Free Witch & Curse by Nancy Holder, Debbie Viguié Page A

make out a head, shoulders, and limbs. It was a human figure.
    The oval bobbled and began to close, and the figure cocked its head as if startled, observing the shrinking perimeter, then looked straight at Jer. The features were unclear. He felt, rather than saw, its gaze.
    What Jer did next, he knew was not of his own choosing. He crawled on his hands and knees to the foot of his bed and held out his left hand. His mouth opened, and he spoke sounds he had never heard before.
    From the oval, scarlet and green energy crackled, then darted forward to connect with his fingers.
    Violently, Jer was thrown back against the bed, slamming his already aching head against the head-board. It felt as if his skull were being cracked openwith a hammer, and for a moment he sprawled in a heap, unable to move. Finally, with a grunt, he sat back up, dizzy and sick to his stomach from the pain.
    Once again the beams shot forward. The jolt was enough to knock him off the bed, and it spread over him like a pulsating blanket, pinning him to the floor. It shimmered over him from head to foot, sizzling, sending tendrils of aching, jittery sensation throughout his body. Shutting his eyes tightly, he braced himself for more pain, but this time none came. Something new was happening; it was as if something were trying to find a way inside him, poking and prodding the surface of his skin for an opening . . . or a weakness.
    He spoke words of magic, very strong, very powerful, to kill the entity or the charge or whatever it was, or at least to render it inert. Though the sensation lessened, it didn’t completely dissipate. He tried another spell. Nothing happened.
    Hell with this
, he thought, and opened his eyes.
    At the foot of his bed, deep inside the oval, the human shape writhed in agony. The figure was completely engulfed in flames. It fell to its knees, arms flailing, trying to put itself out. Jer watched in horror as it rolled and jerked, its head arched backward, its mouth open in a scream Jer couldn’t hear.
    The oval constricted, telescoping in, and as Jerreached toward it, the energy slid off his body like a net and returned to the pinpoint that was all that was left of the shape. He scrambled toward it again, but in the next instant, it winked out of existence. Every trace of it vanished.
    The distinctive sound of crackling flames ricocheted through his mind, and then a man’s distant voice, faint but filled with hatred:
    Don’t forget. She did this to me. Don’t trust the witch. Show her no mercy or this will happen to you
.
    Then a loud wailing filled Jer’s head; the resulting pain made him cry out and jerk into a fetal position, his arms protectively cradling his throbbing skull.
    He had no idea how long he lay that way, but when he came to, it was morning, his head no longer hurt, and his father had left for San Francisco.

Part Two: Samhain
Lifting the Veil

    SAMHAIN
“When Death stalks the earth, witches come to play. For of all creatures they have
nothing to fear, yea, only they.”
    â€œAnd I saw in that century a great darkness spreading across the land. It was a darkness born of strife and vengeance given birth centuries before. I saw the power wielded by two families and the destruction that they brought. It was as though all the demons of Hell had been brought forth to walk the earth and all manner of wickedness had been set loose so that good men trembled in their homes.”
    â€”Gregory the Wise, 1152

FOUR
    SNOW MOON

    And now our dark purpose nearly done
We thank thee, Lord of Day, God of Sun
Deveraux answer your dread behest
We kill well on the Eve, on the Morrow, we feast
    Our Lady guide us on this night
As we strive to finish well right
Cahorses’ Purpose dark and strong
Help us House and Circle prolong
    San Francisco, California
    It had been Barbara’s decision to hold two funeral services, one for her daughter on Wednesday, and one for Holly’s parents the following day.