
,
and for all the needless pain that everyone went through. In the mi
d
st of it all, a few tiny drops of water begin to fall on her book, s
lowly running along the singed
pages she holds open.
More and more tears drop and cascade throughout the room, as if a rain cloud had suddenly appeared, washing away the flames. And she still remains standing and chanting her words in the rain, and I
’
m wishing my rain of tears will give her life, a new life, perhaps one day she will be reborn and have the love of her
lifemate
.
I reach out to the mirror and touch it gently,
“
I banish you in the flames and rising out of your world with the smoke, blazing force of cleansing fire, help me in this rite. By the air and the earth, water, and fire, so be you bound. With this rite, your power takes flight, sky and sea, keep harm from me. Cord go round, power be bound. Your negativity will no longer be found. From henceforth, your
power is banished over me.
S
o m
ote
i
t
b
e.
”
The mirror shatters into pieces and I slump over feeling my own energy drained from casting the spell. My father gives thanks to the gods and goddess and closes the circle. I had never experienced such reprieve, Marc shifts next to me, helping me to a stand. My dad gathers up the broken bits of glass from the mirror,
“
She
’
s going to rest now Marc, probably a few hours.
”
The next thing I know
,
I
’
m in Marc
’
s arms and he shifts us back to our room. My dad
i
s right, as soon as I
’
m in bed I fall asleep and no nightmares, no going into the otherworlds, not even a simple dream.
Chapter 47
I awake with the touch of Marc
’
s softhearted caresses along my face,
“
Hey
,
”
I say to him in
a
sleepy
tone. He props hims
elf up by his elbow
s
beside me.
“
Do you want something to eat?
”
Shaking my head I reply,
“
No, but I would love a shower.
”
Marc gives me a wicked grin as
he
says,
“
I would love to join you, but your dad and I need to leave for a little while, Lisa, Dawson, Megan
,
and David are all here and I
’
m just betting one of them will keep you company while I
’
m gone, I would prefer for you to leave them out while you take your shower though
.
”
H
e playfully winks at me and I make a pouting face at him as he leans down and kisses my pouting lips.
“
You know I can
’
t resist you when you do that,
”
he states as he moves back.
“
Look, the sooner I leave, the sooner I
’
ll be back.
”
I wrap my arm around his neck pulling him down to me and give him a kiss go
odbye. I sit up watching him dress
in his black button up shirt and faded jeans, he shifts into the bathroom. When he strolls back out his golden hair is as spiky as ever, he presses his body over to me, kissing lightly as he fastens the last button on his dress shirt. All I really want to do is grab his shirt and rip every last button completely off and throw his shirt down, making him crawl back into bed with me. I sigh to myself thinking,
yeah
, I
’
m d
efinitely feeling much better.