Tis the night of the witch

Delivered From The Power Of Darkness

"You want to talk? He asks
"If that's ok?".
He nods, "I will tell you what i can".

"What was with the car?" You ask immediately.
"When I met Mitch at your home, he was there first, of course". You nod
"He had said there was a car that kept driving past, he was not sure if it was the same one. I carried you to bed..", you blush again.
"We spoke for a while, we kept an eye out, of course he was right and I noticed it was the same car. It's why he and I packed the car and why I did not leave your side walking to the car."
He pauses.
"I noticed them following us straight away and .... I dealt with them" he says bringing his hands up a little.

"Do you know who?"
He sighs, "one I recognised, one I did not".
"Who?" You ask again.
"Mia bella strega non posso dirtelo" he mutters shaking his head.
"I don't speak Italian" you remind him.
"Are you sure you want to know?" He asks.
"I think I already know" you watch him struggle, so you say it for him "The priest?".
He nods.

"Did they say anything?" You ask
He smirks immediately "I did not give them time".
He reaches for your hand, "I told you, you are safe here y/n".

"This just leaves more questions" you sigh letting go of his hand to rub your face, frustraited. "What do they want from me? And Why?" You groan.

You watch Papa get up and go to a cupboard. He pulls put a very old worn book, he flicks through and pauses at a page. He comes back and puts it on your lap and points to a a passage.

"Delivered from the power of darkness.
Born from those who implement sin. Tormented and abandoned,
She rises on black wings of crows.
The power of the Devil himself within.
Those who do not covet her,
From the shadows and ashes
Will fall.
For if she is not kept guarded from the pious,
She will surely burn.

The one who yearns her,
A leader of deliverance and disobedience.
Not even in death shall he forsake,
The one born,
Delivered from the power of darkness."

You fold the book over to see what it it's called, there's no name.
"They want to burn you at the stake" he pauses "So to speak" he says as you hand him the book back.

"Because of an old poem in an old book?" You ask in disbelief
"No, because of an ancient text that warns of a most powerful witch who, when she comes into her power, destroys all that destroyed her using the devils tools. They are afraid of you".

"What?! That's not... How can anyone tell if that's about me... or anyone else?!"

"Tesoro" he sits back down with you still holding the book.
"Lucifer led you to us, and you have a power in you that everyone can see but yourself"
You stare at him
"When will you see it?" He leans back on the sofa.

"Even if it is true, how would they know?"
He leans forward again fixing himself a drink that's on a silver tray on his coffee table.
He gestures to the other glass and looks at you. "Ah no thanks".
He chuckles.

"They have their ways" he takes a large gulp of his drink.
"And what about the yearning part? No ones ever yearned for me, except maybe my cat and she is a disobedient little gremlin." You accidentally snort at you own joke and cover your mouth with your hand in surpsie.

Papa almost chokes on his drink and starts heartily laughing. It makes you smile watching his face genuinly light up.
You stay up chatting about numerous things well into the early morning.

You feel your eyelids drooping, before you know it you're asleep.

You're tied to a wooden pole, there's fire all around you, its hot but it doesnt burn.
Through the flames you spot your mother and him. Everyone screaming in triumph.
The anger rages inside you, your restraints burn off your body.
You push your hands out infront of you and bend the fire towards the crowd turning them all to ash.
Except Papa, who remains unharmed.
Black wings unfurl from behind and you fly out of the fire, into his arms.

You open your eyes, the sun is shining brightly through the room.
You realize youre resting on Papas chest, he has one arm around you and one hand in a fist holding his sleeping head up. You move slowly so you don't wake him.

You intend to leave but see the book on the coffee table and curiosity gets the better of you.
You pick it up and open it. Flicking through pages, writing you can't understand, writing in other languages, codes and some kind of hieroglyphs and weird pictures.

You find the poem just past the middle of the book and re read it.
You see a tiny spot at the bottom of the page that you missed.
Roman numerals, you look up what they are on your phone.
Wait... "What the FUCK?"

Papa wakes almost falling of his hand, "Y/n what are you doing?".
He takes the book off you. "What is it?" He scans the pages sleepily.
"That" you point at the bottom of the page.
"Sì, it's a date or location but no one knows why it's there or what it signifies".
"Are you sure?" You barely whisper.
Papa looks at you and sees the shock on your face. He closes the book and turns to you.
"What is it tesoro? He asks turning your head gently to face him with his hand.
You stare at him, you try to open your mouth to speak but you can't.
"What's the numbers?" You breathe
He opens the book and repeats it back to you confirming that you hadn't gotten it wrong.

Hardly believing it you close your eyes and rub your face. Maybe if I keep my eyes shut eveything will stop

"What's wrong y/n?" Papa asks again
You look up from behind your hands.

"It's my birthday".

*****
Mia bella strega non posso dirtelo - My beautiful witch I can not tell you