Silver Eyes

On the Outs

When we got to Marnie's, she threw open the door and we all stopped dead. A creepy old lady was standing in the kitchen with some burnt, smoking sage.

"Grandma Ethel!" Marnie exclaimed in surprise. Her wrinkly face pulled into a crazy, delighted grin. They hugged and we closed the door behind us, replacing our slightly uncomfortable surprised expressions with polite smiles. "This is my coven." She told the lady to my surprise. Mrs. Blackwell nodded and snuffed her sage in a purple glass ashtray before facing us and putting her hands together.

"This is Silver and Scarlet." Marnie pronounced slowly as if the lady wasn't all there. She looked at us each in turn as if analyzing our eyes. I held out my hand to shake hers, but when she took my hand, she wouldn't let go. She pulled me closer and my eyes were wide in alarm. After she let go, she put her arms out as if gathering us up to show us something.

"Ooooh." She exclaimed as if she thought of something. She started digging through one of the bags on the table, taking out all kinds of strange things like statues of deities, a glass bowl, and a wine bottle full of ash or fine sand. She emerged with a big black book. It definitely looked old and it smelled funny. "I brought you and your friends a present." She told us with a witchy grin.

"Grandma, is this what I think it is?" Marnie asked, her voice dipping and rising in excitement and her fingers dancing over the surface like fluttering moths.

"It's the Blackwell's oldest Book of Shadows from the 1800's." She announced.

"Ohhh, wow." I murmured in awe as Ethel Blackwell handed the book to her granddaughter who positioned herself in front of it and opened the thick dusty black cover and slowly flipped through the thick complex pages. They looked yellow and old, but somehow seemed to have held up really well.

"Is there a spell that keeps the pages from tearing?" Marnie asked with intrigue. Ethel just nodded and something made Marnie stop. "I think we should do this spell." Marnie said as her eyes stuck to the page. There was a picture of a person with pupil-less eyes, holding their hand over a surface with ash or metal hovering off it and I raised an eyebrow. The pot on the stove made a gurgling puffing noise and Ethel shuffled back over to it to turn it down. "Try it!" She called as Marnie peered down at the black and red scrawl.

"I don't have this specific ash." Marnie announced. "Oh, it says I can use aluminum." She realized as I pointed to the side-note. Marnie went to the cabinet and took out a sheet of aluminum foil. "We need a flat surface to draw this circle." She pointed at the pentacle drawn near the head of the female and intercepted with notes and symbols. I grabbed some chalk and Scarlet brought over the black end table from the den that we usually used for our spells.

I drew the pentacle and then the few little symbols, similar to zodiac symbols, I thought. Marnie was busy ripping up the aluminum foil and she stared down at the page as she did it to make sure she didn't miss anything. Grandma Blackwell was stirring her cauldron and throwing in herbs as she mumbled quietly to herself. That's when I recognized the language was the one that Jack used. She was saying a prayer. "Let the wind, fire, earth, and spirit come into this cauldron and imbue only good, natural energy in the mix. Keep away those who may wish harm on the inhabitants of this household." I heard her say.

"Is that done?" Marnie startled me.

"Uh, yeah." I answered, putting down the chalk and moving back away from the table. Marnie scattered the aluminum in a small circle within the pentacle and looked up at each of us.

"Should we light candles?" Scarlet asked.

"No! No candles!" Ethel called, turning down the stove and coming over. "There can't be any extra energy in this spell. Close the doors." She barked pointing to the balcony door that was open a crack. Scarlet looked confused and closed the door and then came back over. I felt Grandma Blackwell's eyes on me. Marnie's were too. Marnie kneeled next to me with a dark, suspicious look in her eyes, a look I had grown used to since Halloween.