The Elm Grove

Prolog.
1347.

Her eyes saw everything.
And yet they saw nothing.
The cloak of oblivion would soon befall her and she would rise and not remember who or what she was, only be. This torturous agony was more than she could bear and crying out for help had proven futile and fruitless, so begging the Mother for help was her last resort. It had been a long process to come to this conclusion, but there was nothing else to do, how else was she supposed to forget all the humiliation and debasement she had suffered at the hands of the priests. Their foul cynical hidebound mindset, claimed she was impure and needed redemption, claiming she of all people conducted unspeakable business with the devil, that she was a fornicatress of his beg and call.
How ignorant they were and how sad it made her feel, but she could do nothing against such reckless hate and loathing. They had cut her off from her source of power, kept her locked away in a stone cellar, bound in iron, stripped naked and flayed to the bone. Hunger and thirst weakened her severely and the lack of sun and moonlight drained her until she felt like dried up husk, hollow and frail. Like a translucent material only acting as a barrier for her spectral form and with just a little pressure, it would break and her self spill free.
"Give us one name, witch, that's all we're asking," the tall priest stepped in close to her now, locked her jaw in a vice grip and with dull eyes she looked into his dark ones.
He wanted nothing more than to hurt her, strip her of all dignity and sanity, push her over the edge and watch her fall, burn in the proclaimed fires of hell, but she would not give him the satisfaction - she could not. When she didn't answer he heaved back the wooden cross fisted in his hand and swung the instrument at her face, snapping her head to the side and she cried out in pain. Blood spilled from her mouth again, the crimson droplets dripping on the straw strewn floor and with a weak lull of her head she looked up at the ceiling.
"Mother, take me and keep me, should this mortal shell die, save my energy should they disgrace my soul and pass it on to a worthy sister," she whispered in a voice as dry and cracked as a scorched lake bed and as she turned her hollow cheeked face towards the only barred window in the cellar where minimal light peaked through, her body shuddered and a wheezing breath escaped her lungs one last time.
The priests stared in horror at the sight of her spectral form leaving her broken body, crossing themselves and clutching their wooded crosses, asking their god to save them from this tormented spirit.
They had gained nothing from this interrogation, nothing to add to the books and no names to further dishonor witches or good women's lives. They had not even succeeded in destroying her spirit and she pitied them for their failure, because now, she was free to ravage their minds and make them insane.
Cries of fright could be heard through the hallways of the cellar, the one priest that did manage to escape her clutches, locked up the room never to be opened again for any reason.
The monastery fell into ruin, abandoned by the priests terrified of the disturbances the spirit of Eilight Lennox caused, disturbances so tangible that objects would move or their minds would fabricate illusions and she would make then come true. You could not kill a Grand Witch without giving her back to the Mother without suffering the consequences and as the centuries passed by, her spirit became baleful, vengeful and dark, so hungry for freedom and peace that her despair could be felt for miles around the monastery elm grove.

Lucinda.

Broken Wing.

2017.

"Com'on Lucinda, I thought you had a dark passion for these kinds of things?" Kian asked her on a dare and Lucinda sighed, looking up at her friend, who already had started scaling the ragged fence.
Clearly, he cared little for the meaning and the fact it represented a barrier for trespassing, and she looked worried at his retreating back. She had not meant for them to go into the monastery, just stare at the ancient structure - or what was left of it anyway - from afar, but Kian seemed to have other ideas.
She sighed and began scaling the fence herself, the slippery wood leaving a stain on her jeans and she rubbed it to no avail.
"Lucinda - come on!" Kian yelled from atop the slope and waved at her impatiently and she stuck her hands in the pocket on her hoodie and began the climb.
The monastery was situated in a gigantic elm grove, which now grew wild and unkempt, because no one ever set foot in here, no one dared to and so the nature slowly began reclaiming the land on which it sat, clearly telling who ever defied the boundaries of the fence, that here roamed no man.
