The Hunted

by Destiny Hawkins

  Oh no, Felix. What if it had already gotten to him?

  If it did, then I was definitely next. What could I do? What was I going to do? In this kind of life threatening situation, I would use my powers, but I still didn’t know how to control them. I really wished that I would have paid more attention in our teen witch sessions back when the coven was together.

  The tiger growled again, coming closer.

  Teleport. I need to teleport now!

  I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to will myself to teleport away from here, but it never worked that way. Only when I wasn’t trying did I ever succeed in using teleportation. “Come on…”

  The tiger was close now, practically on my back. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to outrun it, but that was all I had left to do, so that’s exactly what I did. I started running. Too bad that I was clumsy. After only a few steps, I tripped over a rock and fell face first onto the ground, eating a pile of dirt.

  I could hear the tiger coming for me now and squeezed my eyes shut. It was all that I could think of doing, but when I felt like the life was being pulled out of me, I snapped opened my eyes and sucked in a deep breath of air.

  The sensation that I was experiencing was painful, but only for a few seconds. Once it stopped, I was sure that I was dead, but the sound of something squawking made me believe otherwise.

  The tiger roared at something near me, and then the sound of squawking occurred again.

  No way…

  The squawking was familiar. It was actually coming from my familiar, Bubbles. I haven’t seen her since the attack on my coven.

  Rolling onto my back, I spotted Bubbles hovering over me with her tail whipping back and forth. I remember Triana teasing me about how Bubbles would never grow into an adult dragon but would stay small and adorable as she’s always been. I actually preferred her this way.

  Bubbles was a small dragon about the size of a newborn baby. She was a glowing purple and blue reptile with a spiked crown and jagged tail. Her abilities were to fly, smile, and blow fire from her mouth. One would be surprised at just how much fire she was able to release.

  The tiger stopped at my feet and growled at Bubbles, and then she squawked back. The fact that she didn’t blow the tiger into ashes meant that she didn’t see it as a threat. So, if it wasn’t, then what the hell was it?

  “Nice familiar,” I heard Felix say from my right. “I think Raptor likes her.”

  Turning my head, I found him leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest. A blue glowing strip of light covered the center of his face starting from his forehead and ending at his chin. It was something that could also form on mine and Triana’s faces, only ours were silver. That strip was the symbol of the witches and wizards, but it was the color that distinguished what coven a person belonged to. In this case, Felix didn’t belong to mine.

  My eyes widened at the sight of him. “Felix, you’re a wizard?”

  Chapter Six: The Map Within

  I stared up at his extended hand, hesitant to take it. How was it that I couldn’t tell that Felix was a wizard all this time, and did he always know that I was a witch? He had to. Even in the presence of my familiar, he still seemed calm and collect, like this was no surprise to him.

  “It’s okay. You can trust me,” Felix reassured.

  Staring up at him, I admired the blue strip on his face. That meant that he had pretty good control over his powers, but how? Even wizards at eighteen were still a bit clumsy with their powers. Young wizards and witches had a hard time balancing themselves out, so their magic could either come out weak, or incredibly strong. It wasn’t until they were in their twenties did they get a good handle on things, and by their thirties they were considered pro’s.

  I reached up and took his hand, then let him pull me up to my feet. I wasn’t sure of what to say, so I just continued to stare at him, but then my eyes went down to the tiger that was rubbing its head against Felix’s leg. He called him Raptor.

  “So, you’re familiar is a baby dragon?” Felix said as he held his arm out. Bubbles happily landed on his arm and smiled over at me. “That wasn’t expected. Ms. Jones thought you would have had something a little more…dangerous.”

  I drew my eyebrows together, slightly offended. “Don’t worry. Bubbles is as dangerous as they come.” Realizing what he just said, my eyes widened. “Did you just say that Ms. Jones thought that?” I ran my fingers through my hair with a sigh. “What the hell is going on?”

  Felix chuckled. “Come on. Walk with me. I’ll explain everything.”

