Chapter Ten
Monica
“I don’t even know why I bother,” I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing sleep from my eyes. I was cradled in a wooden cot in the middle of a hut. Unlike the world around us, the sacred land belonging to the coven always stayed fertile and crisp.
Henrik sniffed. “You certainly don’t have to be rude,” he said. “But I can sense there is a problem. What now, Monica?”
I sighed. ‘Elizabeth,’ I thought. But I didn’t feel like talking about her, not now. “It’s nothing,” I said. “I mean, I’ll tell you later.”
Henrik nodded. He didn’t exactly look satisfied with my explanation. “Ligeia and I have something important that we wish to discuss with you,” he said. “Come, child. This way.”
“What now, I’m not doing enough?” I rolled my eyes.
Henrik shook his head. “No,” he said quietly. “Nothing like that, I am sorry to say it.”
I glared at him. “Can you just tell me now?” I shifted anxiously. “I really can’t be here too long, Henrik. My best friend needs me. She’s gotten into a lot of trouble lately.”
“Aye,” Henrik grunted. “And she’ll be in more before this is all over,” he said slowly. “Come, child. Ligeia waits.”
Henrik led me through the leafy, verdant forest and into Ligeia’s stone hut. There was a young girl kneeling at the hearth, and Ligeia was instructing her in runes.
“Ligeia, I have brought the young one,” Henrik said. “Please, send for libations.”
Ligeia nodded stoically to the girl kneeling by the hearth. The girl flushed and got to her feet, wiping her ashy hands on the muslin fabric of her shirt before curtseying to Ligeia and Henrik and running out of the hut. Ligeia clapped her hands. Seconds later, two young women came in, wearing veils over their heads. They were each carrying trays of something that smelled delicious – roasted meat, and something sweet and floral, like honey.
Ligeia passed me an earthenware cup. I sniffed cautiously.
“What is this?” I asked warily. “I don’t want any more of those drugs.”
Ligeia shook her head. “No,” she said. “This is just mead, freshly harvested with lavender.”
I sipped. It was thick and sweet on my tongue, and I closed my eyes, savoring the unusual taste. Ligeia and Henrik each took a cup, and Ligeia settled down on a stone chair, looking as comfortable as if she were on a silk chaise.
“Monica, there is something I have deliberately kept from you all of this time,” Ligeia said softly. “And I hope that when you discover the truth, you will be able to forgive me.”
I eyed her. “What are you talking about?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
Ligeia sighed. “It is about my sister, Prudence Arrowsmith.”
The mead churned in my stomach, and I reached for a piece of dark, rough bread, kneading and tearing it apart with my fingers. A cold wave of nausea passed over me, and I shivered.
“Yes,” Ligeia said quietly. “I regret that it is not good news.”
“What is it?”
Ligeia looked at Henrik. He gave her a long, hard stare before nodding the briefest of nods.
“I have been untruthful about Prudence’s true abilities,” Ligeia said in a low voice. “I have told you that she is a powerful religious fanatic.”
“She is,” I said. “Trust me – that hasn’t changed. Andrea’s a freak.”
“That is not all,” Ligeia said quickly. “At first, that was all I believed because I had no knowledge of her kind.”
A shiver crawled down my spine, and I swallowed the knot that was starting to form in my throat. “What do you mean, her kind?”
“She is a witch,” Ligeia said. “An ancient, evil, powerful witch.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said slowly. “Why would she be so against us then? Does she hate what she is?”
Ligeia shook her head, a grave look on her wizened face. “No,” she said. “She is not like us. She does not draw her power from the Earth, from the world, but rather from within.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“She seeks to destroy the good magical folk among us,” Ligeia said. “Each lifetime, Prudence has been born with varying levels of power. Despite the fact that we have been at odds for centuries, she has never before been this powerful.”
“She’s been reincarnating all this time?”
Ligeia nodded. “Always with the same foul intent,” she said in disgust. Her eyes flared with anger and centuries of resentment.
I felt my heart sink.
“This is the most powerful she has ever been,” Henrik said. He cleared his throat and coughed. “She already has most of the town of Jaffrey – your town – under her control.” He shook his head sadly. “Ligeia and I did not believe it to be possible, but we were wrong, most unfortunately,” he said.
