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Flames of redemption

"You're such a bastard!" "I am a bastard," he agreed, leaning even closer to her, "but I'm your bastard, kitten." Someone who's not average, not ordinary, not trying to fit in, not....'normal', as defined by society. And deep inside, she felt the weight of eyes upon her, watching her every move. Questions lingered and haunted her mind: Who was the observer? And what motives laid behind those captivating gazes?

Izabel_Gamer · Fantasy
Not enough ratings
106 Chs

27

Three days had passed, but nothing changed about her haunting. She still heard his voice and even saw glimpses of him. Determined to find answers, she had to meet the ghost hunter again. She had asked Vesper for the strange woman's address and Vesper had just given it without asking a lot.Her house was in a small village, far away from the city. Regan's aunt was working and had no idea what Regan was doing.The girl followed the directions with her car and she was in a secluded road with houses far from each. It was a lonely valley and as further she went, buildings disappeared from her sight. Then, were merely woods and shrubs.Regan felt unnerving at the loneliness of the place. Even though it was day and the sun shone brightly, she couldn't help but feel intimidated by the forest that was on her both sides.Then, suddenly, a house appeared, hidden behind the old woods. Regan wondered if it was the right house. Her heart pounded rapidly knowing that she had to step out of the car and find out.The house was two storey and looked old. Regan would better say creepy and old but she didn't want to wash out the courage she had to come here.Vesper described the house that way after all.Regan swallowed and opened her car's door to get out. She felt the wave of unease spread over her. Why would her house be so secluded and in the middle of a forest?She cautiously approached the old house. When Regan was near enough, she read a label at the door. It had white background and on bold letters read Ruxena's souvenirs shop.She pulled her courage together and knocked in. She knocked several times but no one opened the door. Regan assumed that the woman might not have been in her house but suddenly, the door cracked open.Regan flinched and peaked in to see better. A wave of light fell on the wooden floor and she decided to step further. She started to walk in what seemed a narrow dimly lit corridor. The walls were dark and adorned with weird symbols and souvenirs. On a part, there were hanging heavy and shiny swords, hard and strong bows and sharp and pointy arrows, making Regan feel a shiver run down her spine.She assumed that it was a store and suddenly, a door closed itself, making her flinch.She started to lose a bit of her courage. After all she didn't know where she was and who was here."What are you doing here, young lady?" A raspy voice was heard behind her. Regan nearly jumped away and turned around to see it was the strange woman."I'm Regan, you came to my house three days ago," she said."Of course, I remember that. I'm asking you why you're here," the woman demanded again."So you can tell me whatever's happening with me," Regan retorted."I already told you the thing. Now, leave from here," the woman hissed, her face crossed by a frown, her voice sending chills to Regan.The girl tried to drag the words, "Do you sell things there?""You're not interested to buy.""Who said that? I'll look." Regan replied. Of course she wasn't willing to buy but she wasn't willing to leave without answers.She started to move around the crackling floor. The house was old just like from outside. As she walked, she saw old shelves with vases, wooden and metallic structures, old artifacts, shiny and rusty statues, each one of them speaking of ancient and uncharted mysteries.Regan knew the woman was staring at her but she ignored it."How much is that vase?" She asked, taking a simple one."That's $500.""500 what? That's just a simple vase made of wood!" Regan exclaimed confused. Who would sell it for that much?"That's not a simple vase," the woman snapped back, "I think you're done with your unexpected visit. Now, leave."Regan reluctantly reached to put the vase on the shelf, but something inside glowed on purple. Her eyebrows furrowed and when she was about to investigate, a flash of light snapped at her hand, causing her to wince in pain. She looked back at the woman with a puzzled expression."What did you do?" Regan asked, her voice filled with confusion as she held her hand."I didn't do anything. Now, leave from here, redhead." She said as she approached Regan and started to guide her outside."No, I saw it! The vase glowed from the inside, and then you shot something at me. You're a witch!" Regan exclaimed in surprise."What? No! Look, young lady, leave or you're going to face the consequences," the woman threatened, glaring at her."I just need your help with something. You are a witch," Regan insisted. The woman instead, pressed into forcefully kicking her out, but Regan stopped her."I'll trade you for it," she said, grabbing the gold necklace around her neck.The woman's dark brown eyes widened open and shone with mischeif."What's said, done!" She exclaimed evilly and snatched the necklace from Regan's hand.Regan kind of regretted offering the necklace, after all she had been wearing it her whole life and it was from her parents. She could have given her money but she didn't had enough with herself.She snapped back at reality when the woman started to move around the dark house."Wait! Do you even know what you're going to do?" Regan asked following the woman who was walking fast.Instead she snapped her fingers and the whole place changed, once a room filled with souvenirs and antics, now it looked like a basement filled with bookcases and creepy lab stuff.Regan couldn't believe what she was seeing and she blinked a few times."How did you do that?" She asked in awe. The woman was really a witch who could do things that Regan wouldn't imagine.Regan looked at the woman who was flipping pages of a book quickly."Your name was Ruxena, right?" she asked, "what are you doing?" she added when no answer came."You want a spell to get rid of him?" Ruxena said with a chilly smile."Yes, but-""Just wait." She interrupted. Moving somewhere else, she started to work something on a table which held chemicals. Regan could see it so she got closer to see what the woman was