  I remained where I stood as Felix turned around. Being out here and using our magic was dangerous. I was so distracted by Felix that I’d forgotten. “Wait―no. You have to stop using your powers. The Hunters will sense you.”

  Felix chuckled and shook his head, then looked at me over his shoulder. “I thought Ms. Jones told you that whatever you were running from before, you wouldn’t find here?”

  My mouth parted as I sucked in air. so that’s what she was talking about?

  A handsome grin pulled up on Felix’s face, surprisingly causing butterflies to bump around in the pit of my stomach. “So, are you coming?”

  I took in a deep breath, still not sure what to think of all of this, but nodded and started to follow behind him.

  Felix didn’t lead me out far, but over to a cliff where he went to sit down with his legs dangling over the edge. I stood a few feet behind him, admiring the beautiful starlit sky, and then the view of the slightly foggy forest far below us.

  “So, this is where you go almost every night?” I asked without taking my eyes from the beauty before me. It’s been over a year since I’ve seen anything this beautiful. Back in the coven mountains, this was my view every night.

  “Yeah,” Felix answered, running his hand over Raptor’s back, who was laying on the ground next to him. “It reminds me of home.”

  I walked over to the edge and sat down on the other side of Raptor. Bubbles jumped from Felix’s shoulder and onto mine, then dug her scaly face into my neck before licking my cheek. “I missed you too Bubbles,” I chuckled. Turning to Felix, I asked, “Are you sure that Hunters won’t sense us using our magic?”

  Felix nodded. “I learned a cloaking spell that would disable the Hunters from sensing our magic on Ms. Jones’ property.”

  “You learned? Who taught you?”

  “No one taught me.” Felix smirked. “Ms. Jones gave me a spell book. On my first try, I was able to cloak the property.”

  I slowly nodded and turned to face the outside world. “That’s amazing. Your coven must be advanced.”

  Felix was quiet for a moment. “We were. Coven Blue focused on trying to find different ways to get the younger witches and wizards to control their powers. That’s why we were one of the best.”

  That’s right. I heard about them. Coven Blue was one of the most advanced covens, because their young ones were able to grasp control. They weren’t as strong as other covens, but what was strength if you couldn’t control it? With them being able to control themselves so well, they were able to use their magic more efficiently. It was one of the reasons our teams could never beat them during coven events.

  “Wasn’t your compound hidden near the Helvellyn Mountains? I think we visited Coven Blue once when I was a kid.”

  Felix chuckled. “You have.”

  I turned my head to look at him with wide eyes. “What? So, you were there?”

  “Yeah. I recognized you as soon as I found you in the woods. Back at Coven Blue, you teleported next to the fire in your sleep, so I carried you back to your tent.”

  I smiled, remembering waking up in my rival’s tent. Cristania and I could never get along. That was one hell of a morning. “That wasn’t my tent.”

  Felix’s eyebrows furrowed. “So that’s why you and that pink haired girl were fighting that morning?”

  I laughed, missing our pointless arguments. “Yea
h.”

  I wonder if she ever got away?

  The two of us were silent, enjoying the view until Felix started to explain everything to me. He started with the night of the hunt, when the Hunters attacked every single coven in the world last year. His parents were both killed while fighting Hunters, giving him enough time to escape through one of the coven doors. They only formed when mastered witches and wizards needed to get in or out of the coven dimension, which was something that I didn’t need since I teleported instead.

  Felix arrived in Alaina Jones’ office, almost scaring her half to death. He was taught not to say anything about being a wizard to Normals, so he didn’t know how to explain his appearance in her office. Luckily, he didn’t have to. Ms. Jones already knew who he was from being friends with his mother. Before moving to the coven, his mother used to live on the same street as Ms. Jones when she was a kid. Their friendship never ended, no matter what others said.

