A Witch to Live

by Glenn Bullion

  “Shut up, John.”

  Despite everything, Kevin managed to smile as their voices faded.

  Victoria pulled up to the curb in her car. The fire was slowly dying, but there were still plenty of paramedics and firemen scattered about. He drew a few looks as he slid in next to Victoria, but paid them no mind.

  She sped out of the apartment complex without saying a word.

  Chapter 27

  Kevin and Victoria were quiet as she weaved her way in and out of traffic on the highway. The adrenaline was wearing off, and Kevin's body felt exhausted. His mind, however, was racing. The night flashed through his brain. Saving Victoria and Oscar. His home reduced to burnt ruins. Santos' threat of hurting his sister.

  “He said to come alone,” Kevin said. His voice sounded gruff from being quiet so long.

  “That's not an option.”

  “I'm not doing anything to get Kristin hurt.”

  “Look, Kevin, I really don't believe Santos will hurt her. He fancies himself a champion of good. He thinks he's the good guy, and you the bad guy.”

  “Yeah, well, you've been wrong before.”

  “About what?”

  “About Bradley getting Santos to leave me alone.”

  “Look, witch, if you tell every teenager in your school what you can do, you'll never be left alone.”

  “If it weren't for them, you'd be dead.”

  There was a long silence.

  “Thank you.”

  “You're welcome.”

  “I'm sorry I let them get her. They masked their scents somehow. I didn't even know they were there until they were on top of the place. It's embarrassing, really. I've killed twenty, thirty people at a time before. Five or six newborns, no problem. But the damn goon squad takes me down.”

  “Am I still not supposed to kill them?”

  “Kevin, you have to stay calm.”

  “Are you joking? This coming from the rage princess.”

  “I told you before. I get mad, people die. You get mad,” she paused, as if looking into the past. “Genocide happens.”

  “What is the plan? I mean, what are we gonna do?”

  “We get your sister, and get out. Leave Santos to me. I don't want you doing any witch magic crap.”

  “We might need my witch magic crap.”

  Kevin stared at the houses as they arrived in Queens Falls. It was a struggle to get his nerves under control as he took note of the street signs.

  “I don't get this. People are out on the streets. The church is probably surrounded by houses. How can they even do this?”

  He finally understood when Victoria turned down Patterson Road.

  The church wasn't on the street, but on top of a large hill, complete with an old iron gate and winding driveway. The grass was overgrown, windows were missing, holes were in the roof. It was out of the way and obviously abandoned.

  “That answers the question,” Victoria said. “Looks like a pretty nice trap for a witch and a vampire.”

  “We need to get to a store first.”

  “Why?”

  “I need supplies.”

  “Kevin, I said-”

  “Nothing crazy, nothing explosive. I'm not gonna kill anyone.”

  Victoria shook her head and continued down the street.

  She found a Rite Aid three blocks away. Shoppers in the aisles, even Victoria herself, had to stare at the unusual mix of items in his basket. Bottles of water, plenty of sugar, cinnamon, salt, pepper, flour, a collection of flare pens, empty plastic bottles, a spray bottle.

  “And just what the hell are you gonna make out of that?”

  “Well, I always carry the water for healing, pens for portals, salt and pepper for...”

  Kevin froze in the middle of the aisle. Victoria watched him for a moment as he stared off into space, almost in a trance.

  “Kevin?”

  “Shhh. Something's coming in.”

  “Coming in? What?”

  A small smile crossed his face as he looked at Victoria.

  “We need more stuff.”

  She didn't bother questioning him as he gathered more items. A few cans of Coke, a bar of soap, rat poison, shampoo.

  She nearly bumped into him as he stopped in his tracks one more time and closed his eyes, like he was listening for something.

  “Okay. I'm done.”

  They left the store, and Victoria watched as he mixed certain items in the empty bottles.

  “I don't have a cauldron,” he said. “Some of this won't be as good.”

  “Did you just say cauldron?”

