Midnight Witchcraft

By Luna Elizabeth

After the death of her mother, Amelia Addams is now in the care of her aunt and brought to her aunt and mom's old hometown of Mooncrest. Dealing with depression over the loss, Amelia meets a few girls her age to take her mind off things. The girls have a mysterious side: They call themselves witches, and practice magic. And when the twisted things they say about people they don't like start to come true, Amelia suspects one of her new friends might be a killer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luna Elizabeth
• Release date: Mar 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463559062

Luna Elizabeth

Writing was one of my favorite things to do when I was a little thing, and I thought up lots of short horror stories. This went on for years, eventually turning into long stories that went from horror to murder mysteries to fantasy that I shared on the internet until eventually I started self-publishing them.Spooky things are my thing

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Midnight Witchcraft

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Published by Luna Elizabeth

Copyright 2020-2023 Luna Elizabeth

This story contains mentions of self-harm and abuse, gruesome and violent scenes, scenes of suicide, and suicidal thoughts. Be safe and careful.

To the scars that have become numb with time, but still sometimes open up and bleed again

One

Breathe

She was lost in a blur of white. There was a quiet ringing sound in her ears, ringing over the sound of a faint, distant voice. The ringing kept getting louder, louder until it was the only thing she could hear, louder until spots of red jumped in her white vision and it felt like her head was about to pop.

A gentle nudge on her shoulder made it all go away in an instant. She blinked, and the red spots were gone, but wavy white lines were now dancing in her sight.

Are you okay, Ame?

Amelia Addams glanced at the tired looking woman sitting behind the steering wheel. Her auburn hair was coming loose from the tight bun that held it, hanging around her thin, wrinkle lined face. Her fingers were bone white as they gripped the steering wheel.

Amelia’s aunt glanced at her with bloodshot green eyes when the reply didn’t come right away. Yeah, Amelia answered, her voice soft and fragile, sounding about to crack, a lot like she felt. I’m okay, she cleared her throat.

Just keep breathing, Lydia Addams told her, turning her gaze back to the endless road ahead of them. The reminder was still amusing to Amelia; it was bitterly amusing that she had to be reminded to breathe, of all things.

Amelia didn’t realize when it was happening. She would become faintly aware of it when she noticed the tightness in her chest, but she was always so lost in the emptiness when it was happening that she wouldn’t think anything of it. And then auntie Lydia would be yelling: "breathe, Amelia, breathe! You’re not breathing!"

Amelia would then gulp in the air, lighting a fire in her chest, and then have to spend the next five minutes trying to catch her breath.

It didn’t happen often, but it still happened. Aunt Lydia always wondered aloud if it could happen while Amelia was sleeping.

If it ever did, Amelia wondered if it would wake her up.

Or if she’d just never wake up again, falling into that peaceful darkness.

It’ll stop, Amelia always heard people tell Lydia whenever she voiced her fears to them. She’s just grieving.

Amelia wondered if that was true.

Exhaling softly, Amelia tilted her head a little and leaned it back against the seat, looking at the rear-view mirror. The road was empty behind them. She couldn’t remember if there had been another car besides theirs during this nearly two hour long drive.

Amelia’s curly red hair got caught in the wind, obscuring her face until she tucked it back, behind her ears.

We’re almost there now, Lydia announced, a tiny sigh of relief following her words. She sounded so tired. They were both so tired.

Amelia just watched the road. At both their sides were fields of grass, mostly nothingness, sometimes cows or horses grazing in the distance. It was the lonely road that led to the town of Mooncrest. It was where aunt Lydia, and Amelia’s mom, Sylvia, were born. Amelia had never been there before; they’d moved away before she was born. Now, after what had happened, aunt Lydia wanted to go back there. She thought it would help her heal.

I think it’ll help you, too, Ame, she’d said. It’s such a pretty place.

Amelia figured her aunt was probably just nostalgic. She just wanted her sister back, wanted their childhood back. Amelia thought it might probably make Lydia feel even worse to go back to the place that held all her most cherished memories, this time without her sister by her side, now nothing but a memory. But maybe she was wrong. She hoped she was wrong. People healed in different ways, after all.

The mere thought of mom made her face appear in Amelia’s mind: pale and gray, bulging eyes losing their once vibrant green color and shifting frantically around like they were searching for something, the noises she made as she desperately tried to breathe.

