Chapter 198

Chapter 198
Mattie:
I jolted awake, gasping for air as sweat made my hair cling to my forehead. I’d just had the craziest nightmare. My heart thundered against my ribs, and the remnants of the nightmare clung to me like smoke. It was thick and disorienting in the pitch darkness of the room. My chest burned with panic. Wolfie was on edge. The high alert pacing he was doing almost became an image in my head. The restlessness spilled over into my own body. I couldn't lie here another second. 

Kicking off the covers, I swung my legs off the bed, planting my bare feet onto the icy floor. I snatched my phone off the charger and checked the time: 3:02am. I internally groaned, of course, The witching hour. Why is it always the witching hour? As a witch I would like to petition the supernatural council of deciding stuff to move the witching hour to Sundays at 11:30am and make mimosas mandatory. 

I shivered as the leftover warmth from the covers left me. Goosebumps raised the skin on my arms as the chill of the night settled the room. I yanked a hoodie from the back of my chair and tugged it on. It once smelled like a boy I’d spent a weekend with a few years ago, before my life really went to shit. Now it smelled like my laundry soap. In my exhaustion, I almost missed the old spicy cologne smell. 

Still feeling the chill, I slipped into a pair of sweatpants. Last I put on a pair of socks. Fully dressed I plopped back down on top of my covers. I flipped on my side table lamp and grabbed my book. I began to read the words but images flashed across my mind in a jumbled nightmare mess causing me to re-read the same page nine times before i gave up. 

I made a random grumbling noise after letting the book fall to my bed. My eyelids dropped closed after a while only to see blood soaked hands. They were far too big to be my hands but it felt like they were. Like I owned these manly hands covered in blood and tremors. Wolfie whimpered and i was hit with more panicky energy. He seemed frantic to move. I definitely would not be sleeping anymore tonight. 

My fuzzy socks silenced my footsteps as I paced across my bedroom floor, back and forth, trying to shake off the dark feeling crawling up my spine. Something wasn’t right. Wolfie’s presence in my mind felt twisted and wrong. Before he always felt like a friend. Now there was an underlying threat toward something external and unknown to me. I couldn’t put a name to it but it felt like I was disconnected from the world. Maybe I sound do some grounding in the tiny patch of grass out back. Does it work if the grass is fake? 

The soft creak of the front door opening made every hair on my body stand up. Wolfie didn’t stop the mind pacing which was even more concerning. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Cas’s loud laugh. I let out a relieved breath before bolting out of my room and down the stairs. My feet barely touched the steps I was moving so fast. Luxy stood in the entry way, stiff and tired, staring down at the box cradled in his hands like it might explode.

“What’s that?” I asked as I bounced off the last step. Lux looked lost, caught somewhere between confusion and dread. “Luxy?” 

“Don’t know but it’s addressed to you.” Lux’s voice was hoarse with exhaustion. “Weird that it was just left on the door step. No address, return address or post stamp, just your name on the top.” 

“I think we should treat it like there is a bomb in there.” Cas said peering over Lux’s shoulder, his chin resting on lux’s shoulder. Both my cousins stared down at the box like it was seconds away from detonating. Lux’s eyes narrowed on the cardboard and was looked like he was preparing to dive behind the orange velvet couch at the first sign of smoke. 

I sighed, and rolled my eyes for good measure, “you two are so paranoid.”

Before either of them could protest, I plucked the box from Lux’s arms. It wasn’t heavy but it had a solid feel to it. I carried it into the kitchen, my fuzzy socks slipping on the tile as I moved. 

“Mattie?” Lux called after me. I retrieved a butter knife from the drawer and sliced carefully through the tape sealing the top,. It gave a satisfying snick as it gave way. 

“Wait—wait!” Cas grabbed my wrist as I reached to lift the flaps. “We don’t know whats in there. Careful.” 

“It’s not going to explode, Castor.” I said, enunciating his full name with a grin as I gently pushed him away to finish opening the box. “Unless its a glitter bomb, then we will all suffer.” 

I peeled back the cardboard flaps then I removed the tissue paper that covered the items. The moment I saw what was beneath, I sealed. Nestled inside the tissue paper was a weathered leather-bound book. Its surface worn and cracked at the edges like it hadn’t been used for centuries. Resting against it were a few slender glass vials, each filled with sprigs of a dried, coarse plant. There was also a tube of some sort of paste. 

“Are those herbs?” Cas asked through a playful whine. 

“Yes.” I responded absentmindedly. On top of the book, lying like it had been placed with care, was a note. Thick, ivory paper with coppery-foiled edges and elegant handwriting that was like it was printed from a machine it was so flawless. The beautiful card read:

To a continued friendship I’ve enclosed Batthorn and the book containing information on it. I look forward to conversing about what you learn. 

~Evie. 

I blinked, my heart racing not only in excitement but in fear. How did she know where I lived? I ran through our conversations and knew, for certain, I hadn’t told her. Did that mean I was followed? Shit, I so was not equipped to handle any of that.