  “Or stove. Whatever.”

  “We have to get moving. We have a time limit here. I'd rather not have that sun come up on me.”

  Kevin zipped his pack and hung his head low. His thoughts were jumbled and clouded. He was terrified for his sister, and in the middle of that terror, recipes and ingredients flooded his mind, making it almost impossible to think about anything else.

  That last recipe certainly caught him by surprise.

  “I think I'm ready.”

  Victoria grabbed him by the shoulders. “Look, everything will be fine. We'll get your sister, okay? I'm sure Santos has a lot of guys working for him, and they'll all have guns. But I'm a very old woman, and I plan to get even older.”

  Kevin nodded, trying to keep his fear under control.

  *****

  Something felt very wrong as Victoria drove up the driveway to the church. It was close to eleven o'clock. There were no people out, and only the occasional car on the road. There were no cars near the church, no snipers or lookouts on the roof, no welcoming light.

  “This isn't right,” Kevin said. “They told me to come alone. We just can't drive up to the church.”

  “Kevin, just hush.”

  She parked the car near the front door and closed her eyes. He fidgeted in his seat, looking nervously around. Only the moon above kept them company. He felt so exposed, sitting in Victoria's Porsche with the top down.

  “Are we just supposed to go in there and walk out with Kristin? I don't think it's gonna happen like that.”

  “Well, you're right. No one's inside.”

  “How do you know?”

  “No scents, which I know I've been fooled on before. But no heartbeats, either. The place is empty.”

  Victoria left the car, Kevin right at her heels. There was a note on the front door. It was a crudely drawn map, with an arrow pointing at some trees behind the church.

  Kevin walked to the corner and looked at the woods. They were dense and dark, a perfect place to hide and setup an ambush.

  “I guess that's where we're heading?”

  “Looks that way. Just keep close to me.”

  “Victoria, this isn't right. If they see me, they'll just shoot me.”

  “Look, I know you're scared for Kristin. But you're the same person who pulled me out of a burning apartment. I don't want you killing anyone, but these people, they're just that, people. Mortals.”

  They circled the church and entered the woods. Kevin could barely see in front of him, but Victoria had no trouble navigating in the darkness. She took Kevin's hand and pulled him along. They walked for nearly ten minutes until Victoria stopped.

  “What is it?”

  She sniffed the air and cocked her head from side to side.

  “Fire. They're close. Whatever magic tricks you got in that bag of yours, get them ready.”

  Victoria dropped his hand as they made their way through the trees and into a clearing. Kevin gasped behind her and she heard his heartbeat quicken at what they saw.

  Kristin was tied to a large wooden cross in the middle of the clearing. There were fire drums spread around. A man in his fifties stood not far from Kristin, reading through a book. Victoria recognized it as Kevin's spell-book.

  David Santos. He was alone. His men were no doubt in the trees. They hid their scents before, but Victoria could pick up traces of them now. She had to fight through th
e scent of pine and nature, but sweat, deodorant, a woman's monthly cycle, they were there.

  “Have you ever wondered how witches do it?” he asked Kristin. “I wonder if they even know. I can't make heads or tails out of this chicken scratch. They all write differently, too, but can read each other's writing. I've tried burning the thing, but that doesn't work.”

  “When my brother gets here-”

  “He will die. And the world will be just a little safer. Did you know that some of us think that AIDS came from a witch's magic?”

  “That's just insane. You're insane. You burned down our home. And not just ours, everyone in our building.”

  “I had to make sure I got your brother's attention. Don't worry, no one was hurt. I try, usually with success, not to hurt anyone.”

  “No one was hurt? You killed Victoria!”

  “When my employer changed his mind, and paid us to back off the witch, I knew the vampire had something to do with it. I'm sorry, but she chose her side.”

  “My brother's never hurt anyone.”

  “Is that a joke? You were right there when he hurt three of my people, nearly taking their faces off. He's the most dangerous creature in the world, and the sad part is I don't think he knows it.”

