Cozy Witch

by Tess Lake

  We marched in silence for a while until Mom cleared her throat, obviously getting ready to talk again to Aunt Ro, but Aunt Cass had had enough. She whirled around and glared at everyone.

  “I’ll take care of it! No one is going to have to reveal anything, okay?” she said.

  “What are you going to do? Put the whole town under a spell? There’s national media here, so many eyes, and everyone knows what they found where they were staying,” Aunt Ro said.

  Aunt Cass sighed and shook her head at the moms.

  “You want my plan? Fine, here it is. I’m going to make sure that Rufus and Dawn are either locked up or very far away from Harlot Bay and then I’m going to carve that strange symbol into as many doors as I can and paint it all over town. I’m also going to set up a fake monster sighting. It’ll muddy the waters. If there are many people doing it, then it can’t be them. Besides, according to what Harlow said, the monster claws had paint on them, not blood. In the end, this is going to be good for the Mysterious Mysteries,” Aunt Cass said.

  “But that’s… okay I guess… that’s the best we have,” Mom said. Aunt Cass whirled around and pointed the crowbar into the forest.

  “Quick march, let’s go,” she said. We continued through the forest, branches cracking under our feet, leaves rustling, and hearing the occasional bird singing in the distance. The day was only getting hotter and it seemed that every living thing in this area had gone to ground, except of course us who were stupid enough to be trudging towards some kind of supernatural monster.

  It was another full hour of trudging before we finally emerged from the forest into a field that led down into a small valley and a dark opening in the ground.

  “Please tell me it’s not down that murder hole,” Molly said.

  “The compass is pointing in that direction,” I said. We walked across the field and down the hill, heading towards the dark opening. At Aunt Cass’s instruction I took a wide arc around the hole and watched the compass needle move, showing that that was where we needed to go. I returned to the family who were gathered outside the hole, my cousins peering anxiously into the dark and Kira trying to use the light on her phone to see further into the inky black.

  “It’s where the compass says we should go,” I said.

  “Molly, give Harlow the trap, I’m going to need you beside me,” Aunt Cass said.

  Molly handed over the gardening gloves which I slipped on and then picked up the trap. It didn’t weigh much but I could feel the buzz of magic within it and the spikes looked sharp and wicked.

  “We stick together and we’ll be fine. If we see it we must try to catch it first, but if it attacks then we obliterate it,” Aunt Cass said.

  “I hate this part,” Luce said. We followed Aunt Cass down into the cave and into the darkness. As soon as we were inside, we threw glowing balls of light so we could see what we were doing. The cave entrance was dark and cool and we could hear the sound of rushing water somewhere in the distance. The temperature dropped noticeably too, and when we breathed out you could see plumes of condensation coming from our mouths.

  Aunt Cass took the lead with Molly close beside her, and then me, and everyone else following behind. The cave was deep and dark, exactly as Juliet’s journal had described. The dirt floor underneath was flat and smooth and led down in a gentle gradient. It was almost as though the cave had been designed by someone to make it easy to access and move around. As we descended, the air grew cooler and we began to see black and green moss appearing on the walls. It wasn’t long before we saw the deep scratches as well, carved into the stone as if by sharpened claws.

  “Wouldn’t it be easier if we used a few sticks of dynamite and collapsed this whole thing?” Luce said, running her finger along one of the scratches.

  “It would work, but we need to talk to that man. It’s important. I can feel it,” Aunt Cass said. We continued down until the cave turned and then opened into a large amphitheater with multiple dark passageways heading off in every direction. Under our feet it grew wet. There were puddles everywhere and the constant sound of dripping in time with the rushing water in the distance.

