Darkness permeated her range of vision until she saw the dying embers of a recently lit incantation circle at the far corner of the room and she went over to it—bringing her own magic into play to reignite the dissipating spell.
There was no window in this study room which was a blessing for her. She did not want to tip off her presence to the outside world that she had made it into the Guild by herself with no backup.
At this point, Alicia was certain she was the last one in Lower Tam whom still had some magical ability. She could not confirm for certain that anyone else in her circle had been eliminated through force and extreme prejudice.
The last couple of weeks had been hell enough as it is. Not since her husband was killed in the riots that had engulfed the East Side of Duckworth.
The spell circle was a pleasant reminder of things to come and of the moments lost through time and space. But it was also a rejuvenation circle too, so she bathed in its healing light as it wiped out every bit of aches and pains in her body.
Even the cramps in her legs and the pain in her feet were wiped clean. And she felt refreshed and energized and ready to go.
At that second, she heard loud banging on the front door and she froze in that instant and extinguished the incantation circle with a wave of her hands.
The banging continued and the woman thought she had been found out…somehow.
But that made no damned sense since the patrols were easily fooled by her spells.
But she didn’t feel like a fool, so she exited the study room quietly and went to the front doors and didn’t say anything until she heard the tell tale noise of a magical incantation being used to unlock the doors. And only other witches or sorcerers could do that.
Not a normal human being. And for an instant, Alicia thought of her only daughter and believed that somehow she had managed to follow her all the way to this part of Lower Tam.
So she pressed herself up against the wall in anticipation of a possible confrontation with the would be intruder and waited until they stepped inside the Witch’s Guild and closed the door behind them.
Alicia wasted no time tackling the person to the floor and getting them into a professional headlock. Unknown to the human world, magical kinsfolk had to be taught hand to hand combat and other forms of martial arts because of the all too real possibility that their magical auras would be cancelled out by the advancement of technologies in the past one hundred years—leaving them defenseless and easily killed or taken advantage of.
And while the rumors abound were of possible magical restraint barriers and such being developed by the Regency Council in years past, nobody felt like letting their guard down.
Alicia and her husband underwent similar training and so had their only daughter from the age of eight and up. (Of course, she was still being trained, but since she was in between semesters at the moment, that was put on temporary hold until after spring break.)
Back to her immediate problem, Alicia fought with the visitor in question, finding the person to be a bit more stronger and agile than she was—because she had managed to break the hold that she was in—while bringing up her magic incantations all at the same time.
Glyphs of a different nature rotated and buzzed in the night as both would be combatants sized each other up and the other person said—with surprise: “Alicia? Alicia Gunderson? Is that…you?”
Alicia didn’t say anything at that second because she was ready to do battle with her intended opponent. But hearing that voice made her pause for a moment.
“S-Sarah?” She echoed hesitantly.
The other person pulled back her cowl in confirmation.
Alicia’s previously tight composure shattered as her face betrayed both surprise and astonishment at the sight of one of her closest and dearest friends in the Witch’s Guild.
“Thank the stars that you’re all right!” She said in a rush of emotion—hugging her friend with all her might and laughing with joy at the same time.
“I thought I was the only one left!”
“Same here,” her friend said in a low voice. “When I heard that the other Witch’s Guilds in Boston and Trenton, New Jersey were bombed out of existence—I thought the Regency Council would do the same to the one here in Lower Tam.”
Alicia stepped back for a moment to collect herself, giddy with emotion and feeling and anxiety—plus nerves.
“So who was it that sent the distress signal? The High Sorcerer?”
“I don’t know.” Sarah said quietly. “I got the same signal six hours later. I was in Albany at the time—dealing with a situation. I barely made it here under the cover of darkness.”
“Did you know anyone else who made it?” Millie? Ashley? Jordan? Kylie? Natasha? Hallie? Amber?”
Sarah didn’t know anything that would help settle her friend’s nerves.
“I’m sorry, Alicia. I don’t know. Seeing you here has given me hope, but I fear most of the High Witches may have already met their end.”
“That’s impossible,” the other woman scoffed. “The High Witches could never be killed by anyone or anything. That’s why the High Sorcerer prized our services so.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, dear. We may be the only ones who are left.”
“In the whole entire Tri-State area?” Alicia countered angrily. “That’s…inconceivable by any means.”
“Normally, I would agree. But this is the Regency Council we are talking about. And their Third Watch armies.”
“Maybe we should activate our trump card. The Karnes Stratagem.”
“From what I know of our numbers, there’s not enough recruits to go around. The moment the riots started two weeks ago—first on the East Coast and then inwards—most magical kinsfolk went into hiding; helped by the Resistance and the Underground.”
“Well, we can’t just give up—even if there are only two of us left in the coven.”
“Well, we can’t do anything without the High Sorcerer to guide us. Only he knows what it is going on. And he’s only been in intermittent contact for the past several months now—through encrypted messenger glyphs.” Sarah told her.
“When was the last time you got a message from him? In person?”
