Wicked Forest

by E. J. Bennett

  “Coffee is not for me,” she was saved by Mr. Bloom who entered the room and ordered for quite. The awkward conversation was cut short. Crystal breathed a sigh of relief as she continued to doodle in her notebook.

  When she looked down at the page she had no idea what she had been drawing. She had drawn a strange symbol one she had never seen before. To her knowledge she was drawing a flower.

  Picking up her pen, she chewed the end while Mr. Bloom wrote equations on the whiteboard. Hugo wouldn’t stop asking her out, she knew that. Why would he? She had been promised to him since birth. She hated the coven. Anger filled her pores and ran in her veins. No one in the coven married for love. Before they reached six months old a husband or wife was chosen. It was the Starlight’s way of keeping their lines of magic strong.

  One day she would escape the life she had been forced into. Crystal wanted love, the fairytale type. Not some guy her parents picked out because he came from a powerful family.

  The rest of the day, dragged by, time seemed to slow down and stop at times. Crystal had no friends. Not that she wanted them. She knew it was her own fault. She never let anyone get close.

  From an early age she had been taught to hide who she was and what she was capable of. The others her age didn’t have a problem with the lies that they had to spin and thrived in the school environment. Crystal on the other hand wanted real friendships not ones based on lies.

  Chapter 4

  “Are you sure this girl is the one?” Seth asked his nephew. He wasn’t convinced. In fact he thought it was all a load of nonsense. No matter how powerful the old woman was, he didn’t think it was possible what others claimed to be true.

  “Yes I have been watching her for awhile now. I am positive my lord,” Seth gave him a pat on the back and a small smile. He watched as his nephew’s eyes lit up with delight. He was eager to please and Seth knew that. No matter what was asked of him, he would do the job. It was the reason Seth kept him around.

  “Then I will set the wheels in motion. My son will marry a Hudson witch and be the one to bring our people to victory. We will take our rightful place once and for all,”

  For the first time in a long time Seth felt confident. He found himself being pulled into the legend the other covens had put their hearts and souls into uncovering. If what the boy said was true, then he would take every step necessary to be the one that brings his people home.

  “Uncle, my lord, I would like to be the one to...”

  “You? You are a Halfling. That would never work, don’t fool yourself boy. For bringing me this information I will be sure to find you a good match,” he watched his nephews head hang low and a flash of hurt run through his eyes. Seth almost laughed at the stupidity of the boy. If it wasn’t for his wife then he would have cast the boy aside years ago. However his wife was different and held a big heart.

  As she always pointed out to Seth it wasn’t the boy’s fault that his father decided to mate with the wrong kind, producing a Halfling. It would be hard enough as it was to find him a suitable match. No one in his coven would readily offer up their daughter to a Halfling.

  “You can go,” Seth waved his hand and let the young man leave his office. He leaned back in his chair and grinned. The Hudson families were strong, but it wasn’t the Hudson part of them he was happy with but the Blairmount side, they were the family that held power. The ones who would be the perfect match for his son, there wasn’t a moment to lose. He would see it through.

  “CRYSTAL, WE NEED TO talk,” her mother called as she opened the front door. Dropping her bag by the staircase Crystal followed the sound of her mother’s voice to the living room.

  Her mother paced in front of the grand fire place while her father leaned against the doorframe to the dining room. Jeannette had her hair tied back into a tight pony tail and wore a pair of black jeans and a white blouse. She was a fashionable lady, who took care of her appearance. Her father Henry had his arms folded and he stared straight ahead. In Crystal’s mind her father was weak. He let his wife control every situation. Barking orders which he followed without a protest. He was a quiet man who had little to say but when he did, Crystal listened as his words held wisdom.

  He was handsome with his sandy blond hair that held hints of grey, and still held a muscled physique. Crystal often wondered why he put up with Jeannette at times. He would easily get another woman. She shook her head; she knew how the daydream ended. Her father leaving the coven and taking her with him to freedom, it was just a silly fantasy.

  Her mother was nervous. That much she could tell, twisting her fingers and fidgeting, Jeannette wasn’t acting herself at all.

  “Both of us need to talk to you,” With that Crystal sat on the plush white couch, and sank into the luxury cushions, waiting to be yelled at or given a lecture. She fixed her gaze on the marble surround that decorated the fire place and traced the interlacing patterns with her eyes. It wasn’t good if her mother had brought her father in too. A fleeting thought passed her mind that they had found out about her early morning visits to the woods. She was in trouble, big trouble.

  “You are fast approaching your eightieth birthday. Soon you will be an adult,” Jeannette paused and turned her gaze to the floor.

  “You will be marrying Levi Carmichael on Christmas day, a white wedding,”

  “You have to be joking!” Crystal jumped up and yelled, granted she didn’t want to marry Hugo, but a Carmichael was much worse. What was going on? She had until she was twenty one.

  When her mother’s gaze never faulted and stayed fixed to the ground she looked to her father. He just shrugged his shoulder like it was nothing.

