Just Before Dawn

Chapter 11

"Oh! Didn't expect company!" I gasped. An old man stood next to me, smiling at me, showing stained crocked teeth. I tried not to take a step back as a stench from his mouth drifted towards me. He looks about the same age as mum but already has gray streaks on his brown hair. He was tall and lean, and he would've looked handsome when he was younger. He wore a suit for god knows what reason. But it was his eyes that was throwing me off. They were green with gold flecks with other shades of blue and turquoise. They looked so similar yet... different. It also disappeared after a couple of seconds. Warlock. He raised his eyebrows at me, and I realized he was expecting a reply.

"Oh! I was just... walking through the woods and just stumbled upon this road," I pointed at the faint dirt road. "I didn't know it led to this um... gate?" I pointed to the thing and he nodded and placed his hands behind his back. We stood there a couple of minutes, and I was about to tell him that I was about to leave when he shook his head.

"How rude of me! I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Wilfred Ross." He smiled and held out a hand to me. Now I know where I've seen those eyes. They were almost the same as Zerek's! Of course! This is his father! I was about to shake his hand when I remembered something Zerek said in one of our lessons. His father's special power is that he can sense witches and warlocks by touching them in any way. My hand withdrew for some reason. As if it had a mind of its own. Since he was a warlock, it wouldn't matter if I tell him I was a witch, right? I opened my mouth to tell him all about the witchy things that have been going on but... nothing came out. I tried again, but its as if my voice-box decided not to work. I tried to say the word witch, to give him a hint, but that didn't work either. I shook my head.

"My name is Kaeya Dankworth. Nice to meet you sir." So that's when my voice started again. He still kept his hand out and I felt a little bad to leave him hanging. "I'm sorry, but I'm... um, a germaphobe." His eyes widened and drew his arm back.

He nodded, "I am so sorry. I didn't know about that." We stood there again, in that awkward tension.

I sighed, "Um, my mum must be worried about me. So... I'll head back. Ur... nice meeting you again." I turned and left him. When I turned back toward him, he was already facing the gate. I didn't even take a couple of steps before someone pulled me down. I yelped but it was muffled by someone's hand against my mouth. I tried kicking the person, but the stranger just held me tighter.

"Stop wriggling will you! Or he'll notice!" I did stop. Only because I realized who it was. Zerek's grip loosened, and he removed his hand from my mouth. We were sitting behind large bushes, so although we could see Wilfred, he won't be able to see us.

"You could've said something you know!" I hissed. But he didn't reply. Only lifted his pointer finger to his lips and then pointed to the gate. I clenched my jaw and looked back to where his father stood. He looked to his left, then to his right. My legs started to hurt from crouching, so I tried setting my bum down on the floor, only to lose balance and fell on top of Zerek, snapping a couple of twigs in the process. The old man snapped his head at our direction. We could still slightly see him through the gaps of the bush, but I hoped he couldn't see us. He took a step forward in our direction. Zerek tensed underneath me, and I completely stopped breathing. Something moved in my peripheral vision. Zerek tensed even more. I could feel his heart racing under my back. I heard him take a sharp breath but did not let it out. The old man took another step towards us just as something long crawled over my leg. Slightly lifting my head up, I saw something long and brown. Its tongue came out and made a hissing noise. God dammit! Why does there have to be a snake at this moment! I slammed my head back down, only to realize that someone was actually underneath me. Zerek tried to hold his cough but it came out as tiny chokes.

"I'm so sorry. I forgot you were here." I whispered as quietly as I can. He just shook head and stayed silent.

The snake slithered into the bush. Wilfred was about to take another step but froze half-way. He gave short laugh and without even blinking something red flew out of the old man's hand and hit the snake. Smoke floated into the air as the fire died out. The stench of what was left of the snake remained. As if satisfied that he just murdered an animal, he turned back to the gate and placed his hand on it. Something clicked, then groaned. The gate separated from each other and the bricked wall behind the metal started to disappear. One by one the bricks vanished, only for a tiny opening. Bright yellow light flitted through the gap, lighting up my always dark world. My eyes have never seen such strong light that it blinded me. I covered my eyes with my hands. I felt Zerek shift under me, probably covering his eyes too. It was a wonder that no one else could see the light that has shined within the forest. We waited for a couple of seconds until we heard another set of clicks and groans. I opened my eyes and saw that it was completely dark. The white light was nowhere to be seen.

As well as Zerek's father.