Chasing the Witch (Boston Witches)

by Jessica Gibson

  Jilly smiled and plopped down next to him. “I’d like Hannah to stay with us, but I think we should ask her what she wants. She’s had a rough year and telling her what she needs to do is the last thing we should do. I think we should find out if she’s got any family and go from there.” She sighed and leaned into William, letting his scent envelop her. “I’m done worrying now; let’s go watch a movie or something.”

  William laughed, “Ok, as long as you’re done. Let’s go and see what we’ve got to watch then.” He got to his feet and pulled Jilly along after him. “I can probably think of something that we can do that’s more fun than watching a movie,” he said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

  Jilly laughed. “Can you? Well, why don’t you tell me all about it then?” She let William lead her back to one of the bedrooms. As soon as they were through the door, he pulled her shirt over her head, marveling at how beautiful she was. Jilly yanked his shirt off as well and bit into his collarbone.

  William growled and pushed her down on the bed. “See, isn’t this more fun than watching a movie?” He devoured her bare skin with his lips.

  Caroline went to lie down in her room. She decided that going into work with two giant red handprints on her cheeks was a bad idea. She called in and told Tanya she hoped to be in later. She fell asleep quickly, her mind settling. She opened her eyes and she was back in her room in her house. Everything was dark, but she could see a light coming from the crack under her door. She got up and felt her way to the door in the dark, afraid of what she would see if she turned on the lights. She opened the door quietly just a crack and listened for any voices. She heard someone singing downstairs. She opened the door fully and padded down the hall. The singing grew louder as she made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. She found Patrick making breakfast in the kitchen, singing show tunes.

  “Darling, you’re up. I was wondering if I was going to have to come up after you. Please sit and I’ll fix you a plate.” He gestured to the table and Caroline sat down hesitantly. He returned to what he was doing and finished making breakfast. He brought two plates full of food over to the table, setting one in front of her and then sat down across from her. “Tell me, my sweet, how did you sleep?” Caroline was unsure of how to answer.

  “Honestly? I’m not sure. Am I dreaming now?”

  Patrick laughed and despite herself, Caroline found she enjoyed the sound. “But of course you are; how else can I get you alone to talk?” He laughed again and Caroline found herself leaning toward him. “Let’s finish our breakfast and then we can talk more,” Patrick said sweetly. Caroline nodded and dug into her food, enjoying all of the flavors on her tongue. Once they were finished, Patrick took Caroline’s hand and led her out to the back patio.

  “Please sit. Let’s talk for a while.” Caroline sat down next to him and let him draw her close. His scent was intoxicating. She felt as though she were actually breathing him in. “I think you’ve had the wrong idea about me all this time. I’m not the monster my brother makes me out to be. I’m as gentle as a kitten. You’re not scared of me, are you?” Caroline shook her head, sending her hair flying around her. She found herself tipping her lips up to his. The kiss was soft and sweet, and it ended way too soon for her liking.

  “I need your help, my love. Will you help me?” He looked down at her, his eyes burning into her soul.

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly.

  Caroline went into the bathroom to see if the handprints were still there. They were faded quite a bit, but still visible. With a sigh, she went out to find Katya. She found her with Nik, sitting at the table with laptops in front of them. Katya was speaking in Russian to someone on her phone.

  Nik looked up when he saw her and smiled. “How are you feeling? It must have been very disconcerting to feel him in your mind.”

  Caroline smiled. “Yeah, that’s an understatement. I’m just glad he’s gone. Have you heard from Jilly or Will?”

  “Yeah, William phoned an hour or so ago. They should be home in a few hours. Jilly is adamant about sleeping in her own home, so it looks like we’ll be moving again.” He shrugged his shoulders and huffed out a breath.

  “Jilly’s very stubborn. It’s a Proctor family trait, sorry,” Caroline said with a laugh. “I’ll be glad to be in my own bed, though. Plus we have tons of space so there’ll be room for everyone. We have eight open rooms. I always thought it was funny that Jill lived in such a huge house by herself. When are we going over? After they get back or before?”

  “I’m thinking before, so we can be there when they get home. I want young Hannah to feel welcome.” Katya put a hand on his and smiled as she listened to whoever was on the other end of her phone.

  “I feel as though I’ve been living out of a suitcase, forever. It’s going to be nice to have all of my things in once place. Who’s Kat talking to?”

  “Someone who may be able to help with the shadow wraiths that are after Hannah. He’s sort of an expert in the field of ghosts and wraiths. He might be coming here, if he can get away from his work for a few days.”

  Katya hung up. “Alex said he’ll come. He’ll be here tomorrow night. He has a few ideas about how to get rid of them, but they may not work. We may have to compel Sabine to call them off.”

  “Well, it’s a start at least,” Nik said as he stood up. “Go and gather your things, Kat. We’ll be leaving within the hour for Caroline’s house.” Everyone got up and went their separate ways to pack.

  William went in to check on Hannah, on his way to speak to the captain. He found her asleep with the TV still on. He went in quietly to turn off the TV and cover her with a blanket. As he was bending down to pull up the blanket, her eyes flew open, but they didn’t look normal. They were a cloudy white color, and she appeared to be looking past him, or through him.

