Untamable Resolve: The Witheridge Witches

Ch. 16 - The Prisoner

"You're one of us."

The witch's words echoed over and over in my head.

 'I couldn't be. Could I?'

Curiously, I walked closer to her cell, being careful to ensure an arms-length distance between us. I quickly glanced at my ring and then back to her as I stammered, asking, "What... what did you say?"

Her devilish smile only grew wider as she said, "I sensed you and your mother's power in that ring as soon as you walked into the building. I helped her make it after all."

My mother? I shook my head in disbelief and murmured, "My mother? No, you're mistaken. It's just this ring."

She interrupted me and said, "I'm not mistaken. I'd know a Witheridge anywhere. Your mother, Margareth, saved my life back in the 1200s when we were practically girls."

The 1200s? 

My mother had always looked young, but she had told me she had had me at 16 and blamed her youthful appearance on good genes. As shocked as I was, I dared to hope. I hadn't heard of any information on my parents since they were taken.

"Like mother like daughter then? It's funny that we meet nearly the exact way," She said, chuckling to herself.

"No man deserved her, but your father, George, came close. They were happy."

She paused, and her smile dropped as she looked at me regretfully before saying, "She was one of the bravest person I've ever known."

As quickly as I had been filled with hope, it was replaced with agonizing, almost deafening sadness.

Was.

Past tense.

This time I didn't need to ask her anything but stated, "My parents are dead."

Slowly she nodded.

"Margareth single-handedly saved our coven and decimated more than 20,000 werewolves in New York. George was with her. Most witches usually can't do magic like that alone, but your family line is something else."

A few silent tears fell down my face. The confirmation of what I had long known in my heart was hard to hear no matter how much I had prepared for it. My parents had not been taken but instead went down fighting... fighting for me.

Continuing, she said, "You're one of their mates, aren't you?"

I bit my lip before replying, "Yes... the Beta's"

"Beta Arcadia's mate?" 

I nodded.

"Fate has a cruel sense of humor."

All of this seemed too surreal, but I knew this witch was telling me the truth. I looked at her body and saw that it was apparent she had been tortured. Her nails had been pulled off, and she was heavily bruised. 

"Why did they do that to you? Can't you stop them?"

She chuckled, "I'm not usually the one they send to the field. I haven't been since my prime two hundred years ago. My powers have waned, and I'm rusty."

She continued curiously, "They'd usually send someone like your mother, or... well you. We just didn't know you were here. We were going to give you a few more years with your grandfather so he didn't have to die alone."

I wanted to know more and desperately, butI needed to help her and quickly. We didn't have much time before I was found by Lucas. But how?

"What can I do? They won't hurt me. I can get you out."

I said to her. Quickly she snipped, "That's where you're wrong. Somewhere inside of yourself I think you that. They will hurt you once they find out what you are. They will never stop hunting you. A witch is a rare thing to find nowadays. You may be safe for the time being, but who knows for how much longer? And you don't have to do anything. I'm not afraid to die. In fact, I welcome death, but then you and I know your fate is sealed. But...if you help me, I will get you out of here. I swear to you. We will help you."

Nodding, I asked, "How?"

"All I need is your hand."

Without hesitation, I stretched out my hand through the metal bars offering it to her.

"There's nothing like your first spell. You're going to have one hell of a hangover especially with what that ring. If I'm right you'll awaken something I helped Margareth place in there for you."

She said as she put her hand in mine and grasped it tightly and said, "Are you sure?" I nodded.

"Wait! What's your name?"

I asked. She paused, giving me a gentle smile and responded, saying,

"My name is Dalila."

Wasting no time, she moved on, saying, "Now, repeat after me."

"Ut hic salvus soror mea, et adducere sororibus meis"

She recited slowly by herself. I recognized the language immediately as Latin before I began to chant with her gingerly.

"Ut hic salvus... "

Abruptly, I stopped when I heard Lucas' voice yelling, "Who locked this door!"

His voice was followed by his body ramming into the door and other voices flooding the hallway just outside. She had a very serious look in her eyes as she let go of my hand and slapped me hard before looking me in the eyes and hissing, "Chin up. Shoulders back. Focus. Again."

And with that, something in me subconsciously clicked. We began to chant again,

"Ut hic salvus soror mea, et adducere sororibus meis

Ut hic salvus soror mea, et adducere sororibus meis

Ut hic salvus soror mea, et adducere sororibus meis"

Again and again, we kept repeating the spell in unicent until the whole room began to spin. Our bodies spun and spun until I could no longer see the jail cell, but instead, it was replaced with the scenery of a giant banquet hall with a few other women quickly scrambling to form a circle around us. They began chanting to and I could feel them linking onto both of us as I began to feel weaker and weaker. Dalila kissed my hand before letting it fall. She joined in the circle with her sisters as they began chanting,

"Non custodiat nos, et soror mea, et adducere ei tutum

Non custodiat nos, et soror mea, et adducere ei tutum

Non custodiat nos, et soror mea, et adducere ei tutum"

Everything began to merge into one another until I felt the concrete floor of the room with the jail cell that had been housing Dalila beneath my feet. I began to lose consciousness and collapsed on the ground when I heard distant voices softly whispering to me.

"When you see the sign, follow the instructions. We are sending someone for you."

They slowly faded away and were replaced with the image of Lucas busting down the door and running towards me, screaming my name as I closed my eyes. As he cradled my limp body I could feel blood oozing out of my nose and eyes.

I'm a witch. 

Everything was going to change now. I could feel it.