Cloak as Red as Blood

Chapter 10: Tava's Betrayal

I woke up, head throbbing something awful. My vision was still blurry so I couldn't properly 

survey my surroundings. I tried to move but my hands were tied around my back. As I fought 

against my bonds I heard familiar voices beginning to stir beside me. "Where are we?", asked 

one. "What's going on?", asked another.  Suddenly the pain in my head stopped and my blurry 

vision cleared. The boys and I had been taken somewhere in the woods.We were tied in a sitting 

position to  a thin tree. A few feet away lay a stone table surrounded by torches. Once again, I 

began the struggle to free myself from the ropes that bound me. Jonathan and Henry struggled 

against theirs too. "That's not going work kiddies", came a voice.  The same woman I saw before 

I blacked out materialized out of nowhere, along with a smug looking Tava. The sight of her 

made my blood boil. I knew I was right about her all along. "Comfortable?", she asked in a 

mocking sing songy tone.  "Release us monster!", demanded Jonathan. Tava circled over to 

where he was sitting. "Come now, monster is an ugly term. Didn't your mother teach you how to 

talk to a lady?" "You're no lady", I heard him hiss through clenched teeth. Then I heard Jonathan 

grunt sharply in pain.  Henry and I resumed our fight against the ropes. "Leave him alone!", spat 

Henry. "Ah, such a worried little brother", said Tava. "Trust me sweetheart, I haven't even begun 

to do any serious damage, yet." We continued to fight and the woman in front of me sighed like 

she was bored with the whole scene.  "How many times must I tell you, it's pointless? Those 

rope are made out of enchanted hair I have 'collected' over the years. The more you fight the 

tighter they get." I didn't know which was  more disturbing. The fact that I was bound to a tree 

by something as common as hair, or that  Tava had something bad planned for the three of us.

The woman looked me up and down curiously. "You're a witch." It was more of a statement than 

a fact. "Yes", I answered simply. "Well I wouldn't try casting any spells if I were you. The circle I 

drew around you prevents any magic. If you try it, you'll only bring pain to you and you're 

friend." So much for that plan. "What do you want with us?", I asked. "Oh, what indeed", Tava 

cooed. She walked around to face me. "The three of you are going to die tonight", she said with 

glee. "I figured as much", said Jonathan in an angry voice.  "The whole thing was a setup from 

the beginning", she explained. "When you and that lovely house entered these part of the 

woods I could smell new victims. As I told your brother a werewolf ages once every seven years, 

but there are other ways to prolong our youth." "Let me guess, human sacrifice?", I said. "Good 

for you Skylar, you're a clever girl aren't ya." She reached down and pat my head like a dog. 

"The secret is the heart. A normal man's heart spears a decade of aging. A virgin's heart a good 

fifteen years. But your heart Skylar." She knelt down and gripped my face in her clawed hands.