I do know that today is Day 11, and Day 11 will be coming, hopefully before Day 12 dawns.

If you’re just dropping in, this is nanowrimo with all of the draftiness of it. All of the previous disclaimers apply. 🙂

Current Word Count: 14,461

p.s. The other installments can be found on the side bar under categories.

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Chapter Five

 

After dinner, Phoebe, Kaden and Chloe went to the sitting room and Phoebe began unpacking the extra-padded suitcase she had brought. The items were carefully enfolded in purple velvet. When she removed a silver two-edge knife with a jeweled black handle, Kaden reached for it.

“You brought a knife on the plane?” he asked.

“It’s not just any knife. It’s an athame.”

“So you’re going to use blood?”

“Blood?” Phoebe frowned. “What do you mean?”

“That’s what the knife’s for, right? You’re going to sacrifice something.”

Chloe jabbed him in the ribs. “You if you’re not careful.”

“It’s ceremonial. I’d never participate in any kind of animal sacrifice. That’s not what we’re about,” she said. “We’re witches of the earth and respect all living things.”

“Some more than others,” Chloe said.

“It sounds kind of . . . lame,” Kaden said.

Phoebe frowned at him. “Lame? Why? Because I don’t believe in causing suffering?”

“I wouldn’t go that far, Phoebs. You’ve been known to make me suffer,” Chloe said. “All of this holier than thou stuff makes my ears bleed.”

Phoebe frowned at her sister and wondered if that’s truly how she sounded. She didn’t mean to. “Is that how I sound?”

Chloe nodded. “Sometimes. Hey, I get it. You like animals and nature and crap. All the do no evil. But sometimes it gets a little hard to take. It would be really awesome for the rest of us normal people to see you loosen up and damn, I don’t know, take it down a notch.”

“Take it down a notch.”

Kaden laughed. “Once she’s done this spell, I’ll show her how it’s done.”

“Good luck with that,” Chloe said. “And I mean it seriously. She could use all of the help she can get.”

“Uh, still here, guys, and I can hear you. Let’s get this done,” Phoebe said.

—

Kaden watched mesmerized as Phoebe and Chloe mixed concoctions, anointed and lit candles, and performed purification rituals while softly chanting. The scent of sage rose around them bringing back memories of Phoebe removing Serena’s curse from him. Even he could feel something that felt like power rise in the room. The pressure intensified.

He saw Phoebe and Chloe exchange a glance, making him think that maybe this building power was not normal. Just as it seemed they were nearing the end of the spell, the cabin began to tremble. Hell of a time for an earthquake, he thought.

The door to the deck blew open with a bang and a force threw Phoebe back into the wall behind her, her head just missing the corner of the chair rail that jutted out. The trembling stopped and whatever wind that had ripped through the room was silenced.

Kaden ran and knelt by Phoebe’s side, his fingers going to her neck to feel for a pulse. It only occurred to him after he had touched her that the reaction between them, that fiery burning was gone. Although he felt her pulse, she was deathly pale and but her skin felt hot as if she were burning with fever. He couldn’t understand how that could be possible.

“What the hell happened in here?” Jared asked as he and Tito ran into the room.

Chloe knelt next to Kaden, grabbing her sister’s hand and squeezing. “Oh, Phoebe!” Chloe yelled. “Is she okay?”

“Phoebe,” Kaden said softly. His fingers touching the cheek that they had been longing to touch for so long. “Phoebe, can you hear me?”

Her eyelids fluttered and then slowly they opened. He gasped and jerked back. He heard Chloe’s sharp intake of breath near his ear.

“What have we here?” said a voice that was a little like Phoebe’s voice, although sharper and without the soft rhythm of Phoebe’s voice. The eyes staring back at them, however, were ebony with infinite depth as if there was a huge chasm behind them. Phoebe’s hazel iris was gone.

 

end of Day 11, let the games begin!