Fighting Destiny (Central Coven) (41 page)

“Chloë, n…n…no,” Anita struggled to say.  “You said Simone’s blood didn’t alter you.  We don’t have a choice Anita,” I argued, and shoved my wrist in her face.  She turned her face away, resisting with the last of her strength. 

I turned to Dean and Finn, “Leave.  Find Grey.  Do what you can.  We will
both
be fine. I promise.  Now go.”  “Chloë are you strong enough for this?” Finn asked nervously.  “I’m not strong enough to fight Alexander right now if that is what it takes to save Grey.  Go, we are running out of time.”  The second they turned their backs, before I mentally prepared myself, Anita sank her sharp incisors into my flesh.  I choked back a gasp, and let my mind absorb the sounds around me. 

At first it was quiet, too quiet.  No animals scurried about, no footsteps carried, only the hush of wind blowing through pine needles.  Then the growl of a cougar broke the silence, and the loud thud of bodies colliding followed.  The battle must have been violent, because the impact shook the ground. 

The bashing and thrashing of bodies continued to accelerate, until there was a sharp crack of breaking wood.  Followed by a keening screeching impact, like someone tried to stab a boulder, and then nothing.

After a handful of seconds, Anita let go of my wrist.  “I’m okay.  Go see what is going on.  I’ll be behind you in a second,” she insisted, her voice clear and strong.  I used my wand to flash a bandage on my wrist, while I tried to run to find the location of the noise.  I was woozy, but I continued to navigate through the forest to find Grey.

I sensed Anita blaze ahead of me, so I followed the whoosh her lighting fast movement created.  I was not expecting what was at the end of the path.  “Oh…Lord!” I exclaimed, when I saw Alexander.  Grey had driven a steak straight through his heart, and pinned him to a large pine tree.  The sun was shining, causing his skin to redden and blister.  He had blood pouring out of his mouth, nose, and ears. 

If he were left there he would surely die, since there wasn’t a single person left to save him.  I hated him, but I couldn’t imagine the hours of suffering he had ahead of him before he died.  There had been enough suffering here for several lifetimes already.  I looked at Anita for permission, and she nodded.  Then I cupped my hands together, conjured a flame, and opened my hands spewing fire in a steady stream.  Alexander caught fire, but the tree he was nailed to did not.  His suffering ended, and so did his reign of bloodshed.

“Remind me never to piss you off again,” Finn said jokingly.  “Sorry, can’t, because I plan on forgetting all of this the moment it is over,” I answered honestly.  “Where is Grey?” I asked, fighting my growing panic.  We heard agonized moans coming from what little shade remained. 

Grey lay on the ground, blood trailing from his eyes, nose, and ears.  He was also choking on blood, as his body began to shut down.  “Damn you Grey,” I admonished, “how the hell could you let it get this far?”  Grey didn’t answer. He was incoherent, and definitely not able to help himself.

We crowded around him trying to block out as much sun as possible.  “What do we do?” I asked at a loss.  “We can’t move him.  He won’t make it if we try,” Anita told us.  “We can’t leave him here!” I snapped.  “We bury him, and hope for the best.  It sucks, but what else can we do?” Finn stated. 

I blinked back tears.  My eyes felt hot, like my eyes were bleeding too.  “Do it,” I said tersely.  Finn raised his hands above his head, with one hand cupped in the other, and separated them forcefully.  A pit opened up next to Grey.  We carefully picked him up and gently placed him in the hole.  “I’ll be back for you tonight,” I whispered.  Then Finn covered him with dirt.

“He’ll heal, Chloë.  No one will bother him today.  We do need to make sure he has some…uhm…
supplies
waiting when he gets up,” Anita advised.  “Yeah…of course…uhhhh…he has a fridge in his basement with blood from a blood bank.  I’ll just go get that, and a change of clothes, and be back here by dark,” I responded. 

“Let me do it,” Anita insisted.  “You helped me when I needed it, now, let me do this for you.  Trust me, you don’t want to see him that way, and he won’t want you to see it either.”  “Okay, if you think it is best,” I agreed.  She was right, I didn’t want to see him like this ever again.

When we got to the dorm we fell into our beds, and stayed there until late in the afternoon.  I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I was missing something.  It was probably because I didn’t know if Grey was all right. 

