Generation Witch Year One

by Schuyler Thorpe

  Then she bolted out of her seat as quickly as she could and went straight for the nearest garbage can at the end of the pathway.

  From here, everyone could hear her retching her guts out of everything that she just ate within the last five to ten minutes and Tillie sighed—pulling out her work credit voucher from her inner cloak pocket.

  “Guess we have to try this again,” she announced to no one in particular—while waiting for the excitement to subside.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  A Broken Heart

  Not less than a couple of hours after Kara bid her boyfriend goodbye came a knock on her front door.

  The woman put away one of the dishes which she had just pulled from the dishwasher after its run cycle and went to answer the door—a clean dish towel in hand.

  Opening it, she was greeted by two army reps of the Third Watch (in uniform) and a third person in tow.

  Kara’s face hardened implacably as she regarded the new arrivals in question.

  “I thought we all agreed that we wouldn’t meet until the operation was well under way?”

  The first officer—a woman—stepped forward and saluted briefly—before handing her a transmission packet.

  “Regency Council orders, ma’am.”

  “I wasn’t aware of any new orders, Lieutenant…” the woman said, taking the manila envelope and undoing the metal clasp in turn.

  “I know that, but their orders…stand. Ms. Dietrich here will be your backup in the coming operation—since she transmitted her own report to the Regency Council’s High Command Division regarding the girl.”

  Ashley didn’t look at all happy by that bit of news. Her lips peeled back with mutual disgust.

  “I still can’t believe we let her go.” She seethed unhappily.

  “It’s been two days,” the other woman told her on no uncertain terms. “She won’t stay hidden for long.”

  “I know. But still…?”

  “If you want to be a part of the Regency Council’s Intelligence Bureau you have to be patient. We can’t afford any more mistakes like we had two days ago.” Kara informed her up front. “That’s why we hired you in the first place: You are only one of the four surviving High Witches of Lower Tam. Your knowledge and skills in this matter have been exemplary and indispensable. But like anything in the armies of the Third Watch—that can change at any time. Day or night. Remember that. You are here on my good graces. And I expect you to follow the rules and deliver. Otherwise…?”

  Ashley nodded; albeit unhappily. “I understand.”

  Kara smiled thinly. “Good. Good.” She purred with sudden delight, before pulling out a sheath of printed paper which were clipped together by a simple clip.

  Then she stood there for a moment to read what’s there—before nodding.

  “Operation Thunder Strike has been changed to Operation Tiger Shark with more slug launcher units being called up from two forward operations bases in Richmond, Virginia and Trenton, New Jersey….?” The woman questioned towards the end—before looking at the two reps in turn.

  “Why so many? I thought the initial thirty units would be more than enough to do the job?”

  “Last minute changes, ma’am.” The second army rep said quickly. “More coverage. More leverage.”

  “I see. Okay. Let me go grab my pen and I’ll sign this off and hand it back to you.” Kara indicated with a slight bow—while waving for Ashley to follow her inside of her house.

  “Take a seat. I’ll be with you in a moment.” She said—disappearing into the dining room area and going over to a small study alcove where a desk, chair and raised bookshelf resided.

  She snagged a pen from the cup holder, flipped through the small stack of paperwork that had more charts and diagrams and some more annotated orders that the woman took note of—before signing her name at the very bottom and included the date.

  Nothing changed but the name and the size of the operation which means now a full lower half of the old city would come under fire no later than 0400 hours tomorrow morning and she was expected to be at the front lines of it all.

  Just in time to flush our little bird out. I wonder how the Resistance and the Underground is going to take to having their little secret enclave in the city ripped wide open and exposed to the elements of my forces?

  Finishing up with that thought, Kara Plummer took the signed paperwork and went back to the front door and handed to one of the army reps and saluted briefly in turn.

  “Signed and delivered as promised. Please let Lieutenant-General Casper Van Deen know that I will execute Operation Tiger Shark at 0400 hours exactly.”

  The other woman nodded, returning the salute crisply—before turning around and heading back to the government issued ground car that had been parked in the extra space next to hers.

  The first government rep sighed briefly before nodding.

  “I will be seeing you at the command center on Bleeker Street and 4th, ma’am. As the current ranking attaché of the Lieutenant-General himself.” he informed her.

  “I will be there, Corporal. Have no fear. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

  “Very good. I will see you no later than 0200 hours at the usual time.” The man said, saluting in passing and taking his leave.

  Kara returned the sentiment easily enough—watching the other army rep leave the sanctity of her house—before turning around and heading back in.

  Once in, she closed the door behind her to make her new house guest all that more comfortable.

  ***

  Stepping out of the restaurant, Roz was in much better spirits now that she was able to keep what she had eaten earlier down—instead of puking it up like she did before with the bacon.

  “Thanks for the save, witch girl.” She said in passing—giving the teen a grateful hug. “I really appreciate it—having to go out on an extra limb for me by buying me another round.”

  “No sense in listening to your stomach growl all morning like it did before we left Charlie’s place you know.” Tillie joked lightly at the other girl’s expense.

