5. Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here everyday.

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

************************************
Inspiration for this chapter:

1. The "Ride of the Valkyries" - Richard Wagner

2. "Welcome to the jungle" - Guns n roses

I recommend listening to this two lovely masterpieces while reading.

Link ⬆️

Enjoy reading!
************************************
I pinch myself. I close and open my eyes multiple times, but she is still hovering over me. This can't be real, can it? Have I gone crazy? Maybe because I was trying not to think about that night in the woods, I am now seeing things. I should visit a therapist.

"Am I drea-ming?" - I stutter.

"Of course not." - She rolls her eyes and sighs with a relief. -  "Oh thank God that someone can see me. I thought because my soul was stolen that there is something wrong with my ghost. I tried to talk to every witch, demon, vampire, werewolf in the town. Hell, I even tried with Turners, but you are the only one who can see me so far."

"Turners?" - Somehow the only thing that got stuck in my brain are Turners and she has mentioned every supernatural being I have heard of.

"Oh don't tell me you are obsessed with one of them." - She shakes her head in disappointment. - "I expected more from you Anessa."

"I.." - Why am I even trying to explain myself to a ghost? - "No, this is not happening." - I close my eyes and try to get that information in my head. - "I am imagining stuff because I am under stress and I, apparently, watched too many episodes of Supernatural."

"Don't tell me this is your first time to see a ghost." - I hear her saying.

"I am not seeing a ghost. Those things don't exist." - I keep my eyes closed. I am not gonna open them until I am sure that she is gone.

"Haven't your grandma taught you anything?" - I hear surprise in her voice.

"You are not real." - I say under my breath, trying hard not to ask her what is she talking about.

"Anessa, stop this nonsense. I am real and I am not going away until you help me." - She sighs. - "The faster you accept this, the easier things will be."

"This is not happening."

"For goodness sake!" - She snarls. - "Get out of the bed, go to the living room, remove the picture of your grandma and you that is hanging over the fireplace and you will find a safe." - I open my eyes, intrigued by the things she is saying. I don't possess this kind of information so if the safe is really there, I am really  speaking to Tracy's ghost. - "The code is 1108. You will find Book of shadows in there."

"What is that?"

"Why do I have to be one to teach you everything?" - She frowns. - "Can you just go and check that the book is there so you actually trust me when I start explaining everything?"

I can't believe that I am actually doing it, but before I know my feet touch the cold floor and I run to the living room. I enter the room and go to the picture of my grandma and I. I was twelve at the time. The picture was taken in front of this house. I have a copy back in Portland. I love that picture. I take a deep breath and take the picture of the wall. I, instantly, notice small silver safe. It is really there. I put the framed picture on the ground and I enter the numbers Tracy mentioned. The safe unlocks. I, carefully, open the safe door. I come face to face with a big, dusty brown book with some weird symbol on it. For some weird reason I feel like this book is calling me, like it is asking me to touch it. I raise my hand.

"No!" - Tracy screams behind me and I freeze at the spot. - "Don't touch it. Witch's  books are protected with powerful spells. I am sure that your grandma protected it even from you since she still hasn't discussed some things with you."

I turn around to look at her. Unless I am imaging safe and this weird book too, I am pretty sure that I am facing a ghost in the moment. And I am so confused. Why does my grandma own this book? Why am I the only person that can see Tracy? What are some things that my grandma should discuss with me?

"So, do you trust me now?" - She furrows her eyebrows at me.

I nod. I will rather accept that I am seeing a ghost than that I am going crazy.

"I bet you have so many questions." 

I nod.

"Well, you see, your grandma is a witch. A magical witch. You are one too.." - She notices my confused expression and she stops. A witch? That can't be. I am crazy. - "Come on, sit," - she points at the sofa. - "I will go slowly from the start."

I walk to the sofa. I sit on it. I hug my legs and I put my chin on my knees. I stare at Tracy. She looks just like the first time I have seen her. There is no sign of wounds and bruises she had on her when I found her in the woods.

