Feelings - A Hosie Story

Chapter 40 - "A calming spell"

Josie feels herself frozen in place, watching as the events unfold around her. Fighting. Bloodshed. Punches are thrown by her friends as spells deflect them. Students are getting beaten, getting hurt, and overpowered with ease...and she can't do a damn thing about it. She tries moving, she tries lifting her foot, anything, but she stays still. Her feet feel like they sink further into the ground. She's a statue, tall and still, forced to watch on, unable to intervene, unable to offer a helping hand as those she cares about are thrown into battle.

Her father falls first. His heart is torn from his chest by the man, the man who's haunted their lives for weeks. He takes a bite of it then as if to show the power that he holds. He smirks at her, before charging at Lizzie.

She falls next, as he digs his teeth into her neck and sucks at the blood, leaving nothing. Josie cries for them both, having lost two of the people closest to her in one fell swoop.

Hope is third to fall. The unkillable has become killable and the man pounces at her, throwing punch after punch, kick after kick, bringing her to her knees, defenseless. Josie tries to fight back against what is holding her in place, she tries everything. Anything she can. But she doesn't move. All she can do is scream, beg, and plead to a man who won't listen. To a man who keeps punching, who keeps fighting. And who is winning. Who's always winning. He beats Hope black n blue, her quick healing seeming to be a thing of the past. He tears at her skin, digging into her chest, then pulls out her heart, literally tearing it into shreds.

Josie cries. She screams and she cries and she grieves. But she's also angry. So so angry that he's taken everyone from her and she couldn't do a thing.

He speeds towards her, looking her in the eyes, stained by the blood of her family, of her love. His tongue swirls around the edges of his mouth, tasting some of the crimson liquid.

"You're next." He says.

Josie jumps up, looking around. She's confused, sweating, and her heart is pounding so loud that she can hear it as if it's a drum. As if someone is playing a beat right next to her. She can feel the black veins pulsing under her eyes and her fangs protruding from her gums.

She looks to her side, spotting her girlfriend laying in the bed. She pushes the blanket out of the way, searching for injuries. She listens for a heartbeat other than her own, and he hears it, a sigh of relief escaping her.

Josie knows it was a dream. She knew, but it didn't stop her from panicking. It didn't stop the worrying. It hasn't once given her comfort to think of it like that in the weeks they've been happening, because they could've very easily become a reality. they could've become her life, and she could've been cursed to an eternity alone, but she's not.

Heavy breathing. Her skin is tingling. She tries to calm herself but her mind is racing, as is her heart. At some point Hope must have stirred awake, because she's suddenly in Josie's eyeliner, her lips moving with words that Josie can't hear - they simply blur into the background like an afterthought.

Irregular breathing.

"It's okay, Josie. It's okay. it's not real." Hope says, her voice breaking through the echoing heartbeats. "I'm here, I'm with you. Just try and take deep, steady breaths for me." She tries to focus on Hope's voice, how it sounds, and she feels it starting to calm her. Hope then reaches for her hands, which helps ground her that little bit more.

She watches Hope whisper something and flick her wrist. Eventually, Josie's heart starts to slow down, her fangs disappear, and her eyes return to normal.

"Good. That's good." Hope reaches for the bedside table and grabs Josie a drink. What would usually have been a morning glass of water is now a morning blood bag. Josie takes it, opening it carefully to not spill anything. She sips at it, still grimacing at the taste of it. "Better?"

"I guess," Josie answers. "What was that thing you whispered?"

"It's a calming spell. My aunt Freya showed me it. It helped a lot after my parents died. Now it can help you too." She explains.

"How do you do it?" Hope shows her how it works, the incantation, and even a method of doing it if speaking isn't an option.

"Thank you, Hope." Josie smiles, leaning in for a hug. Getting to be this close, getting to hold Hope like this - that's something she'll never take for granted. And it is something she will cherish, the small moments, all of it.