I know. I'm starting a new fic while I still haven't ended the others (and I'm so late with a few…I'll try to catch up –I'm in good mood for writing :D)This is some project I had on my mind for a while…hope you'll like it :3 (still won't blame you if you don't xD)
I have absolutely NO knowledge in witchcraft or Wicca, so if I did something wrong, please forgive me =.="
Thanks to my half-beta for checking this :D
Disclaimer: uh…if I owned this, you'd know by now :P
Payback's a Witch
1
Sarah pushed the door of the occult shop open and took a few steps inside. Contrary to what she thought, Lirio wasn't in the main room like usual. Perhaps she was upstairs?
"Lirio?" she called out tentatively.
"Over here child" the woman's calm voice answered from behind the dark curtain. The teenager hurried to join her and pushed the heavy drapes aside. Lirio was in front of the altar, lightened with a hundred candles, kneeling in the middle of the pentacle drawn on the ground. Sarah stepped carefully in the room and drew the curtain closed.
"I was expecting you my dear" the woman said gently, not raising her head. "I understand you are leaving us?"
Sarah nodded uneasily.
"Yeah… my father is going back to San Francisco."
The woman stood up and walked out of the circle.
"Then how can I help you?"
"I know I've asked you a lot already but… I need a favour."
Lirio's smile fell a little.
"I was afraid you would ask me this."
"How can you know what I am thinking? Sarah asked, narrowing her eyes in disbelief.
The woman shrugged.
"I had a feeling, that once you were done putting things in order, you would come to me to bind your powers. Am I right?"
The teenager bit her lower lip and asked diffidently:
"Are you mad, for running away when Nancy was after me?"
"You needed to reach the real power within yourself. I thought I could help, but it seemed my goodwill wasn't enough."
Sarah's lips tightened in a thin line while the older woman turned back to the altar.
"You did. You helped, I mean. You welcomed me when I didn't know where to go. I was selfish to bring you into this."
Lirio shook her head.
"You did all of this yourself, and took control over them. You embraced your destiny as a Natural Witch, why would you want to get rid of your powers now?"
The teenager closed her eyes.
"All my life, I wanted to be normal. When I realized I had these… powers, the only person who could have taught me to use them died. They drove me crazy these last years and… and each time I used them something bad happened." She opened her lids and declared determinedly: "I don't want them to interfere with my life anymore."
"Even if you try to lock them away, they will still come back" Lirio warned. "Your friends weren't naturals. That's why they lost their powers when you bind Nancy Downs', and you kept yours. I can bind them, but only for a while. You are extremely powerful, Sarah, even for me. The influence of my spell won't be efficient your whole life."
Sarah looked down,, clearly a little disappointed with the woman's words. Her mind was set though, and there were no regrets when she said:
"I am a teenager and right now, I can't allow myself to focus on them. There… there is a lot going on in my life right now and I need to… I can't keep them. If they come back later, I will handle them –or find a way to, if I must. But right now, I need them gone. I don't feel… ready."
Lirio nodded with an understanding glance in her eyes.
"Alright, child. Come here then and kneel next to me."
She stepped closer and obeyed, making sure her skirt wouldn't be stained by the dust on the ground. She sat on her ankles and rested her hands over her thighs, waiting patiently for the woman to start her ritual. Lirio picked up a glass of water, a golden cup containing dirt and grass, took a candle and put them all on the ground. She stood in front of Sarah then, and raised her arms half-way.
"Guardians of the watch towers of the South, by the power of Fire and Feeling, I invoke thee, Manon, I invoke thee."
Something moved in the air. The light of the candle flickered and she felt the presence of a neutral yet dangerous being coming to them. A shiver shook Sarah's spine as she only started to realise what was happening. A feeling of guilt suddenly spread within her, as she knew Manon was coming to support Lirio in her spell. She had pleaded him to help her before, and now, she was giving it back. Perhaps kneeling was an instinct, as a form of apology…
"I bind you Sarah, from using your magic for now and so on. I bind you Sarah, from using your magic from now and so on. I bind you…"
While the woman went on chanting the spell, the teenager kept her eyes tightly shut. Something within her was fading, and she felt it clearly. It was as if an invisible string bag was falling over her and tightening around her body, to prevent her to move. Even though she had made up her mind and trusted Lirio to do this, she still wondered if something was going wrong. Was it supposed to… hurt like this? To feel like something was being stolen from her soul? Was the natural witch in her crying for the loss of her powers?
Was that was Nancy felt, when she bound her?
A fresh wind brushed her bare legs, freeing her from the oppressive grip and then… nothing. Everything went back to normal. Sarah didn't feel… different than before, but a nagging feeling in the back of her mind told her she was.
"It's done" Lirio said, interrupting her thoughts. "You can get up now."
The teenager obeyed and realised a few things. Only half of the candles of the altar were still lightened, and the dirt had been turned into dust. Something had happened. And she didn't know if she had to feel relieved or on the verge of tears because somehow, she knew it had worked.
