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Scanning the wreckage, Nessa’s eyes land on Willow’s grimoire tossed to the side in the mess. Willow is never without her life’s spell work. Not even for a moment. Panic grabs hold of Nessa’s entire being and adrenaline fuels her. Her heart beats out of control as she jumps into action.
She cries out, “Willow?! Where are you, love?”
Silence meets her pleas and Nessa begins to tear into the mess that was once her kitchen. Her body screams out in pain as she pushes her way through the rubble to find wherever her daughter could be in this disaster. Pulling back broken boards and chunks of shattered plaster, Nessa reveals a lifeless hand and feels more fear than she’s ever felt in her life.
The panic in her voice rises, “Willow?!?”
The others have now made their way into the kitchen and help Nessa to uncover the body beneath. As pieces are lifted from her, Willow begins to stir and the vice around Nessa’s heart loosens the slightest bit, but she is still full of fear. Not until she sees her daughter whole and in one piece will she fully breathe in this moment.
Willow, now, works to free herself the rest of the way and Nessa has her in a crushing embrace before she’s even able to sit up fully.
“Oh, my love,” Nessa cries, “Are you hurt?”
Willow is dazed, but alert, “I’m okay, I think.” She does a once over her entire body, checking for damage, “Just had the wind knocked out of me, I guess.”
Nessa embraces her again then turns her attention to the car, still holding Willow tight, “This belongs to our ghostly friend, I suppose?”
All the girls nod solemnly.
“I thought he was gone,” Sam whispers, “What happened to that?”
Nessa helps Willow off the floor and motions the girls out of the house to survey the full extent of the damage from the outside. Looking at the still-running car hanging halfway out of their home, Nessa sighs, “He loves that car like he loves himself, doesn’t he?”
Callie lets out an exhausted laugh, “Oh, yeah. He does. Once choked me until I passed out because I put a tiny scratch in the door with my ring.”
Raven squeezes Callie’s hand. Callie lays her head on Raven’s shoulder.
Emily shakes her head, “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with anything?”
Nessa feels weak but carries on, “When someone loves something else that deeply, a piece of their soul can attach to it. Even when they’re gone, the object still holds a little of them here. He isn’t in this car, but it’s still doing his bidding.”
Sam sits on the ground and hides her face in her own lap, “Of course.”
“Well, now what?” Callie asks, always ready for whatever comes next.
Nessa rubs away the headache blooming in her temples, “It has to be buried with him.”
Raven gazes, unblinking, at her sister with guarded reverence. The urge to rush to her and hold her so close is strong, but that green hue around her is off-putting in physical ways. It makes Raven not want her to come any closer. Willow must sense this as she does not move to come through the doorway, just watches her sister from afar. The two sisters stare each other down from across the space as if waiting for the other to blink first.
Willow gives in. Something in her face shifts as she gives her sister a broad smile, “Didn’t you miss me?”
“Of course I did,” Raven smiles too, but only on the outside. Inside she is buzzing with a million and one questions. “Where have you been? I was so worried.”
Still standing outside the kitchen doorway, Willow lets out a laugh that’s completely out of character for her usually demure self, “Well, that is quite a story!”
The volume of her laughter alerts the others in the house and they all come running into the kitchen. All their faces light up instantly as they see Willow’s face. They rush to her, throwing their arms around her and celebrating her return. Raven just watches from a distance as her sister is ushered into the house over the now broken line of salt.
Not wanting to give anything away, Raven beams at her sister as she repeats her question, “Where have you been?”
Willow’s smile dims ever so slightly for a fraction of a moment, “You know me… always out in the woods doing something.”
Raven persists, “But you always let me know what’s going on. I haven’t heard from you in days. That’s not you.”
The returned one frowns now, “Well, I ran into some trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” Raven volleys back.
The others gaze back and forth between the sisters, observing their tension filled tennis match.
