It Can't Be

I'm Sorry

Rebecca reached under the couch and grabbed an old tarnished wooden box. When she opened it I choked. There were cat and bird heads, jars of what I could only assume to be blood, human fingers, and various herbs.

"Never seen a witches box before? They're pretty unique" the enjoyment in her voice terrified me.

"Put this on, it will help with the nausea" she handed me a beaded green and beige bracelet. I slipped it on my wrist and fiddled with the beads.

"Do I have to, uhm, drink anything?" The thought of drinking whatever blood looking concoction she had made my stomach turn.

"Nah, it's a different kind of spell" she then started to lay leaves on my arms which insinuated I needed to lay still. A lovely sage smell arose to my nostrils calming my nerves. Maybe it won't be that bad.

"Grab this," she said passing me a squeeze stress ball "it's better to squeeze this than hurt yourself further" there was a very small twinge of pity in her voice, oh no.

She then started chanting some words that I could only assume were Latin. At first there was only a pinch along my arms which was uncomfortable, but bearable. The pinching feeling then drastically changed, it felt like my arms were burning. I let out a small squeal but squeezed my mouth shut. Soon the burning feeling started moving up my arms and to my chest. I thought my heart might explode. I started yelling loud noises of pain, unable to keep my composure.

Once my whole body was enveloped in the firey burning sensation a foggy figure appeared behind Rebecca. I couldn't quite tell who it was at first, they were just shadowed and my thought process was nulled from the excruciating pain. When the figure metastasized I instantly recognized the figure, it was my mom.

"Carter baby please, come home to me. Please baby we miss you"

"Mom! Please! I'm so sorry!"

"Carter why-" a knife protruded through her mouth. Blood drizzled out of her eyes and mouth and her body dropped to the floor. Behind her was Alex with a smug look on his face.

"You monster! She never did anything to you!" I could feel the warm feeling of tears streaming down my face. The pain on my body felt like nothing compared to seeing my mom on the floor dead.

"You're going back on my wishes, you've got to pay up somehow"

His wishes... my arms... the spell! I needed to keep a level head.

"You aren't real, just a figment from the stupid spell" he chuckled darkly and his eyes ringed yellow.

"Are you so sure?" He slowly advanced towards me and grabbed my face.

"Ooh you're all red and tingling. I love some fizz in my drinks" I tried to shake my head away but his grip was too strong. The nasty sound of his teeth puncturing my neck caused me to scream further. The pain was worse than anything I'd felt before. I could only compared it to a zillion bee stings in the same two spots. I started to see black.

"Carter!" A hushed voice called, "Carter this isn't real! Focus on my voice, please Carter!" The swirling stopped and Alex's face and body dissolved away into thin air. The burning sensation started to dissipate back to my arms and eventually stopped completely. I sucked in a huge breath and panted heavily. Soon I started sobbing and choking on my tears.

"Carter please, I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry" Elijah pulled me into his chest tightly muffling my crying noises. I squeezed his shirt in my fists and tugged it, trying to get a grasp on everything that was real.

"That was quicker than expected," Rebecca called over my cries "take her upstairs, she's too loud" Quickly Elijah tucked his arm under my knees and carried me upstairs. My sobs were still extremely loud but there was nothing I could do. I was shaking and a mess. I wanted to curl up in a ball and die.