Watched (ONC 2021)

Chapter 10 - The Candelabra

The shadow's arm moved. I tensed.

"Why don't we tell Dad, and we'll find a new home."

She kissed my forehead. "Spirits follow people, not homes, Winnie. Don't worry. I know how to beat this one." Her eyes glistened like a puddle. "Promise me, you won't move regardless of what happens."

"Why?"

"I don't want the shadow to follow you. Do you promise, no matter what?"

Those green eyes kept watching us.

You're imagining it.

"Will you keep doing magic after this?"

My mother shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I'll stop. I promise."

"Okay, I promise too."

She kissed my head again. "I love you, Winnie. Now please go to the corner of the room. Close your eyes and cover your ears."

I followed her instructions because it was what Dad would have wanted too. I could help her sadness to evaporate and our family become whole and happy.

A deep voice, deeper than my Dad's echoed in my mind. Surrender the boy.

My mother stood her ground. He's not yours, and he's no good for you. I'm stronger and more powerful. Take me on instead.

That's not your decision.

Icy fingers tickled my skin, but heat burned the surrounding air a second later. She sang, her words like a lullaby from another land. When I peeked through my finger, the shadow seemed to shrink until a gust of wind knocked my mother's possessions off the table and onto the floor with a clatter. A shadow arm reached out from the wall and grabbed my mother by the neck. As it lifted her from to the ceiling, my jaw dropped.

"Mom!"

I tried to lunge forward, but my muscles refused to cooperate. Every time I jerked away, heat burned my skin. She shook her head as her eyes widened and she gagged. I squirmed like somehow I could escape this grip, but it was useless. She seized until her eyes no longer pleaded with me to stay.

"Mom!"

It was like being crushed by every person on the planet and having them claw through my chest to rip out my beating heart. I would offer it to her if I knew how. The shadow turned to me and I swore it smiled.

My mom's lips moved one more time, and a fire burned around me until the shadow shrunk into nonexistence. On the table, the candelabra rattled. The fire's heat was so overwhelming I passed out, only to be shaken awake by my father as paramedics wheeled my mother outside.

The extra bedroom faded back into the park in Corbeau Woods where Milo sat at my side.

I vibrated with anxious energy. Could I have blacked that out for twenty-five years? Had I watched my mother die and had a spirit and not her actions taken her life?

Now you understand why we must face what's in that forest because it knows your identity, and it's back. But this time, you'll have to defeat it yourself.

How?

You were drawn to the right town. Mrs. Crawford had the knowledge to keep most spirits at bay until your father brought you—

The candelabra! Last month, he'd cleaned the attic and asked if I wanted it. Mike thought it was charming and was excited to have my family's history represented in our home. We'd burned candles in it outside while having wine on the patio one night.

It's a dangerous earth spirit that can take the form of people you love to get close to you and lure you in to feed its power.

That was unthinkable. The only person I loved here was Mike, and an earth spirit couldn't have possessed him without my knowledge. He did everything to ensure my safety.

It would be subtle. Think of differences in his reactions or changes that occur when he's with you.

We've never encountered anything cursed together before, so it's hard to tell.

Mrs. Crawford's home was protected by spells. Did Mike enter with you?

No, he was too spooked.

What about the sundial in the forest?

He went to call for help. It was odd that he let me run into the woods after we discovered the body. But why would he bring me to a doctor to get healed?

What happened in the clinic?

Don't you know? Aren't you always with me?

When I dwelled on it, she only spoke to me when I was away from Mike, like in Mrs. Crawford's house, the forest, or our front porch. Was it because my mother couldn't be near the earth spirit?

Yes, I — she whispered, her voice cutting out.

When I looked in the rear-view mirror, I discovered why.