PART FOUR

Chapter 7

She darted from the room for a moment, to gather what she needed for the spell, he assumed. But something felt off, and he supposed there was a voice telling him he was being a fool to go along with such a dangerous plan. But he had to do what he could to protect his family and he supposed that if something went wrong, Gwen could trap him here and try to undo the magic.

"Whatever you can do to help me….I would much prefer to return to my life but if I can't…..at least you tried." he looked at her and it was at that moment he knew something isn't right, there was something familiar in her eyes. Gone was the friendliness, the compassion that he had known from the past encounter with her. Those eyes, those eyes he had seen before and before he could say anything Gwen was all to eager to ensure he couldn't, wouldn't, move from the spot he stood. For a moment, everything went black.

things came into focus as he awoke, flat on the cold but clean ground in the very room he had come seeing help. And now….well, it would seem he was quite screwed….and screwed over. Gwen was leaning back in a plush wicker chair, sipping some herbal tea and fingering her hair, askew from her brief, yet powerful manifestation of magic…..magic that she revealed had been passed down through the family.

"Yeah….I was a ancestor of someone you got to know and someone you helped kill. Someone I wasn't able to get to in time when I knew she was in danger thanks to some hunters trapping me….albeit with a weak magic that I was soon able to break free from." the air seemed to hum around her as the skin around her cracked, the remains of the body she had stolen crumbling around her. "Gwen has been dead for some time now and I thought it would be fun to take her body for my own. It was not easy to do but the prospect of becoming even more powerful, what with her having been a vampire and a witch? I couldn't pass it up. The poor thing, she didn't know what hit her, didn't know the power of my bloodline…even she was taken by my quick action. Mind you, I had planned on this for some time, when I first head of her legend. But she is no more and now I have not only her powers, but the one thing I have wanted to get a hold of for some time. You. I had had a feeling you would search for her, I have watched you with my-her-powers for some time and I knew you would be desperate to rid yourself of the visions. And the risk of harming your loved ones."

The pieces were falling into place now. "You….I was you that made me see those things, to make me feel like I would-"

"Not entirely. I knew you were fearful of harming your loved ones, I just amplified the fear, made it worse. Enough to dive you to desperate action and here we are. My descendant may have perished thanks to you and your friends but Marnie Stonebrook will be avenged. Because I know without a doubt they will be arriving here before we know it and I want to ensure things are set for the end game I have in mind. The end of all of what you care for and your worst fears? Well, not only will they come to pass but the necromancy you dealt with before will be child's play compared to what I am about to do to you. You fear being weak, you fear hurting your family….well, I am going to show you how powerful fear can be….." she leaned down and cooed into his hear, her icy demeanor the polar opposite of what he knew Gwen had once been. That she had been a innocent victim of the vengeful witch angered him and yet there was nothing he could do, the magic keeping him pinned down too much for him to fight. Part of him hoped for his family to come to the rescue while another part of him dreaded them coming to the rescue, not knowing what would befall him before their eventual arrival.

Chapter 8

The four had arrived at the street in London that Pam had ordered their cab driver to bring them to. Through the magic of Sookie, she had been able to cut travel time by teleporting them to where Pam had thought they may be. And no sooner had they arrived at the brownstone building than Sookie and Aurora got the chills. Looking at each other before looking at the two with them, they looked grim. "This is the place….even though the bond is shut off on his end…..I know he's here. I can feel the magic around this place and it isn't anything pleasant." Sookie said as she led the group up the stairs. And as gingerly as they were being, they all winced as they passed through some kind of shield of magic, a shield that though it allowed them passage, it also caused streaks of pain to go through them, as if they were being electrocuted.

"I feel like I am gonna be sick." Willa said as they passed through the shield, leaning against the wall in the hallway within. "That really sucked."

Sookie used her power to try to detect anything else but with all the magic lurking in and around this building, she knew it was impossible, that whoever this personw as they were about to meet, their power was certainly impressive. Strong as the four of them were, as fast as they all could heal, this shield of magic had certainly humbled them all and knowing that they would need a few minutes to recover fully, Sookie looked towards the steps that led upwards. There were no windows to be found in this place and from what Pam had told them before arriving here in the bustling streets of London, this Gwendolyn was supposedly a ally. Something, it was clear now, was gravely amiss.

