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  What happened next was distorted by Alizia’s mind to protect itself. Instead of hearing her mother’s screams or the jubilant cheers of the gathered crowd, there to witness her terrible death, young Alizia heard only her own heartbeat. She remembered, even from across the square and through the throngs of people, her mother making eye contact with her. That was the worst part because she could feel that her mother was more upset that she was there to witness what was happening than actually being burnt at the stake.

  Alizia promised herself, even as a child that she would never be frozen by fear again. When action needed to be taken she would not hesitate. She promised herself that she wouldn’t allow anyone she loved to die again, not on her watch. First things first, she needed to get out of bed and out of her bedroom.

  CHAPTER 5: RECOVERY

  “No. I’m not proud of any of this Lilith. In fact I can’t sleep, can’t eat, the guilt, it’s been eating me up inside,” said Basil Augustine back at his house on Sandy Lane.

  “What the heck did she offer you that would make you go along with this? Money? Drugs? Power? What?” asked Lilith. “What could possibly be worth your soul?”

  “Besides the good of what the Cold Dawn will ultimately do?” Basil walked over to a nearby cabinet that hung from the wall. He took out a white vial with a mysterious glowing liquid inside. “She agreed to give me this.”

  Finally. We’ve been waiting for this. Older Lilith’s Ghost stayed quiet inside her younger self’s body.

  “Am I supposed to know what this is?” asked Lilith as Basil handed it over to her.

  “Uru tears. It’s the only thing in the world that can bring memories back to a ghost that’s a victim of a murder. It’s going to help your passenger remember what happened to her, or you, both of you.”

  “Yes! This is what we’ve been waiting for. What we need!” Lilith heard her very excited Older Ghost.

  She has to drink it. No more blank spots, no more interrupted missing memories. I’m going to be whole again. Well, except for my body but then again I can always take this one.

  “You want to save more lives? My memories might be the key. I’m afraid I’m not going to give us a choice little girl.” Older Lilith’s Ghost went about taking possession of her younger self. Lilith’s hand moved on its own as she opened the vial and swallowed the glowing liquid inside.

  OLG was bombarded by a sudden tsunami of memories, feelings, sights and sounds. It was overwhelming at first. Way too much to take in. Then everything started to move slower, more focused.

  Older Lilith landed on her hands and knees in about a foot of snow. She stood up, wiping the snow off her ceremonial garments. What was she dressed up for.

  Is this...this is my body. I’m, when, what was this? It feels familiar.

  When Older Lilith looked around she saw that she was outside the entrance to the Devil’s End Coven Headquarters, in the woods. She walked, snow crunching beneath her feet towards the entrance. The large wooden doors were already open, floating dancing fires lit the inside.

  As she walked forward, Older Lilith looked up. She saw a fading, dying sun. Despite the darkness it was actually the middle of the afternoon. Those maniacs actually did it. They used Heinrich’s spell.

  Upon entering the coven headquarters Older Lilith discovered that the dancing fires were simply witches and warlocks holding torches, welcoming her to her own coronation. They too were dressed for the coming ceremony, all with congratulatory smiles on their faces.

  “You’re late,” Alizia Blackward greeted Older Lilith shortly after she arrived. She led her daughter towards the elevators. “If I wasn’t so proud of you right now, I’d lecture you about punctuality.”

  “The world ended mother, the one thing we have now is time. Who cares about being punctual?”

  “Well, I do. And so does Deacon. You know he set this all up for you. He’s the reason you’re being accepted into the order.”

  “Yeah well, you know how I feel about Deacon Thorne. Last thing I’m ever gonna do is thank that bastard. Heck the only reason we didn’t kill him like the others was that he saved you.”

  “He saved all of us Lilith. Don’t forget that.”

  “How can I? He takes every opportunity to remind us.” Older Lilith knew the feeling well, being a passenger. There was no control, she just went through the motions of her memory.

  “That’s enough of that. Are you ready?” Alizia Blackward wiped any remnants of snow off of her daughter’s ceremonial garb. She straightened it and made sure everything was perfect. “This is a big deal. No one in our family has ever been an Inquisitor.”

