by Emma Mills
They nodded, transfixed.
‘So anyway, I had a grudge to feed and I needed to get out of the UK for a while… I caused a bit too much trouble…’ I giggled and bit my lip.
They stepped closer to me, each trying to nudge the other out of the way.
‘So he sent me here to see how Marcel and Vincent were getting on. I’m heading to New York to see Vincent on Sunday. I just love the Sunday Chiller Student Night. Have you been?’ I asked.
‘The vampires both shook their heads.
‘Marcel and Vincent don’t get on,’ the first vampire said with a shrug.
‘Oh that’s a shame, I needed a date,’ I said with a pout, remembering what Susannah had said about my clown smile.
‘We could take you to Marcel’s club?’ the first vampire said quickly.
‘Especially if you’re not going to New York till Sunday?’ the second said, with a wink.
I stepped closer and whispered between them.
‘I’d love that,’ I said. ‘How relaxed is it? I’m feeling hungry just thinking about it!’
They smiled, their fangs growing slightly.
‘Since Pierre came out it’s very relaxed,’ the first said. ‘We’ll make sure you’re so satisfied you won’t need to go to the Chiller on Sunday.’
‘Mmm, that does sound good,’ I murmured, glancing over their shoulders at the grand doors which were now opening.
The crowd behind me gave a roar which swiftly turned to heckling jeers as Liz was pushed out ahead of the Chief of Police and Marcel. The two door guards left their station and followed behind. It was time to go to work. I reached out and brushed my hands down both my vampire guards’ arms, murmuring so quietly that it became nothing more than a sigh. Their eyes dilated slightly as the adoration spell took hold - another dark spell to add to my growing repertoire. I cleared my thoughts and told myself it was necessary, that as long as I removed the spell it would do no harm and not stain my aura any further.
Marcel swept his eyes over us as he walked past, so I smiled, showing him some fang. He paused as if contemplating something, but a word in his ear from the Chief of Police drove him onwards towards the podium.
‘Good people of Massachusetts,’ he began. ‘We gather here today with the first real evidence of witchcraft in hundreds of years. We saw with our own eyes the murderous devastation these whores of hell can unleash.’
I sighed and centred myself. I was going to enjoy this.
‘Unfortunately one of Satan’s servants escaped, but we will find her and we will seek revenge for the deaths of those she murdered.’
The crowd roared.
‘As your new representative I want to give you, the people who stand to be affected the most, the decision of how best to treat the witches that plague our streets.’
I rolled my eyes and turned back to my two new devotees.
‘Hey boys, I’m just going to help Marcel up there, okay? I think he’s going to get into trouble…’
Their eyes darkened with worry, flitting between Marcel and myself.
‘Hey, don’t worry. Do you want to know a secret?’ I whispered. ‘Pierre really sent me over to see which vampires were worthy of his regard. He wants recommendations… my recommendations.’ I winked at them slowly, forcing my will into their consciousness. They smiled at me, their eyes wide.
‘I want you to stay here no matter what, okay? Even if Marcel calls you over you must only do as I tell you.’ They nodded and stared at me.
I slipped past them and through the railings. Marcel was reading through a list of witchcraft crimes, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
‘Bring back the stake!’ people chanted.
‘Burn the witch!’
I crept nearer so that I was standing right next to the steps leading up to the stage. The two guards were standing directly at the top, their backs to me. I needed two spells to work simultaneously. I breathed deeply and grounded, drawing the clean earth energy into my veins and forcing the remnants of dark magic away. I moved and one of the vampires heard something and began to turn. I thrust my hands out not a moment too soon. He spotted me, his eyes wide with surprise. A millisecond later his lips opened and his knees flexed, but he could do nothing more. My sticky spell combined with a spell of silence rooted him to the stage and prevented him from calling out. His partner whipped his head round in alarm but found he too was caught in the same predicament.
