We are running out of time before the devil comes knocking......

As soon as I enter the house with Phoenix, I'm met with Ally rushing toward me with a terrified expression etched upon her usual steely face.

"Miss Toulouse, we need to act now, Evelyn is edging closer", she spits out.

The usual composed Ally looks shaken to her core, this is unheard of. Often seen as the rock within our family she never lets her emotions get the better of her.

"What happened?" I ask.

She slumps to the kitchen chair as if exhausted by what she's witnessed and endured "Lola's mother arrived, she was sent by Evelyn to bring her home, she's trying to divide us - she's getting bolder in her tactics, we need to act now before she hurts someone, we have to protect ourselves but also the ladies here... what if she hurts one of them".

I gently wipe the whispering hair that has strayed from Ally's normally tight, pristine ponytail and places my hand gently on her shoulder.

"She's getting desperate" I whisper so as not to alert any of the other ladies "she knows united we are as strong, if not stronger than her, so she's trying to pick us off one by one".

"That's what worries me, she's desperate, what will she do next?".

Phoenix pipes up "I agree we can't sit here like sitting ducks waiting for her next attack or to be picked off one by one, we need to end this".

Ally grunts in agreement, exasperated by it all "what if Lola had answered the door, what if Lola had seen that woman .... I can't even use the word mother when referring to her".

"My mum was here" a little voice squeaks as everyone turns to find Lola standing in the doorway, wide-eyed and bewildered.

Ally shot to her feet sending the chair colliding to the ground "I'm so sorry ...I was going to tell you".

Lola's warm disposition had been replaced by a robotic cold tone "what did she want?".... Silence fell across the room only broken when her cracking voice screams out "WHAT DID SHE WANT" her heartbreak seeping out of her soul as her eyes race from each of us desperately seeking answers.

There are no words that I can say that will soothe this poor child's heartbreak, in life we all suffer but to suffer at the hands of a parent who is meant to love and protect you, is one of the cruellest emotions to endure.

Ally slowly raises and walks towards Lola as if approaching an injured cornered animal "I'm so sorry Lola, I was going to tell you, your mother was sent by Evelyn and ....".

"Stop...I don't want you to tell me, I will feel for myself" Lola steps into Ally's personal space placing both of Lola's hands on either side of her face, eyes locked they are frozen upon the spot. Ally's strong composure slumps as if unable to move under Lola's grasp.

Lola's power which is usually erratic and unpredictable becomes honed by Lola's unshakable need to know what Ally felt at that moment. The link between them tightens, their breaths in sync as Lola delves deep within Ally.

Ally's eyes roll back into her head, and her body gently shudders with the threat of possible seizure as Lola pulls out every last emotion that was hidden in Ally's mind from that brief moment.

Tears roll down Lola's face, a signal to us that Lola has found what they were looking for. Ally's body now violently shakes with the emotional drain put upon it, we must break the link before Lola unintentionally hurts Ally.

"Stop Lola" I raise my stick and slam it into the floor three times, casting a bright light that illuminates and floods the room. It startles our senses, as it briefly burns then blinds all of our eyes as the warm glow engulfs us all, our ears ringing with a high pitch noise that echoes throughout our brains - it startles Lola resulting in the release of Ally.

Both fall to the floor, like autumn, leaves fluttering from a strong oak tree. I fall to my knees trying to scoop up my broken beautiful sisters.

Tonight we go to screaming woods - I cannot stand back and watch as Evelyn destroys my family.

..............................................

In the dead of night, when only the moon is brave enough to venture out and radiate its glow over all that hides amongst the shadows, we ventured out to where it all began - Screaming Woods.

With the moist leaves under food, I lead my sisters deep into the woods, I'm drawn in, the pull getting stronger with each step I take, it's as if we are being called closer by the voice of a mother to come home. The feeling of being home rushes over my body and soothes my tired soul. My stick becomes warm beneath my fingers as the power within it grows, the wood glows with every step, absorbing strength with every touch of this sacred ground - the ground that holds our past and future engrained within the soil.

The wind carry's the voices of all our fallen sisters as they urge us to carry on - to our tree, the birthplace of our coven.

The tree is gone, all that remains is a stump and scorched cursed ground around the area, even after all this time no life has regrown here, no grass or wildflowers. This place has been held still in time as a constant reminder of when our coven fell.

I take a small jar from my satchel and fill it up with soil from around the stump, Phoenix watches what I'm doing "Sacred ground, you never know when this might come in handy" I inform her.

Ally gently placed her hands on my shoulders "It's time Miss Toulouse".

My stick is handed to Lola as Ally puts me under her manipulation to wipe previous memories off me ever holding the stick, once done Lola hands me the stick and my three sisters stand behind me, each placing hand upon me so they can channel their strength into me.

"Whatever you see Miss Toulouse you have to project in an illusion, so we can see it too, Lola we recall the emotions you feel" Ally gently whispers into my ear.

"Whatever happens, we are here" Lola purrs trying to comfort my racing heart.

Memories are like waves, they can sometimes come crashing furiously at once overwhelming your mind with the inability to grasp what you processing or other times gently wash over you allowing you to absorb every last drop.

My feet are rooted to the ground that holds all our secrets, I don't need to tap the stick into the ground to produce my vision into an illusion for my sisters to observe, it just naturally unfolds before us.

The stump becomes a mighty tree in front of us, and the once scorched blackened earth becomes a lush green grass that sways in the breeze as if dancing. But it's still, there is no noise just deathly silence that looms in the air like a suffocating fog, thick and dense.

From the dense trees emerges a young girl... teenager, she runs to the mighty trees and pounds her tiny fists until they bleed, her head tilts back as she screams to the heavens, her tear-stained face crumpled in pain - yet we still can't hear a sound.

Lola starts to reel off mumbled words as watered-down historic emotions, flow from Miss Toulouse.

"She's hurting".
"She's lost someone important .... Close to her ... her mother".
"She's heartbroken .... It wasn't fair .... It wasn't her time".
"She wants her back... She's so lonely...

The girl slides down the tree, her body melting into the ground almost like a puddle as her pain pulls her down.

"Why her.... Why did she have to die.... How could she leave me".
"Bring her back to me ..... she's desperate.... She's angry ..... she wants revenge ...... She's Evelyn".

As soon as Evelyn's name slips from Lola's lips her head arches up as if Lola had awakened the sleeping beast, bloodshot eyes peer through her ratty hair that masks her face. She stares straight at me equally shocked as I am that she can see me. Her frail body raises.

"Miss Toulouse, you need to cut the tie ...NOW" but Lola's words fall on death's ears as an animalistic cry breaks the silence and erupts from young Evelyn as she charges toward us with rage-fuelled intent.

Like a savage beast, she claws at my face, unleashing her pain upon me and her anger for intruding upon her private moment. I hear my sister's screams but I'm unable to make out what they are saying - Evelyn's anger is flooding my every sense, her hands now entwined within my hair as she tries to pull a fist full of it from my scalp - I slam my stick into the ground just once - the earth pulls me down and the world becomes dark as I fall into an empty void.