Cursed by nightmares Dougal is spurred on to find a remedy for Samantha.

As he settles into family life, he and his team experience success in the laboratory. His bonds to the present time are strengthened by two new additions to the family. He discovers that his children have inherited his magical abilities.

With a third child on the way a proposed local development forces Dougal to make a heartbreaking decision.

8. REMEDY

PART I

Dougal would delay going to sleep at night times. Eventually he would lay his head on the pillow after a full day of work. He would doze off and sometime in the night the bad dreams would come. Those dreams that never seemed to leave him alone.

…Samantha began to sweat as she lay on the bed. She sat up slightly as she became uncomfortable, recognising within herself that the change was about to come about. Her breathing became laboured as Jezabel looked at the young girl with concern in her face.

               “Samantha, everything will be alright,” implored Jezabel. “Concentrate on what I am saying and on my thoughts. You will be okay and you will calm down. Everything is well my child.”

               “I can’t think properly and my skin is burning up,” said Samantha beginning to cry. “Everything is becoming blurry again.”

               “You are okay my child,” said Jezabel. “Breathe deeply and concentrate and everything will be alright.”

               As Jezabel looked on she sensed that everything would not be alright. Samantha’s breathing had become louder and erratic. The sweat was pouring from her brow, making her hair stick to her forehead. As she looked closer she could see that her skin colour was changing from pale white to that worrying tinge of green. She tossed from side to side and flailed her arms about.

               Jezabel realised that her words and her thoughts were having no effect on the young girl. Her inner rage was taking hold of her and would soon determine her actions. The older witch tried to cuddle the young girl to pull her close to her but the flailing arms kept her at bay. With more strength she gripped the girl harder to prevent her movements.

               The young girls face became contorted as it turned a deeper shade of green. With an increasing inner strength she easily threw off the older witch who was now startled and growing petrified by her inability to pacify the young witch.

               “Leave me alone, you have no right to touch me,” said Samantha as she glared at Jezebel.

               The older witch made an attempt to grab her once more but Samantha pushed her away with a mighty shove. The old witch found herself flying backward through the air once more. Her head and back struck against the wall before she landed on the floor at the other end of the room.

               Groggily she held her head and concentrated on using her telepathic power to reach Samantha with her mind. “Calm down my child. All will be well.”

               Nathan had been sitting in the other room and had heard the calamity coming from the bedroom. He raced in to see his wife lying on the floor with blood pouring from the back of her head and down her back. The wall and the floor where she had landed were smeared in blood.

               “It’s okay Nathan, I still have this,” said Jezabel pulling herself off the ground.

               Nathan was shocked and could see that was far from being the truth. Samantha had been consumed by her uncontrollable rage once more. The young witch stretched out her hand and pointed at Jezabel before making a large swiping motion. Jezabel felt her clothing being gripped before she was picked off the floor and hurled to the other side off the room. There was a sickening crack as her head struck off the wall before her body flopped onto the floor.

Nathan looked on in fear and shock at his wife who was lying motionless on the floor.

“Jezabel, are you alright? Jezabel please speak to me,” said Nathan with alarm rising in his voice.

               He strode over to his wife and bent down to see the deep crack in her head where it had collided harshly with the wall. He noticed that clear fluid was running from her ear and mixing with the red blood. He placed his hands on her and noticed that they were both shaking.

“Jezabel, please speak to me. Tell me that you are alright,” said Nathan with a quivering voice.

               But he already knew that it was too late. The loud thud and the crumpling of the body to the floor had told him everything. The young witch had killed his dear wife. He braced himself and stood up beside her body taking in the sight of the demented young witch. Her face ever contorted, as she seethed on the bed, staring at him with enraged eyes. Nathan did not have the power of telepathy and could not attempt to reach Samantha with his mind. Still he knew that he had to do everything possible to control the young witch.

               “Samantha, I order you to be still. I order you to calm yourself at once,” said Nathan as he walked towards her.

               Samantha sat up and thrust her palms forward towards him. Nathan felt the force in his shoulders before he was sent crashing into the wall behind him. The force ran up and down his back jarring him. He fell to his knees more shaken than anything. His head felt sore but he could not feel any blood running down him. He straightened himself up before attempting once more to take hold of Samantha.

               The young witch pointed to him and slowly raised her hand to the ceiling. A force grabbed hold of him and pulled him off his feet, levitating him off the floor before he was pinned with his back to the ceiling. There was nothing he could do as he looked down at the green faced witch who had her teeth clenched as she looked at her victim. Nathan felt his chest being crushed by the force Samantha was exerting on him. The pressure increased until it became unbearable. He breathed as much as he could but the breaths were becoming shallower and shallower. As he gasped for air his face reddened.

