Chapter 4

Witch coven.



"Julia, what on earth is going on in here? Dannika, where the hell is Jerry?" Mum shouted as she approached us.
Pain and disbelief slammed into me as if someone had sliced my heart with a knife, so real and so crushing that I thought I was going to pass out. I gave a silent nod to Dannika to go ahead and explain the situation with Mum.
"Mrs. Taylor, your husband is in the hospital," Dannika said, glancing around to make sure that no one else could hear her. "We don’t know exactly what happened, but it looks like his soul has been ripped from his body with black magic."
I didn’t know if my mother was understanding what Dannika was telling her, but I had to sit down. Blood rushed to my ears and magic poured right through me. Questions began mounting in my head. Dad was on holiday, taking some time off. There was no way he was running around London investigating the new coven.
"Ritual? What are you saying?" my mother repeated with a tensed expression.
"Mum, Dad’s in a bad shape. It looks like someone forced him against his will to participate in some kind of magical ritual," I said, getting up and shaking her. "Stop pretending like you don’t understand!"
"Julia, calm down," Dannika said, pushing me away from my mother. I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "We don’t know what happened last night. The whole setup is awfully similar to the one with Kate, but we aren’t sure—"
"Just take us to the hospital. I need to see him," I demanded, cutting her off again, thinking that I had to see my dad for myself to believe her. Mum was staring at the wall, not saying anything. My pulse was racing away. This couldn't have happened to Dad, no way; he was too strong to be cornered by some witches.
Stewart and Dannika were talking to my mother, who looked like she was in some sort of shock. I thought that I’d better stay calm. Mum tried to talk, but she didn’t make much sense. Her voice kept breaking. Maybe for the first time in her life, she finally understood that magic was real. Ella kept telling her that it was going to be all right, that maybe Dad’s condition wasn't as bad as it seemed. I couldn’t speak until we were inside the police car. I saw Dannika’s violet eyes in the rearview mirror watching me.
Mum kept mumbling to herself. "Jerry will be fine. I mustn’t worry."
The food from breakfast kept turning inside my stomach and I couldn't help imagining the worst. In my head I remembered Kate’s pale face and the resignation on the faces of her family. My own father was too strong to get caught up with witches’ affairs. Why would anyone want to use him?
"Julia, we’re here," Dannika said. Mum was already out of the car marching after Stewart; I didn’t even notice when we arrived. Ella was holding my hand not saying anything.
"How bad is it? Please tell me now, before we go inside," I asked, my voice cracking, already knowing what Dannika was going to say.
"His soul left his body and it’s drifting away. The healers can’t do anything else for him."
Her words crushed me, and I felt like I was falling; white dots obscured my vision. I couldn’t lose my dad. This was impossible.
My mother was already by Dad’s bed when we reached his room. On the outside he seemed like he was sleeping.
Mum was sobbing and squeezing his hand. She’d already forgotten that she wanted to divorce him an hour ago, calling him a liar.
"Oh, Jerry, I'm so sorry. We should talk when you wake up. Please, Jerry," Mum choked. Then she turned around to face me.
"Julia, use your magic to help him, please. If you’re one of them, then do something for God’s sake."
"Mrs. Taylor," a tall giant healer interrupted, he was standing next to me. "Your daughter can’t help him. The Chief Inspector has been cursed and we don’t know how to help him. We have tried all the spells we know to counter dark magic, but it’s a form of advanced black magic like we’ve never seen—this is somehow different—stronger, these dark spells are preventing us from doing anything."
Mum sobbed harder and fell on the chair next to him. I left the room after that, telling myself I was still dreaming, that Dad was with Grandma in Canterbury.
I hid my face in my hands, hoping to catch my breath, as magic rose inside me. I left the room and walked through the corridor. Shaking, I took out my phone and waited until Jasper picked up.
“It's my father; the police found him in an abandoned warehouse yesterday in the same state that I found Kate. God, Jasper… he’s dying. Please tell me you have some new information about the coven."
"Julia, I'm sorry to hear about your father," he said in a low calm tone. "Nothing new, but I’ll make some phone calls and get back to you tomorrow night."
I hung up, after pleading with him to speak to anyone who might know what to do. Everything else seemed pointless. I closed my eyes wishing I could find a way to go back in time and save my father and stop this whole satanic ritual.
"Julia, hey, I think you should take your mother home. She doesn’t look too good."
I opened my eyes and was pulled back to my miserable reality by Dannika.
I nodded without saying a word, but Mum refused to leave his side. A few weeks ago, in other circumstances I’d have been happy, but now I was dying inside. Ella and I took a taxi to my car. After an hour at home I felt suffocated, so I went back to see my father and Kate. Mum was still there, holding his hand, but it looked like she had fallen asleep. My grandmother and grandpa sat next to her.
"Julia," my grandmother said, not even looking at me, "I think you should take Mary home."
"But, Grandma, what about the white witches? What about your knowledge and connections? You must know where to find them and help Dad, right?" I said, squatting in front of her. She shook her head, inhaling loudly.
"They exist but you won't find them; that’s why there is so much disease and death in this world. Whoever used black magic on my son broke all the rules, pushed the boundaries of magical laws. That’s why we don’t mess with death, because it damages the soul. I'm sorry, Julia, but your father’s dying. You need to accept this now. It will make it easier to deal with later."
Grief took over my last bit of hope. After that, tears started rolling down my face.
“I'll find a way to help him. It’s paranormal and I should know how to trick death, Grandma," I said fervently, even though it felt like my legs were going to give out. Everyone had crossed off Dad’s chances of getting better. I didn't understand. My grandmother was never one to just give up.
"Hon, your grandmother’s right. You should leave—"
"No. You have no right to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do. White witches are out there somewhere, and I’ll find at least one."
My grandmother stared at me for a while, not even trying to convince me that I was wrong. She looked like she had given up on Dad. She didn’t answer, just walked away without a word, leaving me and my mother in Dad’s room. It wasn't easy to explain to Mum that Grandma had given up. I didn’t want to tell her that Dad had no chance of survival.
I used my own crappy magic to take her home, although my heart was breaking. My family home had burned down. Mum rented a smaller two-bedroom terrace home a few streets further down, but I couldn’t leave her there alone, so I decided to stay. We both had work tomorrow, but I wasn't sure what I preferred: waking up knowing that my father only had a few weeks to live or the fact that I couldn't help him.
The poison had spread to my family and whoever hurt my father had better careful because I was coming after them with a vengeance.

