A scream tried to force its way out as she stumbled back and the figure ran towards her. Suddenly Brandon grabbed her arm and jerked her along as they started running as fast as they could for the end of the woods. Fear gripped at Audrey like ice as she urged herself to run as hard and fast as she could. Their footsteps were muffled by the pine needles and she groaned in horror as she realized she couldn’t hear how far away their pursuer was. Brandon pulled a little ways ahead of her as he prepared to hurtle the fallen tree that they had gone under earlier. Audrey watched in amazement as his powerful legs launched him up and over the tree. He seemed to soar almost five feet above the ground as he pulled his legs up and in front of him for the landing. Audrey couldn’t jump very high and instead dove underneath it and saw Brandon hit the ground and roll before pushing back up to keep going. The fear of being pursued through the thick pine forest pushed Audrey to run faster than she ever had before, her feet felt as if they were barely touching the ground as she raced towards the tree line. The young girl was too scared to look behind her as the two of them hurtled out into the open. Without thinking, Audrey veered left and scaled Auntie’s small stairs and pounded on her door.
“Auntie! Open the door! It’s Audrey and Brandon, we need help!” The terrified girl pounded harder on the door until she thought her hand would bruise before Brandon moved her aside and threw himself against the door. The latch snapped and the two of them fell through the small doorway. Brandon wasted no time getting up and pushing the door closed. He looked down at the floor to see Audrey hauling herself backwards until her back was pressed against the table legs and started gasping heavily for air.
“Hey, hey, Audrey breathe slowly. Deep breaths.” As the girl hugged her knees and took slow, steady breaths, Brandon stood up and looked around for Auntie. He decided to check the back room and glanced back one last time before heading to the only other room in the wagon. Audrey laid her forehead on her knees as her racing heart finally slowed to a steady beat again. What a dumb move, chasing the figure through the woods, she shouldn’t really be surprised that they chased her back. She lifted her head and looked around, cursing herself for acting before thinking.
“Brandon?” There was a pause before his voice spoke up from the back of the wagon.
“Uh, Audrey, you might want to come look at this.” Fear stabbed at the young girl like a sharp razor and she slowly got to her feet and walked to the back where Brandon had vanished to. On the other side of the curtain there was a small bed with royal purple covers and the walls were covered with photos from far off places, each more stunning than the last. However, Brandon wasn’t looking at the walls, he was looking down at something he held. As he turned Audrey felt her body turn to jelly and all the fear she felt in the woods came rushing back. It was a small book in his hands, bound in leather with nothing on either cover. Audrey took a shaky step backwards.
“Oh my God Brandon. It’s the book in my vision. That’s the book I saw.” Brandon’s eyebrows arched as he looked from his girlfriend to the book before slowly opening it. Audrey glanced around nervously, feeling her heart tugging her back towards the woods and she couldn’t help but shiver.
“I feel like we’re being watched.” She whispered to brandon. She looked back at him and he narrowed his eyes as he read the first page but then looked up at her, confused.
“I can’t read it. It’s in a different language.” Audrey hesitated. She was warned in her vision and by Auntie to leave the book alone but what was it doing in Auntie’s wagon? Why would she have it? After a few moments she took a few nervous steps forward and looked over Brandon's shoulder.
“It looks like it’s in Latin.”
“That’s handy. Haven’t you been taking Latin since Freshman year?” Audrey nodded, finally glad her Latin classes had came in handy, and started to read the scribbles out loud.
“It says something about a coven of witches who used the spells in this book to hold captive the souls of men. They were then forced to do the witches’ bidding. The coven had a rule that their rites could only be performed during a new moon because it was such dark magic. Huh, apparently one of the witches fell in love with a man and gave him his soul back and tried to run away with him but her sisters found out and killed the man, sending his soul to wander forever in limbo so the two could never meet again. Then they used his leathered skin to bind their grimoire. That’s disgusting.” Audrey closed the book and handed it back to Brandon, unconsciously wiping her hands on her jeans.
“The last bit talks about the ritual that needs to be performed to incite a new witch into the coven. And that nobody else is allowed to look inside this book.” She looked up and noticed that instead of paying attention to her, Brandon promptly opened the book and flipped through the pages.
“Brandon stop! What are you doing?”
“What does this say?” He turned the book towards her but Audrey covered her eyes, too horrified to see the contents of the ancient book. The story enough was awful, she didn’t want to see what horrible spells they used. Suddenly there was a shift in the wagon and Brandon quickly returned the book to where it sat on a shelf beside the bed. Just as the two of them turned around, Auntie appeared in the doorway.
“I wasn’t expecting the two of you. Are you the ones who broke my door?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. We knocked but you never answered.”
“So you broke it?” Audrey slapped her palm to her forehead as she listened to the awkward exchange between Auntie and Brandon before interrupting.
“Auntie, There was somebody chasing us through the woods and we ran here hoping you’d help us but you weren’t answering and Brandon broke your door so we could get in and hide. I’m so sorry we broke your door. I promise that we’ll fix it.” Auntie stared at the two of them for a moment and Audrey realized how they must look. Finally the woman spoke again.
“Someone was chasing you? Where?” Auntie asked.
“In the pine forest.”
“What were you two doing out there? It’s not safe.” Audrey’s face flushed as she admitted why they were there.
“There was something calling me to go in there. I’m not sure why though.” When Audrey replied she saw a spark in auntie's eyes, though she wasn’t sure what it meant.
“Well I’m glad to see the two of you aren’t hurt. Come up front and I’ll make some nice, warm tea.”
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