Aidan was up to his waist in the hole he was digging, while Alex watched shotgun in hand, when the shovel hit the casket. Aidan removed some of the soil covering it and hit it harder.
"Found it. Bring the fuel, Princess."
Alex hurried to fetch the can. Aidan kept hitting the cover until it gave in, exposing Beth Campbell's bones, still wrapped in the drags of her wedding dress. He was climbing out of the hole when Ann showed a few steps away.
Seeing the open grave, she let out an angry howl and charged against Aidan. Her unexpected strength took him by surprise, and he stumbled back, fighting to keep his balance. From across the clearing, Alex pointed the shotgun at Ann, but the old woman only needed to flick her fingers to throw Alex down. Aidan took advantage of Ann's distraction to retrieve the shovel and swing it against her. Ann stopped the blow single-handed, with one of her maniac giggles.
"Aidan!"
Mark's distant calling was followed by a scream that pushed Alex to stand up. Claire! However, Ann wouldn't let her get away. She moved her hands and threw both Aidan and Alex down, then she jumped to sit on top of him, squeezing his throat with her hands.
Behind her, Alex ignored the pain burning her chest and crawled on her hands and knees to the edge of the grave, dragging the shotgun and the fuel can. If the witch was there to keep them busy, it meant she'd left her pet ghost with Claire and Mark. While Aidan pushed Ann off him, Alex opened the can and let the fuel pour into the hole and the broken casket.
Mark's scream echoed under the thick canopy. "Hurry up, Aidan! Do it!"
Aidan rolled over and staggered to his feet, grabbing the shovel again. He attacked Ann, trying to drag her away from the grave.
At the same time, Alex found the zippo she'd bought for the occasion, flicked it and threw it into the hole. The blazing flames caught Ann's attention. She let out another horrid howl and jumped on Aidan, trying to push him to the fire. Alex managed to stand up and ran to them, stumbling onto Aidan as her arms locked around his waist.
He fell flat on his back only a step away from the hole. Alex jumped back to her feet, grasped the shotgun barrel and swung it like a club with all her strength. The blow pushed Ann back, and before she could try anything, Alex hit her again, this time in the head. Ann fell face to the ground by the open grave, completely out.
Alex didn't wait for Aidan. She sprinted away to where the screams had come from, fear like cold claw clutching at her heart. Aidan caught up with her and they stormed into another small clearing together, almost stumbling on Mark and Claire.
Beth was standing between them, a rotten hand deep into Claire's chest. Aidan stopped Alex, because the ghost straightened up and stepped back from Claire, face up to the sky under the ragged veil, letting out a shrieking cry that was painful to hear. The tattered dress burned without flame from the bottom up.
Alex didn't care about the burning ghost. She pushed Aidan away and hurried to kneel by Claire. As the ghost turned to ashes that floated for a moment before raining on the grass with a soft hiss, Aidan produced a hunting knife and cut the girl's ropes before releasing Mark. Alex caught Claire in her arms and her heart stopped: the girl wasn't breathing, and she couldn't find a pulse.
She lay Claire down on the ground, fighting back her horror, and tried to bring her back. She didn't care about the tears rolling down her pale, dirty cheeks. Everything disappeared for her but Claire, while she kept pressing the girl's chest and blowing into her mouth, as desperate as stubborn.
Just when she was about to give up, and lie down by Claire to die with her out of sheer grief, Claire's lips moved and her eyelids fluttered. Alex fell back on her butt, hands to her mouth to hold back a cry. Claire coughed, opening her eyes a little. Before she could fill her lungs, Alex held her tight in her arms. Claire clung to her, shaking from heat to toes as she burst in tears.
When they were able to get a little grip on themselves and look up, they saw Aidan and Mark had brought Ann Campbell still unconscious. Mark was tying the old woman's hands behind her back with his belt, and helped Aidan lift it to carry her on his shoulder, best caveman style.
"What d'you wanna do with her, Princess?"
Alex wiped away her tears, still holding Claire. She needed a moment to find her voice. "Her cottage should be near," she said. "Take her. I'll be there in a minute. Mark, stay please."