  Roz blushed. “It’s not that bad, Tillamook. I naturally woke up hungry. I was looking to eat one of Charlie’s energy bars—but at that moment I forgot where he put them. He often hides things from me because he knows I’ll eat him out of house and home.” The girl confessed.

  “Well, it doesn’t look like you need to gain any weight from where I’m standing. You’re perfectly fine the way you are.” Tillie observed gently.

  “Really?” Roz ventured in surprise. “I always thought I looked a little fat around the middle—after years of good eating.”

  “If Charlie values you as a person, a friend, and everything else—? I’m sure he doesn’t care what you look like in the end.”

  Roz laughed at her supportive suggestion. “I’m sure. I’m just a little jealous that a pint-sized pipsqueak like you was able to rope him in so quickly—after all the time I spent trying to get his undivided attention.”

  “I’m not that small. I’m a few inches taller than you by far. My mom was the short one in the family. She was about 5’5.”

  “I’m only five foot three.” Roz admitted freely then. Then she sighed.

  “I just so hoped that I would be the one to—”

  “—be the one?” Tillie offered slowly. “To be his girl?”

  Roz nodded. “And here you come, driven and full of energy and you fucking throw me off my game—when I was this close…”

  “Well, I promise I won’t monopolize his time. You can still be his friend and future girlfriend material. I don’t know how long I can stick around at any rate. I have a bounty on my head placed by the armies of the Third Watch and the Regency Council.”

  “That’s no excuse to stop you from cultivating meaningful relationships, witch girl. My family was torn apart by the Great War; forcing us into hiding after awhile. I sought out companionship and friendship with Charlie at a young age and been by his side ever since.”<
br />
  “So you love him more than just a friend,” the other girl pointed out knowingly. “But he won’t share in your feelings—is that it?”

  Roz nodded. “Charlie…well, he’s not the easiest guy to be in love with. Not if you can’t get past that wall he’s erected for himself—which puts any potential girl or friend into the Friend Zone for good.”

  “The size thing isn’t—?”

  “No. That’s just something that scared him early on. I thought all boys his age were average sized. Human boys—I should say. But…?”

  Tillie giggled softly. “But he kept growing and growing and growing…?”

  Roz nodded quietly. “Pretty much. I told him he shouldn’t be scared that he’s super endowed, but—he has this image issue that he’s trying so hard to project onto other people around him. He doesn’t want to be seen as a liability. But more of an asset for the team.”

  Tillie looked ahead for a moment, staring at Charlie’s back as they continued to walk—hanging back from the other pair as they traversed across the street and up onto the next sidewalk.

  “I don’t follow that last part. What do you mean a liability? He looks perfectly healthy to me.”

  Roz smiled gratefully for the other girl’s genuine thoughtfulness.

  “What you see in front of you is only a comforting façade. In truth, he’s been sick for quite awhile. I’m sure you noticed this morning or last night before you crawled into bed that he takes medication?”

  “I saw some empty bottles lying around, but I didn’t think much of it.” Tillie mulled quietly.

  “He has a congenital heart defect. Two of his arterial valves were partially deformed from birth, so…he’s on special medication to help boost the organ’s pumping action.”

  “He has…a weak heart?” Tillie whispered in shock.

  “In a way? Yes. He does. That’s why he’s always calm, measured, assured—because he can’t afford the strain on his heart.”

  “So that means…he can’t be with a girl…have sex…all of that?” Tillie said—her own heart bottoming out in dismay.

  “I don’t honestly know. The opportunity never came up between us—not that I didn’t try to encourage him here and there along the way. Charlie’s just Charlie.”

  “So he has no interest in romance, love making, foreplay…?”

  “Well, from what he told me, you did have him kiss you on the lips. So I suppose that’s progress,” the other girl said with a bit of honest jealousy and envy.

  “But I wish it had been me. I would have treated him so right in the end.”

  “I would to!” Till blurted out suddenly. “I have no intention of seeing him harmed or come to harm. I would protect him with my life!”

  “I know you would, Tillamook. The intent is plain all over your face. You give so much of yourself for others…I just wished that more people would see magical familiars like you and your folks more helping and hard-working than just…witches with an ax to grind against humanity.” Roz paused in that moment and then added: “Sorry, I don’t mean you personally.”

  Tillie took her statement with a grain of salt. “It’s no big deal. Everyone down here pretty much knows about my legendary battle with Greta Freeman. Rachel knows about what really happened that night because my mom told her—three months later in a long missive which she transmitted along with my initial application to the Academy of Magic and Arts.”

  “How’d that go?”

  “Oh, you know…I’m now like the Boy Who Lived from Harry Potter and Greta Freeman was the High Witches’ version of Lord Voldemort.” Tillie chuckled. “I even got to wear the replica Sorting Hat that they had hanging in the foyer—but even imbued with its own magic.”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty wild. It actually talks like the original too—complete with the movie lines.” Roz laughed lightly.

  “Yeah…” Tillie mused distantly. “But I still wish there was something I could do to help heal Charlie of his problems.”

  “You mean…you can’t?”

