For love or Gold

CHAPTER 18

Kayla crept closer to the crushed car in the junk yard, she had discovered that the police had sent it here after the insurance company paid it off. The car was a total write off, but what of the value of the lives it had taken with it?

It was cool out, so she had changed before coming out, her black sweater and loose pants, completed with her long and thin woollen coat and her boots. She could weave her magic freely in these clothes, she never like feeling any type of restraints.

She quivered for a moment as she came close enough to the wreck, she needn't go further. Just a touch was all she needed to find out what had happened, she had a spell that would bring out the last few minutes of sound from an object. It was widely known that objects hold a few strands of essences from human contact, a form of spiritual foot prints to say the least.

Kay took a deep breath, she wasn't eager to listen to the last words her parents had spoken, and perhaps hear their death screams, but it was necessary to intrude into the spectrum. She had to find out for herself if Mark had anything to do with the crash.

She placed both hands on the roof of the car, her lips moving as she chanted the words that would bring the echoes of life back to the living world. The sound of trucks, cars and rigs began to fill the air, two voices began in the distance, then became clearer as the spell worked into the warped metal.

"You worry about them too much, Richard…" She could hear her mother's voice clearly now.

"They're both single, and I want to be a grandfather soon, you know. I want to spoil the kids before I get too old!"

"So? They're picky! I don't blame them…Richard…is that a man…."

"What the…SERENA!"

"RICHARD!"

Kay could hear the tires squealing and the sound of metal being crushed, tears came streaming down her face as she pulled her hands off the car. There was someone there, someone did run them off their lane and into oncoming traffic. But her parents never said a word on who it could be, this became more of an enigma.

She knew deep within that Mark didn't have anything to do with their deaths, she now listened to the voice within that told her he was innocent, but why didn't he just tell her the truth? Who was he hiding?

There was only one way for her to find out, but it called for magic that almost claimed her life and Mark's, Death Magic. Yes, she was trained on how some of the spells could be used, for self defence purposes, and there was the perfect spell waiting in the vault under the Manor back in Salem, but it was a crude spell, and it required a human body, not just any body, the victim's.

She transported herself right into the Manor, it was dark as she tip toed in the silent halls. She was relieved to find no one in the study rooms below, and a miracle that no one was in the vault chamber. No witch was allowed to use the Death Magic the vault held within, it was too dangerous for those that are untrained. The magic that developed in Africa's past, only the most experienced Vodus could cast it.

But Kayla was desperate, too desperate to care about the rules. Her soul needed to find out the truth, no matter how grimly the truth could be found out. The last words spoken to her by Mark still rang true in her head.

I would…he had said…but he didn't say he did.

Kay opened the vault and began her search, it was way into the early morning when she had found what she was looking for. It was an old wooden box, locked by magic to protect the unwary from causing trouble from casting magic that was unknown to them. But Kay would take that risk, even if it cost her exile from her Covent, but Mark was worth the risk.

She carefully picked up the black box and moved it out of the vault, and onto a near by table. She waved her hand over the box, feeling the magic used to keep it closed with her manna. The magic was powerful, the Raven within was more powerful. Kay let the magic come through her hand and onto the box, dispelling the lock around it. The lid popped up slightly, the lock was removed.

She gingerly took out ancient parchment, and mostly skins that had been tanned and dried to be used as a surface to write on, it was rumoured that the Vodus of later years used human skin to write on, but it had never been proven. She combed through the parchments and read each one, looking for the spell that would end her tortured love.

Her eyes widened as she looked at the last sheet from the box, she had found what she was looking for. But it would take some time to get the spell to work, but she didn't have time. She could feel that something bad was going to happen tonight at Wrestle Mania, the match between her brother and her love. She knew that it could be fatal, especially if she didn't discover the real killer before then.

She folded the paper and placed it safely into her coat and replaced the box's contents back within. She didn't forget to lock the box again, before placing it back inside the vault. Her matron would scream in rage if she knew what Kayla was planning, it was not the witch's way to use the magic that was born of Death, but Kay felt she had no choice.

There was only one way to find out who had killed her parents, no matter what she had discovered. She couldn't call her mother's spirit to her, she didn't even know if their souls had been reborn yet or if they were still in the after world. Even then, the spiritual mind usually never remembered their last moments of life. It was unpredictable for her to call her mother back to the prime material plane, but at least it would have been better than what the little witch was about to do.

She needed time to study the words, with Death Magic, one should never take chances. The odds that the spell would work first time were slim to none to one that was so inexperienced in its ways, but Kay was willing to risk it. After all, it was basically just a spell, and she was a wiz at spells. She would go straight into her room and charm the door so she wouldn't be disturbed, just studying some types of magic could be fatal if the witch was disturbed.

She had to discover the truth before the match, everything she held dear depended on it! The Manor was still quiet as Kay cast the last spell on her room, now the hard part would begin.

First, she had to work half of the morning just translating the words, then it was the whole afternoon of sounding out the words. There was also the runes that she had to put on the body, the little glyphs were complicated and delicate to draw, but Kay was determined to learn this spell and use it, no matter how painful it was.

Just as she had felt that her glyphs were perfect, she now concentrated on the component, and growled. It called for the runes to be painted around the eyes of the corps with virgin blood. That left Kay out, which suited her just fine, since she hated the though of her own blood used for spell casting.

She couldn't just go around randomly asking people if they were virgins, or even ask them for a pint of their blood like she was some sick vampire. If Death Magic was still being preformed today by the Vodus, what were they using since many of their spells used virgin blood?

Kay was now stumped, this was the only key in finding out who had killed them, and she wasn't going to let this stop her quest for the truth! A crow's call made her jump, she hadn't realized that she had left her balcony doors open, she guessed that with all the commotion, her brain was left a little tired. She didn't sleep the night, and this spell was going to use all the strength she had, but she couldn't afford sleep now as she watched the sun down in the horizon before her.

The crow cawed again, Kay starred at the little black bird and wondered, the spell never said anything about the blood had to come from a human. Many Vodu Priests had livestock near or in their homes, Kay remembered often that they were always kept separately. Roosters and hens were kept in different cages, the Billy goats and dams were separated as well. The light in her head popped on, they were using animal blood!

Kay jumped out of bed and folded her papers into her coat, then she moved to her bookcase filled with her own private collection of spell components and books. She looked around until she found an empty jar, she looked carefully inside to make sure it was clean.

Even though she had solved another riddle, it would take everything she had to perform the spell perfectly. She knew she could do it, but could she perform it to perfection as she cast it on her own mother's cold corps? The thought of her defiling Serena's final resting place was an unjust able taboo in the eyes of all magic beings. One never disturbs the grave of a witch, one never knows what magic had stayed behind, festering and growing like a Gail storm. Some grave robbers had been burned alive as they touched a coffin or tomb. Thieves beware!

Kayla was aware of the danger she was going to be placed in, one, If she preformed the spell perfectly, then she could have attracted the dark forces near her, an evil to terrible to describe, two, if she didn't perform the spell correctly, then she stands the possibility to loose her mind in the fall or worst, death. Third, there was the witch's curse, her mother was powerful and the magic couldn't differ from friend or foe. And fourth, and surprisingly the most disturbing to her, discovering that it was Mark all along that had killed them.

To be continued.