  “A Carmichael, you want me to marry a Carmichael! The very people who are responsible for wiping out coven after coven in the name of revenge!”

  “Stay out of the woods you say. Evil lies within the roots. Everyone knows the Carmichaels estate is deep within the forest!”

  “Crystal, calm down,” her mother said gently.

  “I will not do it!” Crystal yelled and stormed from the room making sure her footfalls echoed her anger by making loud banging noises on the tiled floor. At the bottom of the staircase she yelled, “What a Christmas present!” She stomped up each step and slammed her bedroom door. By the time she reached her room she was exhausted and slide down the door frame. Pulling her knees up to her chest, Crystal let her tears fall.

  If her parents have their way she would be married to a monster, a murder. There was no way she would go through with it. How could they do such a thing? She let out a scream of frustration. She hated the life that had been handed to her.

  She knew the stories. Everyone did. They were tales that the elders used to keep the entire coven in line.

  The Carmichaels were greedy.

  They used endless amount of magic, drawing from nature and life itself. Before long they became power hungry slaughtering witches and stealing their powers. Until four covens joined together and cursed the family along with their coven. Midnight. Once a month they turned into beasts. From that day forward, each full moon they hunted the four covens that had cursed them in the hopes that once the last of each line was gone the curse would be reversed. Crystal shivered as she remembered the tale. The elders would never say which covens were responsible for the curse in order to protect the covens.

  That night she stayed in her room. Every knock at her door she ignored. Why would she want to talk to them? Crystal had always felt lonely.

  No friends, her siblings were older than her and married. Some with children, Jeannette and Harry, her parents didn’t understand her.

  Out of control and disobedient they often said. Crystal just wanted a life, a normal life. Shopping, hanging out. Even partying sounded good. But she knew that she would never be a part of normal teenage life. Normal people, she couldn’t befriend. She hated the thought of having to keep secrets from them. Loneliness squeezed at her heart. She wished she had someone to voice her problems too. Someone to
offer her advice or simply tell her it was all going to be okay. However she knew she was alone to face the hand of fate.

  When morning arrived, Crystal hadn’t slept a wink. Glancing at her clock, it read five fifteen. It was a little earlier than she usually took her walk in the forest but she needed fresh air. Her mind had become a fog with all the over thinking she had done.

  Pulling on some tracksuit bottoms and a tank top she tied her hair into a messy bun.

  Quietly, she crept from the house and made her way down the familiar path that led into the woods. She paused before entering the canopy of trees. Shaking the feeling of dread away, she took the familiar route. As she walked she felt her body relax. Nature could do that to a person, the calming sounds and stunning views, it sucked the strain and stress from her body leaving her light on her feet.

  The dark didn’t scare her, nor did the rustle of branches and the snapping of twigs. Nothing could be scarier than marrying a Carmichael. She could throw the law in their face. But what good would that do? They were witches and the law didn’t mean anything to them. They had their own set of rules to obey.

  Sitting down on a rock, Crystal gazed up at the stars. They flickered in and out of view. A fleeting thought passed her mind. She wondered if out there were other life?

  She was stuck, no way out. Not one she could think of anyway. All night she had thought of ways to get out of the marriage but each time she came up empty. Her parent’s words were set in stone. They had signed her death certificate. Even running away was not an option. They would find her. Use magic to track her down and force her back.

  The hairs on the nape of her neck stood on end. Slowly she gazed over her shoulder. Around eight feet away a shadow watched hidden behind a tree trunk. Fear ran through her veins. For some time she kept her eyes on the figure. When it didn’t move she carried on gazing at the stars. However she kept her guard up ready for a fight.

  As the stars gave way to the morning sunrise, Crystal pulled herself up. She looked where the figure had been standing but it was gone. She spun around searching the forest. Nothing she was alone.

  Chapter 5

  “Beth I am sorry,” he knew it was a lame excuse. However deep down he knew she understood. His father’s word was law. He couldn’t deify him. No one in the coven would ever dream of such a thing. His father ruled with an iron fist. One that even Levi wouldn’t challenge.

  His coven was different to others and still lived by the old laws. Deify the leader and death would follow. It was a punishment everyone avoided. No one in their right mind would challenge him. There had been a few in the past. Seth had put them in their place, using their death to install fear into the rest of the coven members.

  “You’re a big boy, it’s time you made your own choices,” Beth’s words stung, her eyes had turned cold.

  He wished he could stand up to the man he called father. Yet he wouldn’t. Not after what he had done. It was his own fault and stupidity that had got him in the position he was in now and he knew it. Yet Beth was too young to understand and the coven had been forbidden to ever talk about Levi Carmichael’s sin.

  He had hurt her, hell he was hurting. Levi could easily imagine living a life with Beth. She was young and full of life. Yet she also was caring and kind. She would do anything to help. He looked at the pain on Beth’s face. It was like a dagger in his heart. She would have made the perfect wife. Her black hair flowed in the wind, and her ankle length skirt looked like a flowing river. She was the definition of beauty.

