She was running through a forest, it was dark and damp outside. The sky was crystal clear, the stars were big and beautiful. Her lungs were burning as she ran faster than she ever had before, and her legs were screaming for her to stop aching in places she never knew were possible. But she couldn’t stop. She had to find it. Something was calling for her, but she had no clue as to what is was. All she knew was that she couldn't stop running. The urgency of the matter pushed her faster and faster. Further into the forest. Further to what was calling her. Something she desperately had to get to.
Wait. She knew this forest. It was the one behind her home. She looked down and noticed that she was wearing full leather fighting gear. Gear that she knew she didn’t own, hadn’t even seen in stores nearby. She’d seen similar outfits in the books in her mother's store but that was it. The books she loved to page through over and over again. Never getting tired of the imagery and stories. What was going on with her? Where in the heavens was she running to? And why in the middle of the night?
It was then that she saw it. The moon shone so brightly that she couldn’t miss it. An opening to a large cave in the forest. She’d never seen that cave before, but she should have as she’d spent so many years exploring the forest. So many years exploring with Caleb. Playing games without a care in the world.
Leah slowly and quietly entered the large newly found cave, careful not to make a sound. The last thing that she wanted was to announce her presence to anyone who might be inside. She had no idea what she was walking into. The cave was narrow and damp. She could feel the cold seep up through her shoes and a little shiver ran up her spine. She had no light to guide her way and, unable to stop it, she felt fear rising up inside her. But just as it started rising it changed. It was as if an unnatural strength in her began to grow. Her actions were not her own. That was not her that she knew. She didn't dress that way, inspecting once again her fighting gear. She sure as hell didn't act that way. Forging head first into a cave where she knew not what awaited her. She ran from danger, not towards it.
She walked for what felt like ages as the cave twisted and turned. Leah made a mental note of her route so that she would be able to find her way out again. The walls were filled with moss and squished beneath her touch. The smell of earth attacked her senses. And the feeling she felt beneath her hands made her uncomfortable. Where were they going and what would they find? All of a sudden the narrow entrance of the cave opened up into a dimly lit cavern. No more moss beneath her touch.
It took a short while for her eyes to adjust after the dark passages she had just followed. But it soon subsided and she was able to see clearly again. She could see, and she noticed that there were almost fifty candles lit around inside the great big cavern, no breeze to extinguish them, no breeze to announce her entrance. Now that her eyes had fully adjusted, she saw that the cave was completely empty, except for something that was in the middle of the cavern. It glowed brighter than all of the candles put together. Its glow almost blinded Leah. She couldn't make out exactly what it was. She would have to go closer for a better view, but she would need to be extra careful. She still had no clue what was going on and someone could easily be hiding in the shadows, for there were many of them.
She crouched into a battle stance and surveyed the cavern. It surprised her that she knew what a ‘battle stance’ was. She could usually barely walk without falling over, let alone fight like a soldier! She waited a while and saw that nothing moved, nothing stirred, there seemed to be no one else in the cavern but her and the glowing item in the middle, one step up from the ground.
She slowly eased closer to the middle of the cavern, still surveying her surroundings. Knowing that there was something there that she needed to see for it called to her. There was some sort of altar there, made out of clear crystal, which seemed to glow from within. A brightness she had never experienced before. The altar stood high, taking Leah almost up to her waist. Leah noticed with interest that the altar was in the middle of some sort of symbol on the ground. It was a Pentacle. Again she wondered how she knew that the symbol was a Pentacle. She had a flashback to her mom's store with its many books where she’d heard her in the background explaining what a Pentacle was to a customer. The Pentacle was a Pentagram surrounded by a circle. The symbol surrounding the altar intrigued Leah and made her mind’s cogs work overtime. But that was not what stopped Leah’s heart. Looking up from the pentacle, her attention was drawn to the altar and its contents. Her heart almost stopped when she saw it. Or should she rather say when she saw her? There was a woman lying lifeless on the altar.
The girl never stirred as Leah moved closer. Her eyes didn’t even flutter. She lay lifeless as beautiful as an angel dressed in her pure white dress with her hands at her side.
