My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 372

Nina

I must have drifted into a light slumber at some point because the sound of persistent knocking on my door pulled me from the haze of dreams.

I blinked, disoriented, and glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was past two o’clock in the afternoon. I hadn’t realized I had been asleep for so long.

“Come in,” I called out, my voice still groggy from sleep.

The door swung open, and my mother entered the room. “Honey,” my mom said, blocking my view of the hallway behind her, “it’s time for your checkup.”

My heart began to race, and I sat up a little further, hurriedly smoothing my tangled hair down with my hands. “Um… Okay,” I murmured, swallowing. “I’m ready.”

A moment later, the door was opening a little wider. My mother stepped in, and behind her was a figure of a woman that sent a shiver down my spine.

My mother cleared her throat and gestured towards the mysterious visitor. “Nina, this is the witch I told you about, the one who’s been helping your brother with his curse.”

My eyes fell upon the witch, and I couldn’t help but be taken aback by her appearance.

She had long, ebony hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall, almost seeming to shimmer with a life of its own. Her eyes were the deepest shade of emerald green, and they caught the color of the lamp on my bedside table in a way that made them shine like two emerald gems.

Her skin was fair, almost luminous, and her lips were the color of ripe cherries. She wore a flowing, midnight-blue robe that seemed to blend seamlessly with the shadows around her, giving her an otherworldly appearance.

This was not the witch I had expected. She was beautiful and ethereal, and not at all terrifying like I had somehow worked her up in my head to be.

She extended her hand towards me, her fingers adorned with intricate silver rings. “Hello, Nina,” she said in a soft voice. “I’m Elara.”

I shook her hand, feeling unexpectedly awestruck by her appearance. “Hello,” I managed, taking note of how cool and smooth her hands were.

“Now then,” she said. She plopped down a small wooden trunk onto the table at the end of my bed and began to rifle through it. A moment later, she produced some crystals and a singing bowl, and her emerald eyes met mine again. “Care to begin?”

I hesitated, a bit taken aback, but nodded.

Elara wasted no time. She began to move around the room, her eyes scanning every nook and cranny as if she could see things others couldn’t. She took out an assortment of herbs and even more crystals from her robe, placing them strategically around the room.

As she worked, my mother and I exchanged uneasy glances. I had always been skeptical of witches ever since everything that had happened with Selena, but Tyler’s ordeal had forced me to reevaluate my beliefs.

Still, having a witch in my room, performing who-knows-what kind of rituals, was unnerving to say the least.

Elara turned her attention to me, her gaze penetrating and intense. “Nina, I need to perform a thorough examination,” she said, her tone serious. ” To determine if there is indeed a curse upon you.”

I nodded, feeling a lump form in my throat. ”

Okay.”

With a graceful movement, Elara produced a leather-bound book from the depths of her trunk.

She began to chant in a language I couldn’t understand, and the room filled with an eerie, ethereal glow. I watched, both fascinated and apprehensive, as she continued her chanting.

Then, she turned her attention to me, her emerald eyes locking onto mine. “I’ll need you to remove the blankets covering you, Nina,” she instructed gently.

I hesitated for a moment, feeling a rush of embarrassment and vulnerability at the idea of exposing myself to this stranger. But I met my mother’s eyes, and she gave me a subtle nod. I reminded myself that this was necessary.

I took a deep breath and slowly pushed the blankets down, exposing myself in my nightgown to the witch.

Elara’s gaze remained steady, and she proceeded with a thorough examination. She checked my pulse, inspected my skin, and asked me a series of questions about how I had been feeling.

It became clear to me that she wasn’t just a practitioner of magic, but she also knew her stuff when it came to medical science. That was a comfort, at least.

But the most unsettling part was when she had to conduct a gynecological exam. I clenched my teeth and gripped my mother’s hand tightly, my eyes squeezing shut as I endured the discomfort.

“This will only take a moment,” the witch said, producing a metal speculum from her trunk. “Don’t worry, Nina. I may be a witch, but I also study medicine.”

“She knows what she’s doing,” my mother said gently, still holding my hand. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

For a few moments that felt like an eternity, Elara continued the gynecological exam. She poked and prodded, took swabs and muttered to herself. It was a strange juxtaposition, seeing someone who was supposed to be a user of the arcane wearing blue vinyl gloves and using test tubes.

