Marc gives me a risqué glance
;
he knows exactly what I
’
m thinking.
“
I
’
ll be back before you know it, love you.
”
I whisper
,
“
I love you
”
back to him, but he had al
ready shifted out of the room.
Megan and Lisa are standing in the doorway smiling from ear to ear.
“
Hey guys,
you
’
re
just in time for karaoke.
”
I shift next to the bathroom and say over my shoulder to Megan,
“
Music please, and
let
’
s
keep anything with fire out of it.
”
“
Here, I think I may have something you might like, Alyss.
”
Megan gives me a dirty, naughty grin, and the beating of music soon erupts through the bathroom. I
’
m standing up on my tiptoes trying to rip off the sheet that I had painstakin
gly taped over the mirror when my
brain comprehends what song is serenading me,
I kissed a girl
?...I growl out to Megan.
Megan and Lisa both bust out laughing, finally after Megan can talk,
“
Come here Alyssa...
I need to give you something
...
”
I roll my eyes and shut the door, once dressed in a
fitting
soft grey long sleeve top and black jeans I find Lisa, and Megan lying comfortably on the bed.
“
Hey, you look like you
’
r
e
feeling better, from what your mom
said earlier this morning, you’re
going home today.
”
Lisa smiles as she scoots over giving me room to sit
down
beside her.
A light knock at the
door
and Megan shifts over to open it. David stands there with a hot cup
of herbal
tea in one hand.
Megan nods her head at Lisa,
“
Come on Lisa,
let
’
s
give David and Alyssa time to catch up in private.
”
Without another word they shift out of the room. David hands me the cup of tea,
“
Hey, how are you feeling?
”
I blow on the tea, cooling it down, taking a sip,
“
I
’
m good, and Lisa says I look better so
it
’
s
official
,
”
I say laughing. David walks over and sits down on the bed, placing his face in his
hands;
silence is the only sound in the room.
I sit my tea on the table when David begins,
“
Alyssa...I don
’
t know what to say except that I
’
m so sorry
…
.
”
B
efore he says another word
,
I get up and gently touch his shoulder.
“
Let
’
s
go for a walk
.
”
I grab one of his hands and lead him out to the deck. He follows me down to the river
’
s edge, sitting by a rocky tree
-
lined
em
bank
ment
, we watch the clear rippling waters flow by,
“
David, whatever Naomi did, I don
’
t want you to feel entirely liable. We can
’
t impose ourselves on someone else, whatever the influences one might think, they are still in charge of their own actions
.”
As I say this to him
,
I slowly take off my shoes and place my feet into the cool water letting the current run over my toes. He leans closer to
me;
I c
an tell he
’
s still distressed.
“
Alyssa, I don
’
t think you
understand, I told her about you—
”
I hold up a hand to him,
“
I know
David, but it was still her will to do whatever her i
ntent was, and it was her alone. D
id you force her to read and cast black magick spells, did you tell her to cause harm to others? No, I don
’
t think so, and you know our saying about a
witches will
, we can chant our spells in Gaelic, Latin, French, or even Hungarian, but the m
ain factor is the witches
will
.”
Our words mean nothing if we don
’
t put our personal intent into it. So, with that being said,
let
’
s
say
it
’
s
the past and move forward. If you can
’
t move on then maybe we shouldn
’
t be friends anymore.
”
David looks at me
,
giving me a smirk,
“
What are we twelve now Alyss?
”
I smile and lean back on the sun warmed rock, splaying my arms and hands out, the sensation of being out in the sun is an absolute gift to me. I still love the night, but I think I have developed a new fou
nd passion for the day.
Looking up into the royal blue sky, observing the fleecy white clouds pass by, David leans back as well and holds my hand,
“
You
’
r
e
a hard act to follow Alyssa, so I don
’
t know how much moving on I
’
ll get, but I can say this you
’
ll always have a part of my heart.
”
I roll my eyes at him, I jerk up quickly to hit him in the arm.
“
That
’
s exactly the kind of stuff that got you in this position
.
”
H
e moves back laughing at me. A sharp pain radiates through my ribs, I quickly wrap my arm around myself protectively.
