Outlines of Peddicret

Three witches, yes again

I couldn't count the times the Gray Fox let me pass unpunished, but this time it was different. I couldn't think of any reason why this time was the last straw. The Gray Fox never visited Titty Titty Shitty and I have lived there my whole life, well for the most part. There was no connection between him and the titty bar. He never knew Billy or one of the girls. He never asked me about the place. I think he didn't even knew where Titty Titty Shitty was. Somehow he managed to find the place at the exact same time when I was fighting with the shape-shifter. Maybe the explosion of the grenade gave it away. Even with the grenade, it would be impossible to stand at the 'crime scene' in the heat of the moment. Something didn't make sense.

Punishments in the monster community are very different from humans. There is a council of three witches. "Three witches?" I hear you ask. Yes, three witches. I know, almost every fantasy story has a council of witches, and we have to. Witches are one of the wisest and oldest monsters amongst us. They probably have suffered the most of us, looking at the fact that they were exposed by the Catholic Church. Thank god we live in a different time now. It's their wisdom, knowledge and suffering which makes them excellent judges. Some of you may know, but witches are ugly looking creatures. You may have seen the images with the wart on their nose, well that is exactly what they look like. Witches do eat children, sometimes men, and they have to lure them into the woods. In order to lure them into the woods they have to look like home, in some cases sexy. For those occasions, feeding times, they can turn themselves into beautiful women. Women who can make you fall in love with just one look. I always wanted to know that secret, but I'm no witch nor shape-shifter.

The counsel of three witches is going to decide which punishment a monster gets. They look at the happening, your history, your category monster and last but not least, go inside your brain. The last part is a little painful if it is your first time. All witches have a kettle. This kettle can be used as a vessel to look inside your brain. Inside the kettle is a slimy, green, smoking, nasty substance. For them to reach inside your mind you have to stick your head into that substance. The substance will bite off your skin and your hair will smell like shit for a few days. The 'biting your skin part' is only painful the first couple of times. I'm used to it, fighting with monsters gave me more scars than I hoped for.

I called Sorinna to tell her about the disaster of the afternoon and the punishment. She didn't care, still mad about what I said that day at work. What a fucker. With nothing to do I drove to the edge of the dark forest. The sky was filling itself with darkness and added a few stars to make itself look pretty. I turned on the radio, Eivor - Into the mist played a magical, creepy tune in my car. I didn't know what was waiting for me. I only knew that this was at least the fifth time I was going to the witches. With each punishment the level of pain grows. The tunes of the cello made me wander far away from earth, deep within the caves of my mind. I thought about Caldwin and the wedding. About Gray Fox and his weird habits. My mind drifted far over a sea of stars into the dark blue blanket the sky created.

The Gray Fox stood between the shadows of black trees and observed me as I stepped out of the car. "I can see you standing over there. Fox. I'm not only human, remember?" I said irritated. The Gray Fox let a faint smile slip away, walked towards me and said: "I know you can see me. I have read the whole library, remember?". I really hated the man, always with his concise remarks. "I remember." I said in a spongebob meme voice. I couldn't find anything clever to say, so I acted like a little child. He laughed and walked into the dark forest. "At first I didn't want you to stand before the three witches. Again." Gray Fox said, emphasizing the word: again. "But, you made a real mess. Many bystanders have watched the building blow up from inside. Some people even got hurt by the blinded doors flying against their body at high speed. Even died. Do you understand now?" he asked with judgment. I rolled my eyes. "And don't roll your eyes," he said strict. WTF how did he know? What an asshole. 'So, where are the witches located now?" I asked with a lack of interest. The witches moved after each punishment. Only the people with a high position got the information about the next location, like the Gray Fox. "Well, next to the cursed tree in the west. Before you are going to ask which cursed tree because there are so many, it's the tree where we hung the Pumpkin King." he said knowing what my follow-up question would be. "Before we make the long walk to the location we have to stop at my house. I need to pick up the report I made about the incident. Obviously the witches can see what has happened through your brain. But I need to make sure my view on the incident is also clear.".