The White Witch (6 page)

“Erebos?” Without warning, and frighteningly enough, without sound, Erebos is standing in front of me. His gaze is fixed on me and I am pretty sure he isn’t even blinking. He is dressed in the same suit he had on earlier.

“What are you doing here?” My eyes dart in every direction, still trying to find a path home.

Erebos steps forward and begins to circle me. The closer he gets, the more my head begins to pound and I am having trouble concentrating. “You are a strong minded mortal.”

Mortal?

“I saw something in you, child.” He spits the word child. He continues to circle me and I feel like my skull is going to crack open. The closer his circle gets around me, the harder it is to breathe, a vortex of sorts is pulling the air from around me. “Will you not defend yourself?” Out of the corner of my eye I see him cock his head at me. “Perhaps I am wrong about you.”

I hear him, but I cannot react to his words. To my right, in the distance I hear leaves crunching. The sound gets closer and closer but I am now on my knees and I have no idea who is nearby or if I will live to find out. A flash of grey and white light comes from beside me cutting through the vortex and knocking Erebos out of my line of sight. The ground beneath me begins to spin as I try to take in air, but it’s too late, the darkness is here.

My eyes flutter open to the sound of a tea kettle whistling. A tan microfiber sofa and blanket envelop me. A fog clouds my mind and I cannot keep a coherent thought.

“I was wondering if you were going to wake up. You falling into a coma would be pretty difficult to explain to your parents.” The familiar voice comes from the next room.

I sit up slowly, taking in my surroundings. The walls around me are a light shade of grey. The house is meticulous with very minimal furniture and no dirt or stains to be seen. The living room isn’t very large, but big enough to house the sofa I am on, a loveseat and a large flatscreen tv. Across the hall is an open dining room, and judging from the noises, the kitchen is in the next room.

Mr. Wentworth rounds the corner with a mug in his hands, the steam forming intricate shapes as it rises up.

“How… what?” the only words I can manage to trickle out.

“Oh.” He looks at the tea. “It’s just the combination of the herbs.” He hands me the cup, and though it smells divine, I am afraid of any liquid that can control the shape of its own steam. “Trust me. It will help clear the fog in your head.”

How did he know I felt foggy?

I take a sip and almost instantly, I begin to think clearer. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” He sits on the loveseat, leaning forward, his forearms on his legs and hands clasped

“I remember seeing someone watching me and I thought it was you because I see you a lot. I took off and ran into the woods and there was this guy.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“No, well, not really. I’d only met him this afternoon. He said something about seeing something in me, but I don’t know what the hell he was talking about.” I take another sip of the tea and look at my counselor. “What was he doing to me? When he was walking around me, my head felt like it was going to explode and I couldn’t breathe.”

He chuckles lowly. “He was trying to get into your mind. But you were somehow able to keep him out. I’m not sure how you were able to do it, being that you are so young and you don’t fully have an understanding of your powers yet.”

“Wait.” I put the mug down on the coffee table. “My what? Did you just say powers?”

He presses his lips together. “Yes.”

“Mr. Wentworth, I think you’ve read too many books, or tried counseling too many kids. There is no such thing as powers.” I say, though I, myself am unsure. “ You know, I was thinking that maybe I fell and hit my head and imagined all this, but now I wonder if you are the one that has hit his head.” I stand, removing the blanket and dropping it on the sofa. “I have to get home. My parents are probably worried.”

“Katelyn, I assure you that there is such a thing. What do you think has been happening to you since you were a little girl?”

I stare at him open mouthed. “Those are coincidences, or freak accidents of nature.” I half yell, only because I don’t know how or why he knows this. “Magic belongs in the books I read! And how did you know that things have been happening since I was a little girl?” I yell at him feeling exposed at the revelation of his knowledge about me.

“There is a lot you don’t know, Katelyn. But I can’t explain it if you aren’t willing to open your mind.” He sits with a calm that is unnerving.

“I appreciate you helping me from whatever it was that happened.” I open the door and look at him one more time.

He regards me with a sadness now. “When you are willing to learn the truth, I will be here.”

I walk out the door and am suddenly in the woods behind my house. I turn to look at Mr. Wentworth, but he is gone. The entire building has disappeared as if I were never inside of a building at all. I look ahead, a path to my house very clear in my sights.
What the hell just happened?

As I emerge from the woods I see that the moon is high overhead.
How long was I gone?
I see several people through the windows of the house and one stops at the back door.
Ana
.

She throws open the French doors. “She’s here!” She yells as she runs to me, all the people in the house running out behind her.

“Katelyn!” Ana yells as she approaches me and I brace myself for the impact. She throws her arms around me, squeezing me tight. “Are you ok? Where the hell have you been?”

I open my mouth to answer, but my dad comes up right behind her and takes me in a bear hug. “Katie-Kat!” He hasn’t called me that since I was about five years old. “Are you alright baby?” He releases me, but takes my face in both his hands turning it every which way, looking for some sign of injury. Beside me, Liz takes my arms and does the same.

“I’m fine.” I say, but they continue their inspection. I grab my dad’s shoulders. “Daddy!” He stops searching me and looks straight at my eyes. “I’m alright.” I say calmly, though calm is the last thing I am right now.

“Where’ve you been?” His eyes are red and a bit puffy. “We tried calling you and when you wouldn’t answer, Liz and I came home, but you weren’t here either and when we saw your phone on the hammock, well, we thought-“ He pulls me into another bear hug. “We thought you could be hurt or something.” He says onto my shoulder before releasing me again.

“I-” I stop and take in their faces, Ana, her parents, Liz and Dad and two police officers.

