Blinded by Love

Blinded by Love

        "Jack, it's Andie."
        "Hey, sis! What's up?" the cheery voice on the other end of the line asked.
        "Pacey and I are taking a vacation, and we need some one to drive us to the harbor."
        "Wait a minute. Pacey and you?" Jack repeated, his eyes wide. "When did you two get back together?"
        "A few nights ago," Andie said, looking up adoringly at Pacey with a warm, loving smile on her face.
        "And you're just now letting your brother know because . . . ?"
        Andie laughed gently, her blue eyes dancing. Pacey reached over and ran a hand through her soft hair. "Think about it, brother dear," she teased.
        Silence reigned on the other end of the line for a moment before Jack spoke again. "Oh. Oh. I see. So why do you need me to take you to the harbor?"
        "We're taking Pacey's boat out for a week, and we don't want to leave our cars there. God only knows what filth might find them there."
        "I completely see your point. Pick you up in about a half hour from now?"
        Andie grinned. "We'll see you then, Jack."

Chapter Seven


        "Come on, Pacey," Andie called behind her shoulder as she hurried toward the elevator. "Jack's waiting."
        "Andie, I . . . I . . . " Pacey stammered.
        His scared voice stopped Andie in mid-stride, and she turned back to look at him, great concerned etched clearly on her face and in her eyes. "Pacey, what is it?" she asked, the icy fingers of fear gripping her heart.
        He was standing in the doorway. His face had lost all its color, and his eyes were wide and frantically sweeping his surroundings. "Andie, I can't see!" His eyes met hers and he added, "I can see you. I just can't see anything else."
        Andie's blood ran cold. {Oh Gods,} she thought, fighting to keep herself from trembling in fear for her beloved. It had to be a side effect of the spell. "What happened?" she asked softly as she dropped her suitcase and hurried over to him. "What do you mean you can't see anything else, honey?"
        "I mean exactly what I say. I can see you, Andie, but that's it. Everything else is just pitch black. No colors. No shapes. Not even any shadows. Just a solid, black . . . nothingness." By the time she reached him, he had began to tremble, and she pulled him into a gentle, reassuring hug. "What's happening to me?!" he exclaimed, fighting to keep from crying.
        The elevator doors slid open just then, and a voice called out to them. "Guys, what's taking so -- " Jack's voice abruptly broke off as he entered the hallway only to see Pacey looking more afraid than he had ever before seen him. "What happened?!" he immediately demanded, fear for his close friend and sister creeping into his voice.
        "I can't see, man. Oh, God, help me. I can't see!"
        "Sh, baby, sh," Andie crooned softly to him as she lovingly stroked his head. "We'll figure it out." {Somehow,} she added silently.
        "How long has this been going on?" Jack asked, clearly as puzzled as he was concerned.
        "It just started," Pacey answered, fighting to restore his voice to normal and hide his fear but finding that he was unable to stop himself from trembling. "I came out here, and suddenly I . . . I just couldn't see anything except Andie. I can't even see you, Jack."
        Jack looked questioningly at his sister. "Andie, do you have any . . . ?" he began to ask only to be interrupted.
        "No, Jack, I don't know what the hell happened," Andie snapped harshly. "Call the hospital. Maybe they can figure something out after they run some tests."
        "But, sweetheart, what about the boat?"
        "Forget the boat, Pacey. You're more important." How could he be thinking about that when he just lost so much of his vision? What had she done to the only man she had ever loved?!
        Even as he pulled out his cell phone, Jack looked from Pacey to his sister, back to Pacey, and then again back to Andie. "Andie, see if you can get him out to the car. I'll put your things back in your apartment and lock it while I'm getting the hospital on the phone. I'll meet you downstairs, and we'll get him there. I have no idea what's happened, but I'm sure that it can be fixed."
        The entire time that Andie was leading Pacey into the elevator, she could stop thinking back to the spell. {Oh, Gods! How could I have been so stupid, so unbelievingly selfish?!} she cried silently. {Use your eyes only to look at me. That's what did it. It had to be. Gods! Gods! Gods! This is not happening!} Yet, the entire time, she knew that it was, and worst of all, she knew that it was entirely her fault.

