The 13th Witch
Book 2
Dark Moon Rising
Stacey Thompson-Geer
Copyright @ Stacey Thompson-Geer 2011
No part of this work can be copied without the authors permission.
Published by: Wicked Nights
www.wickednightspublishing.info
I thought the worst was over, but the sad truth is that it’s just begun.
I opened my eyes and looked around the room. It seemed different to me, but was just as bright as the first day I saw it. I remembered it well.
It was the day I found out I was a Witch.
I looked over to the other side of the bed to see that Conner was not next to me. I wasn’t even sure if he had made it to bed at all. He had been having a hard time since his sister had died. I wasn’t sure that I could help him, but I wanted too.
I rolled out of the bed and put my favorite jeans and cream colored top on. My hair was a horrid mess that seemed to tangle at the slightest movement. I pulled it back into a ponytail the best I could and headed down the stairs. The living room was still dark and looked the same as it had the night before. I knew where he was now, and what he was doing.
Ever since Anna had died, he had been trying to work on a spell to bring her back. My father had told him that there was nothing that could bring her back, but he just wouldn’t listen. He really was not the same man I had fallen in love with and that scared me more than anything else.
I walked out to the porch and looked through the glaring sun that shined so brightly. The grass had grown in the month that we had been back to the house and seemed to wave at me. I walked Across the front of the yard towards the shelter that we had once ate under. Before things changed, before he changed.
Connor was standing there looking at the caldron in front of him. He normally would be doing this kind of thing in the kitchen, but with me there, and what he was trying to do, he preferred the shelter for his work. He looked worse for wear, with sleep deprived eyes that seemed so sad at the same time.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked but already knew the answer.
“I have to get her back.” He answered simply. “She was the only family I had left.”
“I’m here now.” I reached for him as I spoke. He just brushed me away. I had thought that things would be better in the month since we had first met, but things just seemed to be falling apart more and more.
“I would like to be alone, if you don’t mind.” He said turning from me.
I just turned back to the house and walked away. How long was I going to be able to handle this kind of treatment? He was just getting worse and was nothing close to the guy, I’d fallen for and learned my magic from.
We had stopped my Eric from leading evil in the world, but in the process my magic had been bound. I was what I wanted to be again, normal. The problem was that I wasn’t sure I really wanted to be normal.
My pocket started to vibrate from the phone that I’d stuck in it on the way out the door. When I moved out of my dad’s house, he had insisted on a cell phone, especially since the trouble that had started with Eric and his group.
I looked at it and knew from the number who it was calling me.
It was my dad.
“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked, happy to be talking to someone that wanted to have me around.
“Not much. I just wanted to see if you were going to be busy tonight?” He paused for a minute waiting to see what I would say.
“I’m not doing anything at all. You can come by.” I really wanted to talk to someone that would understand what I was dealing with. Even though he was a guy, he might still be able to help me figure out what to do. “When are you coming?”
“I thought around 6. Does that sound good for you?”
“Sure, we can have supper together. I’m going to make pasta.” Pasta was about the only thing I knew how to make on my own.
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
I hung up the phone and smiled for the first time in a couple weeks. Things had been rough, but maybe we could catch a break and have a few good days. Seeing my dad would bring something good back into my life. I just didn’t know if I could take Conner and his selfish behavior.
I waited by the door for a moment to see if Conner to come in and help me make the small dinner I wanted to have for me and my new family, but it didn’t matter to him. I was beginning to think it didn’t matter to me either.
I sighed once I realized I was on my own with him and began making the chicken I had bought for tonight. Things were still scary out there in the real world. People went about their business and never even thought about what they were doing or what could go wrong. They had no idea the world under their own had changed more than they will ever know.
A knock at the door snapped me out of my thoughts. I smiled as I walked to answer it. I knew well before it rang who it was and what he wanted.
My dad smiled at me as I opened the door for him. It was a great thing to have him there with me and helping me deal with my new life.
“You look good kid,” He said holding his arms out for me.
“It’s only been a few weeks. Did you want me to fall apart?” I smiled as I smarted off to him in a sweet way.
“Lets get some food in us and then we’ll talk.” He lost the smile as fast as he had gotten it and pulled me to the kitchen. “Is Conner going to join us?”
