Witch Way

Chapter 26: Escape makes a Witch

Every little girl grows up wishing and dreaming one day prince charming will knock them off their feet. He'll embody the perfect male physique, be dashing and sweet. I swear, I've been there before. Sad, but true.

Sitting in this cold cell with manacles chained to my wrists reminds me of why I can't trust men and why a prince charming never existed. Yes, Trevor abandoned me. Yes, my stupid hairball of a familiar was correct. I'll be forever alone, whatever. Life's too short to get stuck on the specifics.

"So Seb, any major plans for this evening? Maybe a few cat-calls to the local kitty population?" I said while staring at him through the metal bars. The opposite cell contained a lone kennel constraining the very dangerous furball.

Sebastian snorted at my crack. "You expect me to chortle with felines? In your dreams."

"But that's how you blend in. You need to act the part, darling."

"They don't know the definition of personal space."

"Aw, how cute. You can cuddle with Mr. Snuggles."

"You must have a death wish, or is that your escape from reality?" he mocked.

"Touche. Sadly, we're so strictly guarded. How could I ever think of escaping?" I retorted as my gaze followed a guard doing his nightly rounds.

The policeman glared at my words and smacked his baton against the metal bars. A loud clang echoed within my small enclave, tearing my ears asunder. He gave me no extra attention, instead, he continued his pitiful routine.

I rubbed my ears, leaning into the bars and staring at his retreating form. "Next time, choose a better game. We'll be together for a long time," I shouted.

"Shut up," he returned.

"Oh no, I'm turning into a hot mess from those scary words. What ever will I do?"

"You're turning into a masochist, Lanna." Sebastian snickered.

"Verdina is clearly ending if that's true. So now that the stooge has vacated the premises, let's get to work." I climbed to my feet and stretched my arms over my head. "I wonder if they'll make this easy for me and shut the lights off."

Almost on queue, like my words yanked fate to my doorstep, the pale lights dimmed. The cells were thrown into pitch black darkness.

"Wow, I'm special, aren't I?" I purred to myself and gave myself a pat on the head for a job well done.

"In your dreams, Witch." Sebastian chuckled from the void before me.

I focused on my chains, the handcuffs bulky, but a failure as a magic restraint. Yeah, Witches didn't have the strong instant casting power like Wizards, but that didn't mean we were weak. Without a specially designed cell to prevent material degradation, encasing a Black Witch was near impossible. But, the grand Wizards wouldn't take extra precautions when they believed Witches had no worth. Yeah, right.

Though weak instant casters, Witches had some of the strongest spells. Not to toot my horn, but Witches had incomparable strength. Why wouldn't we when we could handle borrowing energy from nature? Tell a Wizard their flaws and an aneurysm would explode. Perhaps, a good thing too.

The darkness engulfing me worked wonders to provide the extra spurt of energy I needed to untangle the chains binding me. Energy in our surroundings was considered insignificant by Wizardry standards. Why bother when they had a fuel tank larger than a mammoth An-225? Yes, listen to that baby purr, the sound of the engines roaring to life, strong enough to shred skin and bone to pieces.

But for us little people, Witches maintained a balance with the energy grounded in nature, including all kinds of materials.

With one last spindling of energy, the hard metal clasping my wrists disappeared. The heavyweight diminished, granting me freedom.

"Success," I whispered while rubbing my wrists to ease the red marks I knew encircled them. Damn clunks of metal will leave an imprint for days.

"Hurry up, we don't have all night."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." I waved my hands before the metal bars, folding the vertical bars back to their roots. The energy gushed from me in tidal waves unlike my previous bound state. I bit my lip at my inability to control my own. Not a good sign, but being imprisoned wasn't a great start to the evening either.

I stepped through the opening, remaining on my toes to soften my soles. Who wore heels in a prison? I did. Not that I wasn't favored by sight and hearing. Normals wouldn't pick up on a Black Witch, we melded into the dark. It's like our home.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness spotting the rough outline of Sebastian tucked in his kettle. His gaze glowered and remained direct, unflinching so.

With a controlled sweep of my hand, I entered his cell and kneeled before the crate housing him. "Oh, look at the little kitty, isn't he so cute?" I knocked on the kettle, expecting a glorious response.

"Brat, bite me."

"If desired then I shall," I retorted while unlocking the door to let the rascal out.

He licked his paw then stepped out like a majestic lion. What a wannabe. "So, what's your pitiful plan?"

"Escape and make Erwin pay? What else would it be? Do you think I'd go to the trouble of escaping if avenging my pride wasn't the case?"

"That isn't a plan." He sighed.

"Whatever, it's still in the works. Give me a break." I looked through the window in Sebastian's cell, the clear sky littered with sparkling star-drops. A second, and the barred window no longer restrained my view, exposing me to the cool Autumn winds. "Seb, let's go hunt my prey."