I stared down at the paper in front of me with blurry eyes, not entirely sure what I was looking at until my history teacher loudly announced to the class that we had a pop quiz. I groaned in chorus with the rest of the thoroughly unprepared students. Even worse, I had barely slept the night before. My mind had kept replaying to me images of a place I had never been to before, and yet in some sense it felt like I had known where it was. There was a girl in a white dress with auburn hair and while she looked so familiar, but I was never able to see her face. Every time I tried to focus on her features, her image would shift and blur, blending in with the shadows of the night.
The only clues I had to go off of were the rocky cliffs and the ocean that battered relentlessly against them. That could have been many places, maybe even out of country. As soon as I managed to get the strength to totter out of bed, I had send a witch message to Hunter letting him know I needed to see him after school. The dream might have meant something, it might have meant nothing, but I would let Hunter decide. I was working incredibly hard to never keep anything from him, it only pushed us away from each other in the end. Besides, my knowledge on dream analysis was still minimum and it wasn't Alyce's strong point either.
Months back I had entered into a super-charged mind meld known in the witching world as a tàth meànma brach with my dear friend Alyce Fernbrake. It had literally saved my life, I had used the knowledge I had only acquired hours before to save my life. Times had mellowed since then, and while I was grateful, I was also worried. For some unshakeable reason, things felt like the calm before the storm. And yet, things seemed to be better than ever. Robbie and Bree were a full blown couple and both seemed happier than ever. Mary K. and Alisa were working on their friendship while Alisa worked on coming into her legacy as a half bloodwitch, or Halfling as she called it. Sky and Raven had begun tentatively seeing each other again, and while things were still volatile between the two, it seemed like there was hope for them. Even better was that Hunter and I were still together and going strong.
There's something distracting about having the love of your life try to teach you Wicca. While he's talking about the stars and runes and correspondences, I can't help but think of what it feels like to be pressed against his body. And then he'd pick up on my stray thoughts and one of two things would happen: I'd get a lecture on why it's important for me to focus and learn about everything or better yet, he'd smile and move closer, holding my head in his hands, and kiss me as if it were the last day of our lives.
After scribbling my name in the upper right corner of the pop quiz sheet, I set to work trying to think through my sleep deprived hazy mind. I wasn't feeling overly confident about the score I'd get on the paper and not for the first time in my life, I considered how magick could help my problem. I had come so far in the past year, so I wasn't willing to ruin everything in one stupid moment of weakness and risk Hunter losing trust in me. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and was glad that the school day was over. It wasn't hard to spot my '71 Plymouth Valiant affectionately named Das Boot sitting in the Widow's Vale High parking lot. I was thankful each and every time I looked at it, remembering how the behemoth of a car had looked only months ago. With a little bit of charity from some family and friends, I'd been able to get Das Boot the paint job he deserved.
I slid into the cold interior of my beloved car, cranking the engine and turning up the heater to warm the vinyl seats. A moment later I was on the road, headed down the familiar route to Hunter's house that he shared with his cousin, Sky Eventide. I cut the engine and sat behind the wheel for a moment, casting my senses. Huh, that's weird, I thought as I looked at the front door. Das Boot's engine was unmistakable and Hunter usually met me outside when he heard it. This time, he was sitting in the living room, not bothering to move. Part of me began to panic, but the more logical Morgan took a deep breath and popped the car door open.
As I made my way up the front walk, I gently shouldered the front door open, not bothering to knock. Hunter already knew I was there, and Sky wasn't home. My eyes sought out Hunter immediately, and I found him curled up on the couch looking like death warmed over. There was a blanket wrapped around him and he was looking at me with surprise. That's not right, he knew I was coming over, I thought, feeling a sense of foreboding.
"Hello love, this is a pleasant surprise." Hunter said, his voice sounding hoarse and raw. I had never seen Hunter so out of commission and sick, he was a witch and they had all sorts of spells and remedies for illnesses. Even if he hadn't worked healing spells, I would have thought that Sky would have.
"It shouldn't be a surprise…" I said slowly, lowering myself to sit on the very edge of the couch. Hunter looked completely taken aback, but even though his eyes were rimmed in red and the color had drained from his already pale features, I couldn't help but be in awe of how completely gorgeous he was. His sea green eyes conveyed every emotion and thought that he didn't speak and I was once more lost in the feeling of falling in love, over and over and over again.
"I sent you a witch message this morning," I explained, feeling his forehead. He was burning up, his whole face felt feverish and clammy. I smoothed out his brows as they puckered together. He looked genuinely concerned, which was not a good sign. Hunter seemed like a worry wart sometimes, but there was always a good reason.
"I didn't get it." He stated in his crisp English accent, his voice sounding less hoarse than a moment before. The effort to speak sent him into a spasm of coughs.
"You look like hell."
"Yeah, it's nice to see you too." Hunter replied a little sourly.
"I just meant that it's not like you to lay around sick. Haven't you done any healing spells?" I asked, feeling a little wounded by Hunter's bitter tone. He was almost never bad-tempered towards me and when he was it was usually justified anger. The thought that something was not right continued to grow inside of me, flashing in my mind like a red neon sign.
"Of course I have. Sky has too. Nothing is working. It's like any magick worked on me is bouncing off. Alyce was even by earlier and there's nothing to be done." Hunter said, working to keep his frustration controlled. Seeing Hunter helpless was not something I was used to, nor was it something I wanted to ever be used to. That was when what he was saying finally sunk in.
"This is magickally induced?" I gasped, putting my hands over my mouth. Hunter worked to drag himself into a sitting position, nodding grimly as he took one of my hands in his. It was clammy, just like his face.
"That's how it's looking." He said, absent-mindedly pushing his hair up, making it stick up in little tufts.
"Who would do this?" I asked, a little more vehemently than I had intended. Hunter took no notice and instead began to rub calming circles into the back of my hand.
"There are a lot of people, I'm sure. But I'm protected by the council, every ward and spell of protection, defense, and deflection that is set up on me, Sky, and this house should have worked."
The unease in my stomach was beginning to turn into hysteria. NO! I am not that Morgan anymore, I am capable and independent and I can solve this. It had never entirely dawned on me until that moment how much I relied on Hunter, Sky, and Alyce to solve things and make everything better. It was always everyone else taking care of me and protecting me, and everyone else ending up worse for wear.
"I'll figure this out." I said in a low voice, rising from the couch. I regretfully pulled my hand from Hunter's and began walking lead-legged towards the door.
"Morgan, no." Hunter said, bringing about another round of coughs. "There are people on the council who will figure this out." Hunter assured me, his eyes wide and pleading. With deliberate slowness, I walked back to where he lay and knelt onto the ground beside him. I moved in slowly and gently pressed my lips against his. Despite his illness, Hunter deepened the kiss and a moment later, we were locked together and I had to force myself to pull away. With one last tender touch of my hand against his face, I left and cranked the engine of Das Boot, formulating a plan.