Monday, October 17th, 2016

Sid’s POV

Mom and Mrs. Bray are frowning as Annika is curled up in my arms on our couch, nuzzling her nose into the croak of my neck. I dread the day she will start burning herself again when touching me. I dread the day the malicious entity inside me will prevent us from getting close.

I fear the day it will break free and turn me into a cold, heartless murderer.

And I know, when it happens, I can’t wait for the day it’ll leave me again, and I’ll die so I won’t have to live with the consequences.

After hearing the last possessed person killed himself, I’ve been thinking about it as a simple solution too.

Not that I want to, but they summed up the symptoms of itbreaking free.

Nightmares, black-outs, feelings of anger and hatred, lashing out on people over nothing, hurting those who get in my way to succeed in the mission; sacrificing six kids. Or, five, since Jordy Dane already went missing.

Annika won’t be able to come near me, and neither will dad, or Mr. and Mrs. Bray.

I asked about the possibilities of casting the spell over and over again until the day I day of old age, but then mom explained that every seal will use part of my energy to work, and it’s such a strong spell that it used up half the energy they could use.

Evidently, my condition will be crappy for a while. I will be able to do the same things as always, but the energy that is used will be gone forever.

And the fact I’m a half-blood Angel makes things less predictable. Because in some ways, mom thinks the spell is weaker on me then it is on humans, while in other ways, it is stronger.

Which is why Annika, dad, all Angels, are able to touch me again, while that wasn’t possible with humans.

“Have you eaten anything today?” Mom suddenly asks, causing me to cast my eyes from the TV to her, shaking my head.

“Ain’t hungry.”

“You hardly ate anything since you are back home…” she sighs, taking a seat at the dinner table, but keeping her eyes on me. “Saturday you were adamant about pizza, but you didn’t order one, you didn’t eat a single bite of what I cooked…”

“I said, I’m not hungry.”

Which is alarming, because I had to lie and tell her I did eat some of the bread she gave me. I threw it away, because in reality, I get nauseous when thinking about food.

And the seal might work in some ways, I think the entity is still feeding off of my energy, and I’m still being fed with his.

Which is the only explanation I have for not eating three days in a row without feeling weaker.

It is feeding me with energy, preventing me from needing food or drinks.

I didn’t sleep last night either, and mom knows, because she came to check on me on several occasions, always finding me wide awake.

“Just, let me know when you do get hungry, okay?” Mom whispers sadly, and I can tell she realises it’s another part of the spell working differently on me.

“I will.” I nod in agreement, focussing back on the TV, Annika moving to pull her head up to look at me.

“So, no romantic dinners any time soon?” She smirks, and I chuckle, shaking my head, pressing a kiss on her lips. “As long as I get to hug you, kiss you…” she whispers, staring right into my eyes. “I love you, Sid. Please never forget that.”

“I hope I won’t…” I answer with a soft voice, leaning in to kiss her again. “I love you too, promise me you’ll always remember that. Even if I claim I don’t. Because Ido. And I’ll be in here until the day I die…”

Which might be sooner then later.

“I will remember…”

“Good.” I sigh in content, yet again pecking a kiss on her lips. “If we’ll beat this, we can beat anything.”

“I don’t want to have to beat this. I wish I could go back in time to prevent you from going into those woods without me. If I would’ve been there… I could’ve been your shield.”

“Let’s not dwell on the past but focus on the future.” Mom walks up to us, kneeling in front of us. “Anni, we need to get going in a minute.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m meeting the rest of the coven…” Annika drawls, pushing herself up to sit and I follow her lead. “Amber and I are starting our initiation tonight. It’ll mean we’ll be in training for a year and a day, but we will start exploring our powers. It could mean I could help you in more ways soon.”

“Oh, okay!” I stare at her beautiful face, feeling nothing but admiration for her right now.

“I’ll be back late tonight, and then I’ll sleep here.” She smiles carefully. “Mom agreed that it would be unfair to keep us apart since we might not have much time to spend in close presence.”

“Fair enough.” I smirk, digging this side of things, since Annika only used to be allowed to stay over during the weekends.

At least I get to see her a lot more now that all this shit is going on.

