The 13th Witch Complete Trilogy

by Thompson-Geer, Stacey

  I looked back at her and shook my head. I hadn't really thought about what it could be or how I could use it. Now I was a little bit curious myself.

  She reached for the door and smiled as she closed it behind her. I was alone in this big flashy room and really didn't know what to think about it. I went to the huge bed and laid down on it. I felt the soft mattress give a little under me and instantly felt comfortable. I was tired, but at the same time, I still wondered about these people who had come into my life. I turned over on the bed and was instantly a sleep.

  -I opened my eyes to find myself in that same room, with the gold colored walls and the bed to match it. The sun was shining into the windows brightly. Just the sun made the room seem to be from another world.

  I sat up in the bed and rubbed my eyes. I wondered if I had really met my biological family or if it was just a dream. There was a knock at my door that startled me and I crawled out of the bed. When I got to the door, Marie was standing there holding some fresh towels for the bathroom.

  “Good morning.” She said brightly to me. I smiled back at her. “We have some business this morning, but after it's taken care of, we can sit and get to know each other better.”

  “What kind of business?” I regretted asking the minute the words left my mouth. “Oh, nothing to worry about. Boring stuff really.” She handed me the towels and started away. I watched the back of her frizzy hair ounce along as she walked.

  When Marie was out of sight, I closed the door and looked at the towels that she had given to me. They were like the brand new towels that you find at great hotels that charge hundreds of dollars a night to stay in.

  I wondered what the house looked like. If it was my house too, then I could explore it and see what all was here, right? I thought about it for a minute and decided that I wanted to look around and see what there was to see.

  I put the towels down on my bed and started out the door. The hallway was bare. Everyone must be gone.

  I stopped at the balcony at the end of the hallway and looked down at the second floor. It too was very bare. The view from there was very good. You could see all of the furniture in the living room area and half of the kitchen. I wondered what was just below the second floor rooms.

  I turned and started to make my way down the stairs towards the living room area. The furniture there was always kept clean and nice so I tried to be careful not to mess them up as I walked through the room towards the door to the other part of the house.

  When I placed my hand on the door, it felt cold and unwelcoming. Like a silent warning to me. I ignored it and turned the knob. A gush of cold came over me as I pulled the door all the way open.

  Through the dark I could make out a hallway and a flickering of what seemed like a far off fire burning. I gathered myself and took a step into the dark. The cold was overwhelming. I wanted to turn and close the door, but something was pulling me down the hallway.

  I walked carefully down the hallway towards the light that I say. I started to hear the faint sound of voices. I was still too far to hear what they were saying, but it kind of peaked my interest. I slid my hand on the wall to know where I was going and listened to the voices. I could understand them now. They were talking about someone that they had caught. Someone that seemed important. I lost my footing and tripped falling hard onto the ground. The two that had been talking stopped and started scurrying my way. I pulled myself up and ran as fast as I could to the door at the end of the hallway. The voices were getting louder and running as well, but I got to the door before they could see who it was and shut it as fast as I could. I then ran to the couch and sat with my back to the door.

  I heard them open the door and start looking around. I could see them now in the light. One was built very big and had light brown curly hair that clung tight to his head. The other was small and had black hair that ran down his back. He looked at me for a minute and then slapped the other man on the arm. They both walked towards me and stopped in front of me.

  “Who are you?” The small man said looking down at me.

  “I'm with Eric and Marie, why?”

  “You weren't just in the hallway there, where you?” His voice got dark and brooding as he spoke. “No, I've been sitting here waiting for Marie for at least 20 minutes.” I said to him in the most matter of fact tone that I could muster. He looked at me through his squinty eyes and smiled.

  “Then I guess I'll be seeing you around the house?”

  “Yes, you will be a lot now.” He smiled a toothless grin and laughed in a way that made my skin crawl. He turned on his heels and started out of the room with the other man fallowing him. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned my head to look around the room. I hadn't noticed before, but there was a bookcase full of books on everything you could imagine. I stood up smiling at the discovery and started to thumb through the selection. There were classics as well as how to books and some educational and alternative living titles. I couldn’t think about the books as I had hoped. Something was not right and I could feel it in my bones. I pushed the feeling out of my head and continued to look.

  “Do you like to read?” A voice chimed behind me. I turned to see Marie and Eric standing there looking at me.

  “I do like to read. I read a lot when I was in school.” I said turning and looking back at the books. “You can read any of those books that you like.” Eric said in that cold voice of his.

  “Thank you.” I didn't know what else to say to that. “Have you thought of any other questions that you might want to ask us about our lives or regarding anything that you might have heard about us?” Eric was not a warm person to talk to. He got straight to the point with most people I was finding.

  “I do have one question.” I was going to get right to the point as well. “If you are so powerful, how did Amimara get me from you?”

