Stone Cold Witch

by Lori Woods

  “Who are your sisters?” I ask.

  “Stheno and Euryale,” Solan says. “They are Gorgons just like me. You must be careful. They do not care if they turn someone to stone.”

  “Thank you, Solan,” I say, turning around. “You might want to stay here for now. Things could get ugly real quick.” I head outside where Dudley has come to stand with my group of friends.

  “What did she say when you talked to her?” Snowball asks.

  I sigh. “Guys, we have the wrong Gorgon.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  For the time being, the mob outside is pretty adamant about leaving Medusa inside the jail cell—not that she couldn’t escape, as she had made that evident to me by bending the bar on her cell. Medusa, or Solan as I know her, is cooperating. She told us exactly where her sisters have been hiding out—the barn where Ray had been found. But as the crowd arrives there it’s evident that they have already moved out. The vampires split up, with the exception of Val, and make their rounds just outside of town in search of any hooded figures.

  Everyone is incredibly nervous. The Gorgons are very powerful, and simply looking at them will turn you to stone. So finding a way of defeating them is going to be difficult. But unlike the stare of the basilisk, they cannot inflict any harm through a reflection; we’ve all got mirrors to glance around corners.

  My hunting party consists of Snowball, Val, and Alfie. I keep hoping that Peter is actually listening to me and staying with Sprout and Doc, but I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that he’s like me—a disobedient little brat. I know I was. The four of us march up and down the streets. I’m starting to wish that there was a full moon out tonight; everyone in this town has an extra boost of energy and abilities, but no such luck. The full moon is still several nights away.

  The town is in an absolute uproar—even more so than when Ray had been missing a few hours ago. Werewolves are running around growling and sniffing around for our suspects, witches are flying on brooms, trolls are out and about, running in packs, and dwarves like Alfie are all wielding some sort of dangerous weapon, while also deftly avoiding the trolls. Alfie, of course, has his axe on his shoulder. “Is it possible that after Solan was arrested the two of them left town?” I ask.

  “It’s definitely possible,” Val says, “but we did act very fast. The other vampires got to the outskirts of town quickly. If those two women tried to leave town, they would have seen them.”

  “This is so dangerous,” Alfie gripes. “All these two Gorgons got to do is take off their cloaks that Medusa say’s they’re wearing, and then we’re done for.”

  “That’s what the mirrors are for, genius,” Snowball says, trotting along Alfie’s side.

  “Yeah, but how in the world are we supposed to put up a fight against an enemy we can’t even look directly at?” Alfie questions.

  He does have a point. I have no idea how this is going to go down, but I still cannot shake this horrible feeling in my gut. I hear a squeaking up ahead, and we glance up to see a frantic bat heading in our direction. “Buffy?” Val questions as the woman appears in a fog of black smoke as she lands before us, transforming from bat to sensual beauty in the blink of an eye.

  She’s out of breath. It’s rare that a vampire voluntarily uses that kind of energy to bring them to the point of panting. “I saw them,” she says breathlessly. “They were trying to get out of town, but they spotted us manning the road and ran back into town. I followed them… they’re in the library!”

  I don’t even have to summon Broom Hilda. She’s suddenly beside me, and I’m grabbing hold of her and throwing one leg over. I feel Snowball jump onto the back of my broom. “Go, Broom Hilda!” I call.

  We zip off, and I can hear two bats screeching behind me—Val and Buffy. Alfie, poor Alfie, falls behind attempting to make it on foot. We land in front of the library so abruptly that I send Snowball flying off the broom and landing in the dirt. She manages to land on all fours, but she’s not too thrilled. “Seriously?” she gripes. “I thought you were starting to get better at flying. Clearly not.”

  “Snowball, I need you to go gather the troops,” I say, ignoring her insult. “Get Red Sumac’s hunting party here quick. Find Joe too and have him alert the werewolves.”

  “But Suzy,” Snowball protests. “What are you going to do?”

  “I have to go in and get Peter,” I say.

  “Suzy, there are two monsters in there!”

  Val and Buffy land, changing into their humanoid selves. “What are you going to do?” Buffy asks me.

