"Katherine," she says, letting go of my arms. She takes both my hands in hers instead so that I'm fully facing her. "We are generations of witches. Your grandmother was a witch, a powerful one. Her mother was a witch, her grandmother, her great grandmother, and all the women before her were witches."

I frown at what she is saying. I know Aunt Agatha is always dabbling with herbs, charms, and some kind of magic but I never thought of her as a witch, nor do I think of my grandmother as one.

No, my grandmother is not into that kind of thing. She's a businesswoman, not a witch. A very sharp businesswoman. She took over the Blackwell Empire after my grandfather, Thomas Blackwell the fourth died. And why is Aunt Agatha talking about my grandmother in the past tense? She's still alive. I mean, look at her, staring at me with those eyes.

"I know you don't believe me, Katherine. Why would you when my mother made every effort to shelter you from the truth since the day you were born? But that's the truth, the blood of several generations of witches runs in your veins. Now she's no longer here to hide it from you.

"Our Grand Companion chooses one woman in our family to be his mistress from every generation. She bonds herself to him and receives his power. The chosen one- the one who is strong enough to bear the power of Enodia, bears the blood of eternal daughters of magick.

"You, Katherine, are that chosen one after your grandmother. You were chosen since birth. You are the one whose blood our Grand Companion craves. It's your duty to take over after the passing of the last chosen one."

I want to step back but Aunt Agatha is holding on to me tightly. It can't be me and I don't get it. "The passing? But Grandmother is still here. She's still alive....and I don't want to take over. I don't want to be a witch."

"This is not a choice, Katherine. And your grandmother is dead. She's been dead for over two weeks. The bonding is supposed to happen after you turned 18 but we can't wait that long. Now is your time to take over."

"No, she's not dead! Look! Look at her, Aunt Agatha! She's still alive and she's gonna get better." As I'm saying this, my eyes slide back to my grandmother who's lying there, watching us.

"Listen here, Katherine," says Aunt Agatha sternly, bringing my attention back to her. "Your grandmother is dead. What's inside her isn't her soul. It's our Grand Companion residing in her body, waiting for you to take your place, to pledge, and bind yourself to him."

"No." I shake my head. "No, bring her soul back! I want my grandmother back, Aunt Agatha." Whatever demon is in her body now, I want nothing to do with him. I can feel my heart breaking. My grandmother can't be dead. Not my grandmother! I can't lose her. I love her like I love a mother. She's the only person who cares about me.

"Nothing can bring a soul back from the dead, Katherine!" My aunt's eyes are narrowing. Her hand is gripping mine painfully.

"Then what's the use? You're not as powerful as you claim." I try to free my hands from her deadly grip.

"I'm not powerful. You are going to be once you do this." She refuses to let my hands go.

"Can I bring Grandmother back from the dead if I did this?"

"Don't be obtuse. Of course, not. Nobody can," she snaps

"Then I don't want it! It's evil," I snap back, finally able to pull my hands free. Evil is in this room. I can feel it.

"Evil is what you make of it and nobody in our family ever ran from this. You can't escape it or there are going to be consequences, Katherine."

I step further away from the bed and from Aunt Agatha. My lungs feel tight, it's hard to breathe. It's not my grandmother who's lying there on the bed. It's her body but it's not her.

No, that's not true. It can't be true.

"No, you're lying! She is not dead!" I refuse to believe that. There's no way that she is dead. Her eyes are still moving and she eats. She eats a lot.

"You are stubborn, just like your grandmother," says Aunt Agatha. "Very well, I will show you what Mary and I have been working so hard and so long to conceal." She nods at Mary who is still standing at the foot of the bed. She's holding a few lit up incenses in her hands.

Mary chants something unintelligible then blows the smoke from the incense towards the bed.

A different kind of smell suddenly filled my nose. A revolting stench of rotting flesh overpowers the strong odor of incense. It hits me so hard, My nose and the back of my throat feel clogged with it. My stomach rolls, my eyes water, and I double over, retching on the floor. Oh, my god! I've never smelled anything so foul in my life.

This doesn't seem to bother Aunt Agatha and Mary who are just standing there, watching the figure on the bed.

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and look up.

On the bed, lies a figure...no, not my grandmother. It looks somewhat like my grandmother but the horrifying....thing...can't be my grandmother.

Hair scattered on the pillow, her skin is a sickly pale greyish color with blotches of purple and yellow here and there. Some parts of the skin are split open and peeling off, revealing the whitish flesh underneath. Brown fluid oozes out from them.

The right eye socket is sunken while the left eyeball is hanging on her cheek by strings of artery and veins.

The thick dark fluid is leaking out from the corners of her wide open mouth, her nose, and her eye sockets.

The mattress around her is soaked with the dark fluid from her decomposing body.

"Now, place your hand on hers and give your other hand to me. Katherine!" Aunt Agatha is approaching me.

This isn't happening. This is just a nightmare.

The storm is raging outside. The lightning strikes and the thunder rolls. The walls are now screaming and wailing. There are voices telling me to run and there are voices commanding me to stay. I choose to run.

*****

The rain beats down on my head, pouring down into my eyes, making it hard to see. I think I'm heading into the woods but it's dark and I don't know where I'm going.

It gets even darker when I'm surrounded by tall, looming trees.

The soil is slippery and the soles of my slippers are too thin, broken branches, protruding tree roots, and sharp-edged stones are harsh on the bottom of my feet.

I have a feeling that something is after me, flying in the turbulent night sky, fighting against the wind. I don't look back to see for sure but I can feel it.

I fall often but I keep getting up and continue on. The awful smell of decaying flesh comes and goes. Brambles, bushes, and tree branches are slapping my face, scratching my body and my legs.

Suddenly, my hair is being yanked or probably stuck on a tree branch or something, my scalp screams in protest but I frantically tug hard. A chunk of my hair is ripped off my scalp before I continue running.

A bright streak of lightning splits the sky, followed by an earth-shattering boom. Something heavy falls and hits the earth with a loud crash behind me but I don't look back.

I keep running and falling and running. At one point I feel like I was going to faint, but I will myself to stay on my feet and push on.

My mind plays tricks on me- I think I see warm lights glittering in the pouring rain. It seems so far away, but I follow it. It feels like an eternity when I finally get to the door. Then I frantically knock.

There's an older lady who opens the door.

"H..h..help me. Help. Please..." I'm shaking and my teeth are chattering. My feet feel wobbly, it's hard to stay upright.

The lady's eyes widen and then there's a commotion. Faces appear. Many faces. People I don't know are yelling.

Then there are those green emerald eyes. I stagger into his arms and hold on tight.

"Katherine?" I feel his warm arms wrapped around me before he picks me up and brings me inside.

**********************************

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