“Are you going to school tomorrow?”

“No, because it will be really late. But on Wednesday I’ll be going again.”

“Can I go to school on Wednesday too?” I turn to look at mom curiously, who instantly shakes her head.

“I’m sorry, Sid. We don’t want to risk anything. We want to know the full effects of the spell first, before we allow you to go to school. Besides, we need to talk to Mrs. Brand first.”

“Mrs. Brand?” Annika and I ask in unison, confused and wondering why talking to her needs to be done first. “She isn’t my mentor.”

“No, but she is Wiccan and she will be the one who’s going to keep an eye on you.”

“She’s Wiccan too?” My eyes widen in surprise, but it does help me feel safe a bit more. At least I now know there’s a small group of witches watching over our town, and now focussing on me and preventing me from becoming evil.

It does feel good to have all these people fuzzing over my safety. Makes me feel at least a bit loved.

My oldest sister Liza appears in the living room, smiling at me shortly, before flopping down on the other couch.

“Ready to go?” Mom addresses just Annika, and I look back and forth between Liza and mom.

“What about Liza?”

“She’ll stay with you to keep an eye on you. If anything is wrong, she knows enough to prevent you from leaving and doing anything to others. She’ll be able to give us enough time to come here.”

“Oh, wow… okay. So, you know magic too?”

“And I’m quite a decent witch too.” Liza smirks and I chuckle softly. “I’m the best in my age group. Believe me, you’re safe with me.”

“Cool.” I stare at her, impressed over the fact she knows magic too. It’s as if I got to know my family on a completely different way in the past couple of days.

Dad already took the time to explain that I will be able to heal people with my powers, as soon as they develop. Which is also a reason why mom thinks I’ll be able to put up more of a fight against the demon; because I can heal myself.

It’s why all of my wounds are healed already, which is why my dad knows I have the same powers as he does. I can’t control those powers yet, but when needed, it’ll help me heal myself anyway.

I just have to learn how to use them to help others too.

But, rule one; I can not overuse the powers to prevent anyone from getting hurt. Sometimes people need to heal on their own terms. But, in case of a fight with evil, I should definitely use them.

It’s all a bit confusing, but mostly really exciting and I can’t wait to explore my powers more.

But then there’s always the thought I might never reach adulthood.

I fight not even reach my seventeenth birthday in December.

Though, if the seal will break, it is been proven before that it might take three months before I finish the cycle and die. But what good would it be to become seventeen, only to die, after killing five innocent kids?

I’m deep in thought, thoughtlessly answering Annika’s kiss, slumping down on the couch as she leaves.

As soon as the front door closes, I turn to look at Liza. “Do you think I’m going to die?”

“No!” She stares at me in horror. “I’m not going to let my annoying baby brother die.” She speaks firmly, pushing herself up so that she is sitting, watching me. “Who would give me stupid but thoughtful birthday presents if I let you die? Who do I get to tease if you’re not there?”

“Don’t be sappy. You have Lynn and Ellie.”

“But they’re my sisters. That’s different.” She smiles weakly. “Want me to show you what they’re going to discuss tonight?”

I perk up, staring at her excitedly. “Yes!”

* * * * *

Liza retrieved a book from the pile of books that are in still on the dinner table, browsing through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

“Look.” She taps the page. “It’s a spell they haven’t used before, because it is nearly almost always deadly to people. But they speak about Angels in this spell, and how this is helping them to fight evil.”

“But I’m only half-blood Angel.”

“But, as a sixteen-year-old, you already healed yourself within a week.” She taps a red mark on my arm, that is still a leftover from a lash. “You healed from your concussion in days, you are almost never sick for longer then a day… you already have more power then dad had at your age, and that’s a sign the power is strong in you.”

“The force is strong with this one.” I quote Darth Vader from Star Wars, causing her to roll her eyes, and me to smirk daringly.

“What I was saying, you’re… different. As always. Because you always did things your own way. But they think this spell might give you back some of the energy that was taken, and it will help you fight longer.”

“And if it fails?”

She bites her lip. “That’s why they’re discussing it. “You will lose more energy and in humans, that would result in death. They need to know for sure you will live, even if it fails, or this will all be for nothing. It’s not going to save you from the entity, but it might give us even more time.”