I lifted my finger to my lips and then swiped it across my throat. The implication was clear. If they alerted Marcel in any way they would be dead. Their eyes widened and both looked swiftly away, staring ahead as if nothing had happened. I had applied the sticky spell to the entire wooden surface surrounding Marcel’s podium so he would be caught as soon as he stepped down. He was a strong vampire so I just hoped it would hold him, as I didn’t want to risk more obvious spells with the witch-hating public surrounding us, and I had a feeling that Marcel wouldn’t want to lose face by admitting that he was superglued to the floor! I looked at my watch; Susannah would be waiting, watching the live newsfeed. It was now or never.
I stepped up onto the stage and walked calmly towards Marcel. The audience and cameras all swivelled my way.
‘Marcel, good evening,’ I said confidently.
Marcel glanced quickly towards his guards, but both were studiously looking at their boots. My new vampire friends were staring at me adoringly. Marcel frowned.
‘It seems you made friends,’ he murmured.
‘I came to offer a suggestion,’ I called out. ‘Of how to deal with this witch problem…’
‘I don’t think they need any suggestions,’ Marcel sneered. ‘What’s your beef with witches anyway?’
‘Oh, I have a real issue with one witch in particular,’ I said honestly. ‘That black witch you let slip through your fingers today. I was looking forward to watching her squirm.’
The crowd roared and I chanced a glance at Liz. She was as pale as death and a huge bruise covered her cheek. She looked at me, clearly terrified, but if she did recognise me she didn’t show it. Marcel scowled.
‘We will find her,’ he said, trying to regain control of the crowd. ‘Now, if you don’t mind?’ he gestured to the back of the stage.
The Police Chief stepped towards me, his hand hovering over his gun holster. I smiled at him then looked at Marcel.
‘Tell him to back off,’ I said, so quietly only he would hear. ‘We don’t want Pierre to see us losing control to the humans, do we?’
‘Jacobs, it’s fine. She’s with me,’ Marcel told the chief.
The chief shrugged.
‘Whatever! Let’s just get this over with. The mayor doesn’t like dramatics. You said it would be dealt with quickly.’
‘And it will be,’ I replied, stepping to the front of the stage, Susannah’s first cue. ‘Marcel, so far you have told the public about the possibilities of dark witchcraft… all truths I’m afraid, people… but you haven’t told them about white witches and I think it is only fair to give them the whole picture. I mean we have existed together for centuries, and we even have council representatives who work together occasionally,’ I added with a short laugh.
Marcel’s face darkened and he took the fatal step from the podium. As his feet bonded to the floor he stumbled slightly, his eyes widening with shock. I smiled sweetly at him and stepped close.
‘Stay still! You don’t want the entire world to know a witch has got the better of you, do you?’ I whispered under my breath.
His pale face reddened and he stood straight, turning to look at his guards.
‘Kyle, I take it you boys are as… happy as I am with this situation?’ he asked the guards behind me.
They nodded their heads unhappily.
I turned back to the crowd.
‘So Marcel arranged for me to find another type of witch to show you - a white witch. Now, What’s a white witch, you may say. Surely they are all spawn of the devil? Well no, they are not. In fact most wit
ches refuse to practice any spells which may harm a human being at all. They would rather die than practice black magic.’ Obviously that didn’t apply to me, I thought ruefully.
‘They deserve to die. God did not create us with magic. He created us with love,’ someone shouted.
‘Fair enough! Well, Marcel is giving you the decision. You get to choose how witches should be punished. All I ask is that you watch this witch at work and then make the decision.’
The crowd fell silent as the screen behind me, which had previously been showing the live feed from the podium, switched over and Susannah filled the screen alongside a nurse and a young couple.
‘Good evening. Can you hear me?’ I asked, knowing our cameras would link to hers.
‘Yes, I can. I am standing here in the City Hospital Burns Unit where earlier today a four year old girl was rushed in from the Salem Witch Fires.’
The crowd booed. Susannah paused and then resumed.
