The Darkside

Revealing the Hidden

It was shocking to see Charlie with blood dripping down his face. He was eating raw meat like when he was a Juangrand. "Why is he eating raw meat? Isn't he back to normal?" Jared asked, panic-stricken. "I thought he was, but maybe he's not fully recovered," I replied.

"But isn't Melissa OK? Why is it different for Charlie?" Jared asked. "I don't know, Jared; maybe it's because he was cursed to begin with, and not Melissa. She was only infected by him, but the original curse was on him; maybe that's the issue," I said. "OK, then what do we do about Charlie?" Jared asked. "Well, we may have to locate the witch in order to heal Charlie, but first, we need to get him to safety," I replied. "Where is that?" Jared asked. "Best place for him is my house; I can keep him from running off, something you don't have a way of doing. Also, if the cops come looking, I can make sure that they don't see him," I replied. "I guess you're right," he said.

Right then, Charlie lifted his head up from the meat only to notice us. He looked at us and fell down on his knees in shame. I managed to open the door so we can get in. We took him to Jared's car and put him in the back seat. Jared then took out a blanket from the car and wrapped up Charlie and got into the car himself. On the way home, Charlie kept apologising for what he did and said he had to eat raw meat because he craved it.

When we got home, I locked Charlie in the cellar. "Please don't lock me up," he cried. "I'm sorry Charlie, this isn't a punishment; I'm doing this for everyone's safety," I said. Jared stood there with a saddened look. "Don't worry, I will heal him," I said. "But we don't know where the witch is," said Jared with a blank look. "Well, I do," I said. "But you couldn't track her down. I was there both times, unless you did it when I left," he said. "No, Brian found out where she is," I replied. "Well then, we should go now," he said optimistically. "Not now, the Hidden Forest is a dangerous place, especially at night," I said. "Hidden Forest, where is that?" Jared asked, intrigued. "Now, you go home and get some sleep as you will be starting work again from tomorrow; I will take care of Charlie," I said. "But don't go to the forest without me," he said. "Alright," I replied.

I closed the door behind Charlie and went to bed hoping to get some sleep, but Melissa and Aunt Cassie followed me in, asking what happened. "I thought you were sleeping," I said. "No, we were waiting till Jared left to ask what happened," said Aunt Cassie, making me relate the ordeal. They then went back to their rooms to sleep and so did I. In the morning, I was woken up by the ringing of my phone, only to notice that I had slept till noon. It was Jared calling to ask about Charlie. "Oh, he's alright," I replied, although I haven't been to the cellar since I locked him in at 3:00 a.m. As I left the room and walked downstairs, I heard voices coming from the kitchen. I looked in to see Aunt Cassie making brunch while Melissa was with her head down on the table. "Are you sleeping in the kitchen?" I asked. "No, just feeling tired," Melissa replied, raising her head up. "Have you checked on Charlie?" I asked. "Yes, he's just laying there," answered Aunt Cassie. "OK, I'll just make a quick check," I said, going to the cellar. "Hi, Charlie," I said, and he turned and looked at me, saying "Let me out, I promise not to run off."

"Sorry, Charlie, you need to stay here until I break the curse," I said. "I will rip you into pieces!" he said, enraged; his eyes turned crimson as he did. I got thrown by his behaviour and realised that if I didn't hurry up and break the curse, he'd turn back into a Juangrand. I went to the kitchen and related what happened to Aunt Cassie and Melissa. They agreed that we had to hurry. "What about you, Melissa? Have you had any strange cravings?" I asked. "No, I haven't craved meat, if that's what you mean? I feel like my old self, so you have no reason to worry about me, she replied. "Just checking," I said, and then summoned Brian.

"You summoned me?" he asked appearing in front of me. "Yes, Brian, we have to hurry; time is of the essence," I said. "Why? Did something happen?" he asked. I then explained what had transpired. "Well, that's not a good sign," he said, "but caution is necessary when dealing with dark forces; we need to work together and come up with a strong plan," he said. "Tomorrow, there is a lunar eclipse, which is when she'll be the weakest, as dark witches get their powers from the moon," Brian said. "Then she must be the strongest during the full moon?" Melissa asked. "Yes," Brian answered. "Well then, let's get to work," Aunt Cassie said.

We went through the grimoire and found a potent spell to weaken the witch, but what Brian said about the Hidden Forest being a place that can affect me in an impure way, stayed in the back of my mind; causing me to fear the worst. But as this has to be done, I pushed those feelings back and continued with the spell. Jared came by after work and was upset to hear of the new revelation of his brother, but was happy to know we were going to heal him soon—this time, for good. He offered to join us in the hunt, but I declined, asking him to stay with Charlie and Melissa. They both objected at first, but agreed in the end.

'Tonight is the night,' I said to myself as I summoned Brian. He came, and as agreed, he, Aunt Cassie, and I went in search of the dark witch. We entered the Oakridge Forest; at the end of the forest stood two large Oak trees. Aunt Cassie and I stood in front of the trees and chanted the Revealing Spell while Brian stood next to us. At the end of the chanting, the two trees in front of us moved apart, opening a path to the Hidden Forest. "Be careful," Brian said while following us. We walked in with the help of the Light Crystals; they shone as bright as the moon. We then came across the cave that the witch dwells in. I could feel the dark energy as we walked in.

The dark witch was seated next to a fire. She turned around, facing us as we walked in. "I can feel the righteous stink on you," she said. I was astounded seeing her. I didn't feel anger, as I should have. It was as if I was standing in front of my mother. She was so much like her. "She is indeed the spitting image of Katia," said Aunt Cassie. She looked at us confused and asked, "Who the hell is  Katia?"

"Concentrate, eyes on the prize! Don't get caught up in emotions if you want to cure Charlie," Brian said. I turned to Aunt Cassie and said, "It's time to take her down." The dark witch smirked and said, "Oh, you think you can take me down? Well, let's see you do that!" she said, putting her hands together and chanting "Gerezme driazo, gerezme grayaz;" sending us flying to the ground. "I thought you said she was the weakest today?" I asked Brian. "Well, this is still her domain, so that means she still has some powers; but today is the best day to defeat her," he said, "Just get back up and use your spell, and don't let go until she is defeated!"

I looked at Aunt Cassie and we both got up, chanting "Undrez behamaz, undrez kezora." We went on chanting, even with the attempts of the dark witch to thwart us, which lasted for around an hour. We kept going as she got weaker and weaker until all of a sudden, she started shaking and went down. As I rushed over to check on the witch, Aunt Cassie  told me to be careful. I bent over to check on her and noticed blood seeping out of her nose and eyes. I had a weird feeling looking at her face; it felt as if my mother was lying there on the floor.

"What are you doing Octavia? Get the blood and let's go," said Aunt Cassie, handing over the syringe. "No need," I said, wiping off the blood that ran down her cheek with my handkerchief. "We can use this," I said, handing it over to Aunt Cassie. I checked her pulse to see if she was alive, which she was. As we left, I turned around and looked at her one last time. We came to the oak trees and recited the spell, but the path did not open. "What's happening?" Aunt Cassie asked panic-stricken.