Witch Hunter Olivia

by T. A. Kunz

  “Yes, and right now, Tara’s the priority,” I reply before storming back to the room.

  I take out my cell phone and dial Tara’s number. The instant it begins to ring on my end, I hear the song “Happy” by Pharrell fill our room. Looking over at Tara’s desk, I see her phone resting there, vibrating. My gut churns and a feeling of hopelessness engulfs me as I realize my only way of getting in contact with her is right there in front of me. Slumping down onto the edge of my bed, I stare at her empty one that she forgot to make before she left for the party last night.

  I feel heat on my knee and look down to see Heath’s hand resting there. He doesn’t say a word when I look over at him, he just flashes me a worried smile before taking a seat next to me. “I’m sorry,” he says in a calming whisper. Even though he whispered, it sounded loud in the quiet of the room.

  “I don’t want her to leave like this. I’m not ready to lose her again,” I reply. I almost let the waterworks take hold of me again, but I resist.

  “I know.”

  “It’s all my fault,” I repeat under my breath, feeling the sting of every single word.

  “You were doing what you thought was right, Liv. You can’t keep blaming yourself for what Tobias did. This was his fault, not yours,” Heath argues, his tone heated. “I hate seeing you beat yourself up like this.”

  “Try telling Tara that. Oh, that’s right, she gone,” I reply, which causes silence to fall between us.

  My eyes drift toward the open blinds and realize the sun is setting.

  “Shit! When did it get so late? The bonfire should be starting soon.”

  “I thought Tara was the priority?” he asks.

  “That was when I thought there was a chance of finding her, but now I realize maybe that was foolish of me.”

  “It wasn’t foolish, Liv.”

  “My mission is to keep Angelica safe, and that’s what I’m going to do,” I say, finding a way to snap out of my depression over Tara.

  “Do you even know where this bonfire’s going to be? We used to have it in the empty field behind the gym, but with the construction there now—”

  “Tara probably has a flyer for it around here somewhere,” I interject, standing up and making my way to her desk.

  I search through the many papers littering the desktop but don’t find anything about the party. Looking over at the small nightstand next to her bed, I see one of her textbooks with a red piece of paper sticking out the bottom of it. Removing the piece of paper, I unfold it and see it’s a flyer advertising tonight’s party.

  “It’s starting in thirty minutes next to the soccer fields,” I say after checking my phone for the time. “We need to hurry. If I can’t stop Tara from leaving, maybe I can at least save Angelica and my brother.”

  “That’s not far from where we used to hold it,” Heath chimes in.

  “So you know where it is?”

  He nods before heading toward the door with me following closely behind.

  *****

  I guess Greek life does nothing on a small scale here on this campus. The parking lot in front of the twin soccer fields is full, and we have to resort to parking far away on the grass. Banners with every house’s Greek letters line the chain-link fence surrounding the soccer stadium, leading us in the direction of the bonfire. There’s a steady stream of people headed in that direction, so we fall in line with the crowd.

  We hear the party before we see it. It sounds like the music fraternity and sorority are in full effect. Their harmonized singing accompanied by drums and several other instruments fills the air.

  Nearing the end of the sidewalk, we run out of chain-link fence to follow and find ourselves walking on the patchy grass that surrounds the soccer fields. It leads to a hill that blocks our view of a party we can still only hear at this point. The tip of the unlit bonfire is the first thing I see as we near the top of the little hump of land.

  “This should be fun,” I murmur sarcastically as we look down upon the sea of people. “How in the hell are we going to find anyone in all of this?”

  “I think we’re about to be the ones who are found,” Heath comments.

  I follow his line of sight and see my brother headed toward us, but no Angelica. “Are you ready for this?”

  “Do you even need to ask?” he replies, flashing me a smirk. “No offense, but your bro’s going down.”

  “None taken.” I start moving toward Malcolm.

  “Took you long enough,” Malcolm sneers, coming to a stop several feet from where we are.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” I reply with a hint of snark.

