The Darkside

Dancing with Death

"Arya, what are you doing here?" Anastasia asked astounded. "I am here to see you,'' she replied. "Okay, but how did you find me?" Anastasia asked. "I'm a witch, too, remember?" she asked. "Where is Mom, what have you done to her?" she asked. "Mom is gone, sis," Anastasia said. "What? You killed her, didn't you? How could you, after all that she did for you?" Arya yelled furiously. "No, sis, you don't understand, we tried to subdue her, but she was adamant to kill us all. She already killed dad and our advisor; if we didn't stop her, she would've killed us all," Anastasia said.

"You lying, ungrateful little..." Arya said before sending Anastasia flying. "No!" I yelled as I hurled Arya at the wall. "No, Octavia, don't hurt her," Anastasia said. "But she's trying to kill you," I said. "I know, but it's not her fault; she doesn't understand what happened. Let's just asphyxiate her," Anastasia said. "Fine, as you wish," I said. We recited the asphyxiation spell, after which we locked Arya in the cellar.

We recited the healing spell to cure her of any evil she may possibly possess and broke the asphyxiation spell. "Why am I in a cage?" she asked, looking around. Anastasia explained everything, including our father's and Christen's death. "I don't believe you, you're lying. Mom wouldn't do that, she loved you," Arya said. "Believe me, sis, Mom wasn't the person we knew. She hated Dad for betraying her, and she hated me for being a byproduct of that betrayal," Anastasia said.

"But Mom said that you were against her, and that you wanted to kill her. She said if any harm befalls her, you would be to blame," Arya said. "In a way, I am to blame for her death. I wish I wasn't, but everything I said is true, believe me. I would never lie to you," Anastasia said. "Why should I? After all, you killed my mother" Arya said. "You don't need to simply take my word for it. You can use telepathy, right; why don't you read my mind and see if I'm lying?" Anastasia asked.

She did, and she was satisfied. "I'm sorry, Anastasia, but it's hard to believe Mom would stoop to such a low level. I mean, she tried to make me kill you, my own sister," Arya said. "It's not her fault, either Arya; she felt betrayed. It's bad enough Dad cheated on her, but he did it with her best friend, which was even worse. He then adopted me without disclosing my true relationship to him. Finding out all that would've not just hurt her, it would've broken her. Women are emotional beings, Arya; witches even more so. We love with all our hearts and hate the same way," Anastasia said. Anastasia paused for a minute. "I would know it better than anyone, sis; the same thing happened to me when the man I loved dumped me for another," she said.

"I think you're talking about Charlie, but he didn't leave you for another woman; he left you because he couldn't handle you being a witch. And then he dated another woman to get over you," I said. "Really, and how would you know all that?" Anastasia asked. "Because his brother, Jared, told me," I replied. "Well, of course. I forgot about your friendship with them. It doesn't matter, though; all that matters now is that we get our family back from the dead," Anastasia said. "What?" Arya asked.

"Well, sis, we found a spell to bring back the dead, and we were going to use it to bring back our family when you showed up and disrupted our plans," Anastasia said. "Oh, sorry about that, but then can we bring Mom back, too," Arya asked. "Yes, we can; Dad, too," Anastasia said. "Good, then we can be a family again," Arya said. "I won't be part of your family, sis, but you will always be my little sister," Anastasia said. "Well, get me out of here, will you?" Arya said. "Sure, sis, hold on," Anastasia said, letting her out.

We got back to the grimoire and chanted the spell. We continued for a while with no change, making us nervous. "What's happening; why isn't it working?" Arya asked. "I don't know," Anastasia said, looking at me. "Don't look at me; I haven't brought anyone from the dead before," I replied. "Sometimes a spell takes a while to show results," Aunt Cassie said. "Maybe we should chant again," Melissa said. "Well, then, let's try again," I said.

As we chanted, again and again, all of a sudden, a loud noise came from beneath us. The ground before us opened and a hand reached out from within. "Mom," I said, reaching out and holding on to it as it looked like Mom's hand. But instead of trying to come up to the surface, the hand tugged at my hand, trying to pull me in. "Octavia, no," Melissa and Anastasia said as they grabbed onto my feet and pulled me back up along with whoever was dragging me down.

We looked at the owner of the hand, only to find out that it looked nothing like Mom. "What are you?" I asked, petrified. "I am your worst nightmare," it replied with a maniacal laugh that sent shivers up my spine. I could feel Melissa sink her nails into my hand as she trembled in fear.