Witchling (Chronicles of Witchood) (16 page)

“Indeed you are, my dear,”
he said as if he had read my mind, only to realise that he did. “Do not fear, I will certainly use what you know against you. Tell me, how are the Winters? Are they well? I’ve been trying to get my hands on them for almost a century now but they’re always so pervasive, like cockroaches. This face is handsome isn’t it?”

I attempted to shut out all thoughts and tried to think of something else, but the Master would not allow me. He walked into my line of sight
and lifted up my chin. I tore my face away. It made him laugh again.

“Such a pretty one, what a pity that you will be dead soon. Tell me, how would you like to die? I see that you’ve only seen two real possible outcomes so far, burned or stabbed.”

The Master stepped closer as I felt something wrap itself around my leg. I couldn’t move and soon found myself trapped.

“What you do
want from me?”

The Master’s lips curved into an evil smile. “I’m just playing with you. Come now,
its five days before I have to prepare you for the sacrifice. Don’t you want to know why?”

The Master waited for me to answer the
crucial question. He could read everything that went on in my mind but he wanted me to speak it, as if my voice had some sort of magical quality that could bring him a sense of satisfaction.

“Why does the
Copycat call me m’lady?” I asked. It was a divergent question from the one he wanted me to ask, but still relevant. I feared what he would tell me if I gave him what he wanted, though it did confuse me why the Master just didn’t tell me. There was something that banned his lips from speaking, in the same manner that Ethan is bound to only speak about certain things when Aiden allowed it.

“Copycat? A very descriptive n
ame for his kind. He calls you m’lady because you remind him of someone he used to know, or rather, the source of his projection used to know.”

“Aiden,” I whispered.

“Yes, him, he is a beautiful one isn’t he? Long lashes, dark hair, beautiful face, your beloved Dextris is the epitome of every girls’ dream. I heard the cheerleaders at Angel Falls High are head over heels over him, him being the original and not my Copycat.”

“Are you a
Copycat too?”

“Me? Oh, no, I’m something else. Perhaps, in a different life, we could have been friends, even lovers, if the Angels would allow it, wait, sorry, that’s my projections’ mind and not my own. Do pardon me for this brief indi
scretion.” The Master grinned. “That’s the trouble with projections – you never know what you’re going to get from their head.”

I blinked. “From their head?”

“Why, yes. It’s part of the transformation, which works on a psychic link. He does really fancy you, in fact, both brothers do, but they are very aware of your age and how young you are. I think the plan between them is that they’re going to wait a few years, you know, for you to grow up a bit and then perhaps defy their Angel, break some rules, and well, be with you, if you decide to choose. I guess it comes with looking like someone from their past, but that’s a different story all together. I don’t want to spoil it now by tell you.”

“What are you talking about?” I whispered,
thoroughly confused by the rant the Master spewed out. The brothers doesn’t
fancy
me, I knew that much. I would know if they did, with my ability to sense things that no one else can.

“Well, it is practically impossible now, since it’s already written by the Fates that you will die on the night of the blood moon.
Do you have any final requests?”

“What’s so special about me? Aren’t there any other witchlings out there?”

The Master pulled a face. “Yes, but they’re not as powerful as you. We needed one that would be able to last long enough through the spell. The others we’ve come across, well, they’ll just burn up in the first five minutes. With you, however, you’ll last for at least half an hour, if not, then more, and that should be plenty of time for us to do the spell.”

“Us? Who else is involved? Another Angel? Are you a Dextris? Or Double Walker? Or one of those Hunters?”

“None of the listed. I am what I am.”

I thought the last sentence sounded familiar.
He was lying.

“What exactly is the sacrifice for?” I decided to ask finally.

“To break a curse,” the Master replied. His face changed momentarily and for half a second, I saw his true form – a dark soul with no true form. The sight terrified me as I realised that I was about to unleased something evil from its cell.

“Your curse,” I whispered.

“No, but nice try, my master’s curse.”

“Your master? I thought you were the Master.”

“I am the Master but there is another greater than I am and He has waited all these years for you. I suppose you’d want to meet him, but alas, you will already be dead by the time that he is freed from his prison.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I thought you wanted answers. The brothers had this knowledge on them for almost a decade now and they watched over you all this time, I thought that it was only fair that you knew the truth.”

