The Witch's Sacrifice, page 13
‘I think I know someone who can help,’ I said.
*
And that was how I ended up in Alanis’s lounge, drinking tea. Jason, myself, and the two children were in there while we waited for her to work her magic – or medicine, or both – on Felix. The two children were distracted playing with Alanis’s tabby cat, for which I was grateful.
‘How are you feeling?’ I asked Jason.
He shook his head. ‘What the hell just happened?’
‘Nothing we’ll ever truly understand,’ I said. It was easier than trying to explain the minute details about possession, which I was pretty sure he wasn’t ready for. ‘What’s important is that your children are both OK.’
‘Are they? Look at what they just witnessed!’
‘Alanis can help.’
‘How? What is she? A counsellor?’
‘A healer for body and mind,’ I replied.
Before Jason could ask any more questions, Alanis came into the lounge. ‘He’s very weak, but he’ll be OK. I’ve made up a potion for him to drink a couple of times a day, which will help him to repair his mind, body, and soul.’
‘Soul? What happened to his soul?’ said Jason.
‘It was weakened by the possession. He fought it off well. Not many people can do that, you know. Your husband is incredibly strong, but he still needs time to rest. You can see him now, if you’d like. But be gentle.’
‘Thank you,’ he said. He and the two children followed Alanis out of the room to go and see Felix.
I leaned back in the plush purple armchair, resting my head against its tall back. How had I gone from fitting a new boiler to Javi saving someone from possession? Was he OK? Had the fight done permanent damage to him?
Even if it had, I knew he’d do it all over again to protect those two kids. He cared more about helping other people than helping himself, which was something I knew I’d lost since losing him.
And even now, he’d been the one to save the day, not me. Because my powers were still completely useless in the face of adversity. How was I supposed to help Edie if I wasn’t even strong enough to help a total stranger?
*
I drove home in a trance, drained from what had happened and nervous about what I was going home to. It wasn’t until I pulled up and let go of the steering wheel that I realised my grip on it had left indents in my palms. Me? Anxious?
I hated that I’d had to leave Tilly in a house being watched by ghosts for so long, but I doubted they’d do anything. They hadn’t so far. It seemed unlikely they’d target a dog. That didn’t stop the rising doubts in my mind when I noticed there were more ghosts outside my house as I got out of the car, though.
And one was now right outside my front door.
No, not just any ghost.
The one who’d possessed Felix.
What the hell?
He stood right in front of the door, his eyes level with the peep hole. Thank god it had a cover on the other side. It was starting to feel like Big Brother was watching me. Or several ghost versions, that was.
The ghost didn’t look even remotely drained from what’d happened with Javi. In fact, he was pretty opaque compared to some of the others trying to look into my house. That made me even more uncomfortable. What the bloody hell was going on?
Too drained – and a little scared – to try to move or communicate with him, I went round the back instead. There were more ghosts there, some hovering at ground level, others looking into first-floor windows. Thankfully none were blocking the French doors of our conservatory.
Tilly looked up at me through the glass, an annoyed look on her face as I unlocked it. The amulet glistened in the light. It probably wasn’t doing much, but it made me feel better.
The ghosts couldn’t get in through my wards, but if they were there watching, for all I knew, they were looking for a weakness in said wards. It seemed unlikely they’d break through to hurt a dog or a ghost cat, but given that I had no idea why they were there, anything was possible.
Tilly’s annoyance at me was forgotten when I bent down and she jumped up at me to say hello. It was always nice to come home to someone who was happy to see me.
‘You been keeping an eye on the ghosties?’ I asked Tilly as I closed the door. Obviously she couldn’t reply, so she just jumped up at me some more. I dumped my bag in an old chair, locked the door, then went into the kitchen and put the kettle on.
Gwendoline had checked in on her and Spectre throughout the day, as she was the ghost most capable of protecting her. Since she resided on earth already, it took less energy for her to check in. I hadn’t told her when I was going out, so I kind of felt like she was checking in on me, too, while pretending she was checking in on my pets. Given how isolated I felt, I appreciated the feeling that someone still on Earth was on my side.
I was freezing from the cold weather, but the ghosts surrounding the house seemed to be making the house even colder. The thermostat in the kitchen said it was fifteen. Below room temperature. The house rarely ever went below twenty. The ghosts were definitely affecting it. Great.
Shivering, I put the heating on, then went upstairs to grab another layer to put on to try to warm up.
Tilly did a cute little waddle that reminded me of a goose as she followed me up the stairs. At the top, I bent down to fuss her again. ‘Who’s a cute westie? You are! Yes you are. I’m so sorry for leaving you for so long. Next time, I’ll take you with me. Although this time I’m glad I didn’t as the ghost turned out to be a psychopath. And now he’s outside our front door. Isn’t that just great?’
As much as I didn’t want to, I needed to try talking to the ghost in question. But my front door was one of the most conspicuous places to do it. If I stood in my doorway talking to no one, a dog walker or cyclist was bound to go past and see. The last thing I needed was for the neighbours to think I was nuts. More nuts.
I could ask a ghost for help. But after what Javi had done, I didn’t want to risk asking him back any time soon. He’d already interfered too much. And drained himself too much.
