Burkheart Witch Saga Book 2 (3 page)

K
ayla woke
, expecting to be sitting in the living room with the seven witches. Instead, she saw the inside of a small cottage, the walls lined with animal skins and old pots. The room felt cozy and rustic, if not a little bit cloying. In the corner, a stone fireplace burned brightly. A filigree crane held a Dutch oven over the fireplace. The smell of fresh bread and spice filled the small room. As Kayla propped herself up on her elbows, she felt a wave of dizziness and nausea. She allowed herself to fall back onto the bed.

The door opened abruptly, and she bolted up just as fast, multiplying the sense of nausea. Her father entered the cottage with an armload of wood to keep the fire burning.

Through the wooziness, Kayla tried to focus.

"Where am I? What's going on?"

"Kayla, it's me, your dad. Do you remember me?" He looked at her hopefully. That look broke her heart.

Even though she had spent the last twenty years fine-tuning all of the things that she would say if she was ever face to face with him, all she was able to get out was, "Daddy, is it really you?"

"Yes, honey, it's really me."

She pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck. It felt so good to have the man she had hated for so long here with her. She never imagined that this day would actually come, and she wasn't even sure that it was here now.

She could still hear the faint shouting in the distance, and it made her feel uneasy. She released her father and looked into his eyes, now wet with tears. Seeing him so emotional made her feel emotional as well. She was unable to hold the tears in, and they erupted in a flood. Her whole body heaved with each powerful sob. After a few minutes, she was able to calm down enough to talk to her dad.

"Is it true that you're going to die?"

"Yes, Munchkin, I am going to die soon. That's why I'm here. We don't have time to waste. I have to tell you a few things, and we need to decide what to do about your mother." The mention of her childhood nickname sent a fresh roll of tears streaming down her cheeks, but she was determined not to allow herself to lose control like before.

"What can we do? She is so powerful that everyone is afraid of her. One of the witches saw her kill a vampire in a bar and not even blink."

"That sounds like something she would do," he laughed.

"I'm scared."

"Don't be scared, Munchkin. I'm here now, and we can get through this together." He placed a consoling hand on her shoulder, and she felt the warmth and love that she had been craving since the age of twelve. She was a little girl again who needed and loved her daddy.

She couldn't shake the sound of the shouts in the distance, but she tried to ignore them. There was nothing in the world that could disrupt the euphoria she felt being here with her father.

"We should get you something to eat. You are going to need your strength." He rose from the bed to get a plate of bread from the fireplace. Out of the Dutch oven, he ladled a mug full of what looked like a hearty apple cider. He placed the plate and mug on the small wooden table, and Kayla got up from the bed and took a seat. The sweet cinnamon apple smell from the mug mixed with the decadence of the warm bread and butter made her feel even more like a little girl again.

She took a small bite of the fresh bread as her father gazed at her from across the table. She was amazed at how good she felt to be here with him, despite the situation. She was losing all the disbelief she had in this environment. She had started out believing that it was an illusion, but now she was not so sure.

The shouting from the distance was getting louder and louder. She strained to hear what the distant voices were saying, even though she found them to be little more than disruptive of her special time with her long-lost father.

"Kayla, don't…" is what she thought she was hearing from the distance.

"Munchkin, why does she want to hurt you?"

"Money. Your insurance policy, to be exact." She held the warm apple cider in her hand, the spicy, homey scent filling her with nostalgia for an imagined childhood.

“Don't…” that voice from the woods yelled again.

"I never meant for her to know about that. I tried to keep it a secret, but Carolyn is so powerful, she found out. My abilities are nothing compared to hers."

"You're a witch, too?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, I am. I am not half the witch that Carolyn is, though."

"You mean she's a conniving, evil bitch."

Her father seemed to take offense to the criticism.

"Carolyn is a very powerful and beautiful sorceress. You would do well to remember that," he snapped at her.

"She is a hateful, demonic shrew that is trying to kill me," she pushed.

