My Witch of an Aunt (Emily's Original)

Chapter 26: Max's View

I'm scrolling around google maps on my phone looking for possible locations Sally could be. "Wait a second-" Lexi gasps and I nearly fall off the couch. I sit up, "What, what is it?" "Sally lifted the cloaking spell!" Lexi lifts her hand and a map appears above her palm. In the middle of the forest, a small red marker is blinking. "Let's go!" I jump up but Lexi grabs my arm, "What are you doing?!" "Max, we need to be careful. She could be in danger. Remember Skylee can form outside of her at any time." Lexi lets go of my hand and turns towards Bre, "I'm sorry but you're staying behind. You're still weak from the hospital. I would tell Max to stay too but I already know he won't listen." At least she knows that. Bre looks a little hurt but nods, "I'll clean up here." Bre walks out of the room towards the bedroom. After she's gone Lexi turns and opens my bag. "Wait what are you-?" Lexi pulls out the knife and hands it to me, "You might need this." She looks visibly upset. "How-?" "I've suspected you carried one for a while. You clench your left wrist a lot. Also, I saw you remember? After the storm?" I forgot about that. "I know you can't just stop. But please work on it ok? We all care about you. If you want professional help, tell me. I'll help." I look into Lexi's pale blue eyes before she turns away, "Come on, Sally might be in danger."

We're in the car driving to the woods near Sally's old house. "Max listen to me," I look over to Lexi. She has a serious expression on her face, one I've never seen before. Her eyes don't have their usual spark, her face is more pale, and her body is tense. She glances at me then looks back to the road, "We don't know what we're walking into. One or all of us could end up killed." She's right. I always try not to think of it but, Skylee is extremely powerful. She could probably kill me in seconds. I mean shit, she killed Bre's mom in such a gruesome way and that was by accident. What the fuck could she do on purpose? "There's no debating I'm the better one to take her on. Magic against magic is more even than magic against knife." Lexi glances at me again, "There might be a situation where one of us has to hold off Skylee while the others run. If I tell you guys to run and leave me behind, do not argue. Just run to the car and get out of here. If I don't return to the building you know what happened. Take Skylee down." "Lexi no! We're all making it out of there!" Lexi sighs, "In what situation do we make it out alive? This isn't some story book with a happy ending." I look at Lexi and our eyes meet for a second, "I'm not leaving you. I swear we'll all make it out." Lexi laughs and looks back at the road, "You have the determination of a stereotypical protagonist. Let's hope it doesn't get us killed." With that the car ride continues in silence. I clench the knife in my right hand. Am I really ready for this fight?

We pull up to the woods. "We'll have to travel on foot. I can't picture where it is so I can't teleport." Lexi says as we get out of the car. She held up her hand and a map with a little red blinking dot appeared. Lexi takes a deep breath, "Follow me." Knife in hand I follow Lexi into the forest.

After nearly an hour of walking we see an old looking cabin. Lexi sighs and drops her hand, "This is it." She looks at me with a defeated look, "You ready?" I nod and we both sneak towards the cottage. We make it under the front window and peek inside. "I see her." Skylee is sitting on the couch with a fireplace behind her. Sally is laying across the couch with her head in Skylee's lap. It feels like a punch to the gut to see Sally like this. She's not weak by any means. What did Skylee do to her? Lexi peers in next to me and gasps, "It's worse than we thought. Skylee has already formed outside of Sally. We need to intervene soon or Sally will not be waking up." Tears form in the back of my eyes. She can't die, not yet. I blink them away and nod. "Well, well, what do we have here?" Lexi and I jump and turn around to see Addison standing behind us, "Mind if I join the party?"