Sister Spelled

Blood to Blood

"Now we say the words." She answered in a low voice that filled the space between them. She laid the knife on the ground, scarlet still shining wetly from the blade. Her hand found three stones, milky white that glittered as she handed them to the girls. "Hold the stones in the hand that isn't cut. Repeat the words, and do what I do. Don't worry Annie, it'll be over before you know it."

Gin didn't miss the way Annie swallowed and nodded. She was having second thoughts too, but every time Gin had the urge to call it off one word spiraled through her, shattering the need to get out. Sisters. That one word held the promise of everything they wanted: acceptance, a family, a home. And she needed it more than ever now what with everything happening so quickly: Mads so-called Aunt showing up out of nowhere to take her, an adoption already in place for Gin, leaving Annie behind, and Alicea. She wouldn't lose another one of her friends. 

And so Gin slid the burnished metal bowl between them, pushing it down in the damp sand. A fat white candle sat in the middle of the bowl, and Gin touched one finger to the wick, a flame igniting in a burst of red. The color reminded her of the blood dripping down her palm, but with gritted teeth, she forced herself to breathe. She would get through this. 

"Ready?" Madeline asked, meeting first Annistyn's blue eyes, then Ginniveive's dark ones. With a sharp inhale Mads began to read the words printed in looping script on the page. Browning paper crinkled beneath her finger as she slowly traced over the words,

Candle's burning, hot and bright

Full blood moon on a cloudless night

Wick and wax, use our power

Assist us in our darkest hour

Sisters we desire to be

Combine the blood of the three

Blood to blood

Sisters, we will be 

Blood to blood

So mote it be

Gin and Annie repeated the words with her, stumbling until they had recited them a few times, their small voices growing in strength. Something in the sea seemed to sense the power, the waves rushing in to swallow their small voices until they were almost shouting to stay above it. Waves roared to the shore, the wet touching the edge of Annie's nightgown, but she didn't notice, so intent on the words and the other girls and the way her power spiraled through her. The flames danced atop the candles as the wind rushed,  flickering wildly as they fought to stay alight.

A tingling began in Gin's  palm, snaking its way through her veins. Light and golden, it pulsed through her in time with the chant. She could almost see their voices twining in the air above the metal bowl. Hers was a deep gold, crackling with power. She followed the sight, making our Mad's black, twisting like shadows, and Annie's green-blue, crashing like waves. Up and over, around and under, she watched until the heat in her palms grew almost unbearable.

The moonstone glowed, each girls matching the color of her spelled words. Hotter and hotter they grew, but she didn't scream, couldn't because the words were still flowing from her mouth. A spell like a sirens song. Except they were the victims of their own voices.

Quickly, Mad's threw her bloody palm forward, the red dropping into the fat candle's flame. White hot it burned, just like the blood running through Gin's own veins and she knew Mads was right,  she knew it was time. Mads always knew when it was time.

She threw her own hand forward, Annie's following. The fire flared up, swallowing her skin and she flinched, expecting the burn. But none came.

Instead, everything cooled, the fire whooshing out as quickly as it had been lit. None of the girls moved at first, still stunned by what had happened. Not the first spell they had done together, but by far the biggest. Mad's moved first, her mouth split in a grin as wild as her name suggested.

"That was a fucking rush."

"Language..." Annie whispered, eyes impossibly wide as she stared at her now smooth palm. Gin got the feeling she didn't even know she had said anything, "How do we know it worked?"

Gin knew the answer before she even realized it, "The moonstones. Our spell was accepted."

"I told you we wouldn't need the sacrifice." Mads laughed, a wild sound like the rustle of wings.

Each girl stared at the space of skin the held the moonstone. It still glowed brightly, only now it rested beneath the surface. Gin could see her golden power flowing from it, lighting through her veins, but now there was also a wisp of black, a wave of blue.

"We-We're..." Annie trailed off as a smile finally lit her face. Twin tears traced the lines of her cheeks.

"Sisters." Gin laughed, "Blood-sisters. Posi-tive-ly inseparable."

"More than that." Mad's told the girls as they grinned together, "We're spelled sisters. Stronger than any blood. Together forever."

Annie's smile was smaller than the other girls, just two small bends at the corners of her mouth really, but hope fluttered in her chest, beating back the black that had bloomed there days ago. The day she had lost Alicea. But she wouldn't lose anyone else. Not ever.

None of them noticed the crack in the bowl or the thin line of blended blood meeting the waves.