Chapter Twenty Five – Blood Red
“Bring forth the chalices,” Ivette shouts over the chaotic cries of joy.
I take my Nymph sister’s stiff hand and watch as my friends are forced in front of us. Katie, Brenda, and Ryan kneel with shaking legs. Xan struggles to stay standing but is eventually forced down by Ivette’s overpowering strength. I turn forward, watching them fighting the ropes on their wrists and barely keeping their frightened tears at bay.
“Tonight, we take the blood of Spencing and Mystic lineage.”
Ivette pulls a knife from her right boot and walks to Brenda, the first in the line. The golden handle with bright red jewels glitters just below the sliver blade. Brenda screams into her gag, trying her hardest to get away. I run toward her but Lisa grabs me from behind.
“What are you doing? She can’t do this!”
“I’m not doing it,” Lisa defends. My eyes narrow at Steph. She holds her hand cautiously at us and watches our eldest sister. A familiar sensation starts to prickle the tips of my fingers. The warmth of my neck gets hotter as Ivette takes the blade and cuts into Brenda’s palm. Brenda’s blood is squeezed into one golden chalice and Ivette moves on.
The same thing happens to each of my Spencing friends; the skin of their palm is sliced open and their blood spilled into the cup. Xan, still being defiant, spits into the chalice as he tears his gag off.
“I hope you rot in hell,” he hisses.
“Your spit. More potency for you.” Ivette smiles, clearly not affected. My anger burns hotter. She can do whatever to me but I know now that I won’t anything more happen to them. This ceremony is going to be cut short. I struggle worse with Lisa’s immobile form and feel the Phoenix in me start to awaken.
Next, it is our turn. Ivette cuts into her hand as Susan holds a second chalice for her. Unlike normal blood, Ivette’s is grey. It seeps out like spoiled milk but the cup is handed quickly to Stephanie. She holds her scaly hand out and drains her blue gummy blood in. Ivette walks to me and Susan winks, ready to see my insides pour out again. Lisa lets go and I am left to stand on my own.
“Your hand. Unless you have a death wish, you will give it to me.”
Balling my fingers into fists, I declare war into her eyes. I feel the Phoenix Blessing spark up but I keep it back. All that matters is my choice.
“Never.”
Ivette blinks and gives a nod to Stephanie. Suddenly, I can’t breathe. My eyes widen as every one of my muscles twitch. My arm raises and Ivette takes the blade across my skin. Stephanie is much more powerful than I ever thought she’d be. Her eyes glow with her abilities but I see the tiniest bit of fatigue as blue drips from her nose. I try and force my arm away but nothing happens. Even screaming is impossible. Scarlet blood trickles down over the grey and blue mix, sizzling slightly.
“Gail,” Xan murmurs with lost hope. “What are you doing? Fight back!”
“She can’t,” Ivette whispers. Her cold lips kiss my cheek before taking a step toward Lisa. “You still have a human body and that means you retain water.”
Stephanie’s manipulation persists but I am allowed to breathe. I wheeze in terror while watching Lisa’s hand being forcefully held out too. Her palm oozes a thin green substance laced with yellow. It looks more like oil than bodily fluid.
“And the blood is paid,” Susan shouts to the waiting Demons and Witches.
They cheer. Tammy jumps into Marco’s arms. Their disturbing love is enough to make me shudder. Carter is the only one standing still. He keeps his hands secured tightly to his red and white cane. For a second, his head glances up and even though he cannot see me, his eyes find my face.
Let the Phoenix take you, he murmurs into my mind. Let Emily see what has become.
I tense up more. Does Carter really want this or is he helping me in stopping it? I fight harder on my body’s restraint. I hope he’s the one Witch is on my side.
“We will not hide anymore,” shouts Ivette. “You, our humble guests, are here for the same desires as we had those many years ago. We have power and therefore the birthright to rule. Witches will be seen, will be heard. We are the masters of nature and nothing can stop us. The coven of four is ready. We will rise. We will rise!”
