The Monster Within

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

DYLAN and Shannon used their magic to bring Nora to Ethan. I could barely look at her. Her face was twisted with torment. Her eyes never left me. She didn’t even glance at Ethan.

“Don’t feel guilty,” Shannon said. “She brought this on herself.”

Dylan crossed his arms. “Believe me, she didn’t feel guilty about you killing Ben and Rebecca.”

Still it was hard. I wasn’t even the one who was going to be doing the killing this time, yet it was awful. Ethan looked at me, confused.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “I’ll show you what to do, and afterward you’ll be you again. I promise.” I reached for his hands and placed one of his palms against Nora’s neck. Instantly, I saw Ethan’s eyes widen at the warmth he felt from Nora’s body. The worst part of this curse Nora had placed on us was how good it felt when we were killing someone. We were powerless to resist it.

Nora let out a nervous laugh. “So this is it, Sam? I teach you how to survive and you betray me?”

I knew Ethan was starting to feel better already, so I hesitated long enough to say what I needed to. “You used me. You made me a killer, and I’ll never forgive you for that. Any ‘kindness’ you pretended to show me was fake. It was all designed to get me to do exactly what you wanted. To make me a monster. Shannon’s right. You’re getting what you deserve.”

Tears filled my eyes as I took Ethan’s other palm and placed it over Nora’s heart. She gasped for air, and her skin began to wrinkle with age. She withered and shrank into herself, until the light in her eyes went out, and she slumped forward onto Ethan.

“Get her off,” I said, choking on tears.

Dylan pulled Nora off Ethan. “It’s over. For good.”

Shannon sighed. “I felt the curse release. Ethan isn’t using any more of my time.”

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“His existence was taking time off my life, but it stopped when Nora died. I only lost a few years.”

I stared at her, and this time I didn’t see the girl who bossed everyone around. I saw the insecure witch who just wanted people to like her. “I’m glad you aren’t going to die, and I’m sorry Nora hurt you to save Ethan.” I couldn’t say I was sorry I let Nora do it though. Shannon’s life energy had saved Ethan. As awful as it sounded, I would’ve done it all over if I had to. He was too important for me to lose.

Shannon nodded. She understood how I felt. We might never be friends, but we certainly didn’t hate each other anymore, either.

Ethan got out of the booth, looking dazed. “Did I just…”

“Yes,” I said, not wanting to make him say it out loud. “But you had to. It’s over now. You’ll never feel like that again. You’ll never have to take another person’s life again. Neither of us will.”

He wrapped me in a hug and kissed the top of my head. We could finally live normal lives now.

“So,” Dylan said, “there’s something we have to figure out.”

I pulled away from Ethan. “What to do with Nora’s body?”

“No. I’ll take care of it. There’s a spell we can do to burn the body. No one will know what happened to her.”

“What about her family?” I asked.

“She didn’t have any.” He motioned to Shannon and himself. “We were her family before she decided black magic was better than us.”

“Oh.” She must have been so lonely. Lonely enough to go completely evil. “She should’ve done the same spell Shannon did to make everyone like her.”

Shannon gave me a look, but before I could apologize for insulting her she said, “I’m removing the spell. It was stupid of me to cast it. Having people do what you say isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I know they really hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” I said. “Not anymore. And maybe they don’t all hate you.”

Shannon smirked. “Trust me, they do.” She exchanged a look with Dylan. “What do you think? We could have a new coven. Would be nice to have that power again.”

He shook his head. “I know Nora cast a spell on her, but Sam killed Ben and Rebecca.”

“I didn’t want to.” Tears welled up in my eyes. “Please, I’m so sorry. You don’t know what it was like. That monster she turned me into was so much stronger than me. I couldn’t fight it.”

