The Witch Cave

by Sara Clancy

  “Cadwyn! Buck!”

  Blood and water filled her mouth as she screamed. The dead hands clawed at the stone beneath her. Their numbers had increased to take over the stream. Turning it into a streak of writhing dead limbs that threatened to drag them all back under. She couldn’t fight back the images that invaded her mind. Of the disembodied hands holding Buck and Cadwyn under the water, keeping them there while the last of their life trickled from their bodies.

  “Cadwyn!”

  In the corners of her awareness, she knew the others were trying to get her attention. But her eyes were locked on the black, writhing mass around her. They’re down there! They’re dying!

  “Not like this,” she gasped.

  Grasping her knife, she shoved the damp cloth of her shirt sleeve aside. A broken scream ripped from her chest as she peeled a strip of flesh from the back of her hand. Blood rushed free as she hurled the hunk of flesh into the water.

  “You’ll have more!” she promised, her voice breaking into a shriek.

  Voices screamed her name. None of them were Cadwyn’s tempo and tone and all easily ignored.

  “I’ve never failed to pay my tribute!” she pleaded. “Help them! Give them back!”

  Her blood trailed down her fingers in rivers, only to be smeared into the stone by the questing fingers.

  “I’ll give you more!”

  Electric trails of neon blue crackled like lightning bolts along the river of writhing flesh. A thousand screams assaulted her ears. The limbs twitched and spasmed, parting as a dark figure broke through the surface. Cadwyn crawled out onto the ledge Jeremiah clung to, his long limbs trembling as he rolled out onto the stone.

  Without thought, Basheba flung herself back into the water, pushing through the torrent to reach the ledge. The electric light fizzled and faltered, allowing the hands to move again, the clasping hands reaching for her once more. Stone slid along her aching hand. She clutched onto it, the motion stretching her shredded skin. Pain carved through her arm, making it tremble and loosening her grip. Before she could get dragged away, a solid hand latched onto her forearm and dragged her out. She clambered out and flung herself at Cadwyn. Her arms wrapped around his neck as they toppled back.

  “Hey,” his breathy laughter eased the tension in her chest. “It’s okay. I’m okay. Watch the knife.”

  Basheba flipped the knife so the flat of the blade pressed against his shoulder but only loosened her grip when she heard him choke.

  “Basheba,” Cadwyn said, his hands gently working to pull her arms back. “We have to help the others.”

  She gave him one last squeeze and forced herself to let go, shoving the knife back into its sheath and raising the glowstick high. Jeremiah still clutched the very edge of the rock rim. But now, Mina and Ozzie scrambled for purchase beside him. All three of them clashed together as they tried to break free of the stream. The blue light had faded, allowing the hands to resume their task. Jeremiah lost his grip first and, if it wasn’t for Cadwyn throwing himself down onto his stomach and latching onto his wrist, he would have been lost to the tide. As he dragged Jeremiah back, his shoulders gave Ozzie a better grappling point.

  Basheba focused on Mina. Dropping onto the stone, she planted her feet, grabbed Mina’s forearm with both hands, and flung herself back. Putting every ounce of weight and strength she had into the action didn’t earn them much. Her muscles strained to the point of tearing. Agony radiated along her body, spiking anew every time Mina’s hectically moving fingers brushed against her wounds. Blood slicked their grip. Basheba clenched her teeth and, with one final lurch, Mina was wrenched free from the rotting clutches.

  The two girls slammed back against the stones. The impact made the glowstick slip from her fingers. It scattered away, dimming the light further. Mina and Basheba scrambled up in unison to help Cadwyn and the others. The stone blocked her view, making it hard to tell who she was grabbing hold of but, with time, blood and sweat, everyone was brought up onto the ledge.

  Cadwyn cupped the side of Ozzie’s face, forcing the stunned boy to meet his gaze. “Are you okay?”

  Ozzie swallowed and gave a dazed-looking nod. Twisting, Cadwyn repeated the process with the Crane siblings. When, at last, he turned back to Basheba, she flung herself at him again. With her arms secured around his neck and her legs around his waist, there was little he could do to get rid of her. Warmth pressed from his body into hers, chasing away the cold and easing her nerves. But, without those distractions, she had nothing to distract her from her gnawing fear. It clawed for freedom, slashing her insides to shreds and battering itself against her ribs. Her senses screamed that she was still in the water, surrounded by darkness and fighting for air.

