Rising Moon

Rising Moon: Ch 2

Raylee’s eyes were full of fright. Just the sight of her face made Mia’s blood run cold. Raylee looked back down at her palm. The stub of wax looked angry in her hand. The white wax was bubbled and misshapen, a pit had formed in the middle where the wick had once been. The wick had left a dark residue that was a stark contrast to the white candle. 

“Mom, what are you talking about?” Mia glanced nervously at the door, the last thing she wanted was to be interrupted.

“Mia, this candle, it’s screaming. Look at the deep pit, the way the wick is trying to get out. Look deeper child. You’ll never learn how to listen to your ancestors if you don’t learn how to listen to yourself.” Raylee extended out her hand, urging Mia to take back the candle.

“Mom, I looked at this candle all morning there’s nothing….” Mia’s voice trailed off. The burn marks from the wick were moving. She watched in both fascination and horror as the black smudges swirled into a woman screaming. Her palm started to burn and Mia gasped and jerked her hand away. The candle hit the wall and shattered as if made out of glass.

“Mom, I’ve got to go.” Mia quickly kissed her mother on the forehead, grabbed her purse and all but ran out of the door. She never stopped to say goodbye to the receptionist, barely paused long enough to unlock her car before jumping in. 

Mia pulled in her driveway and took her first deep breath. She was scared. Her mother had never spoken like that before. She’d only seen Raylee be optimistic and cheerful, it wasn’t in her personality to be dark and morbid. She was sure that she had frightened her mother, but that hadn’t been her intention. She honestly didn’t think anything of the candle, she had only taken it to show her mother that the spell had not worked. Mia had been working on her craft for years. If she did get any spells to work it was typically short lived and unpredictable. She didn’t seem to have the gift and it was frustrating, yet with her mother in the room the candle had morphed, shown the future. It didn’t even make sense. The spell she’d been working on the night prior had been a cleansing spell.

Mia sighed and got out of her car. There was nothing she could do about it right now. She had things to do that didn’t include magic. Opening her front door she was immediately assaulted by a ten pound black missile. Loki was huge, and very hungry. 

She fed Loki his favorite meal and began making herself a bite to eat. She was just finishing up with the sandwich when the doorbell rang. Mia got up and threw her plate in the sink on her way to the front door. She peeked through the blinds but didn’t recognize the man on the sidewalk, he looked a bit, odd, but non threatening. Opening the door, she smiled and opened her mouth to greet the man.

“Mia.” The man breathed.

Confused, Mia took an involuntary step back. “Do I know you?”

“No. But I know you.” The man grinned.

When his lips drew back over his teeth, Mia realized in horror why the man had struck her as odd. His gums were white, his teeth black, and his eyes were glazed over. The man was dead.