Returned (30 page)

Cora grabbed Tabitha's hand. The cheesecake wasn’t sitting so comfortably in her stomach. The thrashing wasn't helping. She'd only eaten a small piece and it felt like it was holding tight to the wall of her throat, forcing its way back out. She knew this information already. It was also written in her book, but to hear someone else say it meant that it was real.

“Jack, what are you talking about?” Eli asked looking rather perplexed.

Cora looked between Jack and Eli. Everyone else in the room was holding their breath or, if you were Ayden, still eating the cheesecake.

“Eli, it means that our covens are not enemies. It means that we should be friends, our families were friends. How can we be enemies when Cora's mother died to save her friend? She sacrificed a life of her own, a life with her daughter because she loved her friend so much. My mother also gave her life to save her daughter.
God, it's so messed up,” he sighed pushing his hand through his hair as he looked intently at Eli.  “Eli, how did you come to the conclusion that they hated one another when they were friends before?”

Eli continued to shake his head back and forth. It looked like he didn’t want to accept any of this. Eli had spent his entire life hating her, having someone to blame for the death of his wife, his mother-in-law. Where was his outlet now?  She could understand his confusion, his hesitancy in believing this.

“There had to be a reason why she died, my wife... my beautiful wife. She was not a killer.” He slammed his fist on the table making her jump. “But Anne was taken, taken to be killed... only Alizon could do that. Only Alizon could have her outcast as a witch.” Eli’s body was shaking. “I thought... I thought she had told the magistrates that Anne was also guilty. We tried to hide, to save the rest of Anne's family but we couldn’t do it, your mother had already been taken, Jack. It was Christmas day when they came and took Anne back. They found us.”

             
There was silence in the room. Clay and Clio quietly sat looking at the faces sitting around the table. Ayden, who’d finally stopped filling his mouth, appeared to be shocked. Ember’s feelings remained under lock and key. Tabitha's face was ashen, the deep leaf green of her eyes standing out on her ghost white face. She squeezed Tabitha's hand harder. 

“But when you both met the hatred, the power within you was ignited. Why?” Tabitha asked her.

“I don't believe it was hatred that we felt,” she explained. “I've thought about it this afternoon. There’s a fine line when it comes to emotions and clearly pain and confusion blur these lines significantly. I can’t understand why I felt so angry all the time; I can only guess that our bodies were trying to warn us. You suppressed our power and I believe because of this when we met, this triggered our elements.”

“Can you explain the anger?” Clay asked.

“I’m not sure why. Is that some part of us unconsciously acknowledging what had happened to our parents and my sister?”

“Perhaps,” Tabitha agreed. “We understood it to be anger; we believed the families were to blame for the other’s deaths.”

“I’ll admit that I felt angrier when I was told that Cora's mother was responsible for my mother's death. Obviously, now we know that isn’t right.”

Now that Cora knew the facts it felt wrong to hate him.

There was silence as everyone tried to digest this information.

“So, how can we know if you aren’t lying?” Eli raised his voice. “How do we know?” Eli stood up, his body shaking with emotion. Cora flinched away, if he hit her she didn't know if she would react. She didn't want to hurt a grieving man.

“Eli, I understand this is difficult-” Tabitha began.

“Difficult! I lost my wife. The woman I will love until my dying day. I lost my whole family, what did you lose?  In the grand scheme of things all you lost was a
friend
!”

Tabitha gasped and sunk into herself. Cora was about to stand up and give him a piece of her mind. Grieving man or not, no one made Tabitha react like that. Tabitha was one of the strongest women she knew and she would not see her like this.

“Hang on a damn minute!” Jack shouted.

Cora looked at him dumbfounded.

“I've seen what happened, the flashbacks tell me enough to understand why you’ve reacted the way you have. But, you do not-”

“What flashbacks?” Eli interrupted, confusion forcing his brows together, lines hounded his forehead.

Tabitha had asked Eli about the dreams and she could see Eli figuring it all out. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I’ve not been handling them very well, obviously. In these nightmares I've witnessed everything. You told me what happened on that day so I know what I'm seeing is the final steps of their lives. My mother or my sister, I’m not too sure as I see it and feel it through their eyes.”

“Why didn't you say anything?”

“It was too much for me to handle. What with everything else I just didn’t know where to begin. Cora knows. She's been having them too.”

She sensed everyone's attention latch onto her but continued to watch Jack and Eli. Even whilst she did this she felt the red blush travel up her neck.

“She could be lying. This could all be some part of her plan.”

“Eli, shut up for just one damn minute!”

Cora was shocked for a second time. In the short time she’d known Jack, Cora knew he was never the first person to order or control a situation. Most of the time he was so laid back he was practically horizontal. Eli put his head into his hands trying to muffle the beginning of his sobs. Tabitha gripped her hand tighter.

“I’m the High Priest and you will believe what I say. The flashbacks, the facts, they are true, they match. Now I can go get the book if you want me to and I can read the bloody exact date and paragraph. In fact Cora and I could read it together, would you believe us then? The past cannot be changed no matter how much we want it to. I'm so sorry for what has happened but we now have a chance to change our future.”

Tension hung heavily in the room.

“Eli, today we accept Cora’s coven as our allies, in fact we must treat them as friends. From day one I set out to hurt Cora, I’ve treated you so awfully,” he turned towards her. His eyes pleaded with her. “I’m so sorry.”

