A Witch to Live

by Glenn Bullion

  “Back away!” he shouted. “It's dangerous!”

  Kevin did as he was told, grabbing his hair in frustration. Rachel pressed into him as John and his crew ran up behind them, nearly running them over.

  “Is that your building?” Melissa asked.

  He didn't answer as he searched the area for Kristin.

  “Kris! Where are you?”

  “I don't see her,” Rachel said, who was crying now.

  “Kris! Victoria!”

  John pushed his way next to Kevin and gestured to a fireman who was checking on a woman in a robe.

  “Hey, Billy!”

  The fireman named Billy looked up at John and made his way over.

  “Get out of here!” he said. “Aren't you supposed to be at Homecoming? This isn't a bonfire, man. Mom will kill us both if she finds out I let you hang out at a fire.”

  “Our friend lives here,” John said, patting Kevin on the shoulder. “What's going on?”

  “I don't know. I'm hearing the people saying some weird things. Something about being forced out of their apartments by some guys, then they set them on fire.”

  Kevin searched one more time for Kristin, and couldn't find her.

  “My family's in there. My sister. My cat.”

  “Stay here,” Billy said, putting a hand on Kevin's chest. “Let us do our jobs.”

  Kevin said nothing as Billy jogged away. Rachel leaned her head on Kevin's shoulder. He didn't even need to think about what he needed to do. He already knew.

  He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked in her eyes.

  “I need to go.”

  She simply wiped a tear from her cheek and nodded.

  “I know. But Kevin, you listen. Be careful, okay?”

  “I will.”

  Kevin kissed her hard before he turned to the building and took a deep breath.

  He ran.

  That's when the fear hit him. Flames spilled from the windows and balconies, and he was foolishly rushing toward them. The smell of smoke grew stronger and the flames seemed to get larger. John and Melissa shouted behind him, and several firemen and policemen started screaming at Kevin, ordering him not to approach the building.

  He didn't listen, and noticed someone sprinting toward him from the side. Taking a quick look, he saw it was Billy, John's brother. The fireman had the angle, and would easily tackle Kevin before he made it to the front door.

  Kevin turned his newly-given ring, so the stone faced the inside of his hand. Whatever magic he poured into a rock, it could stop bullets and an angry vampire's punches. He had no doubt it could stop a charging fireman.

  Billy lowered a shoulder as he drew closer. Kevin was about ten feet away from the front door when he stopped and held out his hand. Billy crumpled just an inch short of Kevin's palm, like he'd run into an invisible brick wall. The fireman collapsed on the ground, holding his head.

  Kevin threw open the door and stepped into the apartment building. Smoke poured from the apartments and filled the stairwell. He coughed immediately and fell to one knee. Shielding his eyes, he made his way down the single flight of stairs, staying as low to the ground as he could.

  He didn't think twice about reaching for the doorknob, until it seared his palm.

  Crying out, he cradled his hand and tried to block out the pain. He needed to get into his apartment, and only one idea came to mind.

  He stared at the quartz stone in his ring. It would certainly make a nice line across his door.

  Kevin kept the portal small, starting just under the doorknob. He placed his hand on the warm door, and watched the bottom half disappear.

  “Kris!” he called as he crawled inside. “Are you in here?”

  Fire danced through the living room, and smoke covered the ceiling. It was difficult to breathe, but Kevin moved on his hands and knees, crawling past the coat rack. He only made it another few feet before he bumped into a motionless figure on the ground.

  Panic overwhelmed him, but he noticed it wasn't Victoria or Kristin. It was a male wearing all black, with a burglar-type mask on. A pool of blood was under him, soaking into the carpet. His neck was ripped open.

  Kevin rose up on his knees, and saw five or six figures similarly spread out through the apartment. Blood was everywhere, on the walls, the furniture, the table. Flames spread across the couch and chair.

  There was a figure in between the kitchen and dining room, not like the others. Feminine figure, red hair, a wooden stake jutting from her chest.

  “Victoria!”

