To Cut Blood Ties

Chapter 31: A Mother's Love

October 30, 2016

Paradise Valley, Arizona

3:03am

There was a church, just off of 64th street. It sprawled across its acres like the mansions that surrounded it. Only a few crosses and statues to reveal that it was in fact a church. Push through the large, wooden front door and there were wooden benches lining textured, tile floor. Beige walls were adorned with detailed paintings of angels and Jesus with glorified, intricate frames holding them. Golden light fixtures hung in between each. The ceiling was made of glass allowing natural light to fill the space when the sun was out. For now, only the moon and the stars could be seen. Alice glanced around, her scythe balanced on her shoulder. Sam was in front of her, Count trailing behind.

They had heard a rumor about Marie coming to this church, she had grown up with a religious family and while this hadn't been her childhood church, this was the one that she frequently visited. On top of that, it was where she had chosen to hold the funeral service for George, and more than likely it was the place where she kept his ashes. Sam raised her hand and signaled for Alice to left. She lifted her scythe, holding it next to her, tightening her grip so that she would be able to use it in case she needed to.

She paused as she noticed something glowing off in the distance next to the door; it was slightly red and lingering. She paused, the hair on the back of her neck rising. Alice's heart skipped a beat, the memory of her brother's hand around her throat. Her heart skipped a beat and she faltered, sweat instantly building up in her palms. She blinked, trying to shake the haunting memory. But it was a second too late because when Alice was finally was able to move; a dark figure appeared before Sam. There was a flash of red, and Sam screamed as she was sent through the air. Alice barely had time to bring her scythe in front of her as magic shot towards her, the weapon vibrated as it absorbed the magic. The force of it still threw her back a couple of feet, but she was able to stay standing. She quickly dived, the bench that she had been standing before exploded as the next spell hit it.

Alice looked up to see that Count had slipped from his hiding place and attacked the figure, Marie. The duo went down, with Count's snarls filling up the space. Alice got to her feet and out of the corner of her eye she saw Sam get up as well, though the blow had injured her slightly and she had a limp. Despite the worry that she had for her friend, she also knew that she would power through. For everything negative that the Oswald Empire now was, that was one thing that had been positive. To keep pushing forward.

They advanced forward, weaving sideways using the benches and even each other to create enough distraction that Marie wouldn't be able to use her abilities. Marie's magic relied on a steady, close target. For her to use a spell that was a bit longer range it took more energy and she couldn't do it multiple times in a row. Count was kicked away by Marie and she got to her feet just as Alice swung her scythe, the red magic formed at her side where the blade was aiming, creating a mock shield and hardening to block the scythe. Alice quickly yanked back, trying to escape but Marie touched her finger to Alice's arm. Agony spiraled through the touch through her entire body. Alice screamed in agony, unable to control her movements as her grip slacked on her weapon and she began to fall. The metal blade clanged loudly on the floor, her body thumping next to it. Sam came to stand in front of her, swinging her blades in various movements as she tried to keep Marie at bay. Magic shattered against the blades, sparking around them and lighting up the dark church in a grisly red casting everything in eerie light with shadows reaching for the fighting figures.

Count snarled again, diving for Marie's legs. Alice's mother howled as his jaw clamped around the lower part of her leg. Sam used to the distraction to pick up Alice's scythe and quickly helped yank her to her feet. Magic swirled hanging just around Marie's body, time seemed to stop as Count looked up into Marie's eyes, blood coating his jaw and his eyes reflecting the red. Sam shouted something but she couldn't understand her words of the roaring in her ears. She saw Marie's finger twitch and she spun trying to shove at Sam to move when a wall slammed into her back. The world was red and hissing, there was pain and the cracking of bone, the air escaping her lungs and unable to refill.

Spots covered her vision and she blinked, trying to clear her head. When she finally could see, devastation was around her. The furniture of the church had been shattered, Count was nowhere to be seen, and Sam was unconscious a few feet from her. Alice tried to sit up, wincing as pain flared in her side. She couldn't breathe, cold sweat building on her forehead. Her shoulder felt odd and when she looked down it was not in the right place. Her stomach rolled with looking at it, it was dislocated, and she would have to pop it back in. She looked up to see that Marie was crouching next to her, her red eyes gleaming as she watched her daughter try to piece her thoughts together.

"Glad to see I hadn't killed you right away," Marie smiled, mockingly stroking Alice's cheek. The girl flinched. "I wanted to have a discussion with you first."

Alice gritted her teeth, "A discussion? Seriously? Now?"

"Do you understand why I had to do all of this?" she asked.

Alice frowned, "Had to?"

"So you don't," Marie bowed her head with a sigh. "Do you know how your father and I got married? I was eighteen, my powers had long been extremely powerful, and the fact that it was blood magic, well it intimidated my own parents, and anyone interested in dating me. Even Jason was uninterested in me, I had met him on several occasions and he treated me well enough, but kept his distance. As the day drew closer to him inheriting the empire, word began to spread about who he was going to marry. Despite how advanced the general population had become in who to love and who to marry, because of how delicate the world of magic is, families of the higher hierarchy don't have a choice. They need to try and help continue to bloodline, so that hopefully the magic wouldn't die. My last name, my maiden name is Daza. We were one of the last sorcerer families that had had consistent magical abilities. My sister and I had been born with abilities, my brother was simply human. The rumor was that despite me being older, my sister was going to be paired with him. I had been shunned my entire life, just because I had uniqueness about me. I wanted a chance to make a name for myself and I needed to be able to show everyone that they were wrong about me."

Alice began to realize what she was saying even before the words left her mouth, "You killed her."

"Yes," Marie smiled. "There had already been an announcement about their special day though, due to risk of her being, well targeted, her name was kept secret. She was particularly allergic to peanuts, and so when she ordered food from her usual place, I mixed in some crushed peanuts. She was supposedly home alone, and her cellphone had died, there was no way for her to get the help that she would have needed."

"So you got married, had a son who was gifted and you thought everything was perfect," Alice closed her eyes as her head spun, "Until I came along."

"You ruined everything," Marie snapped, her eyes seeming to light up. Her hand came to rest on Alice's cheek, "But despite how much I hate you, there's that tiny sliver of love. I guess what they say about a mother's unconditional love is true. They just don't expand on the details that even though I love you, I can still kill you."

Alice could see the magic bubbling and focusing on Marie's fingertips, the warmth of it beginning to heat her cheek. She closed her eyes, knowing that there was no way out of this. She had fought as hard as she could. But she was only human.