The Incubus Under My Bed #wattys2019

Chapter 14- A Sinner's Prayer

Aria woke to golden bands of sunlight striking across her face. She looked up and Henri was just staring at the wall. She let out a soft sigh, sure that he had to be thinking about Ashley or Whitney, maybe both. When they got into the suite it was hard for everyone to sleep. In a forty-eight-hour time frame they managed to loss two friends. Aria kissed Henri's cheek and he tingled his finger in her hair.

"You want to grab something to eat?" he asked her.

Aria sleepily stretched out and sat on his lap. "It's Sunday. The best day of the week," she said as she gave him an Eskimo kiss. "We have to get ready for Sunday school," she said excitedly jumping out of bed.

Henri smiled as he watched Aria retreat from his room in one of his t-shirts. He lay back down and looked up at the ceiling. He wondered if Stella was right about Whitney being murdered. He knew Whitney was a frank person, but she did it with the best intensions. All night he wondered who would do something like this to his friends, and he couldn't think of a soul that would want to hurt them.

Maybe Ashley was just sad about Cohen, and maybe Whitney felt guilty. Maybe was not certainty, and that wasn't good enough for Henri. There had to be a way he could find out what happened, something he could do. Maybe magic could help them uncover who did this to Ashley and Whitney. Maybe they could summon them or something.

"Aren't you going to get out of bed?" Aria asked as she came back into his room.

"Yeah," he smiled. "Do you know how to summon spirits?" he asked her.

"Lucas said he was going to handle this," Aria said.

"I just want to talk to them. I want to understand what happened. This makes no sense Aria," he yelled at her.

"I know this hurts Henri, but you can't just use magic for everything. There's a lot that can go wrong," she said. "My brothers are good at what they do. They're going to find who did this."

"Okay," Henri said. He knew Aria wouldn't help him, but he was sure Stella would. "Wanna wear matching sweaters. I'm sure David would love that," he said.

"No, please don't," she said as she kissed him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Henri gently placed his lips on hers and passionately kissed her. "Go get ready," he said.

"'Kay."

When Aria turned on the shower Henri snuck out the room. He knocked on the girls' door and Stella came after a short while. "Can I come in?" he asked.

"Sure," she said stepping aside and letting Henri come into the room.

"Look, I want to summon Whitney and Ash, and I need your help," he said being candid about the situation.

"And Aria already turned you down," she guessed.

"She doesn't want to do something wrong," Henri shrugged.

"Because there's no right way to tamper with death, the only way to do that is with magic that has dark properties to them. The best results come from using dark magic, but... That taints the soul."

"So, either way the spell will effect whoever does it negatively?" he asked.

"There might be a way of communicating with them that's easier than summoning them. I'll look when I go home tonight," she promised.

"Please don't let Aria find out," He begged her.

"You should be honest with her. Both her parents are witches and there might be something in Abuela's book of shadows that can help us," she informed him. "But if you want to keep her out of this I'll try."