Three Drops Final (ABANDONED)

Chapter 4- The Story

Braith's POV

"My great grandparents were among the first to fully integrate into the human world several hundreds of years ago. They were part of the Virgo Coven, the 9th coven out of 12, but as the humans and their realm began to make rapid progress as a society, some of the supernatural decided to join them, as I suspect you know."

I nodded in agreement, attentive.

"They were among the first to do so, and though most of the covens, even their own and their parents, shunned them for it, some witches agreed with them, mostly the coven-less ones. In the end, only 10 others made the transition even though they belonged to a coven."

Cassandra paused, but I remained silent, my interest piqued.

"Haltser and Greda –those were their named– figured out a way to reduce their lifespans and put themselves on the same life cycle as humans, to help them blend in. Ever since then, my family has lived disconnected from the supernatural world."

"Until..?" I asked.

She nodded in acknowledgement and sighed. "Until Annelise."

"Elaborate please."

"We grew up as neighbours. We were the same age and in the same class, and so we grew to be fast friends. Obviously, I couldn't tell her of my family's history, but otherwise, we were close as could be. Then, around the age of fifteen... Gods, I should've known there and then that something was wrong."

"What was going on?"

"She kept disappearing, running away, it was strange. Like... she was scared. She was manic. And then she disappeared completely. I called the police, and they got into her house. And there was her family– dead. All of them had been killed. It was clear that she had tried to clean it up and dispose of the bodies, but she hadn't killed them."

A shiver ran down my spine. Only fifteen...

"I didn't see her again for almost two years."

"Two years? What happened?"

"I don't know. But when she came back... she was different. Very different. She knew about the supernatural world, for starters, and she seemed to know much more than just the basic premises. She even knew my entire family history, and sometimes she'd predict things or just know things instinctively. It was strange."

She paused for a moment.

"There's more, isn't there?" I inquired.

Cassandra nodded. "Yes. It was so much more. She was paranoid and scared, always looking over her shoulder. She lived with me, since her family's house had been reclaimed, and it was not uncommon to wake up to find her gone, later found sitting outside in the cold, sometimes anxious and breaking down, sometimes manic. I took her to a psychiatrist and she was diagnosed as bipolar, as well as a bunch of other mental disorders I can't recall. She was put on enough medication to sedate a horse."

"Did it help?"

"It depends on what you mean by 'help'. She was more balanced sure, but she was... not right. Annelise was a shadow of what she once was. I suppose it shouldn't have come as a surprise that she was only pretending to take her medicine after the first month. She became rebellious, reckless, dangerous, a party girl, the opposite of the sweet girl she had once been. I suppose that's what drew her to him."

"Him?"

She nodded. "Him. Felicia's father. They met when she was nineteen. She was immediately infatuated. He was so clearly abusive, I tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen. All I could do was watch as he took everything from her. We lost contact."

"When did you find her again?"

"The next time she called, seven years later; when she was dying of leukemia. I met up with her at her house. Or, at least, I tried to. No one answered the door and I could hear shouts coming from within. I was worried, so I transported into the house and turned myself invisible briefly. I couldn't watch as he hit her and kicked her and shouted, so instead I retreated upstairs. That's where I first met Felicia, finding her cowering under her bed in fear. She was crying and muttering to herself: "Felicia did bad, Felicia did bad." I just..."

Cassandra shivered, appearing to be on the brink of tears.

"I took her and Felicia to my house, to stay with me. And then Annelise died. I was forced to give Felicia back to her father, and I never saw them again."

"Never?"

"Never."

I thought for a second. "What happened to her when she was 15? What caused all of this?"

"I truly and honestly don't know; I wish I did. I wish I'd inquired more, followed her, checked up on her. It's my life's biggest regret."

"Why didn't you contact Felicia?"

"Annelise told me not to, made me swear it, promise it on my very soulblood."

"Then how did you get around that now?"

"What do you mean 'now'?"

"The letter that you sent, the recording."

Confusion and worry spread across her youthful face. "I didn't send the letter, it's still safe in my vault. That wasn't me."

"When was the last time you checked your vault?"

"Just yesterday, but there's no way anyone could break in, it's protected by plenty of enchantments and..." Cassandra's voice trailed off. "I'll take you there."

We walked further into the cave, until we reached a red metal door that I could tell was protected by heavy layers of strong magic. My host muttered a few incantations under her breath, and a screen appeared on the front.

"This is the compartment where the letter is kept. As you can see, it's still in there."

"Are you sure? Watch."

We watched, until, for just one teeny little millisecond, the image flickered.

She gasped. "A hologram? But how? This is practically impenetrable! And magic is cut off in the vault, fully and completely. Who could possibly have managed to get around that?"

Our eyes met, and we gulped in fear– because the only person who could have accomplished such a feat, would have to be someone who was much more powerful than anyone else ever recorded in the Records. And we still didn't know what they wanted.