Lucinda felt a strange wave of unease as she slowly neared the grove, as if it reached out to her somehow and tugged at something inside and her steps faltered, but she quickly regained her footing. Kian eyed her strangely but said nothing and they slowly made their way deeper into the grove, Lucinda feeling increasingly strange and it only intensified as they came closer to the ruins.
"Kian, I don't know about this," she said quietly and her friend looked back at her with a frown.
"You getting cold feet?" He asked mirthfully and she shook her head.
"No, but honestly never thought we'd be going in, it's not like there's a welcoming committee at the gates," she mocked him and he threw his arm over her shoulder and tugged her to him with a wry smile curving those full lips.
"For real Luci, we didn't travel all this way in all secrecy just to stand at the fence staring at the ruins," he pointed out and she looked up at him, thought to herself he only said that because he couldn't feel the vibes here, else he'd happily stayed at the fence, filming for his Youtube channel and just telling people this place was haunted so he didn't dare enter. He dug out his vlogging camera and commenced recording, focusing on his face.
"Hi guys, Ashtongue here, today... I'm here with my friend, Luci at Elm Grove that, according to myths apparently is haunted by an evil spirit - can you tell us a little more about this spirit, Lucinda?" He asked her and she shrugged as he turned the camera at her and she eyed it warily. She wasn't really a big fan of cameras of any sort, but she endured it for Kian's sake.
"It's said it's the spirit of a witch, who was killed here in the 12th Century and it is said this witch was a Grand Witch, which means she had a fuck ton - oh, sorry, didn't meant to swear - of power at her disposal and the priests knew it and wanted to torture her into telling who her sisters was, but she died before they ever could retrieve any names and locked away in the basement of the monastery in a cell, her spirit remains to this day and hurt those that comes near," she explained to the camera and Kian turned it at his own face.
"And that's why we're here, to see if this myth is actually true and I'm gonna record it for you guys," he told the camera and panned it around the grove, the ruins of the monastery appearing between the tall trees and Lucinda felt increasingly worse, like a flue was coming on, fever even, but she mentioned nothing to Kian. He walked a few phases in front of her, talking to the camera.
Lucinda raised her eyes to the foliage above, the sun was disappearing behind the cloud cover drifting in from south and a chill ran down her spine. She had a strong feeling she shouldn't be here, like something was about to happen and that something wasn't very good. And now, she was beginning to regret not listening to her mother, heeding her warning of seeking out knowledge and especially visiting sites where witches had been killed.
But why listen to your parent, where was the fun in that?
She met up with Kian as they stepped over the threshold of the monastery's main hall doorway, and a sudden rush of queasiness made her stagger a few steps, almost felt like stepping through a wall of water and she shook her head in confusion. Kian rushed to her side and supported her, looked both surprised and concerned at the same time.
"You ok there Luci?" He asked her and she touched her bow with a frown.
"Yeah, don't know what that was," she said, tried to hide the anxious tone of her voice and smiled weakly at her friend and he looked her over for a few beats before releasing her to her own device.
Lucile then shook her shoulders, took a deep breath and looked around the ruin. Some walls were still standing, some as high as 4 meters, clear window arches were still present, a few doorframes remained standing and the wall where the alter had stood, were still erect. In front of the podium a huge square slap covered the floor, littered with rubble, leaves and vegetation, obscuring most of the Latin text carved around the edges.
Lucinda's ear picked up a distressed chip from a bird and she walked towards the animal and found it behind a toppled pillar and she gasped. It would appear the bird had a broken wing and she carefully picked up the hurt animal into the palms of her hands and looked at Kian when he came around the pillar. He was still filming and he zoomed in on the bird.
"What's wrong with him?" He asked and Lucinda tried to calm the desperate animal, felt his little heart hammer of fright and she willed it to be calm.