“Five…maybe six years ago. Through one of our auxiliary branches in Nassau. I didn’t almost recognize him because he was being accompanied by some of his most trusted aides. But the moment my eyes fell on him, I knew he was one of us.” Sarah said in a quiet voice. “That’s when he passed me a personal message of thanks for my service as a High Witch.”
Alicia was a bit jealous of her friend’s good fortune.
“Lucky…” she breathed in slight irritation. “I haven’t met him yet, so I wouldn’t know what he looks like.”
“Well, he’s an old fellow. Seventy-ish at least. But very strong and firm in his ways. Rumors were that he used to be a soldier during the Pre-War days—before the Magical Imperious took effect.”
Alicia shivered a bit at the memory. “I remember my mother and grandmother telling me about that doctrine. It was very bad for all magical kinsfolk everywhere.”
“I know. Some say, it led to the creation of the Regency Council and eventually the Office of the Supreme Chancellor.”
“Which led to this horrible time,” her friend grumbled. “But I need to get back home and console my daughter. She must be terrified by now—considering what’s happened to the city and Lower Tam.”
“I thought you guys were living on the west side of Old Brooklyn?”
“We are. But the upper West Side isn’t that far away from us. And from what I’ve seen…it’s become a hellish war zone. A lot of people have been killed. Not just magical familiars.”
“Bet the people will love that.” Sarah muttered in heavy sarcasm.
Alicia smiled grimly. “Oh, I’m sure the Regency Council has a story concocted all ready to go. Dollars to doughnuts, they’ll pin the blame on people like us and that will turn public opinion against magical kinsfolk everywhere�
��whom haven’t suffered at the hands of humankind.”
Her friend nodded numbly. “Not a fate I would wish on anyone.” She said. “But humanity has every right to blame us for what happened during the last Great War.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. They were asking for it. Instead trying to co-exist. They wanted a world free of our kind and they thought that mass genocide of an entire island enclave was the way to go.”
“Fifty million dead. Five million of those poor unfortunate souls were magical kinsfolk. An even smaller number were magical familiars pressed into service to fight alongside their kind as a last resort.”
“A tragedy to be sure.” Alicia said, before a sudden noise startled them both, before fading away.
“We’d better not linger.” Sarah said with swift urgency. “This place isn’t safe by any stretch. I heard rumors that the head commander of the Third Watch armies was going to start targeting buildings or institutions held by all magical kinsfolk and raze them to the ground. To rid humanity of its most vexing problems to date.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” the other woman said—going to the door and opening it ever so slightly. Nothing greeted them by a moonlit parking lot, scattered debris and trash blown in from all over and the usual collection of abandoned ground cars.
“I don’t suppose you drove here, right?” Alicia queried as an afterthought.
“My car’s in the Old Lincoln Tunnel. On the other side of the Hudson River. The place had been bombed out by a strafing run right after sunset four hours ago.”
“So all the exits on and off the main island have been blocked, barricaded in, or sealed shut—or some cases, bombed?”
“That’s about right. Seventeen million people are now trapped in Lower Tam and four million in the Upper West Side—including the Bronx.”
“Why doesn’t the Regency Council just let them go?”
“Because Old New York has one of the heaviest population demographics for magical kinsfolk. That, Boston, Newark, Trenton, Atlantic City, Portland Maine…I don’t think I need to go on, Alicia.”
“So we’re basically fucked—is that what you’re saying?”
Sarah nodded.
“Yep.”
“Happy days,” her friend remarked sourly. “Okay, so since traveling by car is out of the question…how we do we get back to my place?”
Sarah shrugged. “If you think you’re walking back, you’re out of your mind. The area has more patrols on the ground than you can imagine. At least 85,000 soldiers of the Third Watch Army are in the city. I saw more coming in from a massive staging area across the river.”
“So what you’re saying is that the odds aren’t in our favor for survival?”
“Pretty much.”
Alicia contemplated her immediate options. What she revealed pretty much made sense. They wouldn’t make it back the way they came. It would be suicide.
So they had to try another route instead.
Somewhere close. Somewhere familiar.
Then it hit her.
“Hold the phone…” she breathed in frank embarrassment—stepping away and closing the door and then locking it.
“What are you doing?” Sarah asked—concern tinged with alarm. “We need to leave!”
“Yes, I know. But we can’t go out the way we came in. We would be spotted in no time. And I don’t have any more rats in my back pocket from which to distract every patrol we might come across.”
“So what’s the plan?” Sarah wanted to know—letting her friend take the lead.
“In the old Pre-War days, most buildings in this area where constructed with tunnels and fallout shelters in mind. Just in case some idiot decided to launch a payload of nukes.”
“Following you so far…” Her friend optioned then. “How does that help us?”
“This building was constructed over a large network of tunnels and a plethora of fallout shelters. Enough to house a million poor unfortunate souls.”
“Okay. And—?”
“I think the Witch’s Guild’s network connects to some of the older tunnels on the east side the city.”
