Her Pack by Tamara White

Chapter Forty-Three

I'm standingin the middle of the cleansing pool, my hands resting on the water's surface. I'm fully clothed, again because it felt like the right decision.

Jake is over by the cavern entry way, standing at attention. Vivienne is staring over at him, her lips pressed together. "You only stay if you don't interfere," she reminds him. It's the third time now. I guess she doesn't really trust Jake too much.

"I know, I know, if I interfere, you'll rip my balls off. I get it. Can we please just hurry this along?"

She tuts but turns her attention to me. "Are you ready?"

I nod and take in a deep breath to prepare myself for what's about to come. I think about how much I need this. Not just for me, but the packs too. the water warms around me, like it's comforting me. My eyes widen in surprise flicking down to see the water moving. Like it is indeed alive. When my eyes come back to Vivienne, she's smiling down at me.

"That’s how it's supposed to be, Dani. The spring is welcoming you, accepting you for the journey you're about to undertake."

Vivienne sighs, like a weight has been taken off her shoulders. She raises her hands, and begins to chant softly, the soft scent of lavender and patchouli growing stronger. The candles that she had lit around the room flicker with the foreign language she's speaking.

I feel the water heat up around me, though it's different to last time. I find myself wondering why this is different? Not that I wanted it to hurt again, but what has changed between this time and the last time I was here?

The water is bubbling around me, and my head begins to swim. Vivienne is fading in and out of my vision. My body becomes so weak that I tremble in the water, doing my best to remain standing. I try to shift my feet, to ease this feeling only for my feet to slip out from under me.

Water engulfs me, and I thrash trying to get above the surface again. No matter how much I struggle though, I'm unable to find purchase and I begin to drown. This is it. This is how I die.

Blackness invades my every sense. Just as suddenly as I felt the life draining from my body, I can breathe again.

I gasp, my eyes opening to find myself in a completely different place. My first thought is I almost died in the spring and someone saved me. But where am I?

I'm laying on a mattress in a dark room, one I've never seen before. I stumble to my feet, frowning when I notice I'm still in the same clothes as before. Whoever saved me didn't even change my clothes. Though I guess at least they weren't wet still.

"Ah, it took you long enough."

A female voice echoes in the room and I startle, unsure where it's coming from. Suddenly as if my thoughts summon her, a woman appears stepping through the wall. I mean, that’s the only explanation.

I stare at her, completely awed by the power I feel coming off her. "I'm going to guess you haven't quite caught up as to why you're here, or who I am." She moves over to the mattress and sits down on the edge, beckoning for me to join her.

I do so a little leerily. "Who are you?"

"My dear, I'm you. Well, I was you." She grins at me, her eyes so damn familiar.

It suddenly clicks and I bow my head in deference. "You're Malina," I breathe, in complete awe. The woman sitting on the mattress beside me is the Queen who started all of this.

"Don't bow to me child. I was a Queen in life, in death I'm nothing but a woman here to guide you on this journey."

"Okay..." I stare around the room, unsure how this is supposed to be part of the journey.

"I see you're confused. This room is not real. Just a sort of apparition to help you ease through this without as much fear as possible."

She snaps her fingers and I go from sitting on a mattress to being suspended in water. My eyes widen and I scream at the fear of drowning only for Malina to reach up and cover my mouth with her hand.

"Relax, you're not drowning. You can still see, speak and breathe just fine," she says in a soothing tone, taking away her hand. The water ripples around us with each movement she makes, and I can't quite believe what I'm witnessing. This is surreal.

I raise my hand, moving it through the water. It's neither hot nor cold, and it's not suffocating. It's weightless, like I'm simply floating in the air. "This is pretty cool," I murmur, in awe of how magical this appears.

"You've been here the whole time, Danielle. You never moved, even when you thought you did." She's watching me with amused eyes. "Now, I think it's time we talked."

"But aren't I supposed to be cleansed? Isn't there supposed to be some big macho magic show and suddenly I'm cured of whatever it is that makes me unworthy to be crowned as Queen?"

Malina chuckles softly, and the scenery before me changes from a dark room, to a scene in the forest. Malina is on her knees, crying out but in what appears to be a silent scream. At least I can’t hear her.

"The cleansing pools aren't always used to cleanse your soul in a physical sense. Sometimes you are simply gifted with visions, a spirit journey of sorts. When you return, you will know your purpose. You will be changed, right down to your soul."

"What is this?" I gesture out to the scene that is playing. Is it some kind of memory? Why is she showing me this?

She clears her throat, her voice coming out slightly gravelly. "This is the day everything started. The day I let my emotions ruin us. You need to see this, because you can't let the same thing happen."

I frown, unsure what she means. I don't have the same power she does. Still I watch the scene as a ball of gold light shoots from her chest. It seems to cover the trees and absorb into them.

"When the magic poured out of me, I ruined the balance. Now it's up to you to restore it."

"What? What balance? I thought this was about a curse."

I think about what she said in the diary. She never said anything about a balance. Only that she cursed her kind, who were once witches. The longer I think about it, the more confused I am. Why does this feel like it’s not going to be as cut and dry as I thought it would be?