  She grabbed his hand. “What you seek will never be; there cannot be two.” William jerked his hand away and Hannah seemed to wake up again. “Will? What’s going on?”

  “You don’t know what just happened?” She looked confused and shook her head.

  “I think you had a vision. You grabbed my hand, and your eyes were all cloudy. You told me that what I seek will never be; that there cannot be two. What did you mean by that?”

  Hannah’s eyes grew wide. “I don’t know. I don’t remember saying any of that.”

  William frowned slightly as he thought. “Has this ever happened before?”

  “Yes, it’s happened before. Is this okay? Am I weird for doing this?”

  William smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder as he sat beside her. “It’s totally fine. Every one of us has something different that we do. Want to see what I can do?” he asked with a wink. Hannah smiled and nodded her head. William made the TV remote and the phone on the side table fly in circles around their heads. Hannah laughed and caught first the remote and then the phone. “That’s not all either.” He held his palm out and a small blue flame appeared in the center.

  “That’s so cool that you can do that. I wish I could do cool stuff like that. My stuff is weird.”

  “Not weird Hannah, different. We’re all unique and you’re young still. You may have more talents we haven’t discovered, yet. Look at Jilly. She just discovered that she can teleport. We need to figure out how to control what you can do, or at least look for signs that it’s going to happen.” Hannah nodded.

  “Did you have anyone in your family with abilities like you?”

  Hannah shook her head. “I was the only one. Both my parents were as normal as can be.”

  “Do you have any family in the states you want to find?” William asked cautiously.

  “No, it was just me and my parents. What’s going to happen to me when this is all over?”

  “Well, you can do what you want; but Jill and I would love for you to stay with us. I know we haven’t known you for long, but it feels right to have you with us.”

  Tears crept down Hannah’s cheeks. “You have no idea what it’s
like to finally feel safe after so long. I’ve been on my own for six months and I’ve been running for longer. I’m so tired; I can’t do it by myself, anymore.”

  William pulled her close and hugged her, cradling her head against his cheek. “You don’t have to. You’re with us now. You’ll always have a place with us. I know we can never replace what you lost, but we can keep you safe.” They were both silent for a while. William let Hannah cry while he held her. He was appalled at what she had been through in her young life. Jilly found them sitting together on Hannah’s bed talking an hour later.

  She came in and sat down next to Hannah. “What’s up?” she asked.

  “We’ve just been talking about Hannah’s future and figuring out her powers and whatnot,” William replied. “We’ve decided she’ll stay with us.”

  Jilly smiled brightly and hugged Hannah. “That makes me very happy; I was worried that you wouldn’t want to.”

  “Why wouldn’t I want to stay? You guys have been nothing but nice to me.”

  “I don’t know. I’m an irrational woman, I guess,” Jilly said with a laugh. “When do we land?”

  William got up. “I was actually on my way to see the pilot when I started talking to Hannah. I’ll go and check, but it shouldn’t be longer than an hour or two, I think.”

  An hour and thirty minutes later, the plane touched down in Boston and Jilly let out a sigh of relief. It was good to be home.

  Hannah was nervous about meeting everyone, but she was excited to finally have a home. “How far away is your house from the airport?” she asked Jilly excitedly.

  “Not far. I’d say about twenty minutes or so. You’re going to love it; it’s always my favorite place to be,” Jilly answered. Once they were all loaded up with their luggage, the trio made their way to Jilly’s house. It took them less than twenty minutes to get there and Jilly practically leapt out of the car once they stopped. She grabbed Hannah’s hand and they bounded up the steps to the front door. William followed behind at a slower pace; he was hampered down by a few bags. When Jilly opened the door, she found Caroline and Katya watching TV in the living room. Both ladies jumped up from the couch when they saw Jilly.

  “Oh, Jill, I’m so glad you guys are home!” Caroline said with feeling, as she hugged her sister.

  “Guys, this is Hannah,” Jilly said.

  Hannah smiled a nervous smile. “Hi,” she said shyly.

  “Hannah, it’s so nice to meet you! We’re very happy to have you with us,” Caroline said as she pulled the young girl into a hug. Hannah hugged her back, tightly.

  “I’m happy to be here, too. Jilly said I can stay if I want to.” She turned and beamed up at Jilly.

  “It’s nice to see you safe, Hannah,” Katya said as she came around the couch. William finally made it through the door and Caroline rushed over to help him in with the bags.

  “You know, we have a ton of guys here who could have helped with that,” Katya said reproachfully, as she pulled him into a tight hug.

  “I know, but I was already down there,” he replied with a laugh as he planted a kiss on her cheek. “Is Nik around?”

  “He should be here somewhere. Maybe upstairs? I don’t really know,” Katya said as she gestured above offhandedly.

  “Ok, I’ll let you guys get settled in. I’m going to go search for Nik. We should have some sort of summit or something to go over what we plan to do. Maybe we should do it after dinner. Is that okay with everyone?” he asked. All of the ladies nodded their approval and he disappeared up the stairs to find Nik.

