She looked around the room observing how isolated it seemed, which told her that they had been prepared for her arrival.
A frown crossed her face as she wondered how they knew where to find her as suddenly a picture of Caden came to her mind, but she pushed the image away knowing that if she thought about him then she wouldn’t be able to think of a way out of here. She pushed thoughts of who helped them to the back of her mind also, as that could be learned later. Right now, she needed to find a way out of her current situation.
She glanced up at the chains tugging at her hands only to stop when her wrists started to become chafed and bleeding at her actions. She bit her lip wanting to continue, but she knew that doing so would only harm her as the handcuffs were tight around her wrists.
Suddenly a voice floated through the room, and Abella gasped as her head shot up and fear knotted in her stomach.
Use your senses, the voice said.
Abella scanned the room as her hands trembled slightly before she clenched them tightly into fists above the handcuffs.
Use your senses, the voice came again more softly.
The fear in Abella’s stomach disappeared as if it hadn’t existed and Abella took a deep breath closing her eyes as her body stilled. As her body stilled and her mind cleared, she felt the presence of someone with witch blood. It was very weak, but she could sense it.
A frown came to her face as her eyes opened and she whispered, “There is another witch here.”
Use your gift, the voice advised.
Abella bit her lip at this one as she thought a few minutes and then she closed her eyes concentrating as Cicely taught her.
Her body and breathing became still again as suddenly her mind was in another room, and she looked around it in concentration as the door opened revealing her uncle and Wester.
“Just kill her and get it done with,” her uncle argued.
Wester smiled as he sat down in a chair behind the desk leaning back with an arrogant pose. “No, I want to have some fun first.”
The smile slipped from his face as he straightened up and he said in a cold voice, “David was praised as one of the best and yet he was sympathetic to these abominations that he was supposed to kill. I found and destroyed them myself, and yet he was still considered the best.” A malicious smile returned to his face as he said in a lilting voice, “I will break his daughter and once I am done with her, no one will ever again say that he was the best.”
Abella observed the man in front of her and she shook her head at him. There was an obsessive and manic light in his eyes that told Abella he passed reason some time ago.
“She is stronger than she appears,” her uncle cautioned, and Abella turned to look at him when suddenly she gasped.
The weak witch presence she had been sensing was coming from him, she realized in shock.
“I don’t think so,” Wester said with an arrogant laugh his attitude telling them that he believed himself much stronger than her.
Abella heard Wester’s words and even his arrogant laughter, but the shock of learning that the man who she lived with and who abused her was of witch blood shocked her completely. Abella eyes snapped open as she sagged in the lock room the handcuffs biting into her wrists, but she didn’t feel it as her mind dealt with the shock she just received.
It is one of the reasons he did what he did, the voice floated through the room and in her shock, Abella thought there were two people speaking. He couldn’t handle the fact that he had witch blood even though it was weak. Those years with him, he sensed that you would be strong so he tried to beat you down until you were as weak as he was.
“He was envious,” Abella muttered aloud.
Although the voice didn’t speak aloud this time, she felt the voice’s confirmation as a slight warm breeze blew against her chilled skin.
Protect yourself, the voice cautioned.
Abella didn’t need any more warning as she relaxed her body and closed her eyes again this time creating a spell. The room suddenly began to get hot as if it was on fire when suddenly it stopped.
Abella’s eyes slowly opened and as she looked around the room, a smile tugged at her mouth as the voice that she thought was starting to sound very familiar said with pride, Very good.
Night came fast and Abella shivered as the room began to get cold, and she wondered how many days since they had taken her. Her teeth started chattering as her body began to shiver her damp clothes clammy against her skin and she wondered if she would ever get warm again.
Think of him, the voice told her quietly, and she frowned at those words as suddenly a memory came to her of waking up in Caden’s arms, and her body became flush with the memory. Even though she still could feel the coldness in the room, she felt warm as she remembered that moment.
She kept that memory in her head as she scanned the room again even though she did it earlier after everyone left, but she did it again as if the room would change by scanning it over and over.
The door opened around midnight just as Abella began to doze off and at the noise, her eyes snapped open looking toward it as it closed quietly behind her unwanted guest.
The man who observed her earlier with lust stepped forward that same lustful gaze going over her and she saw the way his eyes lit up as he observed the way her body was reacting to the cold.
“I don’t take orders too well,” he said as he started toward her when suddenly he cried out as if in pain and Abella watched as he jumped back patting at his body as if he had been burned, but there was nothing there.
He looked at her with narrowed eyes before he started forward again only to cry out again as his body began to burn before he stumbled back.
Abella kept her gaze on him not saying a word her face showing nothing as the man stared at her in shock.
“What in the hell,” he muttered looking at her with narrowed eyes after he scanned the room his shock fading. A grim smile came to his lips as he told her in smug voice, “You are not so strong because I can see through this illusion spell you have created. If that is all you got, then this should be fun.”
