Blue Moon

“How did you know we were looking for a witch?” I asked her, still checking to make sure Will was alright. He perked up at the mention she was a witch though.

“I could sense it and I've been trailing you two since you got here,” she told us nonchalantly.

“Trailing us? Why did you now just introduce yourself?” I was a little agitated that she waited until after Will was in mid-transformation to reveal herself.

“I had to make sure I could trust you, to many people use me to steal my magic. I decided when I saw your aura were pure, your intentions are good.” She rested her hand on Will's shoulder again and I heard a small crunch and Will grunted a little.

“Thanks,” Will mumbled as he got up and dusted himself up. “What do we do with him?”

I looked down at the man and saw he was unconscious, who knows what he saw. Serena walked over and held her hand steady for a moment before turning back to us. “His memory should be wiped clean of the events that transpired.”

“Thank you,” I started slowly, thinking that magic was a visible thing.

“Magic is invisible to mundanes, unless they possess a supernatural power themselves,” Serena explained, reading my thoughts. It made me feel uncomfortable, exposed. “My apologies, I can stay out of your thoughts if you'd like.”

“Please,” I nodded politely. “How did you perform magic without any words?”

“Practice, it makes it a lot less obvious of who we are when we don't use our spells. Magic is connected mentally and emotionally, not verbally.” She turned and started walking out of the ally and Will and I followed behind her, unsure of where she was leading us.

Will's hand grasped mine and I turned to look at him. Without any words needing to be said, I could tell he was sorry for lashing out, uncontrolled. I just smiled at him, apologies weren't needed, I knew he was just trying to protect me.
“That man who attacked you, Eliza, his name is Louis. You're not his first victim.” She told me and I turned to Will in reaction but his gaze was straight ahead. Did she just speak inside my mind?

“Thank you.” I told her, unsure still if she said it aloud or not. I knew my answer when Will threw me a confused glance. I just shook my head. We turned into another ally that was a dead end. She didn't stop walking as it looked like she was about to run into the brick wall, but instead she walked right through an invisible barrier. She disappeared. Will and both stopped with wide eyes, dropping my hand, he walked forward and hesitantly placed his hand against the brick wall. It went through magically.

“How is this possible?” He muttered amazed. I walked up beside him and with a whimsical gaze, walked through the barrier. Will entered right after me and we both stopped in our tracks as we saw we weren't in a town anymore but a small, old flat. Weird trinkets hung from the walls and papers were nailed next to them, foreign scribes scribbled upon them. The flat was dark but lanterns lit up without a thought and exposed small cabinets and trunks scattered throughout the place.

“This way,” I heard Serena say to us from across the room. We followed her through a doorway and she gestured towards some chairs that sat at a small round tables. She shed her cloak and took a seat across from us. I took in the sights around me and Serena herself. She was odd looking but in a pretty way. Her features we prominent but simple. She wore a deep red vest over a black dress. Gold rings hugged her upper arms near her shoulders under a tattoo that seemed tribal but was probably a mark of some sort.

“Thank you for helping out back there, that could have turned ugly quickly,” Will spoke, breaking the silence.

“It's my job to protect the supernatural, not just cast spells.” She responded kindly.

“I'm assuming you brought us here because you know our intentions,” I quipped, feeling a little intimidated under her gaze.

“Anything that you've read in the books about breaking a werewolf curse is a lie. You can't know a true curse breaker is real unless you consult a witch, which is me.” She told us, lowering my confidence that we'd be able to actually break the curse.

“Well, is there a way to break it?” Will asked anxiously.

“There is but it comes with sacrifice as you might have guessed,” she got up and fetched of book off one of the many selves that lined the room.

“We know it won't be easy but we're willing to do what it takes,” I told her.

“To break this curse, we would have to perform the Esmeralda Curse that was created in the 15th century, it's a very effective curse.” She told us, reading the book as she spoke. But she looked up as us, sensing out apprehensive atmosphere. “A curse is a curse for a reason, there is never an easy way to break one. This one in particular is difficult, the sacrifice is great.”

“What's the sacrifice?” I asked, knowing that it wouldn't be a heavy one.

