Chapter 15

I was shocked to see my mom in the kitchen before me. Bacon sizzling in the pan and waffles already on the counter with a bottle of syrup. My stomach growled as the smell hit my nose, alerting mom that I was there.

“Hey honey, go ahead and eat.”

I did as I was told and sat down. Pouring the sticky syrup over everything I dug in. Something about homemade waffles just tasted better, especially my mom’s. I missed her cooking more than I realized and ate everything quickly, even grabbing a second serving. Mom went to answer the door when Cameron came knocking, welcoming him with open arms.

“Good morning,” he greeted me.

Mom served him a plate with a smile before sitting down with her own.

“Do your parents know you’re here?” she asked.

“No, ma’am. They think I’m at the library,” he replied, taking a bite.

“Is the library even open this early?” I questioned.

“No, but they don’t know that.”

I rolled my eyes as Mom and he laughed. We stayed home for the remaining time, making final preparations. Mom found her athame and we cleansed everything. When everything was done, we packed it in an old backpack we had from moving. After that, all we could do was wait. According to the news, the eclipse wouldn’t even start until 3 p.m. When the clock struck 2, we planned on walking over.

“You two should go over how the ritual will play out,” Mom said. “Make sure you’re both on the same page and know what will happen.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “Let’s go out to the garden and walk through everything.”

Cameron led the way. I’m sure both he and Mom could tell I had something on my mind. I couldn’t tell them what I was thinking. They both made it clear what they thought we should do.

“Alright so what’s first?” he asked.

Clearing my throat, I started to explain where everything was going to be placed and why. Cameron nodded along, trying to commit everything to memory, asking questions every now and then. When we started to go over the steps we would take, tension became palpable. It was clear we were in a disagreement, even if we never outright said it.

Nonetheless I walked him through the spell he wanted. Step by step, word for word, until there was nothing left to rehearse. Though I had everything figured out in my head, I was nervous beyond comprehension.

“Hey,” He said softly. “We got this.”

“I know.” I sighed. “I should be the one comforting you, not the other way around.”

“As long as we do this exactly right,” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Then I have nothing to worry about.”

“But what if it doesn’t work?” I questioned. “You’re okay with dying?”

He let out a sigh, turning to fully face me. “Do I want to die? No; but I would rather take that risk than risking you.”

Without giving me a chance to respond he turned around and went back inside. How could he be so content with the risk? I was so frustrated I felt my throat close up as I fought back tears. If mom and dad were in this situation, what would they do? The answer was as clear as it was simple, they would do anything for each other.

I made up my mind at that moment. Nothing could stop me from breaking this curse once and for all. When 2 o’clock came around we started walking to the clearing, no words were spoken, both of us were too focused on what was to be done to be bothered by idle chit chat.

Walking into the clearing, my nerves were shot. Cameron carried all the supplies we needed in the backpack hanging from his shoulder. For the first time since this all started, he looked worried, maybe even scared. Though I wasn’t sure if it was fear from the prospect of death that hung over us, or if the ritual made him nervous.

We walked into the center of the clearing, dropping the back carefully on the grass. I tried to keep taking deep breaths, calming both my mind and body. Cameron started handing me everything from the bag, one by one I placed them exactly where they needed to be. Not a single thing could be out of place, nothing could go wrong.

“You feel ready?” He asked, glancing at me from time to time.

“As ready as I can be.” I sighed. “How about you?”

His head bobbed as he nodded. Shortly after, everything was set up. We still had time before the eclipse started, but we had to start soon if we were gonna do this on time. Stepping into the circle of candles we turned to face each other.

“Let’s start,” I said, trying to sound strong.

“Wait.” He brought his hands to rest on my cheeks, eyes flickering to my lips. Leaning in, he silently asked permission, and instead of answering I met him halfway.

His lips were soft against mine, everything seemed to fade away as our emotions poured out in that moment. Nothing about it was rushed, and when he eventually pulled away it was only enough to bring his lips to my forehead instead.

“What was that for?” I asked, keeping my voice quiet. I didn’t want to ruin the moment.

“I needed to know if you felt the same,” he said, looking me in my eyes.

Mom was right, with the way his eyes bore into mine, you would think I had hung the moon.

