Slender Man Chronicles (Matched Collectors)

Chapter 12

"Beth's a witch?" I was trying to comprehend what Emily just told me.

"No," she shook her head. "You don't have to be a witch to perform a spell. I know several, and so does Sean. In fact, we've been performing a basic protection spell on ourselves since kindergarten."

"Then, how do they know it was Beth?" I reached over to put a hand on her knee. I kind of wanted to distract her because I wanted to kiss her.

"Misha, she's Dad's childhood friend and second in command in his circle, was working and finally untangled everything," she thumbed through some of the papers she was holding. "I'm just going to tell you. Beth tried to cast a love spell to have you fall in love with her." I laughed. Seriously? "I'm being serious."

"Ok, I'm sorry," I got myself under control. "A love spell?"

"Sweetness, there's a spell for everything," Emily put the papers down. "Dad designs spells all the time for things. Anyway, there are websites out there that sell spells, the things you need for them, all that. Usually, it's a disaster. There are very reputable witches out there that have shops that will help you, but Beth was a desperate wannabe."

"They're sure?" I asked.

"Yes," Emily nodded. "Daddy read her tonight when she screamed. She's human, very human. Monday I'll show you, Daddy showed me how I can extend that power into you so that you can see it."

"For real?" I was amazed.

"Yes," she smiled. "Because of our bonds. I can do it with Brody too. Anyway, back to Beth. So, she tried to cast the love spell she'd found, and yes they tracked down the website and Dad is having it shut down, and it backfired," she handed me the papers she'd been holding.

"What's all this?" I looked through them.

"Just in case you want to read the stuff," she pointed at some of the paragraphs. "The reason it backfired is that we're Matched. You can't cast a love spell on a Matched Pair. Our bond in that respect is protected by Venus and Aphrodite, all Matches are. If you try, it bounces off in such a way that something nasty is conjured."

"The slender man," I whispered and she nodded. "So, when did she cast it?"

"The night before the slender man appeared and went after me," Emily took the papers back and found what looked like a timeline. "The spell told her to wait for like twenty-four hours after she cast it, so she would have cast it, the next day the slender man shows up, then the next morning she tried to kiss you. It fits. She waited because you were with me, and the whole slender man thing. It could have just as easily let out a demon of some sort, or a plague. But, we got a slender man."

"What are they going to do?" I put the papers down. Part of me just wanted to know what Emily and I needed to do.

"I helped Dad perform a binding spell while you were gone," Emily saw the confused look on my face. "You told him you'd heard Jessica thinking that Beth needed to try the spell again. The binding is to keep Beth from casting any more spells and doing any further harm. She'll never know it's been cast on her, Dad's too powerful. Any of these little kits she could buy on line won't reveal anything."

I was overwhelmed, and stood up. "She really tried casting a spell to get me to fall in love with her?" Emily nodded at me again. "Do those work?"

"For awhile," she shrugged. "It's just like any other spell, you have to be careful. Love spells are touchy, especially when the person you're wanting to love you doesn't really. Like Beth, you've made it clear you don't even like her as a person. It's kind of hard, she's a bitch," I was shocked that Emily used that kind of language, but she was right. "So, a person like that casts a spell and someone falls in love. The internet things wear off fast, and then the person who was forced to love the other grows resentful and it ends as a huge failure. You could cast it again and again, but that kind of energy thrown out into the world will always blow up on you."