“I still hope we
can find your mom out there somewhere too,” I added softly.
Vance gave me a
soft smile and placed his hand over mine.
“Thank you,” he
said. “I hope for that too.”
The five of us
spent the rest of the evening together, lost in our own thoughts, as we continued
to make products for Grandma. At nine o’clock, Grandma called an end to the
evening.
“We need to get
these kids to bed,” she said. “Vance has school in the morning. Portia and I
can continue things once we get him off.”
Dad and Marsha
agreed. We quickly finished up what we were doing and put things away.
Vance grabbed my
hand, and I followed him up the tiny set of stairs, through the closet and down
the hall into the guest bedroom.
“I’m sorry I lost
my temper earlier,” he apologized, looking truly remorseful.
“You were fine,” I
replied, feeling badly for him. “It’s understandable under the situation.”
“It was wrong.” He
reached over to run his fingers through my hair.
“Do you really
think it’s wise for you to stay here?” I feared his answer.
He sighed in
frustration. “I have to take a stand somewhere, Portia. I’m tired of running. I
want a life, a real life—with you
,
to be precise.” He rested his chin on
the top of my head, moving his hands to run his fingers in lazy strokes up and
down my back. “There’s safety in numbers here. If I leave, we become weaker and
so will the coven.”
“I just don’t want
me to be the reason that keeps you in harm’s way.”
“Portia, I won’t
leave. I’d rather die than be parted from you. And honestly, under our current
physical situation, it would probably feel like death to both of us if we were
to be separated now.”
I nodded,
understanding the point he was trying to make. The separation of a few miles
caused enough torture. I couldn’t imagine him gone completely from my life. Just
the thought gave me torment.
“Don’t even think
about it,” he said, pulling me over to the bed. “It isn’t worth the pain.”
He turned back the
bed covers, and I sat down. I flipped my shoes off, flopping back against the
pillow. It was at this point I heard a scratching sound coming from the window.
“Looks like we
have company.” Vance chuckled and he lifted the windowpane so Jinx could hop
inside.
“Hey, pretty
girl,” I crooned, and she jumped up onto the bed, into my arms. “Did I leave
you behind? I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional.”
Jinx purred
lovingly, nuzzling under my chin.
“Looks like I’ll
have to play second fiddle for your attention tonight,” Vance said with a smile.
He removed his shoes and sat down next to me on the bed.
“Not a chance.” I
grinned. “I can love you both. I’m talented that way.”
The stresses of
the day caught up with us quickly, however, and the three of us were soon fast
asleep.
I was awakened
sometime in the wee hours of the night when Jinx suddenly swiped my face with
her paw, her claws grazing me slightly.
I let out a little
squeal, sitting up in time to see her jump off the bed in the direction of the
window. I gasped when I saw two red, glowing eyes staring in the window at me.
Instantly, Vance
was up beside me.
“Don’t move!” he ordered,
jumping from the bed and running toward the window.
The red eyes
suddenly disappeared, and Vance filled my view as he quickly crawled over the
windowsill in hot pursuit of whatever was out there.
Grandma came
rushing into the room, flipping on the light as she passed the switch. “What is
it?”
“I … I don’t
know,” I stammered, trying to catch my bearings enough to explain the sight I
just beheld. “Something was at the window looking in at us. It had bright red
eyes. Vance told me to stay put and ran off after it.”
Grandma went to
the window and slammed it shut, locking it tight.
“Come with me,”
she said, gesturing abruptly with her hand.
I followed her
into the living room where we sat in the dark, in silence. I nervously ran my
fingers over Jinx, who was curled up in my lap now. Soon we heard a tapping
sound on the door.
“It’s me,” Vance
called out.
Grandma didn’t
move a muscle, but the lock turned and the door opened slowly. Vance entered
the room, and the door swung shut and relocked itself. I didn’t know if he had
done it, or if Grandma had.
“What did you
find?” Grandma asked him.
