Stitch in Time

A thought occurred to me then. Charlie was right. Why didn't I take the fight to him?

By the time we got home I'd already worked on a way to get back at him. Without a word Charlie disappeared to her room. It was my time to shine, regardless of the consequences.

There was a soft knock on my door, "Lilly? I'm sorry for yelling at you." Charlie's voice was soft, apologetic. I smelled coffee and I looked up at her, smiling broadly.

"Charlie, you're a friggin' genius." I jumped to my feet and kissed her on the cheek, taking my mug from her. I swept a pile of books onto the floor so Charlie could sit. I noted her confusion and explained, "What you said in the car-"

"I'm sorry -"

"Let me finish!" I laughed and continued, "What you said made me think: what if I did take the fight to him?"

Her eyebrow arched and she looked wary; her lips pursing together, questioning.

"Don't give me that look," I smiled and rummaged under a pile of books for an old journal I kept as a kid. "Remember this?" I asked and handed it to her.

"Your Grams used to tell us stories and had us write down recipes for the weirdest things."

"Yes! But now look at this." I gave her a printout.

"It's the same list of ingredients she used," Charlie paused, "except, there's something just a little different here than your Grams' recipes."

"Exactly. Now, do you remember what the stories were about?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Ghosts, demons, witchcraft... supernatural stuff. What's your point?" Charlie's eyebrows touched together in a frown.

"My point is," I said and held out the necklaces we made one afternoon, "I think she was trying to teach us not only life lessons but-"

"Witchcraft? You're kidding me."

"I'm dead serious Charlie. Why would she insist we write down everything she taught us, even the names and origins of the bad guys?" I took out a bigger book that I'd started filling up earlier, "My point is, we've been taught and now it's time I use what she taught me."

Charlie was quiet for a minute and I let that sink in.

Then I heard the wheels click in place; her jaw dropped and she got to her feet, "Lilly! No! You're not going to use it against him. Do you even know what the consequences will be? Good God, your grandmother will roll over in her grave if she knew!"

I watched her pace, her hands waving around in the air, swatting at nothing. Her face was red again, this time more from exertion than anger. "Charlie, you're ranting."

"And why shouldn't I? It's too dangerous, Lilly; I won't let you risk it." Charlie was concerned, chewing on her bottom lip, still pacing; her coffee forgotten.

I pleaded with her, "Please, Charlie, I need you with me on this." I held her face in my hands, our eyes locking, "Please, Charlie?"

She sighed and I knew I had her. Now all that was left was some research and a practice run. I was giddy, adrenaline pumping and my heart racing. I felt myself teetering on the brink of freedom. I was a prisoner of my own rage and I wanted out.

We tested our first spell by turning him into a worm. Lucky for him it wasn't permanent and he turned back into his slimy human counterpart before the pigeons could make breakfast out of him.

It was time to kick it up a notch.

"Do we have everything?" I asked. I took the picture I'd kept of him and sat next to Charlie who held a little home-made voodoo doll.

"Are you sure about this, Lilly?"

"Absolutely!" I was hyped up and giddy.

"You can at least try to sound just a little remorseful." She mumbled and then stuck his picture to the doll with a pin.

Together we chanted and then used a lit candle to set the doll on fire. We tossed the burning doll in a copper bowl; an eerie scream blew in on the wind and we jumped. When the candle went out we both screamed and then started laughing at our silliness.

When we heard the news the next day Charlie and I sat in silence, staring at one another. The damage caused in just one night was immense.

"Lilly, I think we should reverse the spell," was the first thing she said once the shock wore off, "we've gone too far with this."

My conscience agreed with her, but my inner reason was bent on revenge, "He deserves every ounce -"

"Does he? Listen to yourself Lilly, since all this witchcraft business you've been acting differently; and if this is what's really inside you then I'm not sure I want to find out what comes next." Charlie said then added as she gathered her bag and keys, "I want you cleared out." She paused at the door and smiled sadly, "Good bye, Lilly."

I paced nervously by the phone, waiting for her to call. I'd tried her cell but there was no answer. The clock on the wall said it was nearly six; and the ticking of the second hand made the wait more agonizing. When the call finally came I answered before it could finish ringing, "Charlie?"

"Ms. Dumont, there's been an accident."

I paced anxiously outside the OR; demanding God save her life. When the Doctor came through the door my head snapped around comically, "Is she okay?"

The look on his face told me before he did. I took the baggie with her effects and slid to the floor, my head on my knees – tears staining my jeans. "I'm sorry Charlie."

I looked at the clock on my bedside table, five minutes to midnight. I checked to make sure that everything was set and ready; tonight there would be no second chances. This wasn't a game anymore; Charlie had been right – too bad I hadn't listened to her when it mattered. I looked at the clock again, grabbed the box of matches and the copper bowl I needed to complete the ritual and stepped inside the circle of white candles at the foot of my bed. I knelt in the center of the circle, placing the bowl in front of me.

Taking a fortifying breath, my heart crashing against my ribs, I lit the candles in an anti-clockwise direction. I wrote my wish on a bay leaf and added it to the copper bowl; I tossed in a fistful of salt and lit the end of a cedar wood splinter and read the spell, "Break these bonds that hold me fast, remove him from my memory. Take what was and is no more – replace it with what was before. Heal this pain and set me free. Reset my destiny."

Using the burning end of the cedar wood I lit the paper on fire and then placed both in the copper bowl. Smoke started saturating the air and I vaguely remembered seeing the second hand on the clock stop before a wave of dizziness hit me and I lost consciousness.

"It's not like I asked him to jump my bones. It just happened." She rolled her eyes and smirked over the rim of her mug, "Although... that is quite an intriguing idea."

I was shocked to see Charlie's face in front of me. I stared at her and her expression changed from a mischievous smirk to alarm; I felt her hand squeezing mine and I looked down at it and looked back at her, my ears ringing.

"Charlie?" Relief flooded me and tears slid down my cheeks and I knew that the spell had worked.

"Lilly, you're scaring me. Are you okay?"

I knew that telling her would just put her life in danger again so I wiped at my tears and said, "What if I told you that I'm thinking of becoming a nun?"

Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly and she gave half a laugh, "Did someone spike your coffee or something, Lilly?" She winked at me, "We both know that would most likely only last as long as you're able to stop ogling the waiter's derrière."

I laughed and something inside me released – and I knew I was finally free.