Her father was obviously getting irritated with her opinions of Carolyn, and Kayla had to wonder why he felt so strongly about a woman he had walked away from twenty years earlier. She swirled the cider in her mug and again enjoyed the strong scent. She lifted the mug to her lips, but then moved it away, wanting to press the issue of Carolyn.

"Why are you glorifying her? She's an awful person who's treated me like nothing but trash since the day you left. She is actively trying to kill me! How can you defend her?" She noticed that as she spoke, her father's eyes darted back and forth in time to the motions of her cider mug.

"I, uh, I'm just stating facts. She is very powerful." He seemed to be nervous. "Drink your cider before it gets too cold."

She brought the mug to her lips again, but brought it down as she saw the expectancy in her father's face.

"Drink up, Munchkin."

"Why did you leave her, Dad?"

The not so far away voice still yelled, “Kayla, no…"

"Drink it, now Kayla. We're running out of time."

"Why?" She raised her voice, now being fully assaulted by the reality that this was just a dream.

Suddenly, her father lurched out of his seat and grabbed the mug from her hand. He took hold of her throat, and she struggled with all of her strength, scratching at his hands. He was so strong! She tried to get up out of the chair as he lifted the mug over her head. He moved his hand up to her cheeks and pried her jaw open. While the hot liquid poured over her cheeks and ran into her mouth, she opened her eyes to try and visually plead with him to stop.

Kayla was shocked to see Carolyn standing above her, forcing her to drink the liquid.

"Swallow, you little bitch! You're not going to ruin me. I am the strongest, the most beautiful, and the most powerful. I will have that fucking money, and all of your power!" Carolyn yelled at her, plugging Kayla's nose.

Kayla drank the hot liquid to avoid choking to death, her throat feeling like she had swallowed lava. Her cheeks and neck burned like they had been touched with fire. Carolyn let go of her face and stepped back, allowing Kayla to jump out of her seat.

Kayla felt like she had been on one of her weeklong benders. She was unstable and nauseous, and the intense burning had traveled down from her throat into her chest. She was finding it hard to breathe. It was even harder to focus on Carolyn. Kayla swung her weak fists at the Carolyn closest to her. That was apparently not the right one, because her fists found nothing but air.

Kayla attempted another swing as the door of the little cottage swung open with a bang. Carolyn jumped in surprise as Jess burst into the room. All of the strength drained from Kayla's legs, and she fell to the floor. She watched Jess jump at Carolyn as the taller witch raised her hands in protection.

"
Mortem et dolorem tibi!
" Carolyn shouted as a streak of light shot from the palm of her hand and struck Jess right in the middle of the chest. He crumpled to the ground next to where Kayla lay losing consciousness. Her friend Jess stared directly in her eyes while the life drained from his. She reached out and grabbed his hand.

"I'm so sorry, Jess. I'm so sorry," she said to his now lifeless body. She began to cry softly as her world went completely black to the sound of Carolyn's satisfied laughter.

"
K
ayla
? Kayla?"

She could hear Doc calling her, and she could feel him gently trying to shake her awake, but she was unable to respond. As hard as she tried, her eyes would not open. She couldn't lift her arms, or to even respond to his prodding.

"She won't wake up!" Doc yelled to the rest of the room.

Kayla could also hear sobbing coming from what she believed to be the couch area. The crying sounded like it was coming from Daisy and maybe Violet.

"He's dead,” Gus's voice had a slight tremor.

Oh my God!
Kayla thought inside of her head. The head that right now seemed to be a prison of sorts.

There was a clatter to her left that sounded like furniture being thrown.

"Fucking bitch! How did she do this? How could she do this inside of a spell?" Gus's anguished voice would have made Kayla cry, if she was able to cry, that was.

"Gus, we need to find out those answers, but right now, Kayla needs our help," Joy, the voice of reason, chimed in. She was obviously grieving, but there was also a sense of urgency in her tone.

"We need to put her under our protection. Obviously better protection than we provided before." A look of shame washed over Daisy's face.

Violet walked over to Daisy and took hold of her hand, consoling her as only a sister could do.

Mooney came running into the room. He had been trying to gather material to interrupt Carolyn's intrusion into Kayla's dream state. He entered, spotting Jess lying on the couch. He dropped the armload of herbs and jars with a loud clatter and ran to Jess's side.

