The Death of Somnia

06:45 Jericho, Oxford

Samia screamed and came round with a start. Her heart was racing and her head felt heavy and sweaty. She shivered, the clock was on 6:45 damn it, forty-five minutes before her alarm should have gone off. After that dream, she could not go back to sleep. She got out of bed with a huff and stomped downstairs.

‘Samia, sweetheart, you look like you got dragged through a hedge backwards and it’s only 6:45 am’ Sally said hand on her hips ‘Please don’t tell me you have just come in?’

‘No Sal I have been in all night. I had a weird dream that’s all’ Samia said whilst grabbing a glass and rolling it on her forehead

‘Whats happened?’ Sally said

‘I had a dream, well more of a nightmare really.’ The girls stopped their conversation dead as Sarah their other sister came in.

‘Don’t stop on my behalf.’ Sarah grabbed the pot of coffee and poured herself a large cupful.

‘Samia, you look like you need this more than I do. ‘ Sarah handed the cup to Samia.

‘She has had a dream again.’ Sally said

‘Ooo was it a hot and sticky dream?’

‘Hehe Funny Not! It was but not in that way, and no Jeramy was not in it!’

Samia proceeded to tell the girls about the dream. She was standing in a train station on a bright and sunny day, all of a sudden the air got dark and there was an awful stench of rotting decay. As Samia looked around at all of the patrons they were milling about aimlessly. There was one particular person that stood out, he must have been a giant six-foot-plus and he had yellow eyes. This thing was gesturing to one person and it was….

‘Carry on darling.’ Sally said

‘I can’t..’ Sally put her arm around Samia ‘it was just a dream.’

‘At least you did not dream about one of us!’ Sarah said

‘Um, about that..’ Sarah stopped dead in her tracks

‘You have to tell us now.’ She added

..So this other person was you, Sarah. This thing was gesturing to you and he was dragging something yellow from you. Then you dropped like a sack of potatoes. I looked at him and he blew me a kiss and I heard “I will have the other two of you soon” in my head and I ran over to Sarah and she was dead, her eyes were white and milky. I called but nobody helped me then I woke up and I have the biggest headache.

‘Oh, how awful. Do you recognise the station?’ Sally said

‘Yes Its London Marylebone, but we don’t have to worry do we as Sarah is not going to London is she?’

‘Ah right um well about that. Kristian has asked me to go and meet a prospective client’ Sarah said

‘Well you can’t go please.’

‘Samia, I have to this client will bring so much work our way. Plus it was just a dream.’

All of a sudden a large thump was heard and all three girls ran upstairs and went to Sarah’s bedroom and there was a large book on the floor Samia picked it up and she almost dropped it in shock, she was looking at the picture of the thing she saw in her dream.

‘Oh my god, I am officially freaked out now’ Samia said visibly shaking.

‘Be careful with that I am pricing it up for Kristian.’ Samia handed her the book and noticed a triquetra on the cover. The symbol was three inter-linked diamonds in a knot.

‘What is this symbol?’

‘I dunno but I think it is based on old pagan beliefs past, present and future or land, sea and air etc’ Sarah said

‘Let me look’ asked Sally and as soon as she touched the book the three girls felt an air of electricity come around them and they all fainted.

When the girls came round they saw that the book was opened again onto the page with the demon in and Samia found that she could read the words. It was describing what the demon was and how to destroy it.

Samia went to Sally and Sarah and helped bring them round. She told them what she had found and advised that the demon’s name was Somnia and he steals the dreams you will have. However, if he steals the dreams of three Witches he will become unstoppable.

‘You got all of this from the book?’

‘Yes, and the only way to stop him is with a witch with precognition powers’

‘Yeah, right and where do we find one of them, we cannot go around and ask people are you a witch with a sixth sense’ Sarah said rubbing her neck

‘What in the hell happened?’ Sally asked as she came around.

‘Let me see’ Samia said holding her hands out over the book ‘What happened?’ The book quickly on its own accord flipped to the page about quickening.

‘Huh, what do you think about that?’ Samia said ‘It says the quickening is an act of witches where they reawaken their powers. It starts with all of the witches of the coven touch The Book of Shadows at the same time sharing their powers and multiplying them by the number of people in the coven.

‘I cannot listen to this I gotta go. My train leaves the station at 8:15 am’ Sarah said while leaving the house.

‘Let her go, we can talk later. I gotta go and you have to get to uni.’

