The Witchling Apprentice

by B. Kristin McMichael

  She circled around the cabin. There was no magic she could feel. Cautiously, she approached the front door. It creaked loudly as it opened. Cassie stood on the porch, careful not to step on the places where the wood was rotting. The cabin was as musty and dusty-smelling as the last time they were there five years ago. In fact, it didn’t look like much had changed.

  Cassie set her backpack down inside the door. Then she emptied her pockets of the plants she’d collected on her five-hour walk. She’d need to get more to make potions, but the variety was limited in the woods surrounding town. That’s why even the school had their own garden.

  The old cabin had seen better days, but nothing really mattered. It would be a roof over her head, and once she got the protection spells set up around it, she would be able to live okay in it for a few days. Cassie began crushing the plants with her fingers. She didn’t dare bring any of her witchling supplies with her in case they could track her by them. Something about how much John was afraid made her be cautious. Cassie gagged on the taste of the yellowcress as she chewed it up. She would much rather have had water from the sink to mix it with, but she didn’t want to try anything in the cabin until she was sure no one would hear, see, or smell her.

  The spell was easy to complete, but Cassie was far from being able to relax and eat whatever John had packed for her. She needed to collect firewood before it became too dark, and fill the bucket inside with the water from the pump just down the steps from the back door.

  When the old cabin had been warmed, and after she had collected the water and the wood, Cassie finally opened the bag. John had packed enough canned food to last her days. Cassie was beyond caring what she ate as she took the top can and opened it.

  “Chicken noodle soup it is,” Cassie said to the empty room as she poured it into the cast-iron pan. She would have to hold it over the fire to heat it up.

  The fire continued to burn as the sun set, and Cassie sat and ate her food. It was late, and she was exhausted. Unrolling her lightweight, but super-warm sleeping bag, Cassie was set for her first night away from home alone. Never once had she been alone like this. She had left the town several times while growing up, but always with Maria. She never found it strange that John always stayed behind, but now his explanation made more sense.

  Cassie settled into her sleeping bag as close as she could get to the fire but where she still felt safe. It, more than likely, would go out sometime during the night, but that was fine. She would collect more wood in the morning.

  The night was mostly silent except for the wind that easily made it through the cracks of the walls in the dilapidated cabin. The place was better than nothing, but still not completely warm. The fire was already slowly dying as Cassie dozed off to sleep. It didn’t take long, as exhausted as she was.

  Warm and fuzzy inside her bag, Cassie didn’t notice the noise outside until she heard it a second time. The first time she thought it was part of her dream. It wasn’t. Something outside was making a low-pitched groaning noise. Cassie sat up more quickly than she ever knew she could and was out of her restrictive bag almost as fast. She hurried over to her backpack and grabbed the only spell she had on hand. Cassie whispered the words and touched the goo to her forehead. She hoped her impromptu invisibility spell would be enough to keep her hidden.

  The only place that didn’t have cracks was right next to the window that faced the porch. Cassie crawled over and hid there. She had a great view of outside, but from the sounds of it, she kind of got the feeling she didn’t exactly want to see what was making the awful noise.

  Cassie held her breath as the sound came closer. She continued whispering the words; the spell had to work.

  About ten feet from the cabin, a creature came slinking into view. It had large arms that stretched down to its knees, which were bent backward like an animal’s. Its head wasn’t human, though it was walking upright, and it was covered with patches of fur. It was a scary sight to see as it walked, but when it turned its eyes to Cassie, and their piercing red glowed in the dark, Cassie couldn’t help but suck in a breath. It was like the creature was looking straight at her. Her spell didn’t work, and she was screwed.

  Cassie froze in place at the sight of the animal. Its mouth opened into a smile to show off its large razor teeth dripping with saliva and something else darker in color. The moonlight made it possible to see but still not clear. If she didn’t know about the night human world, Cassie would have thought she was still dreaming. Now she was stuck in a broken-down cabin with a monster looking at her like she was going to be supper. Without a doubt, this was one of those night humans that feasted on humans. She regretted not asking more questions of John.

  There weren’t many options. She could try to run from the back door, but Cassie had a feeling that the creature could see better, and probably run faster, in the evening light than she could. She could stay inside and hope that it didn’t have the dexterity to open the door. Then again, it could probably just push a hole in the decrepit walls. Her limited supplies and spells could be used to fight back, but it seemed that the invisibility spell didn’t work, so would anything else? Cassie now wished her uncle was the hunting type—he could have given her a gun to run away with. This wasn’t safe.

  The creature turned and stared at Cassie. Slowly, it took a step forward. Its mouth hung open as it groaned, and its knees creaked. Cassie’s heart began to beat faster. She was out of options. Nothing seemed like it was going to work. The monster’s smile grew, and it took another slow step, as if he heard her heart beating out of her chest. She was going to die of a heart attack before anything else. The creature moved to walk forward again, but froze in his place. It tilted its head, paused a second time, and then moved faster than Cassie thought it could. It was gone in the blink of an eye and another flash of white streaked through the woods in the direction the monster left. Cassie frantically looked out the window. Where did the monster go?