“What does this mean?” I sniffed. Fear was dripping into my chest, making me feel paralyzed and nauseous.
“It means that we have a difficult challenge ahead,” Ligeia said softly. “It means that things will be more intense than we had originally thought.”
I sighed. “We might as well give up,” I said. I slumped against the crude wooden table. “I don’t know what to do. The whole town has already lost its god damn mind. Elizabeth got taken by the cops for over twelve hours, and no one did anything. She’s a minor! She’s only fifteen!”
Ligeia nodded gravely. “Yes,” she said slowly. “And things will become worse before they become better, I assure you.”
“Prudence seeks power from the good magical people,” Henrik said. He took a long swig of mead and put his cup down on the hearth. “She seeks to destroy us, absorb our power, and then control as much as she can, which unfortunately, is a great deal.”
“How are we supposed to stop her?” I threw my hands up in the air. “She’s steamrolling over everyone!”
“She must be taken down individually,” Henrik said in a low voice. He scooted closer and reached for a hunk of goat cheese from the table. As I watched, he broke it apart in his hands. “She herself must be destroyed in order to break the hold on your village.”
“So, I have to kill her,” I said blankly. Somehow, saying the words out loud didn’t bother me nearly as much as I thought. I’d never imagined how anyone could willingly commit a murder.
But suddenly, I understood.
“Are you making me feel this way?” I turned to Henrik. “Are you controlling me?”
“No, child,” Henrik said. “Your thoughts are your own. And you are correct,” he added, rubbing his chin with one wrinkled hand. “She must be killed and ripped apart. Her heart must be burned.”
I shuddered. “That’s intense,” I said quietly.
“It is what must be done,” Ligeia said. “She will burn your entire home if you don’t stop her.”
I blinked. “You two are more powerful than I am,” I said slowly. “Why can’t you kill her on your own?”
“Because we are not of physical power,” Henrik said.
“You’ve been controlling my parents’ minds for months,” I snapped. “And by the way, how the hell is that any different from Andrea controlling everyone in Jaffrey?”
“Henrik controls your parents in order to help your powers flourish,” Ligeia said. “You mustn’t be angry with him. Prudence is different. She only seeks to control for sheer love of power itself. That is the most dangerous love of all, Monica. Surely, you realize that.”
I sighed. I knew she was right.
“Fine,” I snapped. “So why can’t you…I don’t know, possess someone? Have that person kill her?”
“That would hardly be fair,” Ligeia said. She raised her eyebrow. “Imagine waking up from a long sleep only to find blood on your hands. We could not do that to an innocent. That is more like something Prudence would do.”
“But it’s different if I kill her?” I narrowed my eyes. “Well, too bad. I don’t want to.”
“You must,” Henrik said quietly. “We will have no chance of survival if the spirit of Prudence Arrowsmith is allowed to reincarnate once more. We have already allowed her too much power. She should have been stopped eons ago.”
“Lucky me,” I mumbled.
“Yes,” Ligeia said. “You are very fortunate, Monica. You will be heralded as one of the most powerful witches of all time if you manage to stop Prudence. Everyone who practices magic will know your name.”
“I only wanted to get famous for writing,” I mumbled.
“Life has chosen a more powerful fate for you,” Ligeia said. “Henrik, please. Leave us for a moment.”
Henrik nodded gruffly. He got up and bowed slowly to Ligeia, then turned to me and dipped his head. I stared. It was the first time he’d shown me anything even resembling respect. After he was gone, Ligeia beckoned for me to come close.
“I am an old woman,” Ligeia said. “Defeating Prudence has been a lifelong goal.” She reached out for my hands and grabbed them with surprising strength. Her hands felt warm and smooth, another surprise given her mass of wrinkles.
“I know,” I said. “I’ll try, I promise.” I felt my walls start to come down, and before long, I was crying, resting my head on Ligeia’s shoulder. “I’m so scared,” I wailed. “I’m so worried about my friends, Ligeia.”
“I know, child,” Ligeia said. She stroked my hair and rocked me against her chest like I really was a child. “All this evil shall pass, and life will return to what you are used to.”