“Did you get your answer?”

He smiled. “For now.”

Pulling away, we had no more time to wait. We knelt down on the ground, knees touching as we faced each other. Taking a deep breath, I was ready to start.

“The element of water, I call upon thee to wash away all impurities.” I invoked, raising my hand, lighting the candles at the north of the circle.

“The element of air, I call upon thee to carry my magic on your breeze.” Lighting the candles in the east; along with the dragon’s blood incense.

“The element of fire, I call upon thee to burn bright and guide me.” The candles of the south erupted in light.

“The element of earth, I call upon thee to keep steady and ground me.” Lastly the candles in the west completed the circle.

Taking the water, I dipped my fingers and began drawing sigils on Cameron’s skin. The air was warm causing them to dry quickly. The smell of Angelica root burning mixed with the dragon’s blood hit my nose causing it to sting.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, wiping off my hands.

“Alive,” he joked.

I smiled at him. “Good,” I responded.

Watching the clock, we waited until just before the eclipse started. Once the clock struck 3, I pulled out the athame. Taking off the blade cover, I looked at him.

“Where do you want me to cut?”

Silently he held out his arms, wrists facing the sky and hands curled into fists. Hesitantly, I touched the metal of the blade to his skin, looking at him one more time to make sure he was sure. He nodded and before I could talk myself out of it, I sliced two thin red lines. One on each arm. Then it was my turn, holding out my hand, one at a time I slid the knife across each palm. Hissing at the sting, I heard the pounding of my heart in my ears.

Placing each hand on the open wounds of his arms. Allowing our blood to combine made our energies come together. Heartbeats starting to beat in unison. The light slowly started to leave the sky, making my breath hitch in my throat. Looking at Cameron you could see the color draining from his face, his breathing becoming more and more shallow. My hands burned against his arms, blood not stopping as our hearts beat faster and faster. Only one beat out of panic, however.

“Cameron, keep breathing,” I demanded. “It’ll all be over soon.”

He looked at me, trying his best to take deeper breaths. Glancing at the sky I couldn’t see the bright blue hue anymore.

Clearing my throat, I began the incantation.

“Blood meets blood.

Clean and cursed.

Take the magic, and disperse.”

The blood in our veins began glowing as the magic entered them. Mine white, his black, and where we met, they mixed to gray.

“Magic hidden dark and unclean, Come to the surface to be seen.

Release the hold that is bound.

In the blood from body to ground.”

I could feel his pulse slowly regain its strength. His skin was still cold, and pale. I could feel my arms starting to go weak, but I had to finish. Ignoring the churning in my stomach and focusing my mind, I continued.

“Reverse the curse in these veins.

Allow my body to take his pain.”

“What?” Cameron looked at me, eyes wide and tried to rip his arms out of my hands. “NO!”

“As the flame of the curse is smothered, I shall take what he has suffered.”

I could feel my eyes sting with tears as I watched the darkness in his veins flow into mine. The color returned to his face more with every breath he took, and his pulse grew stronger as mine weakened. My vision blurred, though I didn’t feel much pain. My nerves were on fire but at the same time I felt numb. I didn’t let go until all his veins had rid themselves of the dark color they showed at the start.

Dropping his arms, I opened my palms towards the sky. The eclipse was full now, and I felt like I was dying. I was dying. My lungs demanded oxygen, but I couldn’t get enough. My body felt heavy, and my mind felt fuzzy. It took all the energy I had left to turn to the southern side of the circle and hold my hands on the flames.

“Fire, high and burning bright, Burn away this curse and plight.”

I chanted through gritted teeth and listened to the sizzle of my bloody skin. The sound made me sick, but I had to continue.

“Wynter, stop!” Cameron shouted as he tried to pull my hands away.

“NO!” I yelled. “It’s not done!”

“Make the blood here boil and burn.

Empty my blood of the curse it’s learned.”

As I uttered the last word, it felt like I was being overcome with the worst pain I could think of. A scream threatened to claw its way from my throat, and as hard as I tried to keep it in I couldn’t.

“WYNTER!”

