Witch War in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  Roughly fifteen minutes in the car, and we turned off the autobahn and wound our way up. Maybe three minutes later, Hans pulled over to the side of the road. “This is where I leave you, I’m afraid. Good luck! Auf Wiedersehen.”

  “Ciao!”

  Imani looked at me. “That’s rubbish German, Lily.”

  “I know. It’s Italian.” I poked my tongue out, then quickly brought it back in again. “Man, it’s cold. Surely we could’ve picked a better season for this?”

  “Be thankful it’s not the middle of winter,” Will said. And he was right, but I wasn’t going to tell him. I’d never hear the end of it. He smirked, maybe thinking my lack of answer meant I conceded that he was right. Doh! “Let’s go.”

  An owl hooted. Yay, owl. I wondered what it was saying. If Millicent were here, I’d ask. Yes, Will could talk to animals, but only if they were making themselves clear. It wasn’t his talent. Hmm, maybe we should’ve had a pet owl, one that could fly ahead and warn us of danger. I really needed an entourage of squirrels. They could scurry ahead, distract the enemy or throw nuts at them. Hmm, could they learn how to shoot? We could get them tiny little guns. I nodded slowly. Me and an army of squirrels. I wouldn’t say no. Maybe something to work on when this was all over?

  “Lily, what are you smiling about?” Imani kept her voice down, but she sounded amused, as if she knew she was going to get a ridiculous answer but was looking forward to it.

  “Just future me and my army of squirrels.”

  She chuckled. “Of course. I can’t believe I didn’t guess.”

  “I know, right. You must be losing your touch.” I smiled.

  “It’s inevitable when I hang out with you. It’s all your bad jokes.”

  “Knock, knock.”

  “Who’s there?”

  “Lily.”

  “Lily who?”

  “Lily, leader of the squirrel army.”

  “Oh, for goodness’ sake, love. That was terrible. I just aged two whole years.”

  Will looked at me. “We should appoint you head of our torture chamber.”

  My eyes widened. “The PIB don’t have a torture chamber. Do they?”

  Imani and Will looked at each other. He was the one who answered. “Not officially, no.”

  “Oh my God. Who are you people? Seriously?”

  Will’s gaze was solemn. “I’ve never tortured anyone. Don’t worry. It’s not something they would do lightly.”

  I sighed. “It’s fine. I’m just tired. I want this night to be over.” Just to make a point, the toe of my boot caught on a small rock, and I tripped and flew forward. Thankfully, I managed to stay on my feet. “Crap.”

  Imani caught up to me and gently grabbed my arm. “Are you okay, love?”

  “Yeah. Just tired. All the photo taking and walking.” I gave her a tired smile. “I’ll manage. We’re almost done.”

  “Yeah, only four properties left, then bed.” Will ran his finger down my cheek.

  “Looking forward to it. I think I could sleep for a week.”

  Within the next couple of minutes, we came to our next property. This one was like all the others—high walls of over eight feet and timber gates that were impossible to see through. Hopefully, it would be unoccupied. Dreams were free.

  Will’s magic tingled my scalp, then stopped. He looked at Imani. “This one’s a bit more complicated. They’ve woven magical alarms around the gate, so I could turn the camera off easily enough, but not the rest. It’s going to take too long to unravel it.”

  Imani looked up and down the length of verge along the fence line. She tipped her chin in the direction from which we’d come. “What about that tree over there. We won’t have to go anywhere near the cameras if we climb that and go over.”

  “Good idea.”

  Not a good idea. I wasn’t a tree climber of note. In fact, when I was about seven, I climbed to the top of a pine tree and fell out, hitting every branch on the way down, which hurt but probably saved my life. Ever since then, I’d tried to avoid climbing if it was at all possible.

  Will and Imani walked towards the tree. Will stopped after a few steps when he realised I hadn’t budged. “Come on.”

  “I can’t climb.” The tree in question had no branches until about six-feet up. I could barely reach that to hold on, let alone pull myself up.

  “I’ll help you.”

