A Mother's Bond Chapter 1

Whenever my son, Ethan Shaw, cried, my mother-in-law, Jacqueline, would pat his back and call his name. She said it was to keep his soul from leaving his body when he got scared.

I thought she was just being superstitious until one day, an old woman stared at my son and her face went pale. "Why are his pupils so dilated? He only has one-tenth of his soul left! Has anyone tried to summon his soul?"

A chill ran down my back and I told her about his grandmother. She said, "She isn't calling his soul back. She's calling it out of his body! I'll give you the candles. Take it home and light it, or your son will die."

I was a little wary. Was I really going to suspect my son's own grandmother of hurting him just because some stranger said so?

But my son had become easily lost and slow to respond, and even the doctors didn't know how to help him.

"Don't worry," the old woman said. "I'm not asking for money. I just want to save him."

She pressed the candles into my hand and left.

Back home, I lit one of the candles with my hands trembling.

The tip had barely begun to glow red when Jacqueline called. "That's a Soul Severing Candle! Put it out now, or Ethan will die!"

* * *

When I got home, I stared at the candles in my hand, my heart pounding nonstop. Could I really trust what that old woman had told me?

But Ethan Shaw was Jacqueline's only grandson, and she had always doted on him. Why would she want to hurt him?

I kept hearing the old woman's warning in my head. "You have to light the candles from today, or your son will be dead within three days!"

I held one of the candles tightly, knowing I was running out of time. But what if the old woman was a fraud?

I was still contemplating it when my husband Jasper Shaw came home. His eyes went straight to the candle in my hand.

"What's that?"

My hand trembled. I felt guilty for doubting his mother.

Jacqueline had always treated me well. She wouldn't even let me wash a dish when we visited her home. If I told Jasper a stranger had made me suspicious of his mother, he would probably think I was crazy.

He noticed how pale I looked and helped me sit on the couch.

"What's wrong, Lynn? You look like something scared you."

I thought for a moment, then spoke cautiously. "I met a strange old woman today. She said your mom was driving Ethan's soul out of his body every time she patted him on his back. She gave me these candles and said it could save him. I know it sounds ridiculous, but Ethan really hasn't been well..."

Jasper took the candle from me, his expression growing stern.

I forced a smile. "Maybe Jacqueline didn't realize what she was doing. Maybe it was an accident..."

"No," he cut in, his voice full of anguish. "She might have... done it on purpose."

He sat beside me with his head in his hands, struggling to get the words out. "There's something you don't know. My mom has a distant cousin, and when they were young..."

"They got back in touch after my dad died. He was in a car accident recently and ended up in a vegetative state. The last time I visited her, I heard her on the phone. She said people in vegetative states had lost their souls, and all it took to help them was to replace what was missing."

His eyes reddened as he took my hand. "My mom is hurting Ethan. She has to be! Light the candle. Hurry! We can't let anything happen to him!"