The Vampire & Her Witch

"Now, Little Sister," Amahle said as she walked across the room to retrieve a large, well-worn, leather-bound book. "I’ll explain to you what needs to happen in order to transform little Heila into a true witch."

"Since it’s the first time for you, I’ll hold your hand the whole way through the process. If we waited for you to be able to do it all by yourself, there wouldn’t be much time for Heila to learn before you need to leave, so please put your trust in me to see you through this one," she said, returning to the table and taking a seat next to Ashlynn.

Ashlynn had never known what it was like to have an older sister. She’d been the oldest of two and she’d done her best to be a big sister to Jocelynn, but because she was confined to the Blackwell Manor most of the time, she knew she’d fallen short of what a good ’big sister’ really was.

Now, however, she felt like she was finally getting a good look at what it could be like to have someone who acted as a wise older sister to her. Ashlynn was too well trained to be oblivious to the things that Amahle was doing to foster the feelings growing in her.

From sitting next to her as a peer instead of across the table from her as a teacher, Amahle was taking deliberate actions to lower herself from the mighty position of ’Mother of Thorns’ to instead become ’big sister Amahle,’ but just because the actions were deliberate, it didn’t mean the desires behind them weren’t genuine.

"Thank you, big sister Amahle," Ashlynn said. Her shoulders visibly slumped in relief at the older woman’s offer of support. Like a good sister, Amahle wasn’t going to do anything for her, but she would help her along the way and that was exactly what Ashlynn needed at the moment.

She could still feel the lingering warmth of Heila’s tiny body in her arms, and the feeling of the diminutive woman trembling as she pleaded her case was one that Ashlynn didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget.

At a certain point, it hadn’t been the words that moved Ashlynn’s heart, but the tone of Heila’s voice, the frantic beat of her heart, and the quiet trembles as she spoke that broke down any resistance Ashlynn had to the idea of Heila taking on the risks to become part of her coven.

"You heard how Heila feels," she said, giving Amahle a helpless look. "I need to do everything I can to be worthy of her feelings. I couldn’t forgive myself if she suffered because my ignorance caused me to fall short."

"You still need to prepare your heart for a hard decision, darlin’," Amahle said gently. Her spider-like legs clicked on the wooden floor as she adjusted her position so she could wrap one arm around Ashlynn while the other opened the old leather-bound book.

"You’ve seen how the witches in my coven are named," she said, slowly turning the pages of the book as the scent of old paper and ink filled the air. "Sandbox, Thistle, Rose, Blackberry... Holly," she continued, her voice catching slightly on the last name before she forced herself to continue.