by D. N. Hoxa
Alexandra lived in a very nice house, in a very nice part of the city. Her daddy was a pretty rich witch so no surprise there. As I opened the wooden gate of the fence and stepped inside her yard, my mind tried for one last time to make me rethink this. It failed.
There was no spell guarding the place and all the lights in the two-story, peach-colored house were off. Not going to lie, a part of me hoped she wouldn’t be there, but I knew better. She would be there, waiting for me. It was why she’d even left the front door unlocked.
I was as ready as I could get. My gun was loaded, my stones were in my hair. My knives were on my hips, easily accessible, and my beads were ready to unleash and do whatever damage they could. The vampire bite on my neck stung, but the fast beating of my heart drowned the pain almost completely. I stepped inside the house, into the huge hallway and closed the door behind me. There was no going back now.
I allowed myself to close my eyes and take a moment to listen. To calm the beating of my heart. I’d done this a hundred times. I’d gone into the unknown against all kinds of people, and I was still alive. This time would be no different.
A thick blanket of peace and quiet fell on me as I opened my eyes again. I was here now, and the outcome was irrelevant. All I could expect from myself was to do my best, and that I would.
The house was eerily quiet. No sound came through from the outside, not even a bit, just to give me some reassurance that I wasn’t all alone in the universe with Alexandra. I wasn’t afraid of her, but I was afraid of her magic. I was also afraid of what she might do to Dylan.
The smell of wet wood and menthol reached my nostrils as I stepped into what looked like a living room. The witch lived a good life. Her furniture looked expensive as shit. But the smell wasn’t coming from there.
Sniffing around like a dog, I made it to the other side of the hallway and into the kitchen. Everything in there was shiny as hell, even the kitchen island in the middle of the room. If I’d had time, I’d have opened the cupboards just to see her dishes. Yes, I was weird like that. I loved shiny things—but just to look at them, not to actually maintain them.
The smell took me to the right and through a narrow corridor, at the end of which was only one door. One very stinky door.
There were ways to break spells, the obvious being magic. But since I didn’t really have any strong enough to disrupt the energy of Alexandra’s spell, I opted for the next best thing: one of Finn’s bomb stones. My attacking stone would do the job just fine, too, assuming Alexandra’s spell wasn’t one of the strongest. But if she were using stones and spells Finn provided at the Agency, my bomb would do the job just fine.
With a deep breath, I threw the stone against the door and stepped back. Stones were activated by a surge of magic, either from the witch throwing them or from the target. I had enough in me to press the imaginary button on one, but this time, I wouldn’t have to. As soon as it came into contact with Alexandra’s spell, it would blow up.
A second later, my ears almost went deaf. Wow. Finn hadn’t been kidding around. He’d given me some expensive shit. I grinned. I had three more to blow Alexandra’s ass off, if all else failed.
The ground beneath my feet shook as the wooden door broke into a thousand pieces. With my arm in front of my face, I caught the ones that could hurt me. When the dust settled, I didn’t allow myself a second thought. I went forward.
As I’d suspected, the door led to a flight of narrow stairs leading to the basement. Sweat beaded my forehead as I reached for my gun and moved very slowly. I was in Alexandra’s territory. About a million things could go wrong.
Yellow light came from the bottom of the stairs, and it became stronger the closer I got to it. Another narrow, short corridor was in front of me, before it opened into a very large room.
With my arms raised and my gun pointing right at Alexandra’s forehead, I let go of my breath.
Her big smile was filled with mischief. She had dark hair that reached her shoulders, her makeup impeccable like always. She wore short shorts and a skintight shirt as if we were in the middle of the fucking summer.
“There she is,” she said, chewing gum, as unconcerned as if she were waiting for a friend to arrive. Not exactly a confidence booster.
She was leaning against the far wall, two katanas by her side. Dylan lay at her feet, his mouth covered in duct tape and his hands tied behind him with a very thick chain, probably enchanted silver—which by the way cost too much to even bother wanting something like it. Blood everywhere around him, but he was alive. His eyes were open. The silver around him wouldn’t kill him, but it would drain all his energy. With any luck, I would keep it that way.