"So you know the story of creation, Adam and Eve and those stuff?" - She asks. I nod and she continues. - "Well, our people believe that before God created them, he created a woman called Diona. She looked like a human, but he gifted her with one power that he didn't gift humans with - power of creation. For a long time it was only Diona and God. She fell in love with her creator and when God noticed that, he decided to create a man for her. He knew that he can't give her what she needs. He created Adam, but she rejected him as her companion. She was so angry with God that she left Garden of Eden and she swore that she will take a revenge on God." - She stops and inspects my face. She is, clearly, looking for signs of disbelief or fear, but since she can't find none of it, she continues talking. - "So she created a place for herself - Wastelands. She started using her gift of creation and she created pretty much every creature they scared you with while you were little. She wanted all of them to be evil, to be a complete opposite of God, but every creature had its own free will just like humans. Many of them chose to be evil just like their mother, as we refer to her, but many chose to be good. Our world is not much different than human world, we just hold more power."

Am I supposed to believe in this story? Has all of this actually happened? I am not even sure do I believe in the story about Adam and Eve, let alone this.

"We are witches, Anessa. Good witches. Our ancestors chose a path for us thousands of years ago. Some of us have chosen the wrong way, but most of our families have been good witches." - She continues her story. - "As I said witches can be good and evil, and they can also be magical witches or practitioners."

"What is the difference?" - I wasn't planning to sound curious about this very unrealistic situation, but the words have just escaped me.

"You see, the term witch is exclusive only for females. Only girls can inherit witch powers. Males do have a piece of power in themselves if their mother was a witch, but they are not able to manifest that power. Sometimes it takes a lot of decades for one family to get a girl. And the more time passes between the birth of that girl and the last witch in the family, the lesser are chances that the girl will be a magical witch. When DNA of the witch mixes too much with DNA of the humans, the magic usually disappears." - She explains making me more confused. I don't even know how to ask the questions I want to ask. - "So practitioners are those kind of witches. They don't posses any active, magical power, but they do possess fundamental Wiccan abilities of casting effective spells, brewing potions, and scrying."

"And magical witches?"

"Those are the witches born with an active power, just like your grandma and me." - She says patiently. - "Apart from the fundamental Wiccan abilities, magical witches have also one or more personal powers. Those powers usually manifest themselves during early childhood so it is easier to teach a witch how to control her powers, but sometimes for some reasons powers of the witch don't manifest until her teen years or even adulthood." - She sighs. - "Also, some witches bind the powers of their daughters or granddaughters."

"What do you mean?" - I interrupt. All of this is too much too soon.

"Power binding is a term for neutralizing a being's powers. This method can be performed by means of spells or a binding potion." - She begins. - "Witches usually do that to protect their daughters or to try to give them normal life, but I considered it to be wrong. Witches are born with powers and taking them away is like chopping a leg or an arm from a person. We are not meant to lead normal life and there is no spell that can change that." - Her gaze doesn't leave mine as she continues. - "I think your grandmother did that to you because you were moving away with your mother who doesn't know anything about magic. It was safer for you to grow up without powers, otherwise your mother wouldn't be able to protect you."

"From wh-at?" - I stutter.

"You see, our powers attract certain beings. Good witches are supposed to fight them." - She smiles lightly. - "They can sense the strength of our powers and sometimes they attack us, they try to kill us. I had a grandmother to protect me, but you didn't. So she performed power binding on you in order to protect you. They can't sense the strength of your powers now."

"I have powers?" - I can't hide disbelief from my voice.

"Probably." - She confirms. - "Your grandmother is the level two witch, one of the strongest witches in the world. I am pretty sure that you are at least level three witch."

"Levels?" - I ask. I feel stupid at this point.

"There are five levels of witch powers in both good and evil world." - I feel like she is losing patience, but I don't care. She needs to explain this to me if she wants me to believe in her story. - "Level five witches are the weakest and level one witches are the strongest."

