Witches and Devils

His Side

I jump up and look over to Ben, "I can help him."

Ben shakes his head, "Rose, I know you want to and you truly believe you can, but no one can help Michael. I'm sorry, but he is beyond help."

I shake my head, "no, you're wrong." As I go to walk away from Ben, I hear a car pull up and I notice that it is day light. I look around, in almost a panic, "they can't know I was here."

"Who?" Ben steps toward me, but I walk past him and into the bedroom, looking out the window, making sure I have a quick and easy escape route. "Rose, who can't know you were here?"

"Uh... no one." I shake my head as I turn back to Ben and smile, "it's been fun, thank you for the information." I turn back to the windows and open them, before climbing up.

"Wait, wait." Ben tries to stop me, "get down from there, you're gonna get hurt."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." I step out the window and slowly float to the ground. Looking back up to Ben, once I'm on the ground. He looks at me in awe. I take a deep breath and search my memory for a memory erasing spell. As I search, my memory is brought back to a time with John Henry, when I first arrived at the academy.

"What are you doing up here?" John Henry walked up, I had been sitting on the surface watching the sun set for thirty minutes to an hour.

I shrugged my shoulders, "couldn't think of anything better to do." I look over to him, "it's not like I can really cause chaos, being the only witch here I've gotta be on my best behavior."

John Henry sat next to me, before lighting a cigarette, "Ariel already threatened to kick you out if you were anything but, huh?"

"Something like that," I clear my throat.

"Sorry, do you not?" John Henry gestured around with his cigarette.

"No, I do. It's just been a while."

"You didn't quit, did you?"

I laughed, "what if I did? Would that be a bad thing?"

"Yes," John Henry nodded, "all the best witches and warlocks are smokers." He took a draw off of the cigarette, "plus it gives you something to keep your mind occupied." John Henry motioned to pass off the cigarette, "go on. You know you want to."

I smiled over to him and took the cigarette, "thanks." I took a draw off the cigarette before handing it back.

"You know, there is a spell that can help you cause chaos and be on your best behavior."

"Is there?"

John Henry nodded as he gently tapped the cigarette, "yeah, well, there are a few. But the main one is a memory spell."

"Change or wipe?"

"Wipe," John Henry looked out over the dry field, "it sure is pretty out here." I looked out as well, "give me a couple days, I'll see if I can dig the spell up. It's not exactly what you would call allowed."

I take a deep breath and smile looking back up at the house, remembering the spell John Henry had found and thought me, "tempore ab extermina extermina cogitatione adversus rigidum ab extermina vestris." I repeat this spell three times and look up to the window, where Ben had been standing, watching me concerned, to see him look at me and almost tilt his head. He then turns and walks away from the window.

Then I hear the back door open and see Constance run out, "get out of here! Get off of my property!"

I turn and run toward the house next door. Running through the bushes and trees until I reach the back door. Once I am there I start to knock, but before my hand hits the door Michael opens it, "did you find out what you needed?"

I nod, "Michael, I am so sorry." I step forward and give him a hug.

"You don't think I'm a monster?"

I shake my head, "I think you did some bad things, but everyone has. I don't think you're a monster."

"You should. Because I am." I look up to Michael, confused, as he sighs. "Then they must not have told you everything." Michael turns and walks to the table and sits down, gesturing at the chair next to him for me to do the same."Nothing about me was natural to my mother, not my birth, not my appearance. She kept away from me, I don't know why, maybe it was painful for her. Then things started happening, strange things. Crows would encircle the house every day. Everyone would complain that the house was burning up, but I thought it was just something to do with them, because I always felt fine. Then they came. They told me, 'And the son became black as sackcloth with hair, and the whole moon became as blood and the stars fell from the Heaven to the Earth for the great day of wrath is come. I am in the presence of my Lord.'" Michael puts on a theatrical voice for a moment and I chuckle. "They said they were Anton LaVey, Black Pope of the Church of Satan, and his cardinals. One faked their death to 'prepare for this day.' I didn't understand what they meant. I had no idea what they were talking about." Michael shakes his head, "they said they had followed a dark star from the west. The signs were impossible to miss: the temperature in this house, a home built over the portal to Hell, and the crows worshiping from above. The omens were complete and I was the chosen one. They said the time had come to remove the scaled from my eyes, to show me my true power. I thought they would accept me for who I am, but they were only interested in me because of my powers and because they thought I could bring them power."

"Why didn't you stop them?"

"By the time I realized what was happening they had kidnapped a woman and killed her as a sacrifice to me. I was scared that if I had told them it wasn't true and I was just a regular old teenager, they'd hurt me too. They were lost souls following a con man from some pathetic circus. And then, after they had their 'Black Mass' and killed that girl, my mother... she... she tried to stab me, in my sleep." Michael begins to cry. "My own mother tried to kill me."

I hug Michael, holding him tightly. "It's okay, you aren't a monster. You're not." Michael looks up to me with tears in his eyes, "you want to be good, don't you?" Michael nods, "of course, you do. I can see it in your eyes. You want to change the world."

"I can't do this on my own. I've passed the Seven Wonders, but I don't know how I am suppose to lead when I've never even been a part of a group or a family before."

"You have Ariel and Baldwin... and me." I smile softly. "We will help whenever you need it. We will guide you when your path becomes blurry."