Chapter 21

The next morning everyone was downstairs apart from Christina. 'I thought I should let her sleep a little longer.' Amy said as she joined Lauren at the breakfast table.

'Good idea.' Katherine said, leaning against the counter sipping her coffee as Wendy put a plate of pastries on the table.

'So, Wendy.' Lisa began. 'What do you know about the Trinity?'

'Well, they aren't always the same demons. I know the Trinity is just a name for three elementals working together.'

'That makes sense.' Dani said. 'Do you know anything specifically about the three we're up against?'

'I had a run in with Abaddon a few hundred years ago.' She started as she sat down at the table. 'He was an interesting character to say the least. Always going on about how he was going to rule the world one day. Crazy, if you ask me. And I had to stop wearing metal around him. He was like a child, always playing with his powers.'

'Do you know if anyone's ever fought him?' Lauren wondered.

'I know of one witch who tried.' Wendy's eyes grew sadder. 'She died when he crushed her with a garbage truck.'

'Holy shit.' Dani said.

'She had the power of premonition, like you Katherine. So with no active power to protect herself with, she relied on spells.'

'But she wasn't strong enough.' Lisa finished for her.

'No, she wasn't.' Wendy confirmed. 'Everyone has always know it's going to take a special witch, or group of witches, to defeat this one.' Just then a loud bang sounded from upstairs.

'What was that?' Lauren asked, looking above her.

'Chris.' Katherine said before setting down her coffee and quickly heading up the stairs followed by Dani. They sped into the room where Christina was supposed to be sleeping and saw her on the ground. She had tried to get up but collapsed as soon as her feet hit the floor. She was shaking and sweating as she turned to them when they came in.

'Oh God.' Dani said, as she and Katherine knelt by her. 'Kath what's happening?'

'I don't know.' Katherine said, panicked. 'Christina can you hear me?' Katherine put her hand on her sister's cheek. She felt a slight nod from Christina as she held her hand there and looked into her eyes. 'We need Amy, now.' Katherine said. She and Dani both lifted Christina and put her arms over their shoulders, making their way downstairs as quickly as possible. Wendy saw them come down and ushered them into the living room, throwing some of the cushions from the sofa to make room. 'Put her down here.' She said. They did as they were told and gently set Christina down, Amy by her side in a moment as the others looked on worriedly.

'Amy what's wrong with her.' Lauren asked.

'I'm… I'm not sure.' Amy said. 'She has a fever, her pupils are dilated and her pulse is racing.'

'It's a side affect.' Wendy said from behind them. They turned to look at her. 'From coming back.' She said solemnly. 'Her body is readjusting.'

'But she was fine. Really tired, but generally she was fine.' Dani said.

'It manifests differently in different people, it just seems to have taken a little longer with Christina. Coming back from the dead lowers the temperature of the body slightly and it takes a while to adjust.' Wendy told them.

'So what can we do?' Katherine asked.

'I can make her a potion to help with the symptoms.' Wendy said. Amy looked down to Christina who was slipping in and out of consciousness. Amy gently put a hand through her hair.

'She won't drink a demonic potion.' Amy told Wendy. 'And we won't make that decision for her.'

'There's no decision to be made.' Wendy said. 'She could die without it.'

'What do you mean die?' Lauren exclaimed. 'She only just came back!'

'Amy you've felt her pulse.' Wendy looked to her. 'You're a nurse, you know how much strain that can put on someone's heart. If she doesn't settle down she could have a heart attack.'

'Aimes is that true?' Dani asked.

'Yeah, it is.' Amy said quietly.

'Okay, make your potion Wendy.' Katherine said. Wendy nodded and headed to the kitchen immediately.

'Kath, what are you doing?' Lisa asked. 'We can't decide this for her.'

'Well she can't really make her own decisions at the moment Lisa. I'll take the blame. At least if she's angry at me she won't be dead.' Katherine said, sitting at the end of the sofa studying her older sister.

xxxxxx

Christina's condition hadn't gotten any better in the last hour. They were all sitting around waiting for Wendy to complete her potion. 'I feel so useless.' Lisa said, holding Christina's hand. 'We're witches, we should be making the potion to help her not some demon.'

'I understand how you feel Lise.' Katherine said gently. 'But this is our best option right now.' Wendy walked back into the room.

'Where's the potion?' Dani asked.

'Here.' Wendy said, taking a syringe out of her pocket. It was filled with an orange liquid that was almost glowing.

'You never said anything about a needle.' Lauren took a step towards her.

'It's the quickest way.' Wendy said. 'I need to inject it as close to her heart as possible.'

'Like an adrenaline shot?' Amy asked.

'Exactly.' Wendy said. 'It will take affect immediately but it's going to hurt like hell, no pun intended.' She smiled nervously.

'Have you ever done that before?' Lisa asked.

'No, but I've seen it in the movies.' Wendy admitted.

'No way, you're not stabbing our sister.' Dani said.

'Give it to me.' Amy stood from her seat on the couch. 'I'll do it.'

'Aimes, are you sure?' Katherine asked.

'It's my job right.' Amy let out a breath. 'I know how to do it so it should be me.'

'Alright.' Wendy said handing the potion to Amy. Amy knelt down beside Christina and studied her face for a moment.

'I'm so sorry Chris.' She whispered. Amy gently pulled down the neck of Christina's shirt, raised the syringe about and inch from her heart in the centre of her chest, and slammed the needle in as hard as possible.

'Jesus!' Lisa said, covering her eyes. Lauren turned away on Dani's shoulder who was just staring. Amy pushed the top of the syringe and they watched the orange liquid leave the tube. She pulled the needle out, leaving only a tiny spot of blood, and after three seconds Christina shot up in the air gasping. Her eyes were sparkling orange as she looked frantically around the room. She sat up against the arm of the chair and tried to focus, running her hand over the spot on her chest where the needle went in.

'Christina?' Katherine whispered. Christina looked at her.

'What…. what happened?' Christina asked timidly.

'Your body was having a reaction to being brought back.' Wendy told her. 'I made a potion to help you get better.'

'You what?' Christina looked at her. 'I told you no.'

'And you were about to die.' Wendy said. 'Again.' Christina flinched back.

'It was my decision Chris.' Katherine told her. 'If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me okay, but I couldn't let you die.'

'We all couldn't.' Amy said, siding with Katherine. Christina thought for a moment.

'What did the potion do?' She asked calmly.

'It lowered your heart rate, cooled your fever and helped your body adjust to it's new temperature. You run slightly cooler than your sisters now.' Wendy told her. Wendy reached into her pocket and pulled out five more syringes.

'No.' Christina said firmly.

'These aren't for now. But you will need a few more before you feel like yourself again.' Wendy held them out to Amy who took them.

'Aimes, come on.' Christina pleaded.

'If they help you get better, I don't see what choice we have.' Amy said. 'I know what you're feeling. How you feel about this stuff. I'm so sorry but we have to keep these.' Amy said on the verge of tears. She watched Christina who was biting her lip, trying to stop her own tears from falling, before she stood up.

'I need a minute.' Christina said. She went back upstairs and they heard the bathroom door slam.

'Well that went just about as I'd expected.' Lisa said.

'We didn't have a choice right?' Amy looked around the room for reassurance.

'No, we didn't.' Katherine agreed before stepping up to Wendy. 'But if you've put anything in those things that can hurt her, I'll vanquish you myself.'

'Understood.' Wendy said.