I decided to get out of bed, and take a shower.  I gathered my things quietly, because Anita was still sleeping, but when I got back to my room, Anita was gone.  A knock at the door pulled me out of my worry.  I yanked it open and found Finn and Dean impatiently waiting on the other side.

“Anita is already gone.” “We know, she stopped by while you were in the shower,” Dean replied.  I nodded nervously. She was going to see Grey. I would know soon.  “C’mon, let’s get some dinner, while we wait for her to call,” Dean said, and tossed me my coat.  “I’m not hungry,” I refused.  “Too bad, you’re going,” Finn said forcing me into my coat. 

“Fine, I’ll go, but I’m not eating,” I replied petulantly.  “Chloë you need to relax.  We know you’re worried about Grey, but the dude is like a thousand years old,” Dean pointed out.  “I know…I mean logically I know.  But something feels wrong.  Don’t you feel it?” I asked them.  They both shrugged.  Boys, as Anita would say. They are completely oblivious to everything, unless it’s right in front of them. Even then you have to point it out.

Outside the biting cold of the November night didn’t have the same chill it usually did, since spending an entire night fighting in it.  It almost seemed balmy in comparison to last night.  We took our turns through the dining room line, choosing fully loaded cheeseburgers, fries, and desserts.  It seemed despite my protesting that I was actually starving.  It was probably because I had lost so much blood.  The atmosphere around us appeared loaded with suspicious glances, and fear. 

For the first time, since I got my powers I feared my magic was exposed.  I forced myself to relax and examine everyone around me.  It wasn’t me they were suspicious of, or rather not only me.  Everyone was suspicious of each other.  Simone and Angeline might be gone, but they left fear behind them to fester.

We sat down at a table and picked up a copy of the school paper.  There was an editorial about that horrible Halloween party.  The author questioned whether the water was drugged, or if there were witches and vampires among us.  “Well crap, so much for people being too traumatized to remember all of the details,” I griped. 

“Is there a spell or something that can make everyone forget?” Finn asked.  “Yes, but I think more magic will make this worse. Besides, I don’t think I could cast a spell right now.”  “Are you okay?  You looked really shaky coming down from the hills,” Finn inquired. “So what do we do?” Dean interrupted.  “I think we do nothing.  Or, I guess we can make it look like ergot fungus.  That is what was the Salem witch accusations have been blamed on,” I told them. 

“How do we do that?” Dean asked.  “Now that is the easiest part.  I’m going to take this article, and write what I want it to say, and then I’m going to burn it.  Simple,” I said smugly. Dean pulled a pen out of a pocket of his cargo jeans and handed it to me.  “No time like the present,” he said.

“I thought you couldn’t cast a spell right now.  Please don’t over do it.  Dean stop encouraging her, she was about to pass out last night.  Her nose was bleeding.  I’m not sure how she didn’t faint.”  “I’m stronger than I was, but the two of you are going to have to join with me so I can cast this spell.  Finn’s right I’m running on fumes.”  “Chloë, Anita will have my ass if I let you hurt yourself.  You don’t have to do this.”  “Yeah I do.  If we don’t clean this up the
Council
will step in.  We could be exposed, and we would have to leave here.”

I wrote about the Salem witch trials, and the discovery of ergot fungus on their rye crop, and in their bread.  I described how ergot could create hallucinations, along with many other afflictions that were erroneously attributed to witchcraft.  By the time I finished my paragraph, I could have convinced myself there was a scientific explanation behind what had occurred on Halloween.

We finished eating quickly. When we left Dean pulled us toward a trashcan outside.  Out of another one of his cavernous pocket he pulled out a zippy lighter and handed it to me.  I held the article over the trashcan and set it on fire.  Dean and Finn both placed a hand on my shoulders.  I held the corner of the paper until the fire approached my fingers.  I released the cinder flying into the winter wind.  There was a sizzle and pop, and the heaviness of suspicion disappeared. 

“So what happens now?” Finn asked.  “Now we go find a paper.”  We walked back towards our dorm, and inside stacked on the table were the latest copy of the school paper.  Dean picked it up and began to read.

“This is completely different than it was earlier,” he said surprised.  “
An off-campus Halloween party became truly horrifying when party goers suffered hallucinations at an 18
th
street apartment complex, because of a home beer brewing system that became infested with the fungus ergot,” Dean read.
“Anyone who read it earlier will only remember reading this version.  Even the author will only remember this version,” I explained.

