KISS THE WITCH

Author's notes: This book is based entirely
on fiction and its story line derived solely from the imagination
of its author. No characters, places or incidents in this book are
real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places,
events or locales is entirely coincidental. This ebook is licensed
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the hard work of this author.

Books in this series include:

THE WITCH’S LADDER

EYE OF THE WITCH

THE WITCH’S KEY

BONES OF A WITCH

WITCH HOUSE

KISS THE WITCH

Other titles by Dana E. Donovan:

ABANDONED

SKINNY

RESURRECTION

DEATH AND OTHER LITTLE INCONVENIENCES

ebook editions available on
Smashwords.com

I don’t know what woke me. The shrill screams
and subsequent crash I heard out in the living room didn’t do it.
That came later. The clock on the nightstand read 7:29. I sat up in
bed and rallied my thoughts. Across the room, brittle shards of
sunlight cut through the blinds in vertical strips, casting prison
bar shadows upon the wall. I squinted and refocused until my eyes
adjusted to my surroundings. My head hurt from the wine I drank the
night before, but not too badly. I find my body tolerates liquor
better since my return to prime. I have greater stamina, too. You
can ask Lilith. Though I suspect she would debate you on that just
for the sake of argument.

I threw the covers back and swung my feet
out of bed. They hit the floor just as the clock alarm went off. I
swatted it without looking, triggering the radio. The news anchor
was reporting on a stalled vehicle backing up westbound traffic on
the Jefferson Street Bridge.

“
And in other news,” he
continued, “Lexington is open again to both lanes of traffic after
a train vs. automobile accident last night at the crossing resulted
in one fatality. Authorities said the driver––”

That’s when the shrill screams and loud
crash shook me from the bed. I ran out into the living room wearing
only my boxers. I don’t know what I expected to find. I only know I
should not have been surprised. I saw Ursula standing over the
bookcase. It had fallen over, books and knick-knacks spewed
everywhere. The television set and the stereo equipment lay
shattered on the floor beneath it. She splayed her fingers over her
mouth, her eyes like two spoons, looking like she just witnessed a
natural disaster. In a way, I guess she had. If you consider
witchcraft natural. I looked at Lilith. She appeared more perplexed
than alarmed.

“
What happened here?” I
asked, gesturing a sweep of my hand to encompass the fallout.
“That’s my stereo. My goddamn TV!”

Lilith tiptoed over the broken glass to pat
Ursula on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, hon,” she said. “It was all
old stuff. No harm done.”

“
No harm done? Lilith….” I
stepped toward the Blue Ray that I purchased only the week before
and caught a thin sliver of glass in my big toe. I let out a cry to
wake the dead, volleyed a few classic cuss words at no one in
particular and then hopped to catch a seat on the
ottoman.

“
Damn it, Lilith.” I
cradled my foot upon my knee and pulled the glass from my toe. “I
just bought that thing last week. And the TV isn’t even a year
old.”

“
Pah-leeese,” she said,
scowling as if I had just peed on her shoes. “I know you’ve had
your eyes on that 57 inch flat screen down at Big Bob’s. Ursula did
you a favor.”

“
Ha. Some favor. Remind me
not to let you catch me eyeing a new car anytime soon.”

“
Right, like you can
afford a new car on your salary.” She pointed at my crotch. “And
put your foot down. Your boys look like they’re ready to roll right
on out of there.”

I looked down at my shorts and then at
Ursula in time to see her eyes snap to a spot in the room less
interesting. “Fine,” I said, “then you can get me a towel.”

“
Oh, think not of it,
sister,” said Ursula, holding her finger to the air. “Allow me, for
`tis my regrets I bear surely.” She hurried to the kitchen and
returned with a dishtowel wrung of cold water. “Thou hast naught
but to forgive me and I shall ner again disappoint thee,” she said
to me.

I took the towel. “You don’t disappoint me,
Ursula. I know you mean well. It’s just that….” I threw my glance
toward Lilith. “There has to be another place where you can
practice witchcraft without tearing the house apart.”

“
Yeah,” Lilith answered.
“Where? Chucky Cheese? You know we can’t go back there again. Not
after…you know.” She winced uneasily, as is recalling that
unfortunate incident that barred us from that establishment forever
and nearly got us arrested. I dismissed her comment with a
headshake.

“
Forget it,” I said. “And
I’ll thank you never to bring that subject up again.”

My toe stopped bleeding. I wrapped the towel
around my foot and hobbled to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. I
came back into the living room a few minutes later, surprised to
see that Lilith and Ursula had already picked up the bookcase and
most of the spilled electronics. Curiosity now got the better of
me.

“
What were you two doing
anyway?” I asked.

“
Same thing you should be
doing,” said Lilith, scolding me, I think. “Practicing a
spell.”

I let her snippety attitude go unchallenged.
“Figured that much. What kind of spell?”

“
`Twas a zip ball,” Ursula
answered. “I tell you on my word, I spun it left, but it zipped
right.”

“
A zip ball?”

“
Aye, `tis
all.”

“
What’s that?”

Lilith came back, “A zip ball is basic
energy control, level-one witchcraft at best. You should know how
to do it by now.”