“He was my brother.” Dylan’s pain was etched in his face.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You two could bind your powers with ours so we could be stronger,” Shannon said. Everything was about power with her. She was willing to forgive me if she got something out of it in return. She’d probably only hung out with Dylan, Rebecca, and Ben for the same reason. She hadn’t really cared about any of them. It was sad, but I guessed her issues at school made her not want to open up to people for real.

“So Rebecca’s and Ben’s magic, it’s mine now? For good? I have twice the magic of a normal witch?”

Shannon smiled. “Pretty awesome, right? Normally you have to be born a witch, but there are some ways to take a witch’s power, like you and Ethan did.”

I still felt awful about how I’d gotten the magic. Rebecca had begged for her life, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized Ben had only been defending himself and his coven against Nora. I couldn’t blame him for that.

I looked down at Nora’s shriveled body on the floor. I wanted to hate her more than I hated myself, but I couldn’t.

“Sam, believe me, if I thought you were anything like Nora, I wouldn’t invite you to join our coven,” Shannon said. “The spell she put on you to make you trust her was powerful. You didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

“Wait a minute.” Ethan put his hands up in front of him. “Are you telling me that I have Nora’s powers? I can do magic?”

Dylan nodded. “That’s exactly how it works. You drained Nora’s powers, and now they’re inside you. They’re yours.”

Ethan shrugged. “I can live with that.”

A thought struck me. An awful thought. “Nora’s magic was evil. Does that mean Ethan will be—?”

Shannon shook her head. “Nora’s magic wasn’t evil. She used it for evil. That was all her doing. She made that choice. As long as Ethan doesn’t decide to be evil, he’ll be fine. Just like the rest of us.”

I looked at Dylan. This decision was his. I wouldn’t force him. “I understand if you don’t want us to join your coven.”

“Ben’s power is inside her,” Shannon said. “Rebecca’s, too. In a way, it would be like having them around.”

Dylan hesitated, but finally he said, “All right. But I’m doing it for Ben.”

I nodded. I hadn’t expected him to do me any favors. “So, do we bind our powers now?”

“No.” Shannon spread her arms out, motioning to the brokendown diner. “We clean up.”

I looked at the clock, hanging crookedly on the wall. “Gloria and Jackson will be here in an hour. We’ll never fix this place up by then.”

“Rookie,” Shannon said. She waved her hand, and the coffee maker floated from the floor, where it had fallen on Nora, back onto the counter. The broken pieces of glass fixed themselves, and it looked as good as new.

I stared in disbelief. “That was incredible!”

“Glad you think so,” Shannon said, “because we have a lot to fix. We’ll need your help.”

Dylan took Ethan to the kitchen, most likely to avoid me, and Shannon led me to the counter. They showed us how to focus our own minds and our energy on making the broken things return to the way they had been. The tingling sensation was the most amazing thing I’d ever felt. It took us almost the entire hour, but we put the diner back to normal.

Shannon pointed to the clock. “Time to jet.”

Five minutes. That was all we had. We’d fought all night long, and I wasn’t even tired. I was so high on my new power and the fact that I was me again. Really truly me, only better. More powerful.

I saw headlights pull into the parking lot. “Go, go, go! Gloria and Jackson are here!”

Dylan used his magic to kill the lights, and we took off for the back door. I’d barely slipped outside when I heard the bell over the front door jingle. We jumped in our cars and planned to meet in the woods in the spot where the coven used to get together. Dylan and Shannon took Nora’s body and went on ahead to show us the way.

Ethan reached for my hand as he drove. “You brought me back.”

“You brought me back,” I said. “We’re even.” I wanted to jump over the center console and kiss him, but Dylan and Shannon were waiting for us. My reunion with Ethan would have to wait.

We pulled onto a dirt road, one I’d never noticed before. As we drove I heard trees rustling behind us, like a huge gust of wind was making them sway and creak. I looked back and saw the trees bending back into place, covering the dirt road we were on. It wasn’t a road at all. Dylan or Shannon must have been creating the path so we could get to the clearing in the woods.