Chapter Eight


        "We came as soon as we heard," a blonde sputtered out as two women burst through the door.
        "Do they know what happened yet?" her brunette companioned inquired.
        Jack shook his head. "They haven't got the first clue."
        The women's eyes turned to the medical bed to see Pacey sitting up. His head was turned toward them, but his eyes were unseeing. Andie sat beside him, holding his hand and stroking it reassuringly. Joey could only stare in horrid disbelief, but Jen managed to find her voice as they came closer. "How are you holding up, Pacey?"
        "I'm a man who's suddenly lost almost all his eyesight, but things could be worse." His head turned so that his eyes could gaze upon his beloved, and he managed a smile. "At least, I can still see the love of my life."
        Jen's and Joey's eyes widened as they looked from one to the other. "When did you two get back together?" Joey demanded.
        "A few nights ago," Andie answered, "but it's not important now." Pacey's cell rang, and Andie answered it. "Hello?"
        The phone crackled a bit as a familiar voice that she had not heard in years came over the line. "Andie, how is he?"
        "Dawson, how did you . . . ?" Andie asked. The identity of the caller clearly surprised but but Joey.
        "Joey called me when she and Jen were on their way to the hospital. Are they there yet?"
        "Yeah. They just got here."
        "How is he?"
        "He's holding up as well as can be expected, I guess . . . " Andie's voice trailed off as Pacey reached out a hand for the phone. "He wants to talk to you."
        Just as Andie handed the phone to Pacey, Jen's cold voice broke the room's momentary silence. "And I want to talk to you, Andie McPhee."
        Andie looked up as Pacey took the phone, their fingers brushing as he did so. Jen's eyes were filled with fury, and she was staring straight at her. Andie swallowed hard. Could it be? Could Jen know? Nonsense! What could Jen Lindley possibly know about the Craft? She stood and looked back to Pacey. "I'll be right back, love," she told him gently as she leaned over and brushed a soft kiss across his lips.
        "Hurry back," he requested. His eyes followed her as she left the room, he presumed, with Jen. Then, he held the phone to his ear and, trying but failing to sound cheerful, spoke into it, "Hey, Dawson!"
        Outside, in the hallway, Andie started to stop, but Jen snatched her hand and pulled her along with here. "Not here," she snapped, her eyes still blazing.
        "Jen, will you slow down and tell me what it is that you're so determined to talk to me about?" Andie pleaded.
        Jen shot her a colder glare than any Andie had ever witnessed her old friend give any one before. "You know damn well what it is," she hissed as she continued to pull her along.
        Andie quickly looked away. She knew. She had no ideal how Jen knew, but she knew. What was she going to tell her? Now that Jen knew, she'd tell the others. She had to stop her from doing that, but how could she possibly do so without killing her? {If only I had my Book of Shadows,} she thought. {I know there's a forgetting spell in there.} Then, a new thought struck her. {But I've already seen what my spell did to Pacey. How can I screw up Jen's life, too? If I don't, though, she'll screw up mine.} Even as they reached the bathroom and Jen all but swung Andie inside, Andie thought, {She's too late to do that. You already did it when you condemned Pacey.}
        Once inside the bathroom, Jen quickly moved the trash can against it, and then she whirled on Andie. Fury screamed from her eyes as she hissed out, "What did you do to him, Andie?! What were you thinking?! How could you do this to him?!"
        "Do what?" Andie replied, trying to appear innocent.
        "Don't give me that, McPhee. You're not innocent. I'm from New York! I know the kinds of things that really go down in the world, and I know about magic, both the good and the bad! Now what in the Hell did you do to him!?!"
        "I . . ." Andie paused. She couldn't admit to this. If she did, it was all over. Yet, already, she found herself exclaiming hurriedly, "I love him! I wasn't thinking straight! All I knew was that I had to get him back!"
        "You love him?" Jen repeated, her voice ice cold. "You love him?! Don't give me that bullshit, Andie McPhee! You don't take away the sight of some one you love!"
        "Do you think I knew it would do that?!" Andie cried. "If I had, I would never have done it!"
        "Then undo it. There's a way to cancel every spell ever made, Andie. Find it, and do it. Give him back his eyes!"
        The last few days had been so wonderful. They had been Heaven on Earth. He finally loved her again, and they were finally back together, just as they had always belonged. How could she possibly give all that up? "What if I don't? What will you do? Tell him? He'd never believe you!"
        "No," Jen said, shaking her head. "I won't tell him or any one else. I don't want to be locked up like you once had to be. But if you don't, Andie, all he will ever be able to see is you. He'll never get to see any of us again. He won't get to see his family or his friends or the town or his restaurant or the night sky! He won't even be able to walk without being in danger of being killed! He'll never be able to cook again! Is that really what you want? Do you really want him so damn bad that you'll condemn him for the rest of his miserable life just so you can have him and the pretense of love? 'Cause as long as he's under that spell, he's not thinking for himself. He's only doing, saying, and feeling what you've forced him to!"
        Jen's speech left Andie wordless. Tears beto sto spill from her eyes as she fell to her knees on the bathroom floor. "Oh, Gods!" she breathed shakily. "What have I done?"
        Jen stared coldly at her. "You know what you've done. The only question is: Are you going to let it continue?" She then turned her back on Andie and left without another word. Andie's sobs echoed through the bathroom even as Jen continued to walk away.