"How do you sort the witches in levels?"

"Level five witches are witches without an active power. They posses passive powers such as power of premonition, telepathy, empathy." - She is trying to rush through words so this little introduction of witch world finishes as soon as possible. - "Level four witches are witches with active powers that are not really usable in the battle, but they can come in handy. They have powers of teleportation or healing or transportion through space and time. Level three witches are witches with defensive active powers, such as invisibility, force fields and any other defensive power that protects them or others from the attack. Level two witches are witches with offensive active powers. They can attack or kill other beings. Your grandmother posses power of telekinesis for example." - She sees confusion on my face so she answers the question I didn't ask yet. - "She can move objects with the power of her mind."

"How about level one witches?"

"Those are the witches with the power that no one else in the world has." - She pronounces every word carefully. - "I am not sure that there is any witch of that kind left in this world. Most of them were killed during the witch trials."

"They really killed witches?" - I always thought that during those trials only innocent people who were a little bit different from the rest of the society were killed.

"It is a story for some other time." - She exhales loudly. - "We need to find my soul now."

"But you can't finish now, I need more answers." - I protest.

"And you will get them later." - She assures me. - "It is just matter of time when your grandmother will repeal the spell and then she will teach you everything about your powers and Wiccan ways."

"Will I have the same power as she does?"

"No." - She shakes her head. - "You might, but that is usually not the case." - She continues. - "My grandmother had a power of premonition and I have power of telematerialization. I am level four witch and she was level five witch. There are no rules on how these things work. Power just chooses the person who is worthy of it."

"Wh-at is telematerialization?" - I barely manage to pronounce the word correctly.

"It is the ability to teleport liquid with the power of your mind."

"Isn't it the same as telekinesis?"

"No." - She gasps. - "Your grandmother needs a solid object, otherwise she can't move it with her mind. I, on the other hand, can move liquids with ny mind, but my power haven't grown that much over the years and I can't move solid objects. My power is pretty useless in a battle, so that's why I am good with spells and potions."

"So your power can grow?"

"Yes, and I can even develop a new power. As I said before, there are no rules."

I don't answer. I stay glued to the spot trying to process everything I have just heard. I am a witch. My grandma is a witch. Could that really be true? Am I imagining all of this? Is William some kind of a demon then? Is that why my grandmother is trying to separate me from him?

"You need to close the safe and we have to go to the woods." - She interrupts my thoughts. - "I need to remember."

"You don't remember?"

"No." - She turns her head away. - "I was looking for a warewolf that killed one couple in Portland, Oregon. I chased him to here, and the clues took me to the woods. I don't  remember anything after that."

"Well, maybe he did it?" - ﹰHe is an obvious suspect.

"Werewolves don't posses a power of taking souls." - She contemplates for a moment. - "Besides, the way I was killed... it isn't the way werewolves kill."

"Don't you know some spell that can make you remember?"

"I can't remember because my mind was manipulated few seconds before my death and I know who is to blame for that." - She snarls. - "There is no spell that can undo the magic of that person."

"So that person might have killed you?"

"No." - She murmurs. - "That is not the way he kills people and if he took my soul I wouldn't exist as a ghost. He takes souls and makes them part of himself, he doesn't steal them."

"Well, have you ever heard of a being that steals souls?"

"Few." - She nods. - "But the person who killed me and the person who stole my soul could be two entirely different people. That is why I need to go back to the woods. The only way to get my memories back is to try to remember them by myself."

I look at her expression. She looks desperate. She needs my help. I don't care if I am imagining all of this or if this is real, I need to help her. I need to go back to the woods with her.

I lift myself up from the sofa and walk to the fireplace. I close the safe and put the picture back up. Everything looks exactly like my grandma left it.

"I need to change and then we can go." - I inform Tracy.

Relief washes over her. - "Thank you, Anessa."