I smiled, imagining all the things I was going to be able to do with my new powers. If I had twice the power of a normal witch, there was no telling what I could do. The possibilities were endless. But I knew one thing for certain. I’d never use my powers for evil. I’d had enough of black magic and death for one lifetime. Instead, I’d use my magic to try to make up for the terrible things I’d done after Nora brought me back. I knew I couldn’t undo any of the deaths I’d caused, but I’d find some way to protect the families I’d torn apart. I was determined to make their lives at least a little better from now on.

Dylan stopped his car, and we pulled up behind him.

“This way.” Shannon motioned for us to follow.

Dylan was making Nora’s body levitate behind him. It was eerie to see her shriveled form floating through the air like that. We came to a clearing with a fire pit in the middle. Dylan levitated the body directly over it.

“Stand in a circle,” he instructed.

I wasn’t sure how four people were supposed to make a circle, but we did our best. I realized there used to be five witches in their coven. We were technically one witch short. Although, since I had double the power, the amount of magic we had was still the same. Dylan started chanting in a language I didn’t understand, and a golden circle appeared on the ground beneath us.

“It’s a protective circle,” Shannon said. “We need it before we can bind our powers.”

“Okay,” Dylan said, addressing us. “Ben used to be in charge, but since he’s no longer with us, I guess I’ll run the meetings. Is that all right with everyone?”

We all nodded, and I used my eyes to convey a silent apology to Dylan, but he turned away. It was going to take time…lots of time.

Ethan reached for my hand, offering me support. He was lucky that the only person he’d killed was a truly evil witch. I wished I could say the same.

“We need to join hands,” Dylan said, “to complete the circle.” We stepped closer to the fire pit so we could reach each other’s hands. “I’m going to combine the spell to burn Nora’s body with the spell to bind our circle, making us a coven, but before I do, I have to make sure this is what you both want. Once we are tied together by magic, we’re linked for life.”

Ethan looked to me. He didn’t know these people at all—not that I was an expert on them either—but Ethan was going to follow my lead.

I nodded. “I’m willing.”

“Then so am I,” Ethan said.

Dylan looked at Shannon, and she shrugged. “What the hell? Come eight o’clock, I’m going to be out of friends. It will be nice to have a few friendly faces at school.”

“Just so you both know, I plan to try to make up for what I’ve done. Use my magic for good. If you’ll help me.” My eyes lingered on Dylan.

Dylan took a deep breath, probably trying to come to terms with this himself, and said a bunch of words I didn’t understand. Slowly, golden magic floated out from each of us, forming a band and encircling us. Its warmth made me feel at home. Dylan continued with the spell. “Sam and Ethan, do you swear to honor the coven as family, to protect it, and live by the rules we agree upon?”

Ethan and I exchanged glances. “We do.”

The golden band intensified, making us glow with a faint burst of yellow. Dylan looked at Ethan and me. “Don’t get freaked out at the next part. Nothing can hurt you inside this circle. Trust me.”

“We trust you,” I said.

He nodded and picked up where he’d left off. With a few more words, the golden magic shot from us to Nora’s body, setting it on fire. The flames licked at us, and while I could feel their warmth, I knew they wouldn’t burn me. It wasn’t really fire after all. It was magic consuming Nora’s body.

Within minutes, there was nothing left of her. The magic that had burned her returned to us, and our bodies slowly faded from the brilliant yellow to our normal skin tone.

“It’s done,” Dylan said, letting go of Shannon and Ethan’s hands. “We’re bound to each other for life.” He turned away, and I couldn’t help wondering if he’d ever be okay with this.

“Now what?” I asked.

“We go to school,” Shannon said, looking up at the sun rising over the mountains.

Shannon hadn’t exactly been right about the entire school hating her. Over the next three weeks, most people just ignored her as if they didn’t even know her name, and the few who gave her vague looks of recognition and contempt turned away as Ethan and I glared at them. Shannon had started to give in and act friendly toward us, even when we weren’t helping her with spells. In time, I thought we might actually become friends.

