Chapter 61- Whispers In The Wind

Ruby stood there watching the enormous hall disintegrate to its very foundations. What was Crystal thinking at the time? She questioned herself. Destroying the meeting place would simply serve to exacerbate the situation further. She wore the pendent around her neck as a symbol of her strength. The sentence from the book that mentioned the jewellery played over and over in her head. In the words of the pendant Helien, "any evil or unnatural force shall be concealed and protected from you." It should be worn at all times. "It was a present from my father, and it has always helped me see the light, even in the darkest of times," she said, explaining that wearing the necklace made her feel as if her father was guiding her. It gave her the confidence to take on a task that her father was unable to complete.
Turning away from the rubble and cloud of dust, she made her way to the oak tree, where her father had been laid to rest.
She proceeded with her head held high, and as she passed by members of the coven, she was bombarded with yells and inquiries. She didn't pay any attention to any of them.
When the oak tree came into view, she broke into a smile. When she observed the disturbed soil, she immediately wiped the smile off her face. The person who had dug up her father's body had not bothered to put the grave back in its proper place. Instead, mud mounds were piled up on the side. Ruby screamed as she sank on her knees and howled in agony.
Even in his death her mother couldn’t leave him alone. What happened to rest in peace? Her rage was like a fire inside her, burning through her veins.
It built up inside her like deep-water currents, exploding without thought or concern. Getting to her feet she brought the tree down, ripped from its roots she tossed it through the air as if it weighed nothing. That was the thing with being a witch; their powers were heightened by emotions.
She watched as the tree came down onto the local church. The scream of the father inside did nothing to dull the rage inside. She wanted to hurt someone, anyone, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. His screams brought her a pleasure she had never felt before. A bolt of excitement ran through her at the suffering she had caused by her own hands.
***
Crystal didn’t know how long she had been en caved in darkness, days or more hours; she couldn’t tell she had no light and minutes felt like hours. She tried counting to keep track of time, but she gave up. All it did was make her want to sleep. Her brain wouldn’t allow her to sleep. Each time her lids went to close they would snap open. Teke Teke may come for you. She reminded herself. She was terrified of the demon she had set free. She wouldn’t stop and Crystal knew that.
She kept herself huddled against the cold wall; her eyes scanned the shadows. Voices whispered her name. Over and over again. She couldn’t take it anymore and screamed at the top of her voice.
The door crashed open with a bang minutes later and sunlight poured into the small cave. Crystal had to close her eyes from the bright light.
“What does he see in you?” The snake creature asked her.
“Weak and damaged,” she sneered turning her lips up. Weak was something she had never been. Damaged she could let that one slide, just a little.
A sense of power filled her body. She was Crystal Hudson. She wasn’t weak, she wasn’t a quitter she was a fighter. Slowly she got to her feet.
“Just an ordinary witch, reduced to a sniveling little girl,” Enchilada mocked.
Crystal held her hands by her side. She felt the electric pulse of her power simmering in her veins. Slowly she raised her hands with a smirk and released the pressure that had built from her body. Enchilada was encased in electricity; her whole body violently shook while sparks danced around the small cave. Crystal loved storms and Enchilada had turned into just that.
“I am anything but ordinary,” Crystal laughed taking a step past her and out into the world. She turned around and pushed her hand out her palm facing the still convulsing snake. With a gentle push of her power, she sent her reeling in the air. Crystal heard the crack of her body hitting the stone wall and closed the stone door, trapping her in her own prison.
As she walked away, she smiled and glanced down at her bloodied hand. She had used a sharp stone to cut her palm and write a message to Teke in her own blood.
“You don’t need legs. The tail of a snake is much better. A gift from Crystal Hudson,” she heard Enchilada’s screams and pushed her weak body to move faster. Her guards would surely come running, her shrieks echoed wide and far.
Once inside the safety of the tree’s reality hit Crystal. She was back in Athens. This time alone with no sense of direction, she didn’t know which way to go. How would she make it home? Fear griped her in a vice like hold. Would she be stuck in the world she feared the most?
Pulling the last of her inner strength she moved deeper within the forest and followed a narrow mud trail. Where the path would lead would only be raveled in a matter of time.