Magic gone wild, A face from the Past revealed.

*Rayne*


Arabella returned with all she needed for the spell Morty requested her to attempt. She was optimistic that it would work, but nervous since she had not cast a spell of that magnitude in a very long time. Rayne knew she was capable of potent magic, hoped that they would all walk away alive. She was getting dressed in her room, Parker and her father had left for the bar already, Arabella was out on the beach gathering a few more ingredients she would need for the wards at the bar.

Rayne grabbed a simple pair of blue jeans, a loose-fitting white t-shirt with Mickey Mouse posing with a peace sign on the front, then grabbed her canvas sneakers and called herself done. She was not out to impress anyone at the bar and left to her own choice in clothing tonight. She decided lazy casual was the way to go. Who knew what would happen tonight if the spell failed?

They were up against demons and Dark Witches, so she had Parker pack weapons capable of hurting both of them, on the off chance that they had located Morty and his family already. Since she hadn’t heard from Morty, and they had breached none of the wards during the day, she figured that they were all still safe.

Rayne walked out onto the deck to wave Arabella into the house, they would need to leave soon, the bar would open in a few hours, she was hoping to have all this dealt with before ten p.m. Realistically she knew that they may have to close the bar for the night; she didn’t want to put her employees or patrons at risk of what was coming. They dealt with risk nightly, but nothing of the magnitude that they could tonight.

Dark Witches.

Goddess knew how much Rayne feared them from her experience. She reached to where she still sported the scar from the silver dagger that was used to torture her. Shaking her head clear of that darkness, now was not the time for another trip down memory lane. She then turned to head back inside when Arabella made her way towards the house.

“Would you rather me teleport us there or do you want to drive?” Arabella asked as she came inside to gather her bag.

“For convenience, let’s go with the first one, but oh, how I dislike the feeling after.”

Arabella chuckled as she gripped Rayne’s hand, then in the next instant, they were in Rayne’s office. Parker sat behind her desk, going over something on her computer screen with her father. Both looked up as they appeared in the middle of the room. The sight of them together warmed her heart. Parker had befriended her father, and by the looks of the two, she would say that the friendship went both ways. That would be fun to watch the progress as they lived their lives after tonight. Her lover, best friend, and business partner now friends with her recently returned from the dead father. As far as things were now, her life was doing pretty well.

“I am going to down and meet Morty,” Arabella spoke as she turned to the door.

Straight to business tonight it seems, no jokes, no snarky comments from the White Witch. “Is everything alright?” Rayne looked to her friend in concern.

“Something dark lingers near, it isn’t demons or witches, but it is seething with hatred and ill intent. How close it is I can’t pinpoint, as it is circling the area around the bar.” Arabella closed her eyes as she projected her power outward and upwards as if she were seeking more information.

“Parker, do you think we should close the bar tonight? Will the others be at risk trying to come into work?”

“Argyle, Spencer, and Malcolm can more than handle themselves. That old werebear Malcolm has seen his fair share of witches.”

“Werebear? Those exist too?” Edmund piped up with a look of surprise.

“There are many types of wereanimals Papa, if you work here with us you will meet some, others are not always social outside their wereanimal species.”

“Ray, you have gained so much knowledge of the world, a world that I never even dreamed existed outside our pack borders.”

“There are ten of them out there, one is their leader, the darkness I am sensing is coming from him,” Arabella spoke then left the office to go to the bunker to meet Morty.

“Well, that we can handle, let’s close the bar but call the boys and have them come in. Tell them to use the south tunnel under Tim’s garage,” Rayne turned to leave, paused looking back at Parker, “When everyone is here, let me know.”

Parker nodded his head, picked up his cellphone to make the calls.

The bar was built on a tunnel network that had once been used in the twenties during prohibition to smuggle booze in and out of the bar. They bricked up all but the south tunnel that let out a few blocks away under what is now a mechanic’s shop. The owner had no idea it was there; they had warded the entrance and the entire length of the tunnel, and used it as an escape plan if they ever needed it. So far, they had only used it once. Until tonight she never thought they would need again, but she wanted her boys safe and hidden as they came in tonight.

As she entered the safe room, Morty was laughing at something that Arabella had said. His mother and sister were sitting on one couch, talking low. Rayne looked around the room, seeing that Arabella had set up her things on the bar. With luck, tonight would be successful. Then they could open the bar to their regular customers.

“How are things going down here?”

Morty turned to look at her as she spoke, “So far we have agreed to try the spell, but we are going to try it one at a time,”

“A mass spell would be difficult, and I haven’t tried one of this caliber solo.”

“There are two other White Witches in town we could call in to help.”

“Lynn is not powerful enough on her own, who is the second one?” Arabella looked at Rayne with a frown.