  “Oh, like the time you ‘helped’ me over that wall?” Trying to catch Liv’s old fiancé had resulted in super awkward wall climbing with less than stellar results—he’d basically thrown me over the wall. Yes, I’d managed to get over but not without some pain.

  “You’re still alive, aren’t you? Come on. If anything happens, we’ll go straight home after this one for Beren’s healing before we go to the next.”

  I huffed. “You’re not inspiring confidence, but fine.” I hurried over and pulled down my balaclava. As much as I didn’t want to climb things, I did want to get to the bottom of everything and finish this. No pain, no gain—no truer saying had ever existed, at least as far as my life was concerned. Gah, stop with the pity party, Lily. Just get on with it.

  Imani was already in the tree. Of course she was. Will pulled his balaclava down, then looped his hands together to give me a leg up. I stared at it and raised a brow. “Do not catapult me over the branch. Just go easy.”

  “Noted.”

  I placed my foot in his hand and got ready to spring into the air. “On three. One, two, three.” He launched me as I jumped, arms outstretched. I caught the branch and hung. Now what? Argh. I braced my stomach muscles and swung my legs back and forth till I managed to hook the branch with my ankles. I worked one leg up until my knee was gripping the branch. My awkwardness was unparalleled. I must’ve looked like a hippo trying to perform aerial silk acrobatics.

  Biting pain scoured my palm and the underside of my wrist as I scraped them while manoeuvring into a sitting position. I bit my lip, gripped the branch overhead, and stood. As I carefully walked away from the trunk towards the wall, Will swung up where I’d been, as agile as a panther. What a capable poo head.

  Imani disappeared over the wall, and I heard the muted thud of her landing. I wobbled the last little bit, adrenaline zinging through my body. Another owl hooted. My breath sounded ridiculously loud in the silence. Being hyperaware was no fun. I really could do without it right now.

  My shoe touched the top of the wall. Once both feet were safely there, I reluctantly released my hold on the branch above my head and crouched carefully. My grip secured on the top of the wall, I lowered my body over the other side. I glanced down. Yikes. That was a long way down. I supposed I couldn’t hang there all night. Time to drop.

  I bent my knees on impact to cushion my fall. The shockwaves reverberated up my legs, but I seemed to have survived. Will dropped down next to me, silent, ninja-like. He grinned. I stared at him, one eyebrow raised. Show off.

  He started up the slight incline with long strides. I went next, and Imani brought up the rear. Rather than wait until we saw the house, I lifted my camera and slowed. “Show me the witches hunting other humans.” Anger simmered close to the surface. The two men in the photo were shown in fading light, but it was still bright enough that I knew who they were: Toussaint and Dana’s father. Click. I asked the question again, but nothing happened. Imani had waited for me. “Thanks.”

  She gave me a nod, and we continued. This place was set far from the road. It was a while before a hulking shape of a building loomed in front of us. Will stayed back in the tree line, scanning for security cameras. While we waited, I lifted my camera again. “Show me the witches who hunted other people here.” Daylight exploded through my lens, and I blinked. Argh, that was bright. Two black SUVs had parked at the front of the large, three-level hotel-style building. A group of men and women stood around chatting. Four held rifles. It looked as if they were about to go on a hunt or had just returned, and the rest had just arrived to partake in the “festivities.” I
clicked off a couple of shots, but they were still too far away to see everyone clearly. I recognised two of the men with guns—I didn’t know who they were, just that they’d turned up in a couple of my other photos. A few of the hunters had their backs to me as well. I’d need to get closer. I also needed a different angle to capture the number plates.

  Will pursed his lips. “They’ve got magic protecting these cameras. Again, I can disable them, but it will take a while, and they might feel my magic, this close to the place. We’re going to have to take our chances and just move quickly, then leave.”

  Great. “I’ve already got a few photos. I need to get closer to the building to get better pics. And I really want to get around the back. Maybe we can range out to one side and I’ll see if I can get more hunting photos before we go around to the back then come to the front and finish off?”

