A/N: I realized about halfway through this that Briar died in the middle of the last book… Oops. I'm going to cover that very major plot hole… Maybe. Or I'll just let it hang there as bait for flamers…
Naw, I'll try to cover it somehow.
Kudos to TheMysteryKeeper for helping me out with the plotline, and for being one of my earliest supporters. All of you guys who follow me, or comment, rock!
Chapter 7
"Listen, Briar, you need to tell us exactly what's going on," Granny Relda said, concerned.
"Jake. He can't see," Briar said.
"Was he in an accident?" Henry asked.
"No, just… Ack! Come! NOW!" Briar demanded.
They all hurriedly followed the distressed woman to her house, which, luckily was just across the street. Inside the house seemed normal enough. Briar rushed up the elegant staircase, and down the long hallway. All of the doors were shut, except for the one at the far end, which was slightly ajar. Briar slowed, and her breathing became fast and shallow. Sabrina suddenly started hyperventilating.
"What's wrong?" Nettle asked her.
Sabrina's face became grim, but her breathing returned more normal, "There's a lot of magic in the air. Someone just used a spell, and it was a big one."
Sabrina's markings flickered every once and a while.
"So you're like a human magic detector now?" Henry asked, his voice edging onto hysteria.
Sabrina ignored him, and pushed past Briar to shove open the door. She expected an explosion, or a dead body, or something a lot more drastic than what she saw. Uncle Jake sat calmly in the office chair, facing the opposite wall. He didn't move when they walked in. Sabrina shakily walked up to him, and slowly swung the chair around. She jumped backwards, a small shriek escaping her mouth. Jake stared straight ahead, his unblinking. But that wasn't the scary part. His eyes. His eyes weren't their usual warm brown, but were half-dead gray. The brown color sat at the bottom of his irises, moving as if it was liquid. It sloshed around, draining out of his eyes slowly. On the chest of his white business shirt was a single red handprint.
The family sat in the living room. Briar had insisted on staying with Jake, and no one had argued. Sabrina quickly filled in the group on her newfound powers, but that was not the focus.
"What is going on?" Sabrina hissed.
Granny shook her head, "I don't know. It looks as though someone is trying to revive the Hand."
"Is it Mirror?" Red asked intently.
Sabrina's eyes looked as dead as Jake's as she responded to the girl, "No. Not ever. We smashed him four years ago. He's dead. And never coming back."
Puck moved ever so slightly and put a comforting (yet subtle) hand on the small of her back. She had no reaction.
"But what's going on with Jake?" Henry asked angrily.
"It appears to be a leech spell," Granny Relda replied thoughtfully.
"And that is…?" Pea asked.
"It was made popular in the 1800s, where wizards would use it to—"
"Granny, I love you, but we need the detortants," Daphne said.
"The what?" Nettle asked.
Daphne sighed, "The important details. The detortants."
"Ah."
"Well… It's a spell in which you steal another's scent to enhance your own. Those who were blind could steal the sight of those who could see. It was most popularly used for youth. I believe it was how Malificient stayed so young for so long," Granny explained.
"What, Malificient? Do you think she could be behind this?" Sabrina asked.
"Just like her, trying to bring back her dead boyfriend's old society," Puck said.
"She must be striking the Grimms first. We have to be extra careful. Especially you, Sabrina," Granny added, "With your new powers, Malificient could leech them off of you."
"But how do you even leech in the first place? Was Jake doing something stupid?" Henry asked.
"Probably not. To steal sight, Malificient would have to get eye contact. That's it. She also needs some of his hair, and immense power," Granny replied gravely.
"So we're facing someone with 'immense power'?" Nettle asked, her voice quaking.
No one answered her. The question didn't float in the air; it flew. It attacked. The heaviness of the situation rested rudely upon everyone.
Sabrina gathered up the courage to speak, "So… Any one of us could lose a sense," -she snapped her fingers—"Just like that."
"Correct," Granny said.
Silence coated the room.
Puck fidgeted, "So… Can we go get something to eat?"
"Puck!" Sabrina slapped his leg.
"What? I'm hungry!" he groaned.
Nettle jumped into the conversation, "Honestly, you're as bad as my dad…"
"Um… I don't think anyone is as bad as your dad," Puck pointed out.
Nettle responded with a very rude hand gesture.
Granny sighed, "Now, now. Puck has a point. It's no use figuring this out if we all die of starvation."