  He crawled over three dead bodies in the way and leaned over his friend. Her hands were still talons, her fangs protruding from her mouth. Blood covered her face and clothes.

  He tentatively grabbed the stake, almost afraid to touch it. Taking a deep breath, he gave it a half-hearted pull. The stake didn't budge, and he only managed to lift Victoria a few inches from the floor.

  The image of pulling Victoria up from the carpet by a wooden stake nearly made him sick.

  Kevin heard a quiet cry, and recognized it as a cat's meow.

  Tracing the sound to the kitchen, he saw Oscar, in between the refrigerator and counter. The kitten took one hesitant step toward the witch that saved his life.

  “Oscar!” he said, calling to the kitten.

  The kitten crossed the dining room, the fire giving his eyes an eerie glow, and lay in front of Kevin.

  He scooped the kitten up and looked down the hall. The entire hall from the bathroom down was covered in flames. Kristin either wasn't home, or she was dead, which he couldn't allow himself to believe. She was somewhere else, and he had to find her.

  After he saved Victoria and Oscar, assuming Victoria could be saved.

  He grabbed his backpack from the dining room table and slipped it over his shoulder. Oscar struggled a bit in the crook of his arm, but Kevin held him close as he grabbed the stake in Victoria's chest, like it was a handle. He awkwardly pulled her across the carpet with one hand while keeping Oscar close to his chest.

  There was the sound of structural stress, like metal or wood creaking under a great weight. Kevin barely had time to realize what was happening when the ceiling above collapsed and rushed toward him.

  Clenching his eyes shut, he let go of the stake and held his palm up. The noise hurt his ears. Debris fell all around him from the apartment above.

  But not on him.

  He opened an eye, and his mouth hung open.

  Floating an inch above his ring was rubble from above. Part of the floor, a burnt coffee table, an ottoman. His magic had kept him safe once again.

  Still, the rubble above him wasn't weightless.

  His entire right arm throbbed in pain as another part of the ceiling fell on the invisible barrier. The pain shot into his back as the weight pushed him closer to the floor a few more inches. Victoria's lifeless body was still near his feet. His first instinct was to let Oscar go, so he could brace himself with his other arm. But the kitten might run away if he did that. He couldn't move, not with one arm around Oscar and the other holding up burning wreckage from the apartment above.

  A loose floorboard fell, aiming right at Kevin's face. He clenched his eyes shut and turned his head. It stopped a few inches above his nose and fell on its side. The barrier was holding, and even covered his face, but his arm wasn't doing so well.

  “Kevin!”

  The muffled voice came from behind. Turning his head as far as he could, he saw Rachel, along with John and his crew, on the patio looking through what was left of the sliding glass door.

  The dining room table collapsed near Victoria's feet. There wasn't anything he could do if her body caught on fire.

  “Help,” was all he had the strength to say.

  Rachel led the way inside the apartment and dropped to her knees next to Kevin. She paused for a moment to look at the mess floating above his hand, along with the dead bodies that littered the place.

  “Take Oscar.”

  She took the cat from hi
s arm and ran back outside. John took a step forward, and gaped at the strange scene before him.

  “What the hell is this?”

  Kevin finally had the use of his other arm. He pushed against the barrier, giving needed relief to his right arm and back.

  Using his feet, he spread Victoria's arms apart and dug his heels under her armpits.

  “Drag us out of here!”

  John and Michael hooked Kevin under the arms. Kevin pushed against the barrier still as they dragged him across the carpet. The debris started to fall as the barrier shifted, narrowly missing Victoria's feet.

  Kevin was disoriented as the night air hit his lungs. He sat in the grass and let his pack slip from his shoulder to the ground. Michael's date screamed and started crying at the sight of Victoria with a stake through her heart. John and Michael were shouting at Kevin, who barely heard them, about how there was part of the second floor floating above him. Melissa, who hadn't said a word, stood perfectly still and stared straight ahead. Rachel handed Oscar to Melissa and knelt down to wrap an arm around Kevin's chest protectively.