"He's hurt, I think his wing is broken," Lucinda told Kian and they both stared in surprise at the bird when he suddenly began chirping loudly, like something was hunting him and Lucinda couldn't hold on to the bird any longer and let him go. He flapped desperately with his wings but fell hard to the ground, continued to writhe in agony and he began to swell, only to explode into a cloud of goo and feathers.
Lucinda squeaked, Kian roared and they both jumped back from the spray of bird and she covered her mouth in chock.
What on earth had happened to that poor bird?
A weak beam of light penetrated the clouds then, dust motes dancing in the cone that illuminated the floor right on the spot where the bird had died and she noticed an iron ring bolted to the floor. She kneeled over it and let her fingertips hover inches away, but refrained from making contact. Something felt wrong about it, like if she touched it, something bad would happen and so she withdrew her hand.
"What is it?" Kian asked and kneeled next to her and stared down at the iron ring. He frowned then, turned his black outlined grey eyes on her and they locked gazes, asking her with his eyes what was up with her all of the sudden and he then reached down and grabbed the ring. "It's loose," he pointed out and yanked it and it came free of the floor which had acted as a socket for the iron ring, which in turn was linked to a chain.
"Don't pull it, you don't know what it does," Lucinda warned him, but his daredevil eyes revealed he had no intention of stopping and turning the camera on the ring and chain he talked to the Youtube, telling them how exciting this was, while Lucinda had that foreboding feeling coursing through her veins. She really wanted Kian to stop, but she didn't want to touch the iron either.
"Here we go Youtube, pulling the chain, let's see what happens."
He twisted the chain around his wrist and pulled, twisted and pulled and it seemed like it continued in an endless supply, but suddenly it tightened and with an excited grin at her, Kian yanked the chain and something cracked, almost sounded like rust snapping off of hinges and an eerie squeaking sound resonated between the ruin remains.
A cold hand tightened it clammy claws around the base of her neck and her eyes shot straight to the place where the sound had come from and a shiver of discomfort trickled up her spine. Kian turned the camera at her face.
"Exciting huh, Luci?"
"Not really," she said truthfully and stepped out of the focus of the camera and moved towards the podium with the broken alter in very slow steps. Kian followed right behind her and she stepped up on the podium and walked behind the alter and stared down into a black hole in the ground. No light penetrated the darkness and her heartrate spiked, trepidation, but also a sudden morbid curiosity to see what was hiding down there battled for dominance.
This wasn't the movies after all, where some twisted creature of a failed experiment had been locked away for centuries, evolving into a new species that would ultimately infect wildlife, which in return would infect humans and they all would die and become zombies - right?
"Are we going in?" Kian asked and Lucinda pulled out her phone and turned on the light and shone it into the blackness, now revealing a wooden latter and with a nervous look back at Kian, she walked over to the latter and lowered herself down onto it. "Careful Luci," he said, he's own voice beginning to take on an edge of trepidation as he watched her climb down. The old wood creaked ominously and felt sticky under her palms and she wiped them compulsory on her pants when she touched ground and stood waiting for Kian to join her.
His long lanky frame descended down the latter and he hopped off the second to last rung and stood firmly on the ground next to her. The hatch in the now ceiling cast down a light so faint it barely made a dent in the thick darkness and Lucinda yet again shone a light out into the nothingness with her phone and shivered from head to toe.
The temperature had dropped several degrees, but she knew it had nothing to do with that change, it was the fact she knew they were not alone. Myth could be myth all it wanted to some people and seduce them into believing it was only that, a myth - but Lucinda felt a presence and it was a strong presence and it was malevolent, unkindly trying to hone in on them to feed on them, suck the energy out of them to remind them not to think they were superior.
"Kian..." Her voice shook badly and she saw his big round eyes close to her face, he did not look adventurous any more, did not look like he thought this was any fun, he must have felt something too. "We shouldn't have come here," she whispered ominously, the odd echo of the cellar hallways threw back the sound at her and she winced.