  Marie and Eric looked at each other for a moment and then back at me. “Animara was your nanny.” Marie said sitting down on the couch. I followed her lead. Eric continued to stand, which was a bit unsettling, as we spoke. “She was a great friend of ours for many years and we trusted her with our child. She took you when you were barely six months old; she said that she was going to take you for a short walk. Instead, she left with you and never came back. We were devastated and shocked that she had done this.” Marie stopped talking and looked at Eric again, as if asking for approval.

  “I heard that you practiced dark magic.” I started. “Is that true?” I hated asking it, but wanted to know what they would say and how.

  “Many people say that because they don't understand what we are doing. We want to have a better world where people all want the same things.” Eric said taking over the conversation. “That doesn't make us evil.” He was looking right at me with his cold dark eyes. “You have spent time with Anamara's son, Conner?”

  “Yes, some.” I didn't know if I should tell them about what he had said to me and what he had taught me.

  “You can't trust him. He has the gift of persuasion. Anything that he wants you to do, he can just look at you and make you do it.” I thought about the times that we had flirted and wondered if it was real or if it was all him. Why was that crossing my mind now?

  I just looked at him and wondered why he was telling me this, really. Another man with cold features and dark hair walked into the room. He stopped at Eric and whispered into his ear. Eric nodded and started to walk out with him.

  “We will talk again soon.” He said as he walked away and into the kitchen. “Is there anything else that you can think of that you want to ask me?” Marie said still wanting to keep my attention. I shook my head and looked back at the books. At least I could read while I was here.

  “I guess I should be going too.” Marie said as she started to get up from where she was sitting. When I turned back to look at her, she was gone. I wondered around the house for the rest of the day. It really was a pretty place and had all kinds of new things to look at. The living room and the dining room w
here just part of the house really. There was an addition that led off into an office and another few rooms. There was also a garden in the back of the house that was so pretty, I couldn't believe it was even a part of the place. I almost didn't realize it when it started to get dark. I was too consumed with the beauty of the flowers and the greenery that surrounded me.

  I decided that once the stars started to come out, it was time to go up to my room. I walked through the house and up the stairs in record time and found myself along in my strange bedroom. The gold walls were dark and the room was quite. I changed into some sleeping clothes that Marie had given me and jumped into bed. The soft mattress made the world fall away once again and I found myself sleeping in no time.

  Eight

  I woke up in the big room very early the next morning. The room was dark and I almost didn't know where I was and what I was doing. I heard a noise downstairs that made me get very quiet. Should I get out of the bed or stay here and pretend I didn't hear anything?

  I slid my feet out of the bed and felt the cold of the wood floor. The door to my room was still closed, but I could hear the commotion down the stairs and needed to know what it was.

  I opened the door to my room as quietly as I could. The hallway was dark compared to the brightness that been there the night before.

  The noise was louder now and seemed to be that of a person whining and groaning in the distance. I followed it. When I got to the edge of the balcony, I looked down at the first floor and saw a clearing where the living room used to be and the edge of a forest where the door to the house was. I felt the floor change from wood to grass and looked down. I realized that I was standing to the far side of the clearing. There was a big bonfire going in the very middle of the clearing and many people around it. Eric and Marie were at the head of the bonfire as the others formed a circle around it. I could still hear the groaning of people, but could not make out where it was coming from. The moon was full and big in the lower end of the sky and I knew that is was rising.

  One person caught my eye and I was absorbed into finding out who it was. It was a girl and she was dressed in all black standing by Eric and Marie. Then she turned and I could see who it really was.

  Me. I stepped back and closed my eyes. I was scared and confused. When I opened my eyes I was looking at the gold ceiling above me. I had made a mistake in coming here and I hurried to my things to gather them up. Something caught my eye and I looked closer.

  I had to get out of here. My jacket had been thrown on the top of my shoes so I felt around looking for the bottle that I'd put in my pocket the day before.

  I found it and held it up to me. I could get out of here and be safe again. How stupid I'd been for coming here. Conner was right and I didn't listen. I felt sad and knew that he would probably be looking for me if I didn't get back tonight.

  I gathered up my coat and slid on my bloody shoes and looked at the bottle one last time. Should I try to hide that I'd left? I decided that what I'd dreamt about was enough to let me know that I had to get out of here, even if it wasn't true.

  I closed my eyes and threw the bottle to the ground. It smoked around me and I thought about Conner. When I opened my eyes, I was still in the bedroom with the purple smoke floating around me. It didn't work. Why didn't it?

  I started to panic a little. Now I had to get out of the house the traditional way and that was going to be hard to do.

  I slipped on my shoes and tried to sweep the smoke away with my hands. I opened my door slowly, sticking my head out and looking both directions. The hall was empty and I stepped out into the hallway.

  It was still dark and it made me think about the odd dream that I'd had. The only thing was that the next full moon was in a couple days and not tonight.

  When I got to the balcony, I peered over the edge to the living room. It was empty and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  I turned to the stairs and started down them towards the door. It wasn't far at all and I figured that I would be out into the grass in just a minute.