  “What if there’s cameras in the forest?” Imani made a good point.

  “At least it’s dark. Unless someone is manning the security, which they probably aren’t, we should be fine. If we hear anything, just get back home. I would imagine cameras throughout the trees are to keep track of who they’re hunting.” He called them a choice word that almost made me blush, but I agreed with his assessment. There were no names or adjectives bad enough for these people.

  “Okay, then. We’ll do it that way,” said Imani, “but now we have to move quickly. Will and I will follow you, Lily. We’re here to protect you, so just concentrate on taking the photos. We’ll let you know if you need to make a doorway.”

  “Okay.” I hoped I was picking the right direction to find more evidence when I headed to our left. I walked as quickly as I could in the darkness, in unfamiliar territory. After a couple of minutes, I stopped and lifted my camera. “Show me the witch hunters.” Two men stood near us, peering around a tree, guns aimed. My heart pounded, the blood pulsing past my eardrums. They were so close and so realistic, it was as if they were really there. I had to slow my breath before I fainted from hyperventilating.

  My subconscious was whispering something to me, something that had the hairs on my arms standing at attention. I shivered. My forehead tensed. What was that in the distance? Crap. They were pointing their rifles at something… or someone. I hurried to get in front of the men, and I turned to take their pictures. Toussaint and Dana’s father again. I growled.

  “Are you all right,” Will asked.

  I grunted because I was not okay and voicing it wouldn’t help anyone.

  I turned back to face where their rifles pointed and made sure I took a shot that got them aiming at another person—we might need that later… if they managed to live through the arrests. A figure was running away. I hurried towards the person, which, as I got closer, looked to be a woman. She was wearing a ripped T-shirt and jeans, her shoulder-length hair loose and flowing behind her as she sprinted for her life.

  Click.

  My heart was beating fast, my breath loud and rasping in my ears, yet, I couldn’t imagine how fast her heart rate had been, how panicked she was. This wasn’t a game. She was going to die in the cruellest of ways.

  I ignored the burn of tears as I approached the woman. I didn’t want to see the fear in her eyes, the horror on her face, but it was my duty. I would record her plight, and I would help avenge it. It seemed like too little too late, but it was all I could offer.

  The hairs on my neck stood on end. I looked away from my camera and around. Imani and Will were right next to me, keeping an eye out. Dread breathed down the back of my neck. Was someone out there about to strike? If so, I’d better get this done.

  I put my eye back to the viewfinder and overtook the woman. Then I stopped, turned, and pointed the camera at her face.

  As the world dropped out from under me, my knees slammed into the ground.

  Not again. Not again.

  I tried to breathe, but it was as though I was suffocating.

  I tried not to think, just do. I pointed the camera back up at her face and clicked off a shot. The fear in her eyes was flecked with anger. Around my mother’s neck was a silver collar. I would bet my life that it cut off her magic. She’d been helpless.

  I scrambled to my feet, my cheeks drenched and cold despite the balaclava. Salty tristesse coated my tongue. I made sure I took a picture with those evil pigs pointing their guns at my mother, the look on her face as they did, the ring of death around her neck.

  If I had to reveal my secret to the witch world to expose these sickos, I would.

  Click. Click. Click.

  When I was done, I lowered my camera and bent at the waist. I ripped my face covering off and made sure to keep my camera out of the way as I threw up, and threw up, and threw up.

  “Oh my God, what’s wrong?” Imani stood next to me and rubbed my back.

  I stayed hunched over but lifted my camera up. She took it. “Oh, Jesus.”

  Yep, that was about the size of it. When I was sure I wasn’t going to throw up again, I straightened and stared at the spot where my mother had stood years ago… well, not stood, more like passed through in terror. “I’m so sorry.” Speaking was the wrong thing to do because the floodgates opened, and I sobbed. The violence of it was even worse than when we found my father. This time, I really didn’t know if I could ever stop.

  My mother.

  Hunted like an animal.

  Defenceless.

  Petrified.

  Like so many others.

