AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Miri brewed up a potion for me. She had me help because of her increasingly stronger powers. She was afraid the potion would be so strong she’d have me seeing ghosts everywhere. Or that she’d kill me. There was no good way to test it ahead of time, so I’m really hoping we didn’t fuck it up.
“I need to face west.” I toss my notebook onto the ground. I don’t need it. I’ve looked over everything so many times I could do this in my sleep. That doesn’t mean I’m not nervous as hell.
Even though it’s cool out, I’m starting to sweat, my nerves taking over my system. The glow of Archer’s phone catches my attention as he uses an app to confirm which direction is west. I pull my hand out from his, but not before he squeezes my fingers in a silent communication, letting me know he’s right here with me.
I step into the middle of the burned circle, which is also the middle of the clearing. We stored the tea in a glass water bottle. According to the book where we found the recipe, it’s supposed to open my mind and make me more receptive to interaction with spirits. Ruby suggested I get some shrooms and trip my way through the exercise, but I don’t want to have a panic attack while the world turns into a 3-D movie.
Stepping into the middle of the ring feels odd, like I’m isolated, even though my friends are only a few feet away. There’s a low thrum of power in this place, there always has been. I’ve been coming here for years, but I’ve never imagined I was pulled here for any special reason. Maybe I was sensing some innate place of power on the island. Who knows?
Flipping the lid on the water bottle, I hold it up, saluting my friends, the stars, the imaginary God of stupid women who drink potions to try to commune with the dead. The tea is sour and makes my mouth pucker and my tongue feel fuzzy. The book where we found the recipe said to ingest one cup, so that’s what we measured out. No need to be eyeballing it in the middle of the night, in the depths of the wood.
“Do you see dead people?” Ruby whispers, but it’s loud in the quiet. A hiss and a drawn out ow follow a few seconds later. Ezra probably pinched her.
Ignoring her, I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, filling my lungs and then slowly exhaling. The slow creep of warmth over my muscles is so gradual I don’t notice it at first, just a mellow glow building in the center of my chest. It makes me think of Archer and I smile. My grin spreads until it feels like it’s taking up my entire face. My limbs are weightless, and the sensation of floating makes me giggle. Am I floating?
“You’re not floating.” Ruby’s voice echoes over to me as though through a tunnel. I hear another hiss of pain. “She asked the question this time. Dick.”
She’s not bothering me anymore, though. Nothing could bother me right now. I’m not even sure I have a body that can be bothered. I can’t feel anything, my legs, my arms.
Oh my God, did my arms fall off?
I gasp and my eyes fly open.
Thank fuck, I still have arms. They’re super heavy, though, and I’m having a hard time lifting them up or getting them to obey any commands.
“Stupid limbs,” I mumble and someone snorts.
“Focus, Lena.” My brother’s voice pierces through my wobbly consciousness. I blink in slow motion to try to clear my head.
In my head I respond with a super witty retort, but I think it comes out as mumbled mush. Is this how the tea is supposed to work? Or did Miri super-dose it? Am I going to die from drinking tea and trying to talk to ghosts in the woods? Who let me do this?
“Relax, Lena. You’re okay. You’ve got this. You have your list. Do you remember it? Why don’t you recite it for us?” Archer’s voice slips through the cracks of my fuzzy brain, reaching past all the crazy thoughts and getting to the heart of me. He’s so amazing, so caring. My sunshine. And hot. He’s so unbelievably hot.
“Christ.”
“Your list, Lena.” Archer’s sunny voice is full of laughter.
My list, right.
Focus, snort. Sure.
Drink tea. Already done.
Face west.
Am I still standing up? I can’t tell. What was next? Breath deep and let the world fall away. Concentrate on the feel of the air, search for anything that feels different. I’ve got my list locked down, but knowing something on paper is different from doing it in real life. What am I searching for?
The air is cool on my skin, and it’s heavy, as if a storm is rolling in. In the center of my chest is a warm ball of energy that’s been sleeping, dormant, only recently awakening. The closer I’ve gotten to Archer, the stronger it’s become. When I focus on the feel of it spreading across my chest, I realize something has changed in the air. It’s still damp and cold, but there’s an undercurrent of something else hidden beneath that reality. A layer that isn’t visible with normal sight.
As if a thin veil has been thrown over my eyes, the world around me exists only in black and white. I blink, thinking that will clear my vision, but nothing changes. My friends are still standing at the edge of the circle, looking restless as they wait for me to do something.
“I think it worked.” I frown when no one responds. “Hey, guys, something happened.” They all stare at me with varying levels of worry stamped on their faces. “Can’t you hear me?” I say louder, but no one says a thing in return. My pulse leaps wildly in my chest, thumping so hard, I can feel the throb in my throat.
Nothing in the books said anything about this. What the hell have I done?
“Oh, shit. I’m so screwed.”