               Samantha dropped her hand extinguishing the grip on him and he plummeted from the ceiling to the floor. He was winded on impact but his chest was now free to fully open and function normally and he could draw air into his lungs. He gladly inhaled the air as he registered the further damage to his body from the hard landing. This time he could feel blood trickling down the side of his head.

               He rose from the floor as quickly as he could as Samantha conjured up a small fireball and hurled it in his direction. With his senses heightened he deftly dodged the fireball which hit the wall behind him causing it to burn before it burst into flames. Nathan made to pounce upon Samantha once more in an attempt to hold her down, but he was too late and she slipped off the bed as he lunged forward. Samantha hurled another fireball, but this time not at Nathan but at the body of his wife which was lying at the foot of the wall. The flames licked over her body and it was quickly on fire. Nathan’s eyes moistened as he did his best to suppress tears but he could not prevent a small cry of agony as he saw the flames and smoke rising from her.

               He clenched his teeth and stepped forward once more to see Samantha launch another fireball. This one hit him in the centre of the chest and the flames quickly caught onto his clothing. He screamed in agony as he continued to step forward towards Samantha. The young witch stepped to the side before the flames totally engulfed him. She felt the warmth from the burning walls and the two burning bodies in the small room. Nathan let out a final cry before he fell to the floor close to his wife.

               The rage in Samantha only intensified as the heat rose and the smoke accumulated in the room. She stepped out of the room and saw the two brooms lying in front of her. She picked up the broom which had belonged to Jezabel and made her way to the front door and out into the garden.

               The bodies had been consumed by the fire and the room was now ablaze with the smoke rising high. It wouldn’t be long until the rest of the small cottage caught fire.

               Samantha stepped into the middle of the garden and she placed the broom between her legs and launched herself into the air. She could feel the flames rising and smell the smoke as she flew off from the cottage. Soon she was flying over the canopy of the forest and making her flight towards the coven.

               Jessmay and Devlin stood at the front of the coven expecting to see Nathan with news any time soon. They had advised the other witches to be packed and ready to leave the coven should that be required. All the witches and the wizards of the coven had been suitably warned and had made arrangements for rapidly leaving their homes should that be required. Devlin saw the object flying towards him first.

               “I knew he would come, you can see him up in the sky flying towards us,” said Devlin excitedly to Jessmay.

               Devlin looked up once more as the flying object was closer. He noticed that whoever was on the broom was not Nathan, but was a lot smaller and had a green face.

               “Something’s happened, it’s not Nathan, it’s the young dangerous witch,” cried Devlin.

               The green face flew closer and closer to the transfixed wizard and witch on the ground. Devlin then noticed that fireballs were being projected in their direction.

               “She is attacking our coven,” cried Devlin. “Take cover.”

               The large fireball flew past Devlin and smashed into the tent that was directly behind him…

At that moment Dougal woke up screaming and gasping for air. He had been sweating as he slept and he was now breathing hard, trying to forget the images in his dream. He held onto his chest as the dreadful images flooded his mind. Those images of the horrific death and destruction of his friends and coven members.

               Anastasia was stirred by her anxious husband. She reached over and turned on her bedside light as she sat up in bed blinking.

               “Oh love, have you been having nightmares again?” asked Anastasia.

               “It’s fine, it’s nothing really,” said Dougal apologetically but still out of breath. “I’m sorry that I woke you up, again.”

               “It’s not fine and I think that this is a problem for you,” said Anastasia putting her arm around her husband to comfort him. “This has been going on for far too long. It’s not normal that you should wake up night after night in such an agitated condition. I think you may need to see a professional to sort yourself out. Speaking to a psychiatrist or a psychologist or a counsellor about what’s in those dreams may actually help you. They could sort out whatever is going on in your mind so that it is no longer a problem for you”

               “The situation is actually getting better,” said Dougal trying to downplay what was going on. “The dreams aren’t as bad as they used to be and I’m sure that I’ll soon be back to normal. This will sort itself out, you can mark my words.”

               “Hmm. I’m not too sure about that,” replied Anastasia.

               Dougal looked at his alarm clock. It was four o’clock in the morning.

               “Look, since I’m up I think I’ll head to the laboratory to get some work done. You know how I like working by myself when there is no one else there to bother me. I can take advantage of waking up at this time,” said Dougal.

This novella is available in both eBook and paperback formats on Amazon.

Kind Regards

Alan

alanrove@hotmail.com