"Jess?" he wailed. "Jess, wake up, baby. Please wake up." He grabbed Jess's face in his hands and gently kissed his forehead. He shook the dead man's shoulders.

"Please, honey. Wake up. Wake up.
Wake up
!" Mooney lay across Jess's lifeless body and held him as only a lover could, his sobs becoming uncontrollable. With each heave of his body, the rest of the coven's hearts broke. His tears and pleas to his dead lover were so wrenching and full of anguish that Joy couldn't stand it any longer. She walked over to where Mooney sat mourning the loss of his true love, and placed her hand on his head. He turned his tear-streaked, pain stricken face to Joy.

"Please Joy, bring him back," he pleaded in such a way that forced her to turn her head away to try to choke back her tears.

"I can't do that, Mooney. He was killed by magic. I can't bring him back. Even if I could, you know I wouldn't. It's not right."

"Is it right that he's dead? I can't lose him, Joy. I
can't
lose him."

He began to sob again, and buried his head in Jess's neck.

Joy gently pulled him up off the floor and away from his lost love. She held him in her arms until the sobs subsided.

"I want her to die," he muttered, half under his breath.

"What, Mooney?"

"I want her to die," he said louder than before.

"Mooney, I know you're upset right now," Daisy said.

"
Upset?
Jess is dead!" he yelled, no longer able to control his anger.

"Mooney," Joy looked like she was going to try to reason with him, but he cut her off.

"No, Joy. That fucking bitch has gone unchecked for too damn long. She tried to kill Kayla, she almost turned Doc into a killer, what the hell else does she have to do before you can see what has to be done?" Mooney was beginning to sound manic and desperate.

He collapsed onto the floor, and his friends gathered around. They silently decided that just being there for him was enough. Soon, though, they would have to make a few difficult decisions. For now, all of their attention was focused on the grieving man sobbing in the middle of the floor.

J
oy sat
at the head of the bed where Kayla was laid out, unconscious. With a lot of effort, the six dwarves had gotten her into the bed. Joy was brushing her hair and lightly humming a sweet tune.

The witches had done some homework and believed they had figured out what Carolyn had done to Kayla.

The wicked witch had set up a supernatural alarm system. She had been notified magically when the coven was working any kind of spell. The alarm system had been strong enough to override the protection spell, so Carolyn had known exactly when to attack. The coven had been able to witness the whole scene in the woods and in the dream cabin. They had all yelled, trying to warn her, but she had been so wrapped up in the scene that she was unable to focus in and hear them. When they had figured out how to actually get one of them into the scene to help her, Jess had jumped on the opportunity. They had no idea that it would cost him his life.

Carolyn had given Kayla a potion that put her into a deep coma. Joy believed Kayla was aware of her surroundings, but unable to respond to anyone.

Mooney had maniacally focused all of his efforts on helping wake Kayla since Jess had been killed three days before. He searched frantically on the Internet and every spell book he could get his hands on for a cure, and for a way to defeat Carolyn while exacting his revenge. He had checked everything from Druid magik to True love curse-breaking to find the exact spell that would help.

As Joy softly hummed, Daisy burst into the bedroom.

"Joy, someone is here. A man," she said with a twinge of fear in her voice. As Joy stood up to respond to Daisy's exclamation, there was a knock at the door. Joy choked down a lump of fear and headed out of the room.

She opened the front door to what obviously
used
to be a man. Standing in front of her was a sick, old person that looked defeated before the battle had begun.

"Can I help you?" She smiled as pleasantly as she possibly could without knowing the stranger's intentions.

He took a deep breath as though it was an effort to speak. His thin, bony frame appeared to lurch with every word he wrestled from his withered mouth.

"Kayla Burkheart here?" he managed to get out with much difficulty. He appeared to be tired just from that one sentence.

"Who are you?" Joy asked defensively.

"I'm her father." He was having difficulty standing up, and he rested on the doorframe for support.

"Who told you Kayla Burkheart was here?" Joy was still suspicious after viewing Carolyn's shape-shifting tricks.

