107: Blast from the Past – Pt. 2

“So, Mom, what spells are you the best at? I’ve been reading through one of your journals and it mentioned dragons which is FREAKING AWESOME! But, what’s your favorite spell?” Alyssa asked, hopping onto the couch beside Victoria.

“Hey, I remember this book. I lost it somewhere in the attic. I guess Derrick found it in the move,” Victoria said, turning the blue notebook over in her hand as she thought for a moment. “Hmm, favorite spell…oh, easy, it was a reflection spell ‘reflexio revelare.’ When your dad and I were dating, he’d mentioned he hadn’t seen himself in centuries. So, one night while standing in front of a mirror, I cast that spell and for a minute he got to see his reflection again.”

“Wow! That’s so cool and very sweet. I’ll bet it made him smile,” Alyssa said, looking over at her father.

“It did,” the Derricks replied simultaneously before sharing a laugh.

“Dad, do you think I could try it sometime?” Alyssa asked, a pleading look on her face. Future Derrick glanced over at Victoria momentarily before sighing and nodding at his daughter. “YES!” she shouted and danced excitedly.

“Derrick, do I need to scold you on letting our daughter explore her magic? I can see how stubborn she is. We both know those two things aren’t a great combination. Don’t you think it would be better if she had someone she could trust by her side while she learned?”

“I do, Victoria, of course I do. I just…I don’t want to see my little girl get hurt.” Derrick’s eyes gleamed bright with love as he glanced over at Alyssa. “But I promise I’ll loosen the reins a little more. Aly should know the part of herself she got from you.”

Alyssa silently nodded her thanks toward Victoria and the mother-daughter duo shared a conspiratorial smile. “So, Aly, you said you attended college, what subject did you study?”

“I graduated from your alma mater with a bachelors in criminal psychology. I’m currently working toward my Ph.D. in forensic psychology.”

“Wow!” Victoria exclaimed. “That’s amazing!”

“I love solving puzzles and I also wanted to do something in the same field as you,” Alyssa replied, beaming at Victoria.

“Well, it sounds like you’re doing very well for yourself. You must be really smart to have accomplished so much already. I’m very proud of you, Aly.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Again, the look on Aly’s face was one of happiness and pride.

“You want to study criminal behavior or…”

“Forensic analysis. I want to put the pieces of the crime together to help figure out the who, what and how.”

“That’s a perfect way to put your nosey nature to good use,” Victoria smiled.

“Hey! At least I came by that honestly,” Alyssa shrugged, making her parents laugh. “In speaking of, you and Past Dad are looking for something. Tell me everything. I wanna help.”

“That’s not happening, Aly,” Future Derrick admonished. “It’s not safe.”

“Dad! I have you, Past Dad, and Mom here, I don’t think I could be any safer unless you wrapped me in plastic and stuck me inside a padded cell. Besides, when else will I get the chance to solve a real-life mystery with my mom?”

Victoria hid a smile as she listened to her daughter make a good argument; one that neither Derrick could refute. Future Derrick sighed and looked over at Victoria, listening to her thoughts a moment before shaking his head. “Do you see what you did?”

“Me?” Victoria said, pointing at herself in shock.

“Yes, you, Victoria,” he said with a roguish grin. “I’ve been dealing with this for twenty-three years. You should have seen the teen years.”

“I can only imagine,” Derrick said with a laugh.

“Excuse me?” Victoria said in faux offense, looking at her travel companion. “I was an absolute angel as a teen and I’m sure any child of mine was as well.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Alyssa winked, snuggling into Victoria’s side as she threw an arm around her.

“Now, we have a mission to complete, and our dear baby girl wants to help. Who’d like to fill her in?” Victoria asked, looking between the two Derricks.

“To be honest, I’m just curious how the spell landed us here to begin with. How could I have hidden something in the future and not remember it?” Derrick asked with a puzzled expression.

“Who has the kind of power to do something like that?” Alyssa asked.

“Well, I can think of a few people off the top of my head; your mom being one,” Future Derrick said with a prideful smile toward Victoria. “Also, the Council of Elders have a few beings on retainer that could potentially be able to conjure up something to that effect.”