It was then they heard the sound, a ticking, like a throat wheezing air out of a crushed windpipe and it suddenly came from all over and Lucinda screamed, pivoted on the spot and dropped her phone on the ground and the light it emanated instantly vanished. She briefly lifted her gaze and then she saw them, two molten silver-like globes in a face so terribly twisted by hatred and ire, and the malicious energy whipping against her had her yet again screaming at the top her lungs, completely paralyzed with fear.
It too screamed, so violently and high pitched that her eardrums threatened to burst and she heard Kian scream, like she had never heard a person scream before, when the 'thing' swooped into him with so much force it drew him back into the darkness, out of her sight and she screamed again, panic tying her to the spot.
"Kian!" She called out in a voice as rough as broken glass and stared helplessly at the spot she had last seen him disappear. She heard him scream and it was with distance and increasingly fainter. "Kian!" She called again and began crying like a whipped, felt like a blinded at the ground in front for her phone, afraid to take her eyes off the spot, but she had to see what she was doing and when she once again had the phone in her hand, she tried to bring it to life and the modern piece of technology turned on again.
She spotted his camera on the ground at her feet and she picked it up and saw it was still running and so she turned it on her face. Tears streaming down her cheeks and terror written in every feature of her face, her eyes wide with fright.
"This is not the fucking Blair witch project, but there really is something down here with us and it took Kian... oh god, I'm so scared..." She sniffled and sobbed again when she heard him scream somewhere in the hallways of the cellar. "Mom, I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you, you told me this place was forbidden, because the damage done here is irreversible and I believe you!" She screamed again when she heard that clicking sound approaching. "Don't hurt me, please," she huddled right next to the latter, hugged her head with her arms and squeezed her eyes shut and cried.
When she heard nothing for a little while she dared believe it had retreated to a place away from her and so she eased out of her paralyzed grip and heaved in a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs when 'It' was staring right at her, the terrible face so close she could see every detail and the waves of energy surging into her were so malevolent and sick, she began feeling faint, her ears began to ring and she faced her demon as it flew into her too.

Cadr.

The assignment.

2017.

Cadr opened his eyes when he was awakened ungently from his sleep and stared up into his brothers face with annoyance and pushed him away. He swung his long legs out over the edge and stared at his twin with a frown and ran his fingers through his red hair, fixing the strands in a neat pile on top of his head.
"What?" He croaked and Arth looked like something urgent had happened and Cadr was immediately alerted and slowly stood.
"She's been released," he simply said and Cadr wasted no time lingering on delayed thought process, but grabbed his shirt, pulled it on and tugged it into his pants. Made a fast trip around the room, picking up all the necessary things and the twins left his champers in fast strides.
"When did it happen?" He asked his brother and he looked at him, brown eyes meeting brown.
"Midday yesterday," Arth answered strained and Cadr nodded, clenched his jaw to the point where his teeth nearly shattered and they continued in silence through the long hallways of the mansion.
They turned a corner and headed straight for the main hall, where Cadr knew they would find the council assembled and ready to take action against this unfortunate affair and mentally he braised himself for the task to come. True to his vision the entire council greeted them at the long narrow table, decked out in books, scrolls and maps and underneath a milelong tapestry of the grand witch's history and bloodline lay open - always open.
Yes, it was long.
"Cadr, Arth - welcome," Patricia greeted them and they both nodded respectfully at their grand witch when they reached the table. "As you've probably heard by now, Eilight has been released from her imprisonment and we must do absolutely everything in our power to stop her," she looked at them with utmost urgency and they both agreed. "If we do not, she will kill everything within sight, she has been locked away for over 800 years and cannot find her way back to the Mother because she has lost herself," the elderly lady told them and Cadr searched his mind for any and all details about this grand witch, but he came up short and he frowned.
"What troubles you Cadr?" Morgan asks then in a deep voice, that shook the very foundation when he was furious and Cadr lifted his eyes to the salt and pepper strewn man in front of him, his blue eyes wanted answers.
