The Witches of Dark Root: Daughters of Dark Root: Book One (The Daughters of Dark Root) (22 page)

Even without makeup, she was still spotlessly beautiful.

She climbed into the bed, fluffed her pillows and rested her arms behind her head. “Paul’s supposed to be going back to Seattle, but I’m trying to convince him to stick around for a bit. Lord knows this town could use a little more life in it.”

“Seattle?” I was suddenly interested in Paul.

If he was going to Seattle, maybe I could go with him. Then move on from there. It was a small stepping stone, but it would be a first step in getting out of Dark Root.

“He has family there,” Eve continued. “Says he misses them.” Her lips puckered into a thoughtful pout.

“Why don’t you give him one of your magical teas? That might keep him here.”

Eve’s dark eyes clouded over. “Don’t think I haven’t thought of that. I have one dose, just for him, made with herbs I spent weeks collecting. But...” she sighed. “I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that. He’s too...” I could see her wrestling for the right word. “...Special. Nope, I would like for him to fall in love with me, fair and square.”

I had heard Eve declare her unbridled passion for many boys before, but there was something about the way she spoke of Paul that made me wonder if this was different.

“Think you’re in love?” I said.

Eve rolled onto her side so that she could look at me.

“I have no idea, but it’s something. Maybe it’s just the challenge. He’s the first guy I’ve ever met who wasn’t tripping over himself to impress me.” She shrugged as if it wasn’t really important whether it was love or the challenge, so long as she won. “Enough about that. What about you? You still with that religious guy?”

My body tensed.

I wanted to tell her the truth, but I couldn’t admit the way that things had turned out. It would give her too much leverage.

“We are on a break for the moment,” I said. “I’ve been wanting it for some time, you know? Coming here was a good excuse to see how things would be without him. I was so young when we got together and I wonder if I missed out on life.”

Eve nodded thoughtfully, but I wasn’t sure she bought it.

“Ready for bed?” she asked, patting the space next to her. She was gooey and dreamy again and I couldn’t stay here when she was happy while I was miserable. Though I had put Michael out of my head, he wouldn’t stay out of my heart.

“I think I might sleep in Merry’s room tonight. Seems a waste of a bed otherwise. You be alright?”

Eve nodded, lost in thoughts of conquering Paul.

I tiptoed out as she fell into an easy sleep.

I crept down the hall, hoping to not wake Paul or Aunt Dora. Merry’s room was neat, except for a few stray toys on the floor. I crawled into bed, turned off the bedside lamp, and pulled the comforter up to my shoulders. The realization that this would be the first time I slept in a bed alone in years hit me and I snuggled in deeper.

Think good thoughts, Maggie.

The smell of Merry’s scent on the pillows helped relax me, and I settled my mind on thoughts of her at six-years-old, pulling me in a wagon around the front yard.

“Faster, Merry!” I screamed as I held tight to the sides. “Faster!”

The memory warmed me like the sun and I melted into a puddle of sleep.

Eleven: Piano Man

Harvest Home, Dark Root, Oregon

October, 1995

“Maggie, wake up.” Merry jostled her sister, rousing her from her nap on the couch.

Maggie sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around. For a moment she forgot that she was in the living room of Harvest Home.

“Already?” Maggie asked, pushing herself onto elbows.

A loud chime coming from the grandfather clock confirmed that that it was midnight, time for the ritual. Maggie felt the chill from the open door and looked around for her sweater.

“We aren’t supposed to wear anything other than our robes tonight,” Merry cautioned, but helped Maggie into the sweater, anyways.

“Where’s Eve?” Maggie asked. If she was going to have to wander the woods in the middle of the night for some crazy ritual, then Eve better be up, too. Maggie saw her standing by the door, jumping up and down, not tired at all.

Miss Sasha and six of her friends emerged from the dining room, talking excitedly and exchanging knowing glances.
 

“You girls ready?” Miss Sasha asked. This was to be their first grown up moon chant and Miss Sasha could hardly contain herself. She noticed the sweater Maggie wore over her long blue robe and frowned but didn’t mention it.

Merry, Maggie, Eve, and Ruth Anne followed their mother and her friends into the night.

It was cold and the sisters shivered as they wound their way along an old dirt road shrouded by trees to a circular clearing, a half-mile away. The girls had played in the clearing many times during the day, but this was the first time they had seen it beneath the light of a full moon. The grass looked dewy and lush as the soft light fell upon each blade, but the trees that surrounded the meadow looked foreboding and ominous, as if their long, twisted boughs were ready to snatch the girls, if given the chance.

“What are we doing here again?” Maggie asked, as they made their way towards the center of the circle. “...And how long do we have to stay out?”