“This is between me and you, Alexandra. Let the poor guy go,” I said because I owed it to myself to at least try and talk Dylan out of this mess. The weight on my shoulders would lessen a lot with him out of this particular picture.
“How else am I going to keep you from running?” said Alexandra, her voice as high-pitched as ever, flashing me that pretty smile again.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, though I knew that wouldn’t convince her.
“Oh, I know. I made it easy for you to come in here, but I made sure you wouldn’t get out.”
She grinned. No doubt the house was full of dormant spells that she activated as soon as I took down the door to the basement. It didn’t matter though. Neither of us was leaving here while the other was alive, and if she died, all her spells would die with her.
“We can talk about this. We used to be coworkers once, didn’t we?”
Alexandra laughed. “The only reason I gave you the time of day is because Finn said so. What good is a witch who can’t even conjure a proper spell? You’re worse than a fairy,” she spit.
Nothing else was expected. I already knew how everyone around me felt about me, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. Still, for her, I smiled. “I’m here now. Why don’t you do the world a favor and take me out?”
To her, I couldn’t have worded a better invitation. She grabbed one of her katanas and took a step forward. The room was huge, possibly the size of the entire house. There wasn’t much in there but some half empty shelves with unlabeled packages. Not much I could use in my defense if I needed it.
“Oh, you know I will, Winter. And you know what? Since you’re practically a human with no magical abilities, I’ll drop my stones if you drop the gun, just to give you a chance.”
Drop my gun? The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, fighting without my gun, but if she didn’t use her magic on me, it would be ten times easier for me to put an end to her once and for all.
Reluctantly, I threw the gun to the side, already feeling like a huge part of me was missing. I grabbed another knife from the leather belt around my hips, and I smiled for my own sake, to trick my body into thinking there was nothing to worry about.
“Let’s do this,” I whispered, and I ran forward.
Subject: Green witch.
Weakest points: any vital organ.
Favorite killing method: knife through the heart and/or head.
Reality took on a different feel when I fought. I’d started training when I was just fifteen years old with a Blood witch who took in whoever was willing to pay her high price. She wasn’t what my mother had in mind when she urged me to learn how to fight with my body, and at first, I wasn’t sure the Blood witch was the right choice for me. After the first class, though, it all changed. I lived for those three hours she trained me, every single day. I mowed many lawns and took out the trash for way too many people to be able to afford her. But when my mother died, I had no patience for people for a long time. So I continued to train myself, and I never looked back.
Adrenaline set my blood on fire as I ran as fast as I could, and Alexandra grew closer and closer. She had her katana in front of her, her eyes spitting flames my way. I had my body, my most valuable weapon, and I knew just what to do the second we came int
o contact.
But before we did, she stopped, went down on one knee, and threw three sharp-tipped ninja stars at me. Caught off guard, I barely managed to dodge them and one of them caught my shoulder, but that didn’t stop me. She was standing again when I reached her, and she swung her katana at me. My knives were small but very effective. I stopped the blade before it reached me, then kicked the witch right on her chest. She fell back a couple of steps, and I charged forward.
Alexandra was shorter than me and slimmer, too. She moved lightning fast and her katana nearly sliced me in half way too many times in a minute. She was a decent opponent, one that made me break a sweat while I moved like I hadn’t in a long time to keep up with her. My beads swirled around my hands as I fought, desperate to be unleashed, but I wasn’t going to play dirty. If Alexandra didn’t use magic, I wasn’t going to use it either.
She swung her katana, aiming for my neck, and I bent backwards. Going down on my knees, I spun around and kicked her thigh with the heel of my boot. She fell to the side, and that gave me enough time to throw one of my knives at her, but she dodged, then kicked me right in the face. Stars in front of my vision as I spun around again to avoid another kick.
