Chapter 1

Prologue

“Charlie, Charlie, wake up,” Erin, my mother, says in a voice that is gentle but urgent. She strokes my hair lightly to help me wake up. “Sweetie, we have to go, now.”

I sit up groggily and wipe my eyes. My Tinkerbell night light is the only source of light in the room. I got it two years ago for my 5th birthday, my mom planned a Never Land themed party. I was too excited when I opened the gift and sent the gift bag up in flames. It came as a shock to everyone in the room but my mother was able to put out the flame and the room seemed to fall into a trance as my mother convinced them it was only an electrical incident.

“Charlie put your shoes on.” Momma hands me my sneakers and lets me put them on myself while she goes to my closet and grabs a bag that has been packed since we moved here. She rushes in the dark but she is prepared.

Once my shoes are on, she holds out her hand. I take it and hop down off my bed and let her lead me out my bedroom door. The rest of the house is dark too but we navigate through it easily. After a couple moves, momma learned how to arrange the furniture to our benefit and create an easy escape.

“Where are we going?” My voice squeaks from sleepiness still clogging my throat.

“Shh, baby, we have to stay quiet now.” We make our way through the kitchen and out the back door. “We’re going somewhere safe.” She adds after a few seconds, trying to help me remain calm.

“Wait!” My voice barely above a whisper. I tug on momma’s hand to make her stop. We’re almost to the gate at the back of the yard and she tries to keep me moving forward but I dig my heels in.

“What is it, Charlie? We really need to keep moving.” There is dear in her eyes but I can only think about one thing.

“My Tinkerbell night light,” my voice is whining but it’s my favorite gift and the only thing I’ve been able to bring with me from home to home. Momma looks down at me and starts to speak but she sees the tears starting to form in my eyes.

“Stay here and stay quiet,” momma sets out bags down and gestures for me to stay behind a strategically placed statue. I grip the arm of the statue and watch her quickly make her way back to the house. She isn’t gone very long but before she gets back, I see lights on the far side of the fence and I tug our bags behind the statue with me just before a light is shown on the statue. The light quickly goes out and I hear a soft thud followed by a few similar thuds and the remaining lights go out as well.

Momma appears next to me, breathing heavily. She stuffs my night light into her bag before she grabs them easily, throwing them over her back. She ushers me towards the gate.

“I bought us a few minutes but we need to be gone before Grandmother shows up.”

I’ve never encountered Grandmother and momma hasn’t spoken much about her but she has warned me how dangerous she is. Momma doesn’t talk about her past much, all I know is that she escaped and we’ve been running ever since.

“There’s a car on the other side of the woods,” Momma says quietly as I trip over fallen branches and leaves, trying to keep up with her.

After a few minutes, my legs start to hurt and I whine to her, “Momma, I can’t..” Before I can finish, she scoops me into her arms and takes off running.

“Erin!” A strong voice calls out, causing momma to stumble. She grips me close against her as she gains her footing again and begins sprinting. A second later, we go flying through the air. Momma loses her grip and we get separated, she throws her arm out and a swarm of leaves surround me and lower me to the ground gently. While saving me, momma forgets herself and gets thrown into a tree and I scramble across the ground to get to her side.

“Momma!” I shake her shoulder and she looks up at me a bit dazed.

“Erin,” the voice says again. “Do you really think two witches will go unnoticed in the world? And when your secrets are revealed, how do you think the world will feel? They won’t take kindly to the revelation.” Grandmother’s deep voice seems to bounce off the trees surrounding us. I tremble and snuggle into my mother. Her slender arms clutch me firmly, she feels steady and safe. She keeps my face turned into her body, to shield me from Grandmother and her powers.

“Don’t listen to her,” she whispers softly to me. “We need a new plan,” she says more to herself, looking around in the darkness.

Momma takes on a crouched position and I hide behind her. In the distance I can see our escape car as it begins to lift into the air then it goes hurtling into the darkness. There are cries of pain as the car hits its target but I can’t tell if Grandmother was also injured.

The trees start to shake as a portal begins to open behind us. I turn around and stare, it’s only the third time I’ve seen one and each time I’m just as mesmerized. The portal is shaky and I can see the energy draining my mother. A spark of light hits my momma and she stumbles back into me which sends my falling through the portal.

“Momma!” I call out as the portal starts to close. In another flash of light, she gets thrown back and falls through the portal as it disappears behind her. I crawl over to her and throw myself on her body. Big sobs rack my tiny body and I almost miss her arms encircling me.

“Don’t cry, baby, momma is okay,” she sounds weak but she’s here.

We lay on the ground for a few minutes as she holds me while I cry. She pats my back and rubs it in a circular motion. Once I calm down, she sits up with me in her lap.

“We have to keep moving.” Momma sets me on the ground before she takes a squatting stance in front of me. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

I shake my head and look over her shoulder, taking in the surroundings. It looks like we are in an alley between two old brick buildings. A fading ad on one building looks like it was at one point, if not still, a movie theater.

“Come on, we have to get inside.” Momma picks me up and I rest my head on her shoulder. I drift in and out of sleep as Momma navigates back alleys until she reaches an older building. I briefly wake up when she lowers me onto a bed. “We’ll be safe here, for now,” she adds softly and strokes my cheek. She stands up to leave but I reach out and my tiny hand grabs her fingers.

“Can you sleep with me tonight?” I ask with a sleepy voice. Momma smiles and climbs in next to me. She holds me close as I drift off to sleep.