"I'm coming up short on details on this grand witch, Sir," he told him and Morgan nodded, then walked a few phases down the long table and searched for a book. Cadr's eyes never really left him, even though he remained focused on the meeting in front of him.
"In summary, Eilight is one of the greatest and most powerful grand witches that ever lived and what happened to her was a disgrace, but she sacrificed herself so that our ancestors could live on, but she has been locked away in that cellar for 800 years and she's very angry," Patricia told them and Arth set his fisted hands in the table, leaned forward and stared boldly at the witch.
"But can her spirit die?"
"No, it cannot..." They all turned their attention on Laggaraith stepping out of the shadows and her old, twig dry body, huddled so badly, she had to walk side ways to look up at them. A sickly stench hung around her and her breath so foul because of her rotting teeth, that Cadr involuntarily held his breath, as the witch got closer. This was a curse that would befall a witch if she let herself get seduced by dark magic and could not stop, she would slowly sacrifice her bodily grace and become the monster, that the darkness represented.
"Then what must we do with her?" Cadr asked the hideous witch, followed her with his eyes as she stopped beside him, supported her frail frame against a stick twice her height and one cloudy eye looked straight up at him. It surprised him every time, even though it shouldn't. He had been around witches long enough to know they weren't limited by many things and if there was a limit, they would find a way around it.
"Find a vessel and bring her here," Laggaraith said quietly, then raised a bony claw-like hand up to his face and set it to his forehead, right between his brows and he inhaled sharply, eyes fluttered involuntarily as the witch invaded his mind. With an angry growl he batted her hand away and withdrew from her reach, now every muscle alert and ready to strike.
"You must bury it here Cadr, you cannot bring anything with you she can use against you, because she will," the old hag warned him and he snorted to relinquish the irritation the old witch had spiked in him and he shook his shoulders and rolled his head, but he could not wipe the scowl off of his face.
"You have no right to invade my mind without permission," he growled irritated and Laggaraith shrugged.
"It's written all over you, young warrior, it does not take a blind one to see," she mused and ironic enough the old hag really was blind.
Cadr locked eyes with his twin and a few silent words were spoken between them, that only they could hear. This was the only power over withes they had, these supernatural beings could not break the mind link between them and listen in on their conversation. They had tried many years ago, but found it more useful to use them as their tool, than to try and break them apart.
Now they were warriors for the witches' covenant, envoys of a grand voice, harbingers of death if need be, or the cleric to perform a requiem in the final hour. Much had they done since the witches took them in and much would they do, until they could serve no longer, such was the vow they took the day they gave up mortality and humanity, for the sake of a lifetime in servitude.
"I will find this spirit and the vessel and bring them to you, but you stay the fuck out of my head - got that!?" He growled while boring his eyes into the foggy one of the old hag and at length she nodded and turned away from him.
"Be prepared," she said to Arth and waddled ungracefully away in a slow phase, that both looked painful and morbid at the same time.
"You will need to travel at once, make haste and do not delay for any reason," Patricia urged them both and Cadr eased up, now that Laggaraith had removed herself from his vicinity and he nodded in understanding.
Morgan stepped up next to him and laid a big strong hand on his shoulder and held his eyes with his own. Sympathy and understanding exuded the older man and he smiled.
"Laggaraith is right Cadr, you cannot bring this evident ammunition with you, because she will not hesitate to bring you to your knees, remember this spirit is stronger than it is bound in a human and she was a strong witch even in human form, so there's no knowing just what she's capable off without physical boundaries," Morgan said, still trying to convey he knew what he was going through, but Cadr clench his jaw and scowled yet again.
"I'm not afraid of her and she will not bring me down," he promised the council and one by one they all lowered their eyes in silent acceptance of his words - they might not agree, but they accepted, because they could not afford to doubt him.
Morgan held the book to his chest and waited till Cadr had taken a hold of it, before stepping away and walking back to his seat at the table. The young warrior stared at them all, not feeling anything, other than the burning desire to be on his way and with one look at his brother, they nodded respectfully at the council and strode out, side by side of the giant main hall.