  “She’s going in!” Snowball hisses.

  “I told you to go get help!” I snap at her. Snowball shakes her head, and then she hurries off.

  “You’re going in there by yourself?” Buffy asks. “I know your boy is in there, Suzy, but that’s a terrible idea. I’m sure they’ve removed their cloaks by now.”

  “She’s not going by herself,” Val assures me.

  Buffy shakes her head. “I’m not going in,” she says. “But I will go get help.”

  “Do what you need to do,” I say, looking up towards the building. The front doors have been busted open. I grip the looking glass I have acquired in my hand. Hopefully, I’ll see the Gorgons through the mirror first. The thought of Peter being hurt makes my stomach twist in knots—plus, Doc and Sprout are in there too. I can’t wait for backup.

  Val and I head up the stairs, each of us gripping a mirror. “You know, one good thing about being a vampire—since I do not have a reflection, I can see a lot more out of this mirror.”

  I smirk slightly as we enter the building. All the candles and lights have been put out, and it sends a shiver up my spine. The candles on the chandelier up ahead are still smoking. “Well, that’s just perfect,” I say under my breath, getting the feeling of a haunted house.

  We hear laughter echo throughout the building, and Val and I dart behind a door. He holds his fingers to his lips. “Come out, come out, little witch!” one of the women cry.

  “She’s not here, Stheno,” says the other.

  “Quiet, Euryale,” says the first. “If we can get that Spell Master to help us, I know we can be cured with the werewolf blood. We just need… a little Spell Master blood…”

  “How can you be so certain?” Euryale asks.

  “We’re so close, and you know it!” Stheno counters. “The whole town is up and about. No doubt Medusa has betrayed us. We’ll make her head roll like it did all those centuries ago for this. This betrayal is unacceptable, especially not when we are so close!”

  “Our mortal sister has always been too soft-hearted on these sorts of creatures,” Euryale growls as the two of them turn a corner into another room that is adjoined to the main lobby where Val and I are hidden.

  I glance upwards after hearing footsteps, and I see Peter, Doc, and Sprout at the top of the stairwell, nervously looking around. They must know that we have some uninvited guests in the library. I wave, getting their attention and shake my head no, letting them know not to come down the stairs. I can see Peter’s face from what little morning sunlight is now coming in from an upstairs window. He looks scared, and that angers me to no end. I need to get him out of here, but I can hear the Gorgons breathing just a short distance from mine and Val’s hiding spot. We’re stuck where we are now.

  Using my mirror by placing it around the corner, I can now see the Gorgons. The two of them have indeed removed their hoods. I suppose they have all the werewolf blood they need now, so there is no need to keep themselves covered. They have wings and serpents for hair, and their faces are the most frightening things I have ever seen. They dip out into another back room, and I look up at Doc, Sprout, and Peter—waving at them to come.

  They scurry down the stairs as quickly and as quietly as possible and hide with us behind the large door. “Get out of the library,” I say to Doc and Sprout. “Get Peter out of here.”

  “No,” Peter says frightfully under his breath. “Come with
us.”

  “I cannot let these creatures wreak havoc on my library,” I say. “Someone has got to end this.”

  “Get him out of here,” Val says again.

  “Come on, Peter,” Sprout insists, and the three of them make a break for the door. Val and I head into the adjoining room, always using our mirrors before turning a corner. Every once in a while, I hear a laugh echo, and it causes me to freeze up.

  I know I have my magic to help me defend against these creatures, but I am concerned for Val. “You do not have a weapon,” I say.

  “I’m a vampire, Suzy,” he tells me. “I’ll be all right so long as I don’t look at them.”

  “I smell a vampire!” Stheno’s voice echoes.

  Val and I freeze. We can hear the two of them making quick steps in our direction. He looks at me sadly. “They’ve locked onto me,” he says. “Get out of here, Suzy.” He suddenly takes off running away from me, and my instinct is to call out to him, but I keep my mouth shut and hide behind some old furniture.

