The Shy Witch

Chapter 55

Chapter 55

"D-dead?" I whispered, shocked. He was gone? I fell to the floor, shaking. "No, he can't be dead." I managed to choke out. "He's stronger than you."

Logan laughed. "Maybe he was. But I've been hard at work. Devin's not the only one taking lives." He sneered. 

I leaped up and shot an attack spell in his direction. It hit him, but didn't seem to do much damage. 

"Is that the best you can do?" He called out. "I guess Ryder didn't train you as well as I thought."

Ryder. 

How could he be gone? After all he's done for me. How could a person I cared so much about--okay, maybe even had a crush on-- be taken from me so suddenly? Tears started pouring from my eyes as I shot more spells at Logan. He blocked most of them, but some hit. I hid under a table for a little bit while he recovered. I was about to stand back up when I felt a hand on my ankle. I screamed, and Logan pulled me out from under the table. He pinned my arms down and got on top of me.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked. "Ryder's not here to save you this time, is he?" 

I screamed and tried to thrash my limbs around, but nothing was working. Every bit of anger I had was boiling up inside me, and I couldn't even move to release it. 

All of a sudden, I felt a sort of sizzling sound. I looked at my arms, and they were glowing purple. They shocked Ryder's hands. He yelled out, and I took advantage of the situation to ball up my right fist and punch him as hard across the face as I could. He rolled over, clutching his nose. 

"Good job Annalise," Logan said, painfully. 

"Shut up!" I yelled, preparing to punch him again. 

There was a quick flash, and Logan wasn't laying on the ground anymore. Instead, Ryder was in his place, clutching his nose. 

"RYDER?" I yelled, rushing over to him. I put one hand on his cheek and the other behind his head. His nose was bleeding. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," He said. "Nice punch." 

My eyes widened. "That was you?" He nodded, and I started hitting his chest repeatedly. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD YOU JERK!" 

He laughed. "Sorry, had to get you to fight me somehow." 

"TRANSFORMING INTO AN EVIL GUY IS NOT HOW YOU DO IT!"

"Hey! It worked didn't it?"

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. "This isn't funny."

He smiled and stood up, then walked over to a shelf and took a tissue from the box, wiping away the blood. "I'm just saying, I got to see you decently attack, while also seeing your reaction to my death. Cute, by the way."

I stood up and stormed away, heading towards the door. Ryder grabbed my hand, and I turned around. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I really am. But now I know how to get you to train well. Didn't it feel good knowing you could do that to someone?" He asked. 

I avoided eye contact. "I don't know..." I mumbled. 

"Want to try again?" he asked. I looked down, and he was still holding my hand. My heart fluttered a little, and as mad as I was, something was telling me that I didn't want to leave him. 

So I nodded, and he smiled, pulling me to the center of the room. He finally dropped my hand, and I missed the warmth. 

"Ready?" He asked. 

I nodded slowly, and prepared myself for a fight. Suddenly, there was a flash, and Ryder disappeared. Instead, there was a tall blonde girl with a pink uniform. 

Katrina.

"Ugh, you've got to be kidding me." I said. 

"Annie, just stay away from Ryder." Katrina... uh, Ryder said. "We all know you just want to have the hottest guy in school all to yourself."

I rolled my eyes. "Ryder, you're not making me angry. You're just making me annoyed."

"Fine. Stupid witch doesn't know how to do anything." She said, shoving me. I shoved her back, and soon we were fighting again. I shot some attack spells at her, and when she shot one back, I wasn't sure if I was ready. But luckily, my hand shot up in time to block it. There was another flash, and Ryder was back. 

"Good job," he said. "Just one thing." 

He walked over and stood behind me. He grabbed my hand again, and I had the same feeling: heart flutters. 

"When you block, don't shoot your hand up and down. Wave it off to the side, like you're pushing the spell away." He explained, waving my hand in the motion he was talking about. I started blushing. "It's kind of like dancing. You need to dance with your partner and react at the right moments with the right movements."

"I've never thought of it that way." I said softly. He let go of my hand and put his hands on my shoulders. 

"Maybe we can try it on Saturday," he whispered. I stiffened.

And then he just walked away to grab another tissue, without even realizing the effect he had on me. 

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6/15/16

The next chapter is the Masquerade Ball! How do you guys feel about that?