But in my own mind, it helped me find ease in the situation. I may not have understood magic, but I understood medicine. That familiarity alone gave me more trust in this stranger.

When the exam was finally over, I gratefully crawled back under the blanket, feeling exposed and vulnerable. My mom shot me a smile as if to tell me that I had done a good job.

Elara remained silent for a few moments, her brows furrowed as she scribbled notes in her leather

-bound book, muttering to herself.

My mother and I exchanged another worried glance. The tension in the room was palpable. I hoped that there was nothing to worry about, but I couldn’t be sure.

Finally, Elara closed her notebook and looked at us with a more serious expression. “Nina,” she began, her voice measured, “you and the baby both seem very healthy. If there is indeed a curse upon you, it eludes me, even though I am quite skilled at discovering such curses.”

I let out a sigh of relief, feeling a weight lift off my shoulders. It seemed that the fortune teller’s ominous prediction in the city had been nothing more than a false alarm. Either she was simply mistaken, or she was a flat-out phony.

“Wow, um… Thank you,” I said sincerely, grateful for the reassurance. “I was really worried. I mean…

We all were.”

“Really, Elara,” my mother said with a sigh of relief of her own. “Thank you. Everyone is going to feel so much better.”

Elara offered my mother and I a curt nod. But then her gaze shifted, and her expression grew more serious. She turned to my mother. “May I speak with Nina privately, please?”

My mother hesitated for a moment, clearly torn.

She exchanged a concerned look with me, and I nodded, silently indicating that it was okay.

Reluctantly, my mother stood and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Elara thought for a moment, furrowing her brow, before she suddenly turned to face the trunk she had brought. “One moment,” she said, pushing up her sleeves.

She dug through it for several moments until she produced several vials of different-colored liquids and a collection of three small, intricately designed talismans.

“For now, I will give you these medicines to ward off the spirit’s influence,” she said as she held them out to me. “They will protect you and your child until the baby is born.”

I took the vials, clutching them tightly in my hand.

“And these talismans,” the witch explained, “will also protect you. You must keep one on the threshold of your home, and another on the threshold of the place you sleep; this bedroom, I’m assuming.”

“And the third one?” I asked.

Elara nodded as she handed all three to me. “Wear it on your person at all times,” she said. “Never take it off, if you can.”

Nodding, I took the talismans and clutched them in my other hand. It was a small comfort to have something tangible to hold onto, and the smooth stones felt soothing in my hand.

“And what will I do after the baby is born?” I asked, my voice quivering ever so slightly.

The witch’s green-eyed gaze grew somber. “After the baby is born, we will need to perform a ritual to free you from the grip of this evil spirit,” she whispered. “But I must stress that it is too dangerous to attempt while you are still pregnant.

The ritual could put both you and the baby at risk.

Understood?”

I nodded, feeling a mixture of relief and apprehension. It seemed like there was a plan in place, but the waiting would be the most agonizing part.

“Understood,” I murmured, looking down at the collection of vials and talismans in my hand.

Elara offered me a reassuring smile. “Everything will be okay, Nina,” she said gently, her gaze softening. For a moment, her ethereal presence seemed to fade ever so slightly, replaced by the image of a woman who was not all that otherworldly at all, but rather warm and comforting.

“How can you be sure?” I found myself asking.

Her smile grew. “I cannot say,” she replied. “But you possess great power, Nina.”

Without another word, the witch turned and snapped her trunk shut with a bang, causing me to jump ever so slightly. I was at a loss for words, and simply watched her as she gathered her things and ushered out of the room without so much as a goodbye.

For a few moments, I just sat there, my gaze flickering between the door and the items in my hands. Was it really possible that these potions and colorful stones would protect me from whatever hallucinations had been plaguing me?

Right now, it all felt like poppycock. And yet, at the same time, something about the witch’s gaze had given me a glimmer of hope. She had done so much for my brother, after all. Some paragraphs are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Jobnib.com. Visit Jobnib.com to read the complete chapters for free. Who was to say that her magic and her potions couldn’t help me and my unborn baby, too?

Then, suddenly, the door cracked open again. I lifted my gaze to see Enzo standing in the doorway, a worried look on his face. He had dark circles under his eyes, and there was an exhaustion in his gaze that made me soften.

And dropping the potions and talismans onto the bed, I held my arms open for him, beckoning for him to come to me.

Without a word, he crossed the room in three long strides and threw himself into my arms, holding me tight.