Witchling (Chronicles of Witchood) (17 page)

Then it clicked. The brothers didn’t want to tell me because they feared what I might reveal to the enemy. It made sense.
I was their weakest link and telling me too much could turn everything they’ve ever planned to dust.

“Fine,” I said. “No more questions. But don’t walk away from me like that. I don’t like it.”

Ethan whistled. “Feisty.” He patted his brother on the shoulder and left. Aiden remained in front of the door, looking like a statue carved by Corradini, his face the epitome of perfect, his eyes filled with pent up guilt. I wondered if it had anything to do with the copycat calling me m’lady. The Master did say that he was a projection of Aiden’s mind. Perhaps I looked like someone from Aiden’s past, someone he had let down before. I wondered if it was another witchling like me. I wanted to ask but saw that it was not the right time to talk.

“Aiden,” I started, “I trust you with all my heart and I understand now that there are things that I’m not supposed to know, for the sake of our safety. But whatever happens on the night of the blood moon, if something goes wrong and the Master somehow finds me…”

“He won’t find you,” Aiden interrupted. “As long as you stay inside the house. You should rest.”

And that was the end of the conversation. Aiden turned off my lights and left the room. I heard the door clicked closed behind him. I began to wonder where Luke was. There was a high chance that he was with mom and dad. Thoughts of the other prisoners came up and I wondered what happened to them. They looked as if they’ve been kept in their cages for a while. I didn’t see Lydia’s dad amongst them, not that I was given the chance to search him out. I wondered how my friends are. It felt like a
lifetime ago since I saw them. I wondered how Karen was doing, without me to help her chose her dress. Then a thought popped into my head. Ethan’s probably sorted that out, along with all my school responsibilities.

Since the break in at my house, I haven’t had any contact with the outside world, not that I could, considering that I was knocked out for most part of my stay at the Winters’ house.
I thought about school, about what I was missing out. I closed my eyes and wished for a normal life, but it was clear since Aiden saved me from the Double Walker that I will never be granted that luxury, even if Ethan wiped my memories, not that I would ever give that up.

I
am a witchling now, whatever that meant. As the darkness forced me back to sleep, my mind drifted to the grimoire. It was still back at the Master’s hideout. He was interested in it but like the brothers, avoided touching it. Although it was in the enemy’s hands, I trusted that none of its contents would reveal itself. It wouldn’t even reveal anything useful to me. Perhaps the book knew that I would unintentionally reveal its secrets when the Master looked into my mind. The grimoire was protected by strong magic, the good sort of magic that wasn’t accessible to dark creatures like him.

Chapter 17

I woke up at midday. My body continued to punish me with a throbbing pain the ceased to loosen its grip on me. I sat myself up on the bed and caught sight of my face in the full length mirror across the room. The girl that stared back looked like something out of a horror movie – matted hair, bruised face, dark purple rings around my eyes and ashen grey skin. The wound on the base of my neck didn’t look good either. Someone had sewn me up, which added to the zombie-Frankenstein look that would have been great for Halloween, except, it was not a costume but real life.

It made sense why Aiden was so disturbed. Even the sight of my own battered face horrified me. I didn’t think was this bad.

The sun was on its way down and I knew that it was five more days before the premonitions are said to come true.

I didn’t dream last night, something which I was glad didn’t happened. The door opened and Luke came in. He sighed with relief at the sight of me alive and fully
conscious.

“You look like crap,” he greeted me.

“Thanks. How’s mom and dad?”

“They’re safe. Ethan’s got a spell…I can’t really tell you.
Just know that we’re trying to keep you alive past the blood moon.”

“It’s alright,” I said. “I understand. Where is Aiden and Ethan?”

“They’re out. It’s just me and you in the house. Do you want anything?”

“No. Just something to eat would be great.”

My brother nodded and started for the door.

“Hey, Luke,” I said just as he was about to leave. My brother stopped.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“For getting you involved in this. I didn’t know things would be this bad, with mom and dad kidnapped
.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Luke. “Really. Sure, our house is wrecked, you look half dead, we’re both missing out on school and living in a house that belongs to agents of some fallen angel named Kael, but we’re still all alive.
And besides, it’s not like you knew what you are.”

I looked at my brother and saw how much he had suddenly grown up in the past few weeks.
I didn’t know how he did it, how he could be so calm while I turned into an emotional head case, not that it could be avoided. It felt like a lifetime ago when he was still that boy that never came out of his room unless it was for food.