  “Bradley decided to give the kid a chance,” Victoria said as she stepped from the woods into the clearing. “After centuries of distrust and hate, he figured, why not? I've already seen the good a witch can do.”

  Santos shook his head at the vampire.

  “Wow, you're a tough one to kill. You're willing to risk the destruction they're capable of with just a why not?”

  “I was just like you once, Santos. I'd kill a witch without hesitation. I've ruined friendships because of it. But the power they have, it can go both ways. Come on, let's talk. Maybe you can see another side of things, just like I have.”

  He held up a hand. “Spare me, please. Let me make it clear. Witches have died here, in this very spot, before, and I see no reason to break tradition now. Where is he? If he doesn't show his face, now, I will kill this woman. I won't enjoy doing it. But I will do it, because someone has to.”

  The red beams of multiple laser scopes appeared from the trees, all converging on Kristin's chest.

  Kristin started to cry. Victoria tried to hold in a smile, as Santos' people gave away their positioning. Still, she couldn't outrun bullets.

  “Whoa! Hold on. Kevin is right here-”

  She expected him to be just behind her, hiding in the trees. His scent still filled her nose, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  “Where is he?” Santos shouted.

  She smiled. “That's actually a good question.”

  *****

  Kevin gripped his feather in one hand as pushed himself from one tree to another. He clutched a low hanging branch, hovering nearly two feet from the ground. The combination of the gravity-defying feather and his invisibility potion worked perfectly. He avoided the crunchy leaves and twigs below, and didn't make a sound as he made his way through the trees around the clearing.

  There were men in the trees above. He couldn't see or hear them, but they had to be there. Santos wouldn't be alone, and Kevin's suspicions were confirmed when they aimed their scopes at Kristin.

  Terror gripped him, but along for the ride was another emotion.

  Anger.

  Kristin was ten feet away. Kevin pushed off the tree closest to his sister, and tucked the feather in his pocket as he did so. He landed softly in the grass, just behind Kristin. Victoria continued to stall for time, arguing with Santos over where he was.

  Kristin tried to scream as he covered her mouth from behind. He wanted to talk to her, warn her, but Santos was still too close. Her arms were outstretched, her wrists tied to the cross. He rubbed her shoulder, hoping she would realize it was him.

  She was quiet as he uncovered her mouth and grabbed his pocket knife from his pack.

  Kevin glanced at Santos as he worked on the rope binding Kristin's wrists. Santos was threatening Victoria, as some of the laser scopes left Kristin and pointed at her instead.

  Kristin wisely kept her left wrist still as he freed it and started on the right. He grabbed a potion before cutting the rope all the way through.

  He tossed the potion near Santos' feet as he finished freeing Kristin. Santos was startled for a moment, and the last thing Kevin saw before the fog filled the clearing was the anger in his eyes.

  “The witch is here!”

  Kevin grabbed Kristin by the shoulder and pulled her down. The cross exploded into splinters as Santos' men fired where Kristin was only a second ago.

  “Come on!”

  “Kevin? I can't see you!”

  “If you see them, fire,” Santos called. “I don't care about the blond or the vampire. Kill everyone.”

  Kevin led Kristin through the fog. The red lasers moved about wildly, looking for something to shoot. There was a scream up in the trees, followed by branches breaking, then a thud on the ground.

  Victoria was going to work.

  “Victoria!” Kevin called.

  “Go on,” she said, her voice moving through the trees at an unnatural speed. “I'll see you soon.”

  Through the fog, Kevin saw fire up in the trees, and the sound of a flamethrower. He was worried for a moment, but there was another impact on the ground, along with what sounded like bones breaking. Someone moaned in pain, and it wasn't Victoria.

  They were nearly out of the clearing when Kevin felt pain in his leg, just above the knee.

  He fell to the ground, Kristin nearly tripping over him. A pool of blood formed in the dirt. He tried to stand up, but his leg felt like it was on fire.

