Witch Trials
Disclaimer: Once again the repetitive fairy screams at me…
And once again leaves you a rather short chapter. But this one should explain a bit more. Or confuse you further.
Chapter Eight
Raven awoke startled. After her encounter with Kori in the misty dream of replaying scenes, Raven was hesitant with what to do next. To carry on with the plan was a good idea. Raven sat up on her knees and continued t pick snowdrops, absentmindedly. She gathered a large handful and turned to add it to the pile to find that she had ten times too many.
She picked up a couple of them and hid the rest behind the bush. If Richard was to find a large pile of snowdrops, suspicion would arouse. Looking up to the sky, Raven realised that she had in fact been sleeping for most of the day.
Raven started to walk at a faster pace towards the house when she nearly walked into Richard who had just turned the corner.
"Oh, Richard, I did not see you there," Raven stuttered as she put her hands behind her back to hide the flowers from sight. She looked back at Richard. "What is the matter?" she asked furrowing her brow. Richard had a look on his face that said something like 'I do not care if I live or die'.
"It's … nothing. I was just … err. I – I miss Kori. I miss the way she talked and smiled and always looked so happy. It's … my fault she's dead," there was a moment of silence at which time Raven held an understanding look upon her face. Richard wouldn't even look at it, "She's dead," he repeated.
They both looked onto the ground and Raven took her hands in front of herself and glanced at the snowdrops. Of course, she is dead. But there is a way we can change that!
---WT---
Back inside the house, in the basement Victor and Garfield were fumbling with all of the potion ingredients they had gathered.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, another knock, silence, and then five furious knocks. "Come in, Raven! We've got all of the potion ingredients and we're waiting for you to start the spe-lloookey, why is he here?" Garfield asked when he saw Raven dragging Richard inside.
"It's okay, Garfield. We can trust him. I've got the snowdrops," Raven replied.
"Look, Raven, are you sure we can trust him with the … err, well you know. I mean, he did, like, justify Kori's death," Victor complained.
"He regrets it. I know that he wants more than anything for Kori to return, trust me."
"Did you? You know, read his mind?" Garfield hissed.
"No, I didn't need to. I can trust him."
"So where were you? We were waiting all day, we got more than enough ingredients," Victor said rubbing the back of his head.
"Wait, what is going on here? I'm confused," Richard stated.
"Richard, promise not to speak a word of this to anyone," Raven pleaded, Richard nodded, "The vicar got the wrong girl. I am a witch," there was an uneasy silence, "And so is Garfield," she added.
"A man witch. A wizard," he corrected.
"We are going to bring Kori back," she finished, Richard had a blank expression on his face.
For almost a minute there was complete silence.
"So… what do you want me to do?" Richard finally asked.
---WT---
The potion was ready. It was blood red and flesh would be it's purpose.
A ring of white candles were placed in the middle of the basement. With a flick of Raven's hand the candles ignited and the transition to the land of the dead was ready.
Everything was in place.
Raven stood in front of the circle of candles. She held a book in one hand and the other was outstretched. "Sanctum portala imartantra emervia Kori cromander," She called, waving her hand in a fluidic motion.
Richard, Garfield and Victor stood even distances away from each other around the circle, each holding a large bottle of potion.
They began to pour the liquid into the ring and when there was no more left they stepped back.
The puddle on the floor danced. Upwards. It spun and swivelled into awkward shaped and finally resembled somewhat like a human body. It moulded itself into Kori's body shape. The next step should have been for the liquid to change colour. For the hair to turn auburn, for the skin to turn tan, for the eyes to turn green. But nothing changed. Except a weak smile formed on the face.
The boys braced themselves, they were expecting for Kori to appear in the flesh, clothless. Raven held a blanket in her hands where moments ago was an old book. But all of these precautions went unheeded.
The liquid Kori looked at her friends and paused on Richard who now opened his eyes to see nothing happen. Her kind face, her weak smile quickly turned into an angry frown and Richard's eyes widened. By now all of the boys had their eyes open and all saw the angry Kori figure staring out at them.
The only colour change seen was her eyes, they turned icy blue just like in Raven's dream.
Kori lowered her head and let her liquid hair fall out in front of her face, her eyes still focused on Richard.
She opened her mouth and spoke in a cold dead voice, "You have failed. Please do not try again for your attempts will not work to your will."
This voice didn't sound at all like Kori's. It sounded more metallic. But just then, Kori dematerialised into a puff of smoke.
Raven was devastated. She stepped back and sat on a wooden box staring out into the floor. She laid her head on her hands and spoke into them. Her voice was muffled. Everyone was staring at her, but all they heard her say was, "Just like in my dream."