Welcome Back

(Nerina's P.O.V)

I know that I fainted after hearing my mother basically confirm what John and William and those other guys had been saying. I just can't believe that witches are a thing. They can't be. I keep pondering this thought as I sit here…all alone…in the dark. Hmm, maybe I should start walking and see what happens. As soon as I stand up, I fall. Not like to the ground but falling, like I'm falling through the sky but in pitch dark. I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out, and it feels like I've been falling forever. Finally, I hit the ground; soft beautiful green grass surrounded by beautiful flowers and a beautiful forest. I stand up, having landed on my ass, and begin to look around. Someone behind me clears their throat, causing me to jump. I turn to see a beautiful woman, with russet-colored skin, beautiful brown eyes, and long brown hair. She looks like a goddess!

"Hello dear child, I have waited a long time for you." The woman tells me, walking—well more like gliding—over to me.

"Who are you?" I blurt out.

Her laugh is almost like music, so soft and lovely.

"I'm the Moon Goddess, Selene, and I'm here to help you, your friends, and William and his friends break the curse placed upon you."

"Wait, Moon Goddess? Holy shit, you're real!?"

"Watch your mouth, young lady! As I was saying, I'm here to help you break this curse, one of my children, a spell caster by the name of Beatrix. During the time that Greybeard, or James Teach, was active as a pirate, she was on Earth under my watch, to help with curbing the great plague of London in the late 1660s. She met James one evening while she was walking to a local hospital to help ease the pain of those who were dying. She was so taken with him that they began a torrid love affair until she told him what she was."

"I don't understand what that means for the curse."

"Well, after telling him what she was, he cast her away but told her he would keep her secret because, in the end, he did love her. She became enraged and cursed him with time. He would watch everyone he loved die, and his descendants would be the same. Their spouses would die, their friends would die, but they would remain. To keep their identities a secret, they would have to separate and change names and locations. So, while they had family, they couldn't BE a family."

"So how do we break this curse?"

"You must travel back in time. Only you and your friends, along with William's crew, can put an end to it. He buried his treasure without knowing that Beatrix had placed in it the potion that would reverse her curse. That wasn't learned until William was already in search of the treasure for monetary reasons."

This was a lot to take in. Supernaturals existed and one placed a curse not only on my bloodline but my friend's as well. I needed to end this, to give every one of my bloodline peace. The most obvious question needed to be asked at this point.

"How do we go back in time?"

"You'll need to go aboard William's ship and into his cabin. There will be a parchment in the top drawer of his desk. On that parchment will be an incantation that you will all have to say. That will take you and your friends along with William and his crew back in time. I have a ship waiting for you and your friends while William's ship will transport back with him."

"Do we have a time frame? Because I feel like this is something that would have a time frame on it."

"Well, now that you mention it. You should get this done in, like, the next three or so days or it will be forever."

"Three or so days? Well, is it three days or not!?" I screech.

"Watch your tone, young lady! I may not be YOUR Goddess, but I am still A Goddess. Fine, it's three days."

"Fine. Will there at least be a map to where we can find this treasure or are we going to have to do that by ourselves too?" I huff in irritation.

"There will be a map in your cabin aboard your ship. Now, time to get you back to everyone and tell them it's time to leave."

With a flick of her wrist, everything around me goes black and a blinding light begins to shine. I begin to hear the soft murmur of voices around me. I open my eyes and see that everyone is there in the living room eating snacks and talking. Well, aren't we all just jolly good friends now. I huff, which was apparently loud enough to get everyone's attention.

"Oh, my Goddess Nerina! Are you okay!?" Corie squeals out.

"Please, no squealing. My head can't handle that right now." I say softly.

"How are you feeling?" William asks.

"Fine, but I had a weird ass dream that none of you are probably going to believe, but I'm going to tell you anyways."

With that, I tell them about my meeting with Selene. The silence was absolute, you could hear a pin drop.

"So, what you are telling me, is that what I tend to write in my paranormal romance stuff is real?" Ashe asks, flabbergasted.

"Well, not sure how REAL it is. I didn't get around to asking her. Now that I think about it, I should have because now I'm curious," I murmur.

"Ne! Pay attention!" Kailani snaps.

"Sorry!" I squeak.

Silence again….so…much…silence.

"Well, we aren't getting any younger. Take us to your ship boys!" Nikita says.

"Wait! We need to pack!" Corie says.

"Pack what? Clothes? I'm sure the Moon Goddess will have supplied us clothes on our ship," Lizzie says.

"Oh. Good point." Corie replies.

The girls and I decided to change into more comfortable outfits on the off-chance Selene didn't provide us clothes to wear. Not going to lie, I packed a backpack full of clean underwear. No way in hell am I going to be wearing crusty undies on the off chance that I get to ride on John's disco stick. We all meet in the foyer and make our way to the limo again, with John driving, of course. The anticipation was killing us the entire ride to the docks where their ship was. We were able to sneak on board without being caught and headed to William's quarters like Selene had told me to. William walks quickly over to his desk, opens the top drawer with a key that he had around his neck and pulled out the piece of parchment. We all gather around, reading over the incantation before we do it for real.