  “Basheba,” Cadwyn whispered. “You’re bleeding. Let me help.”

  “Did you see Buck?” she whimpered.

  “We’ll find him,” Cadwyn rubbed her back as he spoke, but she couldn’t tell if he was trying to soothe her or looking for damage.

  Basheba couldn’t breathe. All she could summon were soft, tiny gasps that rattled around her trembling body. Slowly, she pulled back to meet his eyes. It carried all the gentle compassion she had expected to find there, and it broke her.

  Cadwyn shushed her as he cradled her closer. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

  Her fingers curled in his jacket. A sharp bark made her jerk.

  “Buck!”

  She twisted around. Her eyes had adjusted to the weak light of the glowstick. Just enough that she was able to spot Buck bobbing up and down over the stone’s edge, struggling to get out of the water. Basheba smacked a hand against Cadwyn’s face and pushed, using him to stagger back onto her feet. Buck yelped as she approached. His long tongue lolled out to lick at her forearms even as she pulled him out. Just as with Mina, the struggle against the hands ended with a sudden jerk. His heavy weight bore down upon her, crushing the air from her lungs and leaving her twitching in pain. It didn’t stop her from hooking her arms around Buck’s neck. The hands continued to break the surface in search of them but didn’t venture out.

  “Good boy!” she beamed, sobbing with joy. “Such a good, smart, handsome boy!”

  “I was her favorite for a second there,” Cadwyn muttered, barely audible over the constant flow of water.

  She pressed a few kisses to her dog’s forehead before scrambling out from under him. “Cadwyn! Hurry! He’s got a cut on his paw!”

  “You look like you’ve been through a woodchipper,” Cadwyn shot back, peeling the strap of his medical bag off of his shoulders as he lumbered over. “I’m helping you before I help the dog.”

  “But—”

  “No, Basheba,” he said sternly.

  She scrunched up her mouth as he crouched down in front of her.

  “Fine.” Eyeing the medical kit, she added, “Wow, you never give up that bag, do you?”

  “Yeah. So strange,” he dismissed. “Don’t suppose you have any more glowsticks in your backpack.”

  Basheba smiled slightly, searching the pockets again as he carefully coaxed her to stretch out her legs.

  “Mina,” he called over his shoulder, direct but carefully without alarm. “Do you have a free second?”

  All three teenagers hurried over, their faces illuminated by the orange haze of a freshly cracked glowstick. Basheba found a few more, shaking them up to mix the contents faster, expanding their little bubble of light.

  “Jeremiah,” Basheba said in a rush. “Do you have the box?”

  The guy’s mouth moved constantly, but he barely made a sound.

  “The box,” she insisted.

  Mina placed a comforting hand on her brother’s shoulder as he whimpered.

  “Use your big boy voice,” Basheba said. “This is kind of important.”

  Mina threw her a sharp look. “Yes, it’s right here. What is your sudden obsession?”

  “They want it, so now I want it. A lot. Put it in my bag, please.”

  Jeremiah stood motionle
ssly while his sister pried the music box from his fingers. A strangled cry escaped him the moment he lost contact with the polished surface.

  “She killed him!”

  “We were all there,” Cadwyn snapped.

  His sharp dismissal instantly drew everyone’s attention. It was the first time that Basheba noticed the full extent of the damage she had created. The numbing cold had dulled the sharpest edge of the pain. Cadwyn had cut away her jeans, exposing her legs, letting her watch with relative indifference as her blood seeped out through a dozen cuts.

  “Hey, Ozzie,” Basheba said. “Can you collect everyone’s stuff and see what we have to work with?”

  Grateful to get away from the blood, Ozzie hurriedly set about the task of collecting everything but Cadwyn’s bag. The waterproof casing had protected all of the items within, allowing him to wrap lengths of dry gauze around her calves. It was still cold, but she was starting to feel the warmth return to her extremities. Pain blossomed along with it.

