Witchling (Chronicles of Witchood) (14 page)

Chapter 14

I woke up in a large bed, a soft pillow under my head. Thin white blankets covered my body and I found myself in a slim silk nightgown. Who changed my clothes? How long have I been asleep? The pain that was once in my chest was a small throb in my sternum. My eyes darted from left to right. I was still at Ethan and Aiden’s house, the window slightly ajar to let in the last of the cool summer air. It was dark outside, the sun completely replaced by third quarter moon.

I sat up and my head spun momentarily. I waited for it to pass and only then did I dare slip out of bed.

I walked out into the hallway and into the living room, where I found it empty. In fact, the house seemed empty. I leaned against the wall as my stomach grumbled. It felt like a lifetime ago since I ate anything.

“Amy,” a soft familiar voice called out to me. I turned around and was surprised to find Karen. But she looked different. Her eyes were glazed and milky, and she stared at me, her expression entranced.
My face dropped at the sight of her.

“Karen?” I said with wariness. Although she looked like my best friend, she wasn’t. But the girl in front of me did not carry the same
shape shifting vibe as the Hunters and Double Walker. She felt human, except for her plain expression and strange eyes.

I backed away as Karen took a step closer. I noticed a pendant hanging from her neck, a large black stone that swirled with a galaxy of
colors. It was not evil, I sensed that much from it, despite it being the source of Karen’s current state.

“Amy!” Luke called to me, his voice fi
lled with glee. I turned around and found him standing under the archway. He looked different, grown at least two inches while I was asleep. It made me wonder how long I’ve been asleep.

“You were out for so long,” my brother hugged me
with so much tenderness that it surprised me. “I thought you weren’t going make it.”

“Yeah, well, I’m fine now, and what’s wrong with Karen?”

“Ethan’s spell bound her. She doesn’t remember anything once she gets out of the forest. He’s been picking her up from school every day to bring her here.”

“What? Why?”

Ethan appeared in the archway a second after I asked the question, and he answered it, with his usual smirk and glint of slyness in his wonderfully blue eyes.
“To get you naked, of course.” He laughed at my confused horrified expression. “Amelia, you were a sleeping beauty in a house full of males, would you rather if I changed your clothes for you? Or wipe your sweat off with a wet cloth? Someone had to do it. Aiden and your brother voted Karen.”

I blinked. Ethan did have a point and the thought of him stripping me down until there was nothing left sent a shivering chil
l down my spine. The way Ethan continued to hold his grin didn’t help alleviate the embarrassing thought.  “But why the stone? Why put a spell on her?”

“Too many people already know about this house.”

I could see that
too many
meant me and Luke.

“I know it doesn’t seem like much,” Ethan continued as if he read my mind, “but the magic that keeps this place hidden has already reached it maximum number of occupants. Oh, don’t give me that look Amelia, you can tell her all you want later, when you learn how to be a proper witch and not die next week.”

“The blood moon is next week,” Luke explained. “We’ve been preparing for it.”

“We?” I gave my brother a questioning look.

“Yes,” answered Ethan in his place. “You’re going to die, Luke here volunteered to help keep you alive.”

“Where’s Aiden?”

Ethan sighed. “It’s always about him, isn’t it? He in the kitchen brewing up bombs, last I checked.” Ethan then turned to Luke. “Since your sister is now awake, I suppose you’d want to skip out on today’s hunting.”

I interjected before Luke could give his reply.  “Hunting?
You've been taking him out to hunt those things?”

“Why not? He’s
fourteen, almost fifteen, I was about his age when I first staked my first Double Walker, actually, younger. Alright, it was a Nightcrawler, but they’re almost the same, except one is uglier than the other in its true form. Oh, come off it, Amelia, too many frowns brings on early wrinkles. He’s perfectly safe with me.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head with disbelief. Luke touched my shoulder. I had almost forgotten about Karen, who stood behind us, eyes glazed and looking
like a fresh zombie. Ethan waved his hand for her to follow and my best friend walked towards him.

“What
are you doing?”

“She’s no use to us, now that you’re awake.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Always the pessimist,” Ethan sighed, “it means I’m taking her home.”

Just as Ethan had finished speaking, Aiden appeared beneath the archway. His skin glowed under the warm electric lights and his face covered with relief. I sensed that he wanted to hug me, but retrained himself in the presence of my brother and his own. Ethan would have made a spectacle out of it if Aiden had thrown his arms around me.

“You’re awake,” said Aiden.

“Yes, genius, and still alive,” said Ethan. “Come Karen, we’re unwanted here.”

Luke shuffled after him, his discomfort obvious in the way he trailed after Ethan. I wondered if something had happened while I was asleep. A little
color dared paint Aiden’s face.

“Did something happen?” I asked.

Luke didn’t answer and left. Aiden’s face became guarded as he shook his head.

I could have pressed on but didn’t have the mental
strength for it. I heard the sound of the mustang come to life outside and listened to it as it disappeared down the road towards the highway.

“You must be hungry,” said Aiden, “I’ll make you something to eat.”

The kitchen was covered with little bottles, pots that brewed concoctions and blades. These must be the bombs Ethan mentioned. It looked as if they were preparing for some sort of battle. The green house door was open and many of the plants inside was cut to the base, its fruits picked and there wasn’t a flower left in sight.

“How long was I
asleep?”

“Two weeks.”

I walked over to the counter while Aiden rummaged in the fridge.

“So, for the past two weeks, Luke has been here, making potions with you and Ethan.”

Aiden closed the fridge. “I did try to stop him but he had my brother on his side. You are his sister and he means to keep you safe.”