‘This little girl is not a witch. Her family are not witches, and in fact she was staying with her aunt in a cheap rental in the last building on the block. As we know the only two witches on the block were in the two buildings that escaped the carnage. This family were not so lucky… or skilled.’
The crowd fell silent.
‘You’d better have a good escape plan, because when I get out of this I’m going to hunt you and your witch friends down and kill you,’ Marcel whispered. ‘You’re just a baby vampire that has got in with the wrong crowd. It’s time you were taught a lesson.’
I smiled at him sweetly. He obviously didn’t know who I was and thought a different witch had cast the spells. My smile widened.
‘Good luck with that,’ I said, turning back to the camera.
‘Now, Marcel, don’t you think that it is only right that the people here see a demonstration of what a white witch can do for your people?’ I asked, concentrating on my earth magic to force heat up through the floorboards under his feet.
Initially he grinned and shook his head slightly.
‘No, I do not…’
I increased the heat to a smouldering coal level and again realised that my magic was swiftly turning from white to grey. His face froze as he registered the heat. I upped it a little more and he grimaced.
‘What I mean is that I don’t want the people to have to witness magic which may endanger them, but if the witch you have found is trustworthy then…’
‘Oh, she is more than trustworthy,’ I said, stopping the heat spell.
I looked back at the camera and Susannah once again took the reins.
‘The doctors here have done all they can for little Rosie. She has second degree burns covering the majority of her body, but it is the third degree, full thickness burns that are a concern now. They have her on intravenous fluids, but they believe that her skin layers are still burning into her deep tissues… and until that finally stops they won’t be able to gauge the full damage. Along with Rosie’s parents they have agreed to let me have a look.’
The crowd began to murmur quietly among themselves.
‘She doesn’t look like a witch.’
‘Did she have green eyes? I couldn’t see.’
‘They shouldn’t allow it. She’ll kill her,’ someone screamed.
Susannah, the two bewitched doctors, the parents and the cameraman entered a hospital room. An elderly man sat and stroked the little girl’s forehead. The camera zoomed in and I winced. I hated using this family for our own gain, but at least we could do some good in return. Susannah took the hands of the mother, who had tears of grief pouring in a constant stream down her cheeks.
‘My baby,’ she moaned.
‘Shhh, I promise I can help. I promised you, didn’t I?’ Susannah told the couple, loud enough for the cameras to hear.
The couple nodded.
‘You know I am a witch, don’t you?’ She asked them.
They nodded.
‘So do you mind telling the people out there why you have let me into your lives?’
‘When your child is in pain you will try anything… anything to make it stop,’ the man said, holding his wife.
‘Enough talk now. Let me help this child,’ Susannah said, as the little girl moaned and shifted on the bed.
Susannah was our High Priestess so, as she said, she had taken the lion’s share of power, but she was also a healer. I’d seen her perform miracles and now it was time for the world to see.
She walked to the head of the bed, letting the little girl’s grandfather shift to the other side. He watched her, protective but unafraid. Susannah brushed her hand over the little girl’s forehead. Most of the spell work Susannah performed was silent. It was all done by making the energy flow through her hands and directing it to where it was needed, but we had agreed that she should simultaneously chant a simple charm, something that could be both seen and heard. She would perform a spell that wouldn’t actually work on anything stronger than a headache, but working alongside Susannah’s healing energy it would translate and be better understood by the crowd. She began to speak softly yet clearly, her voice drifting through the speakers and lulling the crowd, softening their exclamations.
‘Wrap thee in cotton, bind thee with love, protection from pain, surrounds like a glove.’ Susannah closed her eyes and I knew she was sending her energy into the little girl’s tiny body, cooling the molten lava that was burning through her skin.
The frantic beeping on the heart monitor slowed slightly and all eyes darted across to it. The doctor ran across the room and stared at it, muttering to himself. The girl shifted again, her eyelids fluttering.
