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I pull the blanket around my chin. “It’s been a long couple of days.”
She nods, as if she already knows. “Would you like to talk about it?”
I wince. It will be a long discussion if she wants the entire story.
“How about the CliffsNotes version?” She walks into my room, sitting on the corner of my bed. I breathe in her earthly scent with a touch of rosemary.
Her hand goes down to my ankle, and she wraps her fingers around my foot, over the covers. “You are in a lot of distress, Hazel. The energy in here is just awful.” She tsks at me.
“I’m sorry,” I say, internally rolling my eyes. “I kind of feel like everyone has put me in charge of figuring out what to do. And I want to help, but I just don’t know if I can find the answer.”
She nods. “Tell me what you do know.”
I watch her for a moment, and I see nothing but sincerity in her eyes. So, I do as she asks. I tell her the story, from the moment we walked across the bridge into old Castle Pointe, everything we’ve seen, what I found at the abandoned house, all the way up until I tell her about whatever was inside me, and how it was Felix that helped me. He saved me.
She looks horrified at this. Her hand raises to my forehead, and she closes her eyes as she hums. I know she’s searching for any remaining bad energy in me, but I can feel that it’s gone. It’s no longer inside me.
“It’s gone, Grandma.”
Her eyes slide open. “It is gone, but scars remain.”
“I don’t think I can do magic. Every time I’ve done it, a darkness has surrounded me. It’s as if I’m not strong enough to remain in the light.”
“You need to find the strength in you to keep it out,” she says with a squeeze of her hand on my ankle.
I shake my head. “I’ve tried. I’ve done everything that I’ve ever been taught, and it feels like it just comes back to bite me in the ass. One moment I feel as if I’m getting somewhere, and the next, the safe circle is ripped apart, and I am thrown somewhere else. I’m not strong enough. I’m filled with darkness.”
She watches me intently. “You’ve always had a darkness inside you, Hazel. Ever since you were a little girl and your mother and I tried teaching you the way. It’s as if you’re a magnet, and you draw it in with your spells.”
I frown. I never knew that. “Why did you allow me to keep doing it, then?”
She smiles. “Because you have to learn on your own. You have to try to be strong and get through it, or you’ll never know.”
“I think I know, and I don’t think I can.” My head tilts toward my lap, and I feel so defeated. Like I’ve let my family down.
My grandma is silent, and I eventually lift my eyes, glancing at her.
“Maybe you can’t, and that’s okay.” She shrugs. “Or maybe you can, and you need a little more time. Or maybe you never will be able to. Either way, Hazel, it’s going to be okay. It will all be okay.”
Tears flood my eyes. “How can I help my friends, then?”
She tilts her head to the side, watching me quietly before she gives my ankle one last squeeze and stands up, walking out of my room without another word.
I’m about to call after her, shouting that I’m not done with this conversation, when she walks back in a little while longer with books in her grip.
“What is that?” I ask.
She sets them on the edge of the bed, taking a step back. “These might have your answers. Maybe you might have more questions. But I do think it’ll help, once you figure it out.”
I narrow my eyes. “What are you talking about?” Now she’s just playing games, and I’m really, really not in the mood.
“You need to figure it out on your own, Hazel.”
“Do you know something you aren’t telling me?” I ask, shocked. My jaw drops, and I look at her like she’s crazy. She’s making me go through this on my own, and she knows how to stop this?
She shakes her head. “No, Hazel. I don’t know how to stop this. But I do want you to know, the curse on Castle Pointe has been here for decades, and you aren’t the first person to go through this.”
And with that puzzle piece, she turns around, walking out and shutting my door quietly behind her.