If the new ghost was anything like the ones already outside of the house, it was unlikely he’d be responsive or willing to move anyway. But I had to try. It was weird having a ghost outside of the front door.
Was that the point?
Was the person behind the ghosts trying to keep me in the house?
I didn’t have the energy to do a seance, but I needed the help of a ghost.
I lay back on my bedroom floor, letting Tilly climb all over me. ‘Mum? Are you there?’ I said, barely above a whisper.
‘What are you doing?’
I jumped. Tilly dove off me, then licked my face to make sure I was all right. It had worked!
I turned around to see my mother in front of my wardrobe.
She wrinkled her nose. ‘You let the dog lick your face? Disgusting.’
‘I didn’t think you’d come.’
‘You called, didn’t you?’
‘Yeah, but—’
She held her hand up to stop me. ‘What is it? Why is it so dark in here?’
‘Go take a look outside,’ I said.
She floated through the wall. I think she was trying to talk to them, as I could hear her muffled voice through the wall, but I couldn’t tell what she was saying. I leaned against the bottom of my bed, Tilly curled up on my lap.
My mother floated back in a moment later. ‘How long has this been going on for?’
‘A few days. Javi tried to talk to one of them, but it didn’t work. More appear every day. And now one is outside my front door.’
Her eyes widened. She disappeared again, I assumed to check the front door for herself.
‘How peculiar,’ she said as she floated back inside. ‘Not a single one acknowledged my presence. I tried some spells, but it was almost like the magic bounced off them.’
‘Bounced off them? How can that happen to a ghost?’
‘Something else – or, more likely, someone else – must already have a very strong hold on them. Do you have any enemies with this much magic?’
‘No! Not that I know of, anyway.’ Who had I pissed off enough to make them target me with a zombie ghosts? If they could do that, could they trigger the ghosts to attack me at any time? It wouldn’t have been the first time a zombie ghost had attacked me. Even though that had happened when I was at school, it still bothered me.
‘I don’t like this,’ said my mother.
‘No. Neither do I. But what can I do?’
She pursed her lips. ‘I don’t know. That’s what bothers me.’
21
Edie
Alone wasn’t how I’d planned to spend my eighteenth birthday. It wasn’t how I’d expected to feel, either.
I rolled over on Dominic’s sofa and faced the back of it, as if burying my head in its threadbare cushions would make everything go away. It didn’t, obviously.
For a second, when I’d woken up, I’d expected Mum and Tilly to walk in with breakfast. It was a tradition. We always made each other breakfast in bed on birthdays. It was something Dad had started, I think, and after his death, Mum had carried on doing it. And I’d started doing it for her as soon as I was old enough.
Would I ever get that again? Obviously not. That was what I’d sacrificed when I’d left.
I blinked back tears, wiping at my face with the sleeve of my pyjama top. Dominic didn’t even know about my birthday. I hadn’t told him because he had his own problems going on and I didn’t want to burden him.
But it meant that I was celebrating my birthday alone.
Who was I kidding?
I wasn’t celebrating it. I was mourning it.
So much of my life had been filled with lies and missed opportunities. If I’d been trained at an earlier age, how much more powerful could I have been by eighteen? What else could I have done with my life? Would I have had more control over my powers? Would Gran have actually put some effort into our relationship? I doubted the last one. Unless she’d found a way to use me. Why was I descended from a family of liars?
I got up, no longer missing the family I’d left.
My birthday breakfast would have to compromise of tea and cereal instead of the full English Mum always made me. Whatever.
I flicked the kettle on as I heard footsteps from Dominic’s room. He and Dave walked in a minute later. Dave went over to his bowl and stood by it, staring. Dominic made Dave’s food, although his eyes were closed for at least half of it. He looked rough. His face was bloated, his skin was blotchy, and I was pretty sure some of his hair had fallen out. He breathed loudly, as if just the simple act of feeding his dog was exhausting.
He hadn’t even said good morning as he’d walked in. So he was probably mad at me for something. But what had I done? I’d healed him! Why was he still having chemo side effects? I didn’t get how any of this worked and didn’t have anyone to explain it to me.
Dominic left the room without saying anything. Dave ate his breakfast without even acknowledging me. Some birthday this was shaping up to be.
*
After a quick shower, I took Dave for a walk. While I disliked exercise, I found that daily dog walks helped me to clear my mind and meant Tilly was more relaxed. It didn’t seem to make a difference to Dave, but he needed the exercise all the same.
Dave ambled along beside me, neither happy nor annoyed to walk. He just walked. It was a stark difference to Tilly, who often didn’t want to walk and preferred to lounge in front of the TV. I missed that dog so much.
It was early on a Saturday morning, so nobody was really about. The shops were still opening up, stocking the outside shelves with fruits, vegetables, ornaments, and more for the day.
Dave and I carried on down the pedestrianised town centre.
Until I heard a laugh.
A laugh I knew anywhere.
Tessa.
I turned around.
She and Josh were walking out of one of the local cafes, holding hands and laughing. While seeing them together still made me want to throw up, Josh walking almost normally reassured me. I wasn’t sure if he really did have a bit of a limp, or if my paranoia was making it up.
