Burn to Ash and Bone

Laurence's POV

The dungeon door was swung violently open with a loud bang. I shielded my eyes with my hands against the burning sunlight, having been accustomed to the darkness after four days. Several guards hastily threw three more people, whom I recognised to be witches, one of which was crying, into the dank room before once more shutting the door and leaving us all in darkness.

"Brother." One of them mumbled as they sat on the floor in front of me.
"Sisters." I nodded in reply.
"They found you too, I take it. You're the last person I suspected they would find."
"You'll have to forgive me, sister, but my powers a weakened and thus my vision is impaired; I cannot seem to place a face to your voice."
"Ah, of course... One moment." She held up her hand and from it, produced a ball of fairly dim, yet enough to see, light. Her skin was a slightly darker shade of green than my own, she had a small button nose and bright blue eyes. Her long hair was dark purple in colour and more of a bird's nest than hair. She wore a tight fitting black dress which came midway down her thighs and a large black cloak, but the dress was torn and through the tears could be seen nasty bruises and gashes.
"My name is Sister Faith." She smiled. "Over there is Sister Mercy..." Faith pointed to her right to a short witch with cropped bright orange hair, yellow eyes and a rather large nose. "... And next to her, the crying one, is Sister May." May was tiny and had pale green skin and long blonde hair that came down to her waist, her head was bowed so I couldn't see her face. All three of them wore the same clothes, suggesting that they came from the same Coven. (Note: "Coven" meaning: A close knit group or meeting of witches. The number of witches in a Coven was declared at 13 in 1921 by Miss Margaret Murray. -- A Watchful Friend.)
"I take it you are familiar with me, then." I smirked.
"Indeed, Brother Laurence!" Mercy grinned. "Every Coven knows of you! 'The witch who gave up fun for medicine' they call you!"
"Riiiight..." I sighed. Great, a crazy one! Clearing my throat, I shuffled over to May. "Sister, why are you crying?" I whispered.  May looked up at me, her hazel eyes glassy with tears before she held up her small, shaking hands. Her nails were nothing but shredded stubs. I gasped and slapped a hand over my mouth. The ultimate crime against a witch was to break their nails. Broken nails meant that the witch could never again perform magic. Not to mention it bloody hurt. Covens would often break the nails of a traitor in the group, but that punishment was long abandoned when the town guards began to do it in the witch hunts just over 200 years ago. It takes a lot of effort; our nails are like steel, but it is possible. I shuddered, remembering the close encounter I had back then... May began to sob again, so I pulled her into a hug that she gratefully accepted. Poor thing, she was only a child! What monster would have done this?!

"What Coven are you from?" I asked.
"Same as you. Corvus. (Note: "Corvus" Latin = Raven) There's only us three left from it now, though." Faith smiled. "Well, technically four now, I guess."
"Shit..." I whispered. "What... What's happening out there?"
Faith sighed and bit her lip. "It's happening again, Laurence. The witch hunts." I felt my blood freeze in my veins. "Some witch has gone astray from his Coven and has been causing havoc in the town. Of course, he's been careful so as not to get caught. So all of us are being rounded up or simply killed on the spot. They're going to wipe us out this time, Laur, I can feel it..." A tear slid down her cheek which Mercy gently wiped away with her ragged sleeve. "Not if we can help it!" She smiled. "We did it before, we can do it again! And besides, we have Laurence again! You remember what he did last time!" I placed May down and stood up.
"No." I growled. "I will not do that again. I will not hurt anyone again. You know I lose control when..." I sighed and sat back down, not wanting to recall the horrors of two centuries ago.
Mercy mumbled and apology and ran a hand over her short middle fringe.
"There's not a lot we can do stuck in here anyway..." May whispered. Everyone turned to look at her. "I can't even do anything now, even if we could."
"That's not true!" Faith replied, taking May gently by the wrists. "Once a witch, always a witch!" At that, May giggled.

The Sisters began to laugh and talk amoungst themselves, but I had no time for that. I had to get us out of here. I had to find Drew. I had to stop this bastard from ruining the good reputation the witches had built.