  “It’s not me you kept waiting, it’s Angelica.” His mischievous grin spreads from ear to ear as his eyes shimmer purple for a brief moment.

  “Whoever’s in there controlling my brother, just know you picked the wrong time to fuck with me and my friends,” I state. “And I’m not afraid of roughing up my brother if it means I can get rid of you.”

  “Oh, I’m so scared. I’m shaking in my boots,” he replies with a laugh. “You’re so in over your head right now, and you don’t even realize it.”

  “Quit with the cryptic bullshit and attack me already,” I shout, getting more frustrated by the second.

  “Well, judging by the time, you have three choices,” he says, looking at his cell phone. “You can fight me, which you’ll lose. You can save Angelica, which you won’t. Or you can wait here until a group of your fellow Hunters shows up and takes you away for my murder. The choice is yours.”

  “Your murder?” Heath interjects.

  “I guess I can tell you now since no one will ever believe it’s true,” he chuckles, his eyes flashing purple again. “It’s me … Tobias.”

  “No way. Tobias Young is dead,” I say.

  “Ah, yes. My physical body is dead, that’s true, but my soul is very much alive inside of your older brother thanks to a possession charm.” His laugh and wide grin make me ball my fists in a fit of anger.

  “If you really are Tobias, why did you do all this?”

  “Such a loaded question, Olivia. The short version? I was tying up loose ends,” he answers.

  “Why didn’t you just kill me? Why drag everyone else into this?”

  He laughs to himself. “Stupid girl. It’s not all about you.” His vague answer makes me frustrated as hell.

  “Where did you get the possession pendant around my brother’s neck?”

  “Do you want to waste your time with all these silly questions?” he asks derisively.

  “You bet your sweet ass I do,” I reply, putting my hands on my hips. “What do you have to lose by answering some silly questions?”

  “Fine, have it your way. Like I said, this is all a formality. This pendant,” he begins, bringing it out from under the shirt to show us, “was a gift from Alana Grimore, the darkest of all dark witches. It was supposed to be used to start a war between the Guild and light witches, but then you had to come along and screw everything up. You were the reason I had to kill your little witch friend and her family. The plan was only delayed though, and there are now only two loose ends left,” he explains with a sinister grin.

  “Why possess my brother?”

  “To draw you out of hiding,” he answers while pointing at me. “And to fulfill the ritual, but if you want to know what that is, you’re going to have to beat it out of me, and by me, I mean your brother.”

  “Well, I guess I’m in luck, since I have no problem knocking my brother around for some information. And now I’m about to kick your undead ass back to wherever will take your sorry soul,” I reply, getting into a defensive stance with arms in front of my face, ready to party.

  “If you choose to fight me, you won’t be able to save Angelica. That I can promise you,” he hisses.

  “That’s why there’s two of us,” Heath comments with a smug grin.

  “Don’t think I haven’t already thought of that, boy,” he replies and snaps his fingers, producing thre
e Maulers in front of him. We’re still far from the crowd, and no one seems to be paying any attention to our altercation. “You now have even less time to choose. I believe the Torres twins should be here soon too, with a few other familiar faces.”

  “Where is she? Where’s Angelica?” I shout.

  “If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m stalling,” he says with an evil chuckle. “You won’t save her, so you might as well give up.”

  That last thing Tobias said resonates with me and makes something click: I’m stalling. You won’t save her.

  Stalling? For what? Time? Then it dawns on me. The flyer said there’d be a countdown to lighting the bonfire. Angelica’s in the bonfire.

  “I can’t believe you’re planning an old-fashioned witch burning,” I say. “So cliché of you.”

  I can see he’s surprised I’ve figured it out. “I’ll give you credit for that one, but you won’t get through me without a fight,” he sneers.

  “Wasn’t planning on it.”

  The stadium lights from the soccer field are providing the only source of light for us right now, at least until they ignite the bonfire, but I can’t let that happen.

  “Good thing I had the forethought to bring Spike,” I mention, drawing out the fork-tipped blade from the interior pocket of my leather jacket.