Arth walked beside him for a while keeping quiet, but Cadr knew he wouldn't hold his tongue for long and sure enough, just before they stopped in front of Cadr's chamber, his twin spoke up. He clenched his jaw, the muscle ticked erratically, but he stared at his brother just the same.
"The witches are right you know, you need to lay her to rest," Cadr folded his arms over his chest and scowled.
"I can hold my own, don't worry about me being the weak link, whatever it is you think she's going to use against me, is false notions," he assured his brother, but this one was far from convinced and annoyed that everyone seemed to think he couldn't seal whatever lingering pains he might experience inside, out of reach of the spirit, he pivoted on his heels and strode into his chambers and activated his weapons cabinet, who's door swung open in a slow glide.
"I'm asking you to take precautions Cadr, not just pretend you've got it under control, but actually showing proof - do it for me, if you won't do it for anyone else," Arth urged him and Cadr's shoulders fell and he sighed, then slowly turned to face his twin again. Their eyes locked and Cadr saw the conviction in his brother's eyes, that whatever he chose, he was behind him all the way - well almost all the way.
"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, don't fret," He assured Arth again and returned to arming himself with weapons to ward off a powerful resentful spirit and to force her into a vessel for easier transport, "I suggest you go get ready, we might be lucky to catch a plane in a few hours," Cadr said over his shoulder and Arth said no more, just pivoted and walked briskly out the room, long leather coat flowing around his strong legs.
He would be prepared to face this spirit, even if she was very powerful and he would bring her here so they could contain her safely until she could be returned to the mother.

Olivia.

The vessel.

2017.

Olivia raised her head and looked towards the door and frowned as the doorbell once more rang. She slowly stood and with calculated steps walked towards the door, didn't remember asking anyone to come by tonight and so she carefully glanced out the spyhole, but gasped in surprise when she saw the person on the other side. She pulled open the door and stared in horror at her friend Lucinda, who looked like someone who had been mucked and she pulled her inside the apartment.
"Oh, my god Lucy, what happened?" She asked concerned, put an arm around her friend as she hauled her into the den. Lucinda looked pale, scuffed and her eyes frighteningly distant - like she wasn't even there and just let herself being ushered to the couch like a docile lamb, "Lucy, what happened?" She queried again when there was no answer first time around and her friend now turned her head.
"It took Kian..." She answered vaguely and Olivia frowned confused, pushed some of Lucinda's hair out of her face.
"Who took him?" She pressed on and her eyes detoured to the camera, Lucinda now raised up between them and she hesitantly took it. "This is his camera - Lucy, that happened to you?"
She turned on Kian's vlogging camera, looked up at Lucinda as her friend stood and began removing herself from the couch, walking like a zombie, like a marionet doll towards the kitchen, but Olivia turned her attention to the tiny display on the camera, as the recording began playing and she saw Kian's narrow face as he spoke to the camera, telling it where they were and what they were doing there.
He filmed Lucinda too and she understood they were trying to determine whether or not the monastery was haunted and she swallowed as she kept watching her friends enter the old ruins. Lucinda showing clear signs of discomfort - why hadn't Kian reacted to it? They then pulled an old lever of sorts and they entered a hole in the ground, even through the camera she felt the cold hand squeeze the top of her neck and as they stood there everything happened all at once. Kian screamed in horror and the camera fell to the floor, Lucinda screamed and called out to Kian, then her crying face came into the viewfinder and she was clearly frightened out of her wits as she recorded her message.
She then turned the camera and something was just hovering there in the darkness and as it rushed at Lucinda, Olivia dropped the camera on the table and squealed. Lucinda's screaming continued then died out and Olivia slowly turned her head towards the kitchen, where Lucy had disappeared and rose unsteady.
