A Witch's Way

Chapter 18

"Come on. We don't have all day. Killing Rosemary took a lot of time--"

Serena, in response, turned her head away and grew a vine behind him, pulling him off of her and into the garden, through the window. A thump and a grunt from outside, and then his shadow threw her out into the garden as well.

She landed with a thud, raising her head to view two people standing over her. Serena could feel her fury draining with each passing second as another emotion overtook her--fear. She started to shake, eyes darting around the garden. What were they going to do?

Erik grabbed at her throat and stood her up, directing her attention towards her garden she so lovingly grew. She clawed at his hands until they gripped tightly at the back of her neck, keeping her head in place of viewing her garden.

"You won't answer? Fine. Marco?" Erik said in a sing-song voice.

The other man nodded and rose his palm, a small ember growing from it. He grinned, looking terrifying under the lightning of the flickering fire and threw it into the garden.

It started out as smoke, and it burned her nostrils. Serena screamed, fighting against Erik. She would kill them. "No! Please!" she screeched, causing her throat to feel as if it was on fire itself.

Serena watched, open-mouthed, as the flames started to rise, making it suffocating to breathe. It was invading her nose, her mouth, her eyes, her lungs. Everywhere. She sobbed, each heaving, choking breath making her sputter and cough and hack.

The fire rose higher, devouring everything in sight. The trees, the field, the flowers, the Willow tree. It felt like she was in an oven, and she watching her worse nightmare come to life. Ashes floated down and onto her skin, and she sucked in another coughing breath. Small embers rose and flew into the air as the Willow tree fell and smacked into the fire below. In some strange way, she noticed through her tears and coughing, the ashes looked like snow, drifting softly towards the charred ground.

"Stop! Stop!" Serena screamed, tears staining her ashy skin. Erik dropped her, and she crawled towards the man causing the fire. Without a second thought, she pulled at the pyromaniac.

He fell face first into the fire. Serena could hear his screams of pain, but she shook her head and tried not to breathe in any more of the smoke. Sweat dripped down her temples and onto her neck, mixing with the blood and the ash on her skin. She stood up, whirling her head towards Erik, who had thrown his head back, laughing at the blazing scene in front of them.

Serena started to walk towards Erik when a hand wrapped around her foot. It yanked, and she tumbled to the ground, just missing the flames trying to burn her alive. She hissed as the fire singed her arm, crawling towards her clothing.

"You think you can fucking do that and get away with it, bitch?" Marco asked, leaning over to pick her up. He sneered, fire running up his arm, either from the flames on the ground or his own, Serena didn't know.

Serena snarled and grabbed at burning hot ashes, feeling them hiss as it met her skin. She turned her body around and threw it at Marco, some of the ashes sticking to her palm. He stumbled backward, screaming as it burned his eyes and face.

Serena stared as he ripped at his face, and she placed her palms on the ground. She didn't know what she was doing, but pushed her magic energy into the soil, hoping that whatever she was doing would end this.

A rumbling, and then a cracking noise. In front of Serena, the ground was rapidly moving apart, the charred remains of her garden falling into the crack in the ground. Marco stumbled back and fell into the ravine she had created, still trying to relieve the pain of the ashes. She heard him scream--and then a sickening thud with a crack.

Serena raised her head to look for Erik, but it seemed that he had run off, once again. Instead, she found licking, hot flames trying to burn her, hungry for more. The garden wasn't enough for them. She struggled, pushing herself up once again, the world blurry with red and orange. Sweat dripped down her cheeks and onto the ground, down her back and legs.

Serena felt something cool on the back of her arms and she wanted to look up--but she couldn't. Instead, she slumped to the soil against her will. She was so dizzy--she just wanted to sleep. Her eyes fluttered shut, the flames still dangerously closer to her.

Why bother living anymore, actually? She already lost her mother, Jasper, the respect of Ian and Stella, and then Rosemary--and now her garden. She felt her arms tugging her towards the ravine she had created. I mean, Erik wanted to kill her--why let him do the honors?

Something grabbed at her foot, and she didn't have the energy to kick it away. She felt herself being lifted over the ravine and she smiled weakly. She swung back and forth, and she reached forward with her arms, trying to grab at the darkness below her. Serena didn't hear everything, but she thought she heard Erik talking.

"Fine! I'll go with you. Don't hurt her!" A voice said--it sounded so familiar to her.

"Oops. My hand slipped,"

Serena felt the grip on her ankle loosen and her ears popped at the decreasing altitude. She was falling. A part of her told her to catch herself, and another part of her wanted to let her die. She thought, further above, she could hear someone shouting her name.

Serena blacked out when she jolted against something on the side of the ravine.