North Water

Chapter 9

"Holy water?"

"Yes. Holy water burns vampires." 

"Holy shit! I thought that was a myth!" James exclaimed.

"You thought wrong." William stated. 

******

Adira placed a steaming hot cup in front of Ashley who sat on the comfy couch. 

"Thank you. What is it?" She asked. 

"Tea. A special blend of spices that I got in New Orleans." Adira gave her a warm smile then sat on the couch beside her. 

Ashley took a sip of the hot liquid and tasted a wonderful hint of orange and ginger. It soothed her throat, made her feel calm. 

"Are you a vampire as well?" Ashley asked. 

Adira stared at her for a moment and then burst out into a fit of laughter. "Oh heavens no, my love!" She regained her composure, taking a deep breath and then started to speak again. "I'm a witch darling." 

Ashley choked on her tea and her eyes went wide. She coughed and took another sip to try and stop her coughing. 

"A w-witch? Like a real witch?" Ashley's voice was raspy. 

The woman next to her nodded. This girl heard vampires were real but witches no, that was far fetched. They couldn't possibly be real. Adira thought as she rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Yes like a real witch." 

Ashley nodded and tried to understand it. The woman next to her examined her, taking in her face and body, she couldn't help but feel like she recognized the young girl. Adira felt as though she had seen Ashley from a long time ago but couldn't place a finger on when or where.

"You don't really look like a witch." Ashley's words broke Adira's train of thought. She let out a soft laugh. 

"Were you expecting green skin and warts? Maybe a hairy chin?" She laughed. "Oh darling, I assure you that's just myths and old legends. Witches are very different than what you may have thought."

"How so?" Ashley questioned. 

Adira took a sip of her tea then spoke. "Well we for starters, we age slowly. Incredibly slowly. I am currently 87." 

Ashley's mouth formed an O as she looked at the woman who had no wrinkles, no eye bags, just completely flawless skin. If Ashley would have to taken a guess, she would have said 24 or 25.

"Wow. You look incredible!" She giggled. 

"I know, darling!" Adira smiled. A comfortable silence fell between the two as they sipped their tea and awaited for the men to return. 

"So what's going to happen to James?" Ashley asked. She had wondered what was going to be happening to her best friend for quite sometime. She thought back to when William mentioned the council and how each clan had a specific amount of vampires. Was William going to get staked or burned because I asked him to change James? Will the same thing happen to James? She thought.

Adira cleared her throat. "I presume William told you about the council." Ashley nodded. "Well right now all we can do is try and convince the council that it was an 'accident' and pray they believe it."

"What happens if they don't?" Ashley already knew the answer to that question but maybe she misheard what William said the other day. Maybe she just made it all up in her head due to temporary insanity when she learned all about the world of vampires.

A grave look fell upon Adira's beautiful face. "If they don't, William and James will have to die." 

Ashley shot up from her chair. Panic rushed through her.