  “Beth listen to me. Leave. Go anywhere but here. What my father is planning and about to do, you don’t want to be a part of it,” Beth laughed, it was a flat sound. Like his confession and sucked all life and emotion out of her.

  “You want me to leave? Don’t use your father or the better world as an excuse,”

  “Beth it’s not a better world. Just trust me,” he whispered. He was finding it hard to reason with her.

  “I will never trust you again. I have heard how amazing it will be and I want that,”

  He watched her walk away. It was over. The years it had taken him to open his heart and let someone in had been wasted. He just hoped this Hudson girl was worth the hurt he had just caused. His cousin seemed to think so. He had been in a huff with Levi for days now. He wanted the girl. For Levi he could have her.

  Walking back through the community in which he lived he looked at the people he shared his life with.

  All of them were hidden within Wicked Forest, away for civilization, Seth hated the human’s and wanted to be as far away from them as possible.

  He didn’t know much about many of the other coven members. He had never had the care to know. He wondered if they wanted what his father and the older witch’s wanted. If they knew what they would be getting themselves into, or what the better world entailed.

  He watched a little boy skip down the path of his home, and shook his head.

  His father was a good manipulator he would have them all convinced that change was for the better. It didn’t matter either way as the young witches would soon know what they had let themselves in for. He just hoped they had the strength and willpower that would be expected of them.

  HIS WIFE HAD GONE CRAZY and his daughter hated him. Henry was lost. He didn’t know what to do. Should he stand up for what he believed in or should he do what he had been taught to do and honor is wife. He bowed his head at the kitchen table. Either way someone would get hurt.

  He hadn’t seen Crystal all weekend. She had refused to come out of her room and he was worried about her. Jeanette on the other hand had another surprise up her sleeve one that Henry knew would just be another blow in the wrong direction. At times he thought his wife didn’t know their daughter at all.

  “Everything has been settled,” Jeanette said putting on the kettle. Henry nodded afraid to speak encase he said something he would regret.

  “At times I think we have given Crystal too much freedom. Since we saw how special she was. I wish we had been more firm. If we had been then we wouldn’t be having this problem now,” Jeanette said while pouring the hot water into two cups. Henry looked up at his wife then and really looked at her. Crystal was different, to their other daughters and because of that Jeanette had been stricter. The way she ordered Crystal about and spoke to her like she did the members of the coven instead of her daughter had caused the problem. His other daughters had seen what having a loving and caring mother was like.

  Crystal on the other hand hadn’t. When she was sick, Jeanette expected her to suck it up and get on with it. With the others she would stay by their side, worrying over every sniffle.

  She had wanted Crystal to grow up strong and fearless.

  But in the end she had given up creating a bond with her daughter. One that she would never have if she carried out her plan, Henry knew that Crystal would never forgive her. She would never forgive him.

  Chapter 6

  The weekend passed slowly. The minutes ticked by at a snail pace. All the while, Crystal avoided her parents. Refused to go to the community school and take part in any of the coven’s activities. The silence seemed to scream at her. But she never budge, her stubborn personality wouldn’t allow it. Even though the loneliness was weighing down her heart she knew she couldn’t face her parents or the snickers and remarks from the coven’s teens.

  Countless times her mother had demanded that she get up and grow up. Her words floated over Crystal. Her life was over and she knew it. No amount of angry words or scowls would make her change her mind.

  By Monday morning, Crystal was ready for school.

  For the first time, she was early. The corridors were already bursting with students, all of which gathered in their peer groups. There were the jocks huddled by the lockers. The cheerleaders sat on the benches in the common area. The school’s band paraded up and down the hallway blasting their instruments. Crystal covered her ears to block out the noise.

  She caught a glimpse of Drake as
she past his locker. He gave her a smile and her heart fluttered. She smiled back and continued down the corridor. For years she had wanted Drake to notice her, it was a dream come true, just a little smile, it was more than she could have hoped for.

  When Crystal entered the library, there were the nerds, all noses deep in books. Yet she didn’t fit into any of those groups. She was a loner. She wondered the school, lost in her own world. While others had their own friendships.

  Picking a table in the corner, Crystal got out her English note book and proceeded to catch up on school work while she waited for the bell to ring. She was engrossed in her text book when she heard a cough. Looking up her gaze met a pair of brown eyes.

  “Do you mind if I sit here,” Drake asked. All Crystal could do was nod. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth and her heart danced. She had been crushing on Drake since she started high school. Not once had he spoken to her. Yet here he was asking to sit at the table she was occupying. She observed the library. There were many empty tables.

  Giving him a smile she returned to her book. Every now and then she would dare herself to peak at him. Each time she did he was watching her. Her nerves became a tangled mess. She prayed she didn’t have anything on her face.

  “I was wondering if you would like to come to the Halloween dance with me?” Crystal’s head shot up and she looked around the room. Was he talking to her? Actually asking her to the dance? No one had ever asked her before. Twisting her blond locks in her finger tips and fluttering her eyelashes she grinned.

  “Sure,”