I could barely hear him over my own scream. It felt like hours until the eclipse was over. But once it was and the sky lightened again, everything stopped. No more pain, no more anything. I could feel my body go slack and fall towards the ground, although I blacked out before I could feel the impact. I don’t know what happened between that and waking up again. Next thing I knew I was laying in my bed at home. I tried to rub my eyes, but my hands were wrapped in gauze.

How did I get here? Wait. Where was Cameron? Did it work? My thoughts raced at the speed of light.

“Oh, thank god, you’re awake.” I heard a sigh of relief come from my doorway.

I didn’t get the chance to turn and look before I was crushed underneath Cameron’s weight as he wrapped his arms around me.

“You’re alive,” I choked out.

“What?” Pulling away, he gently wrapped his hands around mine.

“You’re alive.” I squeezed his hands, ignoring the pain. The pain proved this was real. This was no dream; he was here.

“Careful,” he breathed. “Your hands need to heal.”

Looking at his arms, they bore matching bandages. Other than that, he seemed to be in perfect health. His eyes followed my gaze, seeing that I was checking if he was okay.

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” He looked at me and sighed. “Wynter, why did you do it?”

“I couldn’t take the chance of it not working,” I said, tilting my head.

“Even if it meant risking your life?” he scolded.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Squeezing his hand, I admitted, “Because I love you.”

A smile took over his face before he brought his lips down to meet mine. After the need to breathe became too much to ignore, we separated.

“Where’s my mom?” I asked “Downstairs cooking dinner,” he answered. “Just so you know, she’s not happy with what you did either.”

“I figured she wouldn’t be.”

Just then, her voice called up from the kitchen saying that the food was ready. Cameron said he’d be right back and went downstairs. After a minute or two, I heard footsteps bounding up towards my room.

“Wynter Jane Morgan, what in the world were you thinking!?” my mom reprimanded, tears in her eyes.

She came and dropped to her knees beside my bed, holding onto my arm.

“You are in so much trouble,” she sobbed. “I’m never letting you out of the house again.”

“Okay, Mom.” I ran my fingers through her hair, trying to comfort her and calm her down.

We stayed like that for a while. And never once did she let go. I knew I had scared her. She already lost her husband and then almost lost her daughter. I couldn’t imagine the emotions she must have gone through. Once she calmed down, she got up from the floor and sat on the bed instead.

She didn’t say anything for a while, eyes trained on my hands. I could see the gears turning in her head.

“Let’s check your hands.” Gently, she unwrapped the gauze.

I was terrified to see the damage underneath. I imagined it was horrible, disgusting. Burned beyond recognition…not to mention the cuts. I probably all but cauterized them during the ritual. And yet, I couldn’t look away.

“How bad is it?” I asked, even though I didn’t think I wanted the answer.

“Probably not as bad as you’re thinking,” she said. “You’ve always had quite the imagination.”

Looking at my hands, I was shocked to see that despite minor burns in the middle portion of my palms, they weren’t completely fried. I was comforted knowing I hadn’t entirely disfigured my skin.

“It’s already starting to scab. That’s good,” she examined.

“Not that I’m not grateful, but shouldn’t they be way worse?”

“If you weren’t in the ritual, they would be,” she said, rolling new gauze around my hands.

“What do you mean?”

“In the ritual, you made the flame burn the spell that was in your blood. The fire only started to burn your hands when the curse was gone.”

That made sense, the incantation specified the target was the blood. Mom finished wrapping my hand soon after that. Finally, she looked me in the eye and smiled.

“What were you thinking?” she asked, moving her eyes to my hands. “You could have died.”

“So could have Cameron,” I replied. “If I chose my life over his, what kind of person would that make me?”

She didn’t answer, instead choosing to change the subject.

“Let’s get you some food.”

Agreeing, I got out of bed and followed her downstairs. Cameron sat eating Mom’s homemade pizza. Mom sat me next to him and went to make me a plate. Carefully, I ate, making sure to keep the bandages on my hands as pizza free as I could. It took longer than normal to eat, but I still savored every bite. While I ate, they told me everything that happened after I blacked out.