"Lucy?" She called out hesitantly and stopped dead in her tracks as her friend now stepped up into the opening of the kitchen door, but it was no longer Lucinda, her dead eyed look had been replaced by malicious black spheres with an intense burn deep within, and cruel features marred Lucinda's beautiful face. She just stood there, stiff as a board, slanting her head in an unnatural way to the side, but did nothing otherwise.
"Lucy, where's Kian?" Lucinda now raised her arm in a slow straight arch and as she clenched her fingers in a claw like gesture, Olivia immediately choked and the ground disappeared beneath her feet and not knowing what else to do she reacted out of instinct and flailed pointlessly into the air. Her legs kicked hysterically as she gasped and kept staring at the thing in front of her, the body of her friend, but definitely not Lucinda. "Lucy..." She gasped and kept gasping, "Fight ... it..." She wheezed and suddenly the thing opened its blackened mouth and screamed, a high-pitched screech pushing deafeningly at the eardrums and it shuddered, an explosion of energy left Lucinda and all lights in the apartment got snuffed and everything went dark. Olivia dropped ungently to the floor, coughed and heaved in the much-needed air. Desperately she fought the aftermath of the asphyxiation, but when she felt she had regained some measure of equilibrium she raised her head and looked at Lucinda's lifeless body on the floor, just outside the kitchen and she crawled up to her friend and shook her.
"Lucinda, you ok?" She croaked and coughed again, should probably run and hide, but she had a feeling it mattered little to whatever Lucinda had inside her. She had definitely brought something with her from that ruin and that something was beyond malicious, the malevolence had radiated from Lucinda like sickening heat and she had clearly felt its desire to destroy.
A wave of relief surged inside, when Lucinda opened her eyes and turned her face towards Olivia, who put a hand on her cheek and stared into those pale blue eyes, verging on the intense surprise whenever they connected and she knew her friend was back - but for how long?
"Olivia?" Lucinda asked and got upright so fast it surprised Olivia and she sat frozen as her friend threw her arms around her shoulders and hugged her like her life depended on it and she then took Olivia's face between her hands and tears streamed down her dirty cheeks, "forgive me Olive," she cried and Olivia drew her friend into her arms and they sat hugging for a few heartbeats, "I could see you, but do nothing to stop it," she whimpered and felt Olivia shake her head against her shoulder and she looked at her.
"Don' think like that, I'm ok."
"But I could have killed you Olive," she sniffled and wiped at the tears.
"What is inside you?" Olivia asked Lucinda and her friend dropped her eyes to her hands in her lap, fiddling with something Olivia couldn't make out what was.
"A very old witch spirit," she said hoarsely and raised her eyes then to Olivia's, "my mother warned me going to places where witches have been murdered, just because you cannot know what you will find," Olivia knew there was something special about Lucinda and her family, not just because of the fact they were wiccan, but because they always had been surrounded by mysteries as long as their bloodline could be traced back in time.
"We need to go to your mother then?" Olivia asked, but Lucinda instantly shook her head in refusal and looked haunted, those icy pools exuding trepidation and guilt.
"She'll never forgive me for defying her and I can't risk exposing her to this," Lucinda said, covered her chest with both hands and slowly Olivia nodded.
"But you have to call her at least, she'll be worried sick if there's no word from you."
"Oh god Olive, Kian..." Lucinda began crying again, "what do I tell his parents? I don't even know if he's dead or alive ... oh, poor Kian..." She cried quietly and rocked back and forth to console herself, but it clearly didn't work and Olivia stroke her arms, but didn't know what else to do or say.
A quiet knock drew their attention and squinting in the dark towards the front door, Olivia got up and walked carefully towards the hallway and opened the door and her neighbor stood with a torch and she squinted at the sudden flare of light.
"Hank?"
"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering if you knew something about any power failure in the building?" He asked confused and Olivia's mind quickly put the pieces together and realized that the power explosion coming from Lucinda when she subdued the spirit, hadn't just knocked out the lights in her apartment, but the entire building as well and she shook her head.