I let out a breath and set out the food. “No, he’s not in the chatting mood much lately. He’s just too torn up over his sister.”
“It’s hard, but he has to learn to get through it or you will have to get off this train.” He picked up his piece of chicken and bit off a little. “You can’t live like this.” He changed his tone and put his food down. “I hate to add to your burden, but I have news.”
I froze, unsure of what he was going to tell me. Something deep down knew it was going to be about Eric, my biological father.
“Eric is up to something. He has people looking for a way to get his powers back and may be on to something.” He waited a minute before continuing. “I think he’s going to travel to the otherworld for answers.”
“What is the otherworld?” I picked at my food as we talked. I didn’t really feel like eating at the moment.
“It’s another realm on our own. The oracle is the only one that can send a soul over.”
“Will this oracle send him there?” I didn’t know if I wanted to know more.
“No, but he may get someone to go for him.” He took a breath. “I need you and Conner to go there and make sure he never does.”
“How do we do that?”
“You have to find the Halfling. The oracle knows more than I do. You’ll have to talk to her about what it is and where to find it.” He held out a piece of paper to me. “This will tell you where she is.” He finished his food and gave me a hug. My dad knew better than to stick around and lead my biological family to me.
***
I held the paper in my hand, wondering if I should tell Conner what my father had said. This could bring us back together, but it could also come to tear us apart. I loved this man, but didn’t know if I could truly save him.
Finally, I made my way back out to the gazebo where I had first fallen in love with him. He was sitting on the chair just staring at the ingredients he had tried to use for his spell.
I waited for him to notice me before I spoke. “My dad came by today.” I waited for him to say something, anything. “He wants us to do something. Do you want to go?”
“Where?” He didn’t look at me.
“To an oracle.” I wanted him to explain, but he just glanced up at me.
“He wants us to go to another world, why?”
I explained what my father had told me and waited for him to explain more. He didn’t say much, but he seemed to brighten up. Maybe this is what we really needed.
2
The paper my father had given me simply held an address for the Oracle. I had no idea what this person was or how they could transport us to another world. Until today, I had no idea there even was another world.
“This is it,” Conner said opening the car door. The house was old and sat on a corner in the almost non-existent town of Bartlett, Iowa. I’d only been here a couple of times before.
The house was white in color with paint peeling off the sides. I wondered to myself if anyone really lived there. The windows were painted an odd green color and seemed not to match the rest of the vibe of the house.
Conner was first at the door and rapped hard. There was a shuffle as someone came to answer.
“I knew you would come eventually,” a younger woman with long blond hair said with a smile. She didn’t look much older than I was and I couldn’t believe she could have enough power to move people through the worlds.
Conner stepped in first, leaving me for a moment to think about what I was doing. Did I really want to do this? My family had been ripped apart by this magic stuff and here I was wasting time dealing with it again. Why didn’t I just leave it alone?
“I have everything already set up for you two.” She looked at me before moving her gaze to Conner. When I looked to the floor, I could see a white chalk line with a small amount of salt intertwined. There were also symbols on each side of the circle to represent each of the elements.
You could feel the power that rolled off the circle she had created. It wasn’t subtle and I got the feeling it wasn’t supposed to be. “What do we need to do?” I asked, unsure as two why I was even here.
“You will just need to let go. I’ll do the rest.” She smiled as she spoke and I felt somewhat more at ease. “You will need to sit in the circle and relax.” She again smiled at me before moving her gaze to Conner.
“What are your plans when you get to the other world?” She didn’t look at me, only to him.
“I don’t know. James said you would know why we’re here.” He glanced back at me and I knew there was something he wasn’t telling me.
She smiled and faced me fully. “There is a half witch in the other world. That is who you must find. If you don’t and Eric does, we will be doomed.” She didn’t move her gaze from me. I felt a warmth radiate through my body. I broke my eye contact and looked at the floor again.
The oracle let out her breath and walked to the edge of the circle. “I won’t be able to be with you in the circle, but I’m not going. I’ll open the door and you will need to walk through it.” She lit some white candles as she spoke. “When it’s time to come back, you will know and you will be here, in this room once again.” She smiled, waiting to see if we had any questions. “Be careful and get your mission done fast. The longer you stay in that world, the harder it will be to come back.”
