Witch Trials

Chapter 10

Brandon's POV

We'd been driving for quite a while, since early morning. We had taken a few necessary bathroom breaks, and a few mandatory 'snack breaks', by the insistence of Gabe, Luke, and Marc, before Wil pulled up in front of a forest. He parked half-hazardly while cursing and complaining about how much he hated driving.

He got out and slammed the door, directing everyone to follow him. I hesitatingly opened my door, and got out. The scent of pine, mildew, and damp earth filed my nose. I looked into the forest, and it's dark shadows. It was beautiful yet ominous, and I have no doubt that Luke and Nathan would have a blast exploring in it.

"Mr. Winchester, what is the meaning of this?" Mr. B had often out of the other car, and walked over to him. His steel eyes flashing in anger.

We should just be going out of the country, and go towards another Academy base or branch. But Wil was insistent. He said we'd have a better chance finding him, if we hid close by. We knew he was right.

But it was risky. Highly, highly dangerous. And that did not bode well with me. A surge of excitement and joy, comforting me, had filled me almost immediately with the breeze that blew by me. It was warm, and I felt at peace, despite how it looked, when I was near. It was weird though, it almost felt like it wasn't my own emotions. It almost felt as if someone was pushing those feelings into me. I also noted the slight smell of lavender, honey, and roses that came along with the breeze.

It was strange, but Wil had felt the breeze as well, and smiled at the forest wistfully, with eagerness and happiness, an expression we'd never seen in him before. He whispered something softly, and a new set determination set into his eyes.

Wil was uncaring and silent most times, and was called 'the gothic one' out of our group. Out of all my brothers, we knew about him the least. He had a bunch of blank books that he carried around, and most of his other books are in Latin, or other languages that I couldn't understand. He grew and experimented with own plants, and was able to make medicines using them. They were plants I had never seen before, and he always brushed me off when I asked him about them. He even had a pocket watch with summoning circles.

We had figured that he just liked cult stuff. But he wasn't part of a cult, and he said he was only interested in witchcraft and other things. His glasses glowed at odd times as well. I didn't think he needed the glasses all that much, but for some reason he kept them on. We'd met his sister before, and she was just as odd, not quite as much, but still an oddity in our world. Some of the others enjoyed their oddness, some of them didn't as much. But Wil was still family now, and we couldn't be happier to have him.

I also noticed Axel look at the woods with shock and confusion. A strange excitement sparkled in his eyes. Does he know where we are?

Luke jumped up and out of the van, not even bothering to close the doors. Running to the closest tree, he lept onto the trunk and climbed up to the lowest branch. He did it with such speed and grace that, as always, made me impressed.

"Oy! Wait the fuck up! Little shit..." Gabe scrambles our of the car after him cursing as he slipped on a bag.

Once everyone had gotten out, and wiped the sleepiness from their eyes, they all just peered at the forest.

"This is what we came for? What the fuck is this? What kind of place are we going? Some me kind of fucking treehouse?" The ever grumpy,North, snarled at the forest before running to the tree Luke was now swinging from.

That did raise my questions. Was it perhaps just a treehouse? Maybe a cottage? Isn't that a bit too cliché?

"A bit cliché, yes, it's a cottage. Come on, get your guy's stuff. It's a bit of a hike, so make sure you have your water bottles."  Some of the others mock saluted him, and others just went to work to gather up the stuff.

"You might also need to change Mr.B, it's a long walk, you don't want to ruin your suit right?" Wil motioned towards Mr.B's suit, and looked at it with speculation.

Mr. B only ignored him, and Wil just shrugged,  "Suit yourself."

Sean, Corey and Luke chuckled a little at that, while Mr. B and Axel just rolled their eyes at the awful pun.

"Hey, it wasn't intentional." Was all Wil said before grabbing his bags and loading them onto his back. He was carrying the least of all of us, only two duffle bags. Which were only filled with books, and some other experimenting supplies. He didn't even bring any other clothes!

Once we had loaded up all the bags onto our backs, which wasn't much considering. I regretted it a bit, in case there wasn't enough supplies or if we missed something in this cottage in the woods. That's miles away from the nearest town.
Hesitantly, we all followed the ever confident Wil.
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A few hours later, and I was getting tired. Everyone was. Even Luke, who is known for his excitability and overflowing energy. He had now chosen to stay on the ground below with us, since North was so adamant about him falling to his death from up there especially with lack of sleep. We had only gotten an hour or so of sleep because we were preparing for this trip.

Mr. B's suit was wrinkled, and dirt and leaves were stuck to his suit. I'm sure all of us would have found it funny, if we had the time to dawdle. But we didn't, and the sun was high up in the sky. Showing that it was already noon or one o'clock. We had left at two o'clock, and arrived here at five.

Wil pulled out his pocket watch, and I was right. It was 12:30 and he stared at the watch with a frown. I looked at the ivy growing near us, and figured to stay away from it. Poison oak grew ramped there just as the ivy did. Thorn bushes and other creepy dead plants grew there.

The time on the face was the correct time. A few smaller faces inside of it showed other times. One just spinning at random speeds, directions, and times. I had figured the others were just other world clocks, but the one that didn't spin normally or correctly was weird. I was reasonable enough to think of it as a compass. But even I knew how stupid that answer seemed. I knew how to locate the direction north. But that one normally pointed south east.

He dropped his bags onto the floor.

He walked over to a nearby tree, and jumped up, and began to climb it. It wasn't graceful by any means, but eventually he got up and tugged on something embedded inside the tree it seemed like. Then suddenly he pulled out a jewel. It was colored a deep earthy brown, that would have been impossible to see from all the way down here.

It sparkled in the mid-day sun, and flowed slightly. Just as Wil's glasses did every once in a while. Looking up at us he asked, "So which one of you wants to go first?"
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A reunion is soon! What do you think the jewel is for?
Please Comment, Vote, and Share!
-Aiko