There was nothing to forgive, she hadn't acted innocently either. If they were going to move on she needed to forgive and forget. “I forgive you. I hope you forgive me?”

“There's nothing to forgive. Everything that has happened is my fault.”

“No,
you
didn't do it, Jack. Someone else did it. So who did it? Who caused their deaths, who caused the breakdown of these two families?” Ember asked.

“Thomas. Noah Thomas,” Jack announced.

She heard sharp intakes of breath. Noah Thomas had been the village healer. He’d started the rumours within the village.

It was the answer each of them had waited centuries for.

“That bastard!” Ayden roared.

             
She looked at Jack; his eyes shimmered with tears. He looked at her and then looked quickly away. They finally had their answer but how much better did it make them all feel?  She didn't feel better. Noah was the name of the man in her book. She knew he'd accused them of something, but how could one little man cause the death of so many innocent witches?

Jack coughed, clearing his throat like he was ready to say more.

“Eli, there is something else that the book mentioned, something that I feel you should know, it shouldn’t be kept from you.”

“What?” Eli asked him, his voice was raspy with emotion.

“I don't know if I can say it....” Jack’s voice broke.

She could see that Jack was hurting and she found herself hurting with him. To show such vulnerability pulled at her heart strings. Whatever he had to say was going to be devastating.

“What is it?” Eli cried impatiently.

“Your wife... my sister died...”

“Yes? Jack, tell me!”

Jack opened his mouth and then dropped his head as the sobs erupted.

             
Cora patted Tabitha’s hand as she shifted to get out of the small cramped space filled with too many bodies. She approached Jack who was lost in his own personal hell. His head hung down as if he was ashamed of his tears. She took his hand which was warm and soft into her own and squeezed trying to give him some comfort.

“Jack, would you like me to say it? You could tell me and I could say it for you.”  He squeezed her hand back, his gratitude evident on his face.

“No, I need to do this.”

She held his hand whilst he took a deep shuddering breath and looked at Eli. She braced herself ready for whatever he was about to say.

“Anne was pregnant. She was carrying your baby when she died. I think that's why Alizon tried to save her, why my mother stepped forward as well. She needed Anne to run but she had nowhere to run to other than her home, to you.”

Cora felt the tears prick her eyes and watched as Ember moved to Tabitha who was now crying. Cora could see the tears leaving Ember's eyes and trailing down her cheeks. Jack had his head bowed again; his eyes were closed as glistening tears pushed through the sweep of his thick lashes and then slid down his face. Eli moved forward and grabbed Jack's shoulders. She reacted, her body ready to defend Jack. Eli had tears running down his face. Her entire chest ached; her throat was on fire as she tried to stop the onslaught of tears. Clay and Clio remained sat on the floor like statues. Ayden was attempting to hold Eli upright as he was now slumped against Jack.

“Eli...?” Jack's muffled voice came from underneath Eli.

Eli cried out and fell to his knees taking Jack with him. Jack held onto his brother whilst trying to hold it together himself. Her hand brushed his shoulder.

             
She nodded her head towards the living room silently instructing everyone to leave.

“I can’t believe it,” Clio whispered as Cora took a seat next to Tabitha on the sofa.

“It doesn’t seem real,” Ayden said sadly. “After everything, all these years, we know what happened and yet I don't feel any better for it.”

“Oh my!” Tabitha exclaimed.

“What, what is it?” Cora grabbed her hand tighter.

“Jack. I know why. What a big mistake we made... it never... I didn’t know.” Tabitha was shaking her head.

“Tab, you're speaking in riddles. What are you talking about?”

Did she even want to know?

“Jack, he was placed with the Thomas family.”

“Oh God,” Ayden whispered shaking his head.

“Will someone tell me what this means?” Cora demanded.

“Thomas, Cora. They are the family Jack used to live with. They have to be descendants from Noah Thomas, the man who accused Alizon and Anne of witchcraft. It must have been a weak family tie when I placed him. I researched; they seemed to be the perfect candidates. I would never do that intentionally... I just wanted you both to be safe.”

She felt like she had been smacked against her head. She didn't know much about his family. He never spoke of them, but she'd found some information out through Eli who'd commented about it once when in conversation with Tabitha. Jack had never stood a chance of having a normal upbringing, a normal family.

“We don’t tell him. He's had enough to deal with,” she pleaded with them, making the decision there and then to at least keep this from him.

She looked around the room.

“Tab, we don't tell Jack. Agreed?”

“Don’t tell me what?”

She turned to see Jack, red eyed and puffy faced, stood in the doorway looking at her.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

             
This was not a great start to a new beginning for them.

“Tell me what?” he repeated.

“Jack, I... we....” she stammered unable to find the right words.

“No, Cora, I will take care of this. Jack, the Thomas family that
I placed you with, it was the-
”

“Same family who were related to Noah Thomas. I know,” Jack interjected.

Tabitha’s mouth was moving but no words were coming out.

“I kind of put two and two together. It wasn’t your fault, you didn’t know.”

“I’m still very sorry; I should have done something in these recent years.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, you didn't know.”

His ability to forgive Tabitha had her heart melting a little.

“I should be sorry, Tabitha. I have often acted like an idiot, but in the past few months I took my stupidity to a whole new level.”