Alexandra came at me fast. My priority was dodging the sharp blade of her katana, so I took more than one hit from her fists and feet. Adrenaline made sure I didn’t feel it just yet, and as long as I was still standing, I was going to fight. When she charged at me, her katana in front of her, I moved to the side and delivered a blow in between her shoulder blades with the back of my hand. Before she had the chance to turn, I swung my foot as far as it would reach and hit her arm hard. Her katana almost fell to the floor, but she recovered quickly and attacked again. I threw another knife at her and caught her waist, which slowed her down enough for me to grab another.
It was strange that I liked this, even when her fist connected with my face, and my knife made a clean cut on her torso. Not as deep as I’d have liked, though, because she leaned back and forced me to do the same when the blade of her katana made for my neck again. I squatted and threw another knife, which buried in her lower stomach. She stumbled back a step. I grabbed the opportunity and reached for another knife. This one caught her right above the first. Alexandra’s eyes widened in surprise just as my fist connected with her face. She swung her katana, but I stopped her arm with mine midway and kicked her on her knee. With my remaining knife, I stabbed her on her forearm. She cried out in pain, so I left the knife in her, then grabbed her wrist with both my hands and slammed it against my knee. Once, twice…her katana fell to the floor.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to enjoy that small victory because Alexandra pulled one of the knives buried in her stomach and put it right between my shoulder blades. Even adrenaline couldn’t fade the intensity of the pain that grabbed ahold of my body. Pure agony.
My vision blurred for a second, and I stepped back to let my body come to terms with the pain. I only had three knives left on my belt, and I threw one of them at Alexandra when she bent over to grab her katana from the floor. My knife cut through her palm, and its small blade came through the other side.
Another cry from Alexandra. Fire between my shoulder blades. I had to remove that knife from me, but I couldn’t reach it. No point in even thinking about it now, so I took in a deep breath and I went for her again.
My last two knives were in my hands, and I swung them at her with all my strength. She stepped back and pulled my knives out of her body, one from her hand and the other from her stomach, and fought me with them. Never before had someone fought me with my own weapons, but I wasn’t asking any questions. I hit her hard on her temple, then kicked her on the chest before aiming for her heart with my knife. But she jumped back and buried my own knife right in my elbow. Bone broke. I could hear it. My knees shook as my left hand reached for the handle and pulled it out. It was the first time in my life that I wished my knives weren’t made from high carbon steel, the very best on the market. I could feel my strength leaving me as my vision cleared. I stepped back instinctively, thinking Alexandra would attack me again, but instead, I saw her dragging her feet to her katana.
Now was not the time to be weak, so I put my pain away, locked in a drawer somewhere for later. If she got to her katana again, I wouldn’t be able to stop her. That couldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let. Summoning all the strength I had left, I ran after her, my knife aiming for the back of her head while my right arm hung limply at my side. I couldn’t even feel my fingers.
Alexandra felt me behind her, and she swung her leg around. It hit me on my forearm and knocked my remaining knife out of my hand. Shit. She made for the katana again, but I reached her hair first. I pulled her back with all my strength, and she fell to the floor on her ass.
I kicked her on her already bloodied face twice before I felt the pain in my foot. The bitch had managed to stick a fucking ninja star in it, all the way through my boots! Now, my right leg, just as my right arm, was useless.
But that didn’t mean I was giving up.
When my other leg gave, I fell to my knees in front of her, then slapped the hell right out of her. She fell face first to the floor and reached back for more ninja stars, tucked in a holster behind her back. Before she could, I grabbed her wrist with my good hand and held it against the floor. Dragging myself closer, I pulled up as much as I could, and slammed my knee on it. She cried out in pain, and I did the same thing again. Without weapons, all I needed was to get her to stop moving for a second, so I could grab her jaw with one hand, and snap her neck.
And I was going to, by pulling her arm and dragging her body closer to me because I couldn’t stand up. But before that happened, my arm froze. Wet wood and menthol filled my nostrils before I saw the small black stone right next to my knee.
