"Well, how do we shut it down?" Billy asked. He stared at the standing stones. The light radiated from the stones in pulses and waves.
"I don't know," Molly said. "I don't know anything about turn of the century druids!"
"Calm down," Billy said. "We've found the source of the curse. I'm sure we can take out time now."
"No," Molly said. "Our family has lived here for a century and never broke the curse. I've never heard of these standing stones. I know my mom wasn't the best at family history, but I still think she would have mentioned these. Whatever we've found, I don't think it can always be found."
"Like Brigadoon," Billy said. "The town that could only be found once every hundred years."
"Sure, what ever," Molly said. "Point is we need to think of something now. We can't risk walking away and not being able to find it again." Molly stepped closer to the rocks. Bathed in the light she felt warm, despite the cold night.
"I don't know anything about magic," she said to herself. "What did I think I could do? I'm not strong or smart. I'm not even brave."
"But you are kind," a soft horse voice said. Molly turned to find the figure of John Groder standing close behind her.
"A lot of people in my family are kind," Molly said.
"Perhaps," John Groder said. "But none before have come to the place where my wife died and offered condolences or showed grief for her death. I have waited more than a hundred years for your family to show even the slightest concern for others. But the closest I had ever seen was a concern for themselves. Even their most noble actions were fueled by ways of helping themselves... even you." He held out his hand, "Even you were drawn here by the desire for freedom for yourself, but I don't begrudge you that. When you saw my poor wife, you cried for her. Not for the life of leisure lost to you. I hear by free you and your family from the curse I placed on you so long ago. Please, place you hand on the stone and in doing so end the spell that has kept the shadows of ages past long after the light of a new day dawned."
"Thank you." Molly placed her hand on the nearest stone. It pulsed under her fingers and the light crept up her arm. The warmth became uncomfortable as it pressed on her, ensnaring her body. Molly felt like the heat was becoming stifling, it threatened to sear her face as she radiated energy. At the last moment, the warmth evaporated. The cold night air met Molly's skin as she collapsed to the ground.
The world danced and twirled. Molly saw images and people falling past her into the abyss of her unconsciousness - the figures of John and Gloria Groder with a smiling child in their arms, her mother passed out in a car, aunt Sandy and uncle Ben laughing with little Tommy, Billy with Elli - swaying together to music only they could hear under the light of stars... and Andy - his stone gray eyes staring at her with a smile. Suddenly, there was a faint sound. She wanted to ignore it and just spend some time alone with Andy but the sound was getting louder.
"Molly," a voice called. "Molly!
She woke with a start.
"Oh, thank God," Billy said. "After that light show, I thought you were..." He let the sentence hang in the air.
"It's done," she said. "I think it's really done. John... John said that we were free."
"Don't worry about that," Billy said. "Let's just get out of here." He helped Molly to her feet. They started walking away from the stones. They weren't glowing anymore and without their light, the forest was difficult to navigate.
They tried their best to find the way they had come but they couldn't see anything of the old town or the VanKraft estate. The night grew ever colder and the cousins started to shiver.
"We're lost," Molly said. "I'm sorry, but I think I got us lost. And we might freeze."
"I wouldn't bet on that," Billy said. He pointed off to their left. Molly could see a light was bobbing around through the trees. They started towards the light, calling as they went.
"Hey! Wait up! We're over here!"
The light stopped bobbing and turned towards them. It didn't go very far towards them, but the person holding it waved it over their head in greeting. As they got closer they could see there was a break in the trees, like a path. The person had been walking along the path when they had heard the cousins.
"Thanks for the beacon in the darkness," Billy said as they stepped on to the path.
"No problem," a familiar voice said. "I was actually looking for you."
"You were?" It took Molly a moment to make out his features in the darkness. "No way!"
"Hey," Andy said through the darkness.
"What are you doing here?" Molly asked.
"After what happened to Elli, I wanted to stop by and see how you and Billy were doing. But when I got to your house, your Aunt told me you two had gone on a road trip."
"I can explain," Molly said.
"You don't have to," Andy said. "On the way up I found your mother waiting in your car. I gave her a lift to the estate at the end of the road. On the way, she told me everything. An ancient family curse... elemental disasters. I put two and two together - our little rain storm, what happened to Elli...I knew she was telling the truth."
"Please," Molly said. "Don't be angry."
"I'm not angry," Andy stepped forward and took her hand. "I... I..." he struggled for words, but at a loss for them, he leaned forward. Molly put her hand on his chest to stop him.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Let’s just say I want to run a little test,” he said. "I want to know if you broke the curse."
