The Time Witch - Part #33

Not over yet!

Author Note: Ooops, I did it again. I couldn’t finish it in one chapter. It was just too long, so, another chapter will arrive next week. I make no promises about if it’s the last one, but I am closing in on the ending.

Recap: Adas’s mind control stretches decades, and the only people that know where his power comes from live in the past or are trapped in a locket—or maybe Evangeline does, but she’s fallen under his spell.

LINKS: The Beginning, Last Part (#32), Time Witch page

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Lost in time.

The voice echoed in Evangeline’s mind. She didn’t recognize it and didn’t care. A delicious lethargy clung to her body, her soul. Squeezing her eyes tight, she willed it to leave her in peace.

A ticking, however, ticked any annoying tick. That damned sound, she thought, will it ever leave me alone?

Time ticks.

The voice seemed to answer her thoughts. Her eyes opened to find the source. A wall of white caused instant pain. Squinting, she recoiled from the brightness, having seen enough to know she was sitting crosslegged, surrounded by four walls.

“What the—” her voice fell flat, giving her a sense of the space’s size. It had to be small. She hazard another peek, painfully observing the small enclosure. From the floor to the walls to whatever hovered above, it all blended together in an overly white palette.

While painful to behold, her eyes adjusted, letting her look for a way out. All she found was a black spot in one corner, no bigger than a quarter. It softly hummed. The tone of it was more frequency than tune.

“Hello?” Evangeline asked the black speck.

The sound of her voice made the inky spot vibrate and ooze smoke. The odorless substance billowed out from the spot, unfurling from the dot. The dark cloud expanded, spreading out, defining the room’s parameters. It was box-shaped, roughly 10 feet square.

Time out?

The voice echoed in her mind. She assumed it came from the smoke.

“What are you?”

Time.

The smoke settled into a circle around Evangeline. It thickened and pulsed to the beat of each unspoken word.

“Where are we?”

Nowhere.

The darkness rose around her.

“I’m not really here, am I?” She recalled a chapel, although the meaning of the location was fuzzy. “Am I lost? Did you say I was lost?”

Time twists.

The smoke bunched closer as it expanded. It blocked most of the whiteness, taking up the nothingness.

“I have to get out,” she whispered, feeling claustrophobic. “I must return.”

If you wish.

The swirling mass twirled within itself, making tight spirals. It sucked energy from the air—from Evangeline. “How? How do I? Return?”

Her breath came in shallow pants.

No back. No forward.

The smoke rose upward, swirling and swirling. It completely choked out all the whiteness for a second, then suddenly dropped to the floor. White flooded back into the space, shocking Evangeline’s senses, a kind of snow blindness without the cold.

Standing, Evangeline caused the smoke to billow away. She watched the wisps. “You don’t make sense.”

Nor do you.

The echo of a voice held no reproach.

“I want to go back.” Evangeline didn’t know if she could reason with something that might be all in her head, but trying to was frustrating. “I want to go back now!” She kicked at the smoke.

It burst to life, surging upward from the floor, breaking into a thousand tendrils around Evangeline. They sizzled, screeching, taunt cords of energy twirling tighter and tighter around her. Gulping for air, she tried to fight back, but it quickly transformed into a thicker, rotating wall. It squeezed around Evangeline—a suffocating mass—until she screamed.

The void faded, as the chapel took form around Evangeline.

“The bride must be awake.”

A preacher wrung his hands, the long sleeves of his black coat getting in the way. It was too long. “She must verbally agree to the marriage.”

Evangeline screamed, sitting up on the front pew.

The movement startled the preacher and the groom—Adas Abernathy. They turned to stare at the bride, but she couldn’t read their expressions, as they did not immediately come into focus. While Evangeline had reunited with her body, a haziness shrouded her soul.

“Darling,” Adas prompted his bride, “we are ready to start the ceremony.”

Evangeline nodded, robotic.

The preacher waited at the altar, eyes slanting to the nearest exit.

“My bride is awake,” Adas said, as if all were well, “so your concerns are moot. Perhaps you should channel Pastor Griffith, who had no reservations about our wedding. Since you are here in his stead, do not meddle in matters beyond your purview. We shall proceed.”

The preacher raised his chin, defiant. “I am sorry that your pastor was called away, but I doubt he would welcome a confused bride. Look at her. Can she even say ‘I do’ and know what it means? If you believe your pastor would condone this farce, I suggest you wait until he returns.”