Leah carefully inched closer to the woman's side so that she could get a better look at her. As soon as she saw the girl’s face, her breath caught, her heart threatened to stop beating and her legs went weak. She had to fight to keep standing. How can this be? Her mind was racing, trying to make sense of what was going on. It didn’t make any sense. The stranger on the glowing altar was the splitting image of Leah. From her straight long black hair to her slightly slanted closed eyes. But how? This could not be possible. Leah’s mind must be playing tricks on her. It must all be her imagination.
With care, Leah leaned forward and checked for a pulse on the girl’s wrist. Thank goodness that she found one, even though it was faint, it was there. She took hold of her left hand and it was then that she noticed something on the girl’s palm. The glowing alter showed her that there was some marking on her palm. That’s when she felt it again, just like in her mom’s store. The pain! Excruciating pain! She was convinced that her hand was on fire. Looking down she noticed that the symbol on the girl’s palm was glowing white and so was hers. It felt as if they were connected in some magical way. On looking closer she noticed that the other girl’s symbol was different from the Crescent Moon symbol on her hand. The stranger’s symbol was that of a full moon with a half moon on each side. Leah’s brain was fuzzy but she still needed to know who this stranger was and why she looked exactly like Leah. It was as if she was looking into a mirror. The image burnt into her eyes and she felt uncomfortable and intrusive as if she shouldn’t be there in the first place.
Leah faintly heard a girl’s voice whispering something in her head. Looking down at the stranger’s mouth she could see that it wasn’t the other girl speaking because she could see that her lips weren't moving and her eyes hadn't fluttered, not even once. Through all of the searing pain and magical connection, she just silently lay there like Sleeping Beauty waiting for her prince’s kill. But this was no fairytale, this was a nightmare come true. ‘Help me, Leah! Please! Don't leave me! Don't you remember me?’ The voice kept repeating those lines in Leah’s mind. Leah put her hands to her ears and shook her head. She needed the words to stop. But they just kept coming.
Leah woke up gasping for air, her lungs on fire. She was drenched in sweat from head to toe. She was so exhausted that she could barely lift her head. Where was she? What had just happened? She tried to calm down but she felt disoriented and extremely weak. "Leah! Love, are you okay?" Leah’s mom was by her side and so was Kamali. "We were so worried about you and we had no way of stopping your nightmare. You shook as I’ve never seen anyone shake before. It looked as if you were having a seizure." "Mom, where am I? What happened?" Leah spoke, almost in a croaky whisper. Her throat burned like fire and she was still out of breath. Whatever she’d just gone through had taken it all out of her. She felt empty and exhausted. "You passed out at the store. We were busy bandaging up your hand when you blacked out on the bed. We tried, but there was nothing that we could do to stop it." Her mom was shaking as she spoke. Leah had never seen her so concerned before, and it scared Leah t
Amber went all out and set up a special ritual for Leah’s birthday. It would be a celebration of her life and a spiritual rite of passage to her future. She had saged one of the rooms in the back of her store and laid out an altar in it. The altar sat upon a low black wooden table. The red silk cloth hung over the edges and upon it lay crystals, sage, moon water, and a scrying bowl. Amber was busy bringing in her grimoire when Leah arrived at the store. Excitement buzzed in the air. Amber had waited for this day for so many years and played out exactly what she wanted to happen a million times in her head. She had only one chance at this ritual and she wanted it to go on without a hitch. The store bell tinkled as Leah entered. The store was dimly lit by candles. Leah knew that no one else would be joining them so she turned and locked the door behind her, smiling when she took in the smell of Jasmine. Amber was busy laying the last items on the altar as Leah entered the room and ca
Emerald was angered by the actions of the Goddess. How dare she act in that way. Emerald had done all that she could to keep the twins apart and now the Goddess had foiled her plans by letting a vision of Leah come through to Abigail. How on earth was she supposed to keep a lid on the secret if the Goddess kept intervening? Emerald knew that Abigail was still shaken by what she saw. Abigail seemed withdrawn and perplexed. She’d spent most of the following day locked up in her bedroom which concerned Emerald as she had never seen her do that before. Abigail sat at her desk, still visibly upset about what she had seen in the scrying bowl. “Who could that have been?” Wondered Abigail aloud to herself. “She most definitely wasn’t me. I’m one hundred percent sure of that. She might have looked like me but there were subtle differences that showed me that she was a different person altogether.” Abigail had a sneaky suspicion that her mother wasn’t being completely honest with her. Was she