Chapter Nine


        "Andie?" Pacey asked hopefully, his head turning unseeing eyes toward the door as he heard it open and footsteps enter the room.
        "No, Pace," Jen's familiar voice answered. "It's just me."
        Instant concern that ran deeper than the deepest ocean clouded his handsome features. "Where's Andie?" he demanded.
        Under the watchful gazes of Jack and Joey, Jen shrugged. "She had to take a little longer in the bathroom . . . "
        Jack's brown eyes slanted. Something more was going on there than met the eye. His eyes met Jen's for a long moment, and she swallowed hard at the realization that he suspected something. "Jack, it's not . . . " she started to say, but he never gave her a chance to finish.
        "Joey, keep an eye on Pacey. Pacey, don't worrout out Andie. I'm going to go find her."
        "But, Jack," Joey started to protest, her deep brown eyes lifting up from Pacey's worried face only to find the room's door still swinging shut behind her friend. She looked questioningly at Jen, but the blonde merely shrugged.
        Jack hurried through the hallways, dodging past busy hospital staff and darting around patients and their loved ones. It was not long before he heard his sister's cries echoing from a bathroom. His head snapped up at the sound, and the instant reaction barely avoided him a glance at a nurse who was about to enter. "Miss," he called out to her, breaking into a swift jog as he did so, "please don't!"
        She looked up, the jerking motion of her head causing her long, black hair to fall in riplets of velvet around her slender shoulders. Her ocean blue eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the man hurrying toward her. Her bosoms grew taut as she recognized him. Her ruby red lips parted to speak just as he called out again.
        "That's my sister in there," he hurriedly explained upon reaching the nurse. "Her boyfriend's been injured, and we don't know if he'll ever regain his eyesight. Please let me talk to her," he paused, then continued with a quick glance at her name tag, "Ophelia."
        Ophelia's blue eyes looked from the man before her to the bathroom door and then back again to the man. "It's completely against regulations to allow a man into the ladies' bathroom, but for you, Jack . . ."
        "You know me?" he asked in surprise.
        She inclined her head in a slight nod. "We went to school together in Capeside, but I don't think you ever noticed me. I was the girl who used to sit two seats in front of you in Biology class, but your sister needs you now." She backed slowly away from the door, her eyes never leaving his. "You know, Jack, it's a true shame that a guy like you went gay," she whispered so that only he could hear before turning and walking away.
        For just a second, his eyes watched her long, slender legs stretching out below the short hem of her white skirt. He swallowed hard. That was Ophelia? When he had last seen her, she had been flat-chested with glasses, braces, and a horrid laugh, yet now she was almost enough to make a man doubt his sexual orientation.
        Jack shook his head, turned back to the bathroom door, pushed it open, and hurried in. His heart lept into his throat at the sight of his sister on her knees in the bathroom floor. Her face was buried in her hands, and her entire body shook violently with her painful sobs. "Oh, Andie," he breathed softly, instantly kneeling beside her and reaching out to her.
        "Jack?" Her head snapped up at the sound of her brother's worried voice. "What are you doing here?" Her blue eyes were haunted with a sadness and grief beyond anything he had ever seen in them before, and tears continued to stream endlessly down her stained cheeks.
        "Andie, you're my sister. You needed me. I came." He reached out to her again, but she scurried backwards.
        "You shouldn't have," she told him, shaking her head and causing strands of her messy blonde hair to slap at her cheeks.
        "What do you mean I shouldn't have?" Jack demanded. "You're my sister."
        "I'm also a bitch, Jack," she snapped, forcing herself to her feet and heading toward the sink. "Now just go away and leave me alone."