"Yes Dani, I cursed us all by using the power of the earth, the powers I was gifted by Mother Earth, to cause harm to others. I hurt all of us by doing what I did which is why everyone is suffering. The women of our kind no longer hold power. They lost the ability to bear children. The men lost what honor they had being our protectors. With each day that passes, more and more of our kind are abandoning the packs, choosing to either live with the humans. Or worse, hunt them down for sport. With every descendant that has been born, I had hoped someone would come along and be strong enough to right my wrongs. But no one has. Until you my sweet girl."

She turns to me her eyes watering, even as I watch the scene shifting. All the trees darken to black before crumbling to ash, leaving only Malina on what was once a lush green land.

I don't understand. This isn't anything like what I imagined from her diary. I thought she was in a ballroom when she set the curse? Or a great hall? Some place inside, not out in the woods without no one around to witness her destruction.

"But, I don't understand. This isn't anything like what you wrote about. Why am I seeing this?"

Malina sighs sadly. "The truth is never easy to tell, my child. There are many things that I've had to embellish a little, and others I've had to simplify in basic details. If you had read the truth, you never would have gone on the path that lead you to this moment right now. Which is where you need to be. I needed one of my descendants to fix my mistake since I couldn't."

The scene is still evolving, showing me what really happened. When Malina realises what she has done, she stands and stares at the scene before her. The horror on her face is so shocking that I tear up watching her.

The Malina at my side sniffles softly. "This was the moment I truly understood what our power was capable of. I destroyed the forest and created a desert where no life has since formed. No matter how much I tried, no matter how much I pleaded with Mother Earth to reverse what I'd done, nothing changed. But I need you to help me reverse it. To restore the balance so no one will suffer a day longer than they have to.”

"I don't know if you noticed Malina, but I have other things going on where I'm from. I'm more concerned with surviving whatever it is Luke has planned for me right now. I don't think I'm the right person to help you with this. At least not now anyways."

"That’s where you're wrong. Everything that is happening with Luke is a direct correlation of the evil that is leaching into the earth. Soon even these springs will be toxic. When you go back, you need to take my crown, and let it be placed upon your head at the coronation. You need to understand that you will die when you do, but it is what must be done to save our kind and the humans."

"Wait, hold the phone. I thought the whole point of this cleansing was I wouldn't die when I wear that stupid crown. Are you telling me I'll still die regardless?"

She turns to face my anger with sympathetic eyes. "Well no, not necessarily. You can choose to ignore what I’m asking you to do, and when you put the crown on it will be simply that, a crown. But if you put it on with the intention of letting it trade your life for every other pack member, then yes, you will die.”

"You want me to go back and just put the crown on knowing I'll die? How is that going to fix everything? Won’t that just cause more panic?"

She stares at me a moment, and I can see something in her eyes. Pity almost. "Because the only way to end this curse, is to end our line once and for all. That is the price Mother Earth asked for."

I blink, unsure if she's telling the truth. Why would ending our line be the end of the curse? But even so it doesn't make sense, even if I die, my grandmother is still alive. How is me dying going to end anything?

"I see the questions swirling in your mind. Let me explain. You are the last of the Jackson line that can produce an heir. Your sister is only related by blood on your father’s side. Your grandmother had a full hysterectomy done after a pretty vicious attack she was in. Your great grandmother is gone from the world. You don't have any aunts, great aunts or even cousins. You are it. The last living heir capable of continuing on our legacy."

So that's it? My purpose in coming to the packs, was simply to die? No, I refuse to believe it. "I'm not going to kill myself. Not without proof. Prove to me it's what needs to be done without a doubt. Do you even know for sure that ending our line is the solution?"

"I know that when she gave us our powers, it was always that cursed power could only ever be rectified by blood spilled. That’s the way it always was with our kind. And that's how it shall be again. If you choose not to take your life, then know this. It will be your child who comes to me next, or their child, and so on. Until one day it will be not only the last of our line, but the last of our kind. And by then it may be too late."

My stomach churns at the thought of having a child be forced to make this decision. Why would she even suggest such a thing? It leads me to wonder just what kind of woman she was when she was alive.

"Well, it's your decision, Danielle. I've told you what has to be done for your people. It's now up to you to make the choice. Don't fret though, you still have time. Luke is preparing his attack, even now as we speak. When you leave this place, you will battle him for your life. When it's over, then you will see. You will understand."

The mention of Luke attacking has panic racing through me. Is he attacking everyone as we speak? I need to go back.

"Do not worry, time travels differently while you're here. You still have time left to see the gift I have prepared especially for you." She grins my way, then disappears. The scene beyond us reverts back to nothing but darkness.

I wait, unsure what's going on. How could she give me a gift in here? Wouldn't it have to stay behind?

After a few seconds, the water around me ripples and my dad appears. At his side, my mother. The woman I have only ever seen in pictures. I stare, thrown by this turn of events. How is this possible?

"Dad? Mom? Are you really here?"

Dad storms to me and in an instant I'm crushed in a hug so tight I can't breathe. I take in the moment to just breathe in his familiar scent, wishing this feeling would never end.