  The shock started to wear off as John and Michael's voices assaulted his ears.

  “Did you see that shit? Tell me I'm not going crazy. There was crap floating in the air!”

  “I saw it, man. I saw it. Look. That woman, did someone stab her?”

  Rachel squeezed Kevin gently. “Kristin?”

  “She wasn't inside.”

  He glanced at Victoria, and quickly went to work. Grabbing his pack, he emptied its contents in the grass, not even bothering to rummage inside.

  His book was gone.

  He hesitated for only a moment, taking a deep breath before grabbing a bottle of water.

  John let out a strained laugh. “Yo, I don't think a bottle of Aquafina is what that woman needs-”

  They all went silent as the water glowed blue.

  Kevin handed the bottle to Rachel and leaned over Victoria.

  “This is the really gross part. John, could you give me a hand?”

  “Nope. I'll pass on getting close to the dead woman.”

  “Michael? Please?”

  Michael sighed before looking at his date. “Come on, Marie, give me a hand.”

  The couple knelt down on the other side of Victoria. Marie looked like she'd get sick at any moment.

  “What are we doing?” Michael asked. “Carrying her to the cops?”

  “No. Grab that stake.”

  “What? No way in hell.”

  Kevin was losing patience. “Look, just grab the stake with me, and help me pull.”

  Marie didn't help. Everyone watched, mesmerized, as Kevin and Michael slowly pulled the stake out of Victoria's chest. John leaned over and vomited as the sick, sloppy sounds of wood being removed from flesh became too much for him.

  Kevin tossed the stake aside after it cleared Victoria's chest.

  Two seconds later, her eyes sprung open.

  “Here,” Kevin said, offering her water. “Drink this.”

  Kevin didn't even see the movement. Victoria was on her back one second. The next, she had Michael's date Marie pinned to the ground, her fangs deep in the girl's neck.

  “Hey!” Michael shouted. “Get off her!”

  He tried to pull Victoria off by the shoulders, but she didn't budge. He wrapped his arm around her throat. That annoyed Victoria enough to shove him by the chest, easily throwing him back into John. She snarled and went back to Marie's neck.

  “She's killing her!”

  “No, no,” Kevin said, standing in between them. “It's okay. She just needs some blood. She won't hurt Marie.”

  “Needs some blood? Are you crazy? What, she thinks she's a vampire or something?”

  “Well, now that you mention it-”

  Michael balled his fists and paced. “She's hurting her.”

  “Actually,” Melissa said, finally able to speak. “It looks like she likes it.”

  Kevin turned around. He wasn't an expert, but he had seen enough movies and spent enough time on the couch with Rachel to recognize when a woman was enjoying herself. Marie's fingernails dug into Victoria's back as she moaned with her eyes closed.

  He remembered the effect of a vampire's feeding from his book. The human brain interpreted the feeding as sex. What better way to keep the prey from running for help than to introduce sex into the mix?

  He also remembered that not too long after the climax was death.

  “Victoria,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You'd better stop.”

  There was a strange plopping sound under Victoria. Kevin leaned down to see that her body was rejecting bullets. One spit out of a wound on her chest and fell onto Marie. The wound closed, along with the gaping hole in her chest, leaving only a mark of blood. Several more rolled out from under her blouse and fell on Marie's stomach.

  It was Kevin's turn to nearly get sick.

  Victoria withdrew her fangs, licked Marie's puncture wounds to heal them, and sat up. Leaning her head back, she sniffed the air and rolled her head from side to side, looking like a feral animal.

  “Delicious,” she said, the word sounding strange through her fangs.

  Kevin and Rachel helped Marie to her feet. Her legs shook and she had a big smile on her face. Michael held her face in his hands as Rachel put a water bottle to her lips.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Never better,” she said, leaning in for a kiss.

  Victoria licked a stream of blood from her lips as she stared at the apartment building. She looked back and forth between Kevin and Rachel.

  “I take it they took Kristin?”

  “Who are they? Victoria, what happened?”