  “Be careful not to puncture this body here,” Tobias says through Malcolm and I answer with a glare. “Ahh, and there’s your timer.”

  I look back over my shoulder at the scoreboard situated across from the main stadium bleachers. It’s counting down from ten minutes.

  “I should warn you, Tobias, I’ve got a lot of pent-up aggression itching to be released.”

  “I welcome it with open arms, sister,” he says with a menacing grin.

  “You’re not my brother,” I reply before rushing the Mauler closest to me.

  It swings its clawed hand at me and I sidestep out of the way before sending my right fist across its face and using Spike’s blunt end to add insult to injury. I immediately follow up with a quick knee to the stomach. It recovers and shoves me back before lunging at me again. I duck to the side and rear back and send a swift kick to the back of its head, sending it flipping head over heels before crashing to the ground. I raise Spike into the air and plunge it down into the Mauler’s chest, bursting it into a cloud of purple smoke.

  When I go to stand up, I feel the sharp pain of a boot in my back, causing me to fall forward. I catch myself with my palms before my face hits the ground and propel my body to the side when I hear the grunt of the Mauler and sense its foot coming down on me. It stomps onto the ground next to me, missing me by mere inches. I tumble forward when it tries the same attack again. Springing to my feet, I spin to face the Mauler when it rushes me. I step out of the way, but the Mauler stops suddenly and throws a punch, connecting with my face before kicking me hard in the chest, sending me flying back to the ground.

  “Ouch, that must’ve hurt,” Tobias says snidely through my brother while looking down at me. He raises his foot and brings it down hard, but I throw up my forearms to block his attack. Shoving his foot away, I roll to the side and pick myself up off the ground. “Tick-tock, tick-tock,” he laughs, pointing to the scoreboard that now shows seven minutes.

  I back up and bump into Heath, who hasn’t been able to down the Mauler he’s fighting, since he lacks the essentials needed. I hand him Spike just as the Mauler he’s been fighting leaps at him. He plunges the dagger into its chest, dusting it into puff of purple smoke.

  I have to move away from him in order to dodge the incoming attack by the other Mauler. Heath tosses Spike to me and I catch it just in time to roll away from a scissor kick headed right for my face. I watch the Mauler fly by and then regain its footing when it lands before charging me again. I toss the dagger into the air and roundhouse kick the handle as it tumbles back down toward me, sending it flying in the Mauler’s direction. It embeds into its face with force, causing the Mauler to drop to its knees before leaving behind a big cloud of purple dust upon hitting the ground.

  I storm over and collect Spike from the pile of ashes before turning to face Malcolm’s hijacked body. Heath joins me as we stare him down. His mouth curls up in a grin and he snaps his fingers, but nothing happens. He snaps again with the same result.

  “What? Why isn’t anything happening?” he asks in a frustrated tone.

  “Looks like you’re all out of juice,” I say.

  “And it looks like you’re almost out of time,” he replies, causing me to glance over at the scoreboard to see there’s only five minutes left until they light the bonfire.

  I don’t even give him a chance to try and snap his finger once more. I lunge for the necklace hanging around his neck, but he swats my hand away and issues a forceful kick to my chest, sending me staggering back. Heath attempts to grab hold of Malcolm, but ends up flipped over his shoulder onto his back for his efforts. I rush in again and take a few quick shots, but they’re all blocked. I throw my next punch and he grabs my hand, holding it hostage. I swing my other fist and he seizes that one out of midair too. He draws them both down in between us before rearing back and head-butting me right in the face. I stumble backward and feel my nose when I smell and taste blood. It’s not broken.

  Tobias laughs through Malcolm, but then is interrupted by Heath wrapping his arms around his chest, pinning his arms to his sides. I recover and throw a punch aimed at Malcolm’s cheek, but he weaves out of the way. I attempt to fire off a kick, but he flings up his leg to bat it away. He leaps up into the air and plants both feet into my chest when I go to attack again, knocking the wind out of me and sending me crashing back against the ground.

