Chapter 19: The witch

I vaguely remember that Ethan helped me get inside the car. I told him the address, and he started driving at full speed. The throbbing pain inside my head was getting worse with every passing minute. I was struggling to fight back and not let that witch get inside my head. The chanting kept going, and it was hard to concentrate on Ethan’s questions.

“Are you sure you don’t have to go to the hospital?”

“Yeah, just drive me to the address I gave you. My grandpa would know what to do.”

“Have you experienced something similar before?”

“No, I think this is the worst migraine I’ve ever had,” I lied.

He just nodded; I could tell he was still doubtful.

“You must think that I’m completely crazy,” I muttered a few moments later.

“Don’t worry, I’ve seen worse…”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I chuckled. I searched for his energy once more, but I couldn’t sense anything supernatural; he was clearly a human.

“You’re a very weird woman, Ophelia.”

“Because you didn’t have sex with me, yet?” I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“Okay, I admit I have my way with ladies, but that’s not what I meant. You seem different, in a good way. I can’t decipher your thoughts as I do with other women. And, I really want to get to know you better,” he admitted truthfully.

“Oh, well since you aren’t scared of all this, I’d love to hang out with you more,” I replied, and he smiled.

The rest of the drive was silent; only my heavy breathing could be heard. Ethan stopped outside my grandparents’ house and helped me out of the car.

“Thank you for driving me here; I’ll manage the rest. I don’t think it’s a good idea to meet my grandparents, now,” I explained.

“I agree with that. I’ll call you later,” he said and kissed me lightly on the lips.

I’d barely managed to walk at the front door. I hit the doorbell, and the moments that passed until my grandpa answered the door were pure torture.

“Ophelia? What’s wrong, angel?”

“A witch is trying to get inside my head. They’re looking for this,” I said pointing at my necklace.

“That’s nearly impossible, Ophelia. Keepers are unaffected by magic,” my grandpa told me and helped me sit on the sofa.

“They made a sacrifice. They killed five people to obtain more power. I went to the crime scene, and when I tried to see what happened, a chanting begun inside my head. I can’t hold her back any longer…”

“Close your eyes and let her in. I’ll talk with her.”

“No, we can’t do that. We risk being compromised.”

“Trust me, angel,” Papa Peter reassured me, and I let my guard down.

The next moment I was in a large room, in front of a fireplace. There were many candles lighted and an old book opened in front of me. I glanced at the window and saw a waterfall that fell into a lake.

I looked down but the body I was in didn't belong to me. I frantically tried to find a mirror to look at my face. The middle-aged woman in the mirror was a complete stranger but she had my eyes. I saw traces of blood, and I could sense that she wasn’t alone in that house. There were more supernaturals; vampires to be precise.

“I have to do something. I have to stop her,” I muttered silently.

And then my gaze fell on the fireplace again, and without knowing what I was doing, I started chanting, “Ignis exuro. Ignis decremo. Ignis peruro. Ignis exuro…” I kept repeating these phrases until the fire started coming my way and consumed the witch's body.

The last thing I remember is that I felt extremely tired, and then everything was dark…

My eyes snapped open, and I looked around me frantically.

“It’s okay, angel. You’re safe,” I heard Papa Peter whispering to me soothingly.

I was in my room in my grandparents’ house, lying on my bed. I tried to move my muscles, only to feel them sore. “What happened?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

“It seems like you swapped bodies with that witch. I interrogated her, but she didn’t say much. She kept asking about the necklace, and then suddenly she started screaming until your eyes returned into their usual color, and then you passed out.”

I nodded and sat up on the bed to get a better look at my grandpa. “I figured that something like that happened. I was in a house near a waterfall and a lake. There was a fireplace and many candles lighten. I searched for a mirror, the moment I understood that I wasn’t into my body. I remember her face clearly; I’ll be able to make a quick sketch.”

“Okay, but we aren’t in any hurry. I think she wasn’t able to identify us, but even if she did, she didn’t survive to tell anyone.”

“There were other supernaturals at that cottage, probably vampires.”

“Is that so? Did something else happen?”

“I started murmuring a few words that I’ve never heard before, and then the fire started coming my way, I mean her way…”

“She was burnt alive?!”

“I don’t know. I felt tired, and then darkness consumed me.”

“Ophelia, what were the words you said?”

I thought his question for a moment and struggled to remember. “Ignis exuro. Ignis peruro. And something else I can’t recall.”

My grandpa frowned; a serious look plastered on his face. “It seems like a spell to me, Ophelia.”

“I can’t chant a spell. I am not a witch.”

“You were into that witch's body. Maybe you could also use her magic.”

“That’s possible; but what about the spell?”

“Was there any book anywhere near you?” he countered back.

“Yeah, it was old and written in Latin.”

“Maybe you saw the spell in there. That was a book that contains spells a witch can perform.”