  They’re in the room with me. I can hear the snakes on their heads hissing as they walk. “Find that vampire, Euryale, and rip his head off.”

  I hear one of them leave. I crouch down to the floor and slowly move my mirror around the side of the couch so that I can see who I’m dealing with. Stheno is still in the room. She sniffs the air. “Witch,” she growls.

  As I am trying to envision the runes of my mind to come up with a spell, the creature jumps right up onto the couch and grabs me. I shut my eyes—tight—and she holds onto my arms and squeezes. “Ah!” I yelp; I swear, she’s going to snap my arms in two!

  “Witch,” she says to me, and her breath is just simply rank. “I need some of your blood, Spell Master… though I should take all of it to be sure.”

  I freeze. I actually freeze up, and I feel like an idiot that I cannot come up with one spell to use in this moment. But then I hear the saving sound of a sweeping axe. “Keep yer eyes shut!” Alfie roars as I fall. I feel the Gorgon fall on top of me, and a warm liquid seeps all over me. It takes suppressing every instinct I have to keep my eyes shut.

  “Okay, Suzy, you’re good,” Alfie says, and I open my eyes.

  There is a decapitated Gorgon lying on me, bleeding out everywhere. “Gross!” I shriek and shove the body to the side. “Where’s the head?” I ask, and Alfie proudly holds up a bag.

  “I just killed an immortal,” he says; the amount of pride in his voice makes me think of a small child who shot his first basketball hoop.

  “You saved me, Alfie,” I say and stand up, squeezing out my now-disgusting shirt.

  “Anytime, Suzy,” he says. He looks down at the pool of blood. “Hmmm…. In the old legends, when Medusa was decapitated, a winged horse and a giant winged boar came out of the blood. Why don’t I get a new pet for destroying a Gorgon?”

  “I have no idea, Alfie,” I say. “But now is not the time. Euryale is on Val’s trail!”

  Alfie nods, still carrying Stheno’s head in a bag, and we hurry after Val. We hear noise upstairs, so that’s where we head off to. We hide behind bookshelves. I hear Val’s panting from the other side of the room. I imagine he’s been running and ducking behind bookshelves since he and I split. I hear a shrieking sound followed by laughter; I use my mirror to look around, and I spy Euryale up above us, crawling around on all fours atop the bookshelves. “I hear you, Vampire!” she says with excited laughter.

  I glance around the corner towards where Val is. He’s out of energy and appears hurt. He’s on the ground, seated with his back to a bookshelf, panting and gripping his right leg. His loud breathing alone is enough to draw Euryale right to him. I think fast of the most non-specific subject I can imagine. “I need a book on… witches!” I call out, and suddenly the entire library erupts in a chant.

  “Pick me! Pick me! Ooh, ooh, pick me!” every single book in the library that has even a slight reference to witches, shrieks.

  Euryale leaps down from the bookshelf where she had been stationed; I continue watching her from my mirror, and she looks completely freaked. The noise is enough to cover up any sound the pained Val makes as he locates a new hiding place, crawling to get there. Euryale covers her ears. “Stop it!” she roars and starts looking around. I know she must have heard me call out the book order. She heads in mine and Alfie’s direction.

  I look at Alfie. “She’s coming,” I whisper. “Go around the edge of the room to Val. He can’t make it out of here on his own.”

  “What about you?” he asks.

  “I’ll draw her out of the library,” I say.

  Alfie does not look too confident in this plan, but he obeys. We part ways, and I take a deep breath and step out from the bookshelf—looking down as I do so. “Come and get me, snake-head!” I call and spin around, darting down the stairs back into the main lobby.

  “You!” she roars, and I hear her take flight, her giant wings flapping.

  Of course, I trip. Of course. I make it halfway down the stairs, and I step on my own foot. It would be gravity that does me in. I fall halfway down the stairs, and I land with a thud at the bottom. Every part of me aches, but I manage to get back up. I know I don’t close my eyes fast enough. She’s right on me in a second. Just when I think that I’m done for, something blocks me from viewing Euryale dead-on.

  “Leave her alone!” It’s Peter, and I look up in horror to see that he has thrown himself between me and Euryale. In an instant, he is stone.