“I don’t think they’d have done this. The Anglesey will be useful to securing Fane in his cell. There’s no way they’d block any effort to do that,” Derrick replied, shaking his head.

“Can either of you think of someone you would have asked to perform a spell of this nature?” Aly inquired, leaning forward as she caught her father’s eye.

“Miles,” The Derricks answered simultaneously.

“Miles? You’ve never mentioned him before. Does he live in Avondale?” Victoria asked.

“He’s…a bit of a wanderer,” Derrick said, with a frown. “It takes a spell to call on him.”

“And a lot of treasure,” Future Derrick added.

“Treasure?” Alyssa asked. “What like gold coins and rubies and stuff?”

“Not quite,” Derrick replied. “He’s not into material things so much.”

“Why are you being so mysterious about this?” Victoria asked, quirking a brow at the Derricks.

“Because Miles is not the type of person I—we would want around our family,” Future Derrick responded. “Let’s just say he’s not someone to call on for favors often but when you need him, he always comes through.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Derrick said behind a laugh. “Doesn’t matter anyway, he wouldn’t know where the Anglesey is, he would have just been the means to get to the place it was hidden.”

“No, Derrick knows where it is. He admitted to as much earlier,” Victoria reminded her travel partner. “But you two have done an excellent job of making me want to know more about this mysterious ‘Miles’ character.”

“Same!” Alyssa seconded.

The Derricks shared a look that could best be described as calculating before Future Derrick hopped to his feet. “Anyway, as promised, I’ll go and grab the Anglesey, Victoria. Care to join me?”

“Why don’t we all go?” Alyssa asked, moving to her mother’s side.

“Aly…”

“What, Dad? You said I could help. And I’d like to spend as much time as possible with mom. Isn’t that why you’re inviting her along?”

Future Derrick sighed as he was once again caught within the reason-based contentions of his daughter. Seeing the laugh she was trying to hold back, he knew Victoria would be no help and crossed his arms over his chest. “You should have gone to law school,” he answered instead. “Shall we?”

Future Derrick led them to several places; each one came with a story or memory of his life after Victoria’s death. With each place they visited, Victoria and Alyssa discussed magic and she taught her the basics of controlling her magic. Finally, they started toward a park behind Avondale Middle school, stopping briefly in an alley with a path between the two buildings.

“Wait, I know this place,” Alyssa said, stopping and leaning over to more closely analyze their surroundings. “Yes. This is where…” her voice cracked and she looked over at Victoria then quickly shot a look at her dad.

“What?” Victoria asked, looking between the two. The silence grew thicker and Victoria inhaled deeply before vigorously nodding to conclusion. “This is where I died.”

“It is, yes,” Future Derrick replied.

“Does this area have significant meaning other than that? Why are we here, Derrick?” Victoria asked, growing impatient with their trip down memory lane.

“Don’t worry, the Anglesey is close, Victoria.”

Derrick walked over and touched a stain on a wall near an exit door and sighed. “Blood.”

“I smell it too,” Alyssa confirmed. “There’s been a lot of death in this alley.”

“It was an ambush. One that, regrettably, could have been avoided.”

“How can an ambush be avoided?” Victoria asked. “The word by definition means being caught unaware.”

“Unless you know when you’re walking into danger and firmly ignore all the signs anyway,” he said shaking his head. “If you’d only listened to me, Victoria, we wouldn’t have even been here at all that night.”

“Wait, you’re saying it’s my fault what happened that night? I’m responsible for forcing Alyssa to live a life without a mother? You without a wife?” Victoria asked. A hurt expression came over her face and Future Derrick quickly tried to backpedal.

“That’s not what I meant. I just—I only wish things hadn’t happened how they did.”

“What did exactly happen?” Alyssa asked, her arms folding against her chest. “And why haven’t you ever told me? What could be so bad learning about that night that’s made you keep it bottled up all these years?”

“Alyssa…”

“No, Dad, I wanna know. And after all this time, I think I deserve an answer,” Alyssa demanded, scowling at her father until he finally relented.