  “Compass check Harlow,” Aunt Cass whispered. I checked the compass then stepped out in front of Aunt Cass and Molly, taking the lead. A moment later I realized what a colossally stupid idea that was when I took a step, and the ground wasn’t there. All I saw was a flash of dark as I slipped down a hole and fell. There was the barest of moments of rushing wind in the pitch darkness before I plunged into a deep lake of cold water. Somehow I managed to keep hold of the trap, looking up to see one of the lights follow me down and bubbles of air floating towards the surface. I swam upwards and broke the surface of the water, hearing my family shout over the sound of my own shocked breathing.

  “I’m here. I’m okay, I fell into a lake. I still have the trap,” I called out.

  More balls of light floated down from the hole in the roof. I caught a glimpse of the moms looking down at me. I was in another large amphitheater type cave system, except this one had a deep lake in the middle. Holding onto the trap I swam over to the side and pulled myself out. There was rocky ground here, but it was still knee deep in water.

  “Stay where you are, we’ll find a way down to you!” Aunt Cass called out.

  “I’m not going anywhere!” I called out and then suddenly wondered whether it was wise to be shouting so loud in a cave that supposedly held a monster. As I listened to the sound of my own voice echo away I heard another voice calling my name.

  “Harlow? What’s happening?” It was Jack. I saw his face appear at the hole and in the glimmer of the light saw his eyes were gleaming blue.

  I heard the moms, Aunt Cass, my cousins, and maybe even Kira, talking with Jack, trying to explain what it was we were doing.

  “I’m okay,” I called out.

  “Are you out of the lake?” Jack yelled back.

  “Yes!”

  A moment later there was an enormous splash as Jack jumped down the hole and landed in the water. I shot a cold ball of light out over the lake, seeing bubbles fizzing to the top before Jack finally emerged and then swam over to where I was. He pulled himself out of the water and then shivered at the sudden cold. He was wearing his building clothes which meant shorts and a T-shirt plus a pair of boots.

  “Maybe next time you go hunting monsters you can tell me and I’ll help you,” he said before grabbing me in an enormous hug. The hug was brief however. Jack pulled away as lines of frost began to creep up his body. I reached for the stone but it was gone. I must have lost it in the lake. I looked down and saw that ice was beginning to collect around my legs where I was chilling the water down to freezing point. Oh Goddess, the cold had spread outside my hands again.

  “Great, I’m going to become an icicle,” I complained.

  Then I looked back at Jack, who was still watching me with those eyes that hovered on the spot between blue and green. My light, affected by my Slip witch power, was cold, rather than warm yellow and in it his eyes now appeared green. He was watching me, waiting for my answer.

  “You’re right. The next time I go hunting supernatural monsters I’ll make sure to tell you so you can help,” I said.

  “I was working and I saw two carloads of witches go driving by so I knew something was up,” Jack said.

  It hadn’t even occurred to me that Jack would be at work today when we’d driven past the Governor’s mansion.

  “Here we are and I think I need to keep moving before I freeze solid,” I said.

  “Let’s go then,” Jack said.

  I picked up Aunt Cass’s trap. I lost one of the gardening gloves but I still had the other. It wasn’t going well though. The water that had gotten inside of it had started to freeze against my skin. At least the glove was stopping the ice from spreading out to the trap itself. Goddess knows how it might be affected by that. I sent the ball of light drifting up towards the ceiling and saw only Kira looking down. It appeared the rest of the f
amily had gone rushing off to see if they could find a way down to me.

  “Do you know the direction out of here?” Jack asked.

  “Oh crap,” I said as I realized I didn’t have the compass. I looked towards the center of the deep dark lake and knew that it would be somewhere on the bottom.

  “Let’s pick a direction and keep moving,” I said. There were at least five dark cave exits from where we were so I picked the first one at random and followed along behind my cold bobbing light, feeling ice forming around my legs and then breaking off as I sloshed through the water. Jack began rubbing his arms with his hands, trying to keep his body temperature up. If there had been any heat down here I could have possibly pulled it out of whatever it was in and given it to Jack to warm him up, but it was simply freezing underground, wet and cold, dark and damp.