doing.The woman was continuously pouring some elements on a tube glass. Regan couldn't figure out what they were. The moment she was going to ask, she winced from pain because the witch pulled a strand of her hairs."Hey, why did you do that for?" Regan asked puzzled."It's needed for the spell," she replied as she looked closely to the tube glass and threw the red strand of her hair.Bubbles started to come from the tube glass rapidly and the compound itself started to glow in purple color.Regan was gazing her eyes out because she never thought that magic was linked to science. When the light glowed more, the witch covered her eyes so that she wouldn't be able to look.While on it, Regan heard a weird sound just like an explosion but a very small one.She opened her eyes again and the woman was now holding a glass vial with the purple liquid inside."And what is that? That's a chemical reaction, doesn't look like magic." Regan said unsure. She was confused and didn't know what to think."When you drink this, you're going to see what it really does." Ruxena replied."So how I'm supposed to drink it?""You're going to pour it in drink and done." She said and put it in Regan's hand. Then she started to lead Regan to a door that she didn't know it was there.Regan was basically speechless and when they got out, she found herself in the room of the antics on sale.What a place, she thought."And make sure you don't tell anyone about the spell, or that you came here, not even your aunt and your annoying friend." The witch said more like a warning while practically dragging Regan out."But wait, wait-"Regan shouted while she was already outside but the witch closed the door rapidly and Regan was left puzzled again.She looked at the tiny bottle in her hand and wondered what she was supposed to do with it. She traded her necklace for it and was feeling very bad.Going again inside that place, wasn't a great idea for her. She had learnt that this woman wasn't ordinary and all she thought was to leave from there and go home.So she entered her car and drove back to the city.***When Regan was in her house, everything was quiet. Her aunt wasn't around and Regan kept thinking about the witch's words. How did she know she had a aunt?Maybe Vesper told that, she thought.Regan's hands were trembling when she was holding the tiny bottle of potion.She was afraid of what was going to happen if she would hold into that thin line of belief and drink it but still, she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't and continued to endure and live like she was mentally ill.She got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. With trembling hands she poured some orange juice on a glass but ended up spilling it a bit.She rolled the cap of the bottle, where the potion or spell was stored in and smelled it. Actually Regan was constantly doing this because the potion didn't smell anything.She wanted to make sure it wasn't some kind of poison...because who knows? Maybe that witch was evil and she wanted to ruin Regan's life. She took a deep breath and poured it into the juice.Only some bubbles were created after that and then the potion vanished completely not leaving any change of color or anything different in the smell of the drink.Regan looked at it very closely to spot any difference but she couldn't find it. She wondered what that potion was made of and what it would do.If you don't try, you'll never find out, Regan thought to herself.She left the drink on the table and started to pace around anxiously. The witch told her to not tell anyone about this. Regan had to keep it to herself and it was making it very hard for her.Maybe that's how magic works, she thought.She wasn't sure that was really magic or spell or whatever. After all she had come to a point where she couldn't separate reality from fantasy and she couldn't believe what she was experiencing but one thing she knew for sure, she wasn't insane.Regan took the glass with her thin fingers and sat down on a nearby chair.Her eyes pierced the juice. What would happen if she drank it? Will it expire if she didn't? Should she tell someone?So many questions circulated on her mind, longing for an answer.A thought came to her mind that maybe she could drink it outside so if something happened, others could see it too. But again she thought that would look stupid.With her free hand, she dialed Vesper's number but she wasn't answering. Regan was getting used at it.Having no choice, she called her aunt."Regan? Dear?" Monica's voice was heard."Aunt, where are you?" Regan said trying to put her unease away."I'm just coming home, are you alright? You sound weird?""I..uhh.. I'm not feeling very well." Regan said but she didn't even know she was feeling."What? I'm coming for five minutes. Stay home, okay?" Monica said with a concerned voice."I will." Regan said and rang up.She did that because of her fear of what would happen after she would drink it, so whatever would happen, Monica would be there.However, she had to drink it without being seen, of course.So with that, after two minutes, Regan gathered all her courage and brought the glass on her lips with shaking hands, her mind filled with doubt and unease. With each gulp, even though the taste wasn't different at all, a chill ran down her spine, and a sense of foreboding washed over her.As the last drop of the orange juice slid down, her throat felt immensely dry and cracked with a bitter taste, although Regan knew it wasn't from the orange juice but from the potion itself.It was made of chemicals after all.Regan stood from her seat and went to drink water to wash off both dryness and bitterness.She grabbed a bottle from the fridge and sat down to drink. As soon as she finished, she felt throat better. When she got up, she felt a sudden drowsiness.Effect of that potion? she thought.She started to feel anxious of how maybe she shouldn't have drank it at all. And she was waiting impatiently for Monica. But with seconds passing, the more tired she was feeling.She thought that this silly cliché thing, didn't had to happen. She didn't had to sleep. Not only she was feeling tired, she started to feel dizzy, her vision, too.Regan managed to sit on the couch and rubbed her eyes hard. But still she felt the world spinning. Was this supposed to happen."That damn witch." She cursed out loud, keeping her eyes closed.Her eyelids grew heavy and heavier to the point that she drifted off to slumber.