"I did," Mooney came into the foyer with a purpose. He led the frail man into the house and directed him to a seat at the table.

"Mr. Burkheart, I'm glad to see you. I hope that the trip wasn't too difficult for you," Mooney said sincerely.

"After I talked to you on the phone yesterday, I would have traveled anywhere to help my little girl. Please, call me Richard."

"I'm Mooney, this is Joy and Daisy," he said, indicating the two women. "I want to get right to the point, Richard."

Richard leaned in attentively.

"Carolyn has put a spell on Kayla, and we don't know how much time we actually have to help her. We need your help."

"What can I do?" he asked with all the regret and sorrow of twenty missed years wrapped up in that one sentence.

"You can talk to her. Tell her that you love her, and that you missed her. Try to bring her out of herself. You can also tell us a few things about Carolyn."

"I haven't seen either of them in more than twenty years. I tried, though. I tried to see Kayla, I really did. Year after year, it got harder and harder to try, and I eventually just gave up." It was Richard's turn to wipe the tears from his eyes. "I love my girl, though. I never stopped loving her. I thought that the insurance money would be something I could do to make her life easier, but look what it did. I almost got her killed." He broke down and started crying, which triggered a coughing fit that Joy wasn't sure he was going to recover from. Daisy handed him a tissue and his coughing eventually abated.

"What do you know about Carolyn? Was she born a witch?" Mooney asked.

"Yes. I honestly think that's how she got me to marry her." He laughed a little, and Daisy had a tissue at the ready. This time, it wasn't needed. He continued on, "I was obsessed with her. I couldn't be away from her for more than an hour without wanting to die. I didn't understand until after we were married and I learned that she was a witch. What Carolyn didn't know was that I am a witch as well. Maybe that's what brought us together in the first place. I finally was able to loosen her grip enough to reverse her magic. I broke her spell and we got divorced. I was disgusted that I could have given fifteen years of my life to this horrible woman. The only good thing that came out of it was Kayla. I love her so much." The tears were quietly streaming now, and Daisy offered up the second tissue. He received it with a grateful smile.

"I think that Kayla knows basically what happened. We just need you to talk to her."

"I'll do whatever I can to help."

"So, Richard, were you born a witch as well?"

"Yes, I was."

"So, that means that Kayla is a witch also," Mooney said with realization. "She doesn't know, though."

"Carolyn never told her?" Richard asked incredulously.

"I guess not."

"When Kayla was a baby and her bottle was late, or if she was mad about something, the house would shake or things would fall off of shelves. Once, when Kayla was three years old, Carolyn wouldn't let her have a toy that she wanted. Kayla stared at her, and Carolyn fell to the ground unconscious. The doctor said that he believed Carolyn's heart might have stopped for a minute."

"Wow."

"Yeah," Richard agreed with Mooney's assessment of the situation. "I believe that Carolyn bound Kayla's powers after that. After that day, Kayla and I were no longer able to communicate telepathically, as we had done before."

"So, I think that we need to unbind her powers, first and foremost,” Daisy said, already heading off to get the supplies needed for the spell. "I'll get started."

"Let's take you in to see your daughter," Mooney said to the weak, old man with the thinning blond hair and deep blue eyes. The two men rose and headed into the bedroom where Kayla lay unconscious as Joy followed.

As Richard walked in to the bedroom and saw her lying on the bed, he stumbled and almost lost his balance.

"Oh my God, she's beautiful."

"Yes, she is," Joy agreed.

"Her hair?"

"Dyed. It's naturally blond like yours, and gorgeous blue eyes."

"She looks so peaceful. She's not dead, is she?" Richard asked, with obvious fear in his voice.

"No. Just sleeping."

"Carolyn did this to our baby girl?" His fear had turned to anger. "How could she?"

"We are going to unbind her magic, and hopefully wake her up. We'll leave you alone to talk to her," Mooney said then started out of the room.

"Wait. I don't know what to say to her." Richard looked like someone weighted with an unbearable loneliness and regret that was eating him from the inside out.