"No, have you called the landlord about this?" She asked him and he shook his head. Hank was a sad example of a man who had lost his job, lost his wife and had a sad existence in his dirty tank top, pj pants and a robe and reeked of poor hygiene.
"No, I haven't, had hoped you knew something," he said skittishly, the confidence in this man the size of an ant and Olivia always felt sorry for him. It was so sad how life could break a person apart till they only lived because the heart kept beating, but had nothing else to keep them happy and looking forward to.
"You go do that Hank, ok, I'm sure it's just a power outage that'll be fixed in no time at all."
She sent him on his way back to his own place and she hurriedly closed the door and locked it and returned to the living room, where she found Lucinda sitting on the couch staring at the camera. The tiny display the only light source in the room and she went to her friend and sat down beside her. The screen paused on the distorted malevolent face of the spirit now residing inside her friend and she shuddered and took the camera out of Lucinda's hands and turned it off, plummeting the room into darkness again.
"I have to leave Olive," Lucinda said determined and Olivia looked at her friend's profile in the pale light from the moon outside and she shook her head.
"But where will you go?"
"Anywhere but here, where there's a chance I might hurt you again," she said and began rising, but Olivia held her back.
"Not a fat chance I'll let you walk out that door, we need to figure something out, so that thing won't come forth again and I'm intending to stand by you, until we do," Olivia promised fiercely and now she was the one to get up and phase the length of the room to a cabinet with drawers where she found candles and lit them, the yellow light casting a warm glow over the room, laying every shadow into harsh lines and set them on the coffee table.
"Who can we call?" She mused, grabbed her phone, but the damned thing was dead and she then shot a glance at her TV and it too seemed to be dead and on a whim, she got up and looked out at the street below and even the streetlamps were out - holy smokes, "whatever you did when you subdued the spirit, it knocked out everything electrical in the entire building and took some of the streetlamps with it as well," Olivia said from her position by the window, Lucinda joined her and dumbfounded her friend scanned the street and took out her own phone and pressed every single button multiple times, but it too was stone dead.
"Unbelievable," she whispered and returned to the couch, Olivia joined her and they sat in silence for a few beats.
"I hate to be the one to bring it up again, but I really don't see we have any other choice but to talk to your mum," she looked at Lucinda again and her friend shook her head.
"But what if the spirit jumps? What if it kills her?"
"And what if it kills others because you can't control it or what if it kills you?" Olivia asked then and Lucinda hugged herself as if to shelter herself from the ugly truth and she finally shrugged slowly, "we need her advice," Olivia pointed out and Lucinda bowed her head in surrender and slowly nodded, when she knew her friend was right.
She had never read about what to do when possessed by a spirit and certainly not a powerful witch spirit, would it consume her and ultimately kill her, banish her soul and use her body as its own?
Olivia stood and looked down at Lucinda.
"Let me pack a few things and let's leave," she said and hurried into her bedroom, afraid to leave her friend alone for too long and insecure having her walk around like a ticking bomb, unstable like matter and volatile substance ready to trigger any moment. They needed the guidance of Lucinda's mother and they could not waste time sitting around waiting for daylight. She threw random stuff into a bag and hurried into the living room, but found it vacated and she ran to the kitchen, but it too was empty and then she noticed the open balcony door and she ran to it and stared frantically to all sides, stared at the ground, fearing Lucinda had jumped to her death, but luckily not and even more puzzling were, how her friend had gotten from here to ground level without at sound?
And why had she left?
Olivia closed the balcony door, ran to grab her coat by the front door, grabbed her keys and locked up her apartment, before storming down the stairs and hurried out into the cool night. She scanned the immediate area, but couldn't see Lucinda anywhere and contemplated where to start looking for her - where would she have run off to?
She decided to head for the park just across the street, knew it was closed for the night, but she had to try anyway, she owed it to Lucinda to uphold her promise. She couldn't live with herself if she didn't.