The Oath, Book 2 of The Coven Series

Chapter Twenty Four

~ Memories ~

The potion Gran gave me was the nastiest, foulest tasting gunk I'd ever tasted. I wanted to gag the minute it hit my tongue, but I forced it down. If this could help me recover my memories, I was all in. Xavier laughed at my scrunched up expression. Ignoring him for the moment, I went and curled up under the covers in my bed. I was still cold. Jeff's heat burst had probably kept me from dying of hypothermia, but it was dissipating now. The cold was returning. The hot shower helped too, but I needed warmth to maintain my body temperature.

The potion started to work, and I felt my eyes grow heavy. I let them fall shut and started to think about this morning. I remembered waking up and following my nose downstairs to the smell of bacon. That was all I could remember earlier. Everything after that was gone. I knew trying to force the memories to the surface wouldn't work, so I just relaxed my body and let myself think about going down to breakfast this morning.

Soon, I was remembering bits and pieces of my conversation with Gran, Sebastian showing up, giving me coffee, and then taking me to the school where everyone else waited for us. I vaguely remembered my Chemistry teacher, Mr. Simon reading something from a book. I zeroed in on that, letting it wrap around my thoughts. He was speaking in an old language, one that sounded like the one Xavier spoke. I repeated the words he said, hoping Xavier would understand. I put no intent behind the words, only spoke them for clarification. If there was no intent, then the spell, or curse as Gran called it, wouldn't activate.

It looked like a moving picture in my head. I saw myself strip and pull on the black dress. I stepped up to the table and began to mix things together. One by one, they all came up and sliced a cut across the palms of their hands, letting the blood drip into the mixture I had made. I took the mixture and...my memory jumped to another point. I stood in the middle of some sort of drawn circle with ancient sigils drawn throughout. I called upon the five Elements, took them in. My knees buckled under the weight, and I screamed in pain.

Sebastian, Mandy, Brandon, Wes, Lori, and Madison were all chanting behind me. I didn't understand the words. I whispered them out loud, hoping either Gran or Xavier would know what they meant. My body shook, both in the memory and now. Someone told me to stand, and I did, not understanding why I obeyed, especially when I hurt so much I was on the verge of passing out. Words came out of my mouth, words in Xavier's language. I repeated them. The room began to shake. I saw a blue light begin to outline a door against the far wall. The light got bigger and brighter, and I kept chanting, my words mirroring the words of the others this time.

An explosion and a crash that sounded like thunder rocked the room. I fell.

Then I was at the lake. 

I opened my eyes and sat up. My memories had gaps, things I probably would never be able to recover, but I understood enough to know what happened to me. 

And they were going to pay for it.