"Gwen saved our necks years ago and now…..well maybe the years haven't been kind to her." Pam said, trying to figure out why her one time ally had crafted such a sinister magic. Clearly it was no friendly magic and though perhaps it was meant to ward off others, she didn't think so and said as much to her companions. Before anyone else could suggest any other reasons as to why Gwen had done what she had done, the door at the top of the stairs at the end of the hallway opened, a little blonde staring at them with calculating eyes.

"I see you made it past my welcome mat of sorts. Not that I meant to harm you, I wanted to leave that to him. But why not come up and see for yourselves? You've traveled a long way, I would hate to leave you all disappointed."

The four glared up at her, Skokie taking the lead up the stairs as the woman glided away. "I know for a fact that she is not who she claims to be."

"Nope." agreed aurora. For their fairy magic allowed them to see the truth, to sense it. "That's a example of a possession gone deadly….she took over Gwen's body and life. Destroying Gwen in the process. She's taken her powers as well."

Chapter 9

They climbed upstairs and were looking around the windowless spaces to their left and right. A room filled with ancient books, crystals and magical paraphernalia. A bedroom, bathroom and plush living room area were all they could see from where they stood at the top of the stairs they had climbed. Sitting in a high backed chair in that which appeared to be a library/office area, the woman looked unconcerned with the four woman standing in the doorway, on edge and ready for a fight.

"Where is he?" demanded Pam, her fangs out and ready to drain the bitch in front of her.

"Nice way of greeting…but I know you have never been very subtle. Why not hear me out before things have to get messy?" suggested the false Gwen. "I overhead you just now and you are quite correct. I have been living in limbo for some time, waiting for the right time to strike and when I happened across Gwen, being the powerful mix of witch and vampire that she was, well, even as powerful as I was as a witch in life, I saw the potential. And I took the chance. And her body. Not too long after you and him met her 60 years ago, to be honest. You see, my spirit was trapped in a crystal centuries ago and when some stupid hiker stumbled across it and was careless enough to read the inscription, thus releasing me. I enjoyed being able to at least scare him to death, I mean, he had been heavy set to begin with but my appearance, well, it pushed him right over the edge. Bit I do digress… Until I found a new body to take for myself, I was powerless and as I could only take one, I had to wait for the right body to make my new one. And so Gwen slowly faded into oblivion the longer I remained in her and now? All me. A pity for her but great for me. To avenge my descendant….."

It dawned on them all at the same time. "You….you're related to Marnie the witch, aren't you?"

"I am her great great great grandmother. My magic allowed me to live a long life until I got burned at the stake in Salem. But I have always prided in my craftiness and after all the turns my existence has taken, here we are. I managed to seal my spirit away in a enchanted crystal I had secreted away, deep in the earth beneath what was once my home. Those stupid villagers burned the place down, you know. So I guess you all referring me to being Gwen, yeah, that can stop now. My name is Annalina. Lina for short and what I used to have my friends call me…though I suspect the four of you will call me Annalina."

"There's a whole lot of stuff I would love to call you right about now." Pam said. "Where. Is. He."

"We know he is here, even with the stifled bond…we can smell him if nothing else. You can make this easy or difficult but one way or another, we are getting him back." Sookie said as she lit up her hands with her power. "That is what this is about, then? Revenge on what happened to Marnie? After everything she did, she more than deserved what she got."

Annalina shrugged. "And he deserved what he got, which not only brought him here but I knew you all would follow suit." she grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Those visions were no mere dreams, no….they were his fears I took and twisted to make something to unbearable that it would certainly drive him to come to the one person he had met in his life that could help him. Not that my magic didn't help force him to me, I helped him focus on me and only me. Your powers could certainly have stopped those visions, quelled those feelings. If you had been smart, you would have sensed my influence and searched me out. But your own worry and fear clearly dulled your thinking. And so here we are...but I do prattle on, do I not? Why don't you all go have a looks at my handiwork? Over across the hall in the last room on your right? And while you have the chance, I would give the opportunity for the youngest to leave. She has done nothing to me or my family, save for the fact being born to people she had no say in. so Aurora, I give you the chance to leave here unscathed. I would suggest you accept my kind offer rather than joining the others into what is to be a rather unpleasant situation."

There was no need for any thought on the offer. "Are you freaking kidding me? You really think I would abandon my family to save my own skin? Lady, you've got another thing coming." Aurora said, her hands alight with her magic.

"Then so be it." Annalina replied, shaking her head. "A pity, what a waste it will be to see someone as rare as you go. Why not head over to the last room on your right and you can see what a stupid decision you made coming here. You all could have been spared such misery, such heartbreak. And now you will be broken in more ways than one."

TO BE CONTINUED