Of Frost & Cinder (Old Version)

Between A Witch and A Werewolf

"It was my parents." I taste the words on my tongue like they're made of ink. Saying it aloud makes it all the more real. I can feel my cleansed blood rising again. I'd give anything just to punch a wall or shatter a mirror right now.

Neither Beck nor Olivian say a word.

Pete, on the other hand, gasps. "Your parents? That's impossible."

"Actually, that makes perfect sense," Olivian replies.

"No, not Raif or Naomi. Well, okay, Raif probably, but not Naomi. Not your mom, Shell. She cries during those depressing animal shelter commercials with the Sarah McLachlan song. She couldn't poison you!"

I shake my head. His defense makes everything feel surreal, and it hurts.

"No, Pete," I say, pausing only to clear my throat. "I know it was them, both of them. I saw it."

"You remember?" Beck steps forward, and I nod.

"What do you mean, you saw them?" Pete's eyebrows crinkle tightly together. "Hold up, can someone explain to me what the heck is going on?"

"How far back do you want me to go?"

"Tell us everything, from the point where you met him," Olivian says, her eyes fixed on the werewolf now standing beside her. Part of me thinks she wants to know strictly to reassure herself he's still hers.

I sigh, and delve into the first memory I have of Beck and Olivian arguing in the cafe to him showing up on my doorstep, and how he could smell the poison in my system. I tell them how Pete and I deducted that we needed to go to The Fox Glove, and this is where I slip in that I found the spell online after going home. I talk about Beck and I at the house, and how I coerced him into conducting the spell with me. Obviously, I omit a lot of things for the sake of Olivian's rage, but I tell them enough to understand how we got to this point.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Pete says. The betrayal he feels is written all over his face.

"I was going to, and then you went on this tangent about needing physical proof, and it's not like I could have called Beck and said 'hey, can you come over and like, show us your teeth or bay at the moon? I'd really love to prove that I'm not crazy'."

"I say stupid things all the time, Shell! But, at least I'm being honest when I say them."

Olivian exhales sharply. "So, not only did you involve Beck in your crap when I asked you not to, but you also told someone else about him?"

"What was I supposed to do? I thought I was going mad! Partly, I still do."

"You could have kept your trap shut. That's always a viable option."

"Lay off, Ollie," Beck grumbles. "It's not her fault. Did you not hear the part where I searched her out, not vice versa?"

I groan. "Okay, instead of arguing about the smallest details of this situation, can we talk about what's going to happen when I remember everything? Or how about when other people realize that I remember? Am I safe?"

They'll kill her if they find her. Dad's words echo in my mind as if he were here, whispering them into my ear. I need to know what I saw, and why it's so crucial that I forget.

"Will all of my memories come back in dream form?"

"I'm not sure," Olivian shrugs. "To be totally honest, I'm shocked the spell worked as well as it did. Considering the other effects, you're lucky all you've had to deal with is a bit of vomiting."

I freeze. "What do you mean?"

"Olllie, don't," Beck warns, but he's too late.

"Well, technically you're the first person I've met where the spell actually did what it's supposed to. I mean, yeah the spell worked for the others too, but the difference was that their memories just poured into their heads. It all happened so fast that the energy surge was like a nuclear bomb went off inside their skull."