Chapter 10

He looked at me in shock and confusion. “What?”

Taking his hand, I led him down the hall to where Amelia’s portrait hung on the wall.

“This,” I said, gesturing to the girl in the portrait, “was Amelia Morgan.”

He analyzed the picture in front of him, his eyes roaming every inch of it before stopping and squinting slightly.

“Isn’t that your necklace? Well part of it?” He asked his eyes moving from the portrait to the jewel that hung around my neck.

“It was hers.” I confirm. “Shortly after moving here, she appeared to me and showed me where it was hidden.”

“Why?”

“She just kept saying I had to wear it, that it would protect me,” I explained. “She wouldn’t tell me more than that though.”

“What happened to her?” He asked, eyes coming up to meet mine.

Dropping my eyes from his I guided him to my room, it wasn’t until he sat on the edge of my bed that I dropped his hand. Telling him to wait I went to my Altar and grabbed the journal I had read and reread more times than I could count. It wasn’t very big nor was it very long, but it was the only one I had from her. It was the only one she left to be passed down, my guess was because she knew she didn’t have time to hide it. I flipped through the pages as I walked to sit beside him, searching for the entry I needed.

Once found I handed it to him, he grasped it almost hesitantly, eyes searching mine for answers before they casted themselves to the words on the paper in his hands. His eyes scanned the ink, the once black pigment faded green by time.

“During the height of the witch trials, Salem’s hysteria had reached Witchitan. Seeing that they weren’t safe, my ancestors planned to flee in the night to safety.” I started to explain.

“What does that—”

“Shh,” I interrupted, “Please…” I needed to explain this from the beginning.

He nodded, silently urging me to continue.

“Amelia had been dating a boy for about 2 years and she couldn’t fathom leaving Witchitan without him. So, one night she invited him over to talk.” I kept my eyes trained in front of me, not daring to face him till I was finished. Afraid of how this story would change his view of me. “When she told him that they were leaving and why, he agreed to leave with her. He said he needed to go home and grab some things he would need during their travels. But he…”

Hearing my voice trail off, Cameron placed his hand on top of mine. “But?” He asked.

“But he didn’t go home,” I stated.

“Where did he go?” His voice sounded so lost and confused.

“To the town counsel. It was there that he told everyone what Amelia had said to him. Amelia, of course, could feel that she had made a mistake. Witches have higher intuition. So, after he left, she grabbed that journal,” I said pointing to the book that now rested on Cameron’s lap, his thumb being the only thing keeping it from closing completely. “And wrote down everything she could.”

“So how do you have it?” He asked. His voice wasn’t accusing or even confused anymore. Instead, it held a morbid curiosity of just how this story ended.

“After it was full, she gave it to her little sister to keep.”

“So why didn’t Amelia and her family just leave while he was gone?”

“There wasn’t enough time. Instead, Amelia stayed behind and sacrificed herself to give her family the time they needed. The town tried her as a witch and burned her at the stake at only 19 years of age.”

“What does this have to do with the curse?” He questioned after a few moments of silence.

Moving my hands, I had him open the journal again and pointed to a single sentence on the page. A sentence he read aloud to himself before I had worked up the courage to.

“Evan Mikhale no doubt knows how much his betrayal affects me, though I love and have loved him, I do not have the strength to give him forgiveness,” he read.

I could tell he was having trouble grasping everything, so I said nothing as to not rush him or scare him away.

“My ancestor…” he began saying, “is the reason yours died.”

I nodded, though I wasn’t sure he was paying attention. That was one way of putting it. All of a sudden, his eyes snapped to mine. “Wait, you can see Amelia, right?” he asked, standing from the bed.

“When she shows herself to me,” I answered, confused as to what he was getting at.

“Can’t we ask her to undo it?”

“Sorry, that isn’t how that works,” I said, making him flop down next to me. “Besides, she can barely get a word out. She speaks in fractured sentences.”

“What do you mean?”

“It feels like she has so much more to tell me, but she isn’t strong enough.” I sighed. “Spirits use stored up energy to do anything in the physical plane.