  As I make it to my feet, I look over at the scoreboard and see we only have three minutes left. Then I glance over at Malcolm trying to break free from Heath’s grasp, but Heath is holding on for dear life. I can tell Tobias is getting frustrated because his movements are becoming erratic and are no longer calculated.

  Standing up, I get into a defensive stance and move closer to the pair. The moment I make eye contact with Heath, I nod and he lets go of his grip on Malcolm. Surprised by the action, Tobias’s guard is down and I make my move. He tries to anticipate my next attack and throws up his hands to block my fake-out punch and I follow-up with a spinning back-hand to his face, causing him to lose his balance. Heath’s right there to deliver a crossover to the jaw, sending Tobias back over to me. I jump up into the air and swing my body around, twisting at the hips, and send a kick across his face, sending him spiraling to the ground.

  I move to hover over Malcolm’s body and stare down into the purple eyes of Tobias Young. I plant my foot right on his chest and press down firmly, holding him in place. I reach down with Spike in hand and place the blade up to the chain holding the enchanted pendant around my brother’s neck.

  “You messed with the wrong bitch,” I say before cutting the chain and breaking the hold Tobias has on my brother.

  The purple shimmer fades from Malcolm’s eyes and they return to their normal golden brown color. They snap closed and he appears to have passed out cold. His mouth droops open, allowing a trail of purple smoke to spill out and dissipate into the air.

  “Stay here with him. I’ve got to get Angelica,” I say to Heath and he nods. I look over at the scoreboard and have only a little more than a minute left.

  I push through the crowd, making my way as fast as I can toward the giant pile of sticks surrounded by the flag banners that have each Greek house’s letters on them. A verbal countdown rings through the crowd as we reach the last sixty seconds.

  “Stop,” I scream, but am drowned out by the chant of the gathered masses. “There’s someone inside the bonfire.” My announcement is still lost amongst the noise.

  I notice one of the fraternity guys raise the piece of wood he intends on using to light the fire into the air with a guttural yell accompanying the motion. I get a little more forceful with my approach and start shoving p
eople aside while ignoring the scoffs and jeers that follow.

  Finally emerging from the sea of people, I hurry toward the two guys wearing Theta Chi jerseys who are prepping to ignite the torch with what looks like a silver Zippo lighter. The flame kindles at the end of the stick and the guy holding it hoists it up into the air again as the countdown reaches the last ten seconds. The crowd goes crazy with commotion.

  The world seems like it’s moving by in slow motion as I rush toward the guy holding the torch. He extends it out in front of the large pile of sticks as the countdown reaches five.

  Five …

  Four …

  Three …

  Two …

  Right as the countdown reaches one, I swing my leg up and connect with the bottom tip of the torch, sending it flying into the air and out of the frat guy’s hand. A resounding groan sounds from the crowd just before I catch the stick in my hand. I extinguish the flame and immediately crack the stick over my knee, breaking it into two smaller pieces before tossing them to the ground.

  “There’s someone inside the bonfire,” I repeat, and everyone seems confused.

  A small moan emanates from the pile of wood, drawing me closer to it. “Angelica?” I call out through the gaps between the stacked pieces of wood. Another moan sounds and it has me running around the pile to search for any way to get inside of it.

  I see a bundle of sticks that seems out of place near the back of the bonfire and start to remove each piece. A small opening is revealed once the last stick is removed from the section, and I can see there’s a space hollowed out, but it’s too dark to see anything inside. I pull out my cell phone and flash the light from it into the hole and catch a glimpse of Angelica’s bright red hair. She’s sitting there bound by her hands and feet with tape across her mouth.

  “Angelica, I’m here. I’m going to get you out, okay?” I can see her blink open her eyes in order to see who’s talking.

  This is about to hurt since I notice she’s wearing the bangle. I crawl into the hole while keeping my phone’s light on her. I tuck my phone back into my pocket before drawing out Spike to cut her from the ropes that bind her. Once her hands and feet are free, she rips the tape from her mouth and draws in a huge breath mixed with a sigh of relief.