He started forward again only to take a few steps before he was stopped as the door opened again, and a voice said from the doorway, “What do you think you are doing, Glen?”
Abella filed the name ‘Glen’ away as she watched him turn around to face the man from earlier and told him, “Just checking on the witch, Pat.”
Pat laughed as Abella filed away his name for later also, and said, “I don’t think she is going anywhere until the boss wants her to.”
Pat waved him out of the room and Glen threw her a mocking smile before he did as he was commanded, and as the door closed behind them Abella let a soft chuckle out.
The room suddenly became foggy and within the fog surrounding Abella were little fires. The fires seem to shift as if jumping from place to place, but they had one purpose; to protect the one who created them.
Then the room cleared and it was empty except for the woman hanging in the middle of it her body shivering with cold, but her eyes was filled with a fire turning their grey into molten silver.
The next morning, Abella was woken up by her body being splashed with a bucket of cold water causing her body to ache at the sensation.
“Good morning,” Wester said as she opened her eyes.
Abella said with a touch of cheerfulness in her voice, “Good morning.”
His smile turned sinister before his fist slammed into her midsection causing her to gasp as pain shot through her. “Did I tell you to speak?” He asked pleasantly as if he hadn’t just hit her.
Abella didn’t hold her tongue as she said, “No, but it is the polite thing to do when spoken to.”
Wester’s fist slammed again in her midsection causing her body to sway as Abella was unable to hold her balance from his hit.
“You should probably rethink the idea of politeness,” he told her with a smug laugh.
The smug laugh turned into an ugly frown as Abella stated
with determination, “No, I don’t think so.”
She knew it was coming as she prepared herself for the next hit as his eyes narrowed and his fist came up.
This time he didn’t stop at one hit, and Abella coughed up blood after the last hit.
Her mouth was bleeding as she looked up at him from eyes beginning to swell as she told him defiantly, “I will never rethink or forget politeness, manners my parents told me.”
Wester didn’t like that answer as he hit her hard and Abella turned her head at the right moment as his fist connected with her temple.
Her head snapped back at the force and then her body sagged against the chains as she went unconscious. Wester smirked as he was handed a towel to wipe the blood from his hands.
“I think she learned her lesson this time,” Pat said with a robust laugh.
Their laughter echoed around the room as the two men left, and as soon as the door closed the room went foggy.
Be strong, Abella, the voice said soothing with a touch of worry. You are stronger than him. Remember who you are and what you learned.
The words didn’t seem to have an effect until suddenly Abella’s body begin to glow as if it was lit from within.
Will she be all right, another voice asked deeper than the one before.
Yes, the softer voice said before the room cleared although Abella still hung in the middle of the room.
Hours later, Abella heard the door open and she tried to open her eyes knowing that they were swollen from Wester’s beating earlier. As she finally pried them open enough to see, she noted the room was dark, which told her night had fallen. Her body ached as she let her eyes scan the room before they landed on Glen standing by the door.
There was a smirk on his face as he started toward her and said, “You are not so pretty now, but that is okay. I don’t have to look at your face for what I have planned.”
Abella didn’t react to his words as he came closer when suddenly he stopped his eyes widening before he jumped back again.
Abella looked at him for a few minutes before she let her eyes close and allowed sleep to claim her. She needed the sleep to gather her strength because something told her that it wasn’t going to get any easier. The spell she created last night would protect her, but it only protected her through the night. They were her guards so she could rest building her strength for what was to come and as she drifted off, she heard the man cry out in pain as he tried again to approach her.
“Just a few hours,” she pleaded silently and as if the fires heard her, they brightened circling closer to her as Glen stood across the room his eyes starting to show a hint of fear.
“I will get you,” he snarled hiding the fear that had crept in his eyes before he turned and literally ran from the room.
The fires brightened again as they rose higher completely covering Abella, but as morning came, they dwindled down and before they went out entirely they whispered in the silent room, “We will be back.”
As the last fire died, Abella shifted against her chains and she moaned silently as her stiff body radiated with pain.
Her eyes opened to slits and she looked around the room before focusing on the door waiting. The door opened almost an hour later, although it had felt like forever to Abella, she didn’t show it as Wester strutted in followed by Glen and Pat.
“Good morning,” he said with a smile that disappeared when Abella responded back, “Good morning.”
His fists clenched at his sides, but he didn’t hit her this time as he turned and looked at Pat.
He nodded his head once before turning back around to smirk at Abella who watched their actions through her swollen eyes. “I guess you didn’t learn your lesson after all,” he stated.
Pat gave Abella a smile that sent a chill down her spine as he moved behind her.
She stiffened as she heard a slithering sound her mind already associating the sound to what she glimpsed in his hands as he walked behind her.
Don’t stiffen, the voice whispered into her mind.
Abella forced her body to relax as the whip came down across her back, and she arched against the pain.