“Can’t we just use a Ouija board?” Cameron joked. The sarcasm was clear in his voice.

My eyes widened at the idea. Why didn’t I think of that sooner? Calling upon her spirit in a seance would give her the strength to give me the message she’s been trying to tell me. The only issue was I wasn’t strong enough on my own and my mom was in no shape to help. I would need something to draw from, not to mention doing a seance was a bad idea. Cameron was here so that’s one problem solved, but something to draw from… candles!

“Wynter?” Cameron called out to me, pulling me from my thoughts.

“How do you feel about helping me with a seance?” Was my only reply.

Without waiting for him to respond I rushed out of the room to gather the needed supplies.

“Wynter?” Cameron questioned as I walked back in, arms full of candles, crystals and other tools.

“Amelia has something to say,” I started to explain as I went through the drawers of my Altar. “We just have to give her the chance to say it.”

“What?”

After finding what I was looking for, I turned around and motioned for him to stand and help. Grabbing a piece of chalk, I drew a circle on the floor in the middle of the room. He started handing me different supplies, watching as I placed them. Once everything was in its place, I directed Cameron to sit inside the circle, opposite me.

“Okay, ready to do this?” I ask, wiping my hands on my pants.

He nodded, though I could tell he was nervous.

“Take a deep breath and ground yourself, imagine yourself rooted to the floor,” I explained.

“Like a tree?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, like a tree.”

Following my instructions he closed his eyes, breathing deeply. I could see his muscles relax as he exhaled. When I knew he was ready I flicked my wrists, palms facing upward, igniting the candles, closing my eyes.

“Around us, our circles cast.

Nothing evil can get past.

Surrounding us in protective light.

Here our magic shall take flight.” I chant, taking hold of his hands in mine.

“We open our space to communicate to the spirit of Amelia Morgan,” I stated, feeling the heat of the flames grow warmer as the flames rise. “We know you have a message. We are willing to hear it.”

Nothing seemed to happen for some time. I was worried she wouldn’t appear, but…

“Look at me child,” She said, her voice soft and kind.

Opening my eyes, I couldn’t contain the gasp that came from my lips. There in front of me stood Amelia. Red hair falling in curls over her shoulders, face soft and smiling.

“Oh my god,” I heard Cameron breathe out.

She turned at the sound, coming face to face with him.

“No need to fear me, young boy. I only wish to help.” She speaks, hand reaching out, ghosting over his cheek.

“Amelia,” I say, gaining her attention once more. “You told me to ‘save him’, save who?” I ask.

Her eyes went from mine to Cameron once more, “Him,”

“Me?!” Cameron exclaimed, no doubt fearing what this implied.

“Save Cameron from what?”

She looked at me confused, like she didn’t understand how I didn’t have the answer already. “From the curse, of course. You are running out of time.”

“What do you mean?” I implored her to explain herself. “How do I break the curse?”

“I cannot say, for that memory is lost to me.” She looked down upon me with pity. “Though I believe that finding my journals will tell you all you need to know.”

“Okay so we find her journals, it seems easy enough.” Cameron says.

“It’s not that easy,” I replied. “Amelia hid them, they’ve been lost for years.”

“Though I do not remember where they are hidden, I can say with confidence that they are in the house.”

I could feel my magic lose its strength faster than I would have liked. I had so many more questions, but not enough time to ask them.

“Our time is coming to an end. I will leave you for now.” Amelia says.

“Wait!” Cameron says. “Why do you suddenly want the curse to be broken now?” His voice sounded confused and desperate, his hands held mine tightly, squeezing just a little too tight.

“Because you do not deserve to pay for Evan’s wrong doings.” Amelia states, turning her back to me. “I have watched you in the garden, seen your kindness”

As my hold on the ritual weekend, Amelia’s form flickered. Her hand reached forward to caress his cheek, but before they could make contact, she was gone. I felt so lightheaded I’m surprised I didn’t faint, though I suspect the fact Cameron still held my hands firmly had something to do with me still being upright. The candle flames lowered and soon after went out.

“Wynter!” Cameron exclaimed. “Are you okay?”

Carefully he stood, bringing me in his arms, guiding me to the bed.