“She is our new bartender, Jazmine Calhoun, she is powerful.”

“Then get them both. The more power I can harness, the stronger this spell can be.”

Rayne went back upstairs so she could make those calls since the safe room was lead-lined. There was no way to make calls down there. As she entered the kitchen she jumped as she saw Argyle leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, Jazmine stood behind him with a stormy expression in her eyes.

“Well, that saves me a call, Jazmine can you head downstairs to meet Arabella, Argyle can you go to Lynn’s and escort her here?”

“Yes boss,” He turned around and was gone.

“Follow me Jaz, there is someone I think you should meet.” Rayne pointed back towards the safe room entrance.

“I sensed there was a need for me. As we came in, I sensed that same darkness circling the bar.” Jazmine looked at the entrance to the underground room.

“Yeah, Arabella sensed that when we got here, the wards are strong, unless we let them in willingly, I don’t think there will be an issue.” Rayne moved to the entrance, “We will deal with that once we get Morty and his family safe.”

An hour later, they were all gathered downstairs after Argyle returned with Lynn. They would go forward with the spell. Argyle, Spencer, and Malcolm spread out along the walls, while Parker stood next to Rayne. Edmund stood at the bar Arabella wanted to use him as a focal point to guide them all back once they completed the spell.

The hum of magic was heavy in the air, three voices rising and falling as the spell ebbed and flowed like waves on the shoreline. The spell wrapped around Morty and his family as it weaved its way into their bodies, hopefully to hide them from all those hunting them. If the spell worked the way Arabella said it would, the spell would also hide them from all forces of darkness. No demon or Dark Witch could see or harm them. They would vanish to all those seeking to do them harm.

Rayne was in awe of the amount of power swirling around the room, it was almost overwhelming in its intensity. The spell crested, spilling magic out throughout the room, pushing at everyone as it pulsed and throbbed. The room rattled as their voices rose with power, thunder sounded from above them, static crackled making all their hair rise. Magic surged, then exploded in the small space, forcing everyone to their knees. The eyes of the three White Witches popped open, shining with luminescent white light.

The power of the three of them overloaded the spell, spilling out onto everyone in the room, wrapping them all in a blinding bright light as it hit its peak. The voices faded, the magic let out an audible pop, then with a whisper of a blessing on the wind, everything in the room went silent. Everyone fell to the floor breathing heavily, the tension in the room fading, the air returning to normal.

“Well, goddamn, that was amazing,” Parker wheezed out as he sat up.

A chorus of chuckles followed as everyone else sat up and look around the room. Rayne looked over as Morty went to his mother and sister, helping them to stand. She reached for Parker’s hand as he helped her stand, then looked around to see if her father was ok. Edmund was helping Arabella to her feet, Lynn was laughing at something that Jazmine whispered in her ear, all seemed to be fine as they recovered from the result of magic overload.

Arabella looked around the room at everyone, “That had a much stronger effect than I had expected.” She looked at Jazmine. “You have more power in you than any White Witch I have met in a very long time.”

“My family is from a long line of witches, dating back to before the civil war.”

“You’re from Emmalia Calhoun’s line?”

“Yes, she is my great-great-grandmother.”

“I should have seen that when I met you, I have spent time with her in my past. You have so much raw power within you.”

“I am still learning to control it, but that was an amazing,” Jazmine said as she looked around the room. Her eyes landing on Argyle before she looked back at Arabella.

“I can help you learn if you will let me,” Arabella looked to Rayne, “The spell hit everyone in this room, all of us here tonight will now have the immunity Morty was looking for. That side effect was unintended, but with the darkness still circling you and the bar, we solved two problems at once. He is still out there, I can sense him, but he cannot harm you, at least not directly.”

“What does that mean?” Parker asked.

“The man that is seeking Rayne has others that are following him, they are out there with him now. They do not know what he wants to do, only what he has fed them.”

“I know who it is,” Edmund spoke low as he came to stand by Rayne.

She looked at him confused, “What do you mean? Who?”

“I saw a glimpse in his mind a moment ago when the spell finished. You know him too, Ray, he killed your mother.”

“Wilson?”

Just like that, the past she never wanted to have to revisit was coming back to slap her in the face. That bastard Wilson was still alive, and he was gunning for Rayne. After all this time, he was still angry with the role she had in getting him banished from his pack. His actions caused that, but he would never own up to that.

The one thing that gave Rayne comfort now was knowing that she was not alone at his mercy this time around. She had Parker, her father, and as she looked around the room at all her friends, she realized she had allies that she could count on to have her back. That thought gave her more comfort as Parker grabbed one hand and her father grabbed the other. Her men would have her back, as much as she would have theirs.

Wilson would not win this time.

He had no power over her.