Witch Child - Secrets of the past

3 - A Strange Occurrence

"What a day," Will sighed to himself. Exhausted, he began trudging home towards the setting sun. Darkness had fallen over the city by the time he reached his building. Worn and exhausted, the poor boy pulled himself up the worn, wooden steps to his door. Stretching, Will reached into his pocket and found the keys to unit 10. Placing the key in the lock, Will cursed under his breath as the worn key became stuck. Again.

"Not today," Will begged the key, as if it would listen to his pleading. Will jiggled the key in the lock only to discover it had become so stuck, he couldn't move it at all. Will cursed again in frustration. He had begged Mr Steed all week to replace the locks on the doors, but to no avail. Grunting a last effort, Will tugged on the key, but it was stuck fast.

"Ugh" Will pounded the door with his fist in disgust and frustration. He didn't hear the faint squeak behind him until it was too late. The last thing Will remembered was the sharp pain in his arm as the needle entered his body, knocking him to the floor as he faded into darkness.

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Will awoke in a dark room that smelled of mould and damp concrete. He could perceive a dull ache in his shoulder and tried to bring his hand around to rub it, only to discover his hands were bound together behind him. Will struggled against his bonds with no success. Sighing in defeat at the rope that bound his hands and feet, Will decided to find out if he could guess where he was. Without the use of his sight, Will couldn't tell how big the room was, but the completeness of the darkness told him several things. One - that he was being held in a room with no windows and a very solid entrance. Two - the room was probably sound proofed or built with thick concrete walls so there was no point in yelling for help. 3 - he was most likely in a basement. Will banged his feet on the floor and to his dismay discovered he was right. There was no hollow thud. 

A harsh metal scrape assaulted Will's ears and he jerked his head to see a thick steel door opening, letting in a sliver of light. A head poked in to look at him. Will couldn't make out any of the figure's features due to the harsh backlighting.

"I can't believe we found him," an excited female voice came from the figure at the door. Will's eyes adjusted to the harsh shift in light to make out a young blonde woman in the doorway. 

"That spell the Queen had put on him sure did work," a second female voice agreed from out of sight, "I was just as surprised as you when we saw him on the street. But we never would have known it was him without Genie."

'Spell? What do they mean Spell?' Will thought as the women chatted.

"Speaking of Genie, where is she?" the first woman asked.

"Who knows," the second woman laughed a course laugh, "Probably telling the Queen we found him."

"Oh my good Aunt Esbeth, Hannah," the first woman squealed delightedly, "I can't believe we have William freaking Stone tied up in our basement."

That made Will jump. These women knew exactly who he was. 'But how? Why? What the hell is going on?' Will's mind raced.

"Calm down, Courtney," the second woman, Hannah, scolded. A hand reached around and pulled the first woman from view.

"I can't calm down, I'm so excited," Courtney exclaimed, "I can't believe we found him."

"It's strange. I thought he would have been better protected," Hannah mused, "They have heard the prophecy have they not?"

"To my knowledge yes," Will could feel Courtney nodding in agreement.

"It almost seems too easy."

"No way. We got him. Fair and square."

"But still. How have they not found him yet?"

"Um, we have a psychic, Hannah."

"And you think they don't. They always seem to find us when we feel the safest."

By this point Will's head was spinning. Psychics, prophecies, Genie and who were the 'them' that these girls seemed so scared of? Will shook his head to try and clear it.

"It's too easy," Hannah mused, "almost as if they wanted us to find him."

Will barely heard Hannah's gasp of shock before the pop of the silencer made him sit up higher. What was happening out there? There was a thud behind the door as something dropped to the floor. Courtney screamed, the sound piercing Will's straining hears. Another pop. Another thud on the floor. Footsteps, lots of footsteps.

"Is he in there?" a new woman whispered, seeming hurried. A new figure ducked a head into the room.

"He's in here," a man replied. A light switch was found and a bulb hanging from the ceiling flickered on. Will squinted at the sudden light. As Will's eyes adjusted to the brightness, he was able to make out a beautiful female face in front of him. Her hair was a muddy brown and curled around her rounded face. Her eyes were a greeny-grey but that was all he could tell from them, those eyes were hardened like the stone on the basement walls. She looked to be in her mid 20's, very fit. She was wearing all black, long pants and tank top covered with a black leather jacket.

"Hiya William," the woman said, raising her thick, pink lips in a slight smirk that didn't quite reach the rest of her face, "My name is Lisa and this is Nick." She gestured to the muscular African man standing behind her and reached down to begin untying the ropes around his feet. Will supposed they were meant to be assuring him, but he was still trying to put together what had just happened.

"It's taken us a long time to find you," Nick looked Will up and down, "You aren't what I expected." Nick crossed his arms in front of his chest. The action caused his own long sleeved, black shirt to pull over his toned chest and arms. The man was quite intimidating. Short cropped hair and chinstrap beard, brown eyes piercing into Will. 

"What just happened?" Will asked when he found his voice.

"I know you have lots of questions," Lisa finished untying his hands, "But we really don't have time. There could be more of those vile creatures on their way," she stood, pulling Will to his feet and nodding to Nick, "We have to go now." Nick confirmed and moved to check behind the door. He called the all clear and disappeared, Lisa pulling Will towards the door to follow.

"Where are we going?" Will was extremely cautious of these strangers. As they passed through the door Will expected to see a massacre in the halls where he was sure the two women were shot, but the hall was empty. They splashed through the water on the floor and up the stairs into the main house. It was well and truly night now. Will pulled his arm from Lisa's grip and stood up for himself.

"I asked where we're going," he reiterated.

"He's got spirit," Nick almost chuckled.

"Come with us," Lisa's eyes bored into his, "Come with us and learn who you truly are and who you are meant to be, William Stone."