"If you want to free them completely one day, you need to come back to the shop" Lirio suddenly said. "Once a spell is thrown, gates are opened, but I can still open another one to reverse the effects."
"Okay" Sarah replied, doubting seriously she would ever come back. "Thanks again."
"Take care of yourself. Farewell child."
The teenager returned the goodbye and started to leave. She was at the door and about to push it open when she suddenly changed her mind and headed back to the woman.
"I… I need to confess something" she blurted. "I am not supposed to say this but I still wanted you to know… My name isn't 'Sarah'. Well it's my second name but my first name…"
Lirio rested her hand on the teenager's shoulder to silence her, and replied with a gentle smile:
"I know. The spell wouldn't have worked if you had given me a fake one. I wish you the best and farewell, Teresa."
-PIW-
Lisbon suddenly woke up and sat up immediately in her bed. Her erratic breath and her wild-beating heart convinced it would be better to lie down for a few moments. She breathed in and out to calm down the turmoil of her body and closed her eyes. Her skin felt sticky against her pyjama's fabric. Everything was silent. She opened her eyes again.
The blinds weren't fully closed and she wondered if she had forgotten to close them or if she had just fallen in bed without closing them. Lisbon frowned, trying to remember. Jane had been a pain in the ass once again, bothering a very influent –and awfully quick-tempered- senator and Hightower had to use extreme diplomatic measures to make sure the man wouldn't come yelling after them with a lawsuit. Then it ensured with an argument between her and the consultant, about Hightower on the verge of firing her and Jane affirming he wouldn't let it happen and all, until she decided she had enough and went home, read a book, watched television and headed to bed.
Forgotten to close the blinds then, she concluded with a nod. It wouldn't be the first time and certainly not the last. Keeping an eye on Jane was a job in itself and she doubted she was even paid reasonably enough for that added responsibility. Perhaps she should exchange places with Hightower one day, to make the woman understand how much of a pain he really was. Lisbon groaned and buried her head in the pillow. All this thinking did not solve her problem with the blinds. She still needed to close them.
While she mentally debated on whenever she should get up or not right away or wait till the morning sun pushed her to do so, pictures of her latest dream came to mind. Not exactly a dream, in fact, but a part of the last day she had lived as 'Sarah Bailey'. Lisbon smirked.
Sarah Bailey, a plain teenager moving to LA because of her father's job and enrolling into a Catholic school, making friends and living her life like any normal teen. Except that it was just a lie.
An impulse made her roll over to her left nightstand and she turned the lamp on before pulling the drawer open. Inside, buried under papers and a few books, a black notebook eventually caught her attention. She took it, settled more comfortably against her pillows and opened it. The first page only contained one word: 'Diary'. She smiled sadly. The poor thing had been her companion during her teenage years, the only one she confessed all her repressed feelings towards her father, the unbearable charge of raising her brothers, and above all…
A picture fell on her covers. It was quite old now, from about twenty years prior. A blond haired couple dressed in professional black suits and a teenager in her sixteen's was staring at the camera. Lisbon chuckled. That was the only memento she had from the Baileys, or rather, from Agent Ross and Agent Jones and perhaps the last time she ever dyed her hair. The photo had been taken the day after the trial, the judgement of Harrison Browns, a man who had killed an elderly couple in front of her very eyes. She and her family were safe now and she was likely not going to see the agents again. Her smile faltered. She had never seen them again.
It wasn't due to the fact she never had the occasion to contact them. She could have, if she had really wanted. But there were a few things that always prevented her from doing it. First, the fact they were FBI often undercover, and her contacting them could put their position in danger –especially since they took off for another dangerous mission right after being done with her case. Then, there were the memories attached to them. They had acted like parents towards her, but the moments she had gone through with them around… she wished she could have erased some fragments from her memory forever, as well as this inevitable truth.
She was a witch.
She was a witch, just like her mother and like her grand-mother and great grand-mother had been. Her powers had first showed up soon before her mother's accident. Mary Lisbon had explained calmly that these were part of her heritage, and that she didn't have to resent them. But after her death, Lisbon had lost the slight control she had over her powers.
With a shake of the head, she pushed the memories away in the back of her mind and closed her former diary. She put it back in the drawer, closed it and…
The sudden feeling she was being watched made her stare immediately at the window. Lisbon stood up and headed there, glancing outside. Everything was dark and barely distinguishable, especially since the lamppost's bulb had been broken by some stupid teenagers who wanted to have fun one night. And there was no moon, no stars in the sky. She could barely make out the contours of the closest tree. Deciding it would be pointless to waste her time scanning an environment she couldn't even see, Lisbon closed her blinds and went back to bed. An uneasy feeling crept inside, though she couldn't tell why. Dreaming of her lost powers would be the most rational explanation, but somehow she knew there was more. Like a… warning of some sort.
Pushing the discomfort away, Lisbon closed her eyes and shifted to find a more comfortable position. A long day was awaiting her the next day, and she needed to sleep.
Outside, a thin shadow detached itself from the trunk of the tree. The stranger grinned wickedly before whispering and walking away:
"Found you, Sarah."
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