Chapter 1 Part 2

She finally made it home, feeling the effects of the ritual starting to hit her hard. Her eyes are so heavy and she barely makes it into her house. She drops her items on the couch in her living room planning to deal with them tomorrow. All she wants to do is climb into her bed and let the darkness from sleep take over her body.

Ariana is standing in the middle of a dark road. She’s confused, not sure how she got there. There’s a thin layer of fog in the air and she realizes she’s no longer in her house laying in her bed but looking down this long deserted road… no cars…no people around. She notices the little glow of light coming from the woods. She follows the light and comes across this blonde female in a dark cloak. A small fire burns next to a tree stump as Ariana moves closer she notices the items on the top of the stump; a silver knife, glass bowl, statues, candles, flowers, and herbs. She realizes that she’s looking at an altar. The blonde female has knelt down in front of the makeshift altar atop the tree stump. She can not make out what the blonde witch is chanting but her attention is suddenly shifted to movement and sees a dark figure standing behind her. Ariana’s body stiffens, sensing the figure is dark and evil. She screams to the blonde female but she never looks in Ariana’s direction as she continues with her ritual having no idea that this dark figure lurks just behind her. Ariana continues screaming at her but the blonde female never looks her way or even acknowledges she see’s Ariana. Suddenly the dark figure moves toward the blonde female pushing her down to the ground jumping on top of her and hitting her over and over until she stops struggling. He grabs the silver knife from the altar and slides it with ease through her skin giggling it around a bit. As he is carving the knife through her upper body he suddenly pulls out something. Ariana can see some type of liquid dripping from the object and down his hand and to her horror she realizes it looks like that woman’s heart. The dark figure then begins a chant of his own and a white glow from the blonde witches body begins to rise and slowly drift, disappearing into his body. Ariana looks at the lifeless body on the ground, it’s turned pale and her eyes are glossed over white. Ariana screams and begins running for her life through the woods faster and faster, never daring to look back but she can feel the dark figure just behind her. She falls hitting her knees on the ground screaming again holding her hands up trying to shield herself from the on coming assault of this evil form. He passes through her sending a cold feeling over her entire body and she shivers and continues screaming as she wakes up tangled in her bed sheets.

Ariana looks around her bedroom making sure she is actually in her bed and not in the woods “That was so real”. She slides her shaky fingertips over the left side of her temple. This dream has unnerved her emotionally and she decides blessing and clearing her house was what the witch ordered”. She gets up and walks out of her bedroom and over to the extra bedroom that she has made into her Alter Space. She kept the walls white but painted a black pentagram on the floor. She always feels safe in this room. She walks over to the closet and opens the doors. All of her supplies are in there and she’s pretty proud of herself for putting the closet organizers together so she could put all her stuff in there. She spots the Sage bundles and grabs one, her lighter, and the Abalone Shell she received as a gift from a friend. She places them on her Altar and says a prayer to the Goddess to help her clear and bless her house. She lights the Sage bundle and holds the shell in her hand as she chants the blessing to protect her home from any evil. She walks in every room chanting this blessing clearing her home and her mind. Making it safe and protected from all that wants to do harm to her. It takes her an hour and a half to go through all the rooms including the garage but when she is done she feels much better and at peace. She looks at the clock on her living room wall “5 am really!”. She sits on her couch relaxing as her eyes get heavier and heavier and she falls back to sleep hoping her dreams are more pleasant, maybe of her future soul mate.

“Hey come on throw the ball” a blued-eyed boy yells out to his friend. The other boy throws the ball as hard as he can, sending it flying through the air and through his friends fingers. They both watch as the ball bounces into a bunch of bushes and disappears. The boys run over to the brush and look at each other, not sure if it’s worth going through all the trouble for the ball. “Come on”, the blue-eyed boy says to his friend. “My sister will kill me if I don’t bring her ball back to her”. Both boys are hesitant but make their way through the brush to the other side. “What’s that smell?” the blue-eyed boy turns to his friend, pinching his nose with his fingers. The other boy just shrugs his shoulders, not sure of anything. They both walk forward through the creek bed and notice someone sitting off to the side. Their ball has finally come to a stop just a few feet away from the shadowy figure. The boys slowly walk over to their ball while keeping a close eye on the person still sitting just in front of them. The Blue-eyed boy looks at his friend as he starts to walk towards the figure. The other boy shakes his head in disapproval but the blue-eyed boy keeps moving forward. He has a better look of the figure the closer he gets realizing that there is long blonde hair coming out of the cloak. He takes a deep breath and quietly says “Hey lady you ok?” but there is no answer from the lump on the ground. The blue-eyed boy looks back at his friend and daringly moves closer to the lump “Lady you ok?” but still no answer. He holds his hand out and moves ever so closer to the lady on the ground and taps her on the shoulder. No movement and he becomes scared but pushes her shoulder a little harder and her body already slumped down falls to the side landing just in front of the boy’s feet he sees her white eyes and the boy screams running back to his friend and they both make their way back up the side of the creek bed through the brush and to their home never looking back.

A frantic call comes through the 911 line from an agitated female. She very loudly and dramatically tells the police dispatcher that her son and his friend have found a dead body in the woods across the street from their house. She is demanding that someone comes and deals with this inconvenient dead person. Chloe is listening to this distressed female on the other side of the phone complaining about how this discourteous person had the nerve to just “die there”. Finally able to speak, Chloe reassures the lady someone was on the way. Chloe keeps the lady on the phone as she hits the mic on her console and dispatches a couple of officers to the area to look around. Chloe takes in a slow breath believing those kids had a very creative imagination. She rolls her eyes knowing that this particular month was going to be interesting. Laughing to herself, October is always the worst time of year for law enforcement.

***Chapter 2 will be available next Thursday and Friday.***