The Coven: Book 1

Prologue

  There was an endless pain in her chest. It throbbed harshly, sometimes subsiding for only a moment, only to come just as strong not long after. She feared it would never stop, even as she was drawing her last breaths. But the woman had to keep going, even through the pain. Her right arm clutched the book close to her chest even more, afraid her hand would fail her and the old book would be lost.
Her feet met the harsh texture of the tar on the road she was following. It was dark, with only the full moon lighting the way.

  Ironic… The Moon could no longer fuel her powers but still helped to light her path. Her eyes frantically looked through the area around her, only coming across dark trees from both sides and more road ahead.

  By now, back at the old house, everyone already knew she was gone. And if she had calculated things right, they were now looking for her like mad men. She had no clue how long it had passed or for how long she had been walking. For all she knew, it could have been hours, but then again, the pain running through her entire body was making things way more complicated than they were.

  Her breathing was now loud in her ears and it was becoming more and more ragged. By the way things were going, she highly doubted it would last long.

  Lights coming from behind.

  Her anxiety spiked, fear bubbling and crawling its way into her throat.

  She looked behind herself, tears already burning the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t go back into that hell hole. In the spurt of the moment, she made a left turn and stepped into the grassy forest, mingling with the tall trees.

  Her feet were cut in several places from the harsh tar of the road and now there were sticks and rocks slicing through her already macerated skin. There was shouting behind her, followed by a loud growl. It was the only thing she needed to start running.
It was like running with her eyes closed. She felt everything, on her feet, as it cut through the skin of her exposed legs and arms, the wind on her bruised face and the smell of pines in the air. But the darkness was so thick that she could barely see.

  Her right leg gave in and she fell on the floor in a heap, breath coming in a wet cough. She brought her hand to her chest.

  Something was wrong, something was frighteningly wrong. Panic slowly took over as, for a moment, a way out of this pain began to seem more and more unrealistic. It'd probably take a simple and obvious decision to either give up or keep going at this point, but that decision just didn't seem to come.
Her head felt eerily light, everything seemed to spin around her in a blur of motion and her legs could barely carry her anymore.

  “Come on, all you have to do is get up…”

  More tears ran down her cheeks, stinging as they fell into the cuts on her skin. She was desperate to move and her body didn’t seem to answer at all. At this point, they would find her and she would go back to that horrible house.

  “I don’t want to die here… alone. Lucy, where are you!”

  Fear spiked even more when there was another shout and growl not far behind.

  On a last attempt, her legs finally obeyed and she was able to get up, supporting her weight on a tree. Another cough. And this time the eerie taste of iron and the thickness of blood in her mouth was alarming.

  Just a bit more…

  One more step, and then another, and another. Her movements were slow and sluggish, her energy basically gone as she took small steps forward.
She rounded a particularly bigger tree and found a small crook beneath it, just big enough for someone to hide in. She crouched and took shelter there, waiting for the sounds behind her to dim.

  It seemed like hours passed until there was quiet again. And there was a moment of wanting to find comfort in that little crook and just lay there. Waiting for it to end. But maybe it was that little hope to still find Lucy that made her now sick and aching body move and start to walk again. Maybe if she kept at it for long enough, she would find people.

  One more step, moving slowly and trying to stay awake for as long as possible. Her chest was constricted, pain throbbing again and again.
Just one more step…

  One more…

  At the next one her body slumped heavily onto the floor, legs giving in. Her shoulder throbbed harshly with pain as soon as it hit the floor. And instantly her brain was overwhelmed with a strange feeling of sleepiness. All she wanted was sleep.

  She needed Lucy.

  But what if Lucy wasn’t looking anymore? What if Lucy was so angry that, no matter what happened to the woman, Lucy wouldn’t look for her?

  Tears flowed freely now.

  This was it. This was the end of it. Everything was pointless, now. It didn’t matter.

  Fear creeped up again. She didn’t want to be here alone. She wanted to live, not die in the middle of nowhere, alone.

  But what was the point?

  She drew in another breath, this time feeling in the smell of trees, dirt and the blood that was now soaking the floor beneath her. It hurt, everything hurt immensely and it didn’t seem like it was going to stop anytime soon.

  She was counting her breaths, now. One at a time, slowly and carefully, as if to keep her mind distracted from the on growing pain in her whole being.

  One more breath.

  Her ribs complained with pain, asking for rest.

  Another breath.

  The twins would surely be devasted when they heard their baby sister was dead, no?

  One more breath, this one quivered.

  What would Lucy do? Would she still be mad? Or maybe she would blame herself for not having protected her ‘girls’. Lucy always blamed herself for everything.

  Her eyes fluttered closed.

  And she forgot to breathe.

~ Sass 😘