Returned by Keeley Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

the skin hanging limp, revealing muscle.
                  Thunder rumbled making her body vibrate. Wind howled as it pulsed around her. Laughter didn't follow, instead it hissed angrily. She stood up shaking from the force that had just hit her. What had just hit her? His fist?  She ignored the pain in her hand and raised both hands out in front of her.  Clenching her fists and ignoring the sharp cry from the fresh wound embedded with pieces of the road, she willed the pain to leave her body. She felt the punch of power blast out of her. She watched the thing move at lightning speed and then witnessed the way the iron fist smashed straight into Jack's chest. The impact slammed his clothes into his flesh. He flew ten feet back and hit the floor with a sickening thud .
                  The wind continued to howl and encase her as she gingerly stepped a little closer to his limp body. He didn’t move. She stepped closer, her pace quickened. His head lay on the concrete, his brow was scrunched together clearly showing the pain.
                  Rushing forward as guilt overwhelmed her, she didn't care if this was a trick. She bent beside him as the thunder continued to rumble in the distance. He was still breathing and the relief she felt from that was frightening. She wasn't a medical professional but breathing was definitely a good sign.
                  She rubbed at her eyes and took several deep breaths. When she looked back at him her blood ran cold, goose pimples broke out over her skin. He was….. She could barely believe it.
                  Cora scrambled back feeling the nauseating slap of pain in her hands. In her only clear moment of the last twenty-four hours she stood and took one last look at Jack before she ran.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 7
    ANSWERS
     
                  Relief flooded through her when she caught sight of the three protective witches stood guarding The Broom Cupboard. This woman had saved her once, she desperately hoped she would do it again. And the voice of a floating figure had told her to ask Tabitha. She didn’t know why she was listening to this floating figure? Perhaps it was because this was the only person offering her advice at the moment.
                  She continued to run down the street ignoring the way her lungs screamed at her. She watched the wind play with fallen leaves along the pavement. The leaves swirled in front of her, the changing colours of copper and yellow creating an autumn rainbow. It was a sure sign that the beginning of autumn was killing the lush green leaves she had seen only a day before. If Jack wasn’t currently unconscious on the floor, when would it have stopped? How much damage would they inflict on each other until that damage was something you couldn’t recover from? At this rate, the death of the leaves wouldn't be the only one to happen in this village.
                  She skidded to a stop outside the shop and saw her reflection in the window screaming back at her. Her hair, dragged free from the bobble restraining i t, was puffed out at odd angles. H er face was ghostly white, the dark shade of her eyes making her look paler than she was.
                  As her hand touched the handle, the fierce wind that had followed her since running from Jack suddenly died away leaving a quiet eerie calm. She felt like she was hyperventilating as the bell tinkled above her head. She sucked in a deep breath, cinnamon and dust engulfed her. The nausea that had hit yesterday was coming back in gigantic waves, her head was dipping and rolling. She tried to grab the banister but her hands had other plans. She was sure they went through the banister but barely registered this as the damn of blood burst rendering her deaf. The unwelcome darkness was creeping into her vision.
    “Hello, child,” Tabitha spoke, her words were fuzzy like they were wrapped in cotton