Puck jumped up and made his way to the door. Briar ran down the stairs, tears in her eyes. But they were tears of joy, "He's awake!"
"Aw, man!" Puck groaned.
Sabrina glared at him, grabbing his arm as she rushed upstairs. She dropped it as she saw Jake, his eyes still dead, but he wasn't dazed anymore.
Sabrina edged carefully closer, "Jake?"
"Wassup?" her uncle grunted, swinging his head around at the sound of her voice.
Sabrina squealed like a seven-year-old schoolgirl and ran to embrace her uncle. He looked surprised at first, but fumbled into the hug. Tears filled Sabrina's eyes, which she quickly wiped away. She broke from Jake and took a seat on the floor. Puck sat next to her uncertainly. Jake's eyes were a cloudy gray color, and he stared into space, his eyes swimming as if trying to focus, but unable to.
"So… Did you see anyone?" Sabrina asked, looking at Jake intently.
Jake shifted in his seat before answering solemnly, "Malificient. It was Malificient."
"Like the Snow White Malificient?" Puck checked.
"Do you know any other Malificients around?" Jake responded angrily, "She took my sight. That stupid…"
His eyes filled with tears, uncommon for the funny, stable, founded Jake they knew. His lips quivered as he spoke, "I can never look at Briar again."
He broke down, silent tears shaking him. Sabrina moved in to comfort her uncle. "She's not going to keep it. I swear, I will find her, and I will end her, make her pay for what she did," her eyes were fierce.
"You shouldn't see me like this, I-I just…" he shook his head.
"Jake, I've seen you far worse," Sabrina laughed.
"Sabrina… Look outside," Jake asked sheepishly.
Sabrina, unsure, and made her way to the window. Once there, Jake asked her, "Are you there? Can you see outside?"
Sabrina nodded. They all sat in an awkward silence for a few moments.
"Oh! Uh, yeah," Sabrina answered.
"What does the sky look like?" Jake asked.
Sabrina paused for a moment, "It's… Blue."
"Thanks," Jake said sarcastically.
Puck jumped up and hovered above Sabrina, looking at the sky, "Well… so, there's this one cloud, right by the sun, and it looks kind of like a barfing unicorn."
Sabrina groaned, "Fine… The light is catching on the tree leaves really coolly, and it's hitting the ground in shards."
Jake smiled, his face folding. He looked very old. His now-pale eyes were void of emotion, but he made up for it with his expressions.
"Maybe I can get into the handicap parking at the movie theater!" he joked weakly.
Sabrina gifted him with a laugh, "Jake, I'm not getting in a car with you behind the wheel."
"Hate on the blind man, huh?" he replied.
"I'm sorry, but I wouldn't have done it before your sight was taken, you drive like a maniac!" Sabrina said.
Jake chuckled, "I learned from your Grandmother."
"That explains it."
"You know, Briar wants to adopt," Jake said randomly.
"Oh… Um," Sabrina looked at Puck, who shrugged.
"She can't have kids," Jake explained, "Since she 'died'."
"Why would that have anything to do with anything?" Sabrina asked.
"Well, she can heal, you know that,"
Sabrina nodded.
"When she was shot, she literally died. But the regenerative nature that her pancreas had were still working. This only happens once in a blue moon, but some of her organs were unsalvageable, so she can't have kids anymore," Jake answered.
"Oh… That makes a lot more sense," Sabrina replied.
Puck, the sensitive guy that he was asked, "Then why were we all sad about her? I mean, if she was just going to come back to life…"
Sabrina glared at Puck and punched him in the gut.
"I'll take it that Sabrina just hit you. And gave you the death glare," Jake smiled, "But it is a valid question. That almost never happens. We all knew that Briar could heal… But that took serious power. She probably would have died if we hadn't have destroyed the Mirror. His magic went into her and not only did it mean that it would be next to impossible to bring Mirror back, but Briar is still alive."
"SABRINA!" Nettle yelled.
"Oh, I, uh, gotta go," Sabrina told Jake.
He nodded, "Can you send Briar up?"
"Sure."
Sabrina went downstairs, Puck following her (Of course), "What are you guys yelling about?"
She stopped dead in her tracks, Puck bumping into her. In the living room, three very ticked witches stood, all of them glaring at Sabrina.
"I thought we made it very clear that you haul your butt over to us when you get a new power!" Agatha spat.
"Oh, crap," whispered Sabrina.