I spent the next couple of days reading every love spell I could find in my stack of books. I wanted to break Paris’s spell. Paris looked to be in pain because I hadn’t figured it out yet.
I also went on the internet to see what I could find. I had no idea what the spell could be. None of the love spells I ran across would make a man act the way Donovan had around me. And if there were more spells at work, I had to figure that out, too. I mean if she’d put one on Robert, too, that made me want to throw up because I had believed everything Robert told me was genuinely from his heart. His real heart. Not some spell-manipulated heart.
Don’t get me started how freaked out I was over Abigail possibly visiting me. I had tried my hardest, but I couldn’t muster out a memory. I just saw the same blurry picture.
I needed to focus on Paris’s spell. That was the only thing I could control. I would not let the Magic control me.
I needed to focus on Donovan. Donovan was the only person I knew for sure who had a spell on him. I needed to dissect how he acted toward me. At times, he spoke and acted really juvenile. Then, at others, he was a wide-open book, and had amazing life stories to share.
He was real honest, real sweet and gentlemanly. What got me more than anything was how genuine he was. I couldn’t find a love spell anywhere that had that in the description.
I had a date with Robert on Tuesday—we went to a movie, which was a very low-key date—and after that, I decided I would go ten days and not see either guy. My date with Robert was really nice and I noticed he didn’t say much on the date, but of course, we were in the theater. He was extremely quiet after the movie and reserved, too. He was extremely courteous. He gave me one of his doozies of a kiss at the end of the night. But he was really quiet. That concerned me.
I decided I would talk to either guy on the phone during my ten-day dating hiatus, but they would have to call me. I needed to see who was interested more. I needed to get my mind straight. I was living in a bubble and I needed to step outside it and gain some perspective.
I needed to see if I saw a red-headed woman that looked similar to me. Because if I had, it was Abigail stalking me. Each time I left for work, I was hyperaware of every person around me until I would get home.
During this time, Paris had come over just about every other day and we would go through the spell book. I had to be honest, the days she didn’t stay over, I was extra anxious. And I barely slept those nights. But, I mainly wanted her there because I was afraid of whatever Abigail was doing to me. Paris taught me one more spell that could help me defend myself if I was attacked. The only warrior spells Paris knew were defense and defense with a counter attack. I had her teach me a defense with a counter attack spell.
The first one Paris taught me was a short and sweet spell. They were my favorite kind of spells.
“Move back, Strike one, strike twice. Hold.” It was written on a small piece of paper Paris handed me. She couldn’t tell me the spell aloud because she was so powerful that it would work against me and smash me a couple times something fierce.
I looked at Paris and asked, “What’s hold? You have never taught me that?”
“Hold,” Paris said, “is put in there so you’re not able to do multiple strikes against your opponent. It’s there, so you if you lose your mind in a fight and just want to abuse your opponent, and you just want to strike your opponent over and over again...well you’re not able to.”
“Why is it there?” I said in defiance. It made me angry that if I was attacked, I would basically get my butt kicked after my spell worked once. Talk about a pacifist. Paris straight out wanted me to run.
I don’t run. I have never run from anything in my life.
“I just want to say we should learn stronger warrior spells because it has officially gotten very serious for me.”
“The spell I taught you is as strong of spell you can do before dipping into Black Magic.”
“Seriously?”
“It’ll work for you. It’s worked for me every time.”
I looked at Paris and knew there was so much about Abigail and her that she’d never told me.
“Paris, if you’re not going to teach me a way to fight—basically, a strike and run away—then at least equip me with knowledge. What is Abigail’s entire story?”
“I won’t tell you everything. Someday, I might, but for now, all you need to know is this: One time, Abigail came for me using Black Magic and this spell knocked her back so hard that she nearly broke her neck against a tree that she flew into. We were at Hillcrest Park.”
“Why were you there?” I asked.
“It’s a good place to battle. I was lured there and Abigail wanted to hurt me badly.”
“Why?”
Paris was extremely quiet.