The sky had grown steadily darker the entire time we were inside the dining hall.  I stole a glance at my watch.  Already it was one hour past sunset, and still no word from Anita.  Finn nudged me with his elbow, “Come hang out with us in our room. 

I was exhausted, despite having spent the entire day in bed.  If I were human, I would have gone to the hospital and had a blood transfusion, but it wouldn’t work for me.  Instead, I had eaten as much as I could stomach. Despite the iron rich meal, I was still weak.  As we rounded the corner between one set of dorms, and ours, the world slanted sideways.  I didn’t have the strength to stop how fast I was heading toward the pavement. Not only had I used too much magic, but I had also lost too much blood.  I was slipping into a fog, and I couldn’t summon the strength to care. 

“You really have to stop passing out like this,” Finn gently scolded.  I opened my eyes, but I was too weak to speak.  “Finn, look how pale she is,” Dean commented.  “What do we do?” Finn asked nervously.  “I don’t know.  We can’t take her to the hospital,” Dean answered worried.  “I know, but we have to do something.”  “Let’s take her upstairs. She has to have something in her drawers that will help,” Dean said.

“Chloë, stay awake okay?” Finn demanded.  We were back in my room.  I opened my eyes, and tried to stay conscious, but it was hard.  I heard them rifling around my drawers, and I wanted to help, but the urge to sleep was so strong…

“Chloë, knock that off!” Finn shouted and shook me.  “Finn look at her eyes,” Dean said worried.  “Shit,” Finn muttered under his breath.  “Chloë, your eyes are light brown.  You have to help us,” Finn demanded.  In the back of the drawer I had a bottle of ambrosia, the only thing that would help me.  It was my
first aid kit.

Most of the history of supernaturals has been absorbed into myths and legends, but there is a grain of truth in the stories.  In ancient Greece witches and wizards presented themselves to the people as gods.  They reshaped the world the way they wanted it to be, instead of the way it was supposed to be.  They used magic freely and openly, as a result they relied heavily on ambrosia to keep them healthy.

Finn held out three bottles of potions, I reached out one shaky hand and touched the one in the thick green glass, with a gold bottle stopper.  He pulled off the top, and I drank the contents.  I opened my eyes, and revealed a rich dark brown.  “Thank God!” Finn sighed in relief.

I sat up, with some help from Finn.  “Thank you,” I said and squeezed his hand.  “Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Finn scolded.  “Why didn’t you just tell us how much strain you were under?” Dean joined in.  “Would you have let me help Anita if I did?” I asked. 

“I’m glad that you helped her, but I don’t want you putting yourself in danger,” Dean said.  “I won’t do it again dad,” I said with a smirk.  “She’s feeling better,” Finn observed.  “I am, really, and I’m sorry about passing out.  I thought I could handle it, ” I apologized. 

I looked them both in the eye, so they would understand.  “Please, don’t tell Anita about this.  She feels bad enough I had to help her that way, I don’t want her to ever know how difficult it really was for me.”  They nodded in agreement, and I knew they would help me protect Anita.  I didn’t think she would be exactly the same as before. We needed to be prepared.

There was a soft thud and a light tapping at the glass.  We all jumped up, but Dean was closest. He opened the window, and Anita climbed in.  She was completely disheveled, she had mud caked in her hair, under her nails, and all over her face and clothes.  She was crouched on top of the radiator.  In her unkempt state looked more like a feral creature than my roommate.

She jumped down, and pulled a note from her back pocket.  It was also covered in dirt.  I started to wipe it off and open it, but I didn’t need to.  The look on her face said it all.  “I’m sorry,” she said.  “Did you see him?” I asked.  “No, only my father.  I can’t believe he just left.”

“Finn,” Anita began, “Your parents have left too. I’m sorry that I have to come back here and tell everyone bad news.”  “Anita, don’t worry,” Finn shrugged, “They disappeared before.  At least this time I know that they left because they wanted to.  I’ll talk to them again.”  “Why? I mean we won, so why is everyone leaving?” I asked.  “Well are you going to read that damn thing or not?” Anita asked, pointing at the note.  I thought about it, and realized I wanted to talk to her more than I wanted to read it.  Anita, irritated by my delay, placed her hand on her hip, and glared at me.  I shook my head no.