Chapter 108: A second chance
Aira’s POV
A groan leaves my lips as an ache overtakes my entire body. Slowly I return to the conscious world, and the ache only worsens. My eyelids flutter as they open up slowly. There was a bright light hovering above me, which made me shut my eyes.
“Sorry,” a soft masculine voice says, and before the nights are turned off. My eyes open up and lock with Alex’s. He sits beside me on the bed and watches me cautiously. “How are you feeling?” he asks.
“My body aches a bit,” I pause as my hands go up to my head, and I am shocked when they come in contact with something hard rather than skin. It takes me a moment, but then I realize that it is a bandage wrapped around my head.This content © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
What? How the hell did that get there?
Suddenly the memory of what had happened before it all went dark comes flooding back in. Alex beating up that creepy guy, our argument, then I bumped into some woman and scared her off, then I started seeing my dead family, and then I lost control.
The last thing I remember was Alex’s voice. He was apologizing before it all went dark.
My eyes widen when I finally connect the dots, and I look at Alex with complete horror. “You threw a rock at me?” I ask him, and he looks at me sheepishly.
“I am sorry. I knew the only way to stop that was by knocking you out. and I couldn’t get close, so I had to… yes, I threw a rock at you.” He finishes, and my eyes narrow to slits. “I promise it won’t leave a scar; believe me, that is the last thing I want,” he finishes, and I let out a sigh.
“It’s fine. I understand you did what you had to,” I admit, trying to sit up. He helps me up and places a pillow against the headboard so I can rest my back on it. Once I am settled, a moment of silence passes between us.
“What happened back there?” he finally asks me, and I let out a sigh.
“I have no idea. I had this weird feeling after I took the alcohol, and everything just escalated after that fight with you in the bar. I just lost control from there. I bumped into a woman at the parking lot, and she started screaming, and that was when my powers went haywire,” I admit, and he began to stroke his chin.
“Do you agree with me now that we need to go visit the witches now?” he asks, and I nod in silence. He places a hand atop my head and caresses it softly. “Don’t worry, I am only doing this so that we can get to the bottom of this and find a solution as soon as possible,” he pauses, and his eyes search mine. “I can’t watch you go through that pain again.”
Something warm touches my heart, and I swear I have never felt anything like this before. I could tell that he actually meant it.
He presses a kiss on top of my forehead before rising to his feet and taking me by the hand. He leads me out of the room, and we meet Arnold as we head downstairs. Alex gives him the order to tell some of our guards to escort us before taking me out of the palace.
Our car is waiting for us just outside the front porch. Shortly after, two more vehicles come up behind it just as we descend the stairs. I assume that they must be the guards Alex had summoned for. Well, aren’t they fast?
Alex helps me into the car and rushes over to the driver’s side. He steps on the engine, and we are driving down to the witch’s coven. I take a glance behind us and back at Alex.
“Is there a need for this many guards? It’s not like anyone is going to attack us or something,” I say, and Alex’s grip on the wheel tightens. He shoots me a side glance before replying.
“It is better to be safe than sorry,” he said lowly, and my eyes narrowed into slits. I did not know why I felt there was a double meaning to that.
I don’t know why I felt like I was the danger. Maybe it was because I am.
The rest of the ride is spent in silence. We drove out into the middle of the woods before parking the car as far as it could go. We had to walk the rest of the way on foot. The guards came down as well.
As we headed deeper and deeper into the forest, we passed a few locals who I was quite certain were witches. They smiled warmly at us, or should I say me in particular?
As we came up to Moriah’s hut, which is now Sasha’s, I was struck with sadness. I still found it hard to believe that she was no longer the leader of the witch coven; I found it hard to believe that she was just… gone.
She was the most powerful witch I had ever seen. I still found it hard to believe that she had passed down her power to me, coupled with my ancestral background. Could it be a power overdrive?
Sasha steps out of the hut, and her eyes lock with mine. A bright smile lifts her lips, and she says, “I heard you were coming when you passed the bounty. Come to take your rightful place as our leader?” she asks, and I shake my head no.
“No, I am never doing that,” I say with a light laugh as Alex comes to stand beside me.
“Oh,” Sasha says with a small pout. “Well, anytime you change your mind, you are free to always take your rightful place,” she adds, and I smile at her gratefulness. “So what are you here for then?”
“There is a problem; I am losing control of my powers. I kept seeing the spirits of my dead family, and I was tossing cars and lampposts with my mind. And the weather was changing too. I tried to stop it… but I just couldn’t,” I explain, and Sasha looks at me with narrowed eyes.
“Come inside,” she says before turning her back on me and walking back into the hut. I look at Alex and take him by the hand before leading him inside.
“Are you sure I should come with you?” he whispers to me just before we step in.
“I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side,” I admit, and his grip on my hand tightens a bit. We step into the hut, and Sasha gestures to the mat on the floor.
“Lay down,” she says, and I do so. Alex tries to let go of me, but I do not let go of him. I pull him down, and he sits beside me on the mat with his legs crossed out in front of him. Sasha sits by the other side of the mat and brings a few herbs and sprinkles them over my body.
She outstretches her hand over my body and begins to chant in a foreign language. Her eyes glow immensely, and soon so does my body and hers. A cold sensation courses through my veins, and my grip on Alex’s hand tightens. He runs his thumb over the back of my palm as a way of bringing some form of comfort.
The chanting and glow lasted for at least two minutes before it finally came to an end.
Sasha had grown incredibly pale now, and she looked as though she had seen a ghost. She looked genuinely terrified.
“What is it? What is causing all of this?” I ask her, and she gulps before looking at me.
“A child.” She says, and my blood freezes in my veins. “You come from a long line of powerful individuals, each descendant of the moon goddess, and not to mention that you have been granted the gift of power over life and death. This child… it is interrupting the balance; it is blurring the lines between the dead and the living.”
My eyebrows furrow with confusion, and I found it hard to believe any of this was true. I couldn’t understand it.
“How is Carla’s child blurring the lines between life and death?” I ask her, and she gives me a deadpan look.
“You are pregnant, Aira. It is your child who is blurring the lines.”
Silence.
I am pregnant again.
My eyes lock with Alex, who appears equally as shocked. But I still see the hint of joy within his eyes-such exciting news.
“So what does this mean if it is this child that is blurring the lines of life and death? Does that mean she will keep seeing the spirits of her dead family forever?” Alex asks her, and Sasha shakes her head negatively.
“No. There are only two outcomes: she terminates the pregnancy. ”
“Absolutely not.”
“Over my dead body.”
I love the way Alex and I were on the same page with this. I have lost a child once; I am not losing another. “What is the other option?” I ask, and she lets out a sigh.
“You have the baby,” she says, and I let out a sigh of relief. That means I will have to endure about eight more months of this; it would be hell, but it would all be worth it for my little angel.
I was filled with hope. Until she said,
“But if that child is born, then every creature that has ever fallen by the hands of both mother and father will return to life.”