The adults moved to a point in the very center of the clearing and the girls positioned themselves a few dozen feet behind them.
 

Ruth Anne surveyed the area and sat, cross-legged, on the moist grass. “We are rooting out the evil spirits that are trying to infest Dark Root.” Her voice was as flat and informational as an encyclopedia entry.

She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a key-chain flashlight and a comic book and started reading.

“How do we do that?” Maggie asked, watching as the elders––five women and two men––linked raised hands towards the sky.

They began singing, a soft melodic chant that Maggie had heard before.

Merry answered, “Every fall, the Council of Seven places a protective spell around our town. It must be done before the second half of the year begins, on November 1st. It keeps out the dark energies and ensures that the circle is strong.”

Maggie hopped on one foot, and then the other, trying to find warmth in the chill of the night. “But why do we have to do it now?” she moaned. “When it’s so cold?”

Ruth Anne responded, never lifting her eyes from her book. “It’s the witching hour. According to legend, the hours between twelve and three AM are when all things magical, including witches, are at their most powerful.” She turned the page of her book and cracked a smile at one of the drawings. “...It’s too bad we can’t keep out the crazy.”

Maggie widened her eyes. “But if witches are the most powerful now, won’t the bad things be more powerful too?”

“I’m scared,” Eve said, jumping in place as the elders continued their chant. Eve liked magick, but only the lighter arts, and those that yielded her a reward.

Merry took Eve’s hand and kissed it, and Maggie latched onto Merry’s other hand.

“I’m scared, too,” Merry fibbed.

Merry wasn’t afraid of anything.

There was a long silence, followed by the heavy beat of a loud drum. Miss Sasha looked over her shoulder at her daughters, letting them know that it was almost their turn. They had been practicing the spell for weeks now, and Maggie hoped she wouldn’t forget the words.

Ruth Anne set down her comic book and the four girls clasped hands and waded towards the center of the circle.

Miss Sasha nodded and the girls began their incantation.

As the Witching Hour chimes

And the whole world sleeps and dreams

We join our hands in sisterhood

Staving back the darklings

The circle stands, its shape eternal

Though the darkness is still beckoning

Our light will ward back the infernal

And shield us from the doomsday reckoning

Maggie was still tired and stumbled on a few of the words, completely missing some of them; however, Merry spoke them as loud and clearly as she recited
The Pledge of Allegiance
at school. All the while, Eve played with her hair and hardly tried at all. For her part, Ruth Anne recited the words without emotion, anxious to get back to her comic book.

“Who wrote the spell?” Ruth Anne had asked their mother earlier that day while they were preparing. “It doesn’t sound right.”

“It doesn’t matter if it sounds right or not,” Miss Sasha had explained. “It’s the power of words––especially when spoken in numbers––that matters. When we stand together, no enemy would dare traverse the boundaries of Dark Root.”

Maggie caught a movement to her right. She thought she had seen a dark form take shape and then vanish. And then another. Were they coming or going? She couldn’t tell.

The ritual continued for what felt to Maggie like an eternity.

Her feet hurt, her face was cold, and she was afraid of shadows that zipped past, seemingly unnoticed by anyone else. She squeezed Merry’s hand until she was afraid she had hurt her sister, but Merry didn’t protest.

At last, Miss Sasha declared the witching hour officially over and they were allowed to return to their homes.

“Well, girls,” she said, rubbing her hands together as she escorted her daughters inside Sister House. “Wasn’t that fun? And…” she continued, her eyes twinkling. “Because you were up so late, I’m not sending any of you to school tomorrow.”

“Yay!” Eve and Merry said almost simultaneously.

Ruth Anne said she was going to school anyway.

Maggie said nothing.

She was too busy watching a small, dark shape slink into the shadows at the top of their staircase, proof that there was at least one ‘darkling’ the coven had not banished that night.

Harvest Home, Dark Root, Oregon

Sept, 2013

“Wake up!”

The voice was deliberate, masculine. I shook my head, trying to come awake.

“Wake up!”

My eyes flew open.

Though the room was dark, practically pitch, I could make out a form on the right side of my bed, a black shadowy figure hovering beside me. It watched me, staring with cold eyes on a formless face. I tried to scream, but the only noise I could produce was a harsh rasping sound from my throat.

My first instinct was to run, but I was somehow pressed onto my bed, my arms and legs held down by an invisible force. I could only move my head, and I thrashed it from side to side, trying to loosen the rest of my body, but the force continued to hold me down.

My body was paralyzed.

I began praying, saying the words that Michael had taught me. “Please watch over me and protect me with your pure, white light...”