Shrouded in secrecy, witches are born with only one ability they learn to master over a lifetime, and they have one primary rule: never fall in love with a Warlock.
When 18-year-old Phoebe Larson unexpectedly finds herself in danger at her ex-boyfr...
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Phoebe found herself surrounded by pitch blackness with only one solitary light source; a floating lantern giving off a purple glow. She wore a long emerald cotton dress that pooled all around her up to several feet away. The ground beneath her bare toes felt like mud, slowly pulling her down inch by inch into its depths.
The realization that eventually she'd sink terrified her.
"Help!" she cried out as loud as her voice would carry.
"Phoebe," a gentle, female voice called her name.
Another lantern lit up, floating above the figure of a tall woman dressed in red. The woman's long dark hair reached her waist, masking her face. She reached her hands to the curtain of hair that kept her features hidden and slowly parted it to reveal herself.
Phoebe's heart pounded hard in her ribcage. The woman wasn't a stranger to her, she knew that face. She would recognize it anywhere.
"Mom?" Phoebe mumbled, surprised at first and then after processing the situation her voice grew louder. "Mom!"
"Phoebe!" Her mom called out with just as much desperation.
The two fought to move, but it was in vain. Their legs were too deeply embedded in the mud and the struggle only proved to pull them faster and farther. Her mother reached out her arm, trying to stretch her fingertips out towards her daughter. Phoebe mirrored her mother's action, wanting their fingers to at least touch. If she could hold her hand at least they'd be together, and she'd know that finally they were reunited. But their fingers were just out of reach.
"A crescent. A fork. A Mountain. A Sign!" Her mother called out.
The mud climbed up their torsos. Phoebe's scream became trapped in her throat. Painful coldness from the mud stung every muscle in her body.
"A crescent! A fork! A Mountain! A Sign!" Her mother screamed out before the mud poured into her mouth and eyes, swallowing her whole being.
Phoebe bolted up from her bed screaming.
It was only a dream, but dreams weren't supposed to hurt. Her body still ached all over with an icy coolness to her skin.
Phoebe took a moment to calm down and regain her senses. She had expected to find herself in her own bed, but that was not the case. Xavier and Phoebe had reached the cabin by the lake, and promptly she went into the master bedroom and locked herself in for the night. She didn't bother to be a good host or show him where anything was. All she wanted to do was create a safe space and sleep.
The bedroom smelled damp and dusty. Stacks of paint cans and plastic tarps were in the corner. There was a bookshelf against the wall with several books wrapped in plastic to protect them from moisture damage. She could see the potential in the cabin. It had great bones, but her mother had disappeared before she could finish working on it.
