The Witch of Willow Lake

Chapter 6

    Two months past and the couple had settled into the cottage with me, I couldn't bring myself to tell them to leave, and I didn't want them too. I didn't want to go back to being alone; I'd grown accustomed to having the pair around.

    In all honesty, had they not told me they were Vampires, I'd have never known and thought they were human. Just unnaturally strong, fast-moving humans who drank blood and could hear things going on five miles away if they listened carefully.

     They'd been helping me with my powers too. Emmett figured controlling my skills wasn't much different from him and Alicia controlling their thirst and bloodlust, so they'd been working with me to help keep them in check.

    We'd gone back to Willow Lake as well. In the most significant building, there was a basement where all our archives had been stored that I'd forgotten about before. By some miracle, they'd been untouched by the fire, so we retrieved as many as we could carry.

    The pair read up all about the coven history, while I read up on the things I could and could not do with my powers. Although the list of things I couldn't do was minimal, as long as it didn't mess with the laws of nature, it was more or less free game.

    For example, I couldn't bring someone back from the dead, nor could I stop someone who was about to die from dying. I couldn't change the weather or prevent natural disasters, therefore I couldn't stop a tornado from rampaging through a town, or an earthquake from shaking.

    But I learned I could heal, but only to an extent. I couldn't go curing cancer, or other diseases, but I could heal wounds, and broken bones at least enough to speed up the process for the person to heal on their own quickly.

    Although I was also learning the rules were a little different for the pair. But as Alicia had put it, Vampires went against every law of nature as it was, states of life did not apply to them.

    "Emmett?" I spoke softly, putting the oversized volume I'd been reading down. "I want to try something, but I don't exactly know if it will work."

    Emmett's eyes shot open as he turned to me with a childish grin, "All right, I'm always up for an experiment, what are we doing?"

    Emmett had an adventurous side, a daring side who wasn't afraid of trying something even if it meant getting hurt or killed. He had a strong survival instinct, but he wasn't scared. Alicia could be daring, too, although she was more mindful and far more vigilant than Emmett.

    "I need your wedding ring."

    Emmett raised one of his thick eyebrows before shrugging and removing the gold band from his finger.

    I took it from him carefully and encased the band in my hands. I took a deep breath, letting the energy fill me and surround me and the small red static began sparking around my hands. All I had to do is will it, and it would be, that's how the powers worked.

    I made my will known inwardly, willing the magic to do what I needed it to do. I had no idea if it would work; I was basing it all off a simple theory in the volume. Vampires didn't follow the laws of nature either, so I had no clue if this was breaking the rules or not.

    The static faded, and I opened my hands to see his gold ring shine in the dim light, and I handed it back to him.

    "So, what did you just do to it?" He questioned, studying the band in his fingers. It looked exactly like the band did before he took it off, which left him quizzical.

    "Well, you'll see. If it's worked, that is. Put it back on and be ready to move quickly." I got up off the parlor rocker and moved to the window.

    Taking hold of the black cloth, we used to cover the windows during the day; I checked his ring was secure on his finger.

    With a sharp tug, I yanked the cloth away, letting a burst of evening sun pour through the window and beam directly onto Emmett.

    Emmett instantly recoiled as he jumped to move into the shadows of the cabin and a low growl rumbled from his throat. "What the f**k are you doing, Hallie?!"

    "Did you get burned?" I questioned, raising my brow at him as I folded my arms across my chest.

    Emmett stopped and paused for a moment, studying his bare arms. "Wait, no. What?"

    Emmett tentatively held out his arm to the rays until just his fingertips touched the light. There was no burning, no smoke, nothing, and Emmett carefully stepped his full self into the beams. It had worked, and a smug smile crossed my lips.

    "Holy...you're a f*****g genius, Hallie! This is brilliant!" Emmett danced around, causing me to laugh before he scooped me up in his broad arm, spinning me around.

    "What the heck are you two doing?" Alicia groaned, stirring from her sleep as she pulled herself up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

    "Babe, babe, give her your ring, seriously." Emmett beamed widely.

    Alicia narrowed her eyes at him before she rolled her eyes and handed me her ring.

    I did the same before I handed it back with a smile, "Now, you don't have to hide from the sunlight."

    "What?" Alicia looked at me, confused, right before Emmett tore her off the bed and threw her into the light.

    Instantly Alicia retreated and gnarled before she realized she wasn't burning. "Wait. What? How?!"

    "I got to test this outside." Emmett grinned, acting like an excitable child with a new toy.

    "Wait for a second," I sputtered before he could go rushing out. "I don't know precisely how well the spell will work. It might be fine in the evening sun, but not the midday sun. I don't know if the spell will stick forever, for a month, a day. And I don't know what would happen with prolonged exposure either, so if you're going out there, be careful, please."

    Emmett was gone before I could finish, standing outside the front door and dancing in the evening sun, laughing.

    "This is amazing! Alicia, get out here!"

    Alicia hesitated for a moment before she joined him, stepping carefully and flinching as she stepped out. It took for a few moments, but she was soon laughing and dancing in the sun with Emmett.

    Never in my seventeen years had I seen two people so happy, and it warmed my heart.

    "I haven't been out in the sun for a good one hundred and thirty years!" Alicia ran back inside and embraced me into her arms. "This is so amazing, Hallie, thank you so much! We can live again."

    "Alicia, like I said-"

    "I know. You don't know how effective they are or how long it will last. But Hallie, this is the first time we've been able to step out into even the smallest ray for over a hundred and thirty years."

    Emmett stepped back inside with the broadest smile I'd ever seen that warmed my heart. "We can stick around, test them out, and then Hallie...we're taking you to see the world."