  “Is that meant to catch the monster?” Jack said, his teeth beginning to chatter.

  “That’s what we’re hoping,” I said. We kept sloshing through the water, slowly heading upwards before dipping again. We entered into another large cavern, this one with some dry areas around the sides. I sent my light floating up to the roof and then gasped aloud at what I saw. The walls were covered in scratches, lines of five, carved in every surface. Someone or something had been down here for a very long time, counting the passing of the years.

  “Here take the trap. Throw it if you see anything running at us,” I said to Jack. I had to drop it on the ground and then break the ice out of the glove to get it off before Jack could pick it up. Thanks to the Slip witch power of mine I wasn’t feeling the temperature much and honestly had no idea whether I’d be able to throw a fireball, but if anything came running at us from the darkness I sure as hell was going to try.

  I saw there was a single exit on the other side of the cavern and somewhere far down it I could hear Aunt Cass, my cousins and the moms shouting out to me.

  “Let’s go that way,” I said and then a sudden bitterness filled my mouth as the magic around me turned gritty and sour. A dark shape fell from the roof, landing in front of us. It was so quick, a blur of black.

  Both of us jumped back, Jack having the presence of mind to throw the trap and a moment later the monster stepped into it. There was a surge of magic that I could feel was Aunt Cass’s, imbued in the trap. A glowing green light lit up the ring of thorns, encasing the monster, weaving up around it like a cage before fading in luminescence. In the jump I tripped and had landed on my butt on the ground along with Jack. Both of us got to our feet, staring at the hideous abomination in front of us. It was a monster covered in dark matted hair, its eyes gleaming yellow, its face some hideous confusion between a wolf and a man. It was as Aunt Cass had described the monster she’d encountered. There was something wrong with it, like it didn’t belong here. I found it hard to look at its face, the skin appearing to shift and ripple.

  The monster growled from within its cage and clenched its hands, the wickedly sharp claws on the ends of its fingers glinting in the cold light above us. It tried to step out of the circle of thorns, but the cage around it shimmered green light and it could not escape.

  “We still need to get out of here in case that trap doesn’t hold,” I said to Jack.

  At the sound of my voice the monster started and then, between one blink and the next there was no longer a monster trapped in the cage, but a man. It was the one Aunt Cass and I had seen in the forest on the night of the dinner. He was wearing ragged clothes not from our time. He had black hair and blue eyes.

  “Marguerite?” he asked, peering at me. I stepped closer, bringing the light down from the ceiling so he could see me properly.

  “I’m not her. I think I look like her,” I said in a quiet voice. “Are you Johannes? Marguerite’s husband?” I asked.

  The man nodded and then looked me up and down again before glancing at Jack.

  “I am but that is my formal name. Those who know me call me –”

  “Jack,” I finished.

  “You have the look of a Torrent about you. Some more of that witchy business I imagine. Tell me, do you have two sisters or two cousins? I’ve heard the patterns repeat again and again,” he said.

  “Two cousins,” I said.

  “I’m Jack too. Are you the monster who has been stalking Stern and Torrent?” Jack asked.

  “Yes, I am. Best call me Johannes if there is two of us,” he said, his voice grim.

  I went to move closer to get a better look at him and realized my feet were stuck to the ground. I hadn’t noticed I’d been standing in a puddle which now was frozen solid.

  “Why were you hunting us? Why did you attack those men?” I asked, trying to pull my feet free of the ice.

  The faint shimmering cage of green around Johannes lit up before fading in luminescence and he brought his hands up to his head as though it was aching.

  “Our wives fought the darkness too well and then it fought back, dark witches cursing Benjamin and I to these hideous forms. Cursing us with the desire to kill anyone with the names of Torrent and Stern. Juliet had to lock us away after the deaths on the island,” Johannes said through gritted teeth.

  “Was Benjamin locked in here too? Did he escape?” I asked.

