Invoke

Chapter 33

Scarlett wept then. Doubling over inside the circle — falling slowly to her knees. Smothered in the pain from that terrible night. The screams ripped at her flesh, taking form like a recent, traumatic memory. Scarlett unwrapped it tenderly and revealed the truth she had been keeping from herself all of her life.

They were quick flashes, like pictures hastily being presented in her mind. But the eerie words her mother had left her with, terrified her deeply.

With everything she had left inside of her, Scarlett opened the door.

Before the last screams of her mother were heard that night long ago, she had imparted these words quickly to Scarlett. She remembered her mother grabbing her tightly, then holding her head, whispering words into the small of her ear before she perished.

"A witch you are through blood of mine

The hand of the clock will reveal it in time

You will need it someday when the circle calls

A revenge spell has been cast, evil will fall

Your gift you will find through the tempest that binds

Through the thickness of will, through the doubt of your mind"

Scarlett looked up to Regina then, a sudden realization born.

Regina smiled, noting the acknowledgment there. "You remember now," Regina declared, nodding in approval. "Let the words fall from your lips like honey. It is in your blood."

Josephine moved about the circle quickly, leaving Veronica. "What does she remember?"

Alarm was anchored heavily in her voice.

Veronica smiled then, holding out her palm to Scarlett. "These are ties that bind, Scarlett."

The revelation was surreal, but deep in the core of her soul, she knew it lay there all along. The signs were there, the hints of understanding were present. She just had to unveil it. Wiping a warm tear away, she stood, placing the doll gently back into its tin.

The chanting stopped again. It left as fast as a thunderstorm. All eyes were then on Scarlett.

Josephine looked riddled with fear, but Veronica stood, smug with pride.

The moment wasn't a joyous one, like getting a birthday present or falling in love. It just was. Perhaps it was a simple understanding of reality. Scarlett closed her eyes, feeling her wet eyelashes dust her cheeks. Then with a heavy sigh, she allowed the moment to enrapture her, and the spell to fall from her lips. Words that she had never been taught, never knew existed, until this very night.

"Ties that bind, forces of wind

I call upon sister earth for a boon to mend

Revenge spell was cast and the ashes swallowed

A trick was made, graves unhallowed

Send her back... Cast evil to the hell she must dwell

Right the wrongs, fix the sins that befell."

The shrieking of Josephine spit on the air. It was loud and ferocious, encompassing with its enormity of evil.

Scarlett continued, feeling power surge into every pore of her, every drop of blood that coursed through her veins. It hummed... It rushed inside her like a geyser. Scarlett had never felt so much alive until this single moment of clarity. She glowed with all the witchery that had lain dormant for so long.