Lenora's Grimoire

Chapter Thirteen

Monday.

Cherish wasn't sure of much, given that she had spent most of the week having such vivid hallucinations that she hadn't just lost track of time, but she'd also given up on leaving the house completely.

She was sure it was Monday. She'd set a reminder for four in the afternoon, so that she'd be sure to lock up early and prepare for the ritual they were casting.

She hadn't heard from Raven aside from the several brief respite from the onslaught of hallucinations Lenora had put her through. As far as she was aware, Raven still wanted to do the ritual despite her concerns. She'd only been able to listen to her voicemail for a few minutes, though, before her head started pounding and she was dragged back into another of Lenora's nightmarish memories.

The man's name, Cherish had learned throughout the week, was Ethan, and he was Lenora's husband. He was very much, incredibly in love with her, too. He loved Lenora so much that Cherish nearly ached at the thought of someone treating her with the same boundless adoration and gentle care.

They were also expecting their first child together, at least, from what Cherish could tell in the hallucinations. The baby was due sometime in the late fall, but Cherish had a suspicion, with the witch hunter still poking around, things wouldn't end well for Lenora.

Cherish stuffed a pair of shoes on and grabbed her house keys before she left her home. She shot a brief, almost delirious glance towards her cedar tree in the front yard. It was still dead. Cherish wasn't sure if that was preferable or not.

Regardless, if the spell worked, Cherish promised herself she'd do what she could to revive the tree as well.

She headed to the library, swaying a little more than usual. She felt inebriated, and couldn't come up with a logical explanation why—aside from the quickly diminishing hope that it was because she hadn't seen the sun in nearly a week and it was taking her eyes longer than usual to adjust to the brightness of the mid-afternoon light.

Giving her eyes time to adjust to the brightness of the outside light was definitely not related to the ground beneath her feet, though, and she couldn't blame the brightness of the sky on the reality that with every step, the ground changed between the familiar gray concrete sidewalk, complete with weeds growing up between the cracks—and a well worn dirt path, lined with daisies and overgrown grass.

Cherish was starting to rethink completing the spell.

If she didn't complete the spell, maybe Lenora would just leave her alone completely, and life would go back to normal.

She'd already called Raven though, and clearly trying to reason him out of doing the spell was out of the question.

Cherish knew she wouldn't be able to even complete the spell if she couldn't even stay focused on having both feet firmly planted in the present day.

She reached the library and —after several misses with the key in the front lock—she opened the front door.

The library was empty, just as she'd left it. A familiar hush hung in the building, comforting, peaceful.

She ignored Lenora's ghost, who was sitting on the front desk, facing the front door and watching Cherish curiously.

If I don't acknowledge her, Cherish thought to herself, she can't hurt me. She doesn't have any power over me if I ignore her.

It seemed to work.

Cherish walked back to the backroom and grabbed Lenora's grimoire. The book bit at her fingers again, but Cherish ignored the unpleasant sensation. She dropped the book on her desk and sat down. She felt dizzy, and the floor was spinning back and forth beneath her feet.