  I knew I’d really lost it when I screamed.

  Chapter 18

  The last little while had sliced by in a blur. As I sat on James’s couch, the pain was akin to having been chopped into pieces. I clutched piles of damp tissues and wondered where they’d come from. A soft voice came from beside me. “Lily? Lily? Are you back with us yet?”

  Liv.

  I looked up and blinked, then turned to her. The tears that had seemed to have stopped when I wasn’t really here threatened to return as I gazed into my friend’s devastated eyes. I swallowed. I couldn’t speak.

  Across the room, Beren and Imani stared at me, concern radiating from them. This situation cared not for poker faces and outward projections of calm. No. This situation had torn the façade away and left us all reeling with its sickness, depravity, and senselessness.

  I blew my nose again. “Has everyone seen?” She would know that I meant the photos. I couldn’t seem to get it all out. The less talking I had to do, the better.

  “Yes.”

  I shut my eyes for a moment, but the image of my terrified mother hijacked my brain. My eyes shot open. If it was going to be like that every time, I’d never sleep again.

  Will wandered over. The love and sadness in his eyes tore into me all over again, and I bit my tongue to keep from weeping. The emotional hangover was going to be huge. If I could crawl into bed and stay there for a month, it wouldn’t be enough.

  “Do you want to go home? I’ll stay with you.”

  I nodded, but then logic broke through my emotional hurricane. “We still have three places to photograph.”

  He shook his head. “No, we don’t. We have over two hundred scumbags to identify. There’s no way we have enough resources to arrest them all. We’ll deal with it later. For now, you’ve done an outstanding job.”

  “But is it enough?” Until we found every last one of these disgusting excuses for witches, it would never be enough. “Where are James and Millicent?”

  “Taking a moment.”

  I nodded. “I’d like to see him before we go.” Seeing my brother’s devastated face was going to be the hardest of all. Inside me, something broke, something that could never be fixed.

  My transformation was complete.

  God help Toussaint and Dana’s dad because any shred of mercy I’d had was gone.

  They would regret every last evil thing they’d done by the time I’d finished with them. They might have thought they’d escaped punishment for all the lives they’d taken, but I had news for them.


  No one killed someone I loved and got away with it.

  No one.

  I awoke the next day with tears in my eyes and a wet pillow. I’d had nightmares of running endlessly, the howling of dogs and rustle of witches with guns never far behind. It was as if I’d sprinted a marathon. Even though my phone said it was after ten in the morning, I disputed whether I’d rested at all. Apparently sleep and rest weren’t the same thing when your demons pursued you all night.

  My head was heavy with grief and my sinuses blocked from all the crying. Argh, mucus, you are not my friend. I sat up slowly and swung my legs over the bed. I hung my head and shut my eyes as I waited for the dizziness to pass.

  What would my parents say to me if they knew? What’s done is done. Grieve for us but move on. Fix things. Use what you know to move ahead. Don’t become mired in the morose quicksand of anger, loss, and hate. Use it to do what you must, but when you’re done, leave it behind.

  I wasn’t ready to leave it behind yet, but the time would come. I would definitely use it to do what I must, and right now, I needed to wake up and get going. Depending on what Liv, Mill, and Agent Fairweather had managed to find out, we might be ready to move tonight. Damned if I was going to miss this because I was at home wallowing in bed.

  I went to the bathroom and showered because I’d fallen in bed in a haze when Will brought me home. I dressed warmly and made my way downstairs. Not much could help me right now, but things would be worse if I didn’t have a coffee soon. I did not need a migraine.

  Abby met me at the bottom of the stairs, her long fluffy tail raised in the air. She meowed and walked between my legs. “Hey, gorgeous.” I bent down and picked her up. I rubbed my face in her luxurious fur and gave her a kiss on the top of the head. “Are you hungry?”

  She meowed, which I took for a yes. I carried her into the kitchen. Hmm, there were a couple of bites of food in her bowl. Maybe she was just saying good morning and asking after my health? “Can I ask a favour?”