Abigail eventually came out of her bedroom, searching for her mother. She looked around the house but couldn’t find her. She knew that the only other place she could possibly be was in their greenhouse where they grew all of their herbs and spices. Abigail made her way out of the backdoor of their house and walked the few paces to their greenhouse. As she came closer she heard her mother whispering to someone. Abigail peeped into the greenhouse and saw that Emerald was on a phone call. Emerald was speaking to someone with a heated tone. “I need you to keep a close eye on her. There is no way that they could ever meet. It would be detrimental to both of them should that ever happen. They can never know of one another for there would be great ramifications should they ever join forces.” Emerald sensed that she was being watched and immediately hung up the phone call. Abigail hid around the corner of the greenhouse but she knew that it was futile for Emerald had amazing powers and w
Leah woke to the feeling of being watched again. She looked over to her window sill but saw no Raven. She felt heavy in her heart as if something wasn’t right, yet she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Leah sat up in bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes. She hadn't slept well at all, nightmares stirred her from her sleep. She felt exhausted. The events from the previous day played through her mind as she made to get out of bed. Today was a big day for Leah. Today her training would begin and she looked rather forward to it. Leah stretched before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She felt a bit lightheaded but thought nothing of it. She made to get up but had to sit back down for she felt rather faint. Leah sat for a while taking deep breaths before she made to stand up again, this time feeling fine. She made her way to her bathroom, combed her hair, and brushed her teeth. It was still so foreign seeing two different colour eyes looking back at her, but she decided t
Emerald knew immediately what she needed to do. She didn’t want to tap into the dark arts but the Goddess had left her no choice. She was desperate and desperate people did desperate things. Especially when it came to witchcraft. Emerald went down to the kitchen and retrieved her cell phone. She knew that there was only one person who could help her now… Mordechai Idris. Mordechai was an acquaintance of Emerald and he was well-versed in the dark arts of witchcraft. She had never called on his services before, but she knew that she now had no other option. It was Mordechai or nothing. Emerald took a minute to contemplate what she was about to do. Was it worth the backlash that she would receive from the Goddess? The Goddess did not take kindly to meddling in the dark arts. It went against all that she stood for. Emerald needed to think this through before she made a huge mistake. A mistake that could not easily be undone. A mistake that could cost her dearly, along with Abigail.
Leah diligently worked on perfecting her craft. She practiced light spells like those of lighting candles with her intention of bringing on a gentle breeze. She was even able to make it snow for a short while, but she was careful to keep it only to her relevant location. Leah had learned to pull on her earth element, as she focussed her intent on making a plant bloom out of only a tiny seed. She was also able to command the creeper in the greenhouse to extend itself and entwine itself around a stick planted firmly in the ground. Leah was learning fast and that pleased Amber. She, however, had a bad feeling that something ominous was about to happen, but she just couldn’t put her finger on what it was. “I am very proud of your progress so far,” beamed Amber as she sat having some herbal tea with Leah during her break, “but there is still much for you to master in order to keep yourself safe.” “I must admit that I’m really enjoying bonding with my different elements, Mom. Who kne
Emerald couldn’t believe that she had stooped so low. How could she have been willing to turn to the dark arts to get what she wanted? It was something that she had never done before and something that she’d promised herself never to do. She sat in her office at her desk and contemplated her actions. She leaned onto her desk, resting on her elbows with her hands in the shape of a steeple, leaning her forehead on them. “What have I done,” she whispered to herself, “what have I become.” Emerald had never been a vengeful person. Yes, she’d kept tabs on Leah, but that was only intended to keep abreast as to how her powers were progressing. She’d never meant her any harm, but she also couldn’t allow her powers to become too strong. She needed both Abigail and Leah to be on equal footing. One should never be stronger than the other, should this happen then things could spiral out of control. Abigail entered the room and asked her mother if everything was ok. She’d never seen her look s