Spellbound

The Prophecy

They stare at me expectantly—but I have nothing. I can't think of any words to string together to make sense of this. Any of it. My mother—the one whose blood I share, is dead. Gone. Just like my father. And they both died, to protect me...Why?

"Show her." Amethyst says.

Theresa's face falls even more, but she stands to do what she's been asked. There's a cabinet to my left and she walks gingerly towards it. I watch as she removes a chain from her neck, a golden key dangles from the end. She twists the key into a drawer which shrieks as it's pulled open. Clutching something tightly in her hands she walks back over.

"This might help," she smiles at me in her best attempt to reassure me. It fails.

I take the paper from her hands and stare at it. The edges of the paper are torn and it's crumpled and dry with age. I stare at it for a long time—

By flame, by leaf,

By water, by air,

When the world is troubled by despair,

A baby of two magical bloods,

Will be the saviour called upon.

The child who accepts the call,

Will bind the greatest power of all.

The words don't make sense to me no matter how many times I go over them. But I can't help notice how my palms haven't stopped tingling since I took the page from Theresa. Slowly at first, before shooting through my entire body, forcing me to feel everything. My breath becomes shallow again and I feel a heaviness inside of me. The page falls from my hand to the stone floor beneath my feet, and I have to steady myself against the chair.

I see Theresa moving towards me, but Amethyst stops her.

"I don't understand—" is all I can manage through the dull ache moving viciously through my body.

"A prophecy," Amethyst says, "thousands of years old."

She waits for her words to catch up to me—but I still don't understand.

Theresa is the first to speak again, "At the dawn of magical time, a curse was placed upon Witches and Warlocks to prevent any child being born of this union—"

My mind spins as I try to fit the pieces together—had Serena mentioned any of this before?

"What does that have to do with me?" The words come out strained and distant, like they don't belong to me at all.

"Everything." They both say at once.

Amethyst moves closer to me but still keeps her distance—I let the calm wash over me, just this once.

"Your mother was a Witch," she tells me, "but your father was a Warlock."

My hand absentmindedly flies to my locket before Theresa adds, "biological father."

My heart aches. The thought of referring to anyone but James as my father leaves bile in my mouth, which makes me feel even worse.

"You Philomena," Amethyst continues, "you are the baby of two bloods."

I let out an involuntary snort before I can help myself. I'm all too aware no one is laughing with me. Their faces watching me closely, but I don't care anymore. I focus instead on the necklace, still held tightly between my fingertips. I wish you were here. I wish none of this was happening. I wish we could go back to the beginning.