Spellcaster series #4: The Virtuoso

Little Beth

HEIDI

Darkness. Shadows. A void. Many, many things swirled into one to form...obscurity. The desire for power, lust, fame—even knowledge. It spoke to me, loud and clear, like a caress in the form of words. There was no need to fear anymore. I was it and it was I.

Voices around me, questioning, learning...obeying. One voice stood apart; a higher power. I must obey it.

"Is she dead?"

Silence. I felt a finger lift my chin. I opened my eyes. I saw his. They were golden and beautiful. A smile across his face.

"No...she survived," he spoke to the other voice and also to me.

"Is she...you know?"

"Her beauty is beyond my wildest dreams."

I could not pry my eyes from him. He leaned closer to me and I felt something inside me churn, a yearning and desire beyond my control. I lifted a hand and touched his face.

"Welcome home, Heidi."

The other voice stepped closer. He hovered over, grey eyes wide at me. "Dean, there's something...wrong."

Another being came into view. She narrowed her eyes at me, a sickle in hand. "I agree with Freddy. Dean, she's—"

A sudden surge of energy coursed through me and out of my palms. My wrists were unbound. I lifted my hands and the dark Spellcasters around us, save Dean and the Vampire, began to struggle.

"Dean, what is she doing?" The Vampire's voice was frantic. Renee, was it?

Dean did not answer her. I clenched my fists and the dark Spellcasters fell to the floor. Renee looked around her, startled and uneasy. She raised her sickle.

"No!" Dean held his hand out. She halted.

"But Dean, she just killed them!"

The energy inside me calmed and retreated. He watched me with a wide grin.

"I asked her to," he said casually, walking around me and placed his hands on my shoulder. "I wanted to test to see if the ritual worked—and it did."

"I've never seen anyone's eyes turn white before," Renee added, staring at me. There was fear in her eyes.

"She's different," Dean spoke with a slight smugness. "But not unique."

The Vampire turned to him.

Dean continued, "There is a young girl currently living in an orphanage; the matron's younger daughter."

"Beth," I spoke, the word rolled off my tongue like an automaton.

Renee's red eyes flickered to me in utter surprise.

Dean walked to my front, stepping over Freddy's body. "I want her here. Heidi and I will go get her."

"What about me?"

He turned to Renee. "You take care of the other two Sages. And that other Vampire."

~

Use your gift, Heidi.

I channeled the coldness inside me and projected it forth from my fingertips. I opened the door without having to turn the knob. I could feel the energy expanding inside me and rooting itself in a circumference around me. All organic things it touched would die off, like a soul-stealing imprint.

I walked through the dark halls of the orphanage. Everyone was asleep. I felt the familiar sense of the place filling my mind. I knew which room Beth slept in.

Rid the matron first.

I pulled out a kitchen knife from the holder on the counter. My feet were bare and they barely left footfalls as I snuck across the linoleum. I headed up the staircase and into Mrs Tabitha's bedroom. She always left her door ajar, in case of emergencies. I knew that very well.

I slid through the opening. A slither of light from the moon fell on her sleeping face. Mrs Tabitha always slept alone. I approached her, raising the knife in my hand. She stirred as soon as I towered over her, blocking the light in her face.

She blinked and awoke. "Heidi? Gracious, Heidi, is that you?"

I threw my palm over her mouth. She let out a shriek but I silenced it immediately. I lifted my knife to her throat and did what I was told to do. I took a few steps back and watched the matron spill into her white sheets. She gurgled, drowning in her own red liquid.

Good. Now get the girl.

A soft gasp behind me. Beth's wide eyes bore on me, wet with tears. She held her hands to her mouth, standing by the door way.

"Heidi...no!"

I moved to catch her but she eluded me. The teenager ran straight into her bedroom and shut the door in my face. With one hand I turned the doorknob but she locked it.

"I won't hurt you, Beth."

A few sobs from inside. I heard her sister's voice and then silence. I turned the doorknob with my energy and entered the room.

Rid the sister, too.

The room had two beds that were pushed together. I checked underneath them—nothing. I went further in, looking through everything I could find. Suddenly, the closet door burst open and the two girls dashed out of the bedroom. I went after them.

A loud shriek. They discovered their mother's lifeless body.

I covered Alice's mouth from behind and levelled the knife at her throat. Her cheeks were wet. Beth was trying to wake her mother. After all these years, Alice had grown in height and stature as well. She was nearing an adult but not strong enough to counter me—

—until I couldn't move.

"Stop!" Beth cried from her mother's bedroom. She held out her palm towards me. "Heidi, this isn't you!"

Alice escaped my grasp and crawled to her sister. I tried to fight her energy and eventually overcame it.

"You have it in you too, don't you?" I asked, eyeing her quivering hand.

Beth's face paled. In turn, I lifted a hand and flicked my wrist. The two girls flung backwards in separate directions, crashing onto the walls.

I walked to Beth and picked her up in my arms. She had passed out from the impact. I made my way out the window where Dean was waiting for me.

"Very good, Heidi. Let's take her back home."