previously titled beserk
A young gay witch with deadly powers on the fringe is traveling the U.S. in search of a substitute for suppressing his magic and a way to control his powers. Ezra Pierce was born into a religiously strict family with no one...
"the moon is not alone, it is not the only thing following you." w o r d c o u n t : 1,218
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The second he opened his eyes he felt hot knives stabbing directly into his sockets, despite the room being dimly lit. As his eyes began to adjust, Ezra began to make out the scene of an average living room. Small side tables, scratched from years of use held hand-knitted cupholders and faded magazines.
He was unable to sit, his hands bound with handcuffs thrown over a metal bar stretching from one side of the small room to the other to keep him standing and uncomfortable.
The walls were covered in dark floral wallpaper that had already begun to peel in the corners. Scratched hardwood sat underneath them and the room was illuminated by two very small lamps in diagonal corners of the room.
Ilan sat across from him, bound to a steel chair by her wrists and ankles and one singular strand of rope tied tight just above the end of her ribs.
Her face was illuminated by the soft lamplight beside her, giving her an eerie glow that put him on edge.
She was so silent and still that for a fraction of a second Ezra was terrified she was dead.
But through squinted eyes he could see Ilan's chest rising and falling with every shallow breath that filled her lungs.
"Thomas?" Ezra glanced toward the origin of the soft sound.
It was clear by the way they had bound Jordan to the radiator they hadn't planned on taking more than just Ezra and the other two were mere improvisation.
And he wished they hadn't. He was tired of dragging people into his mess.
"Are you alright?" Ezra asked worriedly, struggling to peer at Jordan from his uncomfortable angle.
Jordan inhaled sharply and tugged at the rope binding them to the hissing radiator. "My head is pounding. It must be because of whatever they put in those drinks." Jordan breathed through clenched teeth. "I can't even open my eyes."
"Good, don't. I don't know what's going to happen here. So just close your eyes and ignore everything. They don't want you." Ezra coached as he tried to loosen his muscles and prepare himself for whatever they were going to do to him.
Jordan choked back tears. "Why are we here? Who the hell are you?"
"Jordan, listen-" They cut Ezra off.
They spoke quickly, stumbling over their words. "My name isn't Jordan."
"Well, I kind of assumed you wouldn't be stupid enough to tell a stranger you're breaking the law for your real name." Ezra huffed. "I'm Ezra."
"Zephyr." They muttered.
"Okay Zephyr, listen. There are a lot of things about the world that you don't understand. Everything is real. Werewolves, vampires, witches. All of it. I'm a witch so is Ilan, and so are the people that kidnapped us. There's a prophecy and a chosen one that everyone is looking for. That's why I needed that list of kids. One of them is the chosen one. It's all between two sides and I'm supposed to be the one to sway them. But if they get to them first they could very well sway them to the wrong side." Ezra explained as quickly as he could. A crash course on all things supernatural was overwhelming, especially for a human. "Witches are separated by their powers in four categories along with more specific subcategories depending on how their powers manifest. Northern, Western, Eastern, Southern. There's a subcategory of Southern witch that can control people with their words and get strong enough to do it with just a look so they were all slaughtered but now they're coming back."
Sneakers slapped against the hardwood, rendering the two completely silent. Ezra's face went blank as he glared at the scarred woman. "You're right, Mr. Pierce. They are coming back."
"C'mon now, you didn't need to involve them." Ezra pointed out, yanking vainly against the cuffs as they sawed at his skin. He knew he could get out, the problem arose when it came to the other two.
Breaking himself and getting out without too much resistance would be a balancing act. Breaking Ilan and Zephyr and getting them out would be a miracle.
"I didn't involve them. You did." The woman shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. "They said you-" She cut herself off. "Why do you fight for them?"
Why? Because it was the right side. Wasn't it?
"Ruthie, enough." The voice was disgustingly familiar.
The tiny blonde woman that had shown him and Paul the apartment.
Elyse Maddox.
She was dressed similarly as she had been then, a pink cutout shirt, a pink skirt, a white leather jacket, and white heels. She was beautiful, even more so than the last time he saw her but there was an edge to her glittering aquamarine eyes.
"Ezra Pierce, it's good to see you again," Elyse noted, her petal pink lips pursed into a thin line.
"The pleasure's all mine." He drawled sarcastically. "What are you?"
"Ah, skipping all the pleasantries today I see. I am a Shade. Doesn't seem possible, does it? The way your people portray mine. As monsters." Elyse pointed out dryly.
"You kill people! No one should have that much power." Argued Ezra as he strained painfully against his binds.
Elyse clasped her hands together. "Then why were we given it? I was four years old when my mother tried to drown me. Ten when my father attempted to leave me in the woods to die. Twelve when they broke my jaw so I couldn't speak." Her fingers brushed over the left side of her jaw and through squinted eyes, Ezra could see a jagged scar hidden under makeup. "All for what? For being born? Those are your people. The people you're fighting for." Elyse explained, fighting to stay calm.
"You're dangerous."
"Like you when you burned your family home? The people you're fighting for killed your friend. We don't kill. We never had a choice in the matter. We're murdered just because they can't control us." Elyse began to pace, her heels clicking against the wooden floor. "Prescott Beauregard's parents sewed his lips together. Hestia Arthur was murdered at twelve by a group of men from a nearby coven. But not before they gang-raped her. Oni Azikiwe had her tongue cut from her mouth. We have been suffering for centuries and your people do nothing but convince their chosens that we're evil. You're fed lies straight from the silver spoon while they commit genocide."
"What you're doing isn't right. "You can't just kill people." Ezra attempted faintly as his head pounded with all the new information.
It was people that supported getting rid of the Shades that had killed Nik.
"We don't kill people. That's your side. You're simply misinformed, Ezra. We forgive you. Just tell us who the chosen is. We can work together and treat them the same way they treated us." Elyse persuaded and Ezra felt himself leaning into her, despite his nerves screaming against it.
Looking over her shoulder, he saw Ilan, her eyes still shut peacefully yet she sawed carefully against her bonds with a small sliver of pure energy that looked like liquid gold.
After all of the drug she consumed, Ilan shouldn't have had nearly so much power. He consumed half of what she did and he could barely summon a spark.
A young, biracial girl in foster care, Western, more powerful than any of them with less training than all of them.
Ezra cursed himself for never seeing it before while all the signs stared him in the face.