“Shut it,” said Luke defensively. He could see my thoughts on my face.
“I’ll bring you something to eat and a potion to help numb the pain.”

Luke disappeared and returned shortly after with a bowl of pumpkin soup and a cup of orange juice.

“Did you make this?” I asked after one spoonful. Luke looked momentarily worried. We both knew that he wasn’t that good when it came to cooking but the soup be presented to me tasted amazing. Even in my current state, it managed to work up my appetite and quickly realised how famished I am. The orange juice was laced with the numbing potion and it worked its magic on my sore body as soon as it passed through my lips.

“Yeah. It’s Aiden’s recipe,” Luke said with a defensive tone.

I laughed. “It’s good. Trust me, it really is. Aren’t you the lucky one, here I am bed bound while you get to learn how to make potions with Ethan and cooking lessons from Aiden.”

“I’m sure you’ll get your turn after the blood moon.
I overheard them talking about a curse, do you know what its all about?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think we should know. The Master can read my mind and perhaps its best that I don’t find out until after the blood moon.”

Luke hesitated. I could see that he wanted to tell me something but my words had stopped him. He knew something, or rather, overheard something, and had no one else to talk to about it. I felt his emotions and parts of his thoughts more acutely than all the others I have sensed, perhaps it had something to do with Luke being my brother. He wanted to speak, his lips bursting at the seams and his tongue ready to spill the secrets he knew.

“What is it?” I said finally. As long as I stayed at the house, I was safe.

“The blood moon,” Luke started but changed his mind. “Do you want more pumpkin soup?”

Luke stood up and took the tray from my lap.
I grabbed his wrist and prevented him from leaving the room. We looked at each other and it was clear that whatever he knew could jeopardize the entire plan that Ethan and Aiden has. It was obvious enough that the brothers are certainly up to something to make sure that I stay alive, but that something worried Luke.

“Go,” I said to Luke. “We need to trust them, no matter how insane or dangerous it is.”

“I don’t want you to die,” my brother whispered.

“I don’t want
you to die either.”

Luke nodded and held his tongue between his teeth.
We understood what he had to do and it was only a matter of days before the worse is over. My brother left the room with the tray and I was allowed to rest, not that I felt like it. Whatever he had put in the pumpkin soup kept me awake and alert, it gave me a burst of energy and despite my injuries, I felt almost normal.

~

By late afternoon, I was in the living room with a book on my lap. Ethan and Aiden had plenty of books to read, most of them seemed written at least half a century ago by others like them. I sensed that they were copies, made and distributed amongst Dextris like them. Luke was in the other corner, on the second level landing, flipping over some pages of a large volume he didn’t bother to find a table for. He sat on the floor with the book in front of him.

I stared at the book in front of me, I could not help but think of the grimoire left at the Master’s hideout. Although I knew it was safe and that the magic that protected it is strong, I just couldn’t push away the nagging feeling that I should have left it in the house when I
ran away in fright. The book was mine and it felt as if I was supposed to protect it, even though it already had its own protection.

I lifted my face when Aiden walked in. He looked at me, somewhat differently from how he looked at me last night. I also sensed something different about him, as if he was a ghost, not that I’ve met any ghosts in my life time.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey. What are you doing out of bed?”

“I couldn’t go back to sleep.”

I noted that Aiden spoke softer than usual, as if he was tired and needed
rest. I’ve never seen him like that before and it had never occurred to me that a Dextris was capable of feeling fatigue. Ethan was certainly awake all the time, or that’s what I was led to believe. He lingered under the archway, as if unable to step in.

“Where’s Ethan?” Luke asked. He walked down the stairs and joined us. He must have sensed something too. I could see through the curious expression on his face.

“He’s held up,” replied Aiden. “Hunting Double Walkers near the school.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

Aiden looked at me with large green eyes that made heart stopped. He looked startled, like a deer caught on a road he shouldn’t be on. Perhaps I asked the question much too quickly and my tone was a little hard. Aiden turned his face away.

“I just wanted to see that you’re alright. Do you have those potions ready?”

“Yeah,” answered Luke. “It’s in the kitchen.”

Without any more words said,
Aiden left and made his way to pick up the crate Luke had prepared earlier. My brother followed him and I was alone. I wanted to go with them but something prevented me, like a force that kept me in my chair. I didn’t know what it was, just like most of the things that has happened so far, and the thought annoyed me.

Aiden left as quickly as he appeared.

