A Salem Awakening

Chapter 49

Everyone and everything initially appeared to be motionless, except for her. She tried to stand and she was able to, though she needed to force her body more than normal. She couldn't explain it – it felt like her body was pressing against something in the air, but when she exerted a bit of pressure, the air would seem to snap and she was able to freely move. It was as though the air felt... she didn't know how to describe it... crisp.

She walked around the room. She put her hand on Joseph's shoulder for leverage. He didn't budge. She stepped over Chwaer's extinguished body and walked behind William. Abigail moved around and got close to his face; she studied his yellow eyes. They looked so angry – it was something she never saw in Will's eyes. They were always so gentle and determined. She realized this man standing before her was a stranger cloaked in a familiar veil.

As she continued to stare into his eyes, she noticed a single bead of sweat on his cheek. She looked at it closely because it seemed to move ever so slightly. She backed up so she could have a more complete look at William's body. His hands were moving but at an immensely slow pace. She immediately recalled Myrddin's mysterious entry in the ancient book and now realized what was happening. "My God. This is the uncontrolled state Myrddin found himself in. I'm in my own pocket of time."

Just at the moment she realized what was happening, she popped out of it.

Joseph and Aberash were still cowering in the corner, near defeat. Abigail was with them, but within a blink she was standing next to William. Joseph couldn't believe what he was seeing. "How did she do that?" he thought. This amazed Aberash as well, but being a former Master she read Myrddin's account in the ancient book. She never experienced it, nor heard any account of anyone other than Myrddin going through it. She was shocked someone as young as Abigail had the strength to endure the time pocket. "Rennik was right about her."

This did not impress William. He saw her appear next to him in a flash and turned his raging glare toward her. "You don't scare me with your cheap magic," he said. He gathered his hands together to form a beam.

The entire situation confused Abigail. She did not know how any of this was happening and just saw impending pain and death coming from the version of William standing before her. "I can't let Junius become Master. I promised Father."

She pictured all her fear and emotion as if it was within a barrel. In her mind she plunged into the barrel and soaked in as much as she could. She allowed the emotion to blanket her entire body – she drank it all in. She was mentally drenched in feelings and felt like she and her fear were one and the same. Never had she felt the immense happiness and light at the same time she felt the blackness of despair – it was the full gamut of emotion happening simultaneously. Exactly at that moment, she popped back into her time pocket. "That must be how to control it," she realized.

Abigail, now back in her sped up pace of time, stepped to William's side, away from any danger from his hands. He was still moving, achingly slow, as if she were still in front of him. Abigail circled behind him, trying to determine how to disarm him and eliminate any threat. She wasn't sure how much time before her time pocket would again cease. She needed to act decisively, and she needed to act now.

"There's only one way to be certain. He must die." She earlier realized there might come a time where she would have to shed blood in order to save the bloodline, and by association, herself. "I just wish it wasn't so soon. And I wish it wasn't with Will's embodiment." She realized her actions at this moment could save, or doom, the world. Neither her feelings, nor her reluctance, were of any importance right now.

Joseph and Aberash were watching from their own pace of time. Abigail was a blur, barely perceptible to their eyes. They could only see a flourish of movement as she was flitting around William. They could not tell what she was doing or how she was doing it. Chwaer's rage was becoming imbued with fear. It was a feeling with which she was not familiar.

Abigail pulled the table leg out of Chwaer's dead body. She looked at it closely, examining the rough edges now covered in blood. "Will I be able to do it?" She wasn't at all confident in herself to take another person's life, no matter how dire the consequences of failing to act.

She walked back to Will with the leg in her right hand. Now standing directly in front of him, she put her left hand gently on his face – his eyes still dark yellow with rage. Abigail recalled one of the many biology lessons Mr. Putnam taught, specifically about the heart. She remembered the detail about the atria and the ventricles and how the design of this organic machine struck her as beautiful, complex and so incredibly fragile. She found it ironic how the heart is the pump that brings life to the body while also being the symbol of love and goodness. For her to continue the bloodline, she would need to destroy the gentle tissue of Will's heart. "Goodbye again, Will. I'm doing this for all of us," she whispered. Then she remembered this was no longer Will. Her eyes formed into thin slits as she plunged the leg into his chest. It surprised Abigail how easily the wood pierced his skin and moved through his body.

She immediately popped back into normal time, her hand now covered in blood, still holding the wooden leg deep inside Will's body. He looked into her eyes as he realized what was happening. "How did you do that?" he asked as his breath escaped him and his eyes returned to their normal brown. Abigail held the wood leg in his torso as she helped him gently slump to the ground. Once on the ground, the visage of William faded away, and it exposed Junius in his proper body.

Aberash and Joseph stood and cautiously approached Abigail. Neither knew what to say. Abigail hunched over Junius' body, crying. "I killed him. I looked into his eyes and killed him."

"You did what had to be done. You were the only one who could have, you saved us all." Aberash told her.

Abigail pulled the wood out of Junius' body. William was finally gone and there was no sign of Chwaer's spirit anywhere. "Are they both gone?" Abigail asked Aberash.

"I don't think so," Aberash responded. "When an embodied person dies, either the body or the spirit dies, never both. And I don't know what happens when there are two spirits embodying the same person." She paused as a thought entered her mind. "When you killed him, did you see his eyes change?"

"Yes!" Abigail leapt up to her feet. "His eyes changed back to brown just before he died."

"Then we must act quickly. You must have killed Chwaer since we see Junius' body now – it was her spirit in his yellow eyes. If I'm right then Junius might still be savable, but we need to work together to heal his body right away. Joseph, we'll need your help for this – place your hands on his forehead. Abigail, I'm going to put my hands inside his wound. Put your hands directly on top of the wound. We all need to focus our energy as intensely as we can."

Abigail paused, "What happens if we bring him back but Chwaer is still in there?"

"Dear girl, let's focus on only one catastrophe at a time, shall we?"

Abigail nodded to Aberash and put her hands on the wound she inflicted on Junius just moments before. All three closed their eyes and focused their emotions and energy on trying to save Junius. The irony was not lost on any of them, but none of them hesitated in the least.