“What?”

The Master could be lying and yet I didn’t sense any sort of dishonesty from him, not in the last sentence he spoke, or perhaps he is fooling me with his magic. There is no doubt that he is strong. He could be masking his real emotions from me. I didn’t want to believe that Ethan and Aiden has been watching over me for all these years, that they had full knowledge of what would happen to me on the night of blood moon and why.

“Come now, don’t look at me as if I’m the
villain. I’m just the servant of the villain, an Igor if you’d like to put it into perspective and you are the specimen that needs to be prepared. Have you managed to learn how to use that grimoire?”

“No,” I lied automatically, although, it was really a proper sort of lie. I knew how to get it to reveal its secrets and nothing else. The spells made no sense and I could barely read what’s inside.

“I see,” said the Master slowly. “Would you mind giving me a demonstration?”

“It’s just a book to me,” I told him.

The Master was about to say something but he stopped himself and tilted his head slightly to the left, as if listening to something. He nodded, his lips held in a pout and his eyes for a brief moment turned completely black. When he returned his attention to me, the Copycat had come through the double doors and waited with his hands behind his back, like a soldier waiting for an order.

“Take her back to her room,” said the Master. “Oh, and fix up her
shoulder. Blood on lace doesn’t look good.”

Chapter 16

I sat in my prison with the grimoire on my lap. I found it odd that they didn’t try to take it away from me. Perhaps they couldn’t, Ethan did try to touch it once and it burnt his fingers. Or perhaps they wanted me to discover something in the grimoire and then take it straight from my brain with their mind reading abilities. I couldn’t be sure and the more I thought about it, the more it started to feel like a messed up mind game.

The Master made an effort to reveal his abilities to me.
Perhaps it was for a reason. I wondered why. What did he know that I didn’t? An answer came quickly enough – almost everything. I breathed deeply and did my best to keep calm. Now was not the time to break down in tears, although I felt like it. But at least my parents are alive, and that’s all that mattered right now. Luke is safe with the brothers and I still have six days left before I die. The last thought was depressing but it gave me hope. I still have six days before my time ran out, six days stuck in a prison with a book of magic.

The door opened and the
Copycat came in with a silver tray loaded with a small basin of water, a clean cloth and a small potion bottle. I stood up and edged away. The door closed behind him as he settled the tray down on the floor.

“Fear me not,
m’lady,” he said, “I am here to clean your wounds.”

“I can clean them myself.”

The Copycat lowered his face and grinned. “No you can’t. You’re in pain and although you’ve stopped bleeding, the wound still stings. Sit, your bruises needs treating.”

I refused to mo
ve from the corner of the room. The Copycat waited for a moment, and when he saw that I would not give in, he took up the cloth, bent down and dipped the material into the water. He then walked over to me and held me against the wall.

“Do not struggle,
m’lady, it would only make matters worse.”

The
Copycat grinned and with unexpected gentleness in his touch, he touched the wound with the cloth. There must have been something in the water as it instantly numbed the pain I felt.

“What are you going to do with all those people you have in the cave?” I decided to ask. The silence was too much to
bear, especially with the copycat looking exactly like Aiden. The copycat didn’t lift his face to look at me. Instead, he released me and returned to the basin. I followed him.

“Sit down and I will tell you,” he said and indicated to the bed.

Hesitantly, I complied. The Copycat lifted up the tray and placed it next to me. He then proceeded to dress my injury with the potion.

“
They are to be His food when He is freed from his curse.”

“His food? You mean this cursed thing you’re trying to free eats people?”

“No. Just their souls.”

“What is he? A demon? The devil? Satan?”

“No, m’lady. It is a pity that you will have to die so young.” The Copycat lifted his face and looked into my eyes. “So very young indeed and so much potential.”

For a moment, the
Copycat lost himself in Aiden’s mind but did not have any of his restraints. He reached up and touched my face, his fingers cool against my skin and the scent of fresh snow filled the room. I didn’t dare move as I felt a spell descend on him.

The door exploded open as a gun shot rang out. I screamed and pulled away from the
Copycat as he fell towards me, his back covered in black blood.

“Hey, it’s alright,” said a voice. A blurred figure rushed forward and caught me before I fell backwards off the bed.