Cameron was able to catch me before I hit the ground, so thankfully I didn’t get a concussion. It’s been two days since the eclipse, and this is the first I’ve woken up since. After Cameron was able to call my mom, they took me to the hospital. They made up some story about how I had a cooking accident and passed out at the sight of blood. The hospital was a short visit. After doing everything they could, they sent me home. Apparently, the doctors expected me to wake up on the way home. Little did they know that I was literally walking away from death’s door.

Mom had Cameron carry me to my bed and afterward she treated the cuts on his arms. Neither deemed them deep enough to warrant the hospital looking at them. According to mom, he was healing well and would have minimal scarring if he continued to use her lavender balm. Cameron tried to stay here until I woke up, but my mom wouldn’t let him, instead making him go home each night and convinced him to go to school. Though she only succeeded in doing that by asking him to pick up my missing assignments. As far as the school knew I came down with a nasty case of the flu and would be missing for a few days.

Once we all ate, mom asked Cameron to help me back to my room while she went to her study to make some phone calls. I tried to argue that my legs worked perfectly fine, but they would have none of it. In spite of my protests, I found myself climbing the stairs with Cameron’s assistance.

“So,” He started, helping me get underneath my blankets. “Now that the curse is broken, what happens to Amelia?”

“Hopefully she’s able to move on.”

“What about Evan?”

“Evan is still a mystery to me.” I sighed.

Soon I was left alone as Cameron was called home. Mom came and checked on me, give me a glass of water and told me to call her if I needed anything. Watching her leave to go to her room I couldn’t help but not how much stronger she looked compared to just a couple of days ago. She still had weight and muscle to gain back but she was back to being independent. I fell asleep easily, exhaustion still hid in every muscle, waiting to be relived.

“I am pleased to see you succeeded.”

I heard her voice before I saw her face. “Did I truly succeed, if you’re still here?” I asked.

Looking at her as she stood in front of me, I immediately knew something was different. No longer did she appear like a fleeting memory. She was more stable. Stronger. But her voice was still faint. Breaking the curse had only partially set her free. There was still something holding her back. I knew that if she appeared while I was awake, she would look the exact opposite of how she was now. Her form would be frail, barely holding onto the earthly plane. The Curse was the main thing that kept her here after death.

“You saved the one you loved, did you not?”

The nod I gave her as an answer caused a smile to adorn her face.

“But why are you still here?”

“The answer to the question is one that is beyond my knowledge.” She looked around for a moment. “We are out of time.”

“Wait!” I called out. “Evan Mikhale…how is he showing up here, solidified as if he was still alive?”

“Those of us in the spiritual plane can use many things to draw from: people, properties, emotions. But not all of us are trapped in one place, some are transient.”

“Do you know what his energy source could be?”

“Our time is up. We will talk again.”

“No wait—”

“—Amelia!”

The sound of my own voice woke me out of my slumber. Seconds later, Mom’s footsteps came up the stairs. “Wynter!” she called out. I could hear the worry in her voice.

“I’m okay!” I called back, but she was already at my door.

“What happened?”

Bringing a cup of water to my lips, I downed half of it in one go. “It’s Amelia.”

“What about her?” she asked.

“She’s still here,” I answered, polishing off the glass. “Something is keeping her from moving on.”

“Like what?” she questioned, bringing a hand to my forehead, feeling for a change in temperature.

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, we’ll talk more about this tomorrow,” Mom said, gently pushing me back to lay down.

“But—”

She shushed me, shaking her head silently telling me that this was not up for debate. Instead, she tucked me back in and said goodnight. My heart was hammering inside my chest, and it wasn’t until it slowed to its natural beat pattern that I was able to start to relax again. Questions filled my thoughts while I tried to sleep. Why was Amelia still here? Why was Evan still here? How could they move on? Although my biggest question was what the hell was Evan Mikhale pulling energy from?

Sleep was dreamless and uneventful for the rest of the night. I don’t know what time I eventually woke up for the day, but the house was quiet. After everything, it was a welcomed silence, a calm that hadn’t been in the house in what felt like forever. In this silence I could pretend everything was normal. I had a happy life with no reason for sadness or pain. I didn’t almost die trying to break a centuries old curse. In this silence I was just like everyone else in the world.

The stinging pain from the palms of my hands broke the illusion the silence brought me. Bringing me to the reality I faced and reminded me of the new issue at hand—Evan Mikhale.