Embers & Spells

7 - Grammie Nah

The moment I stepped inside the house, I flicked my hand, casting a spell to secure the place. The chains and locks moved on its own, locking the front door. Erin was someone who got to be uptight when it came to privacy and security. She had always been careful, not giving a chance to the neighbors or lurkers what had been going on inside the house.

The spell wasn’t really made for the door to lock itself. It was more of warning, an alarm to notify us if someone uninvited was lingering outside. It was meant for other beings. Once they rang the doorbell, the spell would notify us witches if we had to be on guard- if an enemy was trying to go unnoticed. When the Hunters appeared on the door, the spell didn’t ring. I didn’t know why. We were caught off guard and I never wanted that to happen again.

Tana.

My head snapped back, automatically turning toward where the voice came from. I blinked, the silence of the house deafening to my ears.

Let me in.

The voice spoke directly inside my head.

Was I getting visions again? What was happening?

My feet wandered to the front door, my heart beating wildly as I peeked on the peephole. There was a woman outside, her sun-kissed skin and short slicked back white hair was foreign to me.

I inhaled, pushing away the anxiety drumming in my chest. Strangers usually didn’t faze me. But that was when I still had Erin to guide and protect me. I had to be brave now.

Slightly opening the doors with the chains still attached, I peeked from the little opening. “How can I help you?” I asked, trying to sound normal.

The old woman smiled, her dark brown eyes unwavering from mine. “You can’t, my dear. It is my help that you need.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I muttered, about to close the front door.

“Aren’t you going to invite your grammie inside, Tana?” Her raspy voice bounced inside my head. She then lifted her hand, showing me a red-stone ring on her index finger.

Instantly, her jewelry registered in my head. I had seen it many times on the white book and even on Erin’s old photographs.

“Shake my hand and I’ll let you know who I am,” she said, patiently waiting. “Be not afraid, Tana Axle. Witches don’t hurt witches, not under our bloodline.”

Kwi Nah of blood Riva. That was how she introduced herself, the ancient seer of our tribe. I was her descendant, my mother’s great grandmother. I didn’t ask how old she was because witches tend to create potions and spells to hide their age and hold on to life for as long as they could, while waiting for the right moon, waiting for the heir of their bloodline.

“And just like that, the Hunter came and took your souls to the underworld? To Set.”

I nodded as she came to conclude what happened to me and Erin.

Grammie Nah was wearing an odd white dress, with black straps across her chest. Her brown coat looked shabby as well. She had eyes that could intimidate anyone, the way she stared at me felt like I was bearing my soul to her. She was a Seer. And her sitting on the couch where Erin usually sat made me feel empty and vulnerable.

“And you never contacted the clan since then?” she asked, her raspy voice toned down.

“I don’t know how.” Guilt suddenly nagged at me again, knowing Erin was suffering because of me.

The woman kept her stare at me, making me squirm on my seat.

“I won’t blame you, Tana. After all, you are only half of us. Another blood runs in you.”

Sure, she was saying I was only half-witch. An abomination.

“I’m trying.” I didn’t like that my voice sounded hoarse. I was guilty enough of my mistake but I would do anything to save my godmother. “I’m going to do anything to save her.”

The corner of Grammie Nah’s lips turned up. “How?”

How? That was a good question. “I have to do the devil’s deal.”

“A devil’s deal is never easy, my dear.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes. It is never easy to kill a being, not when it’s an alpha.” I shook my head as realization dawned on me. “You said you are here to help me, right?”

She was silent for a moment, making me more anxious.

“Witches of Ilkar had a pact of helping each other,” Grammie Nah started, her posture straight and composed. “When your mother committed the sin of fraternizing with your father, that pact is no longer true for her. It was written on her star that she will fall, which she did, and her offspring will be an outcast to the clan.” She sighed, tilting her head, as if examining me. “My help will be for Erin, not for you. I cannot break our code just because you’re in my bloodline, my dear.”

Her words stung. Even on the other side of the world, I was still an outcast. “I don’t care about witch’s code. All I need is to save Erin. If you can help on that, it’ll be a debt I would carry the rest of my life.”

Her intense stare suddenly melted, her lips breaking into a little smile. More genuine smile. “Aren’t you too young to think of debts and putting all the weight on your shoulder? You’re just eighteen, isn’t that right?”

“If you’re being unwanted your whole life, you’d realize that even a little help is a big deal. After all, I had no one. Like you said, I’m an outcast.”

“You still have Erin.”

“And I might lose her, too.” Her tormented face appeared in my head, as if constantly reminding me of my mission. The longer time I take in searching for the alpha, the deeper her soul would suffer. That thought alone made me lose sleep.

“Strange,” she muttered, eyes narrowing for a moment. “You’re exactly like your mother.”

There was a pinch in my chest, my throat drying. “What was she like?” My words came like a whisper.

“She likes being a hero.”

I stared at my fingers, looking away from her. “I bet that gets her into trouble.”

“It cost her her life.”

I had no response to that. Whatever it was my mother endured and did that cost her life was unknown to me. All I remembered was police officers showed at our house to deliver the news. I was taken in social services custody and after a week, Erin turned up, claiming me.

“I had a vision, Tana Axle,” Grammie Nah stated, her wide eyes staring past through me. “What you seek is in front of your eyes. What you have to fight hides behind a mask. You’re destined to meet the alpha. They will put their shadow all over this place.”

“Are visions always so vague, Grammie Nah?” I asked, not understanding any of her words.

She smiled. “Only to those who can’t see.” She stood up then turned toward the door. “I’ll come back with Hara. And we’ll save Erin’s fate. Rest your mind, for now, Tana. You’re only 18. Be 18.”

“How will I know the alpha?” I asked, desperate to finish my end of the deal. “How will I make the werewolves show themselves?”

“They blend well these times. They easily adapt.” Her eyebrow raised a little as she looked back at me. “Only a full moon can reveal them, dear.”

Right. As if it was that easy. She then silently closed the door as she exited the house, leaving me in silence and alone.

Be eighteen? Be a teenager I was supposed to be? I actually had no idea how to make of our conversation. Right. That was all I ever wanted to be- a normal teenager enjoying her last year in high school. But a different card had been thrown at me, as if my life wasn’t a joke enough. Now I had to deal with the underworld and the devil, werewolves and Hunters. This wasn’t the wish I had on my eighteenth birthday.

I didn’t know whether to take her as an ally, since Ilkar clan were the first ones to damn my mother, cutting ties with her the moment they learned she was pregnant. Though I had never heard my mother voiced out her thoughts about the clan, Erin freely laid out her words of hate and disagreement with the rest of them.

She was a different witch. How I wished I could be as good as her, as compassionate and brave.