The whip came down again and again each one harder than the next that Abella’s back was on fire and she was struggling against the chains from the pain although she fought the urge to scream out or stiffen her body as the voice continued to whisper, Relax your body, the pain will be worse if you stiffen up.
Abella screamed inside her head, “Help me!”
The voice didn’t answer this call but Abella thought she heard a sob as finally the whip came down for the last time and Abella, unable to take the pain any longer, passed out. Before she did though, her grey eyes still mere slits from yesterday beating met Wester’s her gaze filled with stubbornness and anger before they closed.
Abella didn’t see the look of astonishment that crossed Wester’s face as her eyes met his directly, or the look of anger that followed it.
“Wake her up,” he snarled striding forward and yanking her head back by her hair staring down in her battered face. “You will submit to me.”
He glared at the men around him as Pat said with a shrug of his shoulders as he coiled up his whip, “Sorry, but it isn’t any fun when she is unconscious.” He took a look at her before he smirked, “I don’t think she will be waking up anytime soon.”
With those words, he strode out of the room and after Glen gave her a searching look, he followed behind him.
Wester threw Abella from him in anger watching her body swinging on the chain before he followed his men out slamming the door behind him.
There was a loud sound not too long after as if a gun went off then the quiet came.
Abella hung in the middle of the room her face battered with a split lip and two bruised eyes. As her body swayed, she flinched even in her unconscious state hinting at more damage and her back was bleeding from the lashings she had taken as the blood ran down to stain her clothes and drip to the floor.
The room went foggy as before but this time, a woman floated out of the fog tears sliding down her face as she said softly, oh my daughter, I wish I can help you but I am powerless to be any use except as a voice of encouragement.
The voice stopped before it began again softer, but with a note of steel threaded through it, you are strong, Abella. You need to believe in yourself, in your power, and who you are. You are our are daughter, the daughter of a witch and a witch hunter. Be proud of who you are, my dear.
Even in her unconscious state, her mother’s words floated through Abella’s mind, she was the daughter of a witch and a witch hunter. She was the offspring of the best of both worlds no matter how anyone else viewed it, her stubborn mind told her as she fought her way through the blackness and pain although there lingered a doubt in the back of her mind.
“I will not submit,” Abella voice said in the quietness of the room even though she hung limply and her eyes were still closed hinting that she was still unconscious, but her hands clenched tightly above her cuffed wrists until her nails dug into her hands drawing blood.
Chapter 25
“Are you ready, Caden?” Jed asked an hour later standing inside Abella’s house in the hallway. Caden nodded his head, but looked at the wall in front of him in confusion.
Jed only smiled as he said a small incantation and suddenly, a door appeared in front of them. Caden couldn’t help his shock as he looked at Cicely and Jed before one of them explained.
“This room is a witch’s sanctuary when they feel threatened, or weaken, as you know,” Caden nodded his head in remembrance. “The room stays hidden unless called by the witch who made it, or someone of witch blood.”
“Don’t misunderstand, Caden,” Jed said noticing the frown that came to his face. “I don’t mean just anyone can call forth a witch’s sanctuary door like this. For one, a bond needs to be between the two who have witch blood for one to call it and the witch who is doing the calling has enough power, or more power than the witch h
erself.”
Caden nodded his head at the explanation as Cicely stepped forward to open the door, but she hesitated slightly her hand on the doorknob.
Caden looked around them as he felt his wolf relax a little from the smell rafting through the house, and it was almost as if Abella was in the house with them.
“It is her house,” Cicely remarked glancing over her shoulder at him. Caden turned to her in confusion as she smiled and continued, “Abella has only been gone for a few days at the most so the house hasn’t had time to lose her scent, which is highly unlikely due to the fact that her things are still here.”
Caden nodded his head again although he was shock at how she was able to read his mind at that particular moment until his wolf snorted at him, she is a witch, a very powerful one, or have you forgotten?
Caden felt a grin tug at his mouth at the retort from his wolf and he admitted to them both that he had forgotten for the moment.
“Caden,” Jed began pulling him out of his thoughts, and Caden turned slightly narrowed eyes on him.
“So I guess it is truth time,” Caden said in a heavy voice turning his eyes back to the door. “Let’s get going because I want to find Abella.”
Jed and Cicely looked at each other and nodded their heads as Cicely turned the doorknob opening the door.
“Let’s just hope that the room accepts him,” Cicely murmured as she stepped inside first.
Caden took a deep breath as Cicely turned to look at him before she opened the door wider to allow him to enter.
Caden took a step forward his wolf howling slightly as he sensed a barrier in the room. Caden felt the pull of the barrier, but it didn’t stop him so he kept going.
Caden took a few more steps into the room and held himself still until Jed said with satisfaction, “The room has accepted you.”
Caden and his wolf felt elation go through them at the news that Abella trusted him not realizing the real significance behind what just happened, but Jed and Cicely looked at each other in awe because they understood it.
Caden took the opportunity to look around the room as the other two set up for the spell that they were going to do.
The Witch Prophecy Page 23