I didn’t even have time to be surprised that the bitch had broken her word and was using her spells before she slapped me all the way to next Sunday. I lost balance and nearly fell on all fours. With her arms, Alexandra dragged herself away from me just a bit, then threw another stone at my knees. I tried to move my right arm to push it away, but I was met by so much pain, I almost cried out. Before I could think to use my good hand, she activated the spell.
My throat closed. I opened my mouth widely as I looked at her, bleeding and on the floor, trying to drag herself to her katana, but no air came through. A suffocating spell. She bought that one herself because Finn never gave us any of those. It was doing the job just fine, though. I’d never been hit with a spell like this before, and let me tell you, no pain compared to not being able to breathe. Everything around me lost its color as I gasped for air. Panic set in, wiping away any decent thought in my mind. I was dying, my hand around my throat, as if that was going to get air inside me.
But it wasn’t. And I was better than this. Panic was going to bring death closer to me. The spell would break soon as all spells of this kind did. All I needed to do was hold on tightly and calm my racing heart.
And stop Alexandra from getting to her katana.
Eyes full of tears, I reached for my braid and one of the attack stones in it. I didn’t know which one I’d grabbed, but I threw it at Alexandra’s back anyway and threw a surge of raw magic at it. Her hand was an inch from the katana. My heart almost stopped altogether.
Instead, Alexandra did.
My eyes squeezed shut as my body demanded I try to drag in air. The stone I’d used had a freezing spell on it. Alexandra would be frozen for half a second, which would be enough time for the suffocating spell to end. I hoped.
Now, all I had to do was wait. Without breathing.
When my eyes opened, I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t feel any part of my body. I tried to look for Dylan, but there was nothing. I tried to listen, but there was only silence. The only thing that told me I was still alive was the tears that kept flowing down my cheeks.
This was it. I couldn’t hold on any longer. My body was going to cave, and I was going to die in Alexandra Chase
’s basement.
It could have been worse, I thought, but it couldn’t. Not really. And I was ready to give up, to just let go of my body and hit the floor, when my throat began to tingle. My body took over. My mouth opened, and I tried to breathe. It didn’t work. I felt the cold floor when the side of my face hit it. I tried to drag in air again.
A tiny, tiny bit went through. My throat was itching like crazy by now, but when I breathed in again, a bit more air came through. My eyes opened. My throat no longer felt swollen. The spell had come to its end.
I was still alive.
I could have cried from joy, but tears were already in my eyes. There was no part of my body that wasn’t hurting, but having looked death in the face, I didn’t let the pain matter too much. With my left hand against the floor, I pushed myself up, blinking as fast as I could until I could see my surroundings again.
Alexandra was still there, two feet away from me, her hand almost on the handle of her katana. She wasn’t moving still. My spell only lasted for thirty seconds, but I guess being unable to breathe made time seem to slow to a crawl.
I made it to my knees, breathing heavily and fast, as if my body was afraid my throat would close again. My eyes were on Alexandra’s outstretched fingers, and I saw the second the middle one twitched. My spell was coming to an end, and I knew without a doubt that I wouldn’t have the strength I needed to snap her neck. My gun was too far away, but her katana wasn’t. I’d never used one of them before, but there was a first time for everything, and I was feeling very positive, having come back from the dead just now.
The smell of Alexandra’s perfume, too sweet for my liking, hit my nostrils as I fell right next to her. Even my knees would no longer hold me. I reached for her katana the same second she did. The spell had ended. She could move again. Fuck. A second had been too much to ask.
My fingers wrapped around hers, which were wrapped around the handle of her katana. She met my eyes briefly, and I read fear all over her face. I pulled the katana with all my strength, but she didn’t let me. With her elbow, she hit me right in the nose. I didn’t know if it broke or not, but I didn’t budge. I pulled the katana—and her hand—again. She struggled to move away from me, and when her hand disappeared again, I knew she was reaching for another spell stone in her holster.