“Aiden?” I swung my arms around his neck as the pent up tears came free and flowed down my face. He sat me up next to the dead Copycat, he still retained his form and it was uncanny to see Aiden next to him. It felt like a bad omen, not that the death of the Copycat could be avoided.

“I’m here to get you out. Come.”

“What about my parents?” I asked quickly. I didn’t know Aiden found me but he did, despite the seemingly impossible search for my parents, it took him less than a day to find me. I felt slightly angry as the realisation spawned in my mind, but it was not allowed to grow. Aiden needed me out of this place before any more of those cloaked figures appear, or worse, when they wake up again. I saw them on the ground in front of the doorway, they looked dead but I knew they weren’t.

“Ethan and Luke are on it.”

“Luke? You allowed him to come with you?”

“It was Ethan’s call. Come, I need to get you back to the house.” Aiden glanced at my shoulder and I felt the regret run through his soul. But he would not allow himself to dwell on it as the cloaked figures on the ground started to rise and take shape again. Aiden placed one arm under my legs and the other around my shoulder.

“Wait,” I said. “The grimoire.”

But it was too late. Aiden rushed out of the room at the speed of sound and I instinctively pressed myself against his body. He ran and with my face buried in his chest, I felt his heart beat mark each second that passed. Aiden barrelled through doors and turned sharply in places.
I felt the force on my body as he moved.

Aiden skidded to a stop and held me tightly in his arms.
A slow mocking clap sounded as someone approached us. I dared open my eyes and found that half a dozen cloaked figures surrounded us. Stars speckled the sky above our heads, along with the shadows of the evergreen pine trees. Aiden couldn’t fight while he held onto me. My rescuer was defenceless against those that needed me dead.

“A wonderful surprise this is,” said the Master with Ethan’s voice.

I couldn’t help but feel strange about the encounter. Although trapped, Aiden refused to release me from his protective embrace.

“You,” Aiden hissed.

“You two know each other?”

“Yes, indeed we do,” said the Master. “We are, well, I am,
let’s just say, someone he used to know a great deal about. In fact, he is my inspiration.”

Before Aiden could respond, time slowed around us as I saw a small
familiar pink bottle drop from the sky and explode into a hundred shards. Aiden saw the ambush and launched himself from the ground and high into the sky. I screamed as the tree tops stood below us and Aiden hovered at least two hundred feet from the ground.

“I’m sorry Amelia,” he apologized. Without warning, he threw me up higher and I felt weightless as I saw the trees grow smaller until I started to see parts of  the lake and the town. Aiden dived towards the ground and disappeared from sight as I started to free fall.

I screamed but I could not hear the frightful cry and only felt it as a sense of helplessness came over my numbed body. The wind buffeted around me and pushed my head downwards. The dress rippled against the elements and the coldness bit my open wounds. The force of the fall wiped away my tears and for a moment, I started to believe that my nightmares lied to me and that this is how I was to die.

I closed my eyes and prepared for the worse. Just as the tip of a tree pricked my skin,
a pair of strong arms wrapped itself around my fragile body and covered me from the twigs and leaves that threatened to break and shred my skin. The arms pulled me close against his body. It shielded me and despite the sensation of falling, it gave me hope and I felt somewhat safe.

At first I thought it was Aiden, but when I opened my eyes, I found that it was Ethan, the real Winters brother and not the impersonator.

“Hold on tight, love,” he said with his usual grin and propelled himself through the woods while his brother held off the cloaked shadows and the Master.

Branches cracked and trees fell to the ground as two of the cloaked
figures closed in. Although Ethan was fast, he was not as fast as them. I screamed as he hurled me through the air and I crashed against a hardwood floor and rolled across the room. I felt like a bowling ball hurling down the lane and an invisible force padded my impact against the side of the bed.

I remained still, my body trembled as I assessed myself and found nothing broken. I sat up just in time to see Ethan pass over the house and the cloaked figures in pursuit. The estate was invisible
to them. I found myself in a distinctively modern room and guessed that it must belong to one either Aiden or Ethan. My injured shoulder punished me with a stabbing pain that throbbed into my bones. 

A phone rang outside the door and called for my attention.
I forced myself from the ground and went to it. The house was dark and I wished the brothers had left on the lights. The ringing persisted until I finally reached it.

