With a couple of cautious steps forward, they peered at the pages of the open book. There was a message written in shining black ink.
‘Dearest Brenna,
Do not be alarmed. It is important you carefully read and follow what I have to say. I am writing to you from another time. We need you to fulfill and complete a ritual that was never finished. Many women were brutally killed here and were never able to pass over into the Summerland. Hundreds of tormented souls wander these woods. Brenna, they need you to release them and let them fall into their long-awaited rest. The problem is there is a highly powerful force who is controlling their spirits. He is the one who has trapped their souls along with every other person who lived near these woods, including my own, and the soul of your grandmother. He will do anything to stop you from freeing us; he wants us to suffer for all eternity.
You will find all the instructions you need in the envelope in the back of the book.
I know you have the strength in your heart to do this, Brenna. Be strong, you are our only hope.
Blessings
Much love for now,
Hawthorn.’
They sat in a daze as the message slowly evaporated off the page, disappearing before their eyes. For the first time in her life, Brenna felt too numb to speak. She sat staring wide-eyed at the book.
“Bren.” Maggie’s voice was a shaky whisper. “This is big.”
Maggie turned her bewildered head and looked at Brenna. “Big is not the word. Massive, gigantic, enormous, colossal, gargantuan even!” Maggie’s voice rose.
Brenna’s voice box was still frozen.
“Well, I guess you should look in the back of the book.” Maggie didn’t seem to have a problem speaking.
Brenna cleared her throat and found her voice. “Yeah, I suppose I should.” She stared at the book, wiped away a tear. “Their souls have been tortured for hundreds of years…”
“We’re going to put a stop to it.” Maggie placed a hand on Brenna’s shoulder and squeezed. Brenna inched forward and picked up the book, flipped through the thick pages, seeing dried herbs, pressed flowers, spells, and drawings until she reached the back cover. As promised, an aged envelope had been slipped into the back of the book.
Bang! The old book of shadows slammed shut throwing Brenna’s heart up into her mouth. Maggie gasped and her headshot toward the book. Then Brenna giggled and let her shoulders relax. The book sure did seem to have a mind of its own.
The room grew quiet as Brenna contemplated the envelope. The old parchment paper crinkled under her touch. She tried to be careful to preserve as much of it as she tore it open, but it all but disintegrated as she pulled out the equally old piece of parchment within.
Brenna unfolded the tea-colored paper and read the instructions to Maggie.
“The ritual must be performed at midnight on Hallows Eve.” Brenna paused and looked up at Maggie, who was staring at her with twinkling eyes.
She took a breath and continued. “This is when the two worlds combine and all our precious ones can be put to rest. Do not be afraid and do exactly as I say. Ronan will guide you.” Brenna stopped reading and folded up the paper.
“Ronan?”
A howl invaded the room, making Brenna and Maggie jump and spin their heads toward the open door. The howling intensified. Brenna lunged forward, closed the cottage door and fumbled around for the key. Maggie found it on a table and slammed it home in its rusty lock. With a twist of her wrist, the old lock clicked. Locking the door against a wolf or whatever was lurking outside was probably futile, but it was better than nothing.
Maggie ran to the small window and looked out. She screamed as a huge wolf’s head appeared, bearing sharp teeth. Saliva dripped from its jaws as it snarled at the window. Maggie shrieked and all but jumped into Brenna’s arms.
Maggie was shaking so badly she was making Brenna shake too. “It’s okay, it can’t get inside. Maggie, do you remember how to make a protection charm?”
The wolf again attacked the window with its paws, clawing at it violently. Maggie let out a cry, shaking her head.
“What about a spell? A protection one.” Brenna rushed over to the box full of items Maggie had packed and handed it to her. “I know it has an amethyst and banishing oil, what else, Maggie?”
“Uh, you have to sprinkle the amethyst with protection oil,” Maggie stammered.
Brenna rummaged through the box for the items. She didn’t know if the spell would work, but she had to try something. Besides, it was a good distraction for Maggie. “Did you pack any protection oil?”
“Yes, it’s in a blue bottle with white writing.” Maggie’s voice was stronger.
The wolf growled and stared Brenna in the eye as its huge paws morphed into long blades before her eyes. Maggie walked backward until her back hit the wall. That was no ordinary wolf. What did she expect in this place? With her mind racing and her heart nearly busting out of her chest, Brenna dumped the contents of the box onto the floor, scrabbling around for the right ingredients. She found the bottle of oil and took a few attempts to unscrew the lid with her shaking hands.
The growling wolf stood eyed them viciously with soulless eyes. It’s horrible clawed arms grew longer. Soon there would be nowhere to evade its reach.
Although Brenna’s fingers felt like they were made out of butter, she managed to anoint some banishing oil and henbane onto the amethyst, and tie string around the small amethyst. She took an uncertain step toward the window, holding the charged stone out in front of her. The thing’s bladed hand was mere inches in front of her eyes.
The wolf stared right at her with hunger in its eyes. Its gaze drifted to the pouch hanging from her neck. Blue light shot out of the pouch and illuminated Brenna’s face. The wolf snarled and snapped, dripping drool from its huge jaws. Brenna let out a sigh as the thing backed down from the window and disappeared into the darkness of the trees.
Maggie took a step forward. “Has it gone?” Her voice was shrill.
Brenna rushed over to her. “Yes. It’s safe now.” Well, she didn’t know for sure it was safe, but Maggie needed to calm down.
She smoothed a hand over Maggie’s hair. Maggie’s fast breathing slowly returned to normal. “Brenna, I didn’t mean to freeze up like that…”
“Mags, it’s fine. I know you’re scared of dogs.”
“Especially ones with glowing red eyes and ones that have hands that transform into barbed fence poles!” Maggie exclaimed.
“I’ve got a feeling that wolf was also the floating entity that told me to leave when I was here yesterday.”
“A shapeshifter?”
“I think it’s more than that. It’s an evil, evil spirit with a large chip on its shoulder. It obviously used to be somebody who hated witches. That ‘wolf’ is the one who has been tormenting the souls of the slain witches.” Brenna seemed to be talking for somebody else. The words poured from her.
“Even in death the torture of all those women hasn’t ended,” Maggie said.
“It’s gotten much worse,” Brenna added, staring out the window.
“We should get out of here before that thing comes back,” Maggie said.
“Yeah, feels like we didn’t get anything done, though.”
“Yes, we did. We found the Ritual to set the souls free. I can hear them crying in these woods.”