“Nothing really,”
Vance replied, flopping onto the couch next to me. “Someone was out there, but
whoever they were, they moved really fast. By the time I rounded the corner
after them I couldn’t see anyone at all. I ran another block just to be sure,
but there was nothing. It was like they vanished into thin air.”
“I think we’re
dealing with some very powerful magic here,” Grandma said soberly.
“I agree.” Vance
sighed, sounding as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders. “Those
eyes—they were demon.”
“Uh, demon?” I
said, sitting up straighter. “Could you elaborate, please?”
“A demon is a
witch or warlock who’s been exposed to the dark arts for so long that the evil they
work with will actually begin to possess them,” Vance explained. “The magic
begins to take control of them instead of them controlling their magic. It’s
very bad since the witch or warlock can lose all sense and reason of what’s
right or wrong. It becomes all-consuming to them, causing them to do some very
bad things.”
“Were either of
you ever going to fill me in on this little tidbit of information?” I asked
doubtfully.
“Eventually,”
Grandma said with a sigh. “It isn’t something we’ve had to worry about very
often around here. I guess we kind of overlooked it. I wanted you to feel free
to explore your magic without repercussion.”
“You mean you were
protecting me,” I grumbled. “I’m not a little kid anymore, and I need to know
what’s going on.”
“They think my dad
is a demon,” Vance said softly. “They’ve been trying to protect me, not you.”
“How long have you
known?” Grandma asked, looking surprised by his comment.
“For a while,”
Vance replied. “I first suspected when Sean started recruiting other witches to
help be on the lookout. It was the only reason he’d think we needed the extra
manpower. Plus, it was obvious that the path he’s been on was headed in this
direction.”
“I guess we should
know better than to keep things from you. You have a very quick mind, Vance,”
Grandma responded. “We weren’t trying to keep you out of the loop. We just
wanted you to have a normal life.”
Vance snorted in
disgust. “That’s something that’s never going to happen, no matter how much I
desire it.”
His melancholy
words hung heavily in the air, and we all sat in silence a few moments longer.
“Shall we go back
to bed?” I finally asked, not knowing what else to say.
“No,” Grandma said.
“Not up here at least. Let’s go downstairs.”
She stood up, and
Vance and I followed her to the basement. She pulled a small fold-out bed from
the storage room and set it up with the head of the bed against the wall. When
she was finished, she placed her hand on the cot, muttering a few words, and I
jumped back when it doubled in size into a luxuriously covered bed.
“Nice,” I said
under my breath, feeling a bit in awe over what I’d just seen.
Grandma went to
the shelves that held the collections of crystals and gathered many of them
together. She placed several around the bed, touching each one and whispering a
small incantation. The crystals began glowing.
“Get some rest,”
she said, pointing to the bed. “I doubt we’ll have anymore company tonight, but
I’ll keep watch upstairs anyway.”
“What about your
protection?” I asked, not wanting to leave her to fend for herself alone.
“I have some more
crystals for my room upstairs. I’ll be plenty safe,” she assured me.
I gave her a hug
and thanked her, and she headed up. I made myself comfortable in the bed while
I waited for Vance, who had gone up with her to make sure things were all
right. He was back shortly, and to my surprise he crawled under the covers next
to me.
“I don’t want
anything to separate us tonight,” he explained. “I want to know you’re safe in
my arms.”
I shook my head in
response. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine,” I said solemnly.
“What do you
mean?” He looked confused.
“I don’t think
they’re after me. I think they’re after you.”
Chapter 18
“His name is
Damien Cummings,” he whispered softly into my mind, and I knew exactly whom he
was talking about.
“How come his name
is different than yours?” I asked out loud.
“My mom changed
ours so it would be harder for him to find us.”
I sat still,
pondering this thought for a moment. It had never occurred to me he might be
living under an alias. He was my Vance.
“Vance is my real
name,” he whispered as he decoded my thoughts. “And I’ll always be a Mangum. I’ll
never take my old name back again.”
“Where’d your mom
get the name from?”
