The Witches of Marble Falls

VIII

'Kittie, what do you think happened?' Agatha inquired, handing her sister a cup of tea. They had just put the younger children to bed, and wished Emilia and Valerie sweet dreams—it was their time, in the dead of night, under the moon and stars. Outside, the air was cool, and the fireflies danced in the trees above their heads. Agatha watched as Kittie stared out over the blooming flowers to the water that reflected the moonlight. The distant sound of the waterfall echoed throughout the basin like thunder.

'Sister, I don't know. Someone has placed a binding spell on me—they have disconnected me from my magic. The Lost Part was unable to give me any information about who did this, and my Spirit was just as closed-lipped. I am still lost, sister. I have no answers, only more questions.' Kittie lowered her cup to her lap and stared at the dark amber liquid. She wished, with all her heart, that her sister's ritual had worked—but, deep down, she knew that it had been futile.

'Kittie, we will find out who did this to you, and why. I promise. I will not let this go on forever. If you stay disconnected from your power, what will happen to us? We have so much work to do. Trust me when I say that I will be by your side for it all.' Agatha leaned over and placed her hand on her sister's arm. 'Do not give up, Kittie. I promise, we will deal with this.'

'I trust that you believe what you are saying, Agatha. I can't help fearing that this will all be for naught.' Kittie gave her sister a slight smile and gestured for her to sit. They looked on, over their garden and through the night sky at the stars, in silence.

***

Emilia watched as her sister slept, the warmth in her chest still burning through her skin and bones. After their attempt at the exercise, Valerie had fallen back against her pillows and stared at the ceiling for about an hour before she spoke.

'That was magic?' Valerie had finally said, raising herself on her elbows. Emilia, who had been sitting on the edge of her sister's bed, nodded. She had been at a loss for words just as her sister had—however, she knew that Valerie was having a more difficult time grasping what had happened to them. The girl who preached science and denounced religion had experienced something that her science could not explain. As if her sister had read her thoughts, Valerie swung her legs around and sat next to Emilia on the edge of the bed. 'There has to be a scientific explanation for what we experienced.'

'But what if there isn't, Val? What if the only explanation is that it was magic?' Emilia countered, looking at her sister. Valerie shrugged, resting her head in her hands and elbows on her knees.

'I just can't accept that. Not yet. I need to conduct more experiments to develop an educated opinion.'

'Of course, Val. I know. And I will be there every step of the way.' Emilia said, laying her head on her sister's shoulder.

'Thank you, Emi. I'm sorry I yelled at you about this, I shouldn't have shut my mind to the possibility. Science has proven many things over the last few hundred years—anything is truly possible.'

Emilia had smiled against her sister's shoulder, feeling closer to her than she had in months.

Emilia stood from her sister's bed, making sure that she was sound asleep. She had to read more of the book, she had to see what was next, what information she was missing. Why hadn't the exercise worked when she was alone? Why did it only seem to work with Valerie? So many thoughts were going through her head as she combed through the pages, making notes, reading passages over and over again.

***

Agatha leafed through one book at a time, bookmarking each page that said anything about binding spells and disconnecting someone from their magic. She had found a few passages, but nothing that seemed particularly helpful to her sister's current situation. She continued searching, hoping for the best.

Kittie sat at the table, her head in her hands, elbows resting on the table-top. She couldn't sleep, there was something in her dreams, chasing her—a shadow, some sort of dark figure that hid until she was right upon it. She shook herself out of the memory, refusing to relive the terror.

'Kittie, there is so much information, but none of it seems relevant.' Agatha said, her eyes lowered. She sat opposite her sister and held out her hands as comfort, but Kittie turned away from them.

'I knew we wouldn't find anything, but I still held out hope. What do we do now, sister?' Kittie sobbed into her hands. The empty pit in her heart was growing, threatening to consume her—she was not just that Lost Part in the spiritual forest of her mind, she was lost on the physical plane as well, feeling completely devoid of inspiration and hope.

'We must find these people who cast the spell on you in the first place, Kittie. They are the only ones that will be able to lift it and return you to normal.' Agatha stated, grabbing her sister's hands. She stared at Kittie with severity, squeezing her hands. 'Do not give up this battle, sister. We will win it.'

Kittie nodded, accepting her sister's determination as a blessing instead of a curse. As they sat at the table, whispering to each other words of encouragement, Agatha turned her head and saw Emilia and Valerie in the doorway.

'Good morning, girls. You are up before the crow caws.' Agatha said, placing a smile on her face.

'We want to help you find the people who cursed Aunt Kittie.' Valerie said. Her words gave Agatha pause, but Valerie went on: 'I still do not fully accept magic as reality; however, I was shown evidence that it may exist in one form or another. I've been reading the book you lent to Emi, and it explains that the more belief a person puts into a spell or curse, the more effective it will be. This goes for both the sender and the receiver. I believe that if we trick your mind into forgetting about the curse, it may prove to break the bond of the spell and return you to normal.'

'And how, pray-tell, do you intend to do this?' Agatha questioned. She was intrigued by Valerie's approach to the situation, but also sceptical of her methods. Valerie pulled a small address book from the backpack that was resting against the door frame and flipped through a few pages before stopping.

'Mother and father had a friend at Northview University. He is the professor of Occult Studies, and a licensed hypnotherapist. I believe that he will be able to drop Aunt Kittie down deep enough to draw out the parts of her that are missing, and to also dispel the curse notion by doing so. It might sound like a long shot, but is it really that difficult to consider?'

'No, it sounds like a good plan, Valerie.' Agatha said, her lips spread in a wide smile. Kittie offered a weak nod in agreement, but did not say anything. Her skin was pale, and her cheeks seemed hollow.

'I'll give him a call right away.' Valerie said as she turned to retreat back to their room with her address book. Once she was out of earshot, Emilia took the chair next to Agatha and placed her hands around her aunt's.

'I haven't learned much from the book. I am unable to perform the exercises on my own. It's like I need Valerie to complete the circuit.' Emilia confided.

'You are twins, Emilia. You need each other. There is no you with her, and vice versa. Without Kittie, I am relegated to simple herbal remedies and rituals that require me to draw energy and power from the Moon and Earth and Sun. It is as if I lost the key to a very special box, and cannot obtain what is within. I am still able to perform magic, to raise energy on my own, no doubt—but the ease with which to do it is missing, the spark of the Universe is dim.'

'Why is that, Aunt Agatha?' Emilia questioned. Kittie lifted her head and looked at her niece with half closed, tired eyes.

'The Universe requires balance. Twins provide a balance within life, one dark and one light. That is not to say either of you are evil, but there is more light in one and more darkness in the other. You act as amplifiers for each other, you are conduits for the energy that surrounds you. You share genetics, more so than other siblings, and you share a soul. You are two halves of a whole, Yin and Yang.'

Kittie's explanation struck Emilia deep in her chest. She had always known that she and Valerie had shared a unique bond that only twins experience, but the words her aunt had said helped everything make sense. Emilia smiled at her aunts, making a silent promise to return Kittie to herself and bring back that balance they both needed.