Chapter 5

Elly

The two of them looked like deer in headlights. Elly turned her head away from them. It wasn’t the mud covering her, or the bright red mark on her face from Darren slapping her. The Hughes instilled in her the need to stay away from strangers. If the wrong one found her it would be the death of her. It would especially mean her parents died for no reason. She couldn’t have that.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya. Our coven has land not far from here. We were hoping we could get some supplies from ya.” The man stepped forward making Darren take a few steps in front of Elly blocking her from view.

“Head back and get my parents.” He said over his shoulder. The words barely made it out of his mouth before Elly was jogging away, her book clutched tight to her chest. They were witches too. What if they recognized her? Elly’s mind was frantic. Rebekah was right, she wasn’t safe after all these years. As much as she hated the glamour it kept her she needed it.

“Shit…they’re never going to take their eyes off me now.” She stumbled to a stop and leaned against a tree. Her entire body shook. If they hadn’t come along when they had… she took another shaky breath. It was becoming harder and harder to fight Darren off. She never saw him so persistent before. Her stomach twisted painfully at the number of problems piling up around her.

“What do you think you’re doing? Where’s Darren?” Rebekah grabbed Elly’s arm and jerked her away from the tree. Jonah walked up to them as they heard voices close by. Their eyes grew wide as they realized there were strangers. “What did you do?” Whispered Rebekah. The three of them froze as the voices grew close. The second Rebekah’s eyes left Elly’s, she darted to the church. Ignoring the pain radiating through her body from her encounter with that idiot Darren, she didn’t stop until she slammed into her room.

She leaned against the thin wooden door trying to catch her breath. Her chest heaved a couple of times before she was thrown forward. The door forced open, almost splintering from the impact. Rebekah spun her around. A heavy smack to the face stopped her momentum and sent her crashing to the bed.

“You did this, didn’t you?” Rebekah slapped her again leaving her ears ringing. “Answer me!” She screamed. Elly curled up and covered her face with her hands. Rage shook her entire body. It took everything she had not to fight back. Rebekah spent Elly’s entire life reminding her that she is the only reason Elly is still alive. If she wanted to she could drop the glamour and let the witches come for her. Or worse, she could let the werewolves rip her apart like they did her parents.

“Rebekah.” Her husband’s voice froze her hand midswing as she was on the verge of continuing her assault. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead. A lump formed in Elly’s throat. She moved closer until Elly could feel her breath on her face.

“If they realize who you are you’re going to beg us to kill you before they can take you.” She hissed at Elly. Rebekah rushed out of the room with Johan. Elly was left trembling on her bed. She could just make out the sound of Darren’s voice as he returned with the strangers in tow.

“I’ve gotta get the hell out of here.” Elly’s chest heaved. The icy cold feel of panic flooded her veins threatening to freeze her in place. She reached down to pick her grimoire off the floor. It fell open to a page with blood-red writing scrawled across it. It was the same handwriting that popped up from time to time. It taught her everything she knew about herbs. But where did the writing come from this time?

“I hope we’re not imposing.” The woman from earlier’s voice was moving closer sending a chill of fear down Elly’s spine. One thing at a time, she reminded herself. Regardless of where the writing came from, what it showed was just what she needed. With the right ingredients, she could make a sleeping powder. By the time they woke up from this, she would be long gone. She ran her fingers over the instructions. Her heart lept. They had everything on the list, she was sure of it. All she had to do was sneak by the chapel door to get to the kitchen.

Elly poked her head out of her room and looked around. The sun was setting leaving the halls drenched in shadows. She crept across the tarnished wood floor doing her best to avoid the creaky planks.

“What brings you all the way out to our neck of the woods?” The man from earlier speaks. Despite his voice being upbeat, the sound of his words put Elly on edge.

“Your neck of the woods?” Jonah asks. Elly inched closer to the open door frame. They must have been in more of a panic than she thought if they left the door open like that.

“Oh yeah, like I said, our coven bought land not far from here.” Elly peaked out from the shadows. They were sitting at a dining table not far from the door.

“We’re sorry if we’re trespassing on your land. We can pack up if you’d like.” Rebekah laughed nervously.

“No, no, you’re fine. If anything I think you’re skirting pack territory here.” At the mention of pack territory, Rebekah choked on her tea spraying it out in front of her. Elly took the opportunity to dart across to the kitchen. Just as she made it through the doorway footsteps echoed in the hall. They walked right by where she was just standing. The hall closet opened and she knew they grabbed a towel to give to Rebekah. It was a close call but she made it. Elly didn’t waste time. She tore into drawers picking out what she needed.

“Are you alright?” Someone slapped Rebekah’s back.

“Fine, just went down the wrong way.” She gasped. Trying not to panic Elly began ripping things from cabinets in a far less delicate way. Having everything she needed already dried was perfect, but where were the mortar and pestle?

“Anyway, between the infighting with other witches and the tension with the wolves, our coven just thought it was time to find our own space. Ya know?” It was the woman that spoke this time. Her voice had the same strange upbeat cadence as the man she was with. A sigh of relief escaped Elly’s mouth as she found what she was looking for. She went straight to grinding the ingredients together, careful not to inhale the powder.

“We completely understand. We really value our space as well.” Jonah chimed in.

“That’s actually why we’re here. When Ernest said he sold his surplus to you guys we knew we had to reach out.” Silence fell and even Elly was tempted to poke her head in the room. She would kill to see the expressions on their faces.

“Extra supplies, of course. You guys can take a look at what we’ve stocked. We don’t need all of it for this weekend.” Elly looked beside her at the piles of herbs they had just gotten from the merchant. Ernest was his name? Time was up. She started scraping her mixture into a plastic sandwich baggy. She started to run out of the kitchen when she looked back and saw her mess.

“Shit.” She hissed into the dark kitchen.

“We could use some supplies. But mostly we’re here for a few extra hands.” an awkward silence settled again. Elly held her breath afraid to make any noise. She put things back in order cringing at the tiny noises the dried herbs made with every move.

“Thank you, both. But I’m afraid we’ll have to decline. We’ve already made plans for this weekend.” A chair scraped across the wooden floor. Fear flooded her brain as she started shoving things back in place. She wet a paper towel and swiped along the inside of the stone bowl she used. It wasn’t perfect but it would have to do until she could clean it properly.

“That’s okay, just think about it. We don’t want you to make this decision lightly. Our coven is growing. We just want it strong enough to be able to protect each other. Ya know. not just a coven but a community. Oh! I know. How about I heal the young lady that was here earlier. She looked like she took a pretty good tumble earlier.” Elly’s heart raced at the mention of her. She knew Rebekah would find a way to blame her for it. She ran out of the kitchen stopping at the strip of light spilling into the hallway.

“No that won’t be necessary,” Rebekah said as more chairs scraped across the floor.

“It’s no trouble at all. My wife is the best healer in the coven. It won’t take but a minute. Where’s her room? I’m sure she’s resting.”

“No!” Rebekah’s mask slipped. The irritation in her voice was evident even to Elly. “She hates it when we come in her room. I don’t want to make her more uncomfortable by having strangers in there.” Elly’s heart thudded like crazy as she pressed herself to the wall hoping no one saw her looking in.

“We really do appreciate your offer.” Jonah chimed in. “Darren, why don’t you go get your fiancé and see if she’s feeling well enough to join us out here.” Elly threw herself across the hallway not stopping until she slid back into her room. Heart racing and her body were covered in sweat, it took a few seconds for her mind to catch up. What the hell did he mean by fiancé?