Chapter 75- Into The Thorns

“How dare she treat them like that!” the anger Crystal felt was at boiling point.
“Crystal, we have more….”
“Don’t Perl.” She spat knowing full well that Perl was going to sugar coat the situation her sisters were in.
“Let’s just go see my father,” Levi cut in, opening the minibus door.
Crystal scoffed. Seth wasn’t a man that would likely help them. With no other choice she followed Levi and Perl into the vehicle.
As they drove, she looked up at the sky and blinked rapidly. It wasn’t possible. There were two suns.
“Levi, please tell me I am seeing things,” she said and pointed in the direction of the suns. Perhaps it was some kind of shadow, illusion thing. It didn’t sound possible even as she thought it. There was something off. She could feel it in her bones.
“What the….” He said, slamming on the brakes to dodge a teen girl that stood in the middle of the road. The girl had come out of nowhere.
The vehicle swerved and tilted to the side before crashing into a tree and coming to a complete stop.
Crystal’s head hit the dashboard and she screamed out in pain as bright lights danced in her vision. Her seat belt had cut into her skin and her chest ached from the pressure.
“You, Okay?” Levi asked unbuckling her seat belt.
“Yeah,” she croaked still in shock.
“Perl?” he called back.
“It was a ghost,” Perl muttered.
“Wow, guess she has hit her head,” Crystal said while trying to open her door.
Levi kicked his side, and the door came away from the car and crashed to the ground a few meters away. The sound echoed in Crystal’s skull in the form of a brass band playing in her mind. Like a thief the pain stole the breath from her lungs.
Crystal had to climb over to Levi’s side by shuffling across the seats. Her body ached from the impact, and she gritted her teeth against the pain.
Levi opened the back door for Perl and Crystal looked towards the road.
“Where’s the girl?” she asked through shallow breaths.
“I told you. She was a ghost,” Perl answered.
“Seriously Perl? Ghosts can’t enter our world they sit on different planes,” Crystal knew about Ghosts it was one lesson she actually enjoyed. The way they watched the living, through a veil that separated the dead from those living.
“They did, not anymore,” Perl whispered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Crystal snapped.
“Look around you. Things have changed,”
Crystal did what Perl said. Yeah, there was too suns. An optical illusion. It was easily explained. As she continued to scan her surroundings she looked beyond the trees. They were taller and the tips of mountains were visible that shouldn’t be there.
They belonged in Athens. She seen them there, the horror of their situation sunk in, and Crystal felt the fear grip her body in a vice like hold.
“Both worlds have become one,” Perl confirmed, and panic surged through Crystal like a wave crashing into the beach.
“Is that even possible?” Levi asked.
“Anything is possible. You must know that” Perl remarked. They walked to the road and Crystal looked around. The girl was gone. She didn’t believe she was a ghost. Rather someone that was scared and ran.
It was a long walk to Levi’s community and Crystal wanted to cry. The pain in her body was getting worse with each step that they took. By night fall they reached the large iron gates.
As they entered the coven, they were greeted by an eerie silence. Slowly they made their way to the center where the manor sat proudly looking over the small houses that made up the community.
“Where is everyone?” Crystal asked as they walked down the long driveway that led to the front door.
“Dead.” Perl said flatly.
“Do you ever have anything positive to say?” Levi asked and Crystal snickered. It was Perl. She was like the messenger of doom.
Inside the house, it was just as quiet as the outside. As they moved further through the foyer, they heard mumbled voices and followed the sound to the kitchen.
Seth and Mary both sat at the table nursing a whisky each.
“I see you made it back alive,” Seth said with his gaze held firmly onto Crystal.
“You don’t get rid of me that easy,” she responded and took a seat to relief the pain within her muscles.
“I am afraid Jeanette lied to us all. Athens and the human realm are now one,” Seth said leaning back in his seat and taking a big gulp of whisky.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” snapped Crystal. They had all lied and used her and she was sick of it.
“Not at all children. I wanted to go home. Not bring my home here and allow the humans to suffer a fate worse than death,”
“How do we spilt the world again?” asked Levi leaning on the work side.
“We can’t. All we can do is create another world and send them there,” Perl answered with knowledge of someone far older than her years.
“Then we better get to work before things get out of control,” Crystal stood taking charge.
“Hold on, we don’t have the power. It was the gods that created Athens,” Seth crashed her hopes. Nothing was ever simple.
“Then we get that power. Gather as many witches as possible,” There had to be a way, Crystal thought.
“Most of our people have succumbed to the virus. We don’t have nearly enough,” Perl answered.
“That’s not all. Since Jeanette as joined two worlds together. Those that have died since are stuck on this plane. They are angry and are out for revenge,” Mary said looking out into the garden.
“Ghosts,” Levi muttered.
“That’s right son. Not any ghosts though. These are ghosts with tainted souls,”
“What do we do?” Crystal asked in a shaky voice. Perl was right. She hated to admit it.
“Keep yourself surrounded by electricity. It affects them,” Perl said, and Mary nodded. Crystal flopped back into the chair and poured herself a glass of whisky. The liquid burned her chest and set her stomach on fire causing her to choke on the last bit she held in her mouth.
Seth let out a booming laugh.
“That girl, is what you call a man’s drink,”