        "Andie," he again spoke her name as he, having returned to his feet at the same time as she had, "you're not a bitch. This isn't your fault!"
        "Yes, it is!" she hissed, unable to even meet the reflection of his extremely concerned eyes in the mirror.
        "Andie, you didn't make Pacey go blind. You didn't do this. What on Earth could ever make you think you had?"
        "I don't think it, Jack. I know I made him go blind. This is all my fault. Now just go away!" She couldn't tell him. She wanted to, but she couldn't. If she did, he would hate her just as much as Jen now did, but although she could live with Jen completely hating her for the rest of eternity, she could never live with Jack's hatred.
        "Andie, I am not going away." His voice was gentle but nonetheless firm as he slowly approached her. "I don't know what makes you so sure that you're responsible for Pacey's condition, but you're my sister. I care about you, and so does he. We both love you, and he needs you right now."
        "The last thing he needs is me."
        "No, Andie, the thing he needs the most is you, because you're the one he loves!"
        She was almost within his reaching distance when she whirled around on him, her crying eyes suddenly blazing with fury. "He doesn't love me! Not really! He only thinks he does, because I put a damn spell on him! I needed him so much, I wanted him so much, I loved him so much that I didn't even give a damn about his own free will! I made him a slave, Jack! A slave! I said that he should only use his eyes to look at me, and I don't know why the spell back-fired the way it did or why it took so long to happen! I just know that I'm the cause he's laying in that damn hospital! I am the reason he's blind!" The flurry of words had spilled forth from her tongue before she had been able to stop them, and now it was far too late to take them back. As fear once more tightened its icy fingers around her crying heart, she turned her back to him once again.
        Jack stared at his sister in shock. Andie had fallen into Witchcraft? His sister had put a spell on his friend to make him love her forever regardless? "Oh, Andie," he breathed softly, sympathy filling his heart, as he reached out to her and pulled her protesting body into his arms. No matter what she might do or not do, she would always be his sister, and he would always love her.
        Andie was just as shocked as her brother had been when she had told him what she had done when Jack suddenly pulled her into a tight, reassuring hug. "You don't hate me?" she asked in a meek voice.
        "Andie, you're my sister. I could never hate you."
        That reassurance was all she needed to finally collapse into her beloved brother's arms. She held tightly to him as he hugged her reassuringly. Her face buried into his shoulder, and her tears soon began to soak his shirt.
        Neither knew how long they stood there, but finally she pulled away just enough to look at him. Her head cocked slightly to one side as she studied him. There was so much she wanted to say, so much gratitude and love she wanted to express to her only still-living kin, but there were simply no words to express such deep feelings. Finally giving up, she simply whispered with a sad smile, "I love you, brother."
        He smiled, but his smile and eyes reflected her misery. "And I love you."
        "But what am I going to do?" she asked him, her smile completely disappearing as her thoughts returned to Pacey. "Pacey's not going to understand, and I don't know if I can live without him."
        "Andie, you're a strong woman -- the strongest I know --, but the question isn't rather or not you can live without him. The real question here is: Can you live with yourself if you don't reverse the spell and you never know whether he truly loves you or it's just the spell speaking?"
        She sighed, releasing a more miserable sound than any he had ever heard before. "You're right," she hesitantly admitted. Silence reigned except for their soft breathing as she thought. Finally, she spoke again, "I think I have an idea of how to reverse the spell, but what do I tell Pacey when I leave the hospital to go get what I need?"
        "You don't," Jack replied without hesitation. "Tell me what you need, and I'll go get it."