I felt sick as I nodded. “Okay,” I mumbled softly. “I’ll do it.”
Ligeia looked at me. Her blue eyes searched mine until I felt stripped naked of all pretension.
“You must swear it,” she said. “Swear to me, to Henrik, to the coven that you will complete this task.”
The words spilled from my mouth before I could really think about them.
“I swear it,” I said.
Ligeia reached behind her. When I looked down at her hands again, I saw she was holding an athame. Ligeia handed the knife to me. She began chanting in a low voice under her breath. I watched as she reached for a piece of chalk and made a few strange markings on the hearth – runes, but I didn’t recognize any of them. Then Ligeia plucked the athame from my grasp. She took my hand, pulling it close and gripping my wrist. I couldn’t breathe as she turned my palm up to face the fire, then made a sharp slash across the skin with the athame. Dark red blood dripped from my palm onto the hearth, and I gasped as the runes lit up to a shimmering, soothing blue light.
“This child will banish you, Prudence,” Ligeia hissed into the fire. “You will be dust and dirt and earth; your spirit will be crushed and trapped.”
I tried to pull my bleeding hand away, but Ligeia kept a firm grip. She sliced her own palm with the athame, then dripped blood onto the runes. They hissed.
“Prudence, you will not defeat me,” Ligeia said. She gazed into the fire. The firelight flickered on her face, making her look almost young. “You have come to the end of your life.”
Following Ligeia’s gaze, I gasped as I looked into the fire and saw Andrea’s face, smirking at me.
“Your end is near, Prudence,” Ligeia growled. Grabbing my hand, she squeezed the puckered flesh on my palm and gathered some of my blood in her palm. I gasped in pain as Ligeia flung the blood into the rising flames, making them hiss and steam.
Andrea’s smirk faded and was soon replaced by a tortured moan. She screamed and writhed, wailing and twisting in the flames. I couldn’t take my eyes away as Ligeia did the same with her own hand, throwing droplets of blood into the flaming hearth. Andrea wailed and moaned, screeching so loudly that I had to cover my ears. Then she faded slowly into the fire, until I couldn’t see anything other than flames licking high – up, up, up, into the chimney.
Ligeia looked at me serenely.
“It is done,” Ligeia said. She tossed her head, placing the athame behind her once more. She handed me a clean strip of cotton, and I wrapped my palm, gritting my teeth. Blood soaked through the fabric almost at once, but I kept it pressed firmly to the wound.
Ligeia clapped her hands once more. A few seconds later, Henrik walked back into the hut.
“Come, child,” Henrik said. “We must get you home.”
I nodded. Just as I was almost out of Ligeia’s hut, she called my name, and I turned around.
“Yes?”
“Thank you, child,” Ligeia said. She dipped her head in a small bow. “For agreeing to help us. We will not survive without your help.”
I nodded. “I know,” I said.
“I know it is not to your taste,” Ligeia said. “But it is necessary.”
Henrik and I walked through the woods in silence.
“I’m scared,” I confessed. “What happens after I kill her?”
“Hopefully, the spell will be broken on everyone you know,” Henrik said.
I frowned. “Hopefully?”
“Sometimes, in the case of a very, very powerful witch, spells can remain for days, even years,” Henrik said. “Obviously, we will do everything we can to counter the possibility of this happening. But I can make no promises to you, Monica. We must handle each thing as it comes.”
I nodded stiffly.
“Earlier, you were going to ask me something,” Henrik prodded gently. “What is it, child? What do you wish to know?”
I shook my head. “I don’t really feel like talking about it,” I said. I looked down at my feet and kicked a rock, listening to the sound of it skimming across the leaves. I could tell that we were nearly out of the sacred land of the coven – the air was growing colder by the second, and the leaves were turning brown and dead.
“You may tell me,” Henrik said kindly.
I sighed. I closed my eyes, thinking about the intense look in Elizabeth’s eyes. Her confusion over Steven and Andrea. I shivered, thinking of how she’d react when she learned the truth about Andrea.
I bit my lip. “My friend, Elizabeth,” I said slowly. “She wants to join the coven.”
Henrik peered down at me. “She does, does she?”
I nodded. “Can she?”