Sister Spelled

Blood to Blood

August was not a month ripe with powerful holidays, but the girls could not deny that this couldn't wait any longer. The blood of blood had to happen tonight, on the last full moon before they were separated. Lost to each other the same way Annie had almost been lost to them just days ago. Even now the jagged red edge of her scar flamed against pale skin, the pallor still lingering. The same way it had lingered in Alicea's own. Right before they had taken her away.

The three sat in a circle of candles, fat stacks that dripped wax onto the sand of the beach. The soft light of the blood moon blended with the flickering of candles, bathing the scene in an otherworldly glow. So different from the storm of a few days ago, that had screamed and railed against their town as if it would tear them all apart. In the end it had taken one life, and left damaged buildings and broken hearts behind. Even the waves were calmer. They rushed in and out like the ocean breathed. The sea didn't stop for any of them or their rituals, and Ginnieveive had learned to time her breaths with the roaring sound, in, out, in, out. A way to keep the pain away.

She failed now, though, drawing a sharp gasp as the knife slid across her palm. Lightning lit it's way under her skin, flashing through her nerve endings. It only lasted a second before fading to a dull ache. She should have known that the pain was only the beginning of the problem. The next part was the blood. The sight of those bright red drops welling against her dark skin was enough to send her stomach roiling and her head pounding. But she wasn't going to back out, she was not. She was thirteen now for goddess sake.

"You okay Gin?" Annistyn whispered from beside her. Gin forced her lips to turn up in a smile before rounding on her friend. Her eyes looked positively owl like in their pearl pink frames, the blue impossibly deep as tears began to well. Annie had never been able to deal with pain, not even someone else's.

"I'm fine Annie, it barely stings. Practically a breeze."

Annie nodded, but caught her lip between slightly crooked teeth, betraying how nervous she was.

"Really Annie, if Gin can do it then I know we can." Madeline was already drawing the blade over her own pale palm, not even wincing, "Doesn't even hurt. You ready?"

Annie's lip was still caught between her teeth, one tear breaking loose to trail down her cheek. A breeze rushed through, throwing her red curls over her cheeks. Gin watched as Annie's eyes caught the knife, moonlight glinting off the line of crimson blood still on the blade.

"Sisters, Annie." Gin whispered, reminding her of their promise. It was the only reason they brought the knife with them. The only reason they sat in a circle of candles, sand rough beneath their thin nightgowns, a knife and battered leather book between them. "We'll never be separated this way. Not by Mrs. Vance, or adoption, or even death himself."

The promise of a family, that ever present dream that left her shivering in her bed at the orphanage all night. She looked to the other girls. They weren't the family she had dreamed of when she was younger, but she was coming to realize that they were her sisters. Something she would never take for granted again, not when one of them had been taken so soon. The thought of Alicea was enough for Annie to force one shaking hand over. Madeline didn't give her time to take it back either slashing a shallow line before the girls had time to react.

Annie let out a squeak, before struggling to swallow a breath she had been holding, "That- that wasn't so bad I guess. I just really hate knives." She looked to the other girls, "What's next?"

Mads grinned, incisors gleaming, just a tad too long for her other teeth. Her green eyes caught the dancing flame of a candle, lending her a wild appearance as the salty breeze played tricks with her hair. What prompted the other girls to call her Mads in the first place. A nickname she had embraced, always the first to jump into everything headfirst.