“But, I want the entity out.” I grumble, slumping down in defeat again. “I don’t wantit inside me.”

“Well, inside you, at least we get to keep an eye on it…” Liza clears her throat. “But we will need to get you into the woods to try and fight it without destroying half the town.”

“But you are going to try and fight it, right?”

“It’s a discussion, because we need enough Wiccans with power to be able to stand a chance… and as your sisters, Ellie, Lynn and I won’t be allowed to help. Neither will mom, or Annika…”

“What, why? That’s four adult Wiccans and a Wiccan who loves me to death!”

“Exactly. And we can’t be sure we will be able to fight, while the entity is inside you. We’ll hold back, because it will use you to protect itself. I, for one, would never be able to cast a spell at my little brother, that will hurt him if the entity decides to leave your body before it hits. In that case, it will hit you, instead of it, and then you’ll die… for sure…”

I swallow hard, knowing this is all to difficult, and it all comes with tons of risks, and all of which would result in my death.

“What if we solve Baywick’s death? Cory and Annika believe he was innocent.”

“Baywick was probably innocent, yes. But how would we prove that? It happened nearly 400 years ago.”

“I don’t know…” I drawl awkwardly. “But we could try?”

“I think Davy and your other friends went to the library yesterday to follow that lead. They want to prove his innocence too. Since, you know… maybe if we set him free from guilt, it will leave. Maybe if we clear his name, he won’t feel the need to take revenge.”

“Exactly…”

“And then there’s Angie… mom told us you guys have been trying to help her to find her body.”

“Yeah…” I sadly mutter, staring to my trembling hands. “I miss her, honestly.”

“Miss her?”

“I saw her, I talked to her… but since I got possessed she’s gone and I miss her. I was growing fond of her and her stupid humour and I really badly wanted to help her. She deserves peace, right?”

“Davy and Annika still see her.”

“Apparently, Cory does too.”

“So, three of your friends are still communicating with her. And we can help her as soon as we found a way to make sure you won’t die.”

“Right… helping me not to die does seem more important then helping her since she’s already dead, right?”

“We can’t compare… she’s been floating around on earth for years. She deserves some rest. But we need you and the information you already gathered to help her too.

“And we need Angie, since she knows every inch of the woods like the back of her hand.”

“Well, don’t underestimate the knowledge of the coven. They have, after all, been keeping things at bay for ages now. They managed to prevent two cycles, they know the woods, they scared away the devil worshippers during the fifties…” Liza sums up. “They have tons of information about Baywick, and what happened to him. They know any connection between people in this town. They know exactly where to cast spells in the woods to keep it at bay again…”

“I wonder, Liza, why not lock me away? I won’t get to end the cycle when I’m locked in a jail or whatever, and that way you get all the time to find a way to save me…”

She shakes her head, staring at me sadly. “You’ll be too powerful to keep in a jail. From what I know, once the spell breaks and the entity takes over, you will be drawn towards the woods and you’ll stay there unless looking for a victim. It’s our plan in case everything else fails; use a spell to lock you in the woods to gain time. With the woods inaccessible to others, you won’t have a victim. But the thought of you alone in there… knowing Baywick will become more powerful, use more of your energy each day, we know it will be your end if we do so. He will use up all your energy eventually.”

“You’re not comforting me, you know?”

“I know, but it’s the cold hard truth…” She suddenly pulls me in a hug. “I know I never say it aloud, but I love you, Sid. And we’ll do everything to help you.”

“Good…” I allow her to hug me, since it’s a rare occasion for any of me and my siblings to show affection towards the others.

It makes me feel loved, yet again. And feeling loved, reduces the uneasy feeling in my chest.

Where there is a constant thumping that isn’t cause by my own heartbeat. A constant reminder there’s something, using parts of my energy to survive until it can break free.

But feeling loved reduces the feeling and Liza holding me in a sibling hug, makes it go away shortly.

I just have to put my trust in my family and friends and wait for them to find a solution.

All I can do in the mean time, is fight the entity from breaking free.

For as long as I possibly can.