***


Mum went to work the next day, but before she left, she said that if magic really did exist then Dad still had a chance to live. My phone started ringing like crazy. Nathaniel and Kelsie found out about my father from the papers and they were very supportive about the whole thing. Straight after I got off the phone with them, Rufus rang. I appreciated everyone’s kind words, but they weren't able to help me, even Nathaniel. White witches were somewhere out there. Supernatural beings who could cure anything and anyone? Yeah, all of this sounded like something from a sci-fi novel, but right now I was willing to believe in aliens if they could help bring my father back.
I showed up in the office just after ten o’clock and got on with my work as I usually did. Jasper promised to get in touch with me by five, so I made sure that I kept busy. The clients didn’t disappoint. The orders from Lucinda continued rolling in and I even skipped lunch. Thoughts about Dad and Kate were always there, but I managed to block them out until my shift was over. Alexandra took over, asking if I was all right.
I wanted to burn all the newspapers because I didn’t want to talk about last night. It seemed like all of a sudden death was following me everywhere, hurting people I cared about.
Jasper was waiting for me outside the office. He was wearing a black coat with a brown scarf. My stomach churned when I saw him. An odd memory of us together flashed through my mind. How far was I willing to go in order to help my father and Kate? Not that far. I shuddered at the mere thought.
"Julia, I need to tell you this before we go any further," he said as we were walking towards his car. "Those witches in the coven aren’t like me. Paranormals are scared. The Nordic witches are bringing back the ritual use of death, using humans as sacrifices. Wizards who would normally talk are keeping their mouths shut."
"What are you saying, Jasper? That you’ll let my father die?" I asked, swallowing back tears. Since yesterday I had been falling apart. My strength was gone and now my ex-boyfriend warned me that even with his help I couldn’t do anything for my father.
He narrowed his eyes, putting his arm around my elbow.
"No, I'm just preparing you for the worst," he said as we stopped in front of his car. I got in without hesitation and then my phone began to ring. I glanced at the screen seeing Nathaniel’s smiling face. I sent it to voicemail.
"Maybe you should pick up," Jasper suggested.
“It's not important," I replied, knowing that wherever Jasper was planning to take me was more important than a conversation with Nathaniel about my life. At that moment there was no place in my heart for him. I could only think about my father and Kate; my heart was shattered.
It had been three years since I stopped seeing Jasper. This time around he didn’t take me to his obscure flat in Hackney, but to a modern townhouse on the outskirts of London. I never thought that his business could bring him a profit, but obviously I was wrong, judging by the expensive décor and furniture.
"So, what’s the plan? Where are we going tonight?" I asked as he went into his secret bar and poured me a glass of red wine. Drinking on a work night wasn't a good idea, but I needed to relax. I had no idea what Jasper was planning to do.
"To the party I mentioned a few days ago. It’s more than just a cocktail party. This is your best opportunity to find someone who might know more about the white witches. In order for me to smuggle you in there, you’ve got to act like my apprentice. Only witches and wizards are allowed to attend. If I get caught they’ll kill me." He sat on the black sofa next to me. I swallowed hard and took a sip of wine, thinking that alcohol might give me the courage to go through with this.
"But I'm half elf, my scent is going to be apparent—"
"Spells; we’ll use magic and a potion. Just act like you know what they’re talking about. There might be some things there that scare you, but you need to stay calm. These wizards won't hesitate to kill you if they smell a rat."
My stomach churned again.
If you don’t go through with this, Dad won't have a chance, I reminded myself while Jasper kept staring at me with his hungry brown eyes.
"These wizards, would they know how to help my father and Kate? How to find the white witch?"
"There might be someone there who has the information we need. Don’t ask too many questions. Let me deal with that. Now I just need a few things and we can start transforming you into my young apprentice."
Jasper smiled tightly, finished his wine, and left the room. I felt a wave of magic waking up inside me. My phone started vibrating again, but I switched it off. It was Nathaniel again. I wasn't sure how long my father had to live; the healers were talking about a few weeks. Kate’s father left for the Sabbath with hopes of finding a cure for his daughter. The paranormal press didn't give them much chance for recovery. Mum stayed in the hospital whenever she could. She was talking to him, fighting with the healers, insisting this wasn't the end.
I couldn’t quite put everything together. In the past few weeks I thought my life was slowly turning around. There was no more trouble, no more boyfriend problems, and now it seemed like I was chasing my tail.
Jasper came back after some time, holding a few flasks and his magic wand in his hand. Every part of me screamed that this was a bad idea, but I was willing to do whatever was necessary to gain information about white witches. He placed his things on the table and started whispering spells, waving his wand. Then he was in front of me, his heavy eyes rested on mine as he recited a list of Latin words. At first my energy was soaring through me, but then I felt as if it was beginning to diminish. After a few minutes there was no tingling, no pressure in my head or chest.
"Now drink this. We need to make sure your elf genes won't be recognisable," he added in plain English. I took a deep breath and swallowed a grey thick liquid that tasted disgusting and then felt darkness consume me. It came quickly, causing me to lose all consciousness.