  “I've...I think I've been shot.”

  “Come on, Kev. We've gotta move.”

  “I can't move my leg!”

  “I got shot before, and I could run.”

  “Shut up!”

  There was a shadow, just in the fog, behind Kristin. The first thing Kevin saw was the light of the laser, moving just past Kristin's hip, pointing at his chest. The barrel of a dangerous looking rifle was next, followed by the outline of a man dressed in all black, like at their apartment.

  Kevin reached into his pack as the man raised his weapon.

  Kristin noticed the red dot, and dove on top of her brother.

  Kevin pulled the trigger on the spray bottle. The stream shot through the fog and hit the man directly between the eyes, soaking into his black mask.

  The witch hunter immediately fell to his knees, screaming and clawing at his face.

  “What did you shoot him with?”

  “Just something I cooked up. He'll be hallucinating for a week.”

  Another shape moved toward them through the fog. Kevin was ready to fire again, until he recognized the red hair.

  Victoria scooped Kevin up and slung him over her shoulder without saying a word. Kristin didn't even have time to say anything. It was all she could do to keep up with the vampire, running through the woods.

  She screamed when a bullet struck a tree next to her, tossing bark in her hair.

  Santos was shouting at his men back at the clearing, trying to regroup.

  “What are we doing?” Kristin shouted.

  “We're running,” Victoria said. “I killed four before I heard Kevin go down. There's plenty more, though.”

  There were more shots, and Victoria flinched, only for a moment. Kristin managed to catch up.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I'm fine. Keep moving.”

  “We can't just keep running,” Kevin said as he bounced on her shoulder. “We'll never get rid of them.”

  “I know.”

  Victoria stumbled once again as they made it to the rear wall of the church. She dropped Kevin, but he caught himself and leaned against the wall, keeping his weight on one leg. He grabbed a marker from his pack.

  “You're bleeding,” Kristin said to Victoria.

  The vampire nodded. “They're using some
big damn bullets.”

  Kevin created a portal and nearly shoved Kristin inside. Victoria regained her footing and helped Kevin walk into the abandoned church.

  It was nearly pitch black, and Kevin tripped several times. Kristin nearly fell over a pew, banging her leg into the wood.

  A flashlight shined through the portal. Victoria pulled Kevin and Kristin down on top of her between the pews. Santos was just on the other side of the portal.

  “I'm not walking through that thing. Circle around.”

  The portal closed, and Santos shouted orders at his men as they circled the church to the front door.

  “Maybe fifteen people still,” Victoria said.

  Kevin winced in pain and nearly cried out as he held the magnet over the hole in his leg. Victoria had to cover his mouth as the bullet shot through his skin into the palm of his hand. He drank more water than he meant to, but the wound healed nicely.

  “I've got plenty of tricks left,” he said, slipping out of his pack.

  “No. No more tricks. Kevin, do you still have some of that invisible juice left?”

  “Yeah, a little.”

  “You and Kristin get out of here. I'll handle this.”

  “No way.”

  “I'll take some shots, I know. But trust me, none of them will leave here alive.”

  “How come it's alright for you to kill?”

  “Not now!”

  Santos' men opened fire as they entered the church. There was no searching, no warnings. The pews were torn to shreds around them. Kevin tried his best to maneuver around Victoria. She covered Kristin, and he in turn covered Victoria, holding his ring over his head. His hand shook as the wood and bullets flew around them, hitting the barrier his quartz rock created.

  The assault finally stopped, but Kevin was too afraid to move. There was an eerie silence, followed by Santos' voice.

  “I know you're here, witch. If you're still alive, give yourself up now. I know you may not believe me, but I don't want to hurt your sister, or the idiot vampire. If you come out, they can walk.”

  There was a tapping sound near the church door. Kevin looked up quickly, and saw Santos tapping his spell-book on the pew.

  The thought of Santos holding his history, his legacy, infuriated him.