  So, now Felix was just living with Ms. Jones while continuing his studies by reading the one spell book that she owned. When he found Triana and I, he could tell that we were running from Hunters. The only reason that they didn’t say anything to us was because they wanted to give us a chance to relax. Me and my sister were apparently to up tight and tense. Well, at least I was. Throwing more witch and wizard information on me too soon would’ve most likely confused me. Especially, since a Normal was involved. I was taught that they could be even worse than Hunters.

  After he finished explaining himself, he asked me about where Triana and I came from. I didn’t really know how to explain that on account that it hurt every time I tried to talk about it, but eventually, I came up with the right words. I explained to Felix about how we ended up with our uncle after the night of the hunt, then about the day we were attacked a second time.

  “So,” Felix adjusted himself on the cliff. “There’s a way to find our covens again?

  I nodded. “That’s what he said. I can’t let myself believe that we were the only ones that escaped that night. There’s probably a ton of us out there. We just have to find them. The only problem is, we don’t know how.”

  Felix grinned. “This is all starting to make sense now.”

  I drew my eyebrows together in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “Before my parents sent me through the door, they said that there was a mystical map that I needed to follow in order to get back to the coven, but they never said where I would find it, and Ms. Jones had no idea of what I was talking about. I thought that maybe going back to the Helvellyn Mountains would help, but no door appeared for me there.”

  “That’s because the coven leaders move them when danger is near. It used to be moved before the Hunters would even attack, but since there hasn’t been one in hundreds of years, we felt no need to. We weren’t even prepared for them.” My eyes widened. “That’s probably the purpose of the maps. When the doors move, members outside of their coven dimensions need a way to find them again. Maybe the map is somewhere deep within ourselves.”

  Felix pushed himself to his feet. “Then I guess we should start looking for them.”

  Chapter Seven: Control

  “I knew it!” Triana yelled. “I knew there was something about you, Felix. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.”

  I wanted to tell her to quiet down, but I haven’t seen my sister this excited in quite a while. As long as she didn’t say anything that would reveal what we were, then her volume was fine.

  Felix chuckled, sitting down on her bed and rubbing his eyes. We had been out all night, and now that the sun was up, we wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. “Sorry that I waited so long before telling you. I just didn’t know when it would be the best time.”

  “That’s okay,” she said, plopping down next to him. “I’m just happy that you gave me the piece of the puzzle or else I would still be looking everywhere.”

  The three of us laughed together. Nothing was actually funny, but we were each experiencing something good. Something like relief.

  “So, what do we do now?” Triana asked in a lowered voice. “How do we find that map you guys mentioned?”

  Felix and I glanced at one another, and then turned to Triana. Neither of us had an answer.

  “Why don’t you three try going out on All Hallows’ Eve?” Ms. Jones suggested from the opening of the doorway.

  The three of us snapped our eyes to her. Looking down at her feet, I found that she was wearing black house shoes this morning instead of heels. Even still, we should have been able to hear her walking down the hall. She must’ve been very light on her feet.

  It was odd, knowing that a Normal knew something about us. I was taught to never trust a Normal with the secrets of the witches, but it was hard not to trust someone with such a kind smile and a warm demeanor to match.

  Ms. Jones grinned at me. “Don’t act so surprised. I saw you and Felix walking in this morning. I’m sure that you know just about everything now.”

  Felix nodded. “Yeah, we talked.”

  “And I heard you guys discussing that map you mentioned a while ago, right?”

  The three of us nodded.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ve learned this in your…” she looked down the hallway. “From where you’ve come from, but All Hallows’ Eve is the best night for the three of you to search for it.” She leaned her head in with a grin planted on her lips and whispered, “There’s more magic in the air.”

  The three of us looked at each other, thinking the same thing. We could try and connect with our maps using the magic around us. I honestly didn’t know how we could’ve forgotten All Hallows’ Eve. I mean, that was one of our biggest celebrations back home, and I do remember feeling the magic practically flowing through my veins. Maybe somehow, using that day would work?

  “So, when is it?” Felix asked.