  “Do you want to go up and pick a room?” Jilly asked Hannah.

  “Okay,” Hannah said with a hesitant smile.

  “You can be close to me, don’t worry.”

  Hannah sighed in relief. Jilly took her hand and led her upstairs to find a room. “There’s one right next to mine if you want. Will’s right across the hall from both of us, too.” Jilly opened the door to the room in question and Hannah smiled in delight. It was one of the girlier rooms in the house, a hold out from Jilly’s mother’s decorating days. It had a canopy bed in the center of the room against the wall with filmy white curtains hung around it. The bedding was a pale, almost white, pink with tiny roses embroidered all over it. It also had a big white chair in one corner for reading. It was every girl’s dream room. The bathroom had an old-fashioned claw-foot tub with a separate shower and an antique vanity with a built in sink.

  “So, what do you think?” Jilly asked.

  “It’s perfect! I really love it,” Hannah said exuberantly.

  “We can get new furniture and bedding, if you want. This is your space and I want you to be comfortable,” Jilly said.

  “No, I’m fine with how it is. Everything is so pretty,” she said with a smile.

  “Okay then, I’ll let you get settled in. One of the guys will bring up your bags in a few minutes. Do you need anything else right now?” Jilly asked, eyebrows raised in question.

  “No, I’m okay. I think I’m going to take a nap before we eat dinner,” Hannah said with a yawn.

  “All right, I’ll leave you to it, then. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” With that, Jilly closed the door and went to find her sister.

  Jilly found Caroline in the kitchen making a cup of hot chocolate. “How is Hannah?” Caroline asked.

  “Honestly, she’s doing so well,” Jilly replied. “I don’t know how she’s able to trust us, or anyone for that matter. She’s been through so much and lost everything. I’ll tell you, if I didn’t like Sabine before, I hate her now. To send those horrible things after Hannah and her parents is appalling,”

  “I’m glad she’s adjusting. It’s a lot to deal with. Did Will tell you about Patrick?”

  “What about him?”

  “Well, this morning, he sort of invaded my mind.”

  “What?” Jilly said, horrorstruck. “How is that possible?”

  “I don’t know. He’s apparently way more powerful than any of us ever imagined. It’s clear that he wants something from me; I just don’t know what that is yet. It totally creeped me out to feel him in my head. It’s such an invasion of privacy, my thoughts were on display. I was afraid of thinking the wrong thing.”

  “What did you finally do?” Jilly asked.

  “Screamed for Kat. It was the only thing I could think to do. She put some sort of barrier up in my mind; so he hopefully won’t be able to get in anymore. She says I need to repair them every day or so just to be on the safe side.”

  Jilly was quiet for a while, processing the information Caroline had just shared. “I’m certainly glad that Kat was with you. I’d hate to think what would have happened if you were alone.”

  “Me, too. She was amazing. Now let’s talk about this crazy teleporting business you’ve been up to.”

  Jilly laughed. “It’s all very crazy and new. I wonder if I’ve been doing it in my sleep for a long time and just never knew it.”

  “Maybe. You’ve always been a very vivid dreamer.”

  “Have you been into the shop, yet?” Jilly asked

  “Not yet. Patrick keeps happening. Every time I make up my mind to go, he pops up in some unexpected way. I’m going to try and sneak over for a bit before we eat dinner.” She looked down at her watch. “I really should go now. It’s getting late.”

  “All right, tell the girls I’ll try and come by tomorrow,” Jilly said. Caroline waved and headed out the back door. Caroline got into her car and drove in the general direction of the shop, but she made a quick left turn a few blocks from it. She stopped in front of an office building and sat idling until she saw the front door open. She smiled brightly when Patrick got into the car beside her.

  “Hello, darling, thanks for coming to get me,” Patrick said as he planted a kiss on her cheek. “Did they give you any trouble?”

  “No, I told them I was going into work. I should stop in for at least ten minutes; so if they check, I can say I was there.” Patrick nodded, and they drove to
the shop. “Can you wait out here for a bit? I should only be a few minutes.”

  Patrick sighed. “If I must, I must.” Caroline blew him a kiss and bounded over to the back door of the shop. She said hi to all the girls and did some busy work in the office for ten minutes.

  “All right, I’m going to take off, again. Jill and I should be around tomorrow sometime.” With a final wave, she left. She found Patrick right where she left him; he was leaning back in the seat, smiling at her when she walked up.

  “Shall we go then, my love?” he asked her, his voice dripping with sultry sweetness.

  “Where are we going?” Caroline asked.

  “I need to find Sabine. Do you know where she is?”

  Caroline frowned. “No, Nikolai never told me where he had her. I think it’s underground somewhere, though.”

  Patrick did his best to control the rage he felt, but some of it slipped out. His lips pressed into a hard line. “Let’s go to the woods, then. Someone is meeting us there.”

  Caroline blanched at the anger in his voice. “I’m sorry, Patrick,” she said timidly.