Amethyst

"How did I not know this until now?" Greg asked.

"Everything except my birth certificate is in the name Amy. It's what I choose to be known as, why would you have known is the better question," Amy pointed out in a frustrated tone.

"I guess," Greg frowned and wandered away deciding not to pursue the topic after her rebuke.

"That was uncalled for Amy," Shelly chastised her daughter. "It wasn't his fault he didn't know."

"No but it was his fault you used that name with me," she sighed. "I haven't been sleeping well. I've had a recurring dream, but it will take longer to explain than I would like tonight, so can we talk tomorrow? I think I need some help understanding it so I can move on."

"Of course," Shelly tried to smile, but her daughter wouldn't have come home for help like this unless it was frightening her and that thought alone scared Shelly. "Why don't we put the rose amethyst geode into your room tonight just to ward off anything nasty so you and Greg can both get a good night's sleep. It looks like you could both use it." She seemed to consider her daughter. "Maybe some lavender as well?"

"Thanks, Mum," Amy said quietly and relaxed.

*****

Amy sat on the edge of a precipice looking down into the chasm below. It was a long drop and clouds of misted spray rose up obscuring the white water at the end of the waterfall. It looked soft and comforting. She wasn't afraid to be perched on the edge of the stony outcropping high above the falls. She looked up into the bright white light above her and felt its warmth and life. She was content. Happy even despite the coming darkness of the night.

She felt the wind pierce her warmth with a blast of chilled air that rustled through the trees behind her. She shivered as if the cold air wrapped around her like a strong pair of arms, pulling her back toward the coming darkness. She knew instinctively that she was in danger, yet she didn't want to turn to face it. She wasn't ready to go into the darkness. She didn't want to leave the light and its warmth. She reached down and grasped the edge of the rock ledge she sat on. Her hands couldn't grip the slippery edge that seemed strangely covered in soft moss that slipped beneath her hands.

She felt herself sliding from the edge, and she could hear the voice of the dark figure in the waves of clouds rolling in behind her. She couldn't make out the words, but the voice seemed oddly familiar. She turned to face the voice and saw the dark rider. She felt herself slipping and the air around her tightening its grip, as if to stop her from escaping the coming darkness.

The warmth of the sun had disappeared, and she shivered with cold and fear. She felt the arms of insubstantial air lose their battle with gravity. The noisy rush of life that was the waterfall became louder, as she slipped from the grip of the frozen insubstantial arms holding her. She felt the warmth of the sun for a brief moment as she fell and smiled. She reached out towards it, but the mist began to obscure her vision as she slid through it. She opened her mouth to scream...

*****

"Amythest!" Shelly said in alarm. "What is it?"

Greg went to her and wrapped her in his arms. "I don't understand we both slept so well last night," he whispered to Shelly smoothing back Amy's hair as her eyes began to focus again. "She can't have dozed off in the middle of doing yoga could she?"

"Yoga is a form of meditation, and those who practise it in the correct frame of mind can go into a trance-like state," Shelly explained as she watched her daughters face relax and her eyes regain focus. "I think we better have a talk about these dreams you've been having don't you?" She said to Amy in a tone that conveyed that this wasn't negotiable.

"I'm okay," Amy finally whispered. "I think all those nights of broken sleep just caught up with me, and I must have zoned out for a minute, but I am fine now, honestly," She began to stand up untangling herself from Greg's arms. While she didn't physically push him away, she put space between them feeling strangely uncomfortable.

Greg was confused and frowned at her not saying anything. Usually after one of her nightmare's she wanted him close and more often than not initiated the intimacy between them. This daydream and the sudden distance he felt her put between them were new, and he wasn't sure how to deal with it. He considered whether coming here to see her mother had been the best course of action for either of them. She seemed edgy and taciturn here, rather than the free-spirited sweet girl he knew and loved.

"I think I'll take a drive up to Eagle Heights. I believe there is a lovely main street there to explore. We talked about it on the way up yesterday," Greg addressed Shelly giving Amy the space she seemed to need.

"You should it's lovely. My friend, Lillian has a small cafe there called Lilly's Pad, she bakes beautifully. I'll call and let her know you're coming if you like. She can point out some places of interest," Shelly said cheerily.