“Just took a lot of energy,” I responded, resting on the bed. “I’ll be okay in a bit.”

“Rest, I’ll get you some water.” He says, running his hand through my hair before standing up and leaving to the kitchen.

I leaned back making sure to take deep breaths, nausea stirred in my stomach, high pitched ringing in my ears drowned out all other noise. I didn’t even notice when Cameron came back until I felt his grasp on my arm, pulling me into a sitting position. He handed me an open bottle of water and helped bring it to my lips to drink. The cold liquid was a welcomed feeling as it went down my throat.

“Better?” He asked.

“Better. Thank you.”

I glanced around the room, eyes landing on the window. The once blue sky was now being painted in different hues of red and yellow. More time had passed than I thought. “It’s getting late,” I commented. “Your parents are probably wanting you home.”

As if on cue his phone started ringing with texts and probably a few calls. Sighing he grabbed his phone from his pocket, silencing the onslaught of notifications and sent a single text in response.

“As far as my parents are concerned, I’m coming home against my will.”

“Oh, are you?” I let out a breathy laugh before taking another drink.

“Yes, going home doesn’t sound like a great time.” He laughs. “But I have to.”

Instead of leaving, like I thought he was going to, he sat down beside me. I looked at him, eyebrows scrunched together silently asking him what he was doing.

“Give me your phone.” He demanded lightly.

“Why?” I asked, even as I was pulling my phone from my pocket.

Without answering he took my phone and started typing something. When he gave it back to me, there on the screen was a new contact, ‘Cameron’ with a smiley face next to it.

“If anything happens between the time I leave and the time I come back to walk to school,” He says, tapping my phone. “Call me. Call me, and I’ll be here as fast as I can.”

Then before I could say anything, he stood and brought his hand to cup my head and leaned down kissing the top of my head softly.

“Go to sleep, I’ll see you tomorrow, same time as always.” He says as he leans back. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

With that he turned and left me alone, moments later I heard the front door close behind him. Once more I was all but alone in the house, I placed the bottle down on my bedside table and laid my head on the pillow and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I was greeted with a pounding headache. I tried opening my eyes but the light coming from my phone felt like it was stabbing my eyeballs. The seance took more out of me than I expected, I kept my eyes squinted as I checked my phone for the time. 4:30 AM, well before my alarm was supposed to go off. My head hurt too much for me to go back to sleep, so instead I stretched my sore limbs and got out of bed.

Walking to my bathroom, I used the walls to help steady and guide me. Turning on the light was a decision I wish wasn’t a necessity. Nonetheless I flipped the switch and shielded my eyes, carefully I walked over to my tub and turned on the hot water. Hopefully a nice bath and maybe some tea would help ease this migraine before I had to go to school.

Once the tub was full, I stripped off my clothes and eased myself into the water. The steam fogged the mirror as the heat relieved all the tension from my muscles. I stayed there till the water went cold, before I wrapped myself in a towel and dried myself. After brushing my hair, I went back to my room to get dressed, much to my dismay the soak in the tub did nothing to ease the pain in my head.

I let out a sigh and started to carefully make my way down the stairs. Slowly I walked to the kitchen and filled the tea kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil. While I waited, I combed through the cabinets looking for the Chamomile tea. After about 5 minutes the kettle started to whistle, as fast as I could I took the kettle off the heat and grabbed a mug. Pouring the boiling water over the tea bag I let it steep for 5 more minutes before finally taking a sip. I continued to sip the tea in the dark kitchen till the mug was empty. Thankfully the tea provided some comfort, though the pain in my head still lingered.

I sat there at the counter laying my head on the cold surface, until I heard my alarm go off. With a disgruntled sigh I shut it off and walked back upstairs to finish getting ready for school. Hair and teeth brushed, I placed the bandanna upon my head again and went downstairs to wait for Cameron.

While I waited, I went to check on Mom, but found her still asleep and the sandwich untouched. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. I grabbed the plate and threw away the all but rotten sandwich. I grabbed a banana and an apple from the kitchen, opting to leave the apple for Mom to eat and having the banana as my breakfast.