  She paced in front of them. It was a strange sight, a woman as beautiful as Victoria looking like a caged beast. The dried blood all over her nearly matched her hair color.

  “Don't know yet. Too early to tell. But obviously, you're the target, and Kristin makes a nice hostage. The assailants, I see they burned the building. Highly organized and skilled. I could only kill five of them before they got me.”

  “You...killed five people?” John said.

  Victoria stopped pacing. “Who are these people?”

  Kevin opened his mouth to answer, but a voice cut him off.

  “Witch? Hey, witch boy? Are you there?”

  Everyone searched for the voice, until Victoria pointed at Kevin's hand.

  The voice came from Kevin's ring.

  Kevin held his hand near his face.

  “Who is this?”

  “My name is David Santos. Do I have your attention?”

  “How are you doing this?”

  “You dropped your magic rock-phone or whatever you want to call it back in Virginia. Remarkable little gizmo. You remember that, right? Right after you turned three of my friends into dog food?”

  “They were trying to kill me. Listen, please, don't hurt my sister.”

  “We don't want your sister, witch. We just want you. So, the trade is simple. You for her. Come alone to the old church on Patterson Road, in Queens Falls. Then your sister walks. Don't keep me waiting.”

  There was the sound of the rock bouncing off a tree, then splashing into water. Kevin could almost see in his head Santos tossing the magical item far away. Santos was smart. Kevin wouldn't get a lot of information out of his magical GPS trick if the rock was in a pond somewhere.

  “Queens Falls. Where the hell is that?”

  “That's like a half hour down the highway,” John said. “We have football games there sometimes.”

  “Santos,” Rachel said, almost spitting the name.

  “Bradley lied to us,” Kevin said. “He said he'd call him off. He said I'd be safe if I kept a low profile and didn't do anything stupid.”

  “So much for low profile,” Victoria said, gesturing to the teens behind him. “Bradley didn't betray us. I've known him too long. No doubt Santos simply took whatever bribe was offered to him and used it to expand.�
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  “Should we call Bradley? See if he can help us?”

  Victoria's lip twitched into a sly smile.

  “I've got a friend who's a little more local.”

  She tried her phone, and snarled when it didn't work. Rachel handed over her phone, her hand shaking.

  The vampire brushed hair out of her eyes and licked her lips as she dialed a number.

  “Unbelievable,” she complained. “The one night she lets it go to voicemail. Alicia, listen, this is Victoria. Tell your brother to buy a damn cell phone, and I need his help, immediately. Tell him to get to the church on Patterson Road in Queens Falls, as fast as he can.”

  She hung up and tossed the phone back to Rachel.

  “Come on, let's go.”

  Victoria circled around the apartment building without looking back, not caring at all that she was covered in blood.

  Kevin paced for a moment. Everything was happening so fast, but he knew it needed to, if he wanted to save Kristin.

  He held his girlfriend by the shoulders.

  “Rachel-”

  “I can't go with you,” she finished for him. “I'd only get in the way. I'm not a witch, or a vampire.”

  “Yeah.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “I wish I could help.”

  “You did. You saved my life. And you can help more.” He talked as he put his magic touch in every bottle of water he had. “Go around front and give a drink to everyone that needs it. I'll see you soon.”

  Rachel grabbed his shirt before he could get away, and pulled him in for an embrace and a kiss. Despite his nerves, he held her close and kissed her in return. Part of him wondered if he'd ever see her again, but he shoved those thoughts aside.

  “You be careful, Kevin Mishnar, and come back to me. Show them what a witch can do.”

  Kevin had the most amazing girlfriend in the world.

  He gave Oscar, who was still relaxing in Melissa's arms, a scratch on the head as he walked away. The teenagers talked amongst themselves.

  “Okay, guys, everybody take a bottle. Anyone that's hurt, let them have a drink.”

  “What is this, like magical Gatorade?”

  “I'll tell you one thing, man, this is a Homecoming I'll never forget.”

  “I'll bet you won't. I think your girlfriend made out with a vampire.”