Bloodline - Chapter 5: You're not Harry Potter

20th November 2016

 "So, are we going to sacrifice a goat and I have to bath in its blood or look into its guts?" I asked Erika sarcastically and helped her rearrange pillows to the center of our basement, right under freshly painted pentagram and in the circle of bunch of herbs.

"No, but you will have to drink an awful potion with a few drops of my blood," she answered deadly serious and I made I face. It was enough for me I had to watch how she made that special potion and almost threw up from the smell.

"Great. And then what? You'll give me my magic wand and I'll be witch?"

"You're not Harry Potter, darling. And no, there are no magic wands and stupid waving in the air. To your question then what? I can't tell you what will happen. I don't know it. Every single person who underwent Awakening in our family saw something different. You can see hallucinations, just float in nothingness or be in our ancestors's past. Maybe none of it."

And that's exactly how I imagined my day to start. I really did fucking not! I was seated on those cozy pillows and waited for Erika to cut her finger and let fall a few dropw of her blood into that delicious drink. For the time being I needed to be in the protective circles as she said to me and carefully handed me the potion.

"It's better when you'll just hold your nose and drink it fast," she suggested and I did what she told me. It was so much worse than awful. The word for how bad it was, wasn't even invented yet! I had to take very deep breaths to calm my stomach and in a moment, it was gone. And I didn't feel any different. My ribs were hurting, the unpleasant taste was still in my mouth and Erika still stood in front of me.

"I don't think this is working. Are you sure it's the right formula? I'm not falling through anything or floating and I'm certainly not in someone else's past," I muttered and looked around myself to confirm my words. "Erika?"

There was no answer.

With a blink of an eye I somehow ended up in a car. From that night. And saw everything with a new pair of eyes. It felt like a curtain had fallen to my feet. Shadows I considered dark green trees were moving against the direction we were driving. Just looking into them hurt my eyes so I tried to focus on my parents, except there was something like a constantly shifting grey smoke in front of my mother. My dad's eyer were red. And then he spoke. It wasn't voice of my father, his voice wasn't filled with poison and evil intentions. Also this one was much more deeper and in the same time like a nail schreeching against a board - not from our world. I didn't know how I could miss what he was saying that day. That gut wrenching and ears killing voice. "You have hidden her well, old friend. But I will find her. And I will kill her."

The moment I grabbed my mother's shoulder a pair of yellow eyes flashed, then her head fell and my hand covered another one with solid long claws but never left a mark. Then I screamed.

For a moment, my dad's stormy eyes flashed back and it was him again, with his famous last words how he will make things right. Then another shadows covered me and I was rolling down the road. With the explosion of our car I moved to another memory.

It was dad with Erika. The last time I saw her as a child and they were arguing about something in our kitchen.

"You know very well what could happen!" Erika spoke quietly with a fury in her voice.

"I'm willing to take the risk. I want normal life for her. It can end with us, she doesn't have to bear it alone. I will make her the potion and one for myself too. In her case it will just, let her powers sleep - you know that. She won't need to undergo it."

"Are you sane? You don't know what will happen! Fo fuck's sake I could be dead tomorrow or you! And when we will need her or when she will need her powers, undergoing Awakening could kill her."

"I won't let go it that far."

"I really doubt it, dear brother of mine."

Come out, come out, wherever you are...

My blood was boiling. I could see the veins under my skin, feel the flow in them. They spoke to me. About my powers, about my family's history and every time I tried to fight that pain it just became worse. I thought it would tear me apart.

And I was scared.

I was scared because I realized what Erika said. This actually could kill me. Why the fuck did I agree to this? Oh, right. Because I was stupid. Because I thought being a witch would help to revenge my parent's death. Wrong. There were so many things I didn't know about, things that would scare me shitless but I was too eager to gain knowledge, to move forward I ignored every possible threat. It didn't occur to me that knowing stuff isn't the most important thing under the sun. As Erika said, I needed to keep myself alive, to gain experience and if everything will go to hell, then just run.

I heard some noise, someone's voice. A scream. Who the hell was it? I was here alone.

Oh, it was me.

My heart was pounding so fast I thought it will burst out of my chest, I had accelerated breathing and I was holding my head with both hands because it seemed like every single drop of blood just flew into it. Hearing only the rush of it, not my screams - that was something. Fainting sounded like a good plan to avoid more pain and let's be honest, if I was in a real world I would be fainting pretty quickly from that agonizing pain. But no, not here.

Come out, come out, wherever you are...

Everything around me was dark, so dark I couldn't even see my arms if I stretched them in front of me. Pitch black. Except the hissing which became louder and louder with every second but I stood on my spot and refused to move. Like a statue.

"You are afraid, my child," the hissing voice said and I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Was my yelled answer. I looked around myself again but there was nothing. Where did it come from?

"Open your eye, child," it sounded so amused I couldn't believe it and had no idea what it talked about.

Obviously clearing my throat was the only action I managed. "Uhm, I'm sorry?"

"I said open your eye!" Not so amused now then.

With a blink of an eye every single detail around me changed. And from a very close distance the was a pair of yellow-greenish eyes. Not cat's or some bird's. It was a snake. A giant snake, slowly eating its own tail. What a fucking joy. The animal actually seemed pleased.

"Do not be afraid. Your souls have been here many times."

"O-our souls?" So there were some details Erika obviously didn't mention but my sarcastic mouth did a clever thing for once and was silent. Mostly. I didn't trust this giant and was thrilled to get out. This place gave me creeps.

"You thought that with every death the soul dies too? Do not be stupid, child. Every soul is reborn. It is a never-ending cycle."

My mind just stopped working. Maybe it was in shock from fear of just stopped but everything I could think about was how the fuck can it talk?

"You are funny one. And clever too. So do not act stupid, child. There is a very hard path ahead of you, so choose your allies very carefully and do not think knowledge is everything."

"Knowledge is important."

"I never said it is not. But remember - there are more important things. You will realize that soon enough. Your home is full of Children of the Night or Moon Children. There are some other creatures, very old. And every single one of them can be your ally. Or enemy. Depends on your choices."

Now I was confused. "What?"

"Before in other world, some creatures, some demons escaped and came here, to your world. Without them, there would be no supernatural here. And one of those ancient children has come to hunt you down."

I thought my heart stopped but in a second it started beating quicker.

"Know your past, know your soul. And now off you go."

 
Its eyes focused directly at me and I was falling. I woke up with loud intake of breath and rush of an adrenaline made me stand up. In front of me stood Erika with a grimoire in her hands and smiled. I wanted to shoot her one of my own smiles too but my eyes rolled into my skull and my body collapsed to the ground.