I admit that intrigued me.
“Okay. How `bout you show me?” Lilith gestured toward Ursula,
offering her another try at it. I shut her down on the spot. “Oh,
no.” I wagged my finger at her. “Lilith.
You
show me.”

She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair
back over her shoulder. “Fine,” she said, as if what I asked was a
bother. I knew it was not. Truth is she loves showing off her
stuff. Can’t say I blame her. There is not another witch in the
world that can do what she does. Probably never was. Of course, I
would never tell her that. It would only swell her already inflated
ego.

I put my coffee down and coaxed Ursula back
a few steps with me. I wanted to give Lilith some room, which is
always a good idea when she messes with energy spells. I will spare
you the details of how she electrocuted all the fish in the fish
tank last year. Suffice to say it was not pretty, though the
neighborhood cats ate well that night.

Lilith hiked her sleeves up and adjusted her
stance, spreading her legs and bending them slightly. I took that
to mean she was getting ready to run if anything went wrong.
Definitely not a big confidence booster. I pressed Ursula’s arm and
together we backed up a tad more. Lilith saw that and smiled. She
wiped her hands on her pant legs. I assumed to assure they were
free of perspiration. Moisture aids in electro conductivity, you
know. Just ask the aforementioned fish. I found myself doing the
same, wiping my hands on the back of my boxers. This, too, made her
smile. I wondered then how much of her preparation was solely for
theatrical purposes. She can be such a ham. Ursula likes it,
though, and unusually claps upon the successful execution of
Lilith’s spells. That, too, only serves to encourage her more.

Lilith continued, presenting her right hand,
holding it out steady as if balancing an egg in the center of her
palm. She set her focus on it. “This takes some concentration,” she
said, her eyes keenly narrowed.

“
Of course,” I
answered.

I feathered back another measured step.
Ursula did me one better. She retreated to the doorway between the
kitchen and living room, perhaps sensing potential for another
serious mishap. I thought of joining her, when Lilith turned to me
and said, “Too late. I got it now.”

I hate when she does that. Makes me think I
do not have a private thought in my head.

With a gentle puff, as if blowing out a
candle, Lilith produced a small blue sphere of energy right there
in the palm of her hand. It hovered silently, this mysterious globe
no larger than a baseball. I could see into it, but not through it,
its milky white center seemingly absorbing light rather than
emitting it.

Lilith leaned into the sphere and blew on it
again. It began a slow rotation clockwise. She blew once more and
the rotation quickened. After that, she was able to keep it moving
by brushing it the way Spinelli brushed a basketball to spin it on
his fingertip. Before long, the little blue orb was spinning so
quickly it needed no help from Lilith at all. She was able to walk
about the room with the ball spinning freely in the palm of her
hand.

“
Impressive, Lilith,” I
said. “Now what?”

She shrugged. “Now I can do whatever I want.
I can throw it at someone.” She gestured as though she might pitch
it at me. I flinched only slightly. “I can toss it at any
electronic device. Short it out completely. It doesn’t matter. The
point is that it’s basic energy control, and as a witch you should
know how to do it, too.”

I smiled with a silliness I had not felt
since grade school. “You think I can?”

“
Sure. Want to
try?”

“
Yeah?”

She turned around and threw the zip ball
across the room. It hit the wall, splattering upon impact like a
water balloon, sending a frenzy of electric blue spider webs
scattering outward and dissipating into the corners. Ursula
clapped. I did not, though I wanted to.

Lilith came to me, offered her hand and led
me to the center of the room. She had me stand on the exact spot
where only moments earlier she stood. There, the residue energy
still lingered. I could feel it tingling in my toes.

“
Here.” Standing behind
me, she placed her hands on my hips and guided me into position.
“The energy is still very strong here. You feel it?”

“
I do,” I said. “It
tickles.”

“
Yeah?” She laughed
lightly. “Well, screw this up and it will do more than
tickle.”

“
What does that
mean?”

She let it ride. I did the same, though
admittedly I no longer felt all that comfortable doing it. I looked
over at Ursula, who seemed positively giddy. Kudos to her I
thought. Her child-like enthusiasm was the only thing keeping me
from backing out. If she could do it and not die trying, then I
could, too––I supposed.

Lilith turned me toward the wall, directing
me to place my hand out in front of me, turning my wrist so that my
palm faced the ceiling. She propped up my elbow to straighten the
bend, pulled back on my shoulders and patted me on the butt. That
last part I guessed was more for good luck than good form.

“
Ok,” she said. “It’s in
you. I know it. You just need to reach deep down and find
it.”

“
Find what?”

“
It, Tony, it. For crying
out loud. You are the reluctant witch, aren’t you?”

“
I’m not reluctant. You
see me trying, don’t you?”

“
Then concentrate.” She
pressed her fingers to my cheek to steer my face forward. “Look at
the ball.”

“
It’s not there
yet.”

“
It is. You’re just not
seeing it yet. Now focus. Bring it in. When you start to feel it,
blow. That will bring it to light.”

She no sooner said that when I began to feel
something twitching in my hand. It had no weight that I could tell,
but it did excite the nerve receptors under my skin like a mosquito
attempting to land. “I feel it,” I said. “It’s there.”