Heart of Glass

Chapter 25

"What on earth is the hurry?" He cried.

Not stopping to apologise, she charged into the Doc's office. Zeke lay in the center of the room, a thin trail of putrid magic snaking out of his chest into a ball floating above him. Amelia was asleep on the floor beside him.

"Wake up!" Ariel slapped Amelia's arm and the witch's eyes flew open.

"Bleeding hell, girlie! I just got to sleep!"

"You need to get Autumn's parents," she kept hitting her arm. "I think she's – I mean..."

The word refused to form on her tongue and she hit the witch harder. "Just get them!"

Awake in a flash, Amelia charged out of the office and headed for the stairs, Ariel hot on her tail. No one had moved since she left, and she stood next to Emily as Amelia bent over Autumn. Her gaze hardened as she noticed her missing legs, and she moved her hand over the rest of Autumn's body before she closed her eyes. A small white light formed in her hand and she pressed it gently into Autumn's chest. At once, her breathing eased.

"It ain't much," Amelia said soflty, "but it will ease the pain a bit. We weren't expecting it to happen this fast."

"Thank you," Autumn, whispered.

When Amelia turned around, Ariel nearly lost control of her emotions as the witch wiped tears from her eyes. "Right. I'm going to get the Doc first. Then I'll go and get ya folks. Sammy, hold down the fort for me until I get the Doc back."

Ariel hadn't realized Samson was standing by the door. "Of course, Amelia."

With a crack, Amelia vanished. A heavy silence fell over the room and the ball of fear within Ariel started to turn into panic.

She didn't know what to do. Her only help had been to get an adult, but they hadn't said what else she should do to help Autumn. Feeling like a child, she turned to Samson for help, but even he appeared at a loss for words.

"Why didn't you tell us, you were...?" Emily finally asked.

"I didn't want to upset everyone," Autumn said softly. "The Doc and I guessed I wouldn't survive this winter, but we thought I had a little more time. Amelia has been trying to reverse the negative effects of the curse since she returned."

Amelia's demands that their sessions with Zeke be finished by three in the morning suddenly made sense. "She's been treating you in the early hours, hasn't she?"

"Yes. She thought it might help to prolong the inevitable, but deep down we both knew it was pointless." Her eyes closed and Emily sobbed. Ariel grabbed her hand, trying to give her whatever strength she had to offer.

A crack sounded downstairs and then footsteps rushed towards them. Another crack sounded as the Doc entered.

He looked as though Amelia had dragged him out of bed. Running a hand through his ruffled hair, he stepped past everyone to kneel by Autumn's bedside.

"I'm so sorry," Autumn, he said softly. "I should have been here –"

"It's fine," she replied. "We both knew this was coming, and it can't be stopped. You had Ben to worry about. Is he well?"

Doc nodded, gently touching her face. "He's much better. We were going to bring him home soon."

"How nice," she smiled, and two leaves fell from her face.

Emily's grip threatened to snap Ariel's hand in two, but she was sure Emily probably felt the same way about her own. The Doc seemed to realize they were all standing there, and he gave them a broken smile.