Forever Charmed

Sacrifice

"Stay behind me, if you will," Vordenberg says to Carmilla.

Laura looks over to Theo. "You were supposed to protect her."

Vordenberg lets out a cackle. "Oh, don't blame him, dear. He had no choice. Just like his duplicate had no choice when I made him tell me where you were keeping her. Or when I told his other duplicates to send all the people he was in charge of straight to me... Or when I used my powers to have whitelighters and witches turn on each other in that godforsaken school..."

Laura's eyes widen. "No..." she whispers in horror.

"Yes. Well. You should've continued to be a good little stubborn girl and refused to be a sacrifice. Or at the very least, be more amenable to be a part of mine," he says, walking away from Carmilla and Theo. "Nobody is allowed to move." He leans on his cane gleefully, taking in the room before him.

Laura feels her body go numb and then stiffen as she tries to resist. Getting a taste of my own medicine isn't very fun.

"I'm going to make you all watch as I begin my ritual," he sneers.

I've gotta stall. Laura racks her brain, trying to come up with something.

Vordenberg glances at Theo. "Go have your original self assemble my followers and bring them here."

Theo nods grudgingly and vanishes from sight.

Laura continues to struggle against the invisible force holding her in place, to no avail.

"Why did you start making it so blatantly obvious you were assembling an army? You waited so long while doing it in secrecy," Laura says.

Vordenberg looks at her, surprised that she's speaking. Clearly his command for no one to move was supposed to extend to talking. Laura glances around the room and from what she can tell, everyone else is just as shocked that she's able to speak.

"I'll indulge your questions until my cattle show up," Vordenberg replies. "I'd already spent so long executing my plans in the shadows. When I tracked down the latest sacrifice and found you in that barbaric demonic fighting ring, and realized you shared my gifts, I realized I no longer had the luxury of taking my time."

"Why?" Laura asks, still pushing against her magical restraints.

"Most sacrifices only keep the gates closed for a few years. But by using someone as powerful as you, there wouldn't need to be another ritual for decades. Even I don't have the patience to continue waiting that long," Vordenberg replies, twirling his cane. "The Dean's visions are based on the most powerful magical being at the time of the ritual. Well, all the ones on the side of good, anyway."

Laura looks over to the Dean, glaring at her. "So there could've been another option."

"If there was, she wouldn't have known. Seers may be more or less on the fence in the great cosmic scheme of things, but their powers are rooted in evil. Their visions are fundamentally biased."

Laura clenches her jaw and Vordenberg observes her, curious.

"Tell me something. You have the same powers and gifts as I do. And yet, from what I've heard, you refuse to use them unless absolutely necessary. Even when I was still a good witch, I didn't have these qualms. I didn't use them for evil, but I did use my powers with little restraint." He cocks his head to the side. "Why won't you use yours?"

Laura continues to fight the invisible barrier holding her in place. "Because," she swallows hard, looking at her frozen comrades around the room, "our gift has so much power behind them. Why command others to follow my wishes when I can just try to convince them and let them decide for themselves?"