“You’ve got a point, Papa. This means that I'm responsible for her death?”

“Whatever you did, Ophelia, it was to protect you, your family, the necklace, and of course the whole word. Sometimes, sacrifices must be done. That witch killed five innocent humans; you did something to stop her. We don’t know if she’s dead. Eat something, rest for a bit more, and then please paint whatever you remember. I’ll prepare a team to investigate what happened in that cottage,” Papa said and patted my back reassuringly.

I nodded and did as he said. They used a face recognition program to match the sketch I’ve drawn with a person, and they were able to identify her. She was reported missing about a month ago. Moreover, they found all lakes with waterfalls near our city. There weren’t many, so it was quite easy for me to recognize the location.

A team of Keepers was sent, but they didn’t find much evidence. Besides the burnt body of the with and some blood traces on the house, nothing else was useful. Well, at least we were sure that the witch was dead, but that wasn’t something that relieved me.

My mom was worried that all these made me feel distressed, so she forced my grandpa to forbid me from helping with this investigation. I got angry with her; I was old enough to make my own decisions. Anyway, Ethan was there to distract me from all this mess, and I was grateful for that.

We spent our lunch break together almost every day. When we met on a crime scene, we made sure to find some free time and grab a coffee. We had dinner in many other restaurants besides my family’s ones. We went bowling, and I mentally thanked Chris for teaching me when we were kids; I managed to win a couple of times.

When we had a day off, we played tourists. We went sightseeing or visited different museums, and we discovered new coffee shops or bistros. It was like seeing the city I’ve been living for twenty-three years for the first time. I was seeing everything around me from a different perspective, a more carefree one.

Ethan was a fine gentleman. Even though we had been dating for almost a month, he didn’t push me on doing something that made me feel uncomfortable. We had a lot of hot make-out sessions, and that was it. I wasn't ready to have sex with him, not yet. It wasn’t like I didn’t want it; I was hesitant because of that little voice inside my head that kept telling me not to trust Ethan…

The funniest and most enjoyable of all our dates, was when he took me to a water park. The summer was almost over, but it was still hot as hell. Once Ethan told me where we were going, I started jumping up and down like a three years old kid high on sugar. I hadn’t been to a water park since forever.

At the water park, we find an empty umbrella and sunbeds to leave our bags while we were gliding down the water slides. I got rid of my clothes and keeping only my red two-piece bikini. I heard a low whistle behind me and turned around to see Ethan gazing at me intensely.

“Now, I think it was a really bad idea to come here,” he said in a low voice.

I instantly blushed, because my mind finally registered that he hadn’t seen me without clothes before; that bikini was nowhere near modest. “To my defense, that was the only swimsuit I found in my closet.”

“It should be illegal to have you walking around in this,” he said, his eyes roaming my body.

“What will you do then, detective?” I asked innocently, batting my eyelashes at him. I saw his well-defined jaw clench. My eyes traveled down to his body, his biceps and deltoids, his four-pack, and that delicious V line that disappeared under his shorts.

I was too preoccupied drooling over him to understand that he closed the distance between us with two wide steps. Then he lifted me up bridal style; a small scream escaped my lips. When he started walking towards the large swimming pool, I understood what he was about to do.

“No, Ethan. Please, let me down…” I pleaded while trying to break free.

But my pleads went in vain because he threw me into the pool like I was a sack of potatoes. He had just declared war. I reached the surface and saw him diving in, too. I started splashing him with water, but all he did was laugh.

“That’s not funny. I could have had a heart attack!” I scolded him.

“Next time, I’ll just arrest you,” he said with an eyes roll.

“Yeah, you do that,” I replied, sticking my tongue out at him.

“You little minx,” he exclaimed and starting splashing water back at me.

Eventually, we started laughing, and he pulled me into his arms. I wrapped me my arms around his neck and my legs around his torso. He kissed me passionately, and I got lost once again into these sensations; his body so close to mine, his tongue battling with mine for dominance, his skin under my fingertips. I’m sure this was illegal, too; yet so fucking good. After a few moments, I pulled away, breathing heavily.

“We should stop. Kids are playing here, too,” I said blushing.

He nodded and disentangled his arms from my body. “How about we try these water slides?” he suggested, and I nodded happily.

We went down the slides more times than I cared to count. We laughed like children, splashing water all around us. We ate pancakes with salmon and mayonnaise, and ice cream for dessert. We swam until we were out of breath. Only, when the sun started to set, we got back into the car and headed back to the city.

Ethan was smiling constantly, and I couldn’t stop thinking how lucky I was that I met him. He was a pleasant distraction from all the darkness and danger my life had. I let my guard down when I was with him. Now, I'm not sure if I should have allowed that to happen...

My mind might be worried, but I knew that slowly Ethan found his way into my heart. That night I dreamed my happily ever after, and Ethan was a part of it...