  “I’m as ready as I’m ever gonna be I guess. I just wish... I wish dad was here.” Older Lilith felt the same sadness she did that day, just as intense.

  “Me too,” agreed Alizia Blackward.

  “Do you think it’ll change me?” asked Lilith. “After the ceremony and having my inner potential or power or whatever unleashed, will I still be the same person?”

  Alizia put her hands on both sides of Lilith’s cheeks. “Nothing can change the fact that you are a brave, strong, incredibly smart young woman that I am immensely proud of. Nothing can change how much I love you.”

  The elevator doors opened and Older Lilith saw the halls of Devil's End Coven Prison. She was confused and looked back at her mother, who was no longer there. She had time jumped. Not being in control she stepped out of the elevator into the cell block.

  All the lights were out. And all Older Lilith could hear is the sound of dripping water. At first. The further she went into the hallways she heard orchestral music, a symphony.

  Older Lilith turned a corner and saw a lone cell at the end of the block, all lit up via flickering candles. Standing outside the cell, against the opposite wall was a line of three guards. They stood almost perfectly still, smiling and looking forward.

  “Is that you Lilith?” Older Lilith heard the familiar grating voice of Amadeus Essex.

  When Older Lilith finally got to the cell, she saw Amadeus Essex in it, dancing along to orchestral music being played on a little speaker. There was a lot of static and interference, must’ve been a radio signal. He was a little banged up, but still happy despite being locked up.

  “That is you, isn’t it? I’ve missed ya dude! Where have you been?” Amadeus Essex stopped dancing and ran up to the bars, grabbing them. His face was covered in scars, looked like he took buckshot to the face. Or maybe his face went through a window or glass table. Still, it was better, less enraging than his past visage.

  “What do you want Amadeus?” asked Older Lilith, undaunted and definitely not scared by what she saw as a pathetic prisoner.

  “Me? Oh, well, a lot of things. I’d love to get out of here. I’d like a nice comfy warm bed and a hot shower, a private hot shower. I’d like some pizza, do you have any pizza on you? Like in your pocket or something?”

  “You asked for me specifically to come. What do you want? The next words better be what you wanted to talk to me about because anymore nonsense and I’ll leave you here with these poor idiots.” Older Lilith didn’t have the patience.

  “I see they made you an inquisitor? That’s certainly interesting, Inquisitor Blackward. Almost has a nice ring to it.” Amadeus backed away from the bars.

  “Your point?”

  “I wonder, what would people say if they knew that the newest inquisitor in coven not only let a known murderer, manipulator and all around bad dude live, just to save her mommy and buddies. What would they think if they knew she let hundreds of witches die by letting him live to wreak havoc on our new chilly world? Would they still welcome you with open arms as a hero or would they see you as the weak little girl you actually are? Hmm, I wonder dude. I really wonder.” Amadeus Essex’s words ended with a sinister smile.

  “Is that why you called me here? To threaten me? Blackmail me?” Older Lilith was not impressed. “You’re gonna be executed in the morning Amadeus. Maybe you should focus on your own
black soul and heart, beg whatever powers that be for forgiveness and accept that your end is very near.”

  Amadeus laughed. “Is it though? Funny thing. When I was still in power, when I was the man here in Devil’s End I had access to all sorts of information. For example,” Amadeus Essex motioned at one of the guards standing against the opposite wall. He took off his ring of keys and threw them to the crazed Essex, perfectly through the bars.

  “Don’t do it. Or I’ll end you right here. I mean it.” Finally something was stirred up inside Older Lilith. It was anger and caution. Not to mention confusion. This confirmed the guards were for sure under his control but how? The prison was meant to suppress and even eliminate the use of magic. So how did he get them under his control?

  “I bet you’re wondering how I did it? Yeah I can see it in your eyes. You never had a good poker face Lil. Anyway as I was saying before, I had access to all kinds of information.” Amadeus didn’t heed Older Lilith’s warnings and went through the keys looking for which one might’ve been the best fit. “Did you know that a witch's and warlock's powers aren’t suppressed by any spell down here. Nope. It was all an artifact, back from ancient Egypt. Really fascinating stuff dude. Long story short I had it removed shortly after you and your buddies escaped. Damn, that felt so long ago.”