“But from what I remember, most of those have fallen into disrepair and were sealed off in some cases…” Sarah went on, becoming more unhappy by the minute.
“Yes, but the main branch should be unaffected. We can follow that all the way to the end and hopefully find a connecting line. Then we can pop up within a half mile of my residence.”
“All this…to get home?”
“My daughter is all alone, Sarah. I can’t just abandon her in this nightmarish mess.” Alicia said stubbornly. “No more than you would with either Keith or Brandon.”
Her friend nodded.
“Point taken. Lead the way.”
Alicia nodded. “It’s down in the sub-basement level of the Witch’s Guild. Three floors down. Then an emergency exit and finally a utility room where all the machinery spaces are located at. Two doors. One is an entrance to the service tunnel that I spoke about. The other is a dead end which leads outside of the building and into an adjoining parking lot—for visitors.”
“Nope. Don’t want to go there.”
Alicia smiled. “Then let’s go. Follow me.” She said, leading the way to the first stairwell down into the guts of the building itself.
Fortunately for them, the pathway was clear of any debris or anything else which would have served to impede their progress.
Alicia cast a light spell that would help illuminate their way down.
“Can’t tell you how creepy this is at the odd hours of the night.”
“Don’t worry. This place is locked down like Old Fort Knox. No humans can come in uninvited. So we’re perfectly safe.”
Sarah chuckled as she fell behind her friend.
“You hope.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Crashing the Party
Even though he wasn’t quite of age, Charlie took a drag from his lit joint—before handing it back to his other accompanying lookout, Todd Benson. At least, his older friend had a name.
Todd smiled silently before accepting his outstretched gift and did the same a few moments later.
“Man…what a day. What a night.” He muttered mostly to himself. “Any chance you can introduce me to your new friend before the night is over? I hear she‘s quite the looker.”
“Push off, man. You’re much too old to be hitting on teenage girls.” Charlie said in defense of Tillie. “Besides, I thought you and Angela were still an item from way back when?”
“Fucking bitch broke up with me,” his companion answered bitterly. “Over an old coffee can full of mementos.”
Charlie whistled with heartfelt sympathy, while he watched him take another hit off the joint. Then he handed it back to the younger teen who held it at arm’s length for a moment, flicking off a couple ashes off the rooftop of the long abandoned bookstore.
“Man, that sucks.” he openly consoled.
“How about you?” Todd wanted to know, changing the subject.
Charlie shook his head wantonly. “Too busy with life to be hooking up with girls at this point. Even the cute ones like our new arrival.”
Todd Benson nodded just the same. Then he said, “Rumor has it she’s a witch.”
“Where’d you hear that?” Charlie asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
“Tate told me.”
“But Tate is working security at the hotel. How did you—?”
“Paid him a month’s sum for the information. I was curious about her. So he told me. Though he couldn’t confirm the story. Said I had to use my imagination.”
Charlie laughed somewhat. “Well, she is. That’s no rumor. I saw it with my very own eyes when I rescued her yesterday evening.”
“Damn. They just keep getting younger and younger with each passing year. I thought the ones in their mid-twenties was young. I just never heard of one in their teens. Isn’t that considered a bit rare?”
The other b
oy shrugged.
“As far as I know. Though I don’t follow the news much these days. Not with the Supreme Chancellor in control of things. Finally.”
“What do you mean…finally?”
Another shrug.
“I dunno. I just think the country could use a little stiff discipline and order. Things have gotten a bit lax since the Pre-War days. People have gotten soft as a result.”
“Because of people like your friend?”
“I don’t know about that.” Charlie said, taking another lengthy hit off his joint.
“But the country has been in dire need of change for the past twenty years. Especially with the way the old federal government had been running the nation—even with the Regency Council monitoring things.”
“So what do you think made them change direction all of a sudden? What do you think sparked the need to put an authoritarian in charge of the Old United States?”
Charlie chuckled mostly to himself. “What else? Fear. And this wouldn’t be the first time this has happened either. It’s happened more than three times—leading up to the Great War and then a period of unrest and uncertainty afterwards.”
“Because of the same reason?”
The boy nodded. “Because people fear change. They fear the future. The 22nd century has proven to be a period of grave uncertainty and chaos that has had far-reaching effects—including what happened two weeks ago with the Bellshire Riots.”
“Sixty people died. Some of them magical familiars. I think my new friend’s father may have been among the fatalities.”
“How would you know?”
“Just got this feeling,” he said, taking a third hit off his joint. Then he offered it up to Todd—who accepted.
“But if she’s a witch, that means…?”
“The Regency Council has her number pegged cold. And anyone else we find in the meantime. That’s why we chose lookout duty tonight for the teams that are out there scouring the city for magical familiars or other kinsfolk that survived the initial strike.”
Todd took out a pair of mini-binoculars from his back pouch pocket and used it to look out towards the east section of the city.
“It looks like shit, man. Half the block is on fire. The other half is in darkness. I don’t see any lights on at all. I think the power’s been cut to this part of the borough.”
Generation Witch Year One Page 4