"Sure, why not, I'm happy to mingle with some of the locals," he said easily. His eyes though hadn't left Amy who seemed particularly rattled by the dream this time. Worry nagged at him, but he knew he had to give her time and space to talk to her mother about it. "I'll go have a shower and then get out of your hair for a few hours."

Shelly watched him go and then turned to look speculatively at her daughter. "Why are you so cruel to him. It's obvious he loves you and wants to help you?" she asked sternly.

"I can't seem to help it, and it's only getting worse. Mum, I think I'm being haunted or possessed or something," Amy said her eyes showing her very real fear. "You're right, though, he loves me, and he deserves better. I don't know what's happening to me. I knew after our first few dates he was everything I ever wanted and needed in a partner, but since I moved in with him," she shrugged and floundered for words. "The dreams, the ominous dark clouds that follow not just me but him, I can see them." She was talking fast now, babbling almost, and she stopped only when Shelly wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly.

"Go and help him get ready. Send him off to explore with a smile rather than that concerned frown. If you love him, tell him. I have a feeling it is important for you both right now," Shelly advised. "Then we will see about this spirit that is haunting you." She felt Amy begin to relax as she held her. "First I have something for you, though."

Amy took a deep breath and nodded. She followed her mother through to the living room. Her mind remained on the dream and the voice she had heard. It was so familiar and so startling, she knew she should recognise it, but she just couldn't place it.

"I dug this out last night after you went to bed," Shelly held up an amethyst ring. "It will give you some protection against dark spirits if that is what we are dealing with here."

Amy took the ring and placed it on her finger. She knew this was why she had come home after so long. When she had told her mother that she thought she was haunted or possessed; Shelly hadn't look at her as if she was mad. She had believed that something was happening and offered her hope. She felt better just knowing that she could tell someone about the dreams have them believe it was more than just a nightmare that would pass.

She found Greg stepping out of the shower when she finally went to see him. She stood leaning on the door and watched him towel off his beautiful body. Chemistry had never been an issue between the two of them, and she could watch him do this for some time quite happily.

"See something you like?" he asked smoothly without stopping.

"Always," she murmured seductively and walked toward him. "I'm sorry, the dream coming like that scared me a little more than I wanted to admit." She wrapped her arms around his now dry torso and leant in resting her head on his chest.

"There's the woman I know and love," he tilted her face up by the chin and kissed her. "You had me worried that things were getting worse being here rather than better."

"I know I don't say it often enough but you know I love you, right?" Amy asked forcing the dreaded words from her mouth not understanding why they always tasted so bitter when she said them to him.

"Yeah, well, I was hoping that was the case," he teased with a wide smile. "Now either I need to get dressed, or you need to undress," Greg kissed her again pulling at her clothes. She offered no resistance as he walked her backwards into the bedroom shedding her clothes as they went.

*****

I'm sitting on the edge of a precipice looking down into the chasm below. It's a long drop, and there are clouds of misted spray rising to obscure the white water at the end of the waterfall. It looks soft and comforting. I'm not afraid to be perched so high above the falls, there is bright white light above me, and I can feel its warmth and life. I feel happy and content there, but I seem to know there is a darkness coming. I assume the darkness is the night, but then the wind picks up.

Amy started to tell her mother about her dream, but it took her consciousness, and she found herself sitting on that ledge again with the sound of the rustling leaves around her. She found she was still holding her mother's hand just as she had been on the couch before she came here. Shelly was talking to her, but she couldn't hear what she was saying over the rustling of the wind through the trees

She felt the wind pierce her warmth with a blast of chilled air, and she screamed in horror as she saw Shelly pierced by a spear of ice. The woman tumbled forward toward the chasm, but Amy gripped tightly to her hand. "No!" she screamed feeling herself sliding from the edge under the weight of her falling mother.

"Let her go!" thundered the voice of the dark rider behind her and she turned towards it unwilling to let Shelly go to fall to her death. She felt herself slipping, and a long arm reach out of the darkness toward her and grip her other hand. She saw the face then, distorted in rage and grief and she tried to pull away.

