Ash And Curses

Chapter Twelve

"I... I stabbed my Dad"Miley sobbed.
"I killed him. But he had no blood.. I..."Miley was shaking in every limb and Kate pulled her close.
"She...she's had my parents for years, she made me kill my Dad... I might lose my powers"Miley whispered.
"With your description, that wasn't your Dad. She must have destroyed his soul and put in a different soul"Kate said.
"Besides, you were trying to save your life"Frankie said, rubbing her back soothingly.
"I knew there was something about that Bianca girl"he muttered to himself.

Miley looked up with teary eyes.
"She must have done that to my Mum too"she sobbed.
"And the book is still there, I need to get it."
"I'll go with you"Kate and Frankie said at the same time. They stared at themselves.
"No. I've put your lives in lots of dangers, I need to do this on my own"Miley said.
"Miley..."Kate whispered.
"I'll be fine. I promise"she smiled and ran the back of her palm over her nostrils. Frankie handed her a tissue paper.
"We're your friends, Miley. Friends stick with each other"Kate said.
"Didn't you read the book? Bad things always happens to the friends and, I don't want anything to happen to you. I need to do this on my own"Miley said.
"Bianca– Aurora might be up to something"she continued.
"You left that building luckily, what if something bad happens?"Frankie asked.
"Many bad things has happened to me. I never felt the warmth of a parent... I killed my own father and I might lose my powers. What's more to lose?"Miley sighed.

"You're not in your right state of mind M, come to the bedroom"Kate said, pulling her up.
"I'll be fine. Y'all take care of yourself please"she said and snapped her fingers.
"She's gone!"Frankie exclaimed, hitting the sofa.
"We need to help her"he said.

                         ★
Miley appeared in the middle of Aurora's sitting room. The book was lying carelessly on the table and there was no sign of Aurora anywhere. She knew it was a trap and was ready to fall for the trap.
After scanning the whole place one last time, she ran to where the book lay and grabbed it.
Almost immediately, there was a shrill cry. The voice sounded familiar.
"Mum?"Miley whispered, following the direction of the cry. It got louder with every step she took. Finally, she got to where the helpless woman lay. Aurora stood beside her, poking her with a hot iron. She grinned as soon as she saw Miley and poked Helen again.
"You love to see your mother cry?"she asked.
"That's not my Mum"Miley said.
"Come get your Mummy"Aurora laughed, poking Helen harder.
"Miley!"Helen cried.
"You are not my mother"Miley replied.

Aurora sighed and dropped the iron, then pulled Helen up and pushed her forward.
"It seems you've made up your mind not to give me what I want, you can have your miserable mother"Aurora said. Helen staggered and fell to the ground weakly. She crawled to where Miley stood.
"Miley"she whispered, trying to touch her. "Give her what she wants please."
Miley stared at the woman with bony hands a yellow eyes. "You are not my mother"she muttered and stretched out her hand.
"I know what you are trying to do Aurora. You're trying to manipulate me. You've killed my Mum and put another soul in her body"Miley said as she lifted Helen and threw her to the wall. She fell with a loud thud. Miley waited for a green substance to seep out but nothing came.
Instead, red blood trickled.

"Mummy!"she cried, running to where Helen's body lay. She shook her body vigorously but there was no response.
"You killed her!"she yelled at Aurora.
"No, you killed her"Aurora smirked. "I knew it was going to happen"she continued.
"You made me think you took away her soul..."Miley said and gasped slightly. She could feel something rapidly leaving her body.
"You were the one who misused your powers. Now I can finally possess you"Aurora smiled as she watched Miley trying to stand up.
"You'll...you'll pay for this"she spat at Aurora's face. Aurora laughed and dragged her out of the room. She placed her thumb on Miley's forehead and was muttering incoherently when the door opened.
"Miley are you okay?!"Frankie yelled and stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw Aurora. Miley's eyes was slowly turning green.
"Let her go!"Kate yelled, yanking off her thumb from Miley's forehead.

"Kate...take the book and run. Run to the cave. Drop it and leave immediately"Miley said in a whisper, swaying left and right as if she was drunk. Kate grabbed the book immediately and bolted.
"Slave of The Keeper Of Evil, gorge out his eyes"Aurora said, pointing at Frankie.
"Frankie run...I'm not me"Miley pleaded, moving forward.
"Miley"he whispered.
"Run please"she cried and reeled forward, trying to grab his neck. Frankie ducked and ran away, screaming.
Miley's eyes suddenly turned normal. "What are you doing to me?!"she yelled and snapped her fingers, disappearing into thin air.
"Oh no you don't, I need to take over fully!"Aurora yelled, disappearing too.

.....
..........
......

Miley ran into the cave, panting heavily. The book was right in front of her but as she moved towards it, it went backwards and lights sparked on the cover.
"It isn't my fault"Miley cried. She was getting weaker every minute.
"All my life... I wanted to live a normal life, you did this to me! You put me in a wrong generation and made my parents disappear. You... you knew all of this was going to happen"she sobbed and fell to the ground.
"I killed my Mum trying to protect you and this is all I get."

She was quiet for some time.

"You knew at the end I have to give up my life to protect you"she muttered.
"Aurora is an ancient witch, if she possesses me, I'm literally dead. I have nothing to live for."
"All my life, I always wondered what happened to my parents...why they disappeared into thin air. I wanted to find out the truth but I didn't know how. If I knew the payment for the truth was death, I wouldn't have bothered asking questions. If I knew you'd give me powers and take them back, I wouldn't have made any contact with you"she said and coughed.
Her eyes were turning green again.

"She's coming. She's coming to take my soul and finally have contact with you. Then take over the world"she laughed and sniffed.
"But I have nothing else to live for. And I'm not selfish"she knelt.
"Exchange my soul with your Curse. Kill me for killing another and seal your pathetic Temple with my blood. The blood of a naive teenager. Yes"she muttered and grabbed the book. Lightening from the book struck her hand but she held to it tightly. She heard familiar voices yelling and she knew who they were.

"Go away. Pick my body later"she smiled.
"I place a double Curse on anyone who forcefully wants to take over. I seal this curse with my Ash. Purify your pathetic cave with my soul"she muttered. Within few seconds, her body was engulfed in flames.
....
..........
.......
"Run!"Frankie yelled, pulling Kate out of the cave.
"But Miley"Kate cried.
"No. Miley's gone, we need to go!"he said pulling her away.
                      ★

Aurora stood outside the cave and smiled. "Finally"she whispered and touched the cave. An unexplainable force pulled her away and she fell. The remnants of the ash in the bottle splattered everywhere. "No, no, no. She didn't sacrifice herself"Aurora said and went to the cave again. A force stronger than the first hit her and she fell. An invisible object wrapped itself around her neck. She muttered some words in pain and anguish, then she rolled inches away from the cave. She stared at it one last time.
"I always get what I want"she smirked before leaving.

𝑺𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓...
Her phone rang and Kate groaned as she picked it.
"What?"she asked.
"Today's the 13th"Frankie said from the other end and Kate suddenly went cold. She dropped the phone on the bed and rushed to the bathroom to rinse her face. It was exactly a year since Miley died. The image of Miley burning and still laughing never left her memory.
"Why would he remind me of this?"she sniffed and stared at herself in the mirror.
"I'll always love you, Miley"she muttered and was about to leave when a strange object caught her attention. It was lying on the sink.
"I didn't put nothing there"she muttered as she moved closer.
A paper was on the sink and "Return" was boldly written on it with a grey substance.
"No"Kate tried to suppress a scream...