“So it’s really going to happen? I’m really going to die?”

What was it that Ethan had said? Next week is the blood moon, what does that even mean? I guess Luke was already informed and didn’t want to be the one to tell me. That must be why he left with Ethan. Aiden took out a clean pot and put some water in it to boil.

“That’s what we’re trying to prevent.”

“Do you know who and why?”

“Not yet,” Aiden lowered his face with guilt, as he if had failed me somehow
.

“Ethan mentioned a blood moon,” I started and waited for Aiden to explain. But he remained silent, his back turned towards me as he pretended to be busy over a pot of water. “Aiden,” I called out his name.

“Yes, the blood moon,” he said after some time. “I’m sorry Amelia, I thought I nearly lost you, I thought I had killed you.”

“I’m destined to die next week, this is no time for guilt, Aiden.
And what about my parents? Surely, you’ve found something out by now.”

Aiden shook his head. “We haven’t found any traces of them yet, we think…” Aiden’s voice
faltered. I narrowed my eyes and inhaled deeply.

“Are they still alive?” I dared asked.

“Most likely, yes.”

“Most likely?”

Aiden hesitated to tell me but there was no hiding it. If I didn’t find out what I wanted to know from him, he knew that I would pester Luke for the answer. I sensed that Ethan had already told him everything, with and without Aiden’s permission. I never quite understood why Ethan needed Aiden’s approval to tell me things, but he found a loophole through Luke. I knew these things without knowing how I knew them. Perhaps this was part of my powers.

“We think the Hunters are keeping them alive to lure you out,” said Aiden.

“Alright,” I said slowly. It made sense. I was hidden and protected as long as I stayed inside the house. My parents are hostages. Perhaps I will die for a noble cause after all. My thoughts must have played out on my face as Aiden frowned at the sight of me.

“No,” he said
forcibly. “You will live past the blood moon.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to sacrifice myself for nothing. That’s just silly and I do want to live, so you have that going for you. Where is that grimoire by the way?”

“Luke left it in your bedside drawer.”

I paused.
If that grimoire was meant to be for me, to be the thing that guided me as a witch, then perhaps there was something inside that would help me live and survive my destined death.

~

The grimoire revealed very little of what I wanted to know. The writing was incredibly hard to read and it was impossible to let Aiden, Ethan and Luke help me. The magic that protected the book will not allow anyone else but me to decode it. As I became accustomed to the spidery handwriting, it was slightly easier to read, but it still did not have anything that could be used to save myself from the fires that came at the end of every nightmare I had.

A knock came at the door.

“Come in, it’s open.”

Luke pushed the door with his foot as he came in with a tray of food. Two weeks with Ethan had changed him and I thought Luke seemed more confident in
the way he held himself, or perhaps it had something to do with hunting Hunters and Double Walkers. He was not afraid and if he was, Ethan certainly taught him how to hide it well. I thought it was funny that two weeks ago, Luke was convinced that the brothers were devils incarnated. Now he dotes on Ethan like the perfect older brother.

“Aiden and Ethan are out,” he informed me. “They’
ve gone hunting, so it’s just me and you.”

“What happened while I was asleep?”

“Nothing much. I learnt how to spot Hunters and Double Walkers. Ethan taught me how to use a gun.”

“He did what?”

“I have to know how to protect myself. You’ve got your magic. I’ve got my silver bullets and yew flower bombs. Ethan’s taking me on as his apprentice.”

I blinked. I did miss
out on quite a lot and felt a tinge of jealousy. Luke had Ethan as his trainer and what do I have? A book that isn’t that useful. All that I managed to read so far were recipes for healing potions and a spell for purifying water. With only one week left, I didn’t know how this knowledge would benefit me.

“Have you found anything out about mom and dad?”

Luke shook his head and his face turned grave. He was expecting the worse and I saw that I just stabbed my fingers into his wounds. “Nothing yet,” he replied. “Except Ethan thinks that they’re being kept a Hunter’s lair. We’ve been trying to figure out where it is when you were asleep.”

“We’ll find them,” I told him, “and if we don’t, you and Ethan can use me as bait.”

“What? No. I’m not losing you, Amy, I nearly lost you once.”

Then an idea occurred to me, an idea that I knew Aiden would never approve but Ethan would be crazy enough to give it a go.

“What is it?” said Ethan. He leaned against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest.
He sudden appearance startled me. His face was serious and his eyes dark under the electric light. Neither Luke nor I noticed his return to the house.

“I thought you and Aiden were going hunting.”

“We were but I forgot one of my guns. Tell me, what’s your plan? I can see that you’ve got one. You’re not very good at hiding your thoughts.”

“
Use me as bait,” I said. Luke stared at me with horror and confusion.

“Aiden won’t allow it.”

“But you will.”

“Convince me.”
   

“I should have died two weeks ago but I didn’t. It wasn’t my time to go, even the spirits on the
other side knew it. They wouldn’t let me die. There is only a week left and I want my parents safe before I have to properly face my death.”

“
You’re crazy,” said Ethan after some time. “I’m going to hunt some Hunters. Luke, keep an eye on your sister and don’t let her do anything stupid.”

Ethan left and Luke stared at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Perhaps I have, but it was worth a try.

~

There was one thing the brothers hadn’t really explained to me and that was this thing about the blood moon. What did it mean? Why is it called the blood moon? What was so special about it? Luke didn’t know its significance either and did not think to ask about it. It was as if his attention had been directed away and my brother only concerned himself with making potions to kill Hunters and Double Walkers.