‘I have sent cooling energy down through the shoulders, but I do not want it to freeze the heart, so now I will move to the feet and work from there,’ she said quietly.
Taking the little girl’s bare feet in her hands she began chanting again.
‘Healing thoughts sent in flight, bring the brightest of blessings, this very night. ’
The little girl’s eyelids fluttered again and she opened her eyes.
‘Indy! Oh, my baby!’ the mother cried, running forward to hold the girl’s hand.
‘Mommy, it stings,’ she cried.
The doctors shook their heads, disbelieving, their eyes flicking to the heart monitor which now beeped steadily as Susannah looked at the doctors.
‘She is going to need skin grafts, but it looks like you have managed to stop the burning before it hit muscle,’ the senior doctor said quietly after inspecting the child.
‘I can help with that, but it would take a lot more time and energy,’ Susannah said to both the doctor and the camera.
‘Can you heal me?’ a voice shouted from the crowd suddenly.
‘It’s a set up!’ someone else yelled.
The video link died and I turned to face the crowd.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I knew Susannah would be on her way over to us from the hospital. I scanned the crowd. The next part of our plan was more dangerous. It meant bringing Susannah to the crowd, but we had checked the direction of the ley lines and if necessary there was one almost overhead. Our promise echoed in my mind. If we thought things were getting out of hand, if the Council turned up which was unlikely based on previous situations, or if the vampires escaped my spell we wouldn’t hang around. We had both promised Aunt Sarah that we would jump the ley lines and leave immediately.
‘Would you like to meet this witch and ask her some questions?’ I asked the crowd.
They roared.
‘This will be interesting’, Marcel whispered. ‘You’re making your own grave and I shall take pleasure in watching.’
His words chilled me but I glanced across at Liz and she caught my eye. She knew who I was and she knew we were here to save her. There was no backing down now.
‘Let’s see, Marcel,’ I hissed, through gritted teeth.
I addressed the crowd again.
‘This morning you witnessed a dark witch escaping from the polic
e van and causing horrific damage. Have you asked yourself why this witch you see before you has not done the same thing?’
The crowd murmured among themselves.
‘Because she could if she chose too. Right now she could melt or freeze those metal handcuffs around her wrists and flee. Do you know what she sold in her shop? Has anybody looked?’ I asked.
‘Potions! Witch spells and potions,’ someone suddenly shouted.
‘But do you know what those spells and charms do?’ I asked.
The crowd again fell silent. I turned to Liz.
‘Can you tell us? What is your name and why have you allowed yourself to be captured.’
Liz looked up at me and then she turned to face the crowd. She held her head high and spoke clearly.
‘Yes, I am a witch, but I am not born of the devil. I am human. My DNA is just like yours, except we have a couple of extra chromosomes, an anomaly. We have not died and lost our souls… like them,’ she said, looking across at Marcel and me. ‘We do not feed on your blood.’
‘You’re not a sexy badass either,’ someone in the crowd heckled.
‘I am a white witch. The reason I didn’t try to escape is because I am innocent and I believe you will do the right thing.’
The crowd hushed, their jeers turning to murmurs.
‘The only things I sell in my shop are herbs, crystals, candles and a few healing charms. I do not stock any ingredients you would need to create a dark spell. You would visit Morgan for that. We are not friends and I do not want to be associated with her; that is why I stayed. My only crime is that I placed a protection charm upon my building to stop the arsonists from burning it down, along with protecting the human sub-letters that live in the apartment above.’
She stopped and turned as Susannah strode onto the stage. The crowd split into two groups. One group booed and yelled, and the other began clapping. I looked across at Marcel, who glowered. We were halfway there.
‘Let’s welcome Helen. I met her in New York,’ I lied, looking at Susannah. ‘Helen, the crowd here are a little unsure about the nature of our recent broadcast. I suppose it is possible we set the situation up. Is there anything you can do to sway our disbelievers?’
