“Take in a few deep breaths and think back to one of your favorite memories. I’ll be asking questions to help guide and narrow down each binding to unwrap it, so think of this as a walk down memory lane. You might see your memories in a different light,” Lilith coaches, and I do what she says. With one more deep breath, my mind slowly flows back to one of my favorite memories of my early childhood.
* * *
Lying in tall green grass with my eyes closed, I soaked in the sun behind our property out in the woods. This was my favorite place to be if I wasn’t out in the woods looking for herbs with my mother. I smiled, hearing him trying to sneak up on me.Doesn’t he know I’m so in tune with him that he can’t hide from me?
“I hear you,” I said, laughter in my voice.
“Dang it, of course you do,” he whined, plopping down next to me. Rolling closer, I placed my head on his chest and gazed up into his turquoise eyes. He slid his fingers in my hair and started playing with it. One of my favorite things he did, and the smile on his face told me he knew it was my weakness.
“It’s hard to stay quiet around here. Even if you were tiptoeing, I still would have heard you.” He laughed and I couldn’t help but join in.
Relaxing even more, he stopped and just looked me over, taking in my features. He’d been doing this a lot lately, watching me when I was just doing the usual shit around the house. It made me blush because I’d noticed him too, and not only as a friend.
Biting my lip, I wondered if I should take that step. See if there’s anything between us. I didn’t want to ruin what we have, though.
Slowly, his hand in my hair stilled, and he leaned up on his elbow, giving me a determined look. He focused down on my mouth next, and my heart raced as I watched as his tongue licks his lips. Leaning down while holding my head in place, he gave me the gentlest kiss. It was perfect. My first kiss!
* * *
“Hey, Aunt Patty,” I said as I walked into her kitchen. It had been my week to stay with her while my mom pulled overnights at the hospital. It had been our ritual, really. Every third week of the month, I stayed with her and worked on her land. Those times were some of my favorite memories. I loved being there with her. She lived out on a farm in the country where we didn’t have to worry about following rules or the noise we made. It was a way of being free without restraints. We spent a lot of time making homemade teas and soup, and we always made enough for me to take home until my next visit. The teas I drank regularly during breakfast anyway, but the soups were the real lifesaver when I was under the weather. They always tended to make me feel better shortly after drinking them.
“Hey, Nerezza. How are you doing?” she asked. It looked like she had already started preparing our tea as I watched her lean over the counter, the antique marble mortar and pestle in hand. Ingredients surrounded her work space as she concentrated on the labels. She was always precise in the order she added the ingredients, wanting to be sure she didn’t miss anything. She had told me once that if you missed a step, it would mean dire ramifications. As I walked over to see where she was in the process, the yellowish tint of my cup caught my attention.
No—that’s not right.
The scene cuts in a flash of bright light and the next thing I realized, I was sitting at the table with an empty teacup. Looking down, I noticed the leaves don’t look like I usually remembered.Is that Jezebel Root?
Pain shoots into my head, and I cry out. A few seconds later, I cringe hard, and it feels like water is being thrown on me to cool down my body, and light flashes again.
When I opened my eyes, I was outside, picking herbs with Aunt Patty, laughing at a joke she said. The picturesque moment made me feel loved, like I was exactly where I needed to be. I wanted moments like this all the time.
That night we sat down, and I ate my soup when I started to get a cramp.Damn, am I about to start my period?I asked to be excused and weaved through the house to the restroom. After doing my business, I washed my hands and reached over to grab the towel behind the door where I noticed Hemlock, bundled and hanging from the bar.
That is known to bring discord and could be used in curses. What was it doing there? I’m so confused, seeing all of this. Is this what Lilith was talking about? What’s real?
The next morning we had our tea, mine with the yellowish tint while Aunt Patty had the dark liquid. That afternoon, my tea had a pinkish hue, and I found Morning Glory at the bottom of the cup.
We spend the week collecting herbs and brewing gallons of soup that I would take home with me for when I get headaches. We laughed and played with animals on the farm, sipping our teas in the morning and spending the evenings watching TV or playing cards with more home-brewed tea.
* * *
Ahhhh!I cry out as fire licks up and down my spine. My fingers tingle like they’re being pinched. My lungs constrict, and right when I feel like I can’t breathe—I found myself standing in my childhood home. Dad was pacing the living room back and forth, and mom was in the kitchen, rushing around.
“I can’t, Jillian. I can’t hold them off any longer,” he said, running his fingers through his dark hair.
“Yes, you can! We will find a way, Jacob. We have to.”
“You don’t understand!” He screamed, and I watched as his image flickered, like a television trying to tune into the correct station.
Mom turned around to probably tell him to keep from yelling, she was always doing that, but instead she saw me in the hallway. She quickly looked between dad and me with wide eyes and rushed to my side.
“Rez, what are you doing up? Get back to bed, sweetpea,” she said, picking me up. Putting me to bed, she pulled the blanket up higher around my neck and kissed my cheek. She sang her song, lulling me to sleep while kissing my beauty marks. As I drift off,this time, I noticed her hand that was down in her lap. She drew symbols with her hand, and one of them I know—a sign for memory.
* * *
Images continue to flash, along with pain right before a new one—My mother humming a tune in the garden as I drank a special tea for my headache. Aunt Patty, singing me to sleep after a really bad nightmare where red eyes were looking at me through a door. A night where Aunt Patty and mom both sat down with me and made friendship bracelets out of herbs, including herbs that couldn’t be right. They were known for curses, not something meant for friends.
Chapter Thirty