Aidan took Ann away as the boy kneeled down by the Corbans. Claire met his eyes, trying a weary smile. He smiled back, brushing her hair behind her ear.
"Hey," he whispered.
Alex rolled her eyes. Just friends, yeah, sure. "Listen, Mark, I gotta seal the witch, so she can never hurt anybody again."
Claire smiled again and spoke with a shaky voice. "She's about to ask you to take care of this pain in the ass, so she can get rid of the other pain in the ass."
"Claire!"
Mark nodded. "Don't worry, Al. I can take her back to the motel and stay there with her till you guys come back."
Alex handed him the Hilux keys and pointed a really serious finger at him. "I'm trusting you with my niece and my truck, kiddo. So you better be good to my babies, got it?"
Mark nodded again, chuckling, and helped Claire up. Before leaving, Claire threw her arms around Alex's neck.
"Thanks for saving my life!" she whispered.
Alex hugged her back. "C'mon, kiddo. That's the job, right?"
The cottage was only a hundred feet away. Aidan carried Ann inside and sat her down on a chair in the middle of the kitchen. Alex found him waiting by the door, the shotgun barrel to his shoulder and one finger on the trigger.
The sound of the closing door when Alex walked in woke Ann up. The old woman opened her eyes, tried to move and grunted, finding herself tied up to the chair. Alex stood before her with a mocking smile.
"Wakey-wakey, Sleeping Beauty. Take it easy, 'cause it's gonna take a while." She turned to Aidan. "Don't let her speak."
Aidan nodded, watching Alex search shelves and cupboards, grabbing jars, herbs and small objects.
"What're you up to, Princess?"
Alex replied as she brought everything to draw a circle on the floor around Ann. "Grandpa Bootter taught me a way to seal the skill of using magic for evil purposes."
She filled a pitcher with fresh water and left it near Ann's feet. Aidan didn't hide his curiosity, watching her put her hands by Ann's temples and close her eyes, muttering something under her breath.
The witch squirmed and grunted something. Alex opened her eyes to glare down at Ann and backhanded her.
"Aidan!"
He hurried to snatch a kitchen cloth and stuffed it into Ann's mouth.
"No counter-spell, old hag," Alex said.
She grabbed the pitcher and stood behind Ann, resuming her murmuring as she slowly poured the water on the witch's head. Ann squirmed again and even tried to push her chair back to the floor. Aidan was surprised to see the steam fuming from the woman's skin in touch with the water.
When the pitcher was empty, Alex leaned to say in Ann's ear, "From now on, any magic you try will work on you first. Tenfold. So you should think twice next time you feel like casting a curse." She straightened up. "Set her free, Aidan-Knight. She's done."
Alex left him to untie Ann and headed out. She needed fresh air. Her hand was on the doorknob when the room spun around her and her knees buckled. Her eyes were suddenly blurry, all her body stiff and weary. Damn. It'd been too long since she'd last tried any kind of magic, and it'd taken a hard toll on her.
Aidan saw her stagger and left Ann to deal with the rope around her ankles. He was by Alex's side in a heartbeat, to hold her up and help her out of the cottage, taking her to a tree stump. She sat down on it and held her head with both hands, breathing deep and slow to keep her stomach from turning. Aidan crouched before her, concerned, and waited for her to meet his eyes. She did and scoffed at his worried frown.
"It's okay, Aidan-Knight. I'll be fine in a minute." She rested a hand on his shoulder with a tired smile. "Thanks. Again."
His hand came up to cover her cheek, smiling back at her, and his thumb stroked her pale skin gently. She smiled a little wider. His eyes didn't steal away from hers, and she liked that.
When she felt in shape to walk again, they headed back to the family graveyard. Aidan insisted in keeping his arm around her waist, in case her knees buckled again, and coming from such a rough punk, Alex found it too cute to argue.
Beth's open grave was a mess of burned wood and bones. They paused to gaze down at the last embers.
"My new zippo went down there," Alex said.
Aidan gave her a strip of book matches with his trademark smartass smirk.
"Cheap and expendable. Keep them, Princess. You can't go wasting a good zippo on every crazy ghost you come across."
She accepted it, amused. Was that Aidan's idea of courting? Well, like such a word would exist in his dictionary.