“Hello?” I managed to say into the
receiver.

“Good. You’re alive. Stay inside and don’t come out. Do you understand me?” said Ethan.

“Yeah.”

The line disconnected and I was alone, in the dark and in pain.
I felt blood drip down my arm and without warning, I fell to the floor.

~

When I dreamt that I was going to die, I never expected the days leading up to it to be as painful. I woke in sweats as phantom flames licked my skin and an invisible knife stabbed my heart. The executioner’s face was still unset as it switched between Aiden and Ethan, except this time, I was certain that it would neither of the brothers but the Master. It had to be him and can’t be anyone else.

A cool hand la
y on my forehead as I jolted awake and flicked my eyes opened. Aiden’s worried face greeted me with a relieved smile. He was convinced that I would break with Destiny and die.

“Hey,” he said softly as he pulled he hand away. “Don’t try to move.”

“My parents?” I asked. It was the first thing that came into my mind. “And Luke?”

“They’re safe. Everyone’s safe. Your brother managed to get all the prisoners out.”

I frowned and sensed that something wasn’t quite right. My brother? A fourteen year old boy with no magical abilities? “Where are they now?” I asked.

“In a safe place. It’s hidden.”
Aiden held me down against the bed as I attempted to sit up. “You must stay still. You were hurt rather badly.”

“Any broken bones?”

“No.”

I attempted to sit up but Aiden made sure to hold me down. “I want to see my family,” I said.

“After the blood moon. It’s just a few more days away. Please, you have to trust me.”

I didn’t have the
strength to physically struggle against Aiden, although, it’s not like I could get away from him even if I wanted to. Besides, there were still many unanswered questions.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

“With a bit of Dextris magic and a tracking spell,” said Aiden.

“Why didn’t you use it on my parents?”

“He couldn’t,” said Ethan. He leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed. “Your parents weren’t being tracked. I knew that you were going to run away eventually, after that stupid suggestion of using yourself as bait, so Luke and I devised a plan to keep you alive and get your parents back.”

I blinked as my mind momentarily stopped. “You and Luke devised a plan?”

“Indeed we did. I used a bit of Luke’s blood to track you down, oh, don’t worry my dear Amelia, it was only a pin prick on his finger. We didn’t let Aiden in on the plot until the very last minute, right after you ran away and before he ripped the house apart, which worked out perfectly because I needed him to frighten you.”

“What do you mean? Why?”

“You’ve met the Master, yes?” said Ethan. I nodded. “And you’ve probably figured out that he has the ability to read minds. We couldn’t let you know because he would also know. I needed a convincing situation that drove you out of the house and Aiden scaring you did the trick. Oh, come of it brother, don’t stare at me like that, she is still alive, a little bit beaten up, but alas, still alive, and we got all the prisoners out.”

“You endangered her life,” said Aiden through gritted teeth. His hands were clenched into fists again and I sensed the stress of keeping me alive stir like a waking volcano. Ethan kept his cool demeanour. It was not the first time he’s seen his brother like this, but the power under Aiden’s potential outburst scarred me.
I reached out and touched his arm.

“He’s right,” I said. “Slightly bruised but I’m fine.”

“Slightly bruised? You’ve got an inch deep gash on you and half your face is purple.”

“Look,” I said with a stern reassuring tone, “as long as my family is safe, I promise I won’t do anything as stupid again,” I said.

Ethan snorted. Aiden shot him a deadly stare. The interaction between the brothers reminded me of something the Master said but I quickly pushed it out of my mind. I already had enough problems to deal with, the first was how to stay alive until at least after the blood moon.
Aiden and Ethan knew more than they allowed me to believe.

“The Master said something about a curse, to release hi
s master, what does it all mean?”

Aiden stood up and walked towards the door. Ethan didn’t move.

“You need to rest,” said Aiden, his face turned and I felt his emotions suddenly guard itself. I shot Ethan an enquiring look. The elder Winters brother shrugged as if it was not his problem, as if he was just there to help keep me alive, and informing me about things is not his job. I felt frustrated and wished that the brothers would just tell me what was going on. Or perhaps this is another one of their tricks? Like how Ethan got me running from the house? It seemed rather silly to play the same trick twice and since I already knew, if the Master caught me again, he would know too.