His face grew
reflective for a moment, as if he were remembering back to a different time and
place.
“We passed through
a small little town in Oklahoma once that was called Mangum. We were only there
for a couple of days, but Mom was charmed by the place. The people were so down
to earth and very kind to us. She said someday she hoped we could live in a
place just like that. I think changing our name to Mangum was her way of
remembering places full of good people still exist.”
“What a beautiful
memory of her,” I said.
“Yes,” he agreed.
“You must really
miss her.”
“I do, but I
understand why she did what she did. I owe her my life. If she hadn’t run with
me when she did, who knows what kind of disgusting creature I’d be now.”
“She’d be so proud
of you if she could see you now. You’re such a good, determined man.”
He sighed heavily,
and I could see the subject was beginning to wear on him.
“Let’s get some
sleep,” he said. “You need your rest.”
“I’m not going to
break, you know. You don’t need to baby me,” I replied with a small smile.
“Well, get used to
it, because I’m not going to stop anytime soon,” he mumbled into my hair.
It was the last
thing I remembered before I closed my eyes.
The next morning
when I awoke, Vance was already gone. I had no idea what time it was since
there were no windows in the basement and no clock nearby.
I lay in the
comfortable bed for several moments, taking in the things that happened last
night. Finally, I threw the covers back and placed my feet on the floor.
As soon as I’d
finished standing up, the bed behind me immediately shrank back to its original
form and folded itself up against the wall.
“I guess that’s
one way to get rid of company,” I muttered to myself, staring in awe at the
bed.
Walking in a
circle, I picked up all of the glowing crystals and carried them over to the shelf,
replacing them in their proper spots.
“Good morning,
sleepyhead,” Vance’s voice chuckled in my head. “Or should I say afternoon?”
“Afternoon? What
time is it?”
“It’s noon.” He
laughed. “I’m upstairs. Milly’s feeding me lunch.”
I hurried up the
stairs to meet them, combing my fingers through my hair and rubbing at any dark
circles that might be under my eyes.
“Well, someone was
tired!” Grandma laughed as I entered the kitchen.
“Sorry,” I
apologized. “I think it was that dark basement. I had no idea what time it
was.”
“That’s just
fine,” she replied. “Vance said to let you rest because you’d tossed and
turned all night.”
“I did?” I asked,
not remembering any such thing.
“You had your
dream again,” he said, in between bites of his sandwich.
“Really? I don’t
remember,” I replied, surprised.
“It was a little
different this time though.”
“How so?”
“You were running
toward something in the fog, not away from it.”
“Hmm. That’s
interesting. Was I calling for you?”
He nodded.
“Well, thanks for
helping me out again,” I said.
“That’s always my
pleasure,” he said, standing and coming over to give me a hug.
Grandma placed
another sandwich on the table. “Come and eat, Lollipop.”
“Thanks, Grandma.”
I went to sit at the table. “I’m sorry I’ve wasted half of the day away. I know
you have things you wanted me to help you with.”
“Don’t worry about
it. I worked on my project up here this morning. I actually got everything done
already.”
“I’ve got to go,
baby,” Vance broke in from behind me, leaning over to place a kiss on my cheek.
“Already?”
“Just half a day,
and then I’m all yours.” He smiled reassuringly at me. “And you get to come
back to school with me tomorrow.”
“Who’d have ever
thought I’d be excited about that?” I laughed, following him to the door.
He hugged me again
before he left, placing a light kiss on my cheek, and I watched until he was
out of sight.
“Finish up your
sandwich, and then you and I’ll have a little history lesson together,” Grandma
said.
“History?” I
asked.
“Yes. It’s time I
introduce you into the world of the dark arts.”
“Excuse me?” I
choked.
“This isn’t
something I like to do, but knowledge is power. With all the crazy stuff that’s
been happening, I figure you need to be aware.”
“All right,” I
agreed, and I hurried to finish my food.
After we went back
into the basement, Grandma pulled a very large, ancient looking book out of the
storeroom and set it on the table in front of me.