Dylan enrolled in our school, too. We used our collective magic to slightly alter everyone’s memory of the guy who had cornered me in the girls’ bathroom. Everyone thought Dylan was nothing more than another transfer student. And since he was hanging out with Ethan, Shannon, and me, no one thought twice about him at all. In their eyes, Dylan was completely normal.

While Ethan and I could never really replace Rebecca and Ben, we did our best to make up for the parts we’d played in Nora’s sick game. Shannon and Dylan helped me put protective spells on the families of my victims. I was even able to help them find peace. I hoped, some day, it would allow me to find some, too. Finally the universe had thrown me a bone. No more cancer. No more feeding on humans to survive. I was a witch now, and with Dylan and Shannon’s help, I was getting pretty damn good at using magic. The only thing the magic didn’t seem to help with was missing my family, but I needed to let them move on, no matter how much that pained me.

When lunchtime rolled around one day, I suggested we picnic outside on the lawn.

“We aren’t allowed to eat in the quad,” Dylan said, standing in the doorway, looking out on the quad. He still wasn’t over me killing Ben, but I’d expected things to take longer with him. I was just grateful he’d let Ethan and me join the coven.

“Then let’s make sure no one sees us out there,” I said.

Shannon raised an eyebrow. “Look at the new girl wanting to flaunt her magic.” Apparently, she approved.

“Hey, Sam. Hey, Ethan,” Beth said, walking up behind us. “Not thinking of ditching lunch, are you?”

How did she always know everything? I leaned over to Shannon and whispered, “How evil would it be to dull her senses a little so she wasn’t so observant?”

Dylan shook his head at me. “Don’t even think about it.” He’d been keeping a close eye on Ethan and me, making sure we didn’t screw up. I nodded, not wanting to give him any more reasons not to like me.

“We were admiring the beautiful day,” Shannon said.

“Well, if you do decide to ditch, let me know. I don’t want to be cooped up in school on a day like this, either.” Beth waved and walked away.

Too bad it didn’t work that way. We couldn’t get too close to anyone outside our coven. It was too dangerous.

“Okay, what if we point Beth in the direction of a different group of friends? That’s not evil, right?” I looked back and forth between Dylan and Shannon.

Shannon cracked a smile. “Watch.” She waved her hand, and a guy with dirty-blond hair stepped around the corner, bumping right into Beth. They fumbled for a moment and then smiled at each other.

“She’s had a crush on him for years,” Ethan said. “She told me.”

“I know.” Shannon raised one shoulder. “I saw her practically drooling over him yesterday, and believe it or not, he likes her, too.”

“Did you put a love spell on them?” I asked, wondering if that was against the good-witch code of ethics.

“Nah. They already liked each other. I only made them collide in the hallway. They’re doing the rest.”

I laughed. “Who knew all it would take to get Beth to stop being so nosy was a boyfriend?”

We all exchanged a glance and stood facing the doors. We waved our hands in a circle in front of us, then turned around and did it again. Anyone who looked out the doors would see nothing but sunshine on the empty quad. We had total privacy.

We stepped outside, and the sun felt amazing. Not too hot, just warm and inviting. Shannon spread her hand out over the grass, and the blades wove into a blanket.

“Nice.” I sat down, but Ethan reached for my hand.

“Come with me.”

I walked with him while Shannon and Dylan set up our picnic lunch.

“Where are we going?”

“Right over here, out of sight of Dylan and Shannon.” Ethan pulled me over to the statue that stood in the middle of the quad. He leaned his back against it and gently tugged on my hand.

I reached for the back of his head, weaving my fingers through his hair. I pulled him to me and kissed him with all the passion that was welling up inside me. It was so incredibly intense sparks could’ve flown, and thanks to the magic in us they did, in a brilliant display of colors all around us.