  “He was locked away with me, but then both of us sensed it. There was a Torrent near. We could not help but want to attack and the seal, after all these years, was weak. He managed to escape before it locked tight, but then there was an explosion, something that weakened the seal and I felt his death. Eventually the seal broke and I could finally escape,” he said.

  The green cage around him shimmered again and this time I saw there were cracks through the light, as though the magic was failing to hold.

  “Jack, you need to get my feet free,” I said urgently. Jack grabbed my leg and tried to pull it out of the ice but it was stuck fast.

  In the distance I could still hear my family shouting. It was hard to know if they were getting any closer. The green cage around Johannes shimmered again and this time I saw it clearly, a cobweb of cracks spreading out. It was getting weaker.

  “Step back. I have an idea,” I said to Jack. He moved away and I tried to throw a small fireball at my feet, hoping it would be enough to melt the ice. But no magic came. The mere presence of Johannes had soured it, made it bitter, and possibly my own Slip power was interfering.

  “I’m sorry,” Johannes moaned, grabbing his head again. He screwed up his face in great pain and crouched down, and began rocking from side to side. I saw his feet were starting to lengthen and grow, his toenails turning into sharpened claws.

  “Can you stomp on the ice?” I said to Jack. He did his best, but it was like stomping on an ice-skating rink and expecting it to break under your feet. Johannes looked up at us, his face a mask of pain.

  “Why did you curse our children?” he called out.

  “Please try to fight it Johannes,” I yelled out in panic. The transformation that had begun at his feet was rippling up his body, his clothing merging into his skin.

  “Find Marguerite, I feel her presence still,” he said to me through clenched teeth. He stood up and hit his hands against the green cage. There was a flash of green light and I saw the cracks in the shimmering bars had almost entirely encircled him.

  “I can’t get you out Harlow,” Jack said.

  “You need to kill me. Please,” Johannes moaned and then that moan turned into a howl as the transformation consumed him. The monster was back with its sharpened claws and hideous face. The man was gone.

  “Family!” I yelled out.

  I felt a rush of magic, and Jack was forcefully pushed away from me. In the blur of it I got the sense that it was Mom. Next, a fireball came shooting out the dark, landing directly between my feet and then I was free of the ice. I was burned but in the shock of everything that was happening I barely felt it.

  The circle of thorns burst into flame and just like that the trap was gone and the monster dived towards me. I raised my arms and then I Slip
ped once more. I couldn’t grab the magic that was normally around us and so I grabbed the dark that Johannes the monster had caused. A great and powerful burst of cold shot out of my hands and hit the monster as it was diving towards me.

  I jumped out of the way and then there was an enormous shattering sound as the frozen monster hit the ground and broke into pieces. I was up on my feet a moment later, gasping and shaking, Jack on one side, Molly and Luce on the other. The room filled with light, every witch throwing up their own ball of light, showing the thousands of scratches spread across the ceiling and down the walls, and the remains of the monster, now little more than fragments of ice. As we watched, despite the cold, they melted away and soon were gone.

  “Let’s get out of here before you freeze to death,” Aunt Cass said. There was no argument from us. I was exhausted and couldn’t cast any more magic, but my cousins and the moms helped, flinging up warm balls of light that drifted around us, their glowing nimbus akin to standing near a roaring fire. We followed Aunt Cass back out through the cave and upwards. My legs were still covered in pieces of ice that the fireball had failed to melt, but as we neared the surface the rotating balls of light helped melt them away. Finally we reached Kira in the upper amphitheater.

  “That was crazy, what did I feel?” she said, her eyes wide in the dark.

  “We found the monster but it’s gone now,” I said, feeling myself on the edge of exhaustion. Perhaps it was the tiredness that we all felt or maybe we were being reckless, but no one doused their magic lights as we walked out of the cave, straight into the four writers staring at us and the glowing balls of heat floating around our heads.

  “What is this?” TJ said. I saw all of them looking at me, their mouths hanging open, shocked out of their minds.