Breathe

JOY LEIRIA

I wake up with my head painful and my hands shaking badly in shackles. I raise my head up and I see Max sitting on a chair in front of me.

“What happened?” I ask him never having felt that much power before.

“Your sister is protected or maybe you angered the wrong coven” Max says and I look at him confused.

“You killed a regent Joy, no crime goes unpunished” Max says and I shake my head no.

“Please, let me out of these and lets talk ok? You want me to apologise for what I did? Fine then I’m so-“

“Don’t do that.” He cuts me off and my mouth snaps shut, he continues “Don’t apologise especially over this when you know exactly why you did what you did Joy. At first I believed it was your aunty’s influence but you manipulating me, that was all you. This is who you are, I can’t believe you were willing to sacrifice your own sister for whatever this is” Max says and I don’t respond “You don’t know what you did by bringing Lindelwa back” Max says.

“I did what I had to do for my family Max you have to understand” I plead.

“There’s always loopholes in magic Joy, if you had just came to me and I would have guided you towards the right path. What was the deal you made with Lindelwa?” He asks and I don’t respond, he moves in closer to me and I move back having never seen him this scary before he even has veins below his eyes and his pupils are red and scary.

“She said she wanted to undo what she failed to do all those years ago. I don’t know anything else” I admit to him and he returns to the chair, I try to stretch my hand out and I learn that he locked me into a boundary spell.

“Unlike you, this boundary spell can only be removed by me and only if I die. Your mistake was anchoring the spell to yourself because when you passed out, we were all able to come out. I have to go and undo the mess you’ve created” Max says and he stands up and walks towards the exit.

“Max wait” I say to him and he stops in his tracks. “I’m sorry”

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ANELISA ADAMS

I never wanted this life, I never wanted my children subjected to this life because I knew and understood the dangers of witchcraft. When I almost lost Sibu all those years ago, I vowed that this was not the life for me or my children, living in constant fear of their great grandmother coming after them, their great grandmother trying to kill me and maybe at some point she’ll succeed. I never wanted my babies to be part of this and now they are in too deep, Sibu has suggested that we call Max for help but we have only reached his voicemail. Ntando is of no help because ever since he went missing he came back without the ability to do any magic so I don’t know how we going to bring back my daughter. I hate the fact that we just got Ntando and Mona back only to lose Sybil and Nellie’s phone is also out of service.

I feel my husband stand behind me and he places his hands on my shoulders, “Penny for your thoughts?” He says.

“When will we ever get a break? Maybe I should just sacrifice my life and my children will be safe” I say and then risk a glance at the mirror before us, he looks at me and he squints his eyes at me.

“You right, maybe I should just wring your neck and get it over and done with and everything will be normal” he says without any emotion or whatsoever. I don’t respond. “That’s what you want isn’t it? For me to kill you and then all will be fair in the world of magic” He says.

“It’s the only way for your grandmother to let them be, she wants me and my magic” I say with a heavy sigh. He turns on the tap and I frown confused and then I remember that Mona is a vampire.

“And giving her what she wants is supposed to get rid of her right? Sybil and Ntando are more powerful than you would have ever been if you practised. Getting rid of you would leave our children bare and without protection. You are the vessel that keeps them protected from the evil that longs for them Anelisa. How do you not see that the only reason all of this is happening, the only reason our children are not dead yet is because you and I are the vessels that keep them shielded from the darkness. Them taking you will give them power to invade and destroy our family, the children. Without you their magic would be tainted and impure. You can’t give in to the devils demands, that’s not the woman I married or fell in love with” He says and I turn around and wrap my arms around him as tears roll down my cheeks. I never imagined my husband would know all of this, I didn’t think he was interested in that part of the kids. Ahlume doesn’t speak much so for him to have something to say about this means everything to me.

“This situation should show you that you the only one that can save our children and bring their magic back” Ahlume says and he kisses my head, I pull back from him and nod.

“Thank you Ace” I say and he kisses my forehead.

“Now come, you can channel me” He says and I smile rolling my eyes.

“I don’t even know where to start” I say

“Good thing Ntando knows” He says proudly and we both laugh and head to the lounge where everyone is.

“Ntando your mother needs you to help her with something in your basement” Ahlume says and I look at him confused. “Sibu will come go with you guys, I need to have a word with my baby mama” Ahlume says in a weird tone that has me worried. I hope he doesn’t hurt Mona.

“Dad is acting strange” Ntando and Sibu say and I shrug.

“He is, is everything ok?” Sibu asks and I place my hand on my lips until we get to their basement where the walls are sound proof.

“What’s going on?” Ntando asks.

“I don’t know what your father is up to but I think I might be the answer to our problem” I say and they both look at me. “You going to teach me how to do magic. We need to wake Sybil up” I say and Ntando nods.

“I don’t think that’s mom” Sibu says and I raise an eyebrow.

“Why would you say that?” I ask her worriedly, it would make sense why my husband is acting strange.

“Because my mother calls me monkey, she knows I hate it but she does it anyway. I don’t know what game Joy is playing but I am going to kill her!” Sibu threatens and I shake my head no.

“Look, we’ve been distracted enough. We need to make sure that we bring Sybil back and then we find a way to get out of this mess” I say to the kids and they nod. I walk over to the teddybear I had from when I was a kid and then Ntando tells me what to chant in order to get my magic back.

He teaches me how to channel magic from other people or even old supernatural objects in order to be able to break whatever spell has been cast on Sybil.

“We need to be careful, it could be that her life is tied to whoever is up there” Ntando warns and I gasp in shock.

“It’s ok mom, just breathe” he says and I nod and take a deep breath and place my hand over Sybil while channeling from an old supernatural object belonging to Nellie. I see Lindelwa and I open my eyes moving back.

“What is it?” Ntando asks.

“It’s your great grandmother” I say “She’s the one behind this” I explain.

“That’s not a problem mom, you got this. Continue with the spell” Ntando guides and I close my eyes and place my hand over my daughter and she unexpectedly wakes up.

“I did it?”

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SYBIL ADAMS

After waking up and seeing my mother practising just to save me, it warms my heart, it means everything to me to know that she would put aside everything she believes in and do the one thing she hates the most to save my life. We hug tightly, I can’t even tell her it wasn’t her doing magic that brought me back, Faith’s mother fought for Faith and when Joy collapsed, whatever sleep spell they put me under was undone. We head upstairs to find Lindelwa tied to a chair and dad standing in front of her

“Dad” I say and he turns to me

“Good to have you back angel” he says and we share a hug and then break it.

“We can’t kill her without killing Mona. Someone needs to go inside and help fight her out of Mona” I say and she laughs.

“She’s already dead. Her body cannot handle my spirit, I am powerful and nothing you guys do will work. It’s just going to be a never ending cycle. Banish me and I come right back again” she says.

“What do you want?” I ask her.

“You Sybil, the mistake caused by fate”