  “She killed him!” Jeremiah screamed. “She stabbed, over and over!”

  “Shh,” Mina soothed, torn between calming him and moving closer to help Cadwyn. “It’s all right.”

  “How?” he screeched, hopping rapidly from one sentence to the next. “How is any of this all right? The river—there were hands—and eyes. It glowed! She skinned herself!”

  “What?” Cadwyn’s head snapped up. “Where?”

  “In the river.”

  “Obviously not what he’s focusing on, Jerry,” Basheba said, too busy patting her sulking Rottweiler to meet Cadwyn’s accusing glare. “It was just a little bit off the back of my hand.”

  Cadwyn pushed up onto his knees and drew her hands into the light. “Oh, God. Basheba.”

  “It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt too bad.”

  His movements were rushed but still carried a practiced grace. Within moments, he had examined, treated, and wrapped the wound. It wasn’t that big by her reasoning. Barely bigger than a stamp and not too deep. It just looks bigger because my hands are so small.

  Her body seemed to wake up under Cadwyn’s careful manipulations. The trembling stopped, her breathing deepened, and the pain grew. It forced first a gasp then a whimper past her lips. Cadwyn’s gloved hand cupped her cheek.

  “I’m okay,” she assured. “I can take it.”

  His lips tipped into a half-smile. “I’m not going to hold out on you. I just wanted to make sure that everything was working right before I started numbing things.”

  “Suffer for my own good?”

  “Something like that.” Preparing a needle, he added, “And I’m not just bitter because you like the dog more than me.”

  Jeremiah’s cry cut off Basheba’s reply.

  “She killed a man!”

  “He wasn’t my first,” Basheba shot back before reasoning that it probably wasn’t helpful. Dark, limited space. Possibly trapped. Hunted by a murderous cult and the demons it panders to. Maybe it’s best not to provoke the clearly unhinged man.

  Basheba frowned and wondered exactly when her voice of reason had started to sound like Cadwyn. “He was trying to kill us. I did what I had to.”

  Jeremiah looked around the group before fixing Basheba with a dark glare. “I’m not an idiot.”

  “Debatable,” Basheba said before she could stop herself.

  Cadwyn arched an eyebrow but didn’t find it worth commenting on. Not when he had to recheck the dosage by the light of a handful of glowsticks.

  “I don’t idolize you like Ozzie and Mina.”

  “Mina idolizes me?” Basheba scoffed.

  Jeremiah continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “And I don’t love you like Cadwyn does. I’m not blinded to what you did. I saw you.”

  “I wasn’t trying to hide.”

  “Jeremiah,” Mina whispered. “Let this go.”

  “Are you insane? She didn’t just kill the man. She sacrificed him. She peeled her own flesh off and fed it to get Cadwyn back.”

  Cadwyn raised an eyebrow as he slipped the tip of the needle into her skin.

  “And Buck,” she added. “It wasn’t all about you.”

  Instead of him placidly returning to his work, he stilled, mouth opening slightly.

  “What?”

  “Something older and hungrier,” Jeremiah quoted. “What were you talking about?”

  “Nothing.”

  “It listened to you!” he roared. “Whatever you offered it, it accepted. You gave it a human sacrifice, and it accepted!”

  “Right. Let me rephrase. It’s nothing you have to worry about.”

  Jeremiah pushed forward a step, shoving past his sister, only stopping when Buck got to his feet. The Rottweiler’s deep growl mixed with the rushing water as the orange light glistened off of his slick fangs.

  “You made a deal with something. You promised it more. Who do you intend to feed it?”

  “Did you miss the mob of people trying to kill me? Obviously, I’ll go after them first. Just stay out of it.”

  “We have a right to know what you got us into!”

  “Oh, my God! My head is pounding,” Basheba griped. “Can you just shut up?”

  Her bravado faltered when she felt Cadwyn pull away. There was a look close to betrayal on his face, and she didn’t know what to do with that.

  “Basheba,” he asked in a whispered. “What did you do?”