Samia could not focus during the lecture, she knew something big was going to happen and she had to be there to stop it. She tried to recount the dream, it seemed more powerful now, she could feel the emotion of the Somnia and the utter helplessness of Sarah. She tried to look around as if she was there she saw a departures board and saw the time was 16:00 she glanced at her watch and saw it was nearly midday. She had to do something so she booked a train to get there at 15:00

Sally was stuck in the post room at the firm of solicitors she worked at her superiors beck and call and had to photocopy twelve bundles three times and it was taking her all day. Plus she was bursting for the toilet. Next thing she knew she was in the cubicle of the ladies toilet. Sally could not make sense of it one minute she had been in the post room the next she was in the toilet. She did her business and the next thing she knew she was at the entrance of the post room. She quickly looked around and was relieved that she was still alone. ‘Well, the commute home will be interesting.’ She smiled.

Sarah was sitting on the train for an early journey the carriage was empty, she thought I need my coffee and grabbed her coffee cup from her bag. She placed it on her table and pulled out the infographic about how the auction house can provide profitable resolutions to Probate cases. She moved her coffee cup out of the way and read through the pamphlet. She went to grab her coffee but it was out of reach and the next thing she knew the coffee cup was in her hands. Shocked she put the cup down and imagined she pushed the cup away and lone behold the cup moved.

15:45 London Marleybone

Sarah left the London office and was delighted that she had managed to bag the deal. The firm of solicitors Patterson & Partners was happy to give them a few sample cases to see how they get on. Sarah checked her watch and rushed to Marylebone. Her train to Oxford was due to leave at 16:15. She noticed a traveller was playing the accordion, she could not recognise the song it was a lulling drawl. As soon as Sarah got inside the station she felt tired and stiff, her breath was in ragged gasps it was as if she had run a marathon. Suddenly she fainted and that was it there was no more Sarah, she could feel her spirit being sucked toward something evil, but she could not scream.

Samia looked around if only she could see Sarah, too late she saw Sarah fall to the ground. She screamed.

06:45 Jericho, Oxford

Samia screamed and came round with a start. Her heart was racing and her head felt heavy and sweaty. Her throat was sore as if she had been in an eternal scream, she looked at the clock but she uncannily knew it was 6:45 even though she did look an enormous sense of deja-vu washed over her.

She rushed downstairs and saw Sally, ‘No I have not just come in.’ I have had a nightmare again, well I think it is a nightmare. Do you believe in deja-vu?’

‘Come to think about it I feel like this has already happened’ Sally said shivering

Sarah came bustling in and rushed to the coffee pot.

‘No thanks, you drink it.’ Samia said ‘Cancel your trip to London please?’ Sarah looked around surprised

‘I can’t Kristian is at an auction and Clarise is on her honeymoon... Hey, how did you know about London? You been going through my diary again?’

‘No, Whoa, that was different!’ Samia Shivered ‘wait for it. There will be a thump in your room Sar.’ Lone behold the next thing, the girls heard a thump.

‘That big book you brought home from Kristian’s you cant read it can you?’

‘No, it's all lines, dots and boxes oh and it has the odd weird image in.’

‘Can you grab it please?’

‘OK, whatever. It better be quick though.’

‘Sally I think Sarah is going to be killed by a Dream Demon at 4 pm in London, and we gotta help her.’

‘Is this some sort of game to avoid going to Uni?’

‘No Sal, I'm really serious’

‘hmmm that’s is strange. Sarah said as she came back into the kitchen. I can read the book now. It's called The Book of Shadows. Written by the witches of the Corr’s line. You mean we are witches?’ Sally dropped the book but held it just before it hit the ground.

‘How the hell…’ next thing they saw Sally move from the sink and in a blink of an eye she ended up next to Sarah.

We are witches, my power is the power of premonition, Sally’s is blinking and Sarah can move and stop things’

‘Look at this page, this is the person I saw in my dream’ She flicked to the page showing the Somnia demon. We have to take him out of time and then she flicked to the page about the quickening and all three girls knew what they had to do. They had to touch the book.

‘Wow, that was more intense than last time.’ Samia said

‘How many times this has happened before?’ Sally asked rubbing her head.

‘Um, once before yesterday, um today, I don’t know.’

‘Look guys I have to go.’ Sarah said

‘At least let one of us come with you.’ Sally said hugging her

‘Wait, this is different’ Samia pointed to some extra lines on the demons page.

‘it says to kill him we need to take him out of time chanting the following. “by the power in three times three, you Somnia are meant to be, at your doom by thee, leave this realm forever free”

‘Well that’s helpful’ Sarah said caustically. ‘I’m going to die and a little bit of poetry is meant to help. Forget it I’m off.’

