Dahlia - The Velvet Witch and Her Dark Spirit

PART 23 - LAYLAH

A week later and the pain is nothing but worse. Knowing she's gone has crippled my mind and caused my body to ache all over. I'm bleeding out from the inside, dying a slow painful death. Make it stop, please, just take me now—I'm done.

Nobody hears but me. So, I decide to take care of the problem myself. I pad over to the kitchen and open the bag of pills from Ruben. I run a tall glass of water until it's full. Then without hesitating, I slam a handful of pills into my mouth and bring the glass to my lips. A slosh of water hits the back of my throat, and I choke. My eyes go wild as I realise I can't breathe. I dance around like a maniac trying to belt my own back. My life flashes up, and I see her face. Dahlia's staring at me to see what I'll do next. Fall over or fight. Give in or give it hell.

I line the door up and sprint backwards, jumping at the very last second to give it everything I've got. The wooden door claps my back hard enough to dislodge the wad of pills from my throat. It lands on the ground and looks like a chemist's stew. I drop to all fours and pant as I stare at the mess that was about to take my life.

I need to flip the script and get the fuck away from my sorrow. I need someone to show me the way forward. Someone in tune with this state, someone that can give me perspective, a vision, a path, a beacon to guide me through the fog.

I close my eyes and let the heavy thump of an adrenalin headache beat its rhythm in my brain. Whomp, whomp, whomp. It helps to reset the craze from a moment ago. I collapse onto the floor and lay on my back as the whomps slow down. I tune into my third eye, certain there'll be some sort of sanctuary there.

The space is white and empty, like an endless ice rink and is only interrupted by a distant and lonely fisherman's hut. I push off and slide along, hoping the little shack holds big answers. I drag my foot as a brake as I get near, then knock on the door when I arrive.

"Levi, come in," calls a feminine voice.

Laylah is inside, as well as a burning firepot and two chairs. She takes my hands as I sit across from her.

"Levi," she says after some time.

"Are you OK?" I ask as I get lost in her sorrow-filled eyes.

"No, but it helps to be here."

Laylah's entire world revolved around that woman, and I can't help but wonder what's in store for her next?

"I need to see her."

"You know you can't bring her back?" she says as her eyes blaze with the reflection of the fire.

"I don't. I'm a student, remember?"

She raises our hands over the fire as it crackles away.

"Once someone crosses over, it's for good. A spirit can come back, but only in a possession. What's happened to her is permanent," she says with a painful grimace.

My heart sinks, "So where is she then?"

"I don't want to say," she says, staring down.

"Laylah."

"You know where she is. She told me she'd told you."

"Hell?"

I try to free my hands as I fall further into dismay, but she senses it and clamps on.

"Dahlia would've called it Dark Eternity."

"What's the difference?"

"Hell is made up. She's in her master's kingdom, bound and helpless until time stops being, or he chooses to set her free."

"Would he do that?" I say, excited by the prospect.

"I don't think so. Why would he? He's got his captive. Quite a prize, too, what with her standing on Earth. The only way of freeing her bonds is to destroy him."

"So, let's do that," I say enthusiastically.

"You know the answer to that one too, Levi."

I look at her blankly.

"You can only do that from his side of the fence as a spirit. Plus, you'd have to sin dark enough to take you to his Kingdom."

"What kind of sin?"

"The same as Dahlia committed. Murder."

I nod.

"Let me pray for you, Levi."

I close my eyes and lean forward.

"I don't want you to do this," Laylah says matter of factly. "But it's the only chance for her and you too. You and Dahlia are two halves of the same whole. I see that now, and I've let go of my jealousy. We failed her in this world, every one of us, but we can succeed in the next. I'm not brave enough to go, not yet anyway. But you are."

We suck down deep breaths at the reality of what's being said.

"May the Goddess hold your fear clear, and may the stones of obsidian and jasper adorn your shield as you wade into the night. May the goddess bless your hunt into the darkness so you can return Dahlia to freedom."

Then she begins to hum. A wave of energy forms around us as endless as the eye can see. It builds high like a tsunami. The more she chants, the taller it grows until it meets at the top to form a dome. The wave eventually envelopes us both.

I no longer feel sad but charged and ready to fight.

THANK YOU FOR READING PART 23 OF DAHLIA - THE VELVET WITCH AND HER DARK SPIRIT.

IF YOU ENJOYED IT, PLEASE CLICK ON THE STAR TO SHOW YOUR APPROVAL.

PART 24 AVAILABLE 12th of JULY, 2021