With a resigned look, Future Derrick pointed toward the wall Derrick had earlier inspected and began speaking. “We were on the way to the hospital. Victoria was experiencing contractions and with her being so close to her due date, we decided it was best to not leave anything to chance. On the way, she started feeling sick so I pulled over and she hopped out here,” he said, motioning toward the alley.

“The moment she stepped out of my view I heard a scream. I rushed around the corner to find four witches standing there. They had ensnared you in some magical matrix while a fifth was hurling bolts of green flame at you. I took out the first two and that caused the matrix to fall. You hit the ground—hard. But when you got to your feet, you helped take out the third. And while my back was turned, taking out the next two, I heard a loud explosion.”

“When I looked back, I screamed. This monster’s hand was dripping with your blood. My vision went red and I didn’t stop until every last one of them was dead at my feet. By the time I made it over to you, you were barely alive. You’d tried taking in the vial around your neck but whatever the witches did to you, it didn’t work. I dropped to my knees, ripped open my vein and tried to feed you more of my blood but it still wasn’t working. In desperation I—I bit you and as the venom took hold of you, you pushed me away and…there was so much blood,” he said, choking on his words as he recalled the moment he saw Victoria’s injuries.

“You told me it wasn’t working, that you were dying. I told you to hold on that I was going to get you to the hospital and I lifted you gently and carried you to the Jeep. But you said you wouldn’t make it. You begged me to get the baby out; give her a chance at life,” Future Derrick’s body shook as he spoke, his emotions palpable as he recounted the final moments with the love of his life.

“I helped you prop up and heard you gasp in pain when my nails sliced into your belly—the sounds you were making shredded my heart into pieces. Your body began to shake as I pulled Aly from your womb and I knew…I knew it was just a matter of moments then. I placed her in your arms and held you both. You looked down at her with a smile, said her name and how beautiful she was in a broken voice so weak I could barely make out the words and then…you were gone.”

“Oh, Daddy,” Alyssa whined, her eyes glossy with her own tears.

“I don’t remember how long I held you or how long I rocked with Alyssa in my arms before Loretta found us but when she did, she vowed vengeance on the rest of the coven. And neither of us rested until we took out everyone involved. I’d begged you to let the ambulance transport you. After everything we’d gone through the month before with the witches and their threats…I was trying to avoid having you out in the open at all costs but, you refused. You hated the idea of being in the back of one of those ‘death wagons’ and insisted I drive you.”

“How could either of us have known we’d be attacked on the way to the hospital, Derrick? You’ve lived all this time with the guilt of not being able to do more but from what I’m hearing, it couldn’t have been avoided. Those witches would have gotten me no matter where we went,” she said, pulling him into her arms as she gently brushed the tears from his cheek. “I am so sorry you experienced any of that, Derrick, I am. I can’t imagine what it's been like for you but you have to know it wasn’t your fault. It was no one’s fault but the witches. And acting like always, my loving protector, you did what you had to and you made sure our daughter was safe.” Future Derrick wrapped Victoria in his arms and held her until his body stopped shaking with silent sobs.

“I’ve never stopped loving you, Victoria.”

“And I’ll never stop loving you, Derrick,” she smiled back before his mouth was on hers, stealing her breath away with a passionate kiss.

“How is any of this connected to the Anglesey?” Derrick asked, trying his best to ignore the sharp pain of grief he could feel coming from his future counterpart. “Why exactly are we here?”

“Great question. Is it hidden nearby?” Victoria asked, lifting her hand before speaking a few magical words.

“No, Victoria, wait!” Future Derrick shouted, seeing what she was doing. But it was too late. The spell she cast immediately took effect. A dazzling sparkle of light ignited from her hand, dancing and swirling around them as it began its hunt.

Victoria turned as the light grew brighter and gasped as she looked at where it was coming from. Alyssa’s eyes widened a degree and she looked genuinely in shock as she felt a warmth move through her. “It’s me?” Alyssa asked with growing concern. “I’m what you were looking for?”