  Another one of the guards reached out and grabbed Older Lilith from behind. He tried his best to restrain her but she was a full fledged inquisitor. It took little effort for her to throw him off of her via a push spell that also sent the other two guards to the ground.

  Amadeus sat down on his cot inside his cell. He clapped. “Bravo. I would expect no less from Alizia Blackward’s daughter. By the way, how is Lizzy doing? Does she talk about me? I bet she doesn’t but I’m sure she thinks about me. Especially after what I did to her. Well technically it wasn’t me but I was the one pulling the old strings.”

  “This ends now Amadeus. Give me the keys.” Older Lilith stood outside the bars of Amadeus Essex’s cell.

  “Sure.” Amadeus threw Older Lilith the keys. She was about to pocket them when she suddenly was unable to move.

  “Yeah, you feel that? Probably thought an inquisitor is too powerful for me to attach strings to, huh? Probably thought there was no way he’d get me. Don’t know how to tell you this dude...so I’ll just show you.” Amadeus Essex stood up. The orchestral music kept playing. “Unlock my cell.”

  Older Lilith couldn’t stop herself. She chose the right key and opened Amadeus’s cell. Tears rolled down her cheeks as he walked out right in front of her. He kissed her on the cheek and then looked down at the guards on the ground, still struggling to recover.

  “I'll let you in on my secret.” Amadeus Essex whispered in Older Lilith’s ear. “ I can control anyone at anytime I want. Only reason I didn’t do this to you or your mom earlier was because that would take the fun out of it. Now...kill them and then let’s get out of here.”

  THE LAST MEMORY OLDER Lilith re-lived took place outside Blackward Manor, on a snowy night. She walked, limped really, forward through the thick powder, past the bodies of Devil’s End Coven police. In front of her was her mother, her friend Winter, Deacon Thorne and Sir Kain. All of them were ready for a fight, a fight with her.

  “Stop this! You need to stop Lilith! I know you’re in there somewhere. Fight him. Fight him and come back home!” pleaded Aunt Rose. The look on her face was beyond heart breaking.

  “Don’t make us do this. Please, my only daughter, please let us help you,” pleaded Alizia Blackward.

  “I know what it feels like to have him in your head. And I also know that you can get free of it. Let us help you Lil,” begged Winter.

  “They’re in our way my love,” whispered Amadeus Essex in Older Lilith’s head. “What do we do with those who get in our way?”

  Older Lilith rose up a foot or two off the ground, levitated above the snow that started to swirl around her feet. She could feel the immense energy, making her blood feel like burning jet fuel. All her potential, unleashed by the Inquisitor initiation ritual, came to the surface as she got ready to kill her friends and family.

  Suddenly a sword pierced her back and out her chest. She looked down, shocked and saw Sir Kain’s great sword, her own blood dripping off the tip. All her powers couldn’t save her from a piece of enchanted steel.

  As she laid in the snow looking up at the dark ice age sky, Older Lilith saw her mother, aunt, Winter and Sir Kain looking down at her. They all cried, even Sir Kain whose tears were like magma. All of them pleaded with her to hang on, to fight, not to give in, not to die. But the darkness moved in nonetheless.

  An energy, unlike anything she ever felt before shot through her veins, her vision became clearer, hearing more acute. This intensity only lasted about fifteen seconds before everything returned to normal.

  I died because I was weak. I died because I let these people who are supposed to be my family hold me down, stop me. But I can’t let her know that. Until the time comes, this young naive version of me needs to stay oblivious. Then when the time is right, I’ll end Amadeus when we have the chance. Time to give her the wheel.

  “We remember,” said Lilith. “We remember everything. Sir Kain, it’s time to leave.”

  CHAPTER 6: A CITY OF ANGELS

  Lilith was never a fan of big cities. She had a litany of reasons. The biggest was that they were overcrowded, dirty, often smelled, were over priced and lacked one big thing, nature. As a witch, nature was almost a necessity. So as Aunt Rose drove her, Sir Kain and Eve through Los Angeles, she was less than thrilled about it.