Chapter Ten


Non dovete giurare qualche cosa
Amilo soltanto se desiderate a
Ritengali verso me soltanto come scegliere a
Dobbiamo avere una storia con una conclusione allineare
Una conclusione che scegliete
Ora che ristabilisco la vostra libertà


        As the chanting continued, never ceasing, a hand reached out and dropped a lit match into a black bowl. The flame hit its target, and the picture of a smiling couple began to melt.

Vada o rimanga come scegliete
Ma non si dimentichi mai che ti amo
Soltanto le nostre due anime libere
Ci regolerà il corso per


        Lightning flashed outside her window, but she ignored it as she continued to work her spell. She sprinkled a mixture of herbs into a liquid that a goblet held and then stirred the mixture in a counter clockwise motion as she continued chanting.

Pacey Witter, li ho regolati liberi
Ristabilisco la vostra vista completa
Veda che cosa desiderate
Tatto che cosa desiderate
Risata o cry come scegliete a
Segua appena le vostre proprie decisioni
E sia il vostro proprio uomo libero


        As the liquid slowly settled, she picked up her athame and the rope that had began it all. Her slightly trembling hands held both over the sleeping figure in the hospital bed, and her blade sliced through the rope's center. The rope glowed, and then two halves dropped apart. They fell on the sleeping figure and she continued, still chanting in a hushed whisper:

L'OH non può voi vedere
Eravate sempre
Sarete sempre
L'un amore allineare della mia vita
Ma ancora li ho regolati liberi


        Her slim fingers wrapped around the smooth glass of the goblet, and she lifted it. Her lips continued to move without stopping even as she pressed the goblet to the sleeping man's lips.

Pacey Witter, li ho regolati liberi
Ristabilisco la vostra vista completa
Veda che cosa desiderate
Tatto che cosa desiderate
Risata o cry come scegliete a
Segua appena le vostre proprie decisioni
E sia il vostro proprio uomo libero
Condannato a nessuno ma ai vostri propri che sono
Uno schiavo nessuno ma le vostre proprie decisioni al
Li ho regolati liberi. . . ora!


        As she finished the chant, the potion fell into the man's mouth. She poured it slowly and carefully so as to not choke him, hoping the entire time that he would not awake yet never stopping to be afraid that his eyes might open at any second. Thunder roared its anguished fury outside, and lightning flashed again, illuminating the dark room as a hand suddenly closed around her wrist. "Andie," his voice croaked out, "what are you doing?"
        "Oh, Pacey," she breathed softly, her heart trembling at the thought of what it knew was about to happen, "I hoped you wouldn't wake up."
        "I've been conscious for a little while now. What did you do?" he again demanded.
        "Look around you," she whispered softly, her lips trembling.
        His eyes left her face to quickly scan the room, and he saw that bits and pieces of the dark room seemed less dark than other areas. His eyes fixed on the window across the room in shock as he witnessed another bolt of lightning. He could actually see! "Andie, what . . . ?" He tried to speak, but at first, not coherent thought could leave his lips. Finally, however, he managed to demand for a third time, "What have you done, McPhee?"
        A single tear slipped from her left eye, and then, she forced herself to begin to explain. "It was me, Pacey. I'm the reason why you went blind. I'm what caused you to lose the use of your eyes except for being able to see me. I don't blame you at all if you hate me, Pacey, but please let me at least try to explain. I was desperate. I've never once stopped loving you. I know I've screwed up again, and I know it's not the first time, but I promise that if you will just give me one more chance, I won't screw it up again. I was desperate. I had nothing else to try. I was desperate," she nearly whimpered.
        "McPhee," he said, more harshly than he'd intended, "you're starting to babble. What did you do?"


To Be Continued . . .