Witch Hunt #Wattys2018

Chapter 16

Mira smiled at me pleasantly. As if I had just complimented her dress.

"Hello Rose." She greeted, her voice just as scratchy as the night I had last seen her, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

I said nothing, but this didn't upset her.

"I've been looking for you for a long time. Over a year now." She continued, all the while with a pleasant smile. "How have you been?" She asked

I still said nothing, "Not very talkative I see." She observed "That's fine."

The carriage lurched forward, I heard a horse whinny.

"I have a nice treat for you." Mira continued, "I think you'll like it very much."

As the carriage moved, the screams stopped. Perhaps we had already moved out of earshot.

Mira stopped talking for a moment and adjusted her grimy dress. Blood dotted along the bottom.

"We have a long trip ahead of us Rose," Mira told me, "I think it would be much more enjoyable if you talked back to me."

I still said nothing. Mira shrugged and instead started telling a story. "When you first left, I was very angry. You, the girl that had killed my son, slipped through my fingers." She paused and breathed in through her nose, "I immediately started looking for you. I knew the Witch Hunters had taken you in. Every time we found a group, we made sure they knew who we wanted." Her smile had turned slightly sadistic, "I suppose it's a good thing you made us so angry. Our spells got more and more powerful the angrier you made us." For a moment she looked like she was trying not to laugh.

When she regained composure she continued, "Three nights ago, you remember of course, when I told Thana about a witch I met in the forest, she told me about a necklace she had given her son many years ago. I told her to take care of the necklace, though my warlocks tell me she tried to kill you. I suppose it's a good thing that friend of yours jumped in front of you."

I stared at her, shocked that she would throw something like that in my face. Though I suppose I shouldn't have been, as like the book said, witches love others misery.

She smiled wickedly at my expression. "Oh, you didn't want to hear that did you?" She asked innocently.

Mira said nothing else, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Where did my thoughts wander? To the argument Michael and I had been having before the attack. I remembered how he said I was a danger to myself. Mira had proved he was right. If Eliana hadn't sacrificed herself for me, I would have died. It would be my body that bled out on the grass, not hers.

She and Michael could have had the life they deserved. When their cabin was completed, they could have married. Eliana could have had the children I knew she wanted.

Through the small window on the door, I watched as the sky got darker, until the sun was completely hidden by the trees. I knew from experience that the trek to the hollow was a long one, but when the forest started thinning out, I knew we weren't at the hollow.

I looked at Mira, wondering if she was planning on giving me an answer. She only smiled and said, "It's almost time for your surprise!"  

What that meant, I didn't know. The carriage continued to move, until it lurched to a stop. Screams filled the air once more. The door was thrown open and Mira grabbed my arm. "Shall we?" She asked, then threw me out of the carriage. I landed on the ground with a groan, sore from my fight with Thana. I pushed myself up with another groan and looked at my surroundings. I gasped in surprise.

Mira had taken me back to my village. Though the town was engulfed in madness, it was obvious. The church was sitting in the middle if the town where it had my entire life. In front of the church Reverend Brusco laid with his head bashed in.