“Come on baby,” Liz wraps her arm around my waist, nudging me forward.

I can see everything clearly and though I can think clearly, my memories of what happened seem like a dream.

We get inside and Liz hands me off to my dad who sits me at the kitchen table while she goes to make coffee.

I look again to the police officers and to my dad.

“Kiddo, we were so scared, we were trying to report you as missing, but because it hadn’t been twenty-four hours, they couldn’t make it official.” He tells me, explaining the officers’ presence.

“Miss Miller, if you could let us know where you were and what happened?” The taller and slightly rounder of the officers speaks first.

My dad shoots him an annoyed look before looking back at me. He might be annoyed at them for asking, but I can only imagine that he’s just as curious, if not more.

“I was sitting in the hammock this afternoon when I saw someone in the forest behind the house.”

“Can you describe the person you saw?” The shorter, thinner officer steps forward, his name badge flashing beneath the kitchen lights. Bell. 

“I’m sorry. All I saw from the hammock was two eyes and what I think was a trench coat. The face might have been hooded because I only saw shadows between the trees.”  I turn my attention to Liz who hands me my favorite mug filled with coffee. “I got off the hammock and started walking into the forest, but the person got further and further away, and when I turned to look for the house, I couldn’t find my way”.

I contemplate whether or not to tell them about Erebos, but I choose to leave him out until I talk to Logan. “I must have fallen and hit my head because I thought I was in a house, and when I got up to walk out the door I was back in the forest and it was dark.”

The two officers look at each other. Deputy Bell steps forward and looks me over. “Do you have a welt or lump?”

“No, but my head hurts really bad.”

“Could have also been a heat stroke.” Deputy Bell says to his partner. “Alright Miss Miller, I think we have all we need. Should you remember anything else, please give us a call. Your father has my card.” He looks at me with a sideways smirk and squinty eyes.

Ana’s parents offer to walk the officers out. “Katelyn if you need anything you and your parents can give us a ring, ok hun?” I nod as Ana’s mom gently squeezes my arm.

Ana slides into the seat next to me and gives me a quick hug. “I’m so glad you’re ok. Call or text me later if you are up to it.” She smiles before standing and leaving the kitchen and following her parents out the door.

I glance at my phone buzzing on the kitchen table.

“Oh, some guy named Logan has called several times. I answered on the fourth time because we wanted to ask him if he knew where you could be. You might want to call him and let him know you are alright because he seemed very distraught.” Liz sits down, raising her eyebrow and I know she’s waiting for more information about Logan.

“We met the other day at the library. He just moved to town. He’s also the one I was having coffee with the other day.” I grab my phone and find six missed calls and texts. I think of the tea as the throbbing in my head begins to finally subside.

“Kate?” His voice sounds desperate and a pang of guilt suddenly hits my stomach as I realize what I have caused everyone.

“Yes.”

“Geez, Angel, I’ve been so worried. Are you ok?”

I wonder how many times I am going to hear that question in the next couple of days.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll call you in a bit, I just wanted to let you know I’m alright. Liz told me you called.” I glance at Liz and then at my dad who are watching me intently.

“I did, I was worried when I didn’t hear back from you. Don’t forget though.”

“I won’t.”

I hang up the phone and rub my face with my hands, still trying to process all that happened. I know it wasn’t a dream and I know I didn’t hit my head, but can I really accept that it was magic?

“So you want to tell us what really happened?”

“What do you mean?” I feign innocence.

“Kiddo, you don’t have any bruising or bumps on your head, though I can see that you are in a daze. Are you sure that there isn’t something that you just didn’t want to tell the police?” He swallows hard and hesitates. “Did something, you know, strange happen?”

“Oh, you mean, did I do something?” I answer sharply as I look down at my hands. The dirt doesn’t seem that apparent at first, but then, it’s because the shaking draws your attention away from the dried mud.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that.” He sighs, “Katie, we know that you don’t control those things that happen around you, so I’m not accusing you. I’m just asking if something happened, maybe you got worked up when you saw the stranger, and then-”

My eyes fill with tears and I am about to stop them, but I don’t bother. “I don’t know exactly what happened dad!” I half yell, putting my elbows on the table and burying my face in my hands. “I just … don’t know.” The tears turn to sobbing and my dad scoots onto the chair next to me, bringing me onto his shoulder.

“It’s ok baby. You’re home safe and that’s all that matters. We can talk again about it later.” He strokes my hair and cuddles me like he did when I was younger.

I wonder to myself why he is always so calm and accepting about the things that happen around me and I pull away for a moment. “I wish I knew why this happens to me.”

I cringe as I think of all the little ‘events’ that have happened that I never told him and Liz about because I was afraid that their understanding would turn to fear or worry.

He doesn’t hesitate. He puts his fingers under my chin and lifts my head so that I am looking at him straight in the eye. “Because you are and always have been special. Great and unexplainable things happen around you. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

I sit for a few more minutes in my dad’s arms before heading upstairs to shower. I mull over what my father said and realize for once, that perhaps, I was looking at it wrong. Yes, I can’t explain them, but if I could understand it, or what is causing this, I might not feel like a freak. I decide to make it a point to see Mr. Wentworth tomorrow, though I really have no desire to go to school.

I sit on the edge of my bed in my blue and white striped pajama bottoms and cami, my wet hair falling around my face as I lean over onto my knees and stare at my phone, forcing myself to make the call.

“Angel?”

“Hi.” Is all I can manage.

“Hey.” His voice softens and I feel a warmth consume my chest. I’m tempted to ask him to come over and pick me up, just to go for a drive, but after the scare I gave my parents, I think it best to stay home.