12 Stone's Let Go blared to life over the iPods small speaker. I whispered the words for the releasing of the soul I held, hopeful she would leave my body without a fight when I released the blood.
No such luck. Chandra was still pissy about ending up among the dead—which I could understand. I whispered the words for the dead to rise watching as hundreds of spirits rose from their graves. My eyes flickered to Adrian's empty grave with sorrow.
Mrs. Gracie who had been dead from the early 1800's wafted over, her feet never touching the ground as she watched me. She had taken some time to get used to. She wore an old fashioned school teacher dress in black and white which made her wide blue eyes seem out of character since it was the only thing left in color on her.
"Good to see you Mrs. Gracie, you should seriously think about crossing over, if you don’t I'm going to have to change your name to Mrs. Grey." I watched her shake her white curls that had been blonde three years ago violently before she put her nose up in the air and headed to a far off spot to sit and watch me.
Next came the kid, which I couldn’t find any information for off his numbers alone nor did Alden have any knowledge on who the small boy might be. I called him Billy Goat Gruff which he didn’t seem to mind at all. Or maybe he did, but it wasn’t as if he could tell me. Whoever he was, he needed new clothes but I wasn’t about to dig him up and redress him.
"Pick your poison Billy," I smiled and nodded at the iPod.
I said the words to enchant the iPod as he tried to push his not so corporal finger through it. The kid had taste at least but of course there weren't many songs I had on my iPod that I didn’t like. Linkin Parks Iridescent echoed through the normally quiet cemetery.
I smiled and watched him thump his foot on the grass floor of the cemetery. I watched as the spirits started doing the same, waiting for a constant beat to dance to. They wouldn’t be finding one inside of this song but Billy wouldn’t let them down with the next one.
I sliced through the flesh in my hand and whispered the binding words backwards to release Chandra. I felt the anger, the taste of betrayal she felt in being killed. When she did come through, it was a brilliant green flurry of lights and then her soul exploded sending sparks everywhere as her soul shattered into a thousand different pieces.
"What the hell?" I asked the ghost who all ignored me as if someone hadn't just exploded into tiny pieces of ectoplasm. I closed my eyes and shook my head before opening them as the song ended and everyone stopped and turned to Billy.
He stopped, turning his small angelic face towards the bushes. I turned looking in the direction but still couldn’t see anything. I turned and tilted my head, waiting to see what he did next. His fingers started crossing his skin and I realized he was telling me as best as he could to put up protection.
"Well shit on fiddle sticks Billy," I mumbled before cutting my hand deeper to get enough blood to draw the Celtic cross on my cheek.
When that was done, I drew the power around me and watched my arms as the Italic written words Never Forget and Always Remember lit up on my forearms as every other white ink tattoo I had lit up until it reached my eyes. I lifted my face and watched Billy smile wide.
I stood out like a sore thumb like this. Most Witches wore their branding under glamour. Adam, Adrian and I had been the only ones to receive our brands in white ink that were invisible to the naked eye. If we stood under a backlight we'd be screwed.
I watched, picking up everything around the thick bushes. Someone was there, standing just outside the cemetery watching me. Unless they were of mortal blood or could withstand the wards, they wouldn’t be coming in. I turned, listening as Billy messed around with the iPod finding his next song of choice.
I was surprised when he turned on Gun's and Roses Don't Cry, I winced, the dead loved to dance and this wasn’t one they could dance to. What surprised me more was when they got into couples and actually danced together except, Mrs. Gracie and Billy.
Billy floated over to me, his eyes taking in my glowing brands. Everything was off kilter tonight. Maybe I was affecting them with my own dysfunctional issues? I felt the ice of Billy's touch as he traced my arms and then indicated with those same icy hands for me to flip my arms around for him to continue.
His touch, like all the dead was an icy reminder that they were no longer alive to us. His young chocolate brown eyes lifted to meet mine when he was done tracing Remember. He poked it a few times before he turned his head to the outskirts again and then he disappeared without his usual flourish.
I looked over the now empty cemetery and stifled the shiver that ran down my spine. November Rain came on next as a figure walked over the graves coming in my direction. I held my brands up watching and waiting.