  “Where are we going again?” asked Lilith.

  “What nickname do they call Los Angeles?” answered Aunt Rose with a question.

  “LA?” responded Eve. She really thought she got it right.

  “No, well, yeah but what other names?”

  “The City of Angels,” responded Lilith with the correct answer.

  “Exactly! Now do you know where that nickname came from?”

  No one answered.

  “Forget any other stories you might hear. It actually has to do with an ancient watch tower the first witches and warlocks set foot in what is now a huge city. It was meant to not only spot any incoming threats but to observe and watch over the city. With the first pioneers out here came a lot of entrepreneurial magic users. Some sinister, some con men and others innocent. Anyway, there wasn’t a coven here or a coven police so this watch tower was manned by volunteers to police the community.” Aunt Rose kept glancing in the rear view mirror as she explained.

  “Okay...?”

  “I’m not done dear. So as more and more mundane humans settled in what now is Los Angeles, the watch tower needed to become hidden. A great witch named Marlina Montrose decided that an invisibility spell would do wonders to hide it. Especially considering its location. That way it could hide in plain sight while still being utilized to protect magic folk. Now eventually a coven was established out here and the need for the watch tower faded. The time of the guardian angels who lived among the clouds was over but their legacy went on in the city’s nickname.”

  This all fits with what I saw in The Mother of the Forest. What else could it have meant by him hiding the spell in the clouds? Unless Heinrich Talon could fly, which honestly is not out of the realm of possibility. I mean...it wasn’t that long ago that I talked to a freakin Kraken!

  “What do you mean ‘considering its location?’” asked Lilith as she stared out the window at the unsavory city on the other side of the car window. “And how do we find it if it’s invisible?”

  Aunt Rose pulled up in a parking lot near a trail and stairs that led up to the infamous Hollywood sign. Everyone got out of the car. Eve like always ran off into the wilderness, doing whatever it was she did when she was on her own.

  “Really? It’s up here?” Lilith couldn’t believe how brazen it was to hide a magical invisible tower behind one of the world’s most famous landmarks.

&nbs
p; “Hidden in plain sight. Remember. Plus I’m pretty sure the Hollywood Sign was built long after the watch tower.” Aunt Rose put on her sunglasses. After all, they were in sunny Los Angeles.

  “What do we do? Throw dirt or something all over the place and wait until it hits something? How do we find this thing?” asked Lilith as she, Aunt Rose and Sir Kain climbed up to the Hollywood Sign.

  “Same as anything else hidden back home. You need a reveal spell,” answered Aunt Rose.

  “And I am guessing you have one?” inquired Sir Kain.

  “I do.”

  “How? How do you know all of this Aunt Rose?” It was a genuine question. For as good of a detective Lilith was, she knew very little about her aunt. In fact, if her life since the Cold Dawn taught her anything it was that she knew very little about her whole family.

  “Your father, Marcus and I, we used to live here.”

  “Wait, you and my dad lived in Los Angeles? Why don’t I know about this?” Lilith was amused thinking about them wheeling around in a convertible down Rodeo Drive. It was just so far from her image and impression of both of them.

  “We did. And it was a hell of a time. Parties, celebrities, musicians the whole nine yards.”

  “You partying? I dunno, I can’t picture it,” laughed Lilith

  “Yup. I was actually a little bit of a party animal at that time. And it was the early fifties. Money flowed like wine. Wine flowed like water. There was opportunity around every corner. Especially for a talented witch or warlock.”

  “Okay, but why were you guys out here? Just to party?”

  Aunt Rose was actually the first to reach the top of the little hill where the Hollywood Sign sat atop. She was a little out of breath. It’d been awhile since she was in shape.

  “No. It was actually your dad’s idea. He wanted to join our two covens together and almost did,” Aunt Rose said between heavy breaths. She looked out over Los Angeles from their high perch. As unpleasant as it might’ve been to drive through the city earlier, the view from above was beautiful. “As much as there are things I hate about this place, I somehow miss it too. Or maybe I just miss those days in particular.”