  “Where are you going?” A voice rang in my ear and I realized it was Eric just behind me. I closed my eyes and help my breath for a moment and then turned to face him.

  “I was just going to grab a little air. I couldn't sleep,” I lied and forced a slight smile. He looked at me for a minute and then moved forward towards me. “Hmm... I thought it might be from the travel potion that you must have accidentally broke in your room.” He kept his eyes on me and I know that I had a stunned look on my face. Was he testing me?

  I tried to recover my composure, but knew that it was too late to save it now, so I turned back to the door to get out. He reached from behind me and shut it hard. I was scared, but didn't want to show it to him and give him that power.

  “You should have been a good little girl and listened to what we were saying to you.” He pulled me around to face him. “Now you won't find us so nice.” I was so screwed.

  Nine

  I opened my eyes, but really couldn't see anything. It was dark and I was confused about how I'd gotten to where ever the hell I was.

  I reached up to my face with my hand and felt my head. It hurt as though someone had smacked me over the head with a two by four. My eyes finally adjusted to the lack of light and I could see that I was in a basement. There were stairs not far from me and I stood up to check and see if I could get out of this room that way. Of course they were locked. I can't get that lucky.

  Even if I managed to get out of the basement, I wasn't going to be able to get out of the house without someone knowing. I rested on the fact that my fate had already been figured out. I was going to be forced into something or they would just keep me here out of the way for a while.

  I hoped for the latter. My mind started to flutter to a bunch of different things. I wondered what time it was and if the sun was up yet. It had to be morning by now. I wondered if Conner had figured out that I was gone and started a search party of witches out to look for me. Did he even know where this place was? Even if he did, there would be no way to get me out of here without a lot of help.

  How many witches did he really know? I started to think about my adoptive parents and how they would be disappointed in the stupid choice that I had made to come here in the first place. Why was it so important that I know what they were and why I had been taken from them. I now realized that if Animara had not done what she did, I would be just as evil as they were.

  What now? I noticed in my self-pity that one of the covered windows in the basement was broken. I stared at it for a minute wondering if it was real or just a picture in my head.

  It didn't change so I got up from the stair that I'd been sitting on and walked to it with hope in my eyes. It was real.

  I reached up to it and started to work the glass out into the yard. If I was quite, I might be able to get out and try to get back to Conner or maybe he would find me with his pendulum. I'd seen him use it a few times to check on where his sister was at.

  I finally got the glass worked out a bit and could wiggle my body through it.

  I was free. My feet couldn't carry me fast enough and I ran in the direction that I thought was towards the nearest town. There was no way for me to know where I was and no one to ask, so I just ran. I finally got tired and couldn't run anymore and fell in a heap on the dried up old ground.

  The bluffs hadn't been getting the rain that they normally do and the ground was dusty and hot from the sun.

  I wanted to cry, but plead with myself not to. What was I going to do? I looked up at the ground around me and thought back to when I was younger and would go on long walks in the bluffs with my dad. Something had to look familiar.

  There was nothing that I saw, but there was a beat up path that lead down the bluff that I was on. Something in me said to follow it. After all, it couldn't be as bad as I was running from, could it?

  The path was long and winding, but seemed to be going somewhere that was flat and a little out of the way. I wo
ndered when it would end and when I'd be where ever it was that I was going.

  The bluffs always looked like tiny mountains to me. They were very tall in places, but were also very hilly in others. My dad liked to hunt here on occasion and when the deer were far more than the state liked to have.

  Finally I got to the end of the path. There was nothing that I could see except empty space. I made a face at the discovery. What was I going to do now? That seemed to be the big question of the day.

  I sat down on the ground and started to fiddle with some of the brown burnt soil that was under me and something caught my eye. I looked at the clearing and it was starting to change. Instead of it being an empty clearing, a small shack appeared slowly. I wondered if my eyes were showing me odd things again, but they weren't. There was also a man standing by the door of the shack. I knew him and a smile drew up on my face.

  It was my dad. He was standing with his arms crossed as though he was about to give me a huge lecture on why I should have listened to him or my gut. It didn't matter to me. I was just glad to see him.

  I stood and started to walk fast toward him. When I got to where he was standing, he started to say something, but instead gave me a big hug. I closed my eyes and took in the old spice aftershave that he wore and smiled.

  He opened the door to the house and I eagerly went in. Where ever dad was mom probably was too, but she wasn't there. I looked all through the small house looking for some sign that she was around and or alright. The problem is that I couldn't find anything of her, only my dad.

  The room was dingy and dirty. Nothing like our house had been when I had been living at home. It was very small and couldn't have been much more than the one bedroom that I had walked into looking for my mom.

  “We were so worried about you.” My Dad said, his voice trembling. I knew that he was and that he would be worried. It had been almost a month since my birthday and I hadn't spoken to them at all.