The warmth of the sun had disappeared, and she shivered with cold and fear. She felt the dark hand that held to hers lose its battle with gravity. The noisy rush of life that was the waterfall became loud drowning out the rider's cry of anguish as she slipped from his tenuous grip. She felt the warmth of the sun for a brief moment as she fell and smiled as her mother's eyes opened. She reached out towards her, but the mist began to obscure her vision as she fell through it. She opened her mouth to call her mother's name...

*****

"I'm here, I'm here," Shelly soothed as Amy came back to reality.

"Mum!" Amy wrapped her arms around her mother. "You were there on the ledge with me. He killed you. Oh God, he killed you!"

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Whoever it was tried to make me let go of your hand, but I held tight," Shelly soothed. She was disturbed by what had just occurred. The deep voice that was not Amy's coming from her mouth shouting, "Let her go!" had been real enough to convince her that her daughter was in danger from a dark spirit.

"I think I saw him this time," Amy admitted weakly. "He's so angry and sad all at the same time," she said trying to make sense of her thoughts. The familiar voice and face rapidly fading from her mind to leave her with the ominous dark cloud that now settled over her mother. "He's mad at you now too. The dark cloud that hangs over Greg so often is now over you as well."

"You know who the spirit is?" Shelly asked carefully.

"I thought I did, but it's like holes are opening up in mind, and I can't quite grasp it anymore," Amy shook her head.

"Okay so you are sitting bathed in the white light above a waterfall, and the dark rider comes?" Shelly tried to get Amy to concentrate on the dream again.

"Yeah and I try to ignore him but I can't, and it's like I have to make a choice and each time I fall. He doesn't like it when I fall. The last few dreams he has tried to save me from falling and pull me into the darkness," Amy said remembering the cold tendrils of air that wrapped her around her. She shivered reflexively.

"What is he riding? When he comes for you, you said he rides at the front of dark clouds?" Shelly asked seeing Amy's face darken in concentration.

"A horse maybe, the thunder is more like a motorbike rumble than horse's hooves. It's like when I try to remember the rider any details just evaporate almost like I'm not supposed to remember him," she sighed. "It's all right there, I know it is, but I just can't grasp it," her frustration was evident in her voice, and she noticed the brief look of anxiety distort Shelly's calm face before it was gone again.

"As much as I could muddle my way through unblocking that wall that stops you from remembering the rider, I think we are going to need some help. We all have our gifts, and as much as I hate to admit, there is someone better suited to help you right now," Shelly sighed.

"Who?" Amy asked. Her mother was the strongest and most confident of the coven if she couldn't help her, Amy wasn't sure who could.

"I think we need your father," Shelly admitted. "Until then we will put some protection spells and wards around you. I'll call the ladies and have them come over tonight."

Amy was stunned. Her father had always been an itinerant figure in her life. He came without warning blowing in on the wind and left just as suddenly. She loved him but felt like she'd never had a real relationship with him. Shelly began making phone calls to the coven and, Amy assumed, her father.

"I'm going to go out the back to sit in the sun," she said quietly, and at an answering nod from Shelly, she padded away.

*****

Amy sat on the edge of a precipice looking down into the chasm below. It was a long drop and clouds of misted spray rose up obscuring the white water at the end of the waterfall. It looked soft and comforting. She wasn't afraid to be perched on the edge of the stony outcropping high above the falls. She looked up into the bright white light above her and felt its warmth and life. She was content. Happy even despite the coming darkness of the night.

She the wind pierced her warmth with a blast of chilled air that rustled through the trees behind her. She shivered as the cold air wrapped around her like a strong pair of arms embracing her. "Remember me," the familiar voice demanded in harsh tones. "You have to remember me!"

"I don't remember anything!" Amy said, a sense of panic rising within her. She knew there was a danger in remembering that voice, and she didn't understand what it was.

She wasn't ready to go into his darkness. She didn't want to leave the light and its warmth. She reached down and grasped the edge of the rock ledge she sat on. Her hands couldn't grip the slippery edge that now seemed covered in ice. She shivered and took a deep breath. "I don't want to remember you!"