Adas chuckled to himself. “Remind me of your name, sir.” His gaze deepened, eyes narrowing at the preacher.

“You can call me Champ.”

“Pastor Champ?” Surprised, Adas studied the holy man with renewed interest. Before him stood a shorter, round, and thoroughly hairy individual.

“It’s a nickname,” Champ said, tugging at his long sleeves. Everything about him rang awkwardly.

“Pastors go by nicknames?” Adas couldn’t fathom the statement.

Champ shrugged, causing his ill-fitting jacket to rise up around his neck. He relaxed his shoulders, and it fell back into place.

“We will be wed this hour,” Adas pressed.

Despite the intense stare, Champ held firm, causing a wrinkle to mar Adas’s brow. He considered the preacher with more care.

“When her eyes stop looking crossed, we can proceed,” Champ said. “I am happy to wait.”

“I am not.” Adas cleared his throat. “You will begin the ceremony now.”

The preacher opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

“What ceremony?” Evangeline stood, willing herself to see straight.

“Ours, my dear,” Adas said, showing more annoyance. It crept into each word, each glance, and a sneer that would not leave his lips. He threw his head back, breathing deeply. “Look at your dress, it is your wedding day. You have wished for this day for an eternity, have you not?”

Wish.

The word ‘wish’ rang with a low resonance. It hung in the air, licking out. It would not be rebuked.

Evangeline rubbed her eyes. Too many things in the chapel were out of focus, but Adas stood before her, perfectly clear. Around him, all faded into a soft blur. He was the center of her universe. The thought should have given her a thrill. Instead, she put a hand on her stomach, willing it to settle down.

“My head is swimming,” she said.

The preacher raised an eyebrow. “No bride wishes to be out of sorts on her wedding day.”

“Shush!” Adas hissed.

Evangeline’s head came up. “Wedding? My wedding?”

Adas went to her, more than a little annoyed. “As I have said, it is our wedding. You were keen for it to happen this very day.”

“Was I?” Evangeline massaged her right temple. She sat down on the closest pew.

He joined her, taking one of her hands in both of his. “You were most insistent.”

Her eyes met his. “It must be today. Today. Today? Yes, today.”

“Tell the preacher,” Adas said, cocking an eyebrow at Champ. “He needs your reassurance that I am only following your wishes.”

Wishes.

The word ‘wishes’ echoed around them, mesmerizing the air molecules with a delicious static twitch.

Evangeline put her free hand over Adas’s. “It’s all my fault. Forgive me?”

He kissed the top of her hand. “There is nothing to forgive.” Standing, he pulled her to her feet. She swayed, leaning into him. “There now, we shall stand as one. We shall wed and truly become one. It is your wish.”

Wish.

The tantalizing word tickled the soul.

Evangeline nodded at Champ. “You may proceed.”

Champ cleared his throat. “Are you sure?”

“Get on with it!” Adas prompted. A cruelness soured his face. “Start with the usual… We bound this woman to this man…”

The preacher held up a hand. “I know what to say.”

Adas pulled Evangeline closer.

“May we say our vows together?” Evangeline murmured.

The preacher frowned. “It’s not the custom.”

“It will be faster.” She smiled up at Adas. “We should not wait one second longer than necessary, right?”

He touched a finger to the tip of her nose. “As you wish.”

Wish.

Adas glared at Champ. “Begin the ceremony.”

Champ bit his lip, looking between the couple. He lingered on Evangeline. The intensity of his stare sent her a silent warning, but it missed the mark. She only had eyes for Adas, although she felt the wrongness. Very little around her made sense, even though she knew it should. Knew Champ was a man out of place, out of time. She was confused at his presence, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but her wedding.

Without the bride’s support, the preacher opened a bible. Staring at the pages, he quickly looked up, scanning the chapel. “We have no witness.”

“You are witness enough.” The edge in Adas’s voice threatened bodily harm.

“Repeat after me,” Champ began. “On this special day, I make seven vows.”

“On this special day, I make seven vows,” the couple repeated.

Turning to face her groom, Evangeline took both of his hands in hers.

“To have and to hold,” Champ said.

“To have and to hold,” Adas and Evangeline repeated.

A grin spread across the groom’s face.

“For better or for worse,” Champ said.

“For better or for worse,” Adas and Evangeline repeated.

Evangeline shifted her hands, letting her fingers lace with his.

“For richer or poorer,” Champ said.

The chapel’s double doors banged open. “I object!”

Samuel stood, silhouetted by sunlight.