The Bewitching - Midsummer Aine - Book 2

Chapter 19 - Difficult Decisions

The first thing she felt was the rush of cool air as it blew across her body. She could feel the sun as it seared her skin, almost like it was burning her alive. The sounds followed. First, the waves crashing into the shore and then the sound of panicked voices surrounding her. They were so intense that they were almost painful. It was as if every sense she had was heightened to the point of it being overwhelming and unbearable.

As quickly as the sensations came, they disappeared. Shannon slowly opened her eyes and felt almost blinded by the intense light. As her eyes adjusted she saw Dewdrop and the others hovered over her in an almost hysterical state. Even Tobias was trying to nudge her awake with his wet nose.

“...Wha...What happened?” Shannon groggily asked.

“I don’t know. One minute everything was fine, then the next you started speaking gibberish and then you passed out,” Dewdrop responded as she helped her sit up.

“A few minutes maybe. Just long enough to give us a good scare. Are you feeling okay?” Dewdrop continued.

“Yeah. Just a little dizzy...and confused.”

“We should get her back to the shop. I think we’ve all had enough excitement for one day,” Alicia stated with concern in her voice. It was something everyone seemed to agree on, and with the shop being close it didn’t take long to get back. It also didn’t take long for them to start asking Shannon questions, or for her to fill them in on what she had experienced.

“I’m so sorry. I thought being around the water would help but I never expected you to experience such a leap in abilities considering how long it’s taken without the slightest sign of them appearing,” Dewdrop spoke as she took Shannon’s hand.

“It’s okay. I just...I wasn’t expecting that,” she turned to Alicia, “What does it mean?”

“It means Elyssa’s in danger. Something turns her. You said she resembled a vampire?”

“Umm yeah, sort of. But she had wings like a bat. Do vampires actually have that? I mean...are there actual vampires?”

“All stories come from somewhere, some truth. Sometimes it’s actually a demon, and other times...just magic that went astray from a human attempting to control it. Some results are worse than others, and others not so bad.” Alicia glanced over at Dewdrop, “But seeing that Elyssa is a human, and assuming you were seeing a possible future outcome, it’s safe to say it was magic at work.”

“Whatever she turned in to, we’ve never seen it before,” Annette chimed in with worry in her voice.

“So it’s something new?” Shannon asked.

“Not necessarily. Like I said, there’s some truth to all stories and there are countless stories of such things out there. Not to mention all the variations that could occur based on the casters abilities. It’s likely it’s been written about and we just haven’t paid much attention because we haven’t encountered such yet,” Alicia stated.

“Mom, we still have some of those old books...Should I?” Annette asked.

“Old books?” Shannon asked.

“Witches keep, shall we say journals of demons and magical things we encounter. Those of us that do tend to share that information just because of...Well, you never know what you’ll encounter. It’s our little way of helping each other on those rare occasions. With demons roaming around, and even the social stigma’s of humans attached to witches, it’s good to know what we’re up against to survive. You never know who or what is going to want to kill you so if someone’s encountered that type of ‘vampire’ like magic before there’s a good chance it’ll be mentioned in one of those books,” Alicia explained.