She felt herself sliding from the edge, and she could hear the thundering voice of the dark figure in the waves of clouds rolling in behind her like a storm as he raged impotently. She couldn't make out the words, but the voice seemed so familiar. She turned to face the voice and saw the dark rider. She felt herself slipping and the air around her tightening its grip as if to stop her from escaping his darkness.

"Remember me!" he demanded making her look at him. Recognition slowly dawned on her then, she knew him; she had loved him once. Why couldn't she remember the details, not even his name? She stared at him blankly trying to fathom why he was here scaring her, making her choose between life and death.

The warmth of the sun had disappeared, and she shivered with cold and fear. She felt the arms of insubstantial air battle in the effort to hold her tightly in that place. The noisy rush of life that was the waterfall became softer as she felt the warmth of the sun for a brief moment then it was gone, and she was swallowed by the darkness. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out, and she was transported to a bed made of dark clouds.

*****

Shelly found Amy lying on a daybed as if asleep. Shelly started to worry when she couldn't rouse her daughter then Amy's eyes popped open, and she looked at her mother malevolently.

"She is mine now as she always should have been," the voice growled deeply. "Your hocus pocus can't help her now."

"Give me back my daughter, Simon," Shelly said strongly.

"Ah so you do remember me, not all traces of me were obliterated then," the deep menacing chuckle that came from Amy's throat sent chills through Shelly.

"Give her back," Shelly said through clenched teeth.

"No!" Simon roared, and Amy's body went slack on the daybed as he departed her form.

*****

Amy sat on the edge of a bed of clouds. More clouds of misted spray rose up obscuring the floor below the bed like white water at the end of a waterfall. It looked soft and comforting. She wasn't afraid to be above the waterfall that she could hear now and as her mind raced she looked up into the bright white light above her and felt its warmth and life. She was content. Happy even despite the coming darkness of the night and the clouds that surrounded her.

She shivered as a strong pair of arms embraced her from behind. "Remember me," the familiar voice demanded in harsh tones. "You have to remember me!"

"I don't remember anything!" Amy said, a sense of panic rising within her. She knew there was a danger in remembering that voice, and she didn't understand what it was. She struggled against the cold dark arms holding her there on the bed as if to stop her from escaping his darkness.

"Remember me!" he demanded making her look at him. Recognition slowly dawned once again, she knew him; she had loved him once. She stared at him blankly trying to fathom why he was scaring her. The noisy rush of life that was the waterfall became softer as she felt the warmth of the sun strengthen for a brief moment and she closed her eyes.

"Try to remember. We have loved each other deeply for the longest of times. Look into my face and try to remember," Simon begged Amy. "They took your memories away to stop us from being together, you must remember me," he crooned.

Amy opened her eyes, and they were sitting in a car on the edge of a cliff. The city sparkled below them after the rain shower, and she thought she could see all the way out to the ocean. "Where am I, I know this place, and this car, but I don't know you." She looked at him as she spoke. "You're scaring me," she whispered. "I want to go home."

"No, I can't let you go until you remember that you love me, that you want to be with me," he growled and grabbed at her. She fought against his touch and opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. "Sleep!" he growled disgustedly passing his hand over her face and watched her go slack in the seat.

As soon as she relaxed into unconsciousness, he could feel the familiar pull of her loved ones tugging at her mind.

*****

"Let her go!" The strong guttural voice rasped from between Amy's lips. Startled Greg let her drop back to the daybed. "You should leave now there is nothing left for you here. She is mine now," the deep voice taunted him. "I'm sure you were a pleasant diversion, but I am back now, and she belongs to me."

"Be strong, call to her," Shelly said placing a hand on Greg's shoulder.

"Amy, I told you I was in this for the long haul. I'm here, and I am not leaving without you, so give up this insanity and come back to me," Greg said only half believing what he had been told by Shelly and her friends as he had returned that afternoon.

"Oh that's so sweet," the raspy voice responded. "Amy's not here anymore; she's in my world now. She heard you call her insane. It was just as she expected from you. Disbelief and intolerance. Go home Greg she doesn't want you anymore."