“
Let
’
s get you back up t
o the house.
”
H
e scoots down, grabbing my shoes and picks me up, as he begins carrying me back towards the house.
“
Why are you carrying me
?
”
I
giv
e
him an evil eye.
“
Well, it
’
s better than watching you pass out and dragging you, wouldn
’
t it?
”
he says with a raised brow. We get about halfway to the house when I feel the familiar tingling rush through my body and then Marc appears in front of David.
“
Here, I
’
ve got her
.
”
I can sense Marc feeling a little possessive over me and I think David gets the same vibe, gently handing me over into Marc
’
s awaiting arms, with a satisfied expression, Marc says,
“
Ready to go home?
”
I smile
and say,
“
Definitely.
”
Marc nods at David and thanks him for helping. Once we are back in the bedroom Lisa and Velain are waiting for us. Marc sits me on the bed.
“
Let me see if your mom is ready for me to pull the car around
,
”
he states and
vanishes out of the room. I reach up and slip off the
Cimaruta
amulet;
I don
’
t believe I have ever removed it until now, handing it over to Velain.
She places her warm hands over mine.
“
This
,
my child, is your
s to
keep, our goddess wishes it to be,
and she
’
ll
always reveal what lies deep within our hearts, this
is a
very powerful charm
for
you
.
Alyssa, the enlightenment in the darkened places, may you never forget, dr
eamseer and keeper of the gates.
S
o
m
ote
i
t
b
e.
”
She smiles knowingly and her eyes glisten like a polished jade stone. Velain gingerly brushes a strand of my hair behind my ear, kissing me on the forehead
she says,
“
Don
’
t forget to invite Chandelle.
”
A
nd she shifts away.
I give a confused look to Lisa who is
sitting in the burgundy chair.
“
I didn
’
t even get to tell her thank you, and what does she mean invite Chandelle?
”
Lisa looks just as confused, s
hrugging her shoulders.
“
Who knows, could be a million and one
thing
s
, but for now I think we need to get you ready to leave.
”
She helps me straighten up the room and apparently my clothes I wor
e
here are destroyed, so no worries in packing anything. I find a slip of paper and I jot down a thank you
note and leave it on the night
stand.
Lisa intertwines her arm through mine and says beamingly,
“
Ready?
”
I smile back and confirm
,
“
Ready.
”
I walk slowly down the hallway, I can hea
r voices mumbling about and it
’
s
not just a couple either. Turning the corner into a massive size living
room are about fifty witches.
Some are from our coven
that
I recognize, but others I have no clue who they are. The room becomes eerily silent as I enter, I nod as I pass a few, but then everyone begins to form a line in front of me, wanting to shake my hand or send their blessings to me. It reminds me of the formal coven events my father has taken me to years ago, but not
exactly l
ike this.
Lisa whispers over to me,
“
You were in the hands of death just a little over a week ago and here you are walking as if nothing has ever happened.
”
I don
’
t feel like they should see me as such a miracle, but instead I
’
m the one to be forever grateful to each and every witch here, for giving me a chance to have my life back. So I stop and thank each and every witch I can, including my mother and father.
O
nce I reach the door where Marc stands, looking up to his captivating
eyes
and
I thank him.
Marc and I climb into the backseat of my mother
’
s black Mercedes, and I watch as we drive out of the obscuring driveway and onto the highway towards home.
Looking through the tinted glass windows watching as the scenery change, I remember the race, the drive with Lisa and Megan and the mind sweep spell we did on Alberto,
I think that
’
s what his name was anyway
. I also realize a very important element that I didn
’
t do that day, my protection spell.
My mother is watching me thr
ough the rear
view mirror,
“
Alyssa, you
’
r
e
awful
ly
quiet
, what
’
s on your mind?
”
I sigh as I lean my head on Marc
’
s shoulder,
“
I was just reminiscing ab
out the day of the wreck, I realize
I didn
’
t do my usual protection spell that morning, I had to leave to help Megan and Lisa
cast
a mind sweep.
”
My mom glances up with a bit of a stunned expression, then after a moment a soft smile crosses her face.