The Last Witch

Into The Onion - Ep 5

Lomba! Lomba! LOMBA!

"Argh!" Aliss groaned at the sounds of her alarm clock. She switched it off and yawned. The discussion between those 'sisters' made it impossible for her to sleep. Lazily, she got out of bed and checked the mirror. The dark circles around her eyes were very obvious. She had stayed in bed all night but she knew what her father would think on seeing it.

She showered and got dressed for school. She rummaged through her closet for the make-up kit Kimmy bought. She had no idea how to use foundation or contour so she caked her face with powder and applied strawberry lip gloss to her mouth. Aliss looked over her black leather jeans pants, sky blue long sleeve shirt and brown knee length boots. She was decent.

Walking down the stairs, she heard her Dad shouting. She wondered if he was talking to himself until she heard, "you and Aliss have been more than irresponsible. I would punish Aliss but that wouldn't affect only her but all the creatures who rely on her for help..." Kimmy was getting her share of Jim's anger.

"Dad, did you see...oh! Kimmy". Aliss pretended to lose something to break the tension. "Hi" Kimmy Su waved. Jim turned around and frowned. "Make-up, really?" He sneered. "I have a presentation in class, yeah", she scratched her neck, "wanted to look extra ready". "Uh-huh" Jim was not buying the excuse.

"Kimmy, we should get going". Aliss raced to grabbed her friend. "But you haven't had breakfast!" Jim yelled. "We'll get coffee and a bagel. Bye Dad!" She answered with both of them exiting the house. Jim shook his head and sighed. What do I do with you Aliss? He thought.

The best friends were used to being stared at in school but today was for a different reason. Kimmy was rumored to have gone on a crazy trip while Aliss skipped school to hang with the 'wrong crowd' in the woods. "If only their whispering could get me more followers on Insta". Kimmy giggled. "This isn't funny", Aliss rolled her eyes, "if the whole school's watching us, how are we supposed to find that book and stop whoever is trying to get their hands on it?" As if she did not hate the attention already, the speaker announced. "Miss Patterson, Miss Zhou, please report to the principal's office".

                            *

"Leati!" The redheaded male snapped out of his thoughts. "I can endure you ignoring me but Emmil was telling you all about his day yesterday. He's sulking in a corner wondering what he did wrong since you ignored him". Callisa said with hands on her waist and a scowl on her face. "I'm sorry", he apologized, standing up, "I'm just sorting things out in my head".

Callisa dropped the wet towel and sat on a rock. "Sit" Leati quickly obeyed the order not wanting to get her angry. "Do you feel it?" She asked softly. Leati took a deep breath and exhaled. "Yeah", he replied, "how?" "He was taking his usual walk when suddenly someone attacked him", Callisa explained, "he tried to fight, transform, escape...anything but Aliss was too far away for him to have any strength. They took five of his claws".

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Unless you have a spell for putting the claws back not even Aliss can help".

"He's slipping fast. Are you sure they only took five?"

"I'm sure but you're right. He is slipping quickly. It's because of this". Callisa showed him a fang. Leati's eyes widened. "He doesn't have long, Leati", she continued talking in a crack voice, "so whatever you're thinking about had better be a solution. We've already lost mother. Without him, it won't be long till we all go down; every Lynx".

"You and I both know that I can't lead. I'm not ready and I don't deserve to".

"I don't think we have the luxury of time to cross check your qualifications. You are his son, his heir. It's in your blood, brother".