Witch {Book One} [UNEDITED]

XVI: Childhood Lies

I jolted up once more, breathing heavily. Mrs. Schade and Sammy sat in wicker chairs on either side of the bed I was in. Mrs. Schade was reading a book and Sammy was on her phone, muttering things to herself.

"Sam . . .?" I said softly, my voice ripping my throat. I swallowed harshly to force the pain away. Sammy looked at me, turning her phone off. Her reddish hair was slicked back in a ponytail and she looked exhausted.

"Three days," she whispered, her voice just as coarse and scratchy as mine. "You were asleep for three days. Move over." It took me a second to realize what she was going to do. I scooted over, leaving enough space for her to lay next to me.

"Three days?" I asked softly. "I was asleep for three days?"

"And counting. Flynn started planning your funeral despite what Callie was telling him. She was positive that you were alive," Sammy said in a hushed voice. I hesitantly reached out and took her hand.

"And October Mae?" I asked.

"She disappeared when she got word that you were unconscious. We can't find her anywhere. She's kind of like you . . . if she doesn't want to be found, she can't be found." Sammy managed a weak smile as she laced her fingers with mine. Before she can say anything else someone knocks rather loudly on the door. Only then does Mrs. Schade look up from her book. She took her reading glasses off and let them hang on their chain. She set her book aside and stood up, silently leaving and going downstairs. Mrs. Schade returned a few minutes later with another elderly woman behind her.

This woman was younger than Mrs. Schade, though she was still old enough to be my great-grandmama. She had curly white hair and thick circular glasses. She wore a pink 1930s styled dress with white stripes and simple black shoes.

"Girls, this is Mrs. Hyde," Mrs. Schade said. Mrs. Hyde smiled, her teeth rotten and decayed. I retched at the sight of it but swallowed the vomit back quickly. I managed to sit up with the help of Sammy to get a better look at Mrs. Hyde. She wore a necklace in the shape of a tooth. There was something vaguely familiar about her.

"Tooth Fairy?" I whispered, falling back. Sammy just barely caught me.

>>>

"Hi. My name is Bandit Gavel Lee. I'm nineteen years old. My momma's dead. My daddy's off living in some fancy big city. I have two friends. One of them likes dead things. She's scary. One of them is dead. He's a bastard. Wait. No. No, no, no. I have more friends. They live inside my head. They talk to me often. One of them is nice. The other ones are mean and say awful things. Like I killed them and it's my fault. Whatever. I have the nice voice. She's assuring. I think I'm a schizophrenic, right?"

"If you're hearing voices, perhaps."

"No."

"No?"

"No. I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to one of the voices. His name is Nathaniel. Continue, please."

"Are you seeing things, Ms. Lee?"

"Yup."

"What sorts of things?"

"Demons. Dead things. There's also this little thing where I can't exactly die."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"You see, I tried to commit suicide once. And I lived. And I had cancer. But then I didn't. And I was shot in the fucking face and do you see me dead? No. SHUT. THE HELL. UP. NATHANIEL."

"What did Nathaniel say?"

"Oh. Nothing I already don't know."

"And what is that?"

"I'm Bandit Lee. I can't die. Everyone in New Orleans knows I'm cursed that way."

"I didn't know that."

"Then you're stupid. Lock me up already. Give me pills. Make me talk to a therapist. I'm fucking bored outta my mind."

"Ma'am, judging by your symptoms, you're going to need to be put in isolation for your safety and the safety of others."

"Isola--no. No, no, no, no, no, NO! You can't do that! They won't leave me alone! They'll kill me! Please, I don't know what made me say that, please don't take me away! Don't let them hurt m--"

>>>

You're overdramatic, you know that right? The voice of Gabriel fills my head. You got Glitch and Thomy-womy. Now can you hurry up and get me outta Hell? Lucifer's stupid dogs are getting on my nerves and I think they want to eat my glorious soul. Wait. No. I don't have a damn soul any longer GET ME OUT OF HELL ADELAIDE GAVEL FUCKING LEE!

I sucked in a deep breath.

"Gabriel?" I asked softly once I was sure that Sammy was asleep in the chair besides me and the Tooth Fairy and Mrs. Schade were gone.

Hi! He said in a sarcastic voice. Finally awake? I'm going to start having to call you Sleeping Beauty.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Gabriel. I found Glitch and Thomason. I don't know how to help you now!" I ran a hand through my tangled hair.

Simple. A ritual works best. I need you three to summon me.

"Couldn't any three of us work? Or does it specifically have to be me, Glitch, and Thomason?" I asked, suddenly annoyed that I went out of my way to find the two boys.

Screw-up and Tommy owe me big time. And I kinda like you. You let me join the Honorary Insomnia Group Chat. That's special.

"You joined it yourself."

Beyond the point. In her sleep, Sammy stirred. I tensed up, wondering if I was being too loud.

"Then tell me how to do the ritual."

Can't. My idiot boys know how. Ask them. Gottagobye.

"Wait, Gabriel!" I was cut off by him leaving, a loud buzzing sound filling my head as he did. I groaned and lay back again, trying to cut the buzzing sound.

In her chair, Sammy stirred and soon woke up. "You're up," she muttered. "You doing okay?" I nodded a bit and rolled onto my side.

"I want to go home now," I murmured. I hated feeling so weak and defenseless. I could't do anything. "I need to talk with Glitch and Thomason." I tried to sit up but Sammy pushed me back down.

"Rest. You have to."

"I hate you."

"I know you do."

I closed my eyes and fell asleep once again. I tried not to but something came over me and forced me under.

>>>

I never believed in the Tooth Fairy. I knew that she was some old lady that went around and took peoples' teeth in exchange for money. It wasn't until my momma died that I realized that the Tooth Fairy was real. She just wasn't a fairy. She was an old lady who had a fetish for teeth.

Everyone knew the rumors of Mrs. Hyde going and taking peoples' teeth while they sleep. She took her children's and her grandchildren's teeth when they died. She robbed graves and took teeth from the corpses there. She went to dentist offices and took the teeth that had been pulled. She was completely obsessed.

People said that Mrs. Hyde the Tooth Fairy was around when Ada massacred her children in 1923. People said that she watched as Ada murdered every single one of them. People said that she didn't do a damn thing to stop the massacre. People said that she watched because she wanted all the teeth that the bodies would soon not miss. Mrs. Hyde the Tooth Fairy took ever single tooth from every single body that night.