15:55 London Marylebone

 Sarah was delighted, the meeting had gone well, even though she knew it would, she did not want to admit it to her sisters but she had also had the strong feeling of Deja-vu, Being the oldest she hated it when her younger sisters were right. She secretly knew that the three of them were witches her mum Sandra told her and also she knew that only her children would inherit the Corr’s destiny. This was the last thing she wanted. She and Kristian had discussed that they wanted children and Kristian was into the whole witchy thing gave her the book but it was all boxes, lines and dots and she could not work it out. A lulling drawl of an accordion followed her through to the atrium and she cried, she knew what was going to happen. She felt the tiredness first she tried to freeze whatever the feeling was it worked but her strength had failed and the spell did not complete. She looked around and saw through her milky vision Samia running towards her and that was it she was gone her spirit forcibly dragged from her body to something dark.

6:45 Jericho, Oxford

Samia screamed and came round with a start. Her heart was racing and her head felt heavy and sweaty. She looked at the clock but she knew it was 6:45 even though she looked an enormous sense of relief washed over her. She had remembered something it was the chant ‘the power of three times three. By her calculation, this would be the third cycle and there was three of them three times three. She rushed out of her room and went straight to Sarah’s room. Little known to her a spirit of an old lady was watching her. Sandra smiled and thought ‘by Jove, blessed be.’

Sarah was angry that her little sister rushed into her room ‘You are not going to die, I know what to do bring that book downstairs’

‘Hang on a minute we cannot even read it I have not started transcribing it. Hang on…’ Sarah looked at the book and clear as day the book could be read.

‘Huh would you look at that it’s the Book of Shadows’

‘Told you.’

When Sarah and Samia got downstairs they were all sitting at the kitchen table. They all touched the book as memory had served them.

‘Holy cow that was the strongest yet.’ Sally wanted a cup of coffee and as if by magic a cup had appeared.

‘oh, so as well as moving myself I can conjure stuff.’ Sally Said

‘Hmm, you get an upgrade I can still only freeze and move stuff, what's that Telekinesis’

‘Well I can only get premonition’s….’ Sally cut her off ‘and you can create time loops’

‘Huh, what makes you think that?’ Sally flicked through the book look it's our profiles.

‘God god or goddess it is.’

‘so what is the plan to save my life.’

15:55 London Marylebone

Sarah froze outside the station entrance she had hoped this would work. There was the sound of the Accordion, she had grown to like the screeching sound and had worked out that the traveller was playing a weird version of Ride of the Valkyries which she thought was pretty apt. She brushed her hands through her hair tightened her jacket and entered the battleground. She was on the escalator going down to the Atrium she saw the clock it was showing 15:58. Two minutes to her doomsday or her salvation. She looked around all seemed normal. She saw Sally reading a paper, and she saw Samia at the coffee vendor. She felt the air start to sour checked the time it was 15:59:50 and she held her hands out and everything froze. This spurred Sally and Samia to come to her and look for where the demon was. There he was about ten feet away his eyes were yellow and his pupils were still flame. He was covered by a black mist. He was huge and his mouth was a gaping void. The shimmer of the freeze spell started to fade, but Sarah. Recast it she glanced at the clock 15:59:59 seconds

‘Now Samia said. All three witches quoted the chant

‘By the power in three times three, you Somnia are meant to be, at your doom by thee, leave this realm forever free. By the power in three times three, you Somnia are meant to be, at your doom by thee, leave this realm forever free. By the power in three times three, you Somnia are meant to be, at your doom by thee, leave this realm forever free.’

Upon the last syllable of the chant, the demon came back alive and a large black void of smoke and flames surrounded him and the last words they heard was a large guttural ‘Noooo Samael save me’ then he was gone.

Sarah sighed she looked at the clock it was 16:00:20.

‘Well, I am alive. I did not think that would work’

‘No thanks to me…’

‘No thanks to us, sisters forever. Let's go home and read about our legacy’

As the girls went arm in arm. Sandra looked on in pride. A purple light formed beside her it was him, the source of all good, the messenger of the gods.

‘Well Sandra, you proved you can help witches without showing yourself. I know they are your daughters I do not know if this will be enough to Ascend.’

‘Am I going to get punished for eternity for one minuscule mistake? One I put right’

‘It depends on the big guy upstairs.’

‘I thought you were the big guy upstairs.’

‘Sadly not.’

‘Hmm, well I am going to celebrate with my girls see you soon Praetor’