  CHAPTER 5

  Cassie slept very little as she stayed in her spot by the window. The monster never came back, but Cassie had the feeling she wasn’t alone. Someone was out there. She had to hope it was John that had scared that thing away, but she wasn’t sure. John didn’t know where the cabin was. Maybe he had got ahold of Maria, and she told him where to find Cassie. Either way, she had stayed safe by some miracle.

  When the sun was finally up, Cassie felt safe enough to drift off to a solid sleep. It was going to be a long wait for her aunt if she stayed awake all night because there were monsters in the woods. She needed her rest, and had to use the safety of the sun to sleep and hope the monsters were sleeping, too. Unfortunately, Nate seemed to be right about that one. Things that went bump in the night were certainly outside the cabin last night. In fact, Cassie wasn’t sure she could even imagine something that grotesque and scary if she had been asked to.

  By lunch time, Cassie was rested enough to get up. The fire was completely extinguished since she hadn’t moved all night, and her stomach was growling for sustenance. She would have to find wood before she’d get to eat anything since she needed the fire to cook everything John had sent with her.

  It was easy to get into doing chores around the cabin. She had to collect wood, herbs, plants, and water. She had to reset her spell and hopefully do it better this time. It would have been nice to have a cell phone and call her uncle to ask questions, but Modern Survival 101 told her not to bring it with her. She could still be tracked by it.

  As evening approached, Cassie let the fire burn down. Maybe it was the smoke that drew in the monster. She might have thought Nate was crazy the night before, but she felt she should have known better. If there were real witches, why wouldn’t there be real monsters as well? The spell had been doubled, but Cassie still worried. She had no way to fight back if anything did happen, and after how quickly the gigantic thing disappeared, she had no chance to run away from it either.

  The last of the sun’s rays hid behind the horizon, and she was alone. T
he sky darkened quickly to black, and the clouds let the almost-full moon illuminate the woods around the cabin. Cassie huddled in her blanket by the window and waited.

  The wind howled outside the cabin and began to lull Cassie to sleep. She was almost to dreamland when she heard it. This time, it wasn’t a moan. This time, there were words. Someone was outside the cabin.

  Cassie sat up as quietly as she could to get a better view outside the window. She couldn’t see anyone, but she was sure she heard them. Standing just as quietly, she made her way to the window on the other side of the door. From there she could barely make out several people outside the range of her spell. One was talking to the rest of the group and pointing toward the cabin.

  The group of people began to spread out as they walked toward the cabin. Running from a monster was one thing, now there were at least a dozen or more people walking her way. Cassie scooted under the window and back to the other side of the door. She had it barred and blockaded shut, but this was just getting to be too much. Her secret cabin didn’t seem to be so much of a secret.

  The people in the woods continued to move near. When they passed the tree line, Cassie would get a better view with the bright moonlight. She waited. Were they friends or foes? Was the coven coming to collect her and force her to move in with Nate? She didn’t know what sort of power the alpha had, but her uncle was afraid. That was enough to tell her to stay hidden.

  The first person walked forward, and Cassie had to hold in her gasp of surprise. The younger man, whom she didn’t recognize, quickly went from looking like a normal person to the same creature that had been in the woods the night before: elongated arms, backward knees, and a larger than normal head with fangs that would make anyone have a heart attack. Not friendly. These were bad people.

  Cassie desperately looked around the cabin for someplace to hide. She wasn’t going to take any chances sitting in the room this time. Her savior didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby, and even so, could the person actually scare off a dozen of these?

  There were cupboards that lined the wall by the old tin sink. It was possible that Cassie could fit in them. But would that really be a hiding place? Any normal person would check those if they were searching the cabin. She needed a better, less obvious, spot. She glanced around quickly. There was a sort of couch and a dresser. Again, not the best places to hide. Beyond that, there was a broken table and chairs that even a small animal couldn’t hide behind. This wasn’t good. Cassie already cast an invisibility spell, but that wouldn’t matter either. These creatures seemed more animal than human. It was possible that they didn’t even use sight to find her to begin with.

  Cassie glanced back outside. One of the smaller monsters was approaching the house. This one was golden in color and didn’t blend into the darkness around it. It’s almost feline-like face peered at the door before the monster bent back and sat down, squatting right outside the doorway, with its back to the entrance. Cassie was trapped inside.

  Was this the monster that had scared the others away the night before? She had seen flashes of white in the trees all night, but she didn’t know what it was. The golden monster didn’t even look back at the house; it just sat and stared ahead at all the weird monsters passing by.

  As they neared the house, not a single monster stepped closer. This had to be her protector. Cassie had to hope that; otherwise, this was the monster that was strong enough to claim Cassie as its own personal supper.

  Cassie peered from the window down at the monster. It had now curled up at the doorway like a cat. The other monsters paid no attention to the cat monster at the door, but they all each stopped near the house to give a good sniff before walking away.

  Something was strange with the creatures. For one, not a single one was the same. Cassie got a better look as they passed and each had their own distinct face markings. Some appeared cat-like; others more like wolves or dogs. A couple looked like a bear if you squinted, and one even looked like a snake, slithering tongue and all. But they all appeared very animalistic. Was that what a skinwalker was? Closer inspection now showed her that none of them looked like the red-eyed one she had seen the night before.

