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Hard spiky balls from a Sweetgum tree roll themselves beneath Raven’s feet. She loses her footing, but grabs Emily’s outstretched arm for support before continuing.
A rock flies out of the bushes and Sam ducks just in time to avoid it. She shakes her head, but walks on.
Another branch reaches out for Emily and snags her shirt. She lets the fabric tear and never breaks her stride.
What must be hundreds of acorns fly at the women like little wooden bullets, pelting them all with dull stings as they hit their skin, but no one flinches. They are close now and nothing he can do will stop them. Honestly, his feeble attempts feel hollow and impotent. The women can hardly believe this is all they have to endure to get through the trees. They were all prepared for years of pent up rage hurled their way and this all just feels like child’s play. Rather than feeling relieved, this puts them even more on edge just waiting for the real attack. They can see the finish line now, the cavernous opening in the Earth less than a hundred feet in front of them. They go into high alert. They know he will be coming for them for real now.
As if on cue, they hear the loud crack of wood splintering. They freeze and watch for what is coming. Almost too quick to dodge, a massive thirty foot Sycamore crashes to the ground in front of them completely blocking their path. Walking across the fallen trunk, Willow’s body glides toward them, his hateful eyes staring down from her beautiful face.
He smiles down at them, “Didn’t think I would let you off that easy, did you?” He watches their reactions as he runs Willow’s hands across her own body, “I’ve got to say, I’m loving every second in this body.” He uses her hands to grasp her own breasts and moans, “I’ve been practicing some self love with her.”
Fury burns from their eyes and Sam loses control. She rushes toward him, sure her rage will be enough to tear him to shreds, but he has learned how powerful the body he is in can be. Without much of any effort he uses Willow’s mind to toss Sam aside. She flies backward and lands on the ground with a thud. His evil laughter feels the air around them. He loves every moment of tormenting them.
Just for fun, he stomps his foot and makes the ground beneath them quake. They all fall to the ground and wonder how in the world they can ever compete with the power he has unlocked in their dear Willow’s body. The women stare up at him from the ground, the earth still shaking beneath them. Each one has an overwhelming feeling that this might be it.
This might be the time that he finally gets them.
How do they combat this moment?
They are certain that their greatest weapon against him has always been Willow, whether she realized it or not. She has always been more powerful than she ever acknowledged. She always knew what to do and how to stave him off. They feel the immense weight of guilt knowing they created all this mess and, without Willow, it would have all ended for them back then. She was the ticket to survival. The only one not involved in his drama in any way, just the one able to make it go away. Now, he holds the power they have always wielded against him. How does anyone come back from that moment?
Well, they do it by realizing that the power has always been in all of them. It has always taken them working together.
Raven feels it first.
Something blooming deep down inside of her. Maybe this is her magical coming of age. Her moment of ascension into the witchy hall of fame right alongside her sister and her mother. Maybe it’s just claiming her womanhood and the ability to stand on her own two feet.
And stand she does.
It feels as if the earthquake he sprouted beneath their feet slows ever so slightly as Raven climbs from the ground and stands to face him. She locks eyes with him and feels the bloom within her growing into a bright white light shining from each of her beloved friends. She plants her feet and stands steady on the shaky ground. The perfect words, the ideal intention, flows into her with ease. She knows how to beat him.
Whispering at first, Raven speaks, “You have no power here. You die without our fear.” Louder now, “You have no power here. You die without our fear.” The ground beneath her barely rumbles at all now.
Callie feels this call to action next. When she sees Raven rise and stand against him, she knows it is the right thing to do. She trusts Raven more than anyone else in this world and would follow her lead to the ends of the Earth. Once she stands next to her love, though, she feels something inside her own soul growing. Her own kind of magic.
All of the beaten and battered women she has helped over all these years come alive within her. That is her magic, the strength of a woman that has been so badly hurt in her own life still finding the hope to help others.
Callie takes Raven’s hand and stares him down, “You have no power here. You die without our fear.”
His smile smeared across Willow’s face falters now. He can feel the shifting of power in the air.
Emily stands now too and comes to join with the others. She can feel her own magic now. The years of self-hate and guilt inside her melt away as she takes away her abuser’s power. She has worked for nearly a decade in the emergency room, nursing the wounds of others and they now heal her own. She is a strong woman with the ability to stand on her own. He was not all the world had to offer. She is loved and loves a man that values her as a partner. A man that has never seen her as an object to possess, but as a woman he holds in the highest respect. She sees now, she has value. Real, tangible value.
She joins hands with the others and smiles at his weakness before them, “You have no power here. You die without our fear.”
Only Sam remains on the ground and she gazes up these beautiful, strong women in her life. She sees them taking their power back but isn’t sure she knows how to do the same. As they turn back and look down at her still on the ground, she feels shame knowing she hasn’t found her way to join them yet, but all that looks back at her is unwavering love. For just a second, she sees herself through their eyes. She sees the Sam that they see. She sees all the beauty and laughter she has put into the world.
Suddenly, like the burst of a bright sparkling firework in her soul, she feels it too. Sam feels the rush of adrenaline she rode through life before he touched her. She feels the joy she exudes, even when she felt the most broken. She can see that he never took that from her, only frightened her away from living it fully. She sees brush strokes of brilliant green and intense violet. She knows she was put on this earth to shine bright and give the world her own joy.
Confidently, she stands and joins her sisters.
Sisters. That is what they are and she knows they can do this together.
She takes Callie’s outstretched hand and completes the chain of pure, female strength aimed straight at this monster, “You have no power here. You die without our fear.”
Together now, their voices grow louder and his face betrays true panic. They walk toward him pushing him back. One by one they climb onto the tree trunk and help one another along the way, never stopping their chant.
He backs away from them as they come closer. Absolute panic has overtaken his face. For the first time in all the time they have known him, he fears them. The thrill of that is enough to power them forward for the rest of forever.
