Southern Charms

Guilt

Luis stepped out of the room to greet the visitor, leaving me alone with my sister and Polly, who was now licking the spine of a book. It was odd watching such a fearful creature act so insane, and I wasn't sure if it made me more frightened or less.

I hovered near the door, not to flee but to catch a close look at Malphas. Surely, Charlie remained inside of his body. The demon hadn't been able to get rid of him before, but each possession would leave a human soul weaker than before. Eventually, Charlie's essence would die, leaving Malphas as the sole owner of the body.

Behind me, Harmony shrieked, and I turned to find Willow and Ash in the middle of the room. Polly hissed and dropped to all fours, but strangely enough, she didn't go after my friends. My eyes connected with Willow's, and after she looked me over from head to toe, she launched herself into my arms.

"Do you know how mad I am at you?"

"Not too mad if you're staging a rescue."

"Come on, we've got to hurry. This Portal Rune won't last long," Ash said, his words clipped. He wouldn't look at me.

I nodded and untangled myself from Willow. Holding hands, we walked toward Ash. Harmony grabbed my arm.

"If you go, he'll take it out on Mama."

Luis' voice echoed outside the door, and a shiver buzzed down my spine when Malphas answered. I knew it was him, not just because he spoke with Charlie's voice, but because I could feel the dark power in every syllable. It wormed its way through my ears like liquid silk, all at once seductive and terrifying.

"Rose, please," Ash begged, all pretense at being angry gone. "This is our only chance."

"Don't let them hurt her, Harmony," I insisted.

I pulled free from my sister and reached for Ash. An inch separated our fingers when the door banged open. Luis caught sight of his son and bellowed with rage, and Malphas' eyes burned like silver fire, brightening until I had to look away for fear of damaging my sight.

"Stop," Luis shouted, raising his hand to cast a spell.

Pitching forward, I gripped Ash's fingers. It was as if a light switched off. The room went black and when the light returned, we were standing inside a new space. One nearly as dark as the teleportation tunnel. The room smelled of must and rain, and in the flashes of lightning, I could see peeling wallpaper and broken floorboards.

The scratch of a match came from the right, and light flared at its tip, casting a glow upon a shaking hand. When it met the tip of a candle, the flame grew bright and steady, revealing Flannery's familiar features.

"You're okay," she said, tears clogging her throat.

"I'm okay," I replied. "Where are we?"

"The Widow's shack on the edge of town. We circled back to your house to see if we could get help, and we found a note telling us to come here. When we got here, we found the Portal Stone," Willow answered.

"It's useless now," Ash muttered, tossing the token on a broken table.

"But it let you bypass the wards on your house?"

"Yeah," he said.

"What did Harmony mean about your mother?" Willow asked as she moved about the room securing the windows and doors with mumbled spells and puffs of magic from her fingertips.

"Luis is framing us. He told me if I helped him, he would make sure Mama got away without being hurt. He'd pin the accident on Polly, but if I didn't, one of us would take the fall."