A Magical Scheme

Chapter 5: A Clandestine Meeting

Lukas

It took us 4 hours to investigate the whole cottage, and the most promising piece of evidence we found was a small child's hat, most likely having belonged to poor Hansel. By the time we returned to the village, it was almost nightfall. The rough cobblestone streets were bare- the villagers were scared and paranoid due to recent events. I couldn't blame them, the only reason I wasn't scared was the fact that I had a crossbow strapped to my back and a professional witch hunter by my side. We approached the small run-down tavern we'd been staying in, and I couldn't help but notice that it was only well-lit establishment for blocks. I glanced at Eddard who shared a similar look on his face as we walked inside.

There were villagers drinking at the bar, a couple or two dancing in the corner, and people singing at the top of their lungs belting out some unknown song. The sheriff was sitting at a table, a makeshift table really, made out of a few old barrels. He was sitting with a few other people, all had their backs towards us as if he was telling some wild story. The sheriff soon caught our eye and waved us over to him, his companions all turned around, and I was star struck. It had looked it he was happy to see us yet he had a few other for-hire hunters surrounding him, such as Jonathan Star-Heart, and his wife Julia, a lethal combination of blond hair and blue eyes, and a low IQ. Then there was Wendell Smith, a relatively tall, very thin man who's spiked black hair and deep black eyes gave me the creeps. His teeth poked out from behind his lips, they were all messed up and some were pointier than others, and some were very dull and short. Lastly, there was Charlie Stilken, a suave man with gelled back dark brown hair and two twin small crossbows attached to the leather belt that held up his black straight pants. From all of my months of research, I gained a pretty good knowledge of famous witch hunters in the area, in fact, I could probably name their number of kills, preferred weapon, and favorite colour all from memory. Jonathan took notice of us and flashed a quick wink towards me. I openly scoffed as Ed walked over to the sheriff, and through all the commotion I could still hear him say, "We've got this investigation under control here mate, no need to hire amateurs." The sheriff's expression looked furious, he was fuming now. "Under control? We have two dead children, and you're still treating this as an investigation. Its a witch hunt, and the only thing we're investigating is which witch is responsible." "I say all of them are responsible. Every single one of those bitches needs to die." Spoke Julia. Standing outside of the crowd, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. All of the witches? Some are more good than evil, I thought, as my memory returned to Morgan, a young witch who would never hurt anyone. I thought the discussion would go further but Ed ended it by saying, "You'll regret this Johnson." and stalked off, to which I quickly followed, not paying another glance to the hunters we left behind.

By the time we reached our rooms, Ed had gotten to stomping on the soft wooden floor. Every step sent a chill through my spine and I flinched when Ed finally slammed open the door. Before it got the chance to close behind us Ed took a deep breath and flopped onto the bed with his face deep in the pillow. I could hear the change in his breathing as he fell asleep. I lay awake under the covers for a few minutes, before I decided to take action. I slipped out of bed and into a pair of tweed trousers and a white loose shirt. I grabbed my tweed jacket and my crossbow as I tiptoed into the hallway.

It took me ten minutes to find my way to the shortcut through the forest. It was dark at night, I used a match kit from my pocket to light a thick branch on fire. I listened to hear the extreme silence of the dense forest, there weren't even any crickets or cicada bugs chirping. I flinched when I heard my foot break a branch underneath it, and looked ahead to see the lone tiny cottage sitting on its small hill in the middle of the clearing. There weren't any lights on, but part of me thought it was part of the same illusion the size of her house was under. I walked around the garden perimeter to the small stone pathway that led to the front of her house, and instead of banging on the hard oak door like Eddard did last time, I made use of the small golden door knocker and knocked three times. I didn't hear any noise from the other side of the door, so after another minute I reached to knock again before the door swung out from under me. Morgan was standing in the doorway, her pitch-black hair was loosely pulled into a bun high on her head, with a few strands falling in front of her ears and onto the back of her neck. She was wearing a grey dress that had a high white lace collar and was cinched at her waist as it fell just above her knees. She was wearing gold earrings, dangling like the shape of teardrops. She had a bright look on her face and ushered me inside with a wave of her hand. I smiled and turned to face her as she closed the door behind me, "Good evening, I'm uh, sorry to drop by so unexpectedly." She blushed slightly, "It's okay actually, I mean it's not, but its good to see you." I followed her into the living room as she gestured for me to take a seat. "Thanks," I said, she took a seat opposite me on a leather armchair. "So, what reason do you have for stopping by, I mean not that I'm mad about it i-" I laughed as I cut her off by saying, "Nothing heinous I swear, but there's been some developments surrounding the investigation." She raised an eyebrow as I continued on, telling her about the new hunters and their goals.

By the end of the conversation, we were both sipping on some rose-infused green tea, which was quite sweet actually. "These hunters seem like they mean trouble. For all witches, not just killers." Morgan frowned. The fact that she was being persecuted just for being part of a certain race was stupid, so very stupid. I realized my anger was getting too intense when I almost snapped the handle off of her tiny white china teacups. She dropped her expression and looked down, "I need to find the culprit, and fast. My coven needs me to clear our name." I hadn't realized how important a coven was to a witch, but now I get the fact that it's her family, her support system, her trust circle. "Can anyone in your coven help you?" Morgan shook her head, "No, no, it's my role in the coven to maintain our relationship with humanity, its silly but it anything were to happen to that relationship, it would be my fault- even if I wasn't the one doing the killings." I nodded. "Well, if its any consolation, I'm here to help, and I don't want to ruin the relationship between humans and your coven either." She smiled as I spoke the words softly, genuinely. To be honest, I wasn't sure I had meant the words until I said them out loud, sealing the promise.