The gathering repeats we will rise until the chalices’ contents both simmer into a crimson vapor in Susan’s hands. It disperses into the air and I’m terrified on just how long until my friends die. The Blessing inside me pulses through my veins. I can feel it push the limits of my control but I’m still not sure if I should allow it. If Emily is the Phoenix, is it safe to let her free? Or will I be lost forever?
“Ivette, please don’t do this,” Xan cries to her. “Your dad was one man but don’t blame all of us for his stupid mistake! Stephanie, Lisa, please!”
Ivette back hands Xander making Katie and I both cry out. My sister is a lost cause but Xan’s words have shaken her up. She turns to me with unshed tears shining in her eyes.
“We don’t need your powers,” Ivette says over the growing chant of the followers. “All we needed was your blood and the Spencings will die off. Witches wouldn’t have to hide or be scorned anymore. We wouldn’t have to worry about wars or death. We will be free. The world would be at peace. Emily…”
My eyes water as I stare into my sister’s pleading face. She was so innocent once. We used to laugh and play together, think of our wedding dresses, pretend to be sick so we could stay home from school. Life and death has changed her into something I can’t recognize. I nod my head, letting her know I’ve made my decision. She wants the Phoenix so I might as well let her see it. With nothing but instinct to help me control it, I let my hands burst to flames. Boy, do I hope I know what I’m doing.
“My name is Abigail,” I correct her. My eyes start to glow with the Blessing and my emotions burst tenfold. “Not Emily.”
The gathering stops their chant as I’m consumed. They marvel at my full power, something I never knew could feel so amazing. Energy explodes in my veins and I’m engulfed by fire. The studs on my face become hot enough to glow orange. Flames lick my dreads though they aren’t singed off. The control which Stephanie holds me down with burns away along with some of my clothing. But I can’t feel shame right now. My soul is becoming the Phoenix.
Everything about me sets ablaze. Lisa is thrown back unharmed for even as the Phoenix I wouldn’t hurt her. This power thrills me. The amber tiara channels the fire through my mind, clearing any sense of reality. I let loose and make my flames burn brighter. This is marvelous. I am one with the heat and nothing can touch me. I set my sights onto my sisters. They should be punished. A growl gargles in my throat from the intense hatred I feel. I will punish them for the evil they’ve done.
Crackling air, dry screams. I can’t hear much over the roar of the Blessing. It soothes my soul on the inside and keeps me blissfully numb to the world. But there is one thing, a determined voice crying out for me. As much as I want to let myself go in the fire, I strain to listen to what it says.
“Anger gives power to the Phoenix but you’ll have no control,” he says. Xander? I inhale the flames wanting to return to the blissful high of not knowing how to feel. I can’t let myself do that, can I? “Think of the purest emotion you have, the most innocent of love or the strongest connection to anyone. Remember everyone you hold close and use it. It will be your fire!”
But I can’t hear him. I’m too far taken into my own mind where I know what and who I’ll find.
It’s time for me to meet Emily.
~*~
Water, Earth, Fire and Soul. There will be four daughters of the angry elements. A coven of unimaginable strength. If bound by water, they bring their healing. If bound by earth, their peace. If bound by fire, their protection. But if they be bound by hate… they bring their end.
~*~
The nothingness consumes me. I wish I could say I felt it, felt the power take over me and the force of the fire burning me alive again. I think back to the last few moments of my last life. My thoughts scramble through one another but I don’t remember it, only that it did happened. I don’t remember where I stood that day. I don’t remember my sister’s faces of their youth. I don’t know my birth mother’s name.
“Open your eyes,” someone tells me.
It’s a female voice, calling out like a lullaby. She coaxes me but I dare not see what’s happening. If the Phoenix is killing those I love, I don’t want to witness it.
“You are the Phoenix, please realize that. You were the one born of fire and not I. Besides, we are not with the gathering at the moment. Call it a… a lapse in time.”