  Cassie kept standing at the window as she watched. The back of the house had a small escape door, but none of those monsters were even close to fitting through. She was safe that way. The only worry now was the golden cat at the front of the house, blocking the door. It wasn’t like Cassie was going to go for a midnight stroll, but it was a bit nerve-wracking to sleep with that thing outside the cabin.

  The fire was low, and the room was growing cooler as the night air seeped into the cabin. Cassie slid her blanket around her as best she could. She couldn’t bundle into it like the night before because then she wouldn’t be able to make a run for it, but she also was freezing. Cassie sat and let the blanket cover her legs also. From her position, she saw out the doorway if the cat monster stood, but she couldn’t see it as it napped. It was going to be a long night.

  Without much to do but sit and listen to her heart beat uncontrollably, Cassie couldn’t help as her eyes began to close on their own. She tried her best to stay awake, but she just wasn’t a night person. After being up the night before, she was exhausted. Something about the cat monster made her feel safe, like it was protecting her. Cassie wanted her fear to keep her awake, but it was slowly going away as she grew heavier and heavier in her warm blanket. When her eyes finally won and closed down, Cassie nodded off into a dreamless sleep.

  Cassie woke with a start the next morning. She didn’t know when she fell asleep, but it didn’t take long to remember the night before. The place had been surrounded by monsters. Cassie peered out the window from her spot on the floor. She didn’t know what happened to the monsters during the day, and would have remembered anything like that if she had come across it in town. There was nothing, and the woods were back to normal. Even the birds were happily chirping in the cold morning air.

  She stood slowly. This was getting weirder and more dangerous. Part of her wanted to return to her uncle, but she shouldn’t. He had sent her out into the woods for a reason. He seemed scared for her. He would have contacted Aunt Maria right away. Cassie had to hold onto hope that Maria was already arriving home and would be out to collect Cassie before nighttime. She was unsure how another night in the woods would go otherwise.

  The morning woods were beautiful as the sun peeked from between the branches of the high trees. Animals scurried around. A chipmunk chased another chipmunk, and a squirrel collected leaves. It was fall, and everything seemed to be readying for winter in the woods. Everything except the monsters. Cassie looked down where the cat monster had been and gasped in surprise. There was no longer a monster, but a person lying naked in her doorway in the cold. And she knew who that person was.

  Whitney accepted the blanket as soon as Cassie put it around her shoulders.

  “That’s the part I’ll never get used to.” Whitney was bubbly and talked like she was well-rested, like hadn’t spent a large part of her night transformed into a half-animal monster.

  Cassie stared at her talking best friend before remembering she was completely naked and needed some clothing. Going over to her bag, she pulled out a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Whitney was far too tall to really fit in anything of Cassie’s, but it was at least something.

  “Used to?” Cassie finally asked.

  “Yeah, changing back naked. I mean, the whole changing into a night human thing is kind of common around here, but they leave out the naked part. Can you imagine your first change when you wake up the next morning completely nude on the neighbor’s lawn because you aren’t used to your totem and go to the wrong house? Completely mortifying,” Whitney talked away as she put the clothes on.

  “You’re one of them?” Cassie asked though in reality she didn’t need to.

  There was only one thing lying at her door last night, and it happened to be Whitney in the morning. Unless Whitney did some magic trick to trade places
with the furry monster, it had to be her.

  “No, I just like to take a naked jog in the woods early in the morning instead of going to school. It really wakes you up in this chilly weather, and the best part is you don’t have to change out of sweaty clothes when you get home because you don’t have any on,” Whitney replied, grinning at Cassie. “Oh yeah, and I was a bit winded and thought this cabin looked like a nice place to take a nap in the buff.”

  Cassie’s mouth hung open. Two sleepless nights and her best friend showed up like nothing strange happened; she wasn’t prepared for joking or sarcasm. Whitney looked up from pulling the blanket back around herself. As she stepped forward, and Cassie couldn’t help but take a step back. Her best friend was a monster at night; a very large, scary monster.

  “Shoot,” Whitney finally said. “Everyone thought it would be best if I was the one to check on you, but I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Cassie stared hard at her friend. There was nothing on her that would indicate that anything was different, beyond her nudity. All the long hair and the strange, cat-like face were gone. She looked a little disheveled, but Cassie had spent the night more than once at her house. Whitney didn’t look any different than at any of those times.

  “I’m going to sit down,” Whitney told Cassie before slowly moving toward her again. Cassie flinched but stayed in place as Whitney sat on the old couch.

  “You might want to sit. I think we have a bit to talk about,” Whitney told Cassie, holding her hands up in surrender to show she had nothing in them.

  Cassie didn’t know what to do. Whitney was her best friend, but it was all a bit overwhelming. How did Cassie not know her friend turned into a monster at night? She missed that even after being friends for years.

  Whitney patted the old couch and dust flew into the air, making her sneeze. Cassie laughed as she backed up. No one in their right mind would pat that old thing. Whitney was lucky she didn’t just punch her hand through it.