  The other girl shook her head. “Magical incantations used by witches don’t have the same effect on some segments of the population as the legendary Field Mage’s would.”

  “So you couldn’t take away his shortness of breath or occasional chest pain episodes?”

  Tillie shook her head sadly. “No. I can’t. I’m not powerful enough yet. It’s one thing to be wed to the Dragon’s Tear, but it’s something else to heal a physical body already deformed from injury or in Charlie’s case—birth defects.”

  Roz nodded slowly in realization. “Because you wouldn’t know how extensive things are from a medical standpoint—right?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Roz said, pausing right next to an recycling trash barrel that had its share of plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

  “At any rate, I hope you don’t mind if I say you don’t stop trying to heal him—if you find a way.”

  Tillie smiled. “If I do, he’ll be the first person I come for.” She vowed solemnly.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  Strategies

  “Coffee or tea?” Kara Plummer asked from the kitchen as she prepared a small plate of appetizers for her guest: Cheese, crackers, salami, and pepperoni slices with a cup of tangy dipping sauce in the center for the row of sliced celery sticks, carrot and broccoli bits.

  “I’ll have some tea,” Ashley said from the comfort of the couch—while looking at some printed flyers spread out across the table along with a small notepad that had some writing on it.

  “I never realized the senior captain of the Third Watch could afford such a nice place—not with housing prices at a premium?”

  “It’s on the government dole.” The other woman supplemented easily. “Comes with the perks. Most everyone in the military has either base housing or government housing.”

  “And you don’t pay anything?”

  “Nope. Just the usual bills and anything else shoved into the mail box every morning by the postal service.”

  “I see.” Ashley ruminated quietly.

  “Well, your situation isn’t any dire than mine. You have a pretty cushy pad in the Hamptons—paid for by the Regency Council for the past few years. I wouldn’t call that small potatoes.”

  “Oh, I have no complaints. None whatsoever. It has been quite some time since I luxuriated in style for awhile now. My last place was a studio apartment in Newark for 1500 credits a month. Then I moved to New York’s Seventh Avenue where I found a nice place for about 1800 credits a month.”

  “That’s a surprise. Most housing units are about 2200C to 2600C a month—even on Section 8 Housing.”

  “Magical familiars don’t qualify for housing assistance. Not on what we make a month, plus…well, there are rules concerning magical familiars, magical kinsfolk, and humans when it comes to affordable housing—despite the social improvements in Lower Tam.”

  “Lower Tam is such a dump—if you don’t mind me saying. That place never recovered from the Tenth Street Riots five years ago and it’s just gotten worse since then.”

  Ashley bristled a bit at the other woman’s words—even when Kara came into the living room with a fresh cup of fragrant rose and lemon tea. She made some space for the cup by placing it on a coaster and then on the tray and then disappeared back into the kitchen a moment later.

  But Ashley didn’t say anything for a moment or two to her benefactor.

  Then—

  “It’s hard for change to be progressive when that part of the lower city channels has been turned into a war zone by the Resistance and some elements of the Third Watch.” She said with a certain amount of bravery in her voice.

  Instead of anger, Kara just nodded.

  “When the people rise up, expect things to be tough. That’s how it’s been since the end of the Great War.”

  “Did you have any family fight in that conflict?”

  “A few brave souls. None died though—thankf
ully. But the end still happened either way.”

  “What about you? What made you join the service?”

  “A chance to right a terrible wrong from my childhood—if you must know. I avenged myself upon those parties that made my life a living hell. I made them a pointed reminder of what it means not to cross someone like me.” Came Kara’s chilling reply.

  The other woman shuddered reflexively as the temperature in the room went down a few degrees in response to her words.

  “So…revenge was the only reason at the time to go military?” She ventured warily.

  “At the time? Yes. But then I decided to broaden my horizons a bit for humanity’s sake.”

  “But you wear the Amulet of T’Gora. That makes you one of us—doesn’t it? A magical familiar?”

  “And how do you know about that? Nobody knows about that.” Kara returned in warning.

  “Not even your superiors?”

  There was a moment of silence coming from the kitchen. Then—

  “Only the Supreme Chancellor knows about my secret. Since it was I that told him during a night of passionate lovemaking.”

  The other woman choked on her tea unexpectedly.

  “Y-you? You were the one that he had hinted about those many years ago?” She gasped in shock and awe.

  “It was I that filled him in on my master plan during the early morning hours—after I showed him what I had become for his perverse pleasure and enjoyment. Just like my boyfriend, Jake Harper—there had been only two men in my life that I have shared such delicious and dark secrets with. And I made sure that both men—at the time—knew what kind of an alluring and ravishing creature I can be if either one were to…try and cross me without my knowledge.”

  “So that’s why you were Merrick’s favorite…pet—am I right?” Ashley Dietrich ventured coyly with a small smile of her own. “From the beginning.”

  The other woman came in bearing a tray of snacks and appetizers for the two to enjoy.

  Taking a seat, she sat the thing down at the center of the coffee table along with a small pot of the same tea that her current house guest was currently drinking.