The Five Cursed Witches: Volume 1 - Zoe, the Witch of Innocence

Chapter 58 To protect or not protect

Felix

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I lost all concept of time. At some point it was dark and then it became light again, but it felt to me like it happened between a wink. I had to have slept, but maybe I didn't realize because in my head I saw different images, different memories of Zoe on repeat and they slipped into my dreams. It was all happy things that I saw, just that the memories weren't happy anymore. They were tainted grey by her betrayal.

I wasn't aware of anything until I heard a key in the lock. Dad was home.

I knew he wouldn't be happy about finding me in here, but there was no place to go and his potential anger also seemed like nothing at that moment. So I just stayed in the corner.

He opened the door and turned on the light. He was halfway to his desk before he saw me.

"Felix! What are you doing in here?" As expected, his voice was angry and his face hardened. But already before I had time to start talking, it seemed to soften.

"I... I met a witch. This felt like the safest place to go." I was too tired to lie, and I also knew I shouldn't lie. Really, I should have told him everything straight away. Told him I knew the witch he looked for. Told him I could probably lead him to her. But I didn't.

I reasoned it with that as long as she didn't come after us, she didn't have to die by my dad's hands. And she was dangerous also, right? She had managed to completely fool me, even when the truth was obvious. So it wasn't sure Dad even would be able to kill her. It was better to keep it from him. The best way to keep them both safe.

"Oh son," Dad said, and I could see compassion in his eyes. It was strange. He had never looked at me like that before. "I understand. They can be truly terrifying. I'll kill her for you, so she won't bother you ever again."

"I think she left. She'll probably be hard to find."

I stood up from the corner and went to take my usual chair in front of his desk. He went up to me and squeezed my shoulder before sitting down in his chair.

"If you're sure. Let me know if you change your mind. I see you're wearing an amulet. Good."

"How did the trip go?" I asked to change the topic, to move it away from Zoe. But then I remembered the trip had been very much related to Zoe.

"All done," he simply answered.

So another witch in Zoe's coven was dead. Had she been friends with that witch? Had they maybe been as close as me and Alex? But that didn't matter. I shouldn't let myself think of that. Even if they had been, so what? They were both witches, dangerous and malicious creatures.

My dad took up a brown envelope and opened it.

"What's that?" I asked, once again in the hope of getting to another conversation. One that didn't involve Zoe.

"I'm not sure. Someone left it by the entrance for me to find. Oh..." He took out two papers and studied them. "Looks like someone knows what witch I'm after and wants to help."

He laid out the two pieces of paper on the desk for me to look at as well. On one there was a name, Noah Alder, and an address to somewhere in South Carolina. Somewhere that would match where the Forest Path Coven where. The second paper was a picture of a man that made my stomach drop. His hair was chestnut colored and eyes brown. His jaw sharp and nose a bit pointy. But...

I didn't know exactly what made it so obvious to me. Maybe it was the smile, or the wrinkles by his eyes. Maybe it was the house with lots of lavender growing in front of it. Or maybe it simply was some weird intuition. But I knew. Though they looked nothing alike, I just knew. Noah Alder was Zoe's father.

"Guess I'll get ready to leave again," Dad said. "Hopefully two of them dead so close together will result in her finally showing herself."

He got up from the chair.

"No!" I yelled and stood up too. The chair fell to the floor and the bang from the impact echoed in the silence.

"No?" Dad repeated slowly and then sat back down again. "Why?"

I looked around feverishly, as if the perfect lie would be written somewhere in the room. Though why? Why did I want to lie? Why didn't I want to tell him about Zoe? Why would I protect a murderer and a monster?

An image of Zoe talking and smiling popped into my head. So innocent and sweet.

No! She was the opposite of that.

"It... it could be a trap," I finally said. "Maybe the coven sent that to you so you would go there and they can ambush you."

"What else?" he pressed on while watching me with piercing eyes.

"I... There's nothing else. I just really think it might be a trap."

"You've never been a good liar."

I swallowed. If it would have been Zoe in my position, she would have bitten her lip.

No! I had to get her out of my head.

"The witch you saw. Who is she?" Dad continued, getting straight to the heart of the problem.

I opened my mouth. Closed it. Then opened it again. "No one. Or I don't know."

"Why are you protecting her?"

"I'm not!" Even I could hear the clear panic in my voice. The answer came too fast, too high, too loud.

"Felix. Did she put some sort of spell on you? Whatever she might have told you or made you feel, it's not real. You need to know that. Tell me everything and I can help you."

Right... A spell. I only wanted to protect her because she had put some sort of spell on me.

"I met her about 2 weeks ago and... She's the witch you're looking for and that photo looks like it could be her dad. But... I... She's not..." I tried to find the right words. Tried to somehow explain, though I wasn't sure what I wanted to explain. Did I want to explain to Dad that she wasn't a threat? Or did I want to convince myself that she was the monster?

"How did you find out who she is?"

"We were climbing a tree. She always wears clothes that covers all her skin except for her face. But her glove broke as we climbed and the tree died instantly."

I watched as my dad looked down towards his desk as if thinking hard about something. Any second, he would yell at me and punish me for letting Zoe get close to me and for trying to keep it all a secret.

But that never happened. He got up from his chair and walked around the desk to me. Then he pulled me into a hug. I couldn't remember him ever having hugged me before. I guessed I should have felt some sort of way about that, but dread was all I could feel.

"You did right in telling me. Whatever spell she has you under will disappear when she dies. So don't worry. You will be free from her." He let me go and then looked me up and down. "You look awful. Take a shower and sleep some. I'll make a plan for how to deal with her."

I nodded and left with my stomach hurting unbearably.