"You have twenty years of catching up to do." Joy smiled and left the room with Mooney, leaving two strangers alone to get reacquainted.

T
he old man
stood in the bedroom doorway, completely lost as to his next move. He eventually summoned the courage to limp his way over to the sleeping woman. He pulled a small chair over to the bedside and sat down with a groan and a grimace of pain. He knew in his heart that he was not long for this world, and he was slowly convincing his head of the same fact.

Richard tentatively reached a hand out to touch Kayla, but pulled it back, afraid of how her skin might feel. If her hand felt cold and clammy, he didn't think he could bear it.

"Kayla, honey?" He paused as if awaiting an answer he knew would not come.

"It's me, your father. I know it has been a long time since we talked, but I want you to know that I never gave up on you. I always wanted you to come live with me, but your mother…" Richard allowed his sentence to hang in the air unfinished as he fought back tears. They both knew what Carolyn had done and he knew that there was no reason or benefit to rehashing it.

"I just need you to know that I love you, Munchkin. You are strong, and you
will
get through this." He couldn't hold back the tears any longer, and they flowed as freely as water from a tap. This time when he reached out to touch Kayla's hand, there was no hint of hesitation. He needed to touch her. He needed to feel a connection with his little girl that he had missed and wished for these last twenty years.

When he slipped his hand into hers, an immediate spark surged through his weakened body. His pallid face flushed with color, and his atrophied muscles began to twitch to life. He felt virile and strong for the first time in a very long while. He quickly drew his hand away from hers. This feeling was frightening as well as exhilarating, but he didn't understand what was happening. He knew there was a connection of magic between them, just not how strong it actually was. He felt some of his newfound vigor draining from his body, replaced with the familiar pain and weakness of his long-term illness.

"Munchkin… I guess you're not such a munchkin anymore," he chuckled. "I need you to fight this magic. Carolyn only has power over you if you let her. Her magic is dark, and your magic is light." Richard couldn't hold back the flood of emotions. He laid his head down on the bed and begged his unconscious daughter, "Please come back to me, baby. Please."

Mooney stood in the doorway and watched the old man beseeching the beautiful girl for her return.

"Richard, it's time to begin."

Her grief-stricken father raised his head and looked at Mooney with red-rimmed eyes.

"Let's get her back," he told Mooney matter-of-factly. When he rose from the chair, it took a little less effort than before for him to get to his feet.

The two men walked out of the room, each praying silently that this was going to work.

T
he little witches
had gathered all the materials needed to begin the unbinding spell. Daisy and Joy lit candles they had placed on the makeshift altar in Kayla's room. They exchanged glances, each knowing what the other was thinking. The remaining six coven members were thinking about how much they wanted and needed this spell to work. Over the last few months, each of them had grown to love Kayla like family. They had all grieved over her predicament, and they wanted so badly to bring her back.

Gus and Violet were lighting the incense, which flooded the room with the sweet, woody scents of patchouli and sandalwood.

Doc and Mooney were sitting in the corner of the room with Richard, getting stones and herbs needed for the unbinding spell. As soon as the sun set and the full moon rose in the sky, they would begin.

Mooney walked over to where Kayla lay perfectly still. Joy and Daisy had dressed her in white linen and placed sweet peonies and other flowers and leaves around her body. A crown of beautiful tea roses adorned her head. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"We will get you back. This is for Jess. He loved you like a sister," Mooney said as a fresh, quiet tear trailed down his cheek.

"The sun is setting. We should get started soon," Doc said, gathering the stones he had blessed and placing them on the altar and around Kayla.

Daisy pulled back the curtain that covered the window facing the front of the property and peered out into the growing dusk.

"Guys?" she called back to the others, but received no answer. "Guys?" she said again as she looked out at the approaching mob. Everyone went about their tasks, not listening.

"
Guys!
" she shouted, commanding their attention.

"What
is it
, Daisy?" Gus responded somewhat irritably.

"We have company," she stated, pulling the curtain back so everyone could see what was coming.

"Shit!" Gus exclaimed, no longer irritated. The coven of witches, along with the dying man, looked out the window at the imminent threat.