The Marionette

Chapter Ten - Consequences

Chapter Ten - Consequences

She sounded so certain about everything, especially the last sentence. "He will come for you." What if this magic backfires and I manifest something worse than Vladimir, but there isn't anything I can do about it because I am in the thrall of him? What if I do succeed and send him back to his (what... ghostly veil?) world but the consequences are so great that I end up in another mess but worse than the one I am in now?

How do people not realize that things that go bump in the night, tales of monsters devouring souls, bloodsucking feigns, myths and legends, are all undoubtedly real? How do they blend into our race without being found out? Some surely don't have the kind of magic that could aid in keeping them hidden, right?

I needed to focus on the task ahead. I needed to get my Mother, Father, and friends out of town and then go after Vladimir with everything I have. I will fight him. I will rise above him. I will cast him back into his world. I can do this. I just need time to prepare.

"Wait, There's something else. If he can hear my thoughts and control me, then doesn't he know I am here in this store getting help from you? Wouldn't he have known I was searching for a way to find out, what he is, and a way to rid myself of him? Why didn't he stop me if he does know?"

She leaned back in her chair, her eyes never wavering, "This shop is protected from any outside forces that we ourselves haven't brought to earth. He is more active at night, isn't he? He can see what you are doing during the day if he chooses to. He is rather arrogant because of how long he has gotten away with consuming souls of the living. He thinks that you aren't a real threat to him and you are like all the others; you will surrender once you see there is no way out. There is no path you can take that won't lead you back to him, and he is counting on you to be a weak, vulnerable little girl who has no idea what she has put into motion. So, by you entering my shop, his vision was cut off, even as you stepped into the wards, his eyesight was lost. He has no clue where you are or where you chose to enter. For now, you are safe."

I soaked in that tidbit of information. He couldn't see me in here. Would that be what the gray powder does for my home? Keep him out physically, but I forgot that I had to drink a potion to remove him emotionally; in-depth. I'll show him who the real threat is. He will wish he never bumped into me that day. He thinks he's won, but he hasn't, not really. In fact, it's only beginning. I am confident and determined to stay alive and keep my friends and family alive.

"Okay. Tell me how to do the incantation and I'll be on my way."

She grinned for the first time and I felt all the hairs on my body stand on end. It was so damn creepy that I really just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

Did her eyes just shimmer or am I being one of those scared paranoids that see something that's not really there? Lack of sleep, food, vitamins... soul.

I'm seeing things. I'm so worried about Vladimir that I'm starting to lose my grip on reality. Maybe that's what he wants? He wants me vulnerable and that would be a good way to do that. Make his victims insane so he can feed at his leisure.

"Repeat after me, Cassandra."

I left her shop feeling so discombobulated. After reciting the words over and over until I got every pronunciation, every roll of my tongue, every word precisely, I just had this terrible feeling in my chest. It felt like... like all was hopeless, nothing would work out the way it was supposed to. Like this is all for nothing. Like my death was coming for me too soon.

I took all the items and headed home. It was late evening by now and my Mother would surely be worrying about me. Wasn't my Father supposed to come by tonight to drop off a few things he had of Mom's? Oh, crap. They would be fighting like cats and dogs. This was all orchestrated by Vladimir. Mom and Dad's divorce, my friends abandoning me for something I had no control over, I bet he even killed Cleo's Mother so he would have more ammunition against me.