Curse of Ravens // Mikaelson

18 Welcome to the Jungle

First it was one scream, and then several. I weave through the crowd as the music stops and the chatter fades. The scent of fear was heavy in the air. I felt my blood pounding, the sound of my heartbeat was in my ears. My hands were shaking as adrenaline rushed through my veins. Every instinct was on alert, my muscles tensed, ready to move. My blue eyes scanned the crowd frantically, seeking to locate where the sound came from. It was them.

The witches on the stage howled in pain. My head jerked to watch, too far away to do anything. I felt immobilized as the scene before me unfolded. I was too weak to act fast enough as those on the stage are pulled into the air by an invisible force, hovering feet off the platform, heads thrown back, and suddenly their hearts all ripped from their chests by an invisible force. Ice gripped my chest. Fear eased itself into my body. I needed it. Fear was my weapon.

I heard children start to cry, and felt the crowd's instant panic- stricken eyes and terrorized movements. They darted this way and that, locating loved ones, trying to flee. I stood there for a moment, terror making my chest hurt. Move!

They were somewhere in the crowd, but the crowd was frantic, there was too many people. I couldn't spot them in a mess of witches. I'd need higher ground, to find them, to rip them out; root and stem. They had come to New Orleans to take me. They would regret their decision to do so.

I pushed through the cloaks, towards the stage. But I stopped as they appeared on the platform, three of them, dressed in black from head to toe. Their hair braided back, a strip of black was painted across their eyes, with kohl. One moment, they weren't there, and the next, they appeared. It was an invisibility spell, but the sudden materialization struck me as beautiful. The witches moved in horrible sync, shadowy monsters lurking, seeking my head.

Catchers.

"Alice Mikaelson." The one in the middle stepped over the body, looking down at me through the crowd. Pain shattered through my arms, as my bones broke. The three witches attacked with magic, a curse ripping into my core.

Soul magic, damaging my very consciousness. I screamed as the pain turned my veins to ice, which traveled up my arms and into my nervous system. It was going to paralyze me with agony. It was so raw that it triggered my werewolf curse. I felt my eyes burn, and then blood dripped down my face from them. Bleeding from the eyes. I already knew what was coming next, but I was too shocked to focus on a counter spell.

My sight was robbed from me, everything went black as they blinded me. My spine began to break from the wolf curse, amplifying the pain already inflicted from their soul magic. I heard screaming, and realized it was me who was screaming. The ground fell away from beneath me, and I twisted in the air, hovering like the witches who lost their hearts only moments before.

That would be me in seconds. I had to do something. But everything hurt. The air I breathed in felt like acid, my lungs felt like they caught fire. I couldn't imagine even speaking with the curse rattling in my body. I was trapped inside this cage, damaging my very ability to think. It took everything inside of me to muster my strength, my focus to even get the words out.

"Vis meg Blod!" I screamed the curse, my voice holding every ounce of desperation I felt. Show me Blood. Instantly I fall to the street, feeling the gravel tear into my skin as I landed, not gracefully. The pain eases off me, and my sight comes back. I suck air into my lungs, forehead against the cold pavement. Then slowly get to my feet.

The curse did little to them, but it was enough to break the Catcher's attention from the spell. Their eyes began to bleed in unison, like mine were moments before. The women extended a hand out towards me, but before they could begin their chant, a man came from nowhere. He bit into one of their necks, and the Catcher screamed. I sliced my palms open with werewolf claws, taking advantage of the opportunity.