I smile at her and walk out of the room. I run to my room and put on the first jeans and black shirt I see. I notice that the house is empty. I wonder where is my grandma. Is she outside fighting demons? I still can't think about it. I am going to need few days or months or weeks or years to accept all the things I have learned today.

I enter the bathroom after I finish dressing up to brush my teeth and put my hair in a messy bun. Now, I am ready to go out.

I walk back to the living room. Tracy is there staring through the window. She looks like she is thinking about something. All of this must be hard for her. She was killed and now she has to accept that. It is scary.

"Are you ready?" - She asks, not taking her glare of the thing she is staring at.

"I am." - I replay. - "Are you okay?"

"I am fine." - She nods. - "I just thought that once I die, I will go to paradise. I didn't expect that my soul will be lost and that I will become a ghost. If we don't find my soul, I will stay like this forever. And the time does wonders to the ghosts with no soul, who stay too long on Earth. They forget their humanity, they turn into monsters. I saw it too many times. I don't want to become one of them."

"We will find your soul." - I intend to keep my promise. - "No matter what it takes, Tracy, I won't allow you to become a monster."

She turns to me with a half-smile. - "You are going to be a great witch, Anessa."

"You think so?" - I am not sure why this thought excites me.

"I know so." - She answers. - "But for now, let's keep this between us. Don't mention anything to your grandma."

"I won't."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah." - I start walking to the door.

Before I reach the hallway, Tracy appears in front of me out of nowhere. How did she do that?

"Being a ghost comes with a privilege of teleporting." - She giggles. - "We are taking a faster form of transportation."

Before I have time to ask what does she mean by that, she puts her hand on my shoulder. I can't really feel her touch, but I feel the coldness in the area she has put her hand on. She gives me a mischievous smile and then I feel a strong pain all over my body. Suddenly I can't see Tracy in front of me, all I can see is black and all I can feel is my body breaking in pieces. I try to scream, I try to move, but it is impossible. I feel like I jumped out of airplane without a parachute and now I am falling down to a certain death. Just when I think that I can't take another second of this, the darkness slowly fades and I can see Tracy's big blue eyes in front of me again. I feel a cold air on my face and I become aware that we are in the forest now. Did we just teleport? Oh my God.

My knees shake and I fall on the ground. I breathe in and out slowly, keeping my head very still. Few moments pass before I can raise my head up. Tracy is standing few feets away, searching for something with her eyes. I recognise this spot. It was dark when I was here last time. This is the place where I had found Tracy's lifeless body. I feel sick to my stomach on the memory of that night. I get a flashback. I was chased too. I am now completly sure that I was chased. And I did hear something that reminded me of dog's cries. Was I chased by a warewolf?

"Somebody is here." - Tracy's voice is frantic.

"Who?" - I gulp. Her killer?

"Turner." - She hisses.

My stomach flutters. William or Henry? - "Which one?"

"The one you are drooling over." - She rolls her eyes.

"William?" - I ask before I think about it.

"Disgusting." - She spits. - "He is coming. Keep calm and whatever you do, don't get him angry. He is hunting here, but he won't hurt you if you stay calm."

"Hunting?" - What the hell?

She doesn't answer, she just disappears. She left me all alone here. Couldn't she just transport us back home? I don't want to face him. Plus what is he hunting for? I have a feeling that she is not talking about real hunting trip to the woods. I feel like William is some kind of a bad creature that is looking for food here.

Several moments later, William appears in front of me. Usually I would droll over his face, but today his upper body is catching my attention. He doesn't have a shirt on. I can see every muscle he has. I have seen guys without shirts only on tv before, and none of them looked this good. William is hotter than anyone else on this planet.

"Done ogling?" - His deep voice snaps me out of it.

I look up to his face. He is standing just few feets away from me. He looks so sexy with that angry expression.

"I wasn't.." - I try to deny it, but it is pretty obvious that I am a liar. I was ogling.

"You were." - He sighs. - "What

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net