The Darkside

The Lunar Omen

I lay there, helpless, hoping Aunt Cassie would hear the alarm ring and come to my rescue while the shadow grabbed onto me and chanted, "Soloz demex, soloz mehanze." I could feel my soul leave my body, but I had no way of stopping it. All of a sudden, Aunt Cassie came in, flinging the door open; she yelled, "Get away from my niece, you filthy wretch!"

The shadow disappeared, restoring my soul. "Are you okay, honey?" Aunt Cassie asked, sitting on a side of my bed. "Yes," I said, hugging her tight. "It almost got my soul," I said with a sigh of relief. "We need to put an end to this nonsense right away," Aunt Cassie said, feeling my head. She then called out to Brian, who appeared instantly. "You summoned me?" he asked. "Yes, we need to finish off this shadow, whatever it is, before it does irreversible damage to my niece," Aunt Cassie said. "What happened? Did it come again?" Brian asked, to which Aunt Cassie and I related the turn of events. "Well, that was a close call," he said. "You think?" I asked sarcastically. "Don't be snarky, I just said as I saw it," Brian said, annoyed. "Well, what do you know about this monster?" Aunt Cassie asked. "All I know is that it is a soul seeker; it survives on witch's souls," he said. "Why witches and why me?" I asked. "Because it has no soul and witch's souls give it power; but why it is after you specifically, I don't know," he replied. "Maybe there is something in the grimoire," he said. "We'll check it out; you try to find out what you can," Aunt Cassie said, getting to her feet.

After Brian left, we went to check on the grimoire for answers. While going through it, my eyes stopped at one particular page. It said 'Spell for the End of a Soul Seeker'. But that wasn't all I saw; mom's name was on it. "Aunt Cassie, there is a spell but it has been written by mom," I said. "Oh yes, your mother was good at coming up with spells," Aunt Cassie said. "Really? I didn't know. Well, I didn't know a lot about her, to begin with," I said. "It's no time to dwell in the past, for whatever reason your mom kept the facts about you being a witch, she must have had a good reason," Aunt Cassie said. "You're right, of course; dwelling in the past won't help solve this problem," I said, going through the spell. "Well, this spell is complicated," I said. "Yes, it is, but we have handled complicated spells before," Aunt Cassie said. "No, that's not what I meant," I said, pointing at the end of the spell. "To perform this spell, you will need your sisters," Aunt Cassie read out loud. She then turned towards me and asked, "What sisters; and have you and your mother been keeping things from me?"

"No, we haven't, not me at least. Anyway, what does she mean by sisters? I am an only child," I asked. "Don't ask me, I am clueless," she said. "Do you think mom had more children and hid it from us as she did me about me being a witch?" I asked. "I don't know, but if she did, what happened to them?" Aunt Cassie asked, holding her head. "Let's find out," I said. "How?" Aunt Cassie asked with a confused look. "Her journals," I replied, going to the basement.

We went through mom's things and found her journals, which we went through one by one with no clues about my sisters. "Do you think maybe she wrote it for a witch who has sisters?" I asked. "I don't know, but we should keep looking," Aunt Cassie replied. "But we've gone through all her journals," I said. "Not all," Aunt Cassie said, pulling out one from mom's desk. "But I looked there," I said. "Yes, you did, but what you didn't know is that your mother used a spell to hide the journal," Aunt Cassie said. "How did you know that?" I asked, confused. "Have you forgotten that she was my sister?" Aunt Cassie asked. "Oh, did she do that growing up too?" I asked. "How did you think she kept her secrets from our parents?" Aunt Cassie asked. "But you knew all about her secrets?" I asked. "Yes I did; we used to share a room, so I used to watch her and imitate her as little sisters do," Aunt Cassie said.

"Well, I didn't have that chance," I said, feeling sad for not having a sibling to look up to or share things. "Don't be sad, maybe you do have siblings," she said, going through the journal. "Did you find something?" I asked. "I think so," Aunt Cassie replied, filling me with curiosity. "What?" I said, dropping the journals in my hand and peeking over the one in Aunt Cassie's hand. It said that mom had triplets. "Triplets, she had triplets? What happened to my siblings?" I asked confused. "Let's calm down and read the rest," Aunt Cassie said. "Why don't you read it out loud?" I'm too confused to read," I asked, to which Aunt Cassie obliged. "According to this, she gave birth on a day bearing a crescent blood moon, and there was a bad omen that day," Aunt Cassie said. "What? What does that have to do with anything?" I asked impatiently. "Can you calm down and let me read?" Aunt Cassie asked. "Sure, go ahead," I replied.

"I was asked to separate the triplets as them growing up together would be catastrophic," Aunt Cassie read, "The bad omen meant that if you grew up together, one of you—or even all three—could turn evil."

"Is that really a possibility?" I asked. "There are bad omen's that can cause witches to turn evil, and that's not something that should be taken lightly," Aunt Cassie replied. "Okay, so is there anything about whom, or even where, my siblings are?" I asked. It says that they were adopted by friends, but that's it," Aunt Cassie replied. "What? That's all?" I asked in despair. "Don't worry, we'll find out," Aunt Cassie said. Aunt Cassie's phone rang and she left the basement to answer it, leaving me with mom's stuff. I went through what Aunt Cassie read, hoping to find something she might have missed. There was nothing at first, but then I noticed an opening in the cover. I took off the cover and found a key. 'What does this open?' I thought to myself as I looked around the basement.

I stepped on a loose tile, which made me curious. I took it off and noticed a small metal box. I put the key in it and it opened. In it, there were photographs of my mother with my siblings and me. We may have been not more than a few days old. There were other photos of me as well, some which I believe to be my sisters, one of which seemed familiar. There was a letter which read:

If you are reading this, that means I am no longer alive. I am sorry for deceiving you, but everything I did was to protect you and your sisters. I did not want you to know you're a witch because a witch's life is short and dangerous. I want you to be able to see your grandchildren, something I never had. The reason I separated you and your sisters is for your safety. Watch the video in the box; it will explain everything.

That was the end of the letter. I left the basement with the letter and the video in search of Aunt Cassie, who was coming in search of me. I showed her the letter and we sat ourselves down to watch the video. Mom started with "I am so sorry, my sweet girls, for all the pain I've caused you three. Hopefully, you will be able to forgive me by the time you finish watching this."

"There was a strong omen the day you were born, which meant if brought up together, one or all three of you could turn evil; so I did the only thing I could to protect the three of you and gave your sisters up for adoption. Don't worry, they are safe. One of them you know very well. She was adopted by Charles and Emma Pereira," She said, shocking me. I turned around and looked at Aunt Cassie, dumbfounded.