But I didn’t want to stick around to find out. I ran so fast I think it startled Dave, but whatever. If life could offer me one thing on my birthday, I hoped it would be that Tessa stayed away from me. I wasn’t in the mood for her.
Josh and I had been planning what we’d do for our eighteenth birthdays since we were little. It felt like the age where our mums would finally treat us like adults and we could do whatever we wanted.
For mine, we’d planned to go to London for the weekend. See Chicago – my favourite – tour the Tower of London, visit a couple of museums. A proper tourists’ weekend in London. Probably with a side of ghosts, but since they were likely to be super old, it wouldn’t have bothered me. Even less so now that Josh knew.
My birthday falling on a Saturday had been perfect for our weekend away.
It wasn’t so perfect for a day that felt empty and where I had nothing to do. Even if I’d told Dominic, it wasn’t like we could do anything. He was too sick to travel. The more he did, the faster the magic I’d used on him seemed to wear off. It wouldn’t be long before he found someone else and wanted me to do it again.
What would Mum think if she knew? Would she think I was helping him, or would she tell me it wasn’t my place to interfere, just like she had with Mrs Brightman?
If things carried on the way they were going, I’d never know. Was that what I wanted? To be isolated from everyone? I didn’t even know anymore. That was what was so frustrating!
My head had never been more of a mess, and given everything I’d gone through in my life, that seemed pretty impressive.
Dave jerked the lead. I turned around to see him going for a crap. Wasn’t that perfect timing when I was trying to get away?
Tessa and Josh were walking directly towards me, too, which meant I wouldn’t be able to avoid them. Perfect.
I took a poo bag from my coat pocket and crouched down to clean it up. Just as Tessa and Josh approached.
As usual, Josh couldn’t look at me. He turned away, trying to tug his hand out of Tessa’s death grip, but unable to. Well, it was pretty clear who made the decisions in that relationship.
‘I see you’ve finally found a job that suits you.’
I stood up and kept walking, tossing the poo into a bin as I walked into the graveyard. If I’d tried to reply, they would’ve seen how upset I was. And that was the last thing I needed because Tessa would’ve never let it go.
I didn’t think they’d follow me in there, especially as Josh knew it was haunted. Thankfully, I was right.
As I walked through, Thomas appeared on the bench I often sat in. ‘Hello!’ For a ghost who’d died so young and been around for so long, he seemed surprisingly well adjusted to life as a ghost.
I sat next to him. Dave jumped up beside me and lay down.
Thomas wrinkled his nose, studying Dave for a moment. ‘Dominic’s dog.’
I nodded.
‘I’ve seen them walk together before. We sometimes play football.’
Dave didn’t seem in the mood for football today.
Thomas swung his legs on the bench. It was a weird sight, given he wasn’t technically sitting on it. ‘I prefer Tilly. She’s more fun.’
Something tugged at my insides. Tilly hadn’t done anything wrong, yet she’d been caught up in all of this. She wasn’t just a dog. She was my dog. Well, mine and Mum’s. She was the closest I’d ever get to a sibling. She was affectionate, curious, cuddly, and cute. It didn’t matter how mardy she got, it never lasted long. And she was always there when I was ill or upset.
I tried to suppress my tears, but it didn’t work all that well.
Thomas frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I miss Tilly,’ I said. ‘And today…today’s my birthday.’
I had to tell someone.
‘Happy birthday,’ said Thomas, still swinging his legs. ‘Everyone makes such a big deal out of them nowadays. I don’t even remember when mine was.’
‘You don’t?’
He shook his head. ‘Birthdays aren’t such a big deal really. I was ten when I died. But I’ve been around for almost two hundred years! So does that make me ten, or two hundred?’
That was a complicated question I couldn’t answer.
And anyway, he’d lived in a different time. One where people accidentally poisoned their children with bacteria-filled baby bottles and the infant mortality rate was like fifty percent. They’d barely had childhoods, let alone teenage years.
‘I thought eighteen would be different, somehow,’ I confessed.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Like I’d suddenly have everything figured out and life would be easier.’
Thomas patted my shoulder. ‘I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. And I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has everything figured out.’
I glared at him from the corner of my eye. ‘Is that supposed to be reassuring?’
‘If nobody has it figured out, maybe that’s not the thing to aim for. Maybe it’s more about staying curious instead.’
22
Niamh
My daughter’s eighteenth birthday. And I was missing it. She ignored the text I sent her. I tried ringing her, but it just kept ringing. Even on her birthday, she didn’t want to hear from me.
I curled up in bed, hugging Tilly tightly. Javi appeared in front of us, on the pillow beside me. Or as close as he could get to it, anyway. His expression reflected how I felt, and I realised that there were so many more big milestones he’d missed because I’d kept him away for so long. In a family where ghosts were commonplace, was that really fair of me?
Overwhelm hit me. I cried.
Javi reached out to me, running his hand over the side of my face. How I wished I could feel his touch. But all I felt was a subtle, cold breeze. One I easily could’ve dismissed if I hadn’t been able to see him.