“What is it, Paris? Please tell me.”
“Now we are moving into the territory where I can’t tell you everything. Having Hold in the spell basically makes it so you can use the spell once.”
“How long until you can use it again?” I asked.
“Twenty-four hours. The two strikes they will receive will be more than enough for you to leave the confrontation.”
“But if I can’t leave the confrontation? What if I’m being attacked by multiple Black Magic Witches? Why don’t we learn stronger Warrior spells?” I said, all the while knowing I had already practiced stronger Warrior Spells with my Black Magic Book.
“I need to know, Paris. What happened between you and Abigail?”
Paris walked back into the living room and sat on my recliner. She was looking straight ahead at my TV that was turned off.
“Abigail is my younger sister,” Paris finally said.
“What?” I gasped and nearly passed out. “How is any of that possible if what you previously told me was true? Mainly, according to you, you look nothing alike.”
“Come with me into the bathroom.”
Paris got up and I followed her into my hallway bathroom. She stopped in front of the mirror. I stood next to Paris and we were both looking at ourselves in the mirror. I looked at both of us and said, “Why am I in here with you?”
“Look at us, Sahara. We have the same nose. The same cheek structure. We could easily be sisters.”
I looked at Paris and never realized how much we did look alike. It was a bit weird. Just our faces did. I had long flowing red hair. Paris’s hair was cut in a pixie. Her platinum-blond hair was an obvious attempt to get rid of any red hair she might have showing. Also Paris was rail skinny with average boobs. I was chubbier and let’s just say, I was two cup sizes bigger in that department.
“We do look alike. So, how much younger is Abigail than you?”
“One year and eleven months.”
“How come you talked about her character? Wouldn’t you know by the time you’re an adult that your sister might have some character issues?”
“No,” she said. “She has always been very secretive. I never knew what her deal was growing up. She was very shy.”
“How do we get from that to her being the most notorious Black Magic Witch? Those were your exact words the first time I met you.”
“She came to me four years ago. Since high school, she had a job at a library and would just go to her room when she was done and play multiplayer online games like Second Life. I thought she was a social misfit because she never had a boyfriend. Never had a best friend that she saw in person. This was my little sister and my heart went out to her. So, I decided to teach her to be as strong as me. I thought that would break her out of her shell. Well, it did. Once she discovered what her true personality was... she abandoned my mentorship.”
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know. She was a very strong witch already. More powerful than I was. She was even more sensitive to the spirit and magic world as me.”
“What about me?” I asked.
“You are even greater than I.” Paris smiled at me and nodded her head.
“How is that true?
You’re mentoring me?”
“You don’t think pro athletes have coaches? I guarantee you every pro athlete can play their sport better than their coach. I only train people who will be as strong as me or stronger. I have known for a few days that you were much stronger than I am. It is just a matter of time before you learn everything. What you need to understand is that magic is complex and we can defeat Black Magic by doing a variety of spells. The more spells you learn, the more you can do about anything you want. I hope you use it for good. But I learned, if I can’t stop my baby sister from being tempted with Black Magic, I probably wouldn’t be able to stop anyone. So, that is why I look at two things now. Do I sense the person has sensitivity to magic and the spirit world?”
“And?” I said, knowing what was coming next.
“And I learn about their character before I train them. You had no idea how much you were under my scrutiny when we first met.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry about Abigail and you. Sisters. Wow.”
“I had big dreams for Abigail and I thought we could have a similar life. One, where we both were helping others. We would live our lives as sisters and protect those who can’t protect themselves. Instead,” Paris stopped herself from talking. She began to get extremely choked up.
“I understand now, Paris,” I said. “I just want to know how she attacks. Does she use all magic? Or does she do some actual fighting?”
“You don’t ever want to fight Abigail. She’s ruthless. She was willing to kill her own sister. God knows what she has been doing to other people for the past three years.”
“Okay,” I said. I decided to allow this conversation to end. I learned more about Abigail than I thought I would.
Paris said we were done for the day.
Chapter Thirty-one