  “Tomorrow.” Ms. Jones chuckled. “So, go out in the woods and figure something out at Midnight. That’s technically the start of All Hallows’ Eve. Try not to draw any attention to yourselves.”

  The three of us nodded.

  “We won’t,” Felix reassured.

  “Well, at least I won’t try to.” Triana chuckled.

  I frowned. “How didn’t we know All Hallows Eve was tomorrow?”

  ~The Hunted~

  For most of the day, Felix and I slept in our own rooms while Triana was busy helping Ms. Jones set up for All Hallows Eve. Ms. Jones was apparently big on All Hallows Eve and enjoyed having the children create their own costumes for a big party that she was throwing. Most likely, we wouldn’t be attending since we’d be out all night trying to connect to our maps, but I kind of hoped that we could. Uncle Sam didn’t celebrate it last year, so we missed out. Maybe this year we’ll get to enjoy the night of magic, even if it wasn’t in the way that we were used to.

  When I woke up, I found that it was dark outside, but it wasn’t midnight yet. That would be the start of All Hallows Eve, when magic was most powerful.

  Kicking my feet over the bed, I stood up and was headed towards my door when I heard the faint sound of someone talking in an unfamiliar language outside of my opened window. Slowly turning around, I walked over to my window to find Beatrice talking on the phone next to the house. I wasn’t sure of what she was saying, but she sounded upset. I was surprised that she didn’t start yelling.

  “Dos bum tar nok cha,” Beatrice said through gritted teeth. “Vamus von dar!”

  What language…

  I’ve learned of multiple places in the world during coven sessions, so I had to learn about multiple languages. Afterwards, we were taught how to translate every language known to man, but for some reason, I couldn’t translate this one.

  I took a deep breath, trying to focus on translating her language as she continued to argue with someone over the phone, but I couldn’t translate anything. The words were still foreign to me, even with concentration, and this was something that I used to be
good at.

  Why can’t I understand her?

  I smacked my teeth with a sigh, somehow drawing her attention to me. I froze, locking my eyes with her nearly black ones as she ended her phone call. The two of us stared at one another for a moment longer before she twisted her face and headed towards the back of the mansion.

  Still frozen, I watched her disappear behind the house, but then was startled by Triana’s joyful voice.

  “Raven!” Triana said, sliding to a stop.

  I turned to look over my shoulder, feeling weaker than usual. “What is it?”

  “Ms. Jones is going to let us all watch a scary movie downstairs in the movie room. It’s only two hours, so it should be done by twelve. Want to come watch it? Felix is already downstairs.”

  I turned all the way around. “Why would I care that Felix is down there?”

  Triana bounced her eyebrows. “I don’t know. Maybe because you like him?”

  My cheeks reddened, but luckily, she couldn’t see them in the dark. I wasn’t even sure why her assumption made me feel uncomfortable. It wasn’t like she was right. “Whatever,” I said, walking past her.

  “You know I’m right,” Triana chuckled behind me.

  “You’re not,” I sang.

  “Yes, I am,” she sang back. “I see you two, or at least you. You’re always staring at him with those doe eyes.”

  I started walking down the stairs. “Maybe I’m just curious?”

  “Maybe you’re in denial?” she laughed.

  I ignored my little sister and began heading for the movie room. It was big enough to fit at least fifty children inside of it, but I was sure that there would be less since Ms. Jones didn’t allow the younger children to watch scary movies. They were most likely in their rooms sleeping, or just pretending to be sleep.

  As I neared the entrance of the movie room, I spotted Felix on the couch. My heart began pounding in my chest, thanks to Triana. Now that she had said something about me liking him, I felt nervous. Was I really that obvious? Ever since I learned that he was a wizard, I thought differently of him, but even before that I thought he was beyond handsome. Felix was magnificent. He was smart, kind, and smelled like expensive cologne. These were all the things that I tried not to think so much about before, because I thought that he was just a Normal, but now that I know he’s not…