Cloak as Red as Blood

Chapter 24: Family Ties

The sounds of battle were all around me. My sisters were being slaughtered.Their crimson 

bloods stained the snow white ground. How? How had the humans gotten the upper hand. In 

the past we won battle after battle. Shots rang out, all around they were dropping like flies. I 

turned to heal my fallen comrade, but ended up staring down the barrel of the humans' new 

killing machines. I knew then that I would soon join my fallen sisters in the Underworld.

I woke up in a cold sweat. Another nightmare. No, another memory. It was Granny when she 

was a soldier in the Dark Era. Her memories have been coming back in pieces since this journey 

started. I knew that Puss had said that regaining her memories too quickly could result in the 

loss of my own, but I was tired of half truths. It was time to know the full story of my 

grandmother's past.

Puss was curled on the edge of the bed, sound asleep. I did my best not to wake him, as I knew 

he would try and stop me from doing what I wanted to do. I went into the library and looked for 

something that would help me remember. I found the answer in a potion book. "A Memory 

Potion; to call forth memories long since lost. Often used to cure amnesia in people." Luckily we 

had all the ingredients in the house.

House Gothle was in the kitchen making breakfast. As long as her magic reserves were in tact, 

she didn't need to sleep. "Good morning Skylar, what are you doing up this early?" "Just making 

some hot cocoa to have with breakfast." "Oh, well do you want me to make." "No thank you, you 

already do so much. We don't want to wear out your magic reserves." She nodded her head and 

smiled. "The cocoa is in the pantry", she directed. I went in the pantry and pulled out the 

ingredients for the hot chocolate, as well as the ingredients for the potion to mix in. 

House Gothle magically started the fire beneath the cauldron for me to get started. I first made 

the potion before adding the hot cocoa ingredients to disguise what I was really up to. I only 

made enough for me so we wouldn't  have another shape shifting incident. It took a couple of 

hours to brew so by the time it was finished everyone started waking up. I had to do this now 

before anyone knew what I was up to. I got me a mug and pored the sweet smelling mixture in. 

I took a sip just as everyone was coming downstairs. When Puss set eyes on me, he immediately 

knew what I had done. "What's the matter with the cat?", asked Jonathan when Puss let out a 

loud meow.  Puss came running up to me causing all eyes to fall in me. Suddenly I felt drowsy. I 

dropped the mug and heard it shatter before losing consciousness.

When I woke up the sun was shining on my face. I could here the birds singing and the sound of