“What do you mean,” I ask, not letting my eyelids up. My voice reverberates like someone turned the echo up on a microphone. I take a breath and realize I am not at the Ledge anymore. What’s going on?
“Please, open your eyes,” the girl says. “It’ll be easier to explain.”
Through the small slits I allow my eyes to be, I see the dark has enveloped me. Opening a little more I see scarlet red. My mind is inside my mind again, or however that works. I’m in the midst of my thoughts which waver slower than usual. The glimpses of my past float the cavern leisurely, the flames of my mind and the gases are all but stilled.
“So we finally meet,” the voice says. I snap my sight on the young woman in front of me. She stands tall, wearing a long, shapeless red dress. Her reddish brown hair falls effortlessly to her waist and her soft hand reaches out to help me up. Next time I see Trevor, if there is a next time, I’ll ask him how this cave really works.
“Thanks,” I say to the nameless girl for helping me up. A shiver runs through my back as I realize who I’m talking to. “You’re… You’re Emily!”
She nods her head. I look up and down her simple red dress, regarding the style. Like an old hippie. We are the same and yet, very different. I smirk a little before remembering she wants my friends dead.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be much use in this life,” she expresses. “Jeremy blocked me from control. I was angry or I was at first. I doubt you ever felt it since he hid me well.”
“So is this the part where we fight to see who can have control of my body?”
“Our body. And no,” she laughs softly. “We’re on the same side. Ivette needs to be stopped.” The last bit is said with a lot of difficulty but the way she says it makes me believe she’s telling the truth.
“What made you reconsider,” I ask her hesitantly. It’s very strange to be talking to a replica me. As she moves her hand to bring forth recollections, I stare at her long, flowing hair. I must look so bizarre considering what I’ve done to our body since she was alive.
“I’ve watched you grow. Everything you do is what I would have done,” she tells me. I glance back at her and realize she has surrounded us with the thoughts of my mind. My past simmers in the air. Conversations speak one at a time yet all together. My dad’s voice, Michelle whining about chores, Scott yelling at me… they’re all here to remind me of who I love.
“You were an innocent child,” Emily explains. “I told myself that I would wait until you were old enough. When your Tempest arrived, I would overcome the barrier and take my body back.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because you are already me,” she says. “I grew up with you, watching the Spencings and finding out who they really are. They aren’t all like our birth father.”
She sighs but I’m still wary. Her legs fold beneath her and she sits on the ground pretzel style, looking at me with waiting eyes. I’m not fully convinced.
“Why would you want to kill so many people? The world would be so lonely.”
“Spencings will fall and Witches will rise,” she whispers. Her head leans back and her hair tickles the floor. “We’ll no longer need to hide but be the rulers we rightfully deserve to be.”
I stare at the older version of myself. It frightens me to hear what I was like, drunk with the anticipation of power. As Emily catches my look of horror, she shakes her head and amends her words.
“I meant that’s what we were thinking,” Emily mumbles. “I’m just explaining the old plan. Lighten up. I’m not going through with it.”
I still take my time in believing her. A pop of light flashes over the ceiling of the cave reminds us this ‘lapse in time’ won’t last forever. There’s a gathering of Witches to stop and my Spencing friends to save. Emily knows we need to make a decision too. I bite my left snakebite and watch her do the same to her un-pierced lip. Too creepy.
“This sucks,” I say bluntly. Emily nods her head and rests it on her palm.
“Yes, it does.”
“What now?”
“Well,” Emily tries. She thinks hard for a moment. All my hope rests with her and she is the reason we’re in this mess. Emily clears her throat and sits up straight. “We could be the Phoenix and not die again. That means following Ivette into killing our four friends and the rest of the Spencings.”
I scrunch my eyebrows together. “Or…?”
A sly smile creeps onto her lips as if a brilliant idea had entered her mind. “Or we can try it my way.”