SEVEN - Dear Mother

People are connected to memories, and memories conjure feelings. And no matter how much I try, the mention of my biological mother can only bring loath, sorrow, hate, and despite my best effort, fear. 

I felt my blood run cold inside my veins. The last thing I ever wanted was to get entangled back into the web Fiona weaved. 

"And why would your mother work with my enemy?" Cadell asked the million dollar question. He turned to Morgana with fury, "Shouldn't you hold your witches in a tighter grip?" 

"Fiona isn't part of our coven, not anymore." Morgana explained, and the hint of sadness was still there. 

Out of everyone, Morgana took the loss of Fiona the hardest. According to her, Fiona had once been a good sister, a great witch, and a precious servant of nature. 

I never met the Fiona Morgana knew.The Fiona I knew was cold, distant, with a constant sneer on her face. 

"She was banished by the Council of Magic about four years ago." I stepped in, "The only power she holds is her knowledge of magic." 

The darkness of the hallway was too much, it made the long way feel narrow, and I began to feel the walls closing up on me. 

"So somehow your mother communicated with a dead witch and gave her a spell to use on my sister's mate…" He shook his head, "What in the world does she want?" 

"We will find her, I'm sure of that. But for now, we better focus on helping Sheila." Morgana said with a small sigh, then she turned to me. "Start on the potion while I check on Sheila."

I nodded my head, and she slipped back inside the room, closing the door after her. I strode out of the hallway, with Alpha Cadell following close behind. 

"I get the feeling you don't have a very good relationship with your mother." He said once we got to the top of the stairs. 

He didn't even know half of it. I shook my head, holding onto the banister. "Just family drama." 

"What kind of drama?" He insisted. 

"The kind I don't want to talk about." I snapped back. I stole a side glance his way, noticing his shirtless state. 

I didn't want to look for long, but I always had a thing for big guys with bulky figures. Cain Cadell has one of those bodies that could get me ogling for hours. 

"Are you planning to saunter around shirtless all night?" I asked while keeping my eyes away from him. 

"Does it bother you?" I could just hear the cocky smirk in his voice. 

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever. I need the kitchen, the potion in itself isn't all that hard, the ingredients should be in every usable kitchen. What's hard is the time it takes." 

"Which you'll speed up using your special magic." He seemed hesitant saying 'Special Magic." 

"It's called Black Magic. It doesn't hurt to say the words, you know." I told him with a slight shake of my head.  

A lot of people were wary of me; they worried they'd say the wrong thing in front of me and I'd lash out. Using the words 'Black Magic' is usually the wrong thing to say, an offence, similar to the seven sins or something. 

But, as much as I loathed being a witch sometimes, I've learned to accept it throughout the years. Black Magic had been infused into my blood, and there's nothing I can do about it. 

After I finished looking around the kitchen and getting the ingredients I needed, I started on the potion. "So, we've got the box, right?" I asked without looking at him. 

"Daniel brought it back." He replied. 

I felt really uncomfortable with the way his eyes followed my every movement. I heaved a sigh. "You don't have to stay here. You should go rest or something." 

He leaned onto the kitchen island, pinning me with his eyes, "Aren't you tired?" 

"Uhm…" I knitted my eyebrows together, "I'm fine, Alpha." 

There was something about the way he watched my every move that put me on edge. I added the rosemary with shaking hands into the simmering pot, then added the ashes in three portions. 

"What made you move to Midwick?" He asked and I raised my eyes only briefly. He gave an easy shrug, "You said you moved here only a year ago, so why and where did you live before?" 

"Stir nine times clockwise then six times anticlockwise." I mumbled the recipe of the potion ignoring his question. Once I was done, I looked up at him. "We'll have to leave it for thirty minutes." 

I strode out of the kitchen area, "In the meantime I need to talk to Sheila, or Jeanette." 

"I'm not allowing you to speak to a deranged ghost alone, darling." He answered in a tone of finality. 

Allow me? I wasn't even asking for permission. 

"She's way too dangerous, you didn't see what she did to my men out there." He gritted out and his eyes flashed red. 

I let out a tired sigh, rubbing my temple. "We're not arguing about this. I need to know who's the witch behind this, I have to know who's working so closely with Fiona." 

"You think you can get something out of her?" He asked, seemingly pondering the idea. 

I nodded my head, "Of course I can. I'm a witch, she's a witch, we'll get along great." 

So, the last part might have been filled with sarcasm, and my grin might have been too wide to be believable. But it got the job done as he nodded his head. 

"But I'll be there." He added firmly. 

"Sure thing." 

There was a huge wall lined with shelves and multiple books, next to that wall there was a long wooden door. He opened it, and I could see the first few steps only, the rest was engulfed in darkness. 

"That's not creepy at all." I muttered under my breath, following him down. 

The stairs seemed to go on forever. And at the bottom there was a faint light the illuminated a narrow hallway. 

This wasn't a basement, it was more of a dungeon than anything. My suspicion was confirmed further as I saw several cells on both sides, mostly empty, until I passed by one that had an unconscious human, at least he looked like a human. 

"Who's that?" I asked and my eyes lingered on the passed out figure. 

"Someone who crossed a line." Cadell replied easily. 

At least he's not hanging people on the wall and torturing them. I thought to myself bitterly. 

Four cells down, and I saw Sheila hung on the wall with metal shackles. I shook my head, "Seriously?" 

Once she saw us she snarled loudly, and Daniel appeared out of nowhere, "Alpha." He greeted him then bowed his head at me. 

At least he wasn't breaking into my personal space. I told myself and focused on Sheila. "I need to get in." I announced it strongly. 

The two wolves shared a look, before Cadell nodded his head and Daniel opened the cell. 

I walked inside, and I could almost smell something rotten. My nose scrunched but I stood in front of her; she looked much worse than before. 

I knew that soon Sheila would lose any fight in her. "Jeanette." I called her softly, "We need to talk." 

When she looked up, I could see her eyes lost all color in them. They were just white, the sight made a shiver run down my spine. 

"Spirits talk." She started then a wide grin spread over her cracked lips. "But you already know that. You thought burning my ashes would sever my connection to this world, but bones aren't the only thing that can keep us grounded, Cordelia Blackwell." 

"Then what's keeping you here? Whoever the witch who did this to you, they deprived you of peace, I don't even know what will happen to you once you're expelled from this body." 

"Perhaps hell is real. If it is, then I'll see you there, dear." 

I felt a shock going through my body, so deep in my bones. "Who did this to you? How are you connected to Fiona?" 

She tilted her head, "This is all you care about?" She sounded really confused, "You don't care about the little fact that you're helping the one person who will lead you to your final death?" 

I didn't need her to look towards Cadell to know who she was talking about. 

Her shackles clanked as she pushed her body forward towards me. Her face was only a mere inch from mine, "Alpha Cadell will be your death, Cordelia Blackwell. And this time, there will be no coming back."