  Chapter 11

  Cadwyn braced one hand against the cool, damp stone beneath him, trying to hold onto some semblance of reality as everything else seemed to fall away. Only Basheba remained in full focus. Her and the bubbling pit of dread that churned his stomach. Basheba summoned something. No matter how many times the thought swirled around his reeling mind, he still couldn’t believe it. She’d never give herself up. But the argument faltered in the wake of her silence.

  “Basheba?” he pressed.

  Her soaked hair still shone in the muted light of the glowsticks, highlighting rather than hiding the defiant set of her chin.

  Everyone jolted as Jeremiah’s sudden shriek cracked the silence.

  “What did you do!”

  Buck rumbled low in his throat but didn’t bother to lift his head from Basheba’s lap.

  “Answer me!” Jeremiah demanded.

  Cadwyn glanced at Mina, silently telling the girl to intervene. The shell-shocked teen only stared straight ahead, leaving it to Cadwyn to lift a placating hand.

  “Yelling isn’t helpful right now, Jeremiah.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Jeremiah spluttered, the words slightly hysterical through shrill laughter. “Am I upsetting her? Heaven forbid I disturb the demon-summoning-murderer!”

  “Actually, that does sound like a bad idea,” Ozzie whispered to him.

  Jeremiah’s jaw dropped. “Am I going mad? I can’t be the only one who has a problem with this!”

  “You’re giving me a headache,” Basheba noted.

  She rubbed her temple with the butt of her hunting knife, ignoring the steady stream of blood that worked its way to the length of her forearm. The cherished blade caught and magnified the weak light. Cadwyn took it as a subtle warning to keep his distance.

  “You murdered a man! Why is no one else upset about that?” Jeremiah countered, looking lost for a moment before flaring. “You’ve provoked a cult, infuriated the Witch, and separated me from the others!”

  Basheba snorted, pulling her head back slightly as Buck licked at her jaw. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re really missing your input, Jerry.”

  Jeremiah’s narrow chest was heaving as he stared at her, his hands balling against his thighs. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You’re useless,” Basheba said. A small pout curled her lips. “How did you not get that?”

  “I am Jeremiah Crane. Heir to the Crane name—”

  “And the woods would break you in a hot second,” Basheba scoffed.

  Mina stirred enough from her shock to place a hand over his. He gaped at her
before returning his attention to Basheba.

  “Do you have any idea what will happen if I don’t lock this?” Jeremiah snarled.

  Vibrating with rage and fear, he awkwardly pulled the music box from the damp material of his jacket pocket and brandished it before him. For a moment, Cadwyn was sure he was going to hurl it at Basheba like a grenade. A subdued click changed everything. They all sat silently as the first metallic notes radiated from the box. The fight fled Jeremiah until he was trembling.

  “Do you know what it will do to me?”

  “I do,” Cadwyn answered.

  It took the younger man a moment to recall the full implications of Cadwyn’s announcement. When it sunk in, Jeremiah deflated a little, his hand slowly sinking back to his side.

  “Then you understand why I’m not exactly calm at the moment,” Jeremiah muttered.

  “We’re going to take care of you,” Cadwyn soothed. “But we need you to work with us.”

  “On what, exactly?” Jeremiah said once he had gathered himself. “Don’t you get it? Whatever plans you had are nothing more than burning wreckage at this point.”

  “Then we need to think of something else,” Cadwyn said, his voice calm but curt.

  At last, Mina rallied enough to try and reign her brother back in.

  “Help us—”

  “Help?” Jeremiah cut his sister off. “Mina, Basheba just killed us all, and you want me to help her sell our souls to the Witch?”

  “You are such an idiot, it’s physically painful to be around you,” Basheba retorted. “Why on earth would I pick the losing side?”

  Jeremiah balled his fists, his nails scraping along the shifting edges of the box. “Then what did you pledge your allegiance to?”

  “Allaways don’t bow to anyone,” Basheba hissed through her teeth. The flash of rage dwindled as she went back to rubbing her temple.

  Jeremiah bristled. “Then what would you call it?”

  Resting harder against Buck, Basheba cast a casual glance in Cadwyn’s direction. He wasn’t sure which of the churning emotions showed on his face, but it wasn’t what she wanted to see.