Untamable Resolve: The Witheridge Witches

Ch. 21 - The Mirror

We had traveled a few hours away from my old house as I delved deeper and deeper into my thoughts. I was in transition and I didn't have a place that was my own anymore. I had felt a fragment of what I was feeling now during my short stint when I went to college before being quickly being plucked out by my mother. She took me straight to my grandfather's the day the werewolves revealed themselves. The United States had been losing allies left and right for the last century for their own internal political gain and in the end, the only country that stepped up to help us was Canada. And honestly, if they hadn't been on our border I don't think they would have stepped in at all.

I wish she had better prepared me for this. Before she let me think she and my dad had been taken by the werewolves she had taught me some self-defense classes focusing on hand to hand combat as the war ramped up but what good was that when you're going against a werewolf and machine guns? The little training wasn't able to help me in the arena, but then again I hadn't really needed it. And sure, I had magic now but I almost had no control of it. In my obliviousness I hadn't seen it but thinking back I recalled how unbelievably good she had been at fighting when we sparred. She didn't go easy on me and I ended up with bruises all up and down my body. As she knocked me down in my grandpa's backyard over and over again in the mud I remembered the serious glint in her eye when I complained to her that she was being to hard on me and that I didn't want to practice anymore for the day as she helped me up from the ground. She immediately tackled me and put me into a headlock cutting off my breath within seconds.

"One day you might not have anyone to protect you, and your life is going to depend on what I'm teaching you right now. Now again."

Her voice echoed distantly in my head as the memory passed. It was if a wall of hers had come down momentarily and I was seeing another side of my mother that I didn't recognize - a dangerous one. A week later she and my father disappeared. In my grief, I guess I had forgotten.

Lucas stopped the car on the side of the road and texted someone before he reached in the backseat unearthing two containers of leftover soup from when I had taught Amelia how to make some for my grandfather the night before. He handed me a thermos of my own and we began to eat a late lunch. I hesitated still not really hungry, however, with the look Lucas gave me I realized that eating was not up for debate today. I didn't want to fight him on this one and he was right I needed my strength. As I looked around I saw that we were surrounded by woods and began to feel uneasy. We would be sitting ducks. it seemed pretty risky to me so I asked,

"Don't you think it's kinda dangerous focus to stop by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere?"

He smiled replying back,

"We're actually only a five minute run from where one of my Gamma's, Ben, and about twenty of his men are patrolling. You're safe. I promise you I can handle just about anything for that long."

It wasn't that I was worried per se it was more that I could feel a familiar hum in the air. A witch was close by.

As we finished up eating our lunch Lucas interrupted the silence in the car,

"I really liked the soup, you should make it for one of the events we have coming up to make up for you missing the last one."

He reached out for my thermos checking to see how much I had eaten before looking at me approvingly and putting the containers away in the backseat. He grabbed the key out of his pocket and put it into the ignition turning on the car. For a fraction of a second, the engine turned over weirdly making an odd sound before returning to normal. I had always been able to notice things that most people could not but with my newly acquired heightened sense, it seemed I had gained an additional sense that werewolves lacked.

Another few hours passed by but the feeling didn't leave me. It could be all in my head but at this point, I knew better. I was getting tired as I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was seven and the days were getting shorter and shorter. It had long been dark. We were at most three hours away from his home when all of a sudden an intense high pitched scream rang through my ears causing me to instantly clamp my hands down on my ears trying to stifle the noise to no avail. Almost at the same time, the car jerked to the side of the road as the noise vanished and was replaced with the unmistakable thud of a flat tire. With a concerned look on his face, Lucas kept driving before his eyes went stark white as he contacted someone. After he had finished he grabbed my hand and squeezed it trying to comfort me,

"Someone will be here in less than four minutes to drive us to a hotel for the night. Don't worry."

Within minutes another car pulled up behind our car and blinked their lights at us a series of times before Lucas pulled over. Lucas put me in the other car's backseat before collecting our overnight bags and talking for a moment with the other werewolf. The humming got fainter as he climbed in and closed the car door. The other werewolf climbed in and began driving us to a small town minutes away. They talked amongst themselves in the front seat before we arrived to a quaint looking hotel. It was difficult to tell with it being so dark. We jumped out of the car and put our belongings on a trolley that was provided by the hotel for us before heading inside.

There was an older lady at the front desk as well as a man with tortoise colored glasses in matching uniforms. They were both werewolves. Handing Lucas the key we began to head to the elevator. As the ding sounded as it arrived at our floor I started to get nervous. We hadn't shared a bed yet and I really didn't want to. Stepping into the elevator when the doors closed behind us Lucas noticed my obvious nervousness,

"You'll have the option of sleeping on your own bed although I do wish you would join me on mine."

Instantly relieved my tensed shoulders relaxed as we reached the second floor.

As we entered the hotel room after seeing that indeed there were two beds I ran for the bathroom as my bladder felt like it was going to explode as I had had to pee for about two hours now. After I finished I splashed some water on my face wiping off any oils that had accumulated during the day. Re-entering the main room Lucas had placed my pajamas on my bed nearest to the window and had his in hand.

"I'm going to shower. Don't leave."

He said as he entered the bathroom and turned the shower on. I jumped on the hotel bed and looked at the ceiling. I felt the faint hum get stronger. I could feel it my fingers as well as my toes. It was such an odd sensation. I had no doubt in my mind that the flat tire was not an accident. Something was coming.

I knew Lucas was done with his shower when the water shut off and I could hear him fumbling in the bathroom as he was getting dressed. I got up and grabbed my toiletry bag which had all of my medical supplies in it. We had replaced some of the old gauze this morning at one of the pit stops we had stopped at, but tonight I would totally need to redo my bandages after I showered. What frustrated me is that Lucas liked that I needed his help to change them. This only further infuriated me. He walked out of the bathroom shirtless and plopped down on the bed he had chosen before reclining and placing his arms behind his head as he smirked at me. He was shameless. I quickly looked away heading to the bathroom.

The whole bathroom was humid and the mirror was foggy from Lucas' hot shower. I put my belongings onto the counter as I felt electricity surge through me as the hum that had lingered with me since through the car ride increased in intensity before the bathroom door slammed shut. I waited for a response to come from Lucas but none came. I guess he thought that was my reaction to him. My attention was drawn to the mirror as it seemed to be the source of the humming. I went to touch it but before I could something or someone started to draw letters on it. It read:

"Meet me at the diner across the street with the wolf for breakfast. I'll come to you."

I immediately grabbed a towel off the rack behind the toilet and wiped the message away. Was this it? Were they coming for me like Dalila promised? During my entire show, I was jittery with excitement. As Lucas was finishing winding up my bandages I felt almost like a kid the night before the first day of school. I pretended to yawn as he tucked the last strip under the rest of the bandage. I slipped into me bed before Lucas turned the lights out. I could do this. All I had to do was convince Lucas to go to the diner for breakfast. I was going to escape.