  “Peter!” I scream.

  From the other side of him, I hear the Gorgon laugh. “Is this your boy, witch?” she asks. From where I am seated on the ground, I can see her hand touch Peter’s stone cheek. His enormous wingspan is all that is keeping me from looking directly at her.

  I lose it. The runes in my mind go haywire, and colorful bits of magical lightning erupt off me. Up above me, a black cloud forms toward the ceiling of the tall library. “What spell is this?” Euryale calls as a giant bolt of purple lightning strikes down on the other side of my stone brother, presumably striking her. She screams, and I smell burnt flesh.

  I hear a hissing and growling noise, and I glance up towards the top of the stairs where Alfie is acting as a prop to help Val stand. Val’s eyes seem to be glowing red, and his fangs are exposed. Despite his injury, he takes one giant monstrous leap downward. I see him land on the other side of Peter, and I stand in time to see Alfie darting down the stairs, opening up the bag that Stheno’s head is in. “Don’t look at her head… jeez…did you rip it off, Val?” Alfie mutters, his eyes shut tight as he holds open the bag for Val.

  Val’s hands are covered in blood as I make my way around to him. I see Peter’s face. He has this angry look—the last expression he ever made as he stared down a Gorgon for me. I start to cry. He’s stone! And just like Ted, there is no doubt that he is gone. “Doc!” I shriek. “Go get Doc!” I look at Alfie. “Go get him; he said there was a spell that a Spell Master could do that could save someone turned to stone, right?”

  “Right! Right!” Alfie says, hurrying out the door, the bag full of two decapitated heads still in tow.

  I look at Val desperately, and he holds me. “He’s going to be all right,” Val assures me.

  A crowd of people arrive bit by bit—Snowball and the group she had gone after that includes Red Sumac, Joe and his pack of werewolves, Officer Dudley and his search party, and the groups that Buffy had fetched. Doc and Sprout push through the crowd. “Peter!” Doc yelps when he sees him.

  “You said there was a spell, right?” I ask him. “Tell me what to do!”

  “Suzy,” Doc mutters under his breath. “That spell won’t work on a gargoyle! Even a half-breed like Peter; petrifaction is already in his blood whether he usually turns to stone during the day or not. The spell removes the petrifaction from the victim; you try that with someone with gargoyle genetics, and you’ll kill him. He’s gone, Suzy.”

  The room grows quiet all apart from my loud, pitiful sobbing.

&n
bsp; Chapter Nineteen

  Peter is placed out in front of the library. The sunrise has peeked over the horizon, and there is an orangish hue across the sky. Val stands by me, hidden under one of his sun umbrellas, just like the other vampires. He’s too weak to administer all the day makeup he usually wears. The entire town is out, even those who had not participated in the search and instead remained hidden inside from fear. That brave look on Peter’s frozen-in-stone face says it all.

  One by one, people lay out flowers or candles. This doesn’t seem real. I pause, watching Red Sumac as she places several flowers down at Peter’s feet. She pauses and stares at him with the saddest eyes I believe I have ever seen on a person. “He was nothing like what I was raised to believe someone like him would be,” she muttered, I think mostly to herself. There is so much shame on her that I honestly feel sorry for her, but not as sorry as I am feeling for myself.

  I had only just met Peter. I had only just discovered that I had family alive and in the flesh. I had pulled him from an orphanage, saved him from the life that I had lived. This cannot possibly be real. “I’ll say a few words for the boy,” Val whispers to me, and I yank away from him.

  “Not yet,” I say. “I need to try something first.”

  Broom Hilda appears at my side, and I grab the broomstick, throwing my leg over the side. The group of guilt-driven mourners can wait. Everyone in this town treated him like garbage, but I can see from each of their faces how regretful they are. I can’t let Peter just disappear into oblivion believing that everyone he surrounded himself with in his last days hated him. Looking at these people, I know that is no longer the case. Peter became a hero—not just from sacrificing himself for me but by helping to get rid of the terror that was the Gorgons and in saving young Ray. I have to try something.