“Did you feel anything strange about him?” Luke asked after we heard the car take off.

“Yeah. He was a bit different.” I lifted my face and looked at my brother. “What is it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I should call Ethan.”

I agreed with Luke and as he connected the call, a sharp pain ran through my skull and squeezed my brain. My hands immediately clutched my head in hopelessness.

“Amy! What’s wrong?” I heard Luke yell, but it sounded so distant that I wasn’t sure if he said it all.

For a brief moment, I managed to open my eyes and saw him fly across the room. His back hit the bookcase and a waterfall of hard cover volumes rained down on him.

“Luke!” I screamed.

Aiden came in
through the archway and wrapped his arms around my body. He lifted me up and I soon found myself outside the house.

“What are you doing?”

“Saving your brother’s life,” he said. The car was never turned off and the engine purred and hummed as he placed me in the passenger seat. In the confusion and my attempt to get out, Aiden seated himself behind the driver’s wheel. He pushed the car into gear and drove away without another word.

“We need to get back and help Luke.”

“We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not your beloved guardian Dextris.”

“What?” I couldn’t sense what he was
but the facts were clear enough – the person driving the car was certainly not Aiden. He must be one of the copycats.

The car skidded along the forest floor and the trees seemed to be on my side. The roots lifted up and blocked the mustang’s path but the new copycat
ploughed through nature’s barricades.

“Stop the car!” I screamed but it only made the
Copycat stamp his foot down on the accelerator. The pain continued to sear through my head and my lungs seized. “I can’t breathe,” I choked out. I didn’t want to black out but my vision started to blur as the pain escalated.

The copycat pulled the Mustang onto the road and we were making our way out of Angel’s Fall.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere safe,” said the copycat. “Somewhere no one can find you. Not the Master. Not the brothers.”

The Copycat took something out of his jacket and placed it on my face. It smelled like menthol and I struggled as he momentarily suffocated me. I tried to pull his hand away but I was no match against his strength.

“No…” I muffled out but the
Copycat ignored me. It was the last thing I remembered – kidnapped and mugged by a creature that managed to bypass Aiden and Ethan’s magic.

~

I woke up tied to a bed, my wrists bounded to the rusty bars of the headboard. I didn’t know where I was, except the place looked like it was occupied by human sized rats. The room was covered in old and yellowed newspaper; ancient stale crumbs littered the abandoned plastic cups and plates, musty floorboards and something rotting in the fireplace. I couldn’t breathe in the air. I smelled so awful that I wished I never woke up.

It
must have been the copycat that tied me up. There was no other possible explanation, though I couldn’t see him now. I looked through the dusty window and saw a broken picket fence and a front yard covered in overgrown weeds. The place must have been abandoned for quite some time to fall into this state. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. I held my breath as I dared turn my face. A pair of cockroaches darted across the floor. I almost screamed at the sight of them but knew that there was no point. My brain stopped my mouth before it made any noise.

I pulled myself to sit up on the mouldy bed. The effects of Luke’s numbing potion was wearing off and I knew that it would not be long before I started to feel the pain on my shoulder again.

The door opened and Aiden’s new copycat stepped in. He walked up and sat down next to me. I flinched and leaned back when he reached out and attempted to touch my bruised face. He stopped midway and looked down with guilt.

“I apologize,” he said. “But it is no longer safe at the house.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Aiden Winters, or rather, an incomplete copy of him. The Master created me so that I may enter the house and bring you to him.”

I lifted my chin with all the courage I had. “Why am I here?”

The
new copycat Aiden avoided looking at me. He felt the same as the Aiden I knew, except he was not Aiden. Perhaps my ability to sense people was going off, though the Copycat isn’t exactly a person. I could tell that much from his strange presence.

“The scent of this place masks your existence.”

“Yeah, dead stuff everywhere.” I couldn’t help but glance towards the fireplace. The fur looked matted and I could see dark blood stains on the blackened iron grate. The creature was too mangled for me to figure out what it used to be.

“I apologize again but it had to be done. The Master plans to sacrifice you on the night of the blood moon and the spell cannot be allowed to complete and…” the copycat’s voice
faltered as he remembered what he was. I saw it on his face as he stopped his tongue and glanced down at the mattress.

“What are you going to do to me?” I asked, so calmly that I surprised myself. It was clear that the copycat didn’t want me dead, but he had said that the Master created him, and I didn’t understand why he would go against his creator.
Was this some sort of rebellion? Are there others like him?