Amelia trembled, digging her fingernails deeply into her palms. She wondered if she’d ever stop thinking about it, if that face and those sounds would ever go away, or if they would just torture her for the rest of her life.

The sign on the side of the road pushed the image from her mind. It stood among the trees, a background of light purple, and a huge moon in the white clouds among the silver stars.

The thick white letters greeted: Welcome to Mooncrest!

The sign was actually pretty and inviting, Amelia thought.

Amelia stared out the window at the scenery of the town. The wind pulled a few green leaves from the trees to swirl down to the ground among the dying ones. There was a park where a couple of kids were chasing each other around.

When the car stopped, Amelia looked at aunt Lydia. Here? She asked, confused. Why are we stopping right here?

Wouldn’t it be better to walk around a little and look around at things? Lydia smiled, so small and tired.

Amelia shrugged, pulling off her seat belt. Sure, I guess so.

They got out of the car, and Amelia stuck her hands into the pockets of her black hoodie. She followed Lydia, who was glancing around; it was the first time Amelia had seen her really smile in what felt like forever. It warmed Amelia’s heart, and a faint smile came to her lips, too—also for the first time in what felt like forever.

Maybe coming here wasn’t a bad idea, after all.

There was a donut place called Powderpuff’s, that one a familiar sight, and a restaurant called Bao’s, and a pizza place called Pizzabro across from them, that one another familiar sight. Down the street, Amelia saw more familiar places: Happy Patty, and Ghosteas.

It’s all different, Lydia said quietly, walking at a slower pace and looking around, taking their surroundings in.

What was there before? Amelia asked, clenching her hands deeper into her pockets. They were freezing.

That was Elisa’s bakery, she pointed at Powderpuff’s. And that was a burger place, her pointed finger moved to Bao’s. She folded her hands in front of her, looking at Amelia with that warm smile. How about we go there? She nodded her head in the direction of Pizzabro. You deserve your favorite after all this.

They went to Pizzabro and took a seat by the window. Amelia got a large slice of pepperoni pizza, and an orange soda. Lydia got spaghetti, her sister’s favorite. Maybe it was her favorite, too. Amelia didn’t know. Sometimes her brain mixed things up, and she didn’t remember if Lydia liked this or that, or if that was her mom she was thinking about.

All was quiet while they ate, staring out the window. Amelia wondered if there were a million memories flooding through her aunt’s mind right now. She wondered if they made Lydia sad, or if remembering them made her happy at all. People always told her that she would remember things fondly eventually, but every thought Amelia had about her mom still just made her sad. Hopefully Lydia was different.

They made their way back to the car after dinner. It was getting dark out now, and there was a cold chill in the air. Amelia gazed at the park as she walked toward the car; there were still kids there, but older ones now, probably about her age. It looked like a few girls, and they were all sitting in a circle in the grass. It looked like they were all holding hands. One of them giggled loudly, and another one said something that made the others laugh. Amelia’s eyes shifted up to the sky, at the full moon that had made its appearance behind the foggy clouds. When her eyes fell back to the girls, one of them was looking right at her.

Like, right at her, freezing Amelia in place for a second. A girl with long blonde hair, dressed in black, looking almost like a ghost in the darkness.

God, don’t do that.

Amelia looked away awkwardly.

She got into the car, exhaling slowly. Lydia sighed. We’ll stay at the hotel for the night, and meet up with Angela tomorrow.

Angela was Lydia’s old best friend from their childhood and teenage days. She’d been friends with Amelia’s mom, too, back then. They would be staying with Angela and her mom until they got their own place. Lydia already had a list of apartments and jobs, so Amelia hoped they’d find one soon. Old friend of her aunt’s or not, Amelia would feel awkward as hell living with this lady and her mother.

And to make it even more awkward, Angela had lived in the same house all her life, and that was right next door to Lydia and Sylvia’s childhood home. Amelia glanced at her aunt, wondering how she’d feel to see that house again.

Leaning back in her seat with a sigh, Amelia balled her freezing hands into fists deep into the pockets of her hoodie. She glanced at the rear-view mirror and her heart gave a little jolt to see the blonde girl dressed in black was still standing there, still staring at where Amelia had been, that long hair flowing in the breeze.

