The Witch of Willow Lake

Ten

Emmett's POV

I glanced at the small clock that sat on the oak table in our lounge, and my lips twisted into a stern pout as I saw the time. The girls had been gone too long, and I was becoming unsettled. My leg jittered up and down with my heel tapping against the hardwood flooring under me.

It never took more than an hour to get to the patch, pick, and return. I figured they might take a little longer to talk, but it had been almost an hour and a half with no word.

I couldn't deny the awful feeling that began looming in the pit of my stomach as I glanced outside to see the sky becoming dark as evening approached rapidly.

I tried to persuade myself that it was nothing, and I was worried because I loved them deeply. Alicia had been my wife for half a century, and I'd grown to love Hallie as if she was my daughter.

Alicia always said I was overprotective sometimes, and I'd been much more so since the little silver-haired Witch settled herself into our lives.

The Witch of Willow Lake. The Witch that shouldn't have been, but was. Never in a million years did I think I'd ever cross paths with one of her kind, let alone stroll through life with one by my side.

She was incredible, though. She was smart, reliable, and different. I hadn't encountered a member before, but I'd heard stories and witnessed things from a distance when our old clan moved close to their settlement. While she was one of them, I knew that she wasn't like the other members either.

She harbored far more power than I thought possible. But, to her, they were still new even after five years since they had developed.

We worked half-blind, given Alicia and I were merely Vampires as we tried to help her hone them. We could only do so much to help train her in using them; we weren't Warlocks or knew much about them, but we did our best.

Her brother had time to learn, train, and strengthen himself before the powers drained him. Hallie never got that time, so everything she knew now was like trying to complete a giant jigsaw puzzle with a third of the pieces missing.

I peeked at the clock again before I got up off the small couch and headed out with the plan to get just close enough for me to hear them and make sure my girls were okay. If I didn't, I'd drive myself insane until they got home. I just needed to listen to them for a split second, and I'd come back.

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As I approached the outskirts of town, near the edge of trees that led to the forest, a loud whimper of a dog caused me to grind to a halt.

I searched around to see if there were any dogs, praying I see or hear one, but I came up short. No sign, sound, or scent of a mere pet dog could be found, which I knew could only mean one thing.

I listened carefully, blocking out the wind's sound, the sounds of people's radios playing different music styles, or talking from the nearby houses.

I focused my mind in the rough direction I knew the girls would be in, all the while praying my worst fears wouldn't be realized. I wasn't much for praying, but it's all I could think to do right now.

When I found Hallie's voice, a cry of pain sliced through my entire body, striking my heart as if someone had rammed a stake through it, and my worse fear became.

"No." I breathed, feeling the panic sink in as I caught their smell; I could smell Hallie's blood from a mile away.

I couldn't believe what my eyes saw as I ran close enough to see, but not enough to alert the animals grouped and attack my two loves.