“It's a curse for a curse, for one to have a curse broken, one must have one put upon them. In this situation, your first born's soul will be payed in debt to cover the curse.” She told us, giving a sympathetic gaze before looking down at the book again.

I tensed up immediately, Will however stood up and started pacing. I didn't even know if I wanted children after the events that have unfolded. Would it be a fair life?
Will and I haven't even discussed children, let alone marriage.

“No,” Will answered. I turned to him and turned back to Serena with an indifference look on her face.

“Then I'm afraid I can't help you,” she got up and placed the book on the shelf.

I could feel my heart racing at the thought of having to decide this but as soon as I saw Will looking at me questioningly, I knew that I couldn't risk losing him again. Not ever.

“Yes,” I spit out and Will's features dropped and I could tell he was perplexed greatly.

Serena turned and raised and eyebrow. “Can you give us time to talk it over? You can understand that this isn't an easy conversation.” I proposed to her, hoping she would be understanding.

“Of course,” she smiled, “I'll come for an answer tomorrow. It's best if the curse is performed before the next full moon.”

I nodded and she walked out of the room without another word. Will and I turned to each other but the journey home was quiet and tense.

___________________________________________________________________________________

I stared at Emily's ever growing belly as she danced around the table happily, setting dinner down in front of us. Will and I haven't spoken and I knew that the disagreement was more than just a quick argument. Emily seemed oblivious to the distance between Will and I as she took her seat across from me.

“I think the due date is coming up, I can feel it.” She smiled as she took a bite of her foot.

I put on a smile and humored her. “Do you and Collin have any names picked out yet?”
Emily turned to Collin and they both shook their heads, “No, we'll decided after the baby is born.”

I nodded and continued eating silently. Will stared down at his plate, not really touching his food. Maybe his was angrier than I thought.

“Alright,” Emily pipped up, “what happened?”

My gaze rose to meet hers and I could tell that any lie she would see right through. “Uh, well, it's kind of hard to explain.”

Will scoffed, “Eliza doesn't want to have children.”

I glared at Will, “It's a bit more complicated than that,” I snapped at him.

Emily and Collin looked between us and shared a look. Collin cleared his throat,” We'll just give you two some privacy.” Emily threw me a sheepish smile before following Collin out of the room.

I sighed heavily and scooted out of my chair and walking out of the room. I didn't want to talk to Will until he'd simmered down a little. I walked into the library and sat down in front of one of the book shelves. I couldn't help but look down at my stomach and try to ignore the guilty lump in my chest. I could hear Will come in and stopped in front of me. He looked down at me with an expectant look on his face. I immediately grew irritated with him again.

“What,” I spat at him annoyed.

“I can't believe you, Eliza, how could you want to do the curse after hearing the sacrifice we have to make?” He told me, disbelief lacing every word.

“How can you make a decision on something we haven't even talked about yet? Christ, Will, this is your life we're talking about here! And could you think I didn't want children, of course I wanted children.” I spoke almost hurt, the look he was giving me was not a pretty one. I felt little beside him sitting down, so I stood up.

“Eliza, I would give my life over a child of mine everyday. I thought you would feel the same way too.” He retorted.

“Not if I'd have to raise it without his or her's father! Will, you have to understand my perspective here, I've already had start over with you. I just got you back, there's no way I'm risking that again. Besides, I don't want to have a children with all the tribulation we've been through, it wouldn't be a fair life.”

“It wouldn't be a life at all if you deny it before it happens. We have time to live a normal life,” he told me, calming only slightly.

“You're talking years down the road, Will. I mean this isn't something that 's happening tomorrow. This is after marriage, if we decide to get married one day.”

He stepped back, “If?”

I shut my eyes for a second and gathered my thoughts. “Of course I want to marry you, Will, I wouldn't even second guess the thought,” I told him as I saw relief wash over his face for only a second, “but I'm scared. I don't want to be a widow. I don't want to not do this curse and only have a short time before I'm raising a child that I could end up resenting in a small way because you decided to be some martyr of sorts.”

“Eliza,” he stepped forward but I moved out of his touch.

“Will, I know that you desperately want to start a life with me. I do too, but we can't do that until we are even sure we have that life in our future.” I told him before kissing his cheek lightly and walking out of the room without another word, leaving him to grovel further in his thoughts.