They got a room at Moonview hotel. Lydia was snoring mere seconds after her head touched the pillow. Amelia just lay there in her bed listening to her, staring up at the ceiling, wishing she could fall asleep that fast.

She thought about the travel, about leaving the place she had known as home all her life. She thought about now, being in this strange place she knew nothing about, with an aunt she felt like she didn’t know well enough even though she had known her for all her years of life, who was so fragile these past few days that she might break at any moment.

Amelia thought about how she might be able to help Lydia. She thought about what her mom might say.

And then, of course, she thought about her mom, and hot tears filled her eyes. Her ears and cheeks burned, and her breath hitched. She shut her eyes tight and held her hands over her mouth.

Everything was changing. Everything was different. She just got up one day and her life felt like it belonged to someone else. She didn’t know where she was going, what she was doing, or what would happen next. It was different and nothing was familiar. Nothing felt safe.

And she was so scared.

Turning to her side, held back grief spilled out of her in quiet sobs.

Because sometimes she broke, too.

Two

Eerie

Amelia opened her heavy eyes to the morning sunlight beaming in through the window, and to an unfamiliar place. White walls were decorated with portraits of water and bridges and moonlit nights, and the fluffy carpet was a sky blue. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was, and then yesterday came flooding back to her.

She closed her eyes again, breathing deeply. Her chest ached. She wanted to go back to bed. She always wanted to go back to bed.

She heard a door open and close, and then Lydia asked quietly, are you awake, Ame?

Amelia took a few seconds to wonder if she should pretend to be asleep; and then maybe she’d actually be able to fall back to sleep. But she answered tiredly, yeah.

She listened to the muffled footsteps on the thick carpet, and heard her aunt set something down on the bedside table. I got coffee.

Amelia opened her eyes, and Lydia chuckled. I knew that would get you up. There’s donuts, too.

God, you’re the best, Amelia mumbled, rubbing her tired eyes.

I know, Ame.

Amelia pushed herself up on her elbow, and blinked her blurry eyes. She eyed the white paper bag on the bedside table, showing a round, puffy pink donut with big sparkling eyes. Powderpuff’s! Was written underneath in big pink letters.

Amelia sat up with a deep sigh. She took the bag and set it on her lap, looking at the inside. One round vanilla donut, and the other a round plain one. She took the coffee from the table and sipped carefully; it was hot, with just a little bit of milk, just how she liked it. Powderpuff the pink donut was smiling at her on the foam coffee cup. Mom used to love this mascot, and saved all the cups and bags and napkins each time they got donuts from there. Amelia blinked the tears away and took another drink of coffee to force down the lump in her throat.

She looked at Lydia, who was standing at the other end of the room, staring out the window and sipping her coffee. She looked relaxed in a way that Amelia hadn’t seen in a long time. It definitely felt like it had been a long time, anyway.

Are we gonna go to Angela’s place first thing? Amelia asked before taking another sip of coffee.

Yep, as soon as you’re up and ready, Lydia answered, glancing back at her to smile. Take your time, though. She turned her head back to the window. It’s nice to just look at everything like this.

Amelia watched her for a few seconds longer. Lydia just stared out the window as she sipped her coffee, looking content, and even at peace.

Amelia turned her attention to the bag on her lap. She opened it and ate the donuts, and then crumpled the bag and tossed it into the little trash can. Her bag was still sitting at the end of the bed. She pulled it toward her and took out fresh clothes and her toothbrush, and went into the bathroom. She quickly dressed in dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt with long sleeves, pulling her black hoodie on, too.

She stared into the mirror, into her own tired green eyes. Her face was especially pale today, her lips colorless. This look came when she felt short on breath like this. She inhaled deeply through her nose, then exhaled through her mouth, her breath trembling slightly. Her face blurred in the mirror as her vision unfocused, staring blankly past herself.

A thump on the wall from the other room made her give a little jump of surprise. She closed her eyes, holding her hand to her forehead. A headache was coming on, the pressure right behind her eyes. Those always came when she had trouble breathing, too.

She ran her hands through her hair; red curls that reached a little past her chin, just above her collarbones. She pulled them back and tied her hair into a low ponytail, a few curls slipping out and refusing to be held back. With another little sigh, she left the bathroom. Lydia was still standing by the window. She hadn’t moved, still standing with her hands around her cup of coffee.

Okay, Amelia said,