I sat in the circle, Conner following close behind. He didn’t offer to hold my hand or make me feel more able to handle what was going on. It was almost like he didn’t care about my sanity anymore. I felt as though he blamed me for everything.
I glanced one last time at the Oracle and closed my eyes. My heart raced and every sensation seemed to be more than it was before.
The air was pulled from my lungs, causing me to panic for a slight moment, until it finally let go. I gasped and coughed, trying to get my breathing back to normal.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the blue sky, clear and bright above us and trees standing tall to the right. I turned my head to the left and could see rows of yellow wild flowers standing at least three feet tall.
I glanced down to my feet and realized the wood floor of the Oracles home remained.
Connor pulled himself up and looked to the trees. “That’s the direction we need to go,”
“How do you know?” I asked, slightly confused.
“I can feel the magic in the air, can’t you?”
“I don’t have any magic anymore, remember,” I said with a bite. I gave up the very thing I felt like I now needed. While visions of the future weren’t helpful in a fight, they were helpful to know what was coming at me.
Connor didn’t say anything. He just started walking.
I sighed and followed behind him. The last thing I wanted was to be left behind in a world I knew nothing about.
As we walked, I took in the beauty around me. This place looked untouched by wars and stupid people. It was nature at it’s best.
The grass grew tall and wild, while the sun created pinks and purples in parts of the sky. The rest remained an unchallenged blue. The trees were old and twisted, but the branches held only the greenest of leaves.
Connor stopped suddenly, causing me to bump into him.
“What are you doing now?” I snapped at him.
He held his hand up to silence me. It just made me more annoyed. Until he pulled me down into the untrimmed grass.
I looked at him, confused. He just watched the distance. I turned my head to the same direction to see what in the world he was looking at. That was when I saw the young girl. She wasn't much older than thirteen, if at all. Her blond hair fell in curls down her back. She was wearing a long white dress that glittered when she took a step.
I glanced at Connor, who was watching intently.
"She's a fairy," he said, not meeting my eyes.
"A what?" I didn't mean for my voice to carry like it did, but when Connor snapped his head to look at me, I realized I'd spoken too loudly.
I carefully looked to where the girl was standing not five seconds ago, but there was no one there.
"What are you doing here?" The voice was small and light, but it carried an edge with it that made my hair stand up on end.
I turned slowly and met the bright blue eyes of the girl we were watching just a little while ago. I tried to look away, but she was even prettier when she was close to you.
"You didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?" She said, the edge a little clearer in her voice.
Connor spoke up first, "we're looking for someone."
She watched us for a minute before smiling. "Did the Oracle send you?" She said sweetly.
"Why is that important?" I didn't like being talked around and this whole situation was as important to me as it was to Connor.
She just giggled.
"If you tell me the name of the person you're looking for, I might be able to help you find them," she said, giggling a little more.
I didn't say anything right away. I just watched this beautiful looking creature. A part of me wondered what she was truly capable of. This sweet little package most likely had a dark and scary secret. My body tingled at the thought and a little feeling of fire burned inside my stomach. I didn't understand it, but she seemed to and smiled as we watched me squirm a bit.
"We're looking for a Halfling. That's all we seem to know," Connor said, pulling me back a couple steps from the fairy.
"Oh, there are a couple of them, but Eli is the most irritable and the easiest to find." She was full of bubbly enthusiasm. "I can take you to where he hangs out, but you'll have to approach him carefully. He's not too nice to outsiders."
"I'll keep that in mind," I said glancing back to Connor.
He made a face and looked at his watch. "We've already been here for an hour. Too much longer and we won't be able to get back easily," he said taking a step forward.
"Then let's not doddle." the fairy said turning her back and kind of skipping through the rest of the meadow. She stopped and looked back at the pair of us, "by the way, the name is Onimatia, but you can call me Oni."
Connor and I both looked each other, eyebrows raised. I never thought I would meet a fairy. I honestly didn't think there was such a thing and now I'm following on through a meadow to find some kind of mystical being that could be in danger from my birth father. Yeah, I think I might need therapy after this one.
We followed